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Nature 


A WEEKLY 


ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 


Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


eS Sees 


* Nature, J 
March 26, 1914 


Nature 


A WEEKLY 


ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 


VOLUME XCII 


SEPTEMBER, 1913, to FEBRUARY, 1914 


“To the solid ground 
Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.’—WoRDSWORTH 


~aanian ‘i 
er” Institaes 
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APR 6 19] 
W ABAX } 


ional Muse 


¥ondon 


MACMILLAN AND CO. LimiTED 
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 


BRUNSWICK STR 


Wrenn 
March 26, 1914 


tbbott (G.), Zonal Structure in Colloids, 607, 687 

bott (W. J. L.), Pygmy Flints from Cape Colony, 83 
ul-Ali (Sijil), Alchemy, 697 

i (G.), Spectra of Stars, 18 

dams (W. S.), Absorption of Light in Space, 698 

gassiz (Alexander), Letters and Recollections of, edited by 
_ G. R. Agassiz, 601 

e (Dr. E. E. F. d’), the Radiation Problem, 689 

exander (W. B.), Discovery of Australia, 715 

llen’s Commercial Organic Analysis, edited by W. A. 
_ Davis and S. S. Sadtler, 125 

len (Dr. E. J.), New Quantitative Tow Net for Plankton, 


i= 


me 335 

Allen (Dr. H. S.), Passivity of Metals, 356; Atomic Models 
and X-Ray Spectra, 630, 713 

lien (P. H.), Maritime Plants at Holme, 489 
iiliston (N.), Aural Illusion, 61 

inderson (E. M.), Path of Ray in Rotating Solid, 730 
derson (F. I.), the Farmer of To-morrow, 229 

idrade (Dr. E. N. da C.), Modern Electrometers, 133 
idrews (A. W.), Text-book of Geography, 498 

ndrews (E. C.), Development of the Order Myrtacez, 336 
adrews (E. S.), Theory and Design of Structures, 4; 
Further Problems in the Theory and Design of Struc- 
tures, 341 

ews (Elizabeth), Ulster Folklore, 343 

tin (V.), Roumanian Legend re January Bolides, 


720 
nandale (Dr. N.) and others, 


Limestone Caves of Burma, 


443 . 

Arber (Dr. E. A. N.), Kent Coalfield, 467 
‘istotle’s Physics, 584, 606 

nitage (Miss), Two Varieties of Corn Spurry, 

nstrong (Prof. H. E.), 
lants, 670 


516 
Physiological Effects of Stimu- 


Rete EEX, 


AUTHOR 


INDEX. 


Baker (R. T.), Cabinet Timbers of Australia, 

Baker (T. Thorne), 
Currents, 509 

Baker (Prof. W. C.), Mass as a Measure of Inertia, 268 

Ball (Dr. John), Distance of the Visible Horzion, 344 

Ball (Sir Robert S., F.R.S.), Obituary, 403 

Ball (Prof. V.), R. R. Simpson, Coalfields of India, iii 

Bannister (C. O.) and G. Patchin, Cupellation Experiments, 


552 
Physiological Effects of High-frequency 


545 

Barclay (W. R.) and C. H. Hainsworth, Electroplating, 126 

Barcroft (J.) and others, Report of Monte Rosa Expedition 
of 1911, 677 

Barker (Prof.) and Mr. Gimingham, Fungicidal Action of 
Bordeaux Mixture, 515 

Barnard (Prof. E. E.), Unusual Nucleus of a 
Dark Regions in the Sky, 671 

Barr (J. R.) and R. D. Archibald, Design of Alternating 
Current Machinery, 126 

Barrow (G.), Spirorbis Limestone of North Warwickshire, 


Comet, 302; 


3 

ed (Prof. Carl), Scattering in the Case of Regular 
Reflection from a Transparent Grating, 451 

Bastian (Dr. H. Charlton, F.R.S.), Present-day Occurrence 
of Spontaneous Generation, 579, 660, 685 

Bateson (W., F.R.S.), Problems of Genetics, 497 

Bather (Dr. F. A.), Fossil Crinoids, 335 

Bauer (E.) and others, la Constitution de la Matiére, 339 

Bausor (H. W.), Preliminary Chemistry, 446 

Bawtree (A. E.), Banl-note Engraving, 543 

Baxandall (F. E.), Europium in Stellar, Spectra, 328; 
Magnesium Lines in Stellar Spectra, 468 

Baylis (H. A.), Tentacles of Blennius gattorugine, 624 

Beard (Dr. J.), Cancer and Malaria, 60; Pancreatic Treat- 
ment of Tuberculosis and Malaria, 165 

Beaven (E. S.) and others, Barley Production, 515 

Beilby (Dr. G. T., F.R.S.), Fuel: Low Temperature Car- 
bonisation and New Apparatus, 331; Polishing, 332-3; 
Transparence or Translucence of the Surface Film 
produced in Polishing Metals, 691 

Beit Memorial Fellowships, 492 

Belar (Prof. A.), Laibach Seismogram and the Japanese 
Earthquake, 716 

Bell (A. Graham), awarded Hughes Medal, 406 

Bell (J. M.), Outlook for Mineral Industry in Canada, 678 

Bell (Dr. Louis), Snowfall in Train Shed, 721 

Belopolsky (Prof.), Spectrum of a Canum Ven., 143 

Belot (E.), Zodiacal Matter and the Solar Constant, 460 

Bemmelen (Prof. van), Convergence in Mammalia, 411 

Bengough (Dr. G.) and R. M. Jones, Report to Corrosion 
Committee, 52 : 

Bennett (T. L.), Accuracy of Triangulation of United 
Kingdom, 713 

Benson (Prof. Margaret J.), 
Pettycur, 442 

Benson (W.N.), Great Serpentine Belt of New South Wales,- 
225, 336, 547 : f Pa 

Berger (K.), P. Le Normand, la Télégraphie et la Télé- 
phonie, 126 


Sphaerostoma ovale from: 


vi . Index 


Berry (Prof. R. J. A.) and Dr. A. W. D. Robertson, the 
Tasmanian Aboriginal, 730 

Bertillon (Alphonse), Obituary Note,’ 693 

Besson (Dr. A.), Prof. H. J. Hutchens, D.S.O., Practical 
Bacteriology and Serum Therapy (Medical and 
Veterinary), 193 

Bevan (Prof. P. V.), Obituary, 481 

Bickerton (W.), Home-life of Terns, 294 

Bidder (G. P.), Amcebocytes in Calcareous Sponges, 479 

Biesbroek (G. van) and A. Tiberghien, Rémer’s Adversaria, 
621 

Bigourdan (G.), Thermometric Coefficient of Wire Micro- 
meter, 650 

Birkeland (Kr.), Sun’s Magnetism, 55 

Black (N. H.) and Dr. H. N. Davis, Practical Physics for 
Secondary Schools, 473 

Blaise (E. E.), Synthesis by Mixed Zinc Organometallic 
Derivatives, 731 

Blake (Prof. J. C.), General Chemistry Laboratory Manual, 


655 

Blakeslee (Dr. M. F.) and Dr. C. D. Jarvis, Trees in 
Winter, 504 

Blathwayt (T. B.), Aural Illusion, 293 

Bloxam (C. L.), A. G. Bloxam and Dr. S. J. Lewis, 
Chemistry, 343 

Bodroux (F.), Catalytic Esterification in the Wet Way, 521 

Bohle (Prof. H.), Electrical Photometry and Illumination, 
126 

Bohn (G.), die Neue Tierpsychologie, 396 

Bohr (Dr. N.), Spectra of Helium and Hydrogen, 231; 
Radiation, 306; Atomic Models and X-Ray Spectra, 
553 

Boll and Henri 
Reactions, 573 

Bolton (H.), Giant Dragon-fly in Radstock Coal Measures, 


(MM.), Oxygen and Photochemical 


729 

Bond (Dr. C. J.), Unilateral Development of Secondary 
Male Characters in a Pheasant, 388 

Bone (Prof. W. A.), Cheap Gaseous Fuel generated on the 
Spot, 331 

Bonney (Prof. T. G., F.R.S.), Fiords and other Inlets, 
Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S., 662 

Borrelly (M.), Hind’s Nebula, 87 

Bortkiewicz (Prof. L. v.), Radio-activity and Theory of 
Chance, 684 

Bosler (J.), Magnetic Storms and Solar Phenomena, 19 

Boéttger (Dr. W.), Qualitative Analyse vom Standpunkte 
der Ionenlehre, 446 

Bottomley (Prof.), Peat Conversion to Manure, 516 

Boulanger (C.) and J. Bardet, Gallium in Aluminium, 311 

Boulenger (E. G.), Metamorphosis of Axolotl, 387 

Boulenger (G. A.), Reptiles from Colombian Choco, 416 

Boulton (Prof. W. S.), Machine for Cutting Thin Rock- 
sections, 360 

Bourquelot (Prof. E.), Synthesis of Glucosides by Ferments, 


304 

Bourriéres (F.), Brownian Movement, 521 

Bousfield (W. R.), Osmotic Pressure, 703 

Bowater (W.), Heredity of Melanism in Lepidoptera, 386 

Boys (Prof. C. V., F.R.S.), “Davon” Micro-telescope, 595 

Bragg (Prof. W. H., F.R.S.), X-Rays and Crystals, 307; 
Crystals and the X-Ray Photometer, 416; X-Ray 
Spectra of Sulphur and Quartz Crystals, 649 

Bragg (W. L.), Analysis of Crystals by the X-Ray Spectro- 
meter, 416 

Brauer (Prof. Dr.), die Siisswasserfauna Deutschlands, 60 

Brauns (Dr. R.), the Mineral Kingdom, L. J. Spencer, 316 

Braus (Prof. H.), Homology of Gills, 388; Cultures of 
Embryonic Heart, 388 

Breitenbach (Dr. W.), Aus Siid-Brasilien, 29 

Brenchley (Dr. Winifred), Weeds of Arable Land, 516 

Brereton (C.), Education of Employees, 310 

Brewer (G. W. S.), Educational School Gardening and 
Handwork, 604 

Bridgman (Dr. P. 
Liquids, 142 

Briggs and Belz (Messrs.), Evaporation in the Plains and 
the Haze of 1912, 107 

Brigham (Dr. W. T.), U.S. Territory of Hawaii, 346 

Brinkmann (Dr. A.), New Genus of Deep-sea Nemertine 
Worm, 145 


W.), Thermodynamic Properties of 


Brown (G. E.), British Journal Photographic Album, 1914,, 


Nota 
March 265 1914 


British Association Committee on Electrical Standards, 
Reports of, g1 : 

Broca and Florian (MM.), a ‘Practical Level with Damped! 
Mercury Bath, 442 

Broek (A. van den), Intra-atomic Charge and Structure of’ 
the Atom, 372, 476 

Broglie (M. de), X-Rays and Crystals, 327; Reflection of | 
X-Rays, 423 

Brooks (C. E. P.), Meteorological Conditions of an Ice: 
Sheet and Desiccation of the Globe, 520 

Broom (Dr. R.), the Dicynodont Vomer, 6; Anthodon :: 
Correction, 51; Mammal-like Dentition of a Cynodont} 
Reptile, 388; Extinct South African Horse, 514 

Brown (Barnum), Dinosaur, 514 A 

Brown (Prof. Crum), on Lord Kelvin, 303. 

Brown (Edward), British Poultry Trade, 538 le 


500 

Brown (Prof. J. Campbell), Dr. G. D. Bengough, Practical.) 
Chemistry, 655 ; 

Brown (J. Coggin), Grooved Stone Hammers from Assam) 
and Eastern Asia, 705 

Brown (S. E.), Experimental Science, 473 

Brown (S. G.), Chemical Action stimulated by Alternating; 
Currents, 703 ’ 

Brown (Dr. William), What is Psycho-analysis? 643 

Brown (Prof. W.) and J. Smith, Subsidence of Torsional | 
Oscillations in Nickel Wires in Alternating Magnetic: 
Fields, 704 

Brown (Dr. W. H.), Biology of Aquatic Plants, 54 ~ 

Browne (F. Balfour), Life-history of a Water-beetle, 20 

Bruce (Dr. W. S.), Map of Prince Charles Foreland, Spits-- 
bergen, 437; Shackleton’s Transantarctic Expedition, , 


533 

Brucker (Prof. E.), Zoology, 340 

Brunetti (E.), Fauna of India: Diptera nematocera, 683 

Brunton (Sir L., F.R.S.), Synthesis by Means of Ferments, 
399; on Dr. Weir Mitchell, 534 

Bryan (Prof. G. H., F.R.S.), Pianoforte Touch, 292, 425; 
Mathematicians in Council, Automatic Aéroplane: 
Controls, 609 

Bryant (V. S.), Laboratory Text-book of Chemistry, 262 

Buchanan (Estelle D. and Prof. R. E.), Household Bac-| 
teriology, 28 

Buchanan (J. Y., F.R.S.), Scientific Papers, 551 

Buchner (L. W. G.), Tasmanian Cranium, 730 

Bullen (G. E.), Pilchards’ Food, 695 

Bunting (W. L.) and H. L. Collen, Geography of they 
British Empire, ix 

Burckhardt (Fr.), Date of Easter, 84 

Burne (Miss), Seasonal Customs, 413 

Burns (Keivin), Wave-lengths of Iron Lines, 144; Are 
Spectrum of Tron, 566 

Burrard (Col. S. G., F.R.S.), Survey of India, 645 

Burt (Cyril), Mental Differences in the Sexes, 491; 
Psychology at the British Association, 516-517 

Butler (E.), Modern Pumping and Hydraulic Machinery, 2 

Buttel-Reepen (Prof. H. v.), A. G. Thacker, Man and his 
Forerunners, 160 

Buxton (S.), Safety of Life at Sea: Speech at Conference, 


355 


5753 


Cain (Dr.), Alcohol in Beer, 670 

Caius (Dr. John), Works: with Memoir by Dr. J. Venn, 
E. S. Roberts, vi 

Callendar (Prof. H. L., F.R.S.), Pressure of Radiation and 
Carnot’s Principle, 450, 500, 553, 629; Expansion 
of Silica, 467 

Calman (Dr. W. T.), Freshwater Crustacea from Mada- 
gascar, 416 

Cameron (F. K.), Kelp for Potash, 510 | 

Campbell (Dr. N. R.), Modern Electrical Theory, 345; 
Structure of the Atom, 586 ; 

Campbell (Percy M.), the Game of Mind, 2 

Cannon (Miss), Spectra of Stars near North Pole, 594 

Cannon (Dr. W. A.), Botany of Sahara, 509 

Cardoso (Senor), Origin of Argentine Horses, 435 

Carlier (Prof. E. W.), Post-pericardial Body of the Skate, 


463 


- Nature, 
March 25, 1914 


Carlson (Dr.), Rhythmic Contraction of Fasting Human 

Stomach, 62 

zarne (J. E.), Economic Geology of Papua, 436 

Carnegie (D.), S. G. Gladwin, Liquid Steel, 681 

Carpenter (F. A.), Climate and Weather of San Diego, 

California, 196 

Carpenter (Dr. G. D. H.), Pseudacrzeas and their Models 

on Victoria Nyanza, 386 

Carpenter (Prof. H. C. H.), 

__ Electro-deposited Iron, 442 

Carr (E. A.), How to Enter the Civil Service, 398 

Carr (Dr. W.), Absurdity of Psycho-physiological 

__ Parallelism, 516 

Carr (W. K.), Matter and Some of its Dimensions, 

Case (G. O.), Use of Vegetation for 
Lands, 578 

astle (L. J.), Mathematics, Science, and Drawing for the 

___ Preliminary Technical Course, 195 . 

Cave (C. J. P.), Structure of Atmosphere : Soundings with 

__ Pilot Balloons, 57; Upper Air Research : Address, 624 

chalmers (S. D.), the Magneton and Planck’s Constant, 
68> 


Crystallising Properties of 


605 
Reclaiming Tidal 


-hapman (Dr. S.), Lunar Influence on Magnetism, 307, 
Tungsten Wire Suspensions 


599 
Chauveau (A.), Comparison of Vigorous and Feeble 
Organisms, 192; Comparison of Human and Bovine 
Tuberculosis: Aptitude for receiving the Bacillus, 


224 

Chevalier (S., S.J.), Photography of the Photosphere, 178 

Chilton (Dr. C.), Geographical Distribution of Phreatoicus, 
8 


9 
ree (Dr. C., F.R.S.), Magnetic Storms and the Sun, 


J. Bosler, 19 
hurch (the late Colonel G. E.), Sir Clements R. Markham, 
K 


Claude (G.), Drying of Air to be Liquified, 123; Influence 
_ of Diameter on Potential Difference at Electrodes of 
Neon Tubes, 731; (and H. E. P. Cottrell), Liquid Air, 
__ Oxygen, Nitrogen, 134 

Claxton (W. J.). 


: 726 : 

Colman (Dr. H. G.), Gas Industry and Fuel, 331 

Colvin (Prof. S. S.), the Learning Process, 129 

Combes (R.), Conversion of a Red Pigment in Leaves to 
- Yellow, s22 

Coolidge (W.), New X-Ray Tube, 613 

oppée (Baron), Coke Manufacture, 88 

rnish (Dr. V.), Method of finding Period of Sea Waves, 

437 


> 
a 


Index 


Vil 
ee 
Coursey (P. R.), Characteristic Curves and Sensitiveness 

Tests of Crystal, 703 
Couturat (Prof. L.) and others, 
schaft, 398 
Coward -(T. A.), Willow Titmouse 
Cheshire, 704 
Cox (Dr. A. H.), Igneous Rocks, 360 
Crafts (J. M.), Comparison of Vapour Pressures, 521 
Craig (George), Terrestrial Distribution of Radio-elements, 


29 

Craig (J. 1.), 
Europe, 436 

Cramp (W.), Measurement of Air Velocities, &c., 650 

Crampton (Dr. C. B.), Use of Geology to the Forester, 84 

Crawley (A. E.), the Golden Bough, Prof. J. G. Frazer, 
317; the New Psychology, Lieut.-Col. W. Sedgwick, 
Dr. A. J. Hubbard, Dr. M. Parmelee, G. Bohn, Dr. 
Rose Thesing, 396 

Crook (T.), Genetic Classification of Rocks 
Deposits, 703 « 

Crookes (Sir Wm., O.M., 
for ‘Spectacles, 357 

Cuming (E. D.), J. A. Shepherd, the Bodley Head Natural 
History, 228 

Curie (Madame Marie Sklodowska), Honorary Degree at 
Birmingham, 67; (and others), les Idées Modernes sur 
la Constitution de la Matiére, 339 

Czaplicka (Miss), Religious Belief and Environment in 
Siberia, 413 


Weltsprache und Wissen- 


in Lancashire and 


Temperature Balance between Egypt and 


and Ore 
F.R.S.), Eye-preserving Glass 


Daguerre (M. Billon-) and. others, New Mercury Lamp, 390 

Dahl (Prof. F.), Vergleichende Physiologie und Morpho- 
logie der Spinnentiere, 605 

Dalton (J. P.), Modification of van der Waal’s Equation, 


391 

Daniell (G. F.), Curricula of Secondary Schools, 383 

Danysz (J.), Treatment of Trypanosomiasis, 285; Com- 
pound of Arsenobenzene with Silver Bromide, 625 

Darbishire (Dr. O. V.), Fungi, 489 

Darling (H. A.), Elementary Workshop Drawing, 92 

Darmois (E.), Alternating Arc in Mercury Vapour, 650, 730 

Darwin (Charles), Relations with Henri Fabre, 237 

Darwin (C. G.), Pressure of Radiation, 585 

Darwin (Horace, F.R.S.), Bird Migration Routes, 370 

Darwin (Major Leonard), Eugenics Education Society, 633 

Davenport (Dr. C. B.), Heredity of Skin Colour in Negro- 
White Crosses, 696 

David (Prof. E., C.M.G., F.R.S.), Antarctic Problems, 700 

Davie (R. C.), Pinna-trace in Filicales, 488 

Davidson (D.). Linseed Crop, 515 

Davidson (N. J.), Things Seen in Oxford, 711 

Davidson and Co. (Messrs.), Micro-telescope, 595 

Davison (Dr. C.), Recent Seismological Disturbances in 
S. Japan, 716 

Dawson (C.) and Dr. A. S. Woodward, Piltdown Palzo- 
lithic Skull, 545 

Day (A. L.) and E. S. Shepherd, Water and Magmatic 
Gases, 391; Gases from Kilauea Crater, 417 

Deeley (R. M.), Wind Provinces, 478; Weather Fore- 
casting, 608 

Delavan (Mr.), Westphal’s Comet, 143; New Comet, 486 

Dember (H.), Atmospheric Electricity and Wireless, 723 

Dendy (Prof. A., F.R.S.), Darwinism roo Years Ago, 392: 
Ameebocytes in Calcareous Sponges, 399, 479 

Denning (W. F.), Detonating Fireball of January 19, 670 

Dennis (Prof. L. M.), Gas Analysis, 524 ; 

Desch (Dr. C. H.), Metallography, 197; Diffusion in Solid 
Solutions, 333 i d 

Deslandres (H.) and L. d’Azambuja, Spectroheliographic 
Work at Meudon, 178; Action of a Magnetic Field on 
Ultra-violet Spectrum of Water, 364; Second Group of 
Nitrogen Bands in Magnetic Field, 625; (and V. 
Burson), Action of Magnetic Field on Lines of Light- 
ing Gas, 495; (and A. Perot), Realisation of High 
Magnetic Fields, 650 

D’Esterre (C. R.), New Variable Star, 434 

Dhéré (C.) and A. Burdel, Absorption by 
cyanines, 224 

Dickson (Prof. H. N.), British 
Section E, Geography, 150 


Oxyhzemo- 


Association Address to 


vill 


Diesel (Dr. Rudolph), Disappearance, 173; Sulzer-Diesel 
Locomotive, 85 

Digby (E.), Nor’-westers and Monsoon Prediction, 25 

Dines (J. S.), Remarkable Meteor on November 24, 402 

Dines (W. H., F.R.S.), awarded Gold Medal by Royal 
Meteorological Society, 235; Weather Ferecasting, 
659 

Dixey (Dr. F. A.), Geographical Relations of Mimicry, 386 

Dixon (Prof. H. B.), awarded R.S. Royal Medal, 405 

Dixon (Prof. H. H., F.R.S.), Spread of Morbid Changes 
through Plants from Branches killed by Heat, 599; 
Liquid Air as a Fixative, 609; Changes in Sap caused 
by Heating of a Branch, 704; Tensile Strength of Sap 


of Trees, 704; (and W. R. G. Atkins), Osmotic 
Pressures in Plants, 538 
Dobbie (Dr. Mina L.), Physical Training, Lieut. G. 
Hébert, 27 
Dobbin (Dr. L.), on Prof. Hugh Marshall, EB Rts;,023 
Dollo (Prof.), Convergence in Mammalia, 411 . 
Donaldson (Sir F.), Engineering Research and its 


Coordination, 268 

Donaldson (Sir James), Highest University Education in 
Germany and France, 517 

Dongier and Brazier (MM.), Sound Effect, 258 

Douglas (J. A.), Geological Sections through the Andes, 363 

Drake-Brockman (Dr.), Desert Gazelles subsisting without 
Water, 695 

Drapier (M.), Shaking a Solution of Copper in Nitric Acid, 


679 
Dreyer (Prof. G.), Relation of Organs to Body Weight, 


463 

Driesch (Prof. Hans), Philosophy of Vitalism, 400 

Druce (G. C.), New Marsh Orchis, 624 

Drude (Paul), Dr. W. Kénig, Physik des f&thers, 473 

Duchéne (Capt.), J. H. Ledeboer and T. O’B. Hubbard, 
Mechanics of the Aéroplane, 368 

Duff (A. Wilmer), Text-book of Physics, 473 

Duffield (Dr.), Carbon Dioxide Output in Man, 463 

Dugmore (A. R.), Wild Life and the Camera, 294 

Dunlop (W. R.), Sugar-cane Stomata, 722 

Duncan (J.), Mechanics and Heat, 473 

Durrant (R. F.), Atmospherics in Wireless, 585 

Durrant (R. G.), Specific Heats and Periodic Law— 
Analogy from Sound, 686 

Dyson (Dr. F. W., F.R.S.), Sun-spot Areas, 383; the Cape 
Observatory, Sir David Gill, K.C.B., F.R.S., 556 


Ebell (Dr.), Comet 1913¢, 86 

Eddington (Prof. A. S.), Dynamics of a Globular Stellar 
System, 307; Distribution of Stars in Relation to 
Spectral Type, 468 

Edwards (G. M.), Mines of the Ottoman Empire, 546 

Ehrlich (Prof. P.), Cameron Prize, 720 

Eiffel (G.), J. C. Hunsaker, Resistance of the Air and 
Aviation, 342; Langley Medal awarded to G. Eiffel, 


719 

Ekholm (Dr. N.), North Sea Weather in June, 85 

Ekman (Dr.), Homology of Gills, 388 

Elgee (F.), Moorlands of North-Eastern Yorkshire, viii 

Elles (Dr. Gertrude L.), Limestones at Bala, 359; Shelly 
Faunas of British Ordovician, 359 

Elliot, (H. S. R.), Modern Science and the Illusions of 
Prof. Bergson, 263 

Elliott (S. B.), Important 
States, 289 

Ellis (Havelock), the Task of Social Hygiene, 59 

Engler (A.) and others, das Pflanzenreich, 162 

“Enquirer,” Semi-absolute, 530 

Erdmann (H.), Prof. A. Corvisy, 
Minérale, 262 

Esterley (C. O.), Plankton Distribution, 241 

Eucken and Schwers (Drs.), Specific Heats at Low Tem- 
peratures, 51 

Evans (Dr. eye 
Congress, 61 

Evans ‘(E. J.), Spectra of Helium and Hydrogen, 5 

Evans (T. J.), Artemia salina, New Species of 
Bathydoris, 730 


Timber Trees of the United 


Traité de Chimie 


Ninth International Physiological 


385 ; 


Index 


SRS Mc eS Se eee 


q Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


Prominences, 302; Method of 


Evershed (J.), Solar 
Displacements of Spectrum Lines, 


Measuring Small 


540 
Evershed (S.), Characteristics of Insulation Resistance, 510 
Ewing (Sir A.), Naval Education, 520 . 


Fabre (Henri), Relations with Darwin: Homing Instinct 
of Bees, 237 


Variation, 722 

Farmer (Prof. J. B., F.R.S.), Plant Life, 397; (and Prof. 
V. H. Blackman, F.R.S.), Dr. Bastian’s Evidence for 
Spontaneous Generation, 660 ; 5 oh 

Farran (G. P.), Copepoda from West Coast of Ireland, 650 

Fawcett (C. B.), Fiord Lands and Social Development, 438 

Fermor (Dr. L. L.), Garnet as a Geological Barometer, 485 — 

Ferrar (H. T.), the Elephant Trench at Dewlish, 371 

Fiebeger (Col. G. J.), Field Fortification, 92 “" 

Filon (Prof. L. N. G.), Temperature Variation of Photo- 
elastic Effect in Strained Glass, 649 

Findlay (Prof. A.), Osmotic Pressure, 261 

Fischer (Dr. Eugen), die Rehobother Bastards, 160 

Fischer (Prof. O.), Medizinische Physik, 682 

Fischer (Dr. T.), Dr. Riihl, Mittelmeerbilder, 471 

Fish (Prof. J. C. L.), Earthwork Haul and Overhaul, 92 

Fisher (Rev. O.), Elephant Trench at Dewlish, 6, 166; 
Origin of Lunar Structures, 714 

Fleck (A.), Radio-elements and Periodic Law, 332 

Fleming (Prof. J. A., F.R.S.), Experimental Method for 
Production of Vibrations on Strings, 467; Wonders of 
Wireless Telegraphy, 526 : 

Fletcher (J. J.), Natural Hybridism in the Genus Grevillea, 


157 
Forbes (Dr. H. O.), the Plumage Bill, 476 
Forcrand (R. de), Ferrous Sulphate and its Hydrates, 573 
Férster-Nietzsche (Frau), A. M. Ludovici, the Young 
Nietzsche, 263 : 
Fortrat (R.), Abnormal Zeeman Phenomenon, 285 - 
Fesse (R.), Identification of Urea in very Dilute Solutions, 


_ 39t 

Fowler (Prof. A., F.R.S.), International Union for Solar 
Research, 30; Spectrum of Magnesium, 386; Spectra of 
Helium and Hydrogen, 95, 232; (and W. H. Reynolds), 
Magnesium Spectrum, 86 

Fox (Dr. R. F.), Medical Hydrology, 708 

Fraine (Dr. Ethel de), New Medullosa from Lower Coal, 


Frankland (Prof. P. F.), Walden Inversion, 330 
Franklin (W. S.), B. MacNutt and R. L. Charles, 
Elementary Treatise on Calculus, 341 : 
Frazer (Prof. J. G.), the Golden Bough: Part vi., the © 
Scapegoat, 317 
Freud (Prof. Sigmund), New Theory of Psycho-analysis, 643 
Frick (Otto), Electric Refining of Steel in an Induction 
Furnace, 88 
Friederici (Dr. G.), Bismarck-Archipel, 471 
Friend (Rev. Hilderic), New Aquatic Annelid, 132 
Friend (Dr. N.), Preservation of Iron, 179 7 
Frischeisen-Kohler (Max), Wissenschaft und Wirklichkeit, 


26: 
Fujioka (M.), Wood Structure in Japanese Conifers, 142 
Fujiwhara (S.), Abnormal Propagation of Sound-waves in 
the Atmosphere, §92 
| Furuhjelm (Dr. R.), Faint Companion to Capella, 724 


British Association Address 


Gadow (Dr. H. F., F.R.S.), 
Darwinism 100 Years Ago, 


to Section D, Zoology, 145; 


20 

Gardiner (C. I.) and Prof. S. H. Reynolds, Rocks of Lough 
Nafooey, 623 — - 

Gardiner (Prof. J. S., 
Hawaii, 347 ; ae fae 

Garwood (Prof. E. J.), British Association Address ° to 
Section C (Geology), 111 _ 

Gaston (R.), Théorie de l’Aviation, 130 

Gates (Dr. R. R.), Genetics, 490 

Gautier (A.), Fluorine in Fumerolles, 364 

| Geen (B.), Continuous Beams in Reinforced Concrete, 92 

] 


F.R.S.), the U.S. Territory of 


Fairgrieve (M. M’C.), Two-hourly Period in Barometer — 


Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


Lndex 


ix 


Geiger (Dr. H.), Method of Counting a and B Particles 
emitted by a Radio-active Body, 85 
Geikie (Sir A., P.R.S.), Presidential Address to Royal 
Society, 4o 
Geikie (Prof. J., F.R.S.), Mountains, 530 
Gemmill (Dr. J. F.), Star-fish Porania pulvillus, 
Gerber (C.) and P. Flourens, 
258 ; 
Germann (F. O.), Density of Oxygen, 390 
“Gibson (Prof. A. H.), Kinetic Energy of Viscous Flow 
__. through a Circular Tube, 521 
Gibson (C. R.), Romance of Scientific Discovery, 
___ Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony, 682 
Gilbert Centenary, 562 
Gildemeister (E.) and Fr. Hoffmann, E. Kremers, Volatile 
Oils, 498 
Gill (Sir David, K.C.B., F.R.S.), 
+ §56; Obituary, 635 
-Gimingham (Mr.), Nitrification in Pasture Soils, 516 
Girousse (M.), Electrolysis of Lead and Iron in the Soil, 
311 
Giuffrida-Ruggeri 
Collettiva, 160 
Goce (Dr. le), Anatomy of Cycads, 488 
Goddard (E. J.), (1) Genital Apertures in Hirudinea, (2) a 
Phreodrilid from S. Africa, 123 
Godfrey (C.) and A. W. Siddons, Elementary Algebra,. 195; 
_ Four-figure Tables, 195 
Godlewski (Dr. T.), Phenomena of Solutions of Radio- 
active Products, 409 
Gold (E.) and F. J. W. Whipple, Double Maximum in 
| _ Annual Temperatures of Kew and Valencia, 437 
Beeedenough (Prof. G. A.), Principles of Thermodynamics, 


: 385 
Trypsin of Calotropis procera, 


369 ; 


the Cape Observatory, 


(V.), L’Uomo Attuale una Specie 


2 

_ Goodey (Mr.), Soil Protozoa, 516 
| Gorczynski (L.), Solar Radiation in 1912, 86 

Gordon (J. W.), Gyroscope Theory, 543 
' Gordon (S.), the Charm of the Hills, 294 

Gordon (Dr. W.), Place of Climatology in Medicine, 448 
Gorrie (J.), Ice Patent, 511 
iracie (A.), Twenty Years of Marine Construction, 275 
Graff (Dr. K.), New Comet, 52 
‘Graham-Smith (Dr.. G. S.), Flies in Relation to Disease, 
ee. 428 
irarmont (A. de), Band Spectrum of Aluminium, 521 
Granger (A.), Glasses containing Copper, 391 
Green (Dr. G.), Natural Radiation from a Gas, 650 
Greene (Prof. A. M., jun.), Elements of Heating and 
__ Ventilation, 93 - 
Greenhill (Sir G., F.R.S.), Prof. ‘Turner and Aristotle, 584 
Greenwell (A.) and Dr. J. V. Elsden, Practical Stone 
i Quarrying, 290 


Gregory (Prof. J. W.), Is the Earth Drying up? 435; 
4 ature and Origin of Fiords, 662 
Gregory (Dr. W. K.), an Eocene Lemur, 
__ in Mammalia, 411 

Greig-Smith (Dr. R.), Soil Fertility, 547 
Griffith (Rev. John), Ulster Folklore, Elizabeth Andrews, 

343; Papers of the British School at Rome, 527 
Griffiths (Principal E. H., F.R.S.), Educational Science: 
_ Address to Section L, British Association, 250 

Griffiths (Ezer), Ice Calorimeter, 335; Variation with 

Temperature of Specific Heat of Sodium, 650 

Grimshaw (Dr. J.), People’s Medical Guide, 59 

Grossmann (Prof. E.), Aid for Transit Circle Observers, 

512 

Grossmann (Dr.), Utilisation of Sewage, 515 

Grube (Dr. G.), Passivity of Metals, 356 

Guichard (Prof. C.), MM. Dautry et Deschamps, Problémes 
: de Mécanique, 341 

Guillet (L.), Nickel-chrome Steels, 

Variation of Resilience of 

Temperature, 224; 

Gulland and Ritchie (Drs.), Reports from the Laboratory 

| __. of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, 317 

Giinther (Dr. Albert C. L. G., F.R.S.), Obituary, 664 
x 


388 ; Convergence 


730; (and V. Bernard), 
Alloys of Copper with 


ba 


Haas (Dr. Paul) and T. G. 
__ Chemistry of Plant Products, 
Haddon (Dr: A. C., F.R.S.), 


Hill, 
524 
Mississippi Archeology, C. B. 


Introduction to the 


Moore, 

138 
Haig (K. G.), Dr. A. Haig, Health through Diet, 93 
Haldane (Lord), Higher Education and the State, 270 
Hale (H. O.), Agricultural Experiments in Public Schools, 


596 

Hall (Wilfred) and H. Morris-Airey, 
Wireless Telegraphy, 554 

Haller (A.), Alkylation of B- and y-Methylcyclohexanones, 
336; (and R. Cornubert), Methyl-cyclopentanones, 678 

Hallett (C.), Museum Guides, 537 

Halley (Ed., Astronomer Royal), Magnetic Work, 275 

Hallimond (A. F.), Uniaxial Augite from Mull, 703 

Hampson (Sir G. F.), Catalogue of Noctuidz in the British 
Museum, 288 

Hamy (M.), Measurement of Radial Velocities by Objective 
Grating, 383; Objective Prism for Radial Velocities, 
599, 616 

Hardcastle (Capt. J. H.), Prof. Turner and 

Harding (Ch.), the Past Summer, 53 

Harker (Dr. J. A., F.R.S.), Solar Electrical Phenomena, 
131 

Harlow (F. J.), Lecture Experiment re Ionisation, 
Thermal Expansions of Mercury 

Harmsworth Popular Science, 230 

Harper (Prof. M. W.), Animal Husbandry for- Schools, 

Hartley (Sir W. N., F.R.S.), Obituary, ro2 

Hatch (Dr. F. H.), Petrology of Igneous Rocks, 659 

Hatton (J. L. S.), Principles of Projective Geometry Appli2d 
to the Straight Line and Conic, 195 

Havelock (Dr. T. H.), Ship Resistance, 416 

Haviland (M. D.), Wild Life on the Wing, 688 

Hawkins (Mrs. H. Periam), A.B.C. Guide to Astronomy, 
578 

Hawks (E.), Astronomy, 658 

Hazell’s Annual, 500 

Headley (F. W.), the Flight of Birds, 368 

Heaviside (Oliver), Use of Distributed Inductance in Tele- 
phone Cables, 508 

Hébert (Lieut. G.), Lecon-Type d’entrainement complet, 27 

Hedin (Sven), Trans-Himalaya : Discoveries in Tibet, 167 

Hemsley (Dr. W. B., F.R.S.); Gum Trees of Australia; 
J. H. Maiden, 12- 

Henderson (Rev. A. C.), Astronomy Simplified, 290 

Henderson (Prof. G. G.) and I. M. Heilbron, Selective 
Absorption of Ketones, 495 

Hepworth (M. W. C., C.B.), National Antarctic Expedi- 
tion, 1901-4, 3 


18; Antiquity of Man in South America, 


“Atmospherics” in 


Aristotle, 584 


on, 390; 
and Fused Silica, 467 


229 


93 
_Herdman (Prof. W. A., F.R.S.), Coloured Organisms on 


Sea-sand, 5; Ascidian Diazona violacea, 387 

Herms (Prof. W. B.), Malaria, 316; Laboratory Guide to 
Parasitology, 316 

Heron-Allen (E.) and A. Earland, Clare Island Survey : 
Foraminifera, 458 

Hess (V. F.), Radium Measurement by the y-Ray Method, 
6a9 : 

Hett (Miss M. L.), Morphology of Mammalian Tonsil, 389 

Hevesy (Dr. G. von), Radio-active Elements as Indicators, 
332; (and Dr. Paneth), Chemistry of Radio-active 
Elements, 699 

Hewlett (Prof. R. T.), Household Bacteriology, Estelle D. 
Buchanan and Prof. R. E. Buchanan, 28; Spontaneous 
Generation, Dr. H. C. Bastian, F.R.S., 579 

Hezlet (Captain R. K.), Nomography, 195 

Hill (Dr. A. C.), Reversibility of Ferment Action, 479 

Hill (Prof. L., F.R.S.), Katathermometer, 463; (and Dr. 
McQueen), Pulse and Resonance of Tissues, 463 

Hinks (A. R., F.R.S.), Maps and Survey, v 

Hissey (J. J.), a Leisurely Tour in England, 498 

Ho (H.) and S. Koto, an Electrostatic Oscillograph, 335 

Hobhouse (Prof. L. T.), Development and Purpose, 2 

Hobson (Prof. E. W.) and Prof. A. E. H. Love, Proceed- 
ings of the Fifth International Congress of Mathe- 
maticians, 575 

Hodgkison (E. G.), Preliminary Geography, ix 

Hofler (Dr. Alois), Didaktik der Himmelskunde, 130 

Hogner (P.), J. Eck, Light, Radiation, and Illumination, 

8 


4 : 
Holdich (Sir T. H., K:C.M.G.), Geodetic Observations and 
their Value: R.S.A. Address, 464 
Holt (Dr. A.), Solubility of Gases in Metals, 333 


x 


Holtz +(F.19%2)) 
Geography, ix 

Hooker (A. H.), Chloride of Lime in Sanitation, 93 

Hopkins (F. Gowland, F.R.S.), Physiology: Address to 
Section I, British Association, 213 

Hopkinson (Sir A.) and others, the Modern University, 491 

Hopkinson (Prof. B.), Method of Measuring Pressure pro- 
duced in Detonation of High Explosives, 416 

Hopkinson (J.), Bibliography of the Tunicata, 288 

Horiguti (Y.), Evaporation of Water, 176 

Hornaday (Dr. W. T.), Our Vanishing Wild Life, 504 

Hornell (J.), the Chank Bangle Industry in India, 487 

Horwood (A. R.), Preservation of British Flora, 490 

Houbazer (M.), Utilisation of Blast-furnace Gases 
Metallurgy, 88 

Houstoun (Dr. R. A.), Mathematical Representation of a 
Light Pulse, 416 

Howard (Gabrielle L. C.), Tobacco in India, 

Howarth (O. J. R.), Commercial Geography 


Principles and Methods of Teaching 


in 


457 
of the World, 


471 
Howlett (Prof.), Psychology of Insects, 51 
Hoyt (W. F.), Manual of Qualitative Analysis, 
Combustion Methods, 446 
Hrdlitka (Ales) and others, Early Man in South America, 


Reagent and 


144 

Hubbard (Dr. A. J.), Fate of Empires, 396 

Hudson (O. F.), Changes in Alloys on Annealing, 333; 
(and Dr. G. D. Bengough), Iron and Steel: Text- 
book, 3 i 

Hudson (W. F. A.), Handbook of Forestry, 289 

Huene (Prof. F. von), New Phytosaur, 514 

Hughes and Hurst (Messrs.), Water and Cotton Cultiva- 
tion, 722 

Hume (Miss M.), Histology of Leptoids in a Moss, 488 

Humfrey (Mr.), Intercrystalline Cohesion of Metals, 179 

Hummel (Prof. W. G. and Bertha R.), Materials and 
Methods in High School Agriculture, 658 

Humphreys (Prof. W. J.), Origin of Climatic Changes, 479; 
Holes in the Air, 293 

Hurry (Dr. J. B.), Ideals and Organisation. of a Medical 
Society, 422 

Hurst (Major C. C.), Genetics, 490 

Hurst (H. E.), the Nile Flood of 1913, 424 

Hiirthle (Prof.), Rhythmic Contraction of the Arteries, 63 

Hutchinson (A.) and A. M. MacGregor, a Crystalline Basic 
Copper Phosphate from Rhodesia, 364 

Hutchinson (Dr.) and Mr. McLennan, Partial Sterilisation 
of Soil with Quicklime, 515 

Huxley (Leonard), Scott’s Last Expedition, 373 


Idrac (P.), Vol plané, 285 

Illing (V. C.), Stockingford Shales, 360 

Imms (Dr. A. D.), Phromnia marginella in India, 704 

Ingersoll (Prof. L. R.) and O. J. Zobel, Introduction to 
the Mathematical Theory of Heat Conduction, 265 

Iredale (T.), Birds of the Kermadec Islands, 304 


Jack (Messrs.), the People’s Books, gor 

Jackson (L. C.) and others, Electrical Conductivity of Milk 
in Concentration, 573 

Jacobi (Dr. A.), Mimikry und Verwandte Erscheinungen, 
653 

Jacot (E.), Reflection of X-Rays, 423 

Javillier (M.), Effects of Zinc in Glass Vessels, 599; (and 
Mme. Tchernoroutsky), Comparative Influence of Zinc, 
&c., on Growth of Hypomycetes, 496 

Jeans (J. H.), Radiation, 305; Gravitational Instability and 
the Nebular Hypothesis, 416 

Jellinek (Dr. Karl), Physikalische Chemie der Gasreak- 
tionen, 419 

Johnson (G. E.), Eelworms, 385 

Johnson (J. P.), Stone Implements of the Tasmanians, 320 

Johnson (Prof. T.), Stalked Leaf of a Ginkgophyllum, 495; 
Bothrodendron kiltorkense, 599; Fouling of a Water 
Supply by Oscillatoria and its Purification, 704 

Johnson (W. H.), Elementary Tropical Agriculture, 229 

Johnston (Sir H. H., G.C.M.G., K.C.B.), the Plumage 
Bill, 428, 501 


Index 


Si ee ee eee 


8 ; f 
hageleye (Baron de), Metallurgy of Iron in Belgium, 88 


[ Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


Johnston-Lavis (Dr. H. J.), Systems of Rays on the Moon’s 
Surface, 631; Zonal Structuge in Colloids, 687 

Jolly (W. A.), Interpretation of the Electrocardiogram, 258° 

Joly (Prof. J., F.R.S.), Deep-sea Hydraulic Engine, 705 ;_ 
(and J. R. Cotter), End-product of Thorium, 632, 661 

Jones (Prof. H. C.), Physical Chemistry of Solutions, 461 

Jones (H. O.), Memorial, 519 , 

Jones (W. N.), Anthocyan Formation, 489 

Jordan (Dr. D. S.), the American University 
Birkbeck College, 363 : 

Joseph (L.), the Plumage Bill, 501 

Jowett (Dr. A.), Glacial Geology of East Lancashire, 678 

Judd (Prof. J. W., C.B., F.R.S.), at the Bottom of the 
Crater of Vesuvius, 633 

Jungfleisch (E.), Acid Salts of Dibasic Acids, 730 


: Lecture at 


Kahlenberg and Hart (Profs.), Chemistry and its Relations 
to Daily Life, 628 ; 

Kale (Prof. Vaman G.), Indian Administration, 711 

Kapp (Prof. Gisbert), Engineering : 
Address, 184 

Kapteyn (Prof. J. C.), Structure of the Universe, 434 

Kay (H.), Stream-courses of the Black Country, 358 

Kearton (R.), C. Kearton, British Birds’ Nests, 504 

Keeling (B. F. E.), Precision of Field Latitudes in Egypt, 

8 


43 
Keen (B. A.) and A. W. Porter, Diffraction of Light by 
Particles, 416 
Keibel (Prof. Dr.), Honorary Degree at Birmingham, 67 
Keith (Prof. A., F.R.S.), Piltdown Skull and Brain Cast, 
197, 292, 345; Reconstruction of Human Fossil Skulls, 


24 

Keltie (Dr. J. Scott) and O. J. R. Howarth, History of 
Geography, ix 

Kelvin (Lord), the Glasgow Memorial to, 200; Presentation 
of Bust of, 303 . 

Kemp (S. W.), Stomatopoda, 483 

Kent (Prof. A. F. S.), Nervo-muscular Structures in the 
Heart, 390 F 

Kessner (A.), Drill Test for Machining Properties of Steel, 
179 

Kidder (Miss Anna R.), Orbit of Comet 1913e (Zinner), 354 

Kidston (Dr. F.), Fossil Flora of South Staffordshire, 442 

Kiebitz (F.), Refraction of Electric Waves in the Atmo- 
sphere, 615 

Kilroe (J. R.) and T. Hallissy, Geology: Clare Island 
Survey, 678 5 

King (Prof. A. S.), Spectra by the Tube-arc, 302 

Klotz (Dr. O.), the Undagraph, 9 

Knecht (Prof. Ed.) and Miss E. 
from Soot, 442 

Knott (Dr. C. G.), Physics : an Elementary Text-book, 398 

Knowles (Miss M. C.), Maritime Lichens of Howth, 142 

Knuth (Dr. R.), Geraniacez, 163 

Kossowicz (Prof. Dr. A.), Einfiihrung in die Agrikultur- 
mycologie, 130 , 

Krause (Dr. K.), Goodeniaceze und Brunoniacez, 162 

Kremann (Prof. R.), H. E. Potts, Dr. A. Mond, Applica- 
tion of Physico-chemical Theory, 628 ‘ 

Kiister (Prof. E.), Zonenbildung in kolloidalen Medien, 532 

Kyle (Dr. M. G 
Biblical Criticism, 658 


* 
Hibbert, Products isolated 


Lacchini (G. B.), Light Curve of o Ceti, 240 = 

Lamborn (W. A.), West African Wasp, 386 

Lanchester (F. W.), Internal-combustion 
Railways, 542 

Lang (Andrew), Origin of Exogamy and Totemism, 83 

Langley (Prof. S. P.) and Aviation, 718 ‘ 

Lankester (Sir E. Ray, K.C.B., F.R.S.), Copley Medal 
o5; Fractured Flints from Selsey, 452; Alexande 
gassiz, Millionaire and Naturalist, 601 

La Porte (F.), Brittany Coast-line, 442 

Larmor (Sir J., F-R.S.), Lightning, 307 

Laurie (Prof. A. P.), Scientific Methods of Identifyin 
Pictures, 558 

Laurie (R. D.), 


Engines fo 


Bionomics of Amphidinium operculatum 


British Association 


.), Deciding Voice of the Monuments in | 


Nature, ] 
March 26; 1914 


= 


-Laveran (A.), Infection of Mouse and Rat by Flagelle, 
336; Kala-azar, 390; 
Debab, 599; Natural Infection of Rat and Mouse 
through Fleas, 731 

Lawes Centenary, 562 

Lawrence (Sir Trevor, Bart.), Obituary, 506 

Lea (A. M.), Revision of the Australian Curculionide, 225 

Le Dantec (F.), Contre la Métaphysique, 263 

_ Lee (A. B.), the Microtomist’s Vade-Mecum, 290 

Lee (J. Whitbread), awarded Sylvester Medal by R.S., 405 

Leeds es T.), Archzology of the Anglo-Saxon Settlements, 

. 3 

Léger and Duboscq (MM.), Porospora, 106 

Leidy (Prof. J.), Biography, 175 

Lépine (R.) and M.- Boulud, Origin of Sugar secreted in 
Phlorizic Glycosuria, 224 ; 

Lewes (Prof. V. B.) and J. S. S. Brame, Service Chemistry, 
125 ; 

Lewin (K. R.) and C. H. Martin, Soil Protozoa, 632 

_ Lewis (Prof. J. Volney), Determinative Mineralogy, 550 

Lewis (T.), Magnifying Powers used for Double-stars, 354 

_ Lewkowitsch (Dr. H.), Specific Heats and the Periodic 
Law, 661 

Lewkowitsch (Dr. J.), Obituary, 104 ; Chemical Technology 
and Analysis of Oils, Fats, and Waxes, 449 

Lindemann (Dr. F. A.), Atomic Models and X-Ray Spectra, 

; 500, 630 

Lippmann (G.), Regulating Telescopes for Autocollimation, 


599 
Lister (Lord), his Life and Work, Dr. G. T. Wrench, Dr. 
C. J. Martin, F.R.S., 523; Memorial Tablet at King’s 
q College, London, sys 
_ Liverseege (J. F.) and A. W. Knapp, Action of Natural 
i Water on Lead, 331 
_ Lloyd (Miss D. Jordan), Influence of Osmotic Pressure on 
Regeneration of Gunda, 385; Influence of Position of 
i Cut on Regeneration in Gunda ulvae, 729 
_ Lodge (Sir Oliver J., F.R.S.), Continuity : British Associa- 
4 tion Inaugural Address at Birmingham, 33, 606; 
Spelling Reform, 491; Aristotle’s Physics, 606; Atomic 
Models and X-Ray Spectra, 609 
Loeffler and others (Drs.), Bacteriology of Diphtheria, 370 
Logan (A.), Principles and Practice of School Gardening, 
60. 


Longstaff (Jane) and others, Mollusca from Sudan, 468 

Lorentz (Prof. H. A.), Honorary Degree at Birmingham, 
67; Relation between Entropy and Probability, 305 ; 
Radiation, 306 

Lotbiniére (Major Joly de), Forestry, 508 

Lowe (Percy R.), Our Common Sea-birds, 688 

_ Lowell (Prof. P.), Planetary Observations, 643 

Lowry (Dr.), Rotatory Dispersion, 330 

Lucas-Championniére (Dr. Just), Obituary, 271 

Lugaro (Prof. E.), Drs. D. Orr and R. G. Rows, Modern 

Problems in Psychiatry, 231 

Lukach (H. C.), the Fringe of the East, 234 

Luquet (Prof. G, H.), Rock Carvings at Gavr’inis, 141 

Lyde (Prof. L. W.), Continent of Europe, 709 

Lydekker (R., F.R.S.), Catalogue of Ungulate Mammals in 
the British Museum, 288 

Lyons (Capt. H. G., F.R.S.), Terms used in Triangulation, 

8 : 


J] 


43 
Lyster (A. G.), Port Authorities, 328 
Lyth (E. R.), Influence of Thermal Environment on Cir- 
culation, 577 


McAlpine (D.), Fungus Diseases of Potato in Australia, 27 

Macaulay (W. H.), Laws of Thermodynamics, 265 

McBride (Prof. E. W., F.R.S.), Philosophy of Vitalism, 
291, 400; Studies in Heredity, 334 

McClelland (E. H.), Smoke and Smoke Prevention, 699 

_ McConachie (W.), In the Lap of the Lammermoors, 340 

Macdonald (Prof. H. M.), Transmission of Electric Waves 

: along the Earth’s Surface, 703 

McDougall (Mr.), Laughter, 516 

Macfarlane (Dr. A.), Obituary, 103 

Mack (Amy E.), Bush Days, 162 

_ Mackenzie (K. J. J.), Stock-breeding, the Free-martin, 462 

Mackinnon (Miss _ Doris), Flagellate Protozoa on the 

Common Leather-jacket, 563-4 


Lndex 


Trypanosoma soudanense and | McLennan (Prof. 


Xl 


McLaren (Prof. G. B.), Theory of Radiation, 165, 233 

J. C.), Residual Ionisation in Gases, 424 

MacMunn (N. E.), Upper Thames Country and Severn- 
Avon Plain, 498 

McPherson (Prof. W.) and Prof. W. E. Henderson, a 
Course in General Chemistry, 446 

Macturk (G. W. B.), the Elephant Trench at Dewlish, 166 

Magrini (S.), History of the Theory of Magnetism, 164 

Maiden (J. H.), the Genus Eucalyptus, 12 

Major (A. F.), Early Wars of Wessex, 499 

Mallock (A., F.R.S.), Intermittent Vision, 494; Weather 
Forecasts in England, 711 

Mann (H. H.) and S. R. Paranjpye, Intermittent Springs 
at Rajapur, 705 

Marchal (P.), Acclimatisation of 
France, 258 

Marchis (L.), le Froid industriel, 134 

Marloth (R.), Pollination of Encephalartos altensteinii, 2593 
New Mimicry Plant, 391 

Marsden (E.) and R. H. Wilson, Branch Product in 
Actinium C, 29 

Marsh (H. W.), Mathematics Work-book, 552 

Marshall (Prof. C. R.), Pharmacological Action of Tetra- 
alkyl-ammonium Compounds, 442, 520 

Marshall (Prof. Hugh, F.R.S.), Obituary, 138 

Marshall (P.), Model Engineer Exhibition, 203 

Martel (E. A.), Experiments with Fluorescein at great 
Distances, 442 

Martin (C. H.) and K. Lewin, Soil Protozoa, 677 

Martin (Dr. C. J. Martin, F.R.S.), Lord Lister: his Life 
and Work, 523 

Martin (L. C.), New Spectrum, 86 

Martin (M. E.), the Ways of the Planets, 420 

Mason (A. W.), Systematic Course of Practical Science, 


Novius cardinalis in 


73 

Masses (I.), Electrodeless Spectra of Hydrogen, 503 

Masterman (Canon), Moral Effects of History, 542 

Matthew (Dr. W. D.), New Zalamdodont Mammal: from 
New Mexico, 106; Origin of Argentine Wild Horses, 
661 

Matthews (E. R.), Coast Erosion and Protection, 164; 
Harbour Projections, 543 

Mawson Expedition, 48 

Maxwell (Sir H.), Artificial Flies, 562 

Mazé (P.) and others, Lime Chlorosis of Green Plants, 192 

Meachem (F. G.), Coal Output of the Midlands, 358 

Mee (Arthur), Harmsworth Popular Science, 230 

Meek (A. S.), a Naturalist in Cannibal Land, 234 

Meinardus (Prof. W.), National Antarctic Expedition, 
1901-4, M. W. Campbell Hepworth, C.B., 393 

Meldola (Prof. R., F.R.S.), Davy Medal, 40s; 
Russel Wallace Memorials, 425 

Mellor (Dr. J. W.), Quantitative Inorganic Analysis, vi 

Merck’s Report, 410 

Meredith (Mrs.), on Suggestion as an Educative Means, 491 

Merriam (Dr. J. C.), New Race of Tapir, 514 

Merrill (P. W.), Spectrum of a Wolf-Rayet Star, 108; 
Stellar Classification, 354; Bright Hydrogen Lines in 
Stellar Spectra and P Cygni, 540 

Merton (T. R.), a Second Spectrum of Neon, 495 

Metcalf (Dr.), Discovery of a Comet, 52 

Meteorological Office: the Observer’s Handbook, 629 

Methuen (P. A.) and J. Hewitt, Anatomy of the Chameleon, 

8 


Alfred 


2 

Meyer (E. v.) and others, Chemie: Allgemeine Kristallo- 
graphie und Mineralogie, 446 

Meyer (S.), Life of Uranium and Radium, 699 

Michelson (Prof. A. A.), Harmonic Analyser applied to the 
Sun-spot Cycle, 411 

Mill (Dr. H. R.), C. Salter, British Rainfall, 1912, 60 

Millikan (Prof.), Elementary Electric Charge, 458 

Mills (Dr. W. H.) and Miss Bain, Experiments to show 
that the Three Valencies of the Nitrogen Atom are not 
in One Plane, 723-4 

Milne (Prof. J., F.R.S.), Bequests, 48 

Minakata’ (Kumagusu), Trepanning 
Peoples, 556 

Minchin (Prof. E. A.), Sleeping Sickness, 384 

Mitchell (Dr. C.), Zoological Gardens, 432 

Mitchell (Prof. S. A.), Wave-lengths of Chromospheric 
Lines, 643 


amongst Ancient 


xil 


pul ey S. Weir), Obituary by Sir L. Brunton, Bart., 

KS.) 534 

Mitford (E. Bruce), Japan’s Inheritance, 367 

Moir (J. Reid), Striation of Flint Surfaces, 363; Flints 
found near Ipswich, 483 

Molinari (Dr. E.), IT. H. Pope, Treatise on General and 
Industrial Organic Chemistry, 446 

Monchicourt (Dr. Ch.), La Région du Haut Tell en 
Tunisie, 471 

Mond (R.), Unsterilised Milk for Infants, 537 

crag ae mapiiaey F. C. Cooper, Pedagogical Anthropo- 
ogy, ili 

Montgomery (J. A.),. Aramaic Incantation Bowls from 
Nippur, 105 

Moore (Prof. B., F.R.S.), Synthesis of Organic Matter by 
Colloids and the Origin of Life, 462 { 

Moore (Clarence B.), Aboriginal Sites on Red River, 18 

Moreau (G.), Couples of Two Flames, 442 

Morecroft (Prof. J. H.), Laboratory Manual of Alternating 
Currents, 126 

Moreux (the Abbé T.), a Day in the Moon, 422 

Morgan (Prof. C. Lloyd, F.R.S.), Instinct and Experience, 
627 . 

Moritz (F.), les Moteurs Thermiques, 95 

Moseley (H.), Atomic Models and X-Ray Spectra, 553 

Mossman (R. C.), Southern Hemisphere Seasonal Correla- 
tions, 17, 300, 538, 669; (and C. Salter), Great Rain 
Storm at Doncaster, September 17, 1913, 520 

Mott (Dr. F. W., F.R.S.), Biochemistry of Neurone, 463 

Moureu and André (MM.), Thermochemistry of Acetylene 
Compounds, 390 

Miihlberg (C. H.), Black Fox Breeding, 614 

Muschler (Dr. Reno), Manual Flora of Egypt, 162 

Myers (Dr.), Sound Localisation, 517 

Myres (Prof. J. L.), Archzeology of Cyprus, 414 


Napier Tercentenary, 639 
Nathorst (Prof. A. G.), Palzobotanical Institute at Kew, 


502 

Navas (Rev. R. P. L., S.J.), Ascalephides, 180 

Nettleship (Edward, F.R.S.), Obituary, 297 

Nettleton (H. R.), Thermal Conductivity of Mercury, 390 

Newbigin OS Marion I.), Animal Geography, 471 

Newman (Prof. H. H.), Polyembryonic Development in 
Armadillos, 142 

Newth (H. G.), Hybrid Larve of Echinus, 98 

Nicholas (T. C.), Geology of St. Tudwal’s Peninsula, 624 

Nicholson (F.), the old Manchester Natural History Society, 


335 

Nicholson (Prof. J. W.), Theory of Radiation, 199; Atomic 
Models and X-Ray Spectra, 583, 630 

Nicloux (M.), Absorption of Carbon Monoxide by Blood, 
521, 679 

Nicolle (C.) and L. Blaizot, an Atoxic Antigonococcic 
Vaccine, 224 

Nipher (Prof. F. E.), Variations in the Earth’s Magnetic 
Field, 240 

Nitchie (E. B.), Lip-reading, 422 

Noguchi (Prof.), Infective Diseases, 295 

Nordenskjéld (Otto), G. Parmentier and M. Zimmermann, 
le Monde Polaire, 164 

Nutting (P. G.), Light Energy Required to Produce the 
Photographic Latent Image, 293; Kathode Spectrum of 
Helium, 401 


Oakenfull (J. C.), Brazil in 1912, 4 

Oates (Captain L. E. G.), Memorial Tablet, 324 

Ogden (Prof. R. M.), Localisation of Visual Images, 517 

Oka (Dr. A.), Remarkable new Ascidian, 640 

O’Kane (Prof. W.), Injurious Insects, viii 

Oldham (R. D., F.R.S.), Constitution of Earth’s Interior 
as revealed by Earthquakes, 684; Effect of Gangetic 
Alluvium on Plumb Line in India, 703 

Oliver (Prof. F. W.), Suaeda fruticosa for Checking 
Shingle, 489 

Ollive (M. F.), Formula for Planetary Satellites, 724 

Omond (Dr. R. T.), Obituary, by Dr. C. J. Knott, 638 

O'Neill (H. C.), New Encyclopzedia, 266 

Orton (J. H.), Habitats of a Marine Amoeba, 371, 606 


Index 


[ Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


Osborn (Prof. H. F.), Skulls of Ungulates from Lower 
Eocene of Wyoming, 514 © , 
Owen (D.), Recent Physical Research, 422 t 
Owen (E. A.) and G. G, Blake, X-Rays and Metallic 
Crystals, 686 
Owens (Dr. J. S.), Atmospheric Pollution Gauge, 437; 
Apparatus for Exploring Sandy River Beds, 543 


Paget (S.), Prof. Noguchi’s Researches on Infective 
Diseases, 295 a 

Painlevé (Prof. P.) and others, l’Aviation, 28 

Palmer (R. a Auditory Ossicles, 204 . 

Palmer (W. E.), Azolla in Norfolk, 233 

Parker (Prof. W. N.), Spongilla lacustris in Cardiff Water- 
works, 416 

Parmelee (Dr. M.), Science of Human Behaviour, 396 

Parsons (Dr. J. H.), on Edward Nettleship, F.R.S., 297 

Partington (J. R.), Text-book of Thermodynamics (with 
special reference to Chemistry), 265 

Pascal (P.), Density of Liquid Metals, 730 

Pascher (Prof. A.), die Siisswasser-Flora Deutschlands, 60 

Pascoe (E. H.), Oil-fields of Burma, 9 

Patterson (Dr. T. S.), Optical Rotation, 330 

Pavlov (Prof.), Conditional Reflexes, 63 

Pear (T. H.), Fatigue from Loss of Sleep, 542 ’ 

Pearson (Prof. K., F.R.S.), the Eugenics Education Society, 
606; (and E. Nettleship, F.R.S., and C, H. Usher), 
Albinism in Man, 717 : 

Pease (J. A.), Education, 309, 310; University Education in 
London, 356 

Peek (F. W.), Dielectric Circuit, 593 

Peet (Mr.), Neolithic Monuments in Malta, 527 

Pendry (H. W.), Baudét Printing Telegraph System, 126 

Perrotin (H.), New Hill Observatory, 383 

Perry (Prof. J., F.R.S.), “Atmospherics” in Wireless 
Telegraphy, 528 

Pethybridge (Dr. G. H.), Phytophthora erythroseptica and 
Potato Disease, 598 

Petrie (Dr. J. M.), Hydrocyanic Acid in Plants, 469; 
Occurrence of Strychnicine, 547 

Philip (Messrs. G., and Son, Ltd.), Orrery, 615 

Philippson (A.), das Mittelmeergebiet, ix 

Phillips (D. J.), Curious Ice Formation, 632 

Phillips (F. S.), Phosphorescence of Mercury Vapour, 401 

Phillips (W. B.), Iron Making in Alabama, 3 

Piaggio (H.), Projective Geometry, 607 

Pickard (J. A.), Oxygen in Steel, 179 

Pickard (Dr. R. H.) and J. Kenyon, Rotatory Powers and 
Dispersions, 330; Optical Rotatory Power in Homo- 
logous Series, 539 

Pickering (Prof. E. C.), Study of the Stars: Address, 673 

Pickering (S., F.R.S.), Pianoforte Touch, 425 

Pickering (Prof. W. H.), Change in Lunar Crater Eimmart, | 


Pieter ‘and Bouvier (MM.), Distillation of Coal under 
Reduced Pressure, 336; Vacuum Tar, 521 

Pitt (St.G. L. F.), the Purpose of Education, 578 

Planck (Dr. Max), Vorlesungen tiber die Theorie der 
Warmestrahlung, 261; (R. Chevassus), Legons de 
Thermodynamique, 265 

Plant (C. H.), Systems of Rays on the Moon’s Surface, 
556; Origin of Structures on the Moon, 714 ; 

Plummer (H. C.), Use of Conjugate Functions in Dynamics, 


678 

Peete (R. J.), Indian Chronography, R. Sewell, 159 

Poebel (Dr. A.), Clay Tablets from Nippur, 83 

Porritt (B. D.), Chemistry of Rubber, 524 : 

Porter (Prof. A. W.) and Dr. Edridge-Green, Negative 
After-images with Spectral Colours, 363 

Post (Prof. J.) and Prof. B. Neumann, G. Chenu et M. 
Pellet, Traité Complet d’Analyse Chimique Appliquée 
aux Essais Industriels, 262 Z 

Poulton (Prof. E. B., F.R.S.), Mimicry, 387; Alfred Russel 
Wallace Memorials, 425; Remarkable Anticipation of © 
Darwin, 588; Darwinian Theory of Atolls, 712 - 

Poulton (Miss E. M.), Fungi, 489 | 

Powell (G. H.), Cooperation in Agriculture, 229 

Power (F. D.), Pocket-book for Miners and Metallurgists, © 


684 


Nature, 
March 26, 1914. 


Poynting (Prof.), Twisting of India-rubber, 308 
_ Preece (Sir William Henry, K.C.B., F.R.S.), Obituary, 322 
_ Preston (H. B.), Molluscs of Lake of Tiberias, 443 
Price (E. D.) and Dr. H. T. Peck, British Empire 
Universities Modern English Illustrated Dictionary, 449 
Prideaux (Dr.), Hydrogen Ion Concentration of the Sea, 332 
Priestley (R.), the Northern Party on Scott’s Expedition, 


: 325 ; 

Prior (Dr. G. T.), the Meteoric Stone of Wittekrantz, 364; 

Similarity in Composition of Chondritic Meteoric 

Stones, 364 

Punnett (Prof.), Theory of Mimicry, 300 

Purington (C. W.), Bereozovsk Gold Deposits in Urals, 678 

Pycraft (W. P.), Infancy of Animals, viii 

Pye (Messrs., and Co.), New Instrument Works at Cam- 
bridge, 205 

Pyle (Dr. W. H.), Examination of School Children, 711 


_ Ramaley (Prof. F.) and Dr. C. E. Giffin, Prevention and 
; Control of Disease, 193 
| Rambaut (Dr. A. A., F.R.S.), Remarkable Meteor on 
November 24, 372, 402 
Rambousek (Dr. J.), Dr. T. M. Legge, Industrial Poison- 
3 ing, 628 : 
Ramsay (L. N. G.), Antarctic Polycheta of Family 
Nereidz, 521 
Ramsay (Sir Wm., K.C.B., F.R.S.), the International 
Association of Chemical Societies, 453; Spelling 
Reform, 491; Aristotle’s Physics, 606 
_ Rattray (R. S.), Hausa Folk-lore, 159 
_ Rawson (Col. H. E.), Flowers under Insolation, 490 
| Ray (S. H.), the Peopling of Melanesia, Dr. G. Friederici, 
; 471 
Rayleigh (Baron, O.M., F.R.S.), Scientific. Papers, ey 
Reflection of Light at the Confines of a Diffusing 
Medium, 450; Pressure of Radiation and Carnot’s 
; Principle, 527 
| Read (Prof. C.), Belief in Immature Minds, 517 
| Read (Sir C. H.), Bactrian Bronze Axe, 721 
_ Reboul (G.), Selective Action of Metals in Photo-electric 
13 Effect, 731 
Recknagel (Prof. A. B.), Theory and Practice of Working 
Plans (Forest Organisation), 289 
Rector (Dr. F. L.), Underground Waters for Commercial 
Purposes, 474 
_ Reed (W. W.), Dr. J. F. Thorpe’s “Caged” Compound, 
529 
Regan (C. Tate), Cyprinodont Fishes, 416; a Bathypelagic 
Angler-fish containing a Scopeloid Fish, 650 
_ Reid (C., F.R.S.), the Elephant Trench at Dewlish, 96 
_ Reid (G. A.), Physiological Factors of Consciousness, 6 
Reid (T.), Flow of Solids, 543 
Reinke (Prof. J.), Nature of Life, 489 
Reissner (Prof. H.), Aéroplane Stresses, 697 
‘Rendle (Dr. A. B., F.R.S.), Plant Protection, 139 
Reynolds (J. H.), Educational Legislation in New South 
Wales, 663 
Richardson (Prof. O. W.), Origin of Thermal Ionisation 
from Carbon, 649 
Richet (C.), New Type of Anaphylaxis, 678; (J. M. Bligh), 
Anaphylaxis, iv 
Richter (V. v.), Chemie der Kohlenstoffverbindungen oder 
organische Chemie, 262 
Rickmers (W. R.), the Duab of Turkestan, 64 
Righi (Prof.), Ionomagnetic Rotation, 142 
Rignano (E.), Essais de Synthése Scientifique, 263 
Rinne (Fr.) and others, Chemie: Kristallographie und 
Mineralogie, 446 
Rintoul (Leonora Jeffrey) and Evelyn V. Baxter, Scottish 
i Ornithology in 1912, 171 
Rivers (Dr.), Seasonal Customs, 413 
-Roaf (Dr. H. E.), Physiology at the British Association, 
_ 461-464 
‘Robb (Dr. A. A.), a Theory of Time and Space, 485 
Roberts (Dr. A. W.), Astronomy in South Africa, 435 
Roberts (C. G. D.), the Feet of the Furtive, 294 ; 
Roberts (G. H.), Engineering Research and its Coordina- 
tion, 268 
| Robertson (A.), Strength of Free-ended Strutts, 
- Robinson 
= 
1 
ye 


543 
(Dr.), Speech and Jaw Conformation, 413 


Index 


Xlii 


| Rolston (W. E.), Popular Astronomy, G. F. Chambers, 
Dr. Sarah F. Whiting, M. E. Martin, 420 

Romer (Ole), Adversaria, 434, 621 

Roscoe (Sic H.), Bust presented to the Chemical Society, 


377 

Rosenhain (Dr. W., F-.R.S.), 
Amorphous, 332; New Etchin 
594; (and D. Ewen), 
Metals, 

Ross (Sir Ronald, K.C.B., F.R.S.), Health in India, 454 

Roux (W.), Kausale und konditionale Weltanschauung, 4 

Rowe (J. E.), Fermat’s Theorem, 176 

Rowett (F. E.), Elastic Hysteresis in Steel, 495 

Royds (T.), Periodicities in Prominences and Sun-spots 
compared, 724 

Riibel (Dr. E.), Pflanzengeographische Monographie des 
Berminagebietes, 162; Plant Ecology, 615 

Rubner, v. Gruber, and Ficker (Profs.), Handbuch der 
Hygiene, 629 

Rudge (Prof. W. A. D.), 
Coal Mines, 660 

Russell (Arthur), Minerals of Meldon, Devon, 364 

Rutherford (Prof. E., F.R.S., Structure of the Atom, 305, 
423, 546; International Conference on the Structure of 
Matter, 347; British Radium Standard, 402; (and Dr. 
Andrade), Reflection of Gamma Rays from Crystals, 
267 


Metals, Crystalline and 
g Reagent for Steel, 529, 
Intercrystalline Cohesion of 


a Possible Cause of Explosion in 


Sabatier (Paul), la Catalyse en Chimie Organique, 655; 
(and M. Murat), Benzhydrol, 546; Preparation by 
Catalysis of Decahydroquinoline, &c., 679 

St. John (C. E.), Radial Velocities in Sun-spots, 123; 
Solar Results at Mt. Wilson, 307; Distribution of 
Elements in Solar Atmosphere, 486; (and L. W. Ware), 
Tertiary Standards with the Plane Grating, 512 

Saleeby (Dr. C. W.), Cancer and Malaria, 61 

Salmon (C. E.), Hypericum desetangsii in Britain, 546 

Salter (Dr. J. H.), Bird Life throughout the Year, 688 

Sarasola (Rev. S., S.J.), Solar Activity and Cyclones, 329 

Sargant (Miss Ethel), Botany: Opening Address to Section 
K, British Association, 242 

Scheid (Dr. K.), Methodik des chemischen Unterrichts, 287 

Scheumann (K. H.), Rocks of the Polzen District in 
N. Bohemia, 196 

Schlesinger (Dr. F.), Radial Velocities with the Objective 
Prism, 329 

Schmidt (Prof. G.), Passivity of Metals, 356 

Schmidt (Joh.), Oceanography of the Mediterranean, 10 

Schmidt (P.), Death-feigning Stick Insects, 145 

Schneider-Orelli (O.), Bark-beetle Xyleborus dispar, 50 

Schoch (Prof. E.), Passivity of Metals, 356 

Schoy (Dr. Carl), Arabische Gnomonik, 231 


Schreiner (O.) and B. E. Brown, Carbonised Material in 


Soils, 560; (and J. J. Skinner), Nitrogenous Soil Con- 
stituents, 560 

Schréder (Prof. C.), Handbuch der Entomologie, 683 

Schuster (Edgar), Eugenics Education Society, 660 

Schwahm (Dr. P.), “Gesellschaft Urania” of Berlin, 99 

Scorer (A. G.), Entomologist’s Log-book, and Dictionary 
of Life Histories and Food Plants of British Macro- 
Lepidoptera, 683 

Scott (Dr. D. H.), Medullosa pusilla, 390; (and Prof. E. C. 
Jeffrey), Fossil Plants from Devonian Strata, 488 

Scott (Captain R. F., R.N., C.V.O.), 325; Last Expedi- 
tion, 373; Journals in British Museum, 590; Foreign 
Tributes to, 666 

Scott (Dr. T. and Andrew), British Parasitic Copepoda, 193 

Scully (G. C.) and A. R. E. Walker, Spodumene from 
Namaqualand, 123 

Searle (Dr. G. F. C.), Comparison of Electrical Resist- 
ances, 468 

Sedgwick (Lieut.-Col. W.), Man and his Future: 
the Anglo-Saxon, 396 

Sewell (R.), Indian Chronography, 159 

Shackleton (Sir E.), Transantarctic Expedition, 533, 666 


Part ii, 


Shakespear (Dr. G. A.), Stability of Aéroplanes, 165; 
Method for Increasing Sensitiveness of. Instruments, 
308 an 

Shapley (Dr. H.), Orbits of Eclipsing Binaries, 240 

Sharp (D., F.R.S.), Fauna of the Sandwich Islands, - rox 


xiv 


Shaw (A. N.) and Prof. H. L. Callendar, Electromotive 
Force of the Weston Normal Cell in Semi-absolute 
Volts, 495 

Shaw (J. J.), a Seismograph, 308, 437 

Shaw (Dr. P. E.), Electrical Measuring Machine, 593 

Shaw (Dr. W. N., F.R.S.), Structure of the Atmosphere, 
C. J. P. Cave, 57; Principia atmospherica, 520 

Shipley (Dr. A. E.), Guy A. K. Marshall, Fauna of British 
India, 683 

Shrubsall (Dr.), Fertility and Morbidity of Defective Stocks, 


517 
Silberstein (Dr. L.), Vectorial Mechanics, 657 
Simpson (Dr. G. C.), Atmospheric Electricity at Simla, 511 
Simpson (J.), a Recently Discovered Stone Circle near 
Matlock, 555 
Sisley and Porcher (MM.), 
Glands, 311 
Sleeper (G. W.), 


Elimination of Dyes. by Lacteal 


Evolution and Germ Theory of Disease 


_ (1849), 588 : ; 
Slipher (V. M.), Radial Velocity of Andromeda Nebula, 411 
Smart (E. H.), First Course in Projective Geometry, 657 


Smith (Miss E. M.), 
Smith (Major-General 
Physiology, 420 

Smith (F. E.), Absolute Measurements of Resistance, 495 

Smith (Geofrey), Metabolism of Crabs, 462 

Smith (Prof. G. Elliot, F.R.S.), Piltdown Human Skull 
and Brain Cast, 131, 267, 318, 545; Early Evolution 
of Amphibia, 387; Speech and Jaw Conformation, 413 ; 
the Dawn-man found near Piltdown, 468; Brain of 
Primitive Man: Piltdown Man, 729 

Smith (H. H.), Fermentation of Cacao, 628 

Smith (Prof. J. Russell), Industrial and Commercial 
Geography, 709 

Smith (Miss May), Rote Memory and Pure Memory, 517 

Smith (Reg. A.), Stone Implements of the Tasmanians, 373 

Smith (Dr. S. W. J.) and J. Guild, Thermomagnetic Study 
of the Eutectoid Transition Point of Carbon Steels, 703 

Smithells (Prof. A., F.R.S.), German School Chemistry, 
8 


Habit Formation in Guinea-pigs, 517 
F., C.B., C.M.G.), Veterinary 


207 

Soddy (F., F.R.S.), Technical Production and Utilisation 
of Cold, G. Claude, H. E. P. Cottrell, L. Marchis, 
134; Radio-active Elements and the Periodic Law, 331; 
Modern Physical Ideas and Researches, Dr Ss 
Campbell, E. Bauer, Mme. Curie, and others, Prof. 
R. W. Wood, 339; Radium Resources, 376; Intra- 
atomic Charge, 399; Structure of the Atom, 452 

Sollas (Igerna B. and Prof. W. J., S3)pathe 
Dicynodont Vomer, 61 

Sollas (Prof. W. J., F.R.S.), Huxley Lecture: Paviland 
Cave Remains, 351; Flints with Curved Keel, 358; 
Age of Tribes of S.E. Australia, 413; Fractured Flints 
from Selsey, 452 

Solomon (M.), New Electrical Books by Prof. H. Bohle, 
Dr. Allmand, W. R. Barclay, and C. H. Hainsworth, 
J. R. Barr and R. D. Archibald, Prof. J. H. Morecroft, 
K. Berger, P. Le Normand, H. W. Pendry, 126 

Solvay (E.), International Physical Institute, 347 

Sorensen (Prof.), Hydrogen Ion Concentration in Biological 
Processes, 462 

Southern (R.), Polycheta, 624 

Stackhouse (J. Foster), Plans of Antarctic Expedition, 

Staehling (C.), Separation of Radium D from Lead, 521 

Stahler (Dr. A.), Inorganische Chemie, 125 

Stannus (Dr. H. S.), Albinism, 563 

Stanton (Dr. T. E.) and J. R. Pannell, Similarity of 
Motion and Surface Friction of Fluids, 650 

Starch (Dr. D.), Experiments in Educational Psychology, 


667 


12 

Stark Mtpeof. J.), Observation of Separation of Spectral 
Lines by an Electric Field, 4or 

Starling (Prof. E. H.), awarded R.S. Royal Medal, 405 

Stebbing (Rev. T. R. R., F.R.S.), Biology of the Lake of 
Tiberias, 480 : 

Stein (Sir Aurel), New Expedition, 105 

Step (Ed.), Toadstools and Mushrooms of the Countryside, 
3973; Messmates, viii 

Stephens (Dr. J. W. W.), New Malarial Parasite of Man, 


729 : 
Stewart (Miss D. A.), Changes in Branchial Lamelle of 
Ligia oceanica, 335 


Index 


a 


Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


Stopes (Dr. Marie C.), Plant Petrifactions in Chert, 359; 
Palzobotany : Inaugural Lecture, 237, 360 ‘ 
Story (Prof. F.), German Forestty, 515 
Strutt (J. W.), see Rayleigh ; 
Strutt (Prof. Hon. R. J., F.R.S.), Attempts to observe 
Production of Neon or Helium by Electric Discharge, 
494; Active Nitrogen, 659 
Sullivan (M. X.) and F. R. Reid, Soil Catalysis, 560 
Sulzer-Diesel Locomotive, 85 
Suschkin (Prof. P. P.), Bird Fauna of the Minussinsk 
District, 303 
Sutton (J. R.), Barometric Variability at Kimberley, 391 
Svedberg (Prof. The), die Existenz der Molkule, 367 
Swaine (A. T.), the Earth: its Genesis and Evolution, 551 
Swann (Dr.), Resistances of Thin Metallic Films, 305 
Swarts (Prof. F.), Cours de Chimie Organique, 125 . 
Swift and Son (Messrs.), Microscope Stands and Objectives, — 


. 


329 
Swinton (Dr. A. A. C.), Wireless Telegraphy, 647 
Swithinbank (H.) and G. E. Bullen, Occurrence of 
Pilchards in the Eastern Half of the English Channel, 


452 : 
Sylvester (Clara E.), Revision of British Ordovician 
Brachiopoda, 359 : hee 
Szyszkowski (Dr. B. de), Influence of Sodium and Potas- — 
sium Chloride upon Distribution of Benzoic and 
Salicylic Acids, 332 


Taggart (W. S.), Cotton Spinning, 231 

Tait (Dr. J.), Blood Coagulation, 463; (and Miss Mac- 
naughton), Heart of Hedgehog, 463 

Talbot (Mr.), Open-hearth Steel Furnaces, 88 

Tancock (E. O.), Elements of Descriptive Astronomy, 475 

Tarleton (Dr. F. A.),, Introduction to the Mathematical 
Theory of Attraction, Vol. ii., 657 

Tavani (F.), New Theory of Series, 538 

Taylor (Miss), the Mite Eriophyes ribis, 516 

Taylor (Griffith), the Australian Federal Territory, 561 

Taylor (R. L.), Action of Bleaching Agents, 546 

Temple (Sir Richard C., Bart., C.I.E.), Anthropology . 
Address to Section H, British Association, 207 

Thacker (A. G.), Piltdown Skull, 299 

Thearle (Dr. S. J. P.), Obituary, 349 

Thienemann (Prof. J.), Jahresbericht 
Rossitten, 228 ; 

Thomas (B. F.) and D. A. Watt, Improvement of Rivers, 


der Vogelwarte 


525 

Thomas (H. H.), New Ginkgoalian Leaf, 488 

Thomas (H. H.) and W. C. Smith, Apparatus for Grinding 
Crystal Plates and Prisms, 703 

Thomson (G. S.), Dairying, vii 

Thomson (Prof. J. Arthur), the Threshold of Science—and 
Beyond, Prof. E. Brucker, Anon., W. McConachie, 340° 

Thomson (Sir Js J., O.M., F.R.S.), the Gas X, and 
Helium, 308; Rays of Positive Electricity and their 
Application to Chemical Analysis, 549 

Thorpe (Sir E.), the Seine, 234 

Thorpe (Dr. J. F.), “Caged” Compound, 529 

Tillyard (A. I.), History of University Reform, 707 

Tillyard (R. J.), Odonata of Tasmania and Bassian 
Isthmus, 547 

Tinkler (Dr.), Mixtures of Nitro Compounds and Amines 
coloured only in Liquid State, 330 

Tizard (Capt. T. H., C.B., BYERS); 
Visible Horizon, 96, 344 

Tod (M. N.), Greek Numerals, 266 = 

Tornquist (Prof. A.), Grundziige der geologischen Forma- 
tions- und Gebirgskunde, 550 

Torre (Prof. K. W. von ‘D.), Tirol, 
Liechtenstein, 471 

Trasenster (M.), Enrichment with Oxygen of a Blast 
Furnace, 88 

Trechmann (C. T.), Durham Magnesian Limestones, 729 

Trillat (A.), Influence of Surface Tension on Remoyal of 
Micro-organisms by Air, 547 

Trinda (Ivon), Experience Teaches, 578 

Tripp (Dr. E. H.), Science in Public Schools, 596 

Trist (S.), the Under Dog, 94 

Trojan (Dr. E.), the Arthropod Eye, 54 

Trouessart (Dr.), Argentine Horses, 435 


Distance of the 


Vorarlberg und 


Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


schugaeff (Prof. L.), Anomalous Rotatory Dispersion, 330 
Turner (Prof. T.), Volatility of Metals, 333 

‘Turner (Sir W.), Auditory Organ in Cetacea, 520 

Twort (F. W.) and G, L. Y. Ingram, Monograph on 
Johne’s Disease, 193 _ 


U mney (J. C.), Perfumery, 593 
Urich (F. W.), Sugar-cane Frog-hopper, 180 


Vaillant (P.), Polarisation Capacity of an Electrode, 495 
‘Vernon (R. D.), Correlation of Leicestershire Coalfield, 359 
Versluys (Dr.), Carapace of Leathery Turtle, 388; Con- 
vergence in Mammalia, 411 

Verworn (Prof. Max), Irritability, 577 

Very (F. W.), Earth’s Albedo, 486 

esterling Loose-leaf Book, 643 

Vries (Prof. Hugo de), Gruppenweise Artbildung, 395 


Waals (Dr. J. D. v. d.), Dr. Ph. Kohnstamm, Lehrbuch 
___ der Thermodynamik, 265 

Wace (A. J. B.) and M. S. 
4 Thessaly, 266 

Waddell (Prof. J.), Quantitative Analysis in Practice, 655 
Wadsworth (J. T.), Oviposition of a Fly on Centaurea, 386 
Wager (H. A.), Red-water Phenomenon due to Euglena, 96 
Waidner (C. W.) and others, Ocean Temperatures near 
, Icebergs, 414 

Walkden (S. L.), Aéroplanes in Gusts, 130, 268 

Walker (A. O.), Weather Fallacies, 433 

Walker (Dr. FE. W.), Relation of Organs to Body Weight, 


Thompson, Excavations in 


2 


463 

Walker (Prof. J., F.R.S.), Organic Chemistry for Students 
5 of Medicine, 655 
Walker (James), Aberration in a Dispersive Medium, 703 
Walker (J. J.), Clouded Yellow Butterflies, 180 
_ Walker-Tisdale (C. W.) and T. R. Robinson, Farm and 
_Creamery Butter-making and Student’s Reference 
| ___ Book, vii 
_ Wallace (Alfred Russel, O.M., F.R.S.), Obituary, 322, 

347; Memorials to, 425 
Wallis (B. C.), Relative Productivity of Farm Crops, 165 
_ Ward (F. Kingdon), the Land of the Blue Poppy: Eastern 
a Tibet, 167 
_ Wardle (R. A.), a Further Parasite of the Large Larch 
; Saw-fly, 320 
| Waterman (Miss E. Phoebe), Spectra of Class A Stars, 354 
'Waterston (Prof. David), the Piltdown Mandible, 319 
Watson (A. T.), Pectinaria koreni, 385 
_ Watson (D. M. S.), Early Evolution of Amphibia, 387 
- Watt (Dr. W. Marshall), Index of Spectra, 435 
_ Watt (W. R.), Geology round Huntly, 678 
_ Weaver (Dr. E. E.), Mind and Health, 2 
_ Weinstein (Dr. Max B.), Die Physilk der bewegten Materie 
ie und die Relativitatstheorie, 577 
Weiss (Prof. F. E.), Juvenile Flowering in Eucalyptus 
globulus, 335 

“Wellcome” Photographic Exposure Record and Diary, 


Xf 1914, 449 : 

West (Prof. G. S.), Microspora, 489; (and Miss Starkey), 
Zygnema ericetorum, 489 

Wheldale (M.) and H. L. Bassett, Chemical Interpretation 

ie of Mendelian Factors for Flower Colour, 623 

Whipple (R. S.), Modern Methods of Measuring Tempera- 

ji tures, 569 

_ White (H. L.), Collection of Australian Birds’ Eggs, 727 

White (J. W.), Flora of Bristol, 162 

_ White (Sir Wm. H., K.C.B.), Memorial, 430; Biographer's 

; Request for Letters, 639 


Lndex 


XV 


Whitehead (Dr. A. N., F.R.S.) and B. Russell, F.R.S., 
Principia Mathematica, 445 
Whitehouse (J. H., M.P.), a National System of Education, 


475 

Whitehouse (R. H.), Planarians of Lake of Tiberias, 443 

Whiting (Dr. Sarah F.), Daytime and Evening Exercises 
in Astronomy, 420 

Whitney (C.), the Flowing Road: Great Rivers of South 
America, 294 

Wieler (A.), Soil Fertility, 560 

Willows (Dr. R. S.), Text-bool: of Physics, 682 

Wills (L. J.) and W. C. Smith, Flora and Fauna of 
Warwickshire Upper Keuper Sandstones, 358 

Willstatter (Prof.) and L. Zechmeister, Quantitative Con- 
version of Cellulose into Dextrose by Cold, 107 

Wilson (Dr, E, A.) and others, Scott’s Last Antarctic 
Expedition, 373 

Wilson (Prof. E,. B.), Unification of Vector Notations, 177 

Wilson (Dr. E. T.), Long-barrow Men of Cotswolds, 591 

Wilson (Dr. H. M.) and Dr. H. T, Calvert, Trade Waste 
Waters, 91 

Wilson (K.), Moa Footprints, 304 

Winch (W. H.), Fatigue of Adolescents at Evening Schools, 


542 

Winterbotham (Capt.), Accuracy of Triangulation of 
Britain, 438, 713 

Witherby (H. F.), Bald Area in Rooks, 304 

Wohlgemuth (Prof. J.), Grundriss der Fermentmethoden, 


524 

Wollaston (A. F. R.), Journey in Dutch New Guinea, 668 

Wood (Dr. J. K.), Chemistry of Dyeing, 261 

Wood (Prof. R. W.), Resonance Spectra, 307; Physical 
Optics : Radiation of Electrons, 339 

Wood (Prof. T. B.), Agriculture: Address to Section M, 
British Association, 278 

Woodward (Horace B.), Obituary, 692 

Woodward (Dr. S.), Piltdown Skull, 110 

Woosnam (R. B.), Game and Disease in Africa, 722 

Workman (Dr. and Mrs. B.), Karakoram Himalayas, 380 

Wortham (Miss W. H.), Sand-dunes in Anglesea, 489 

Worthington (Prof. A. M.), Multiple Vision with a Single 
Eye, 328 

“Wratten and Wainwright Division,” Reproduction with 
Dry Plates, 723 

Wren (Dr. H.), Organometallic Compounds of Zinc and 
Magnesium, 261 

Wrench (Dr. G. T.), Lord Lister: his Life and Work, 523 

Wright (Dr. G. F.), Origin and Antiquity of Man, 160; 
Work of Natural Forces in Relation to Time, 346 

Wright (L. T.), Oxygen Content of Gases from Roasting 
Pyrites, 572 

Wright (M. E. S.), a Medley of Weather Lore, 398 

Wyatt (Mr.), Testimony of Children, 517 

Wynne (Prof. W. P., F.R.S.), Opening Address to 
Section B (Chemistry), British Association Birmingham 
Meeting, 73 


Yates (H. J.), Gas-fires, 331 

Yendo (Prof. K.), Cultivation of Sea-weeds in Japan, 598. 
Yerkes (Prof. R. M.), Introduction to Psychology, 129 
Young (A. E.), Practical Mathematics: First Year, 341 


Zeeman (Prof. P.), Researches in Magneto-optics : Magnetic 
Resolution of Spectrum Lines, 313 

Zinner (Dr.), New Comet, 276 : 

Zwanziger (Dr.), G. K. Gude, Animal Kingdom Illustrated, 


710 


NG 


Index 


Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


SUBJECT 


Aberration in a Dispersive Medium and Airy’s Experiment, 
J. Walker, 703 

Abrolhos Islands, 379, 715 ; 

Absorption: Selective Absorption of Ketones, Prof. Gace: 
Henderson and I. M. Heilbron, 495 

Acetylene Compounds, Thermochemistry of, MM. Moureu 
and André, 390 

Acid Salts of Dibasic Acids, E. Jungfleisch and P. Landrieu, 


739 
Actinians from British Columbia, Prof. J. P. McMurrich, 


41 

Mdvenating and Guanine, MM. Desgrez and Dorléans, 391 

Adversaria, Rémer’s, 621 

Advice to Youths, I. Trinda, 578 

Aérodynamics: Koutchino Institute Researches, 233 

Aéronautics: Reopening of Langley Laboratory, 107; 
Scientific Papers, Lord Rayleigh, O.M., F.R.S., 227; 
Prof. Langley and Aviation, 718; see Aéroplanes and 
Aviation 

Aéroplanes: Théorie de l’Aviation: Application a 1’Aéro- 
plane, R. Gaston, 130; Aéroplanes in Gusts, S.0L. 
Walkden, 130, 268; the Reviewer, 268, 381; Stability, 
Dr. G. A. Shakespear, 165; Vol plané, P. Idrac, 285; 
Mechanics of the Aéroplane, Capt. Duchéne, J. H. 
Ledeboer and T. O’B. Hubbard, 368; Flight to Height 
20,300 feet, 507; Automatic Aéroplane Controls, Prof. 
G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 609; Round-the-world Aéroplane 
Race from San Francisco, 1915, 639; Stresses and 
Strains, 697 

ZBthers, Physik des, P. Drude, Dr. W. Konig, 473 

Africa: Game and Disease, R. B. Woosnam, 722 

Agriculture: Relative Productivity of Farm Crops in 
Different Countries, B. C. Wallis, 165; the Board’s 
Order ve Horses, 175; Cooperation in Agriculture, 
G. H. Powell, 229; the Farmer of To-morrow, F. I. 
Anderson, 229; Animal Husbandry for Schools, Prof. 
M. W. Harper, 229; Elementary Tropical Agriculture, 
W. H. Johnson, 229; Agricultural Entomology at 
University of Manchester, Prof. S. J. Hickson, BSS, 
355; Agricultural Development Fund in North Wales, 
415; Royal Agricultural Society’s Meeting, 431; Death 
of Martin John Sutton, 456; U.S. Department’s new 

Journal, 458; Congress of Tropical Agriculture at 

Paris, 461; Journal of the South-Eastern Agricultural 

College, Wye, Kent, 487; Vegetation for Reclaiming 

Tidal Lands, G. O. Case, 578; Cultivation of Sea- 

weeds in Japan, Prof. Yendo, 598; Development Fund 

Grants, 649; Materials and Methods in High School 

Agriculture, Prof. W. G. Hummel and Bertha R. 

Hummel, 658; Dairying, G. S. Thomson, vii; Butter- 

making, C. W. Walker-Tisdale and_T. R. Robinson, 

vii; Injurious Insects, Prof. W. O’Kane, viii; see 

British Association and Soil 

Drying of Air before Liquefaction, G. Claude, 123; 

Measurement of Air Velocities, Pressures, and Volumes, 

W. Cramp, 650 . 

Alabama, Iron Making in, W. B. Phillips, 3 

Albinism in Nyasaland, Dr. H. S. Stannus, 563; Albinism 
in Man, K. Pearson, F.R.S., E. Nettleship, F.R.S., 
and C. H. Usher, 717 

Alchemical Society: the Hermetic Mystery, Mme. I. de 
Steiger, 
459; Doctrine of the First Matter, S. Abdul-Ali, 697 

Alcohol.in Beer: Malligand’s Ebullioscope, 
logical Effects of Alcohol, Prof. H. E. Armstrong, 670 

Alge, Rock-building, Prof. E. J. Garwood, F.R.S., 111 

Algebra: Elementary Algebra, C. Godfrey and A. 
Siddons, 195 


Air: 


353; Alchemy in China, Prof. H. Chatley, | 
670; Physio- | 


W. | 


INDEX. 


Allegheny Boundary of Freshwater Fauna, 408; Allegheny. 
Observatory Researches, 460 

Alloys: Variation of Resilience of Copper Alloys with 
Temperature, L. Guillet, 224; Iron-carbon, MM. 
Dupuy and Portevin, 336; Magnetic Susceptibility, 
Prof. Honda, 409; Transformation Points of Nickel- — 
chrome Steels, L. Guillet, 730 

Alternating Currents: Design of Alternating Current 
Machinery, J. R. Barr and R. D. Archibald, 126; 
Laboratory Manual of Alternating Currents, Prof. J. H. 
Morecroft, M. Solomon, 126 : 

Aluminium: Presence of Gallium and its Separation, C. 
Boulanger and J. Bardet, 311; Band Spectrum, A. de 
Gramont, 521 is 

Amalgams of Silver and Tin, Messrs. Knight and Joyner, 
642 

Amazon Forest Tribes, Expedition to Explore, 83 

America: Aborigines of South America, the late Colonel 
G. E. Church, Sir Clements R. Markham, K.C.B., 1; 
American Universities, D. S. Jordan, 363; American 
Association’s Atlanta Meeting, 610; Address: Study 
of the Stars, Prof. E. C. Pickering, 673; Geology in 
North America, 618 

Ammonia-soda Process, Jubilee, 298 , 

Ameeba, Habitat of a Marine, J. H. Orton, 371, 606; 
Ameebocytes in Calcareous Sponges: Reply to Mr. 
Orton, Prof. A. Dendy, F.R.S., 399, 479; Geo. P. 
Bidder, 479 

Amphioxus, B. Mozeiko; Miss Kutchin, 457 : 

Anaphylaxis: New Type, Prof. C. Richet, 678; Prof. C. 
Richet, J. M. Bligh, iv : ’ 

Anatomy: Early Days of Comparative Anatomy, Prof. 
F. J. Cole, 50 

Anglo-Saxon, the, Lieut.-Col. W. Sedgwick, A. E. Crawley, 
396; Archzology of Anglo-Saxon Settlements, E. T. 
Leeds, 369 

Animal Geography, Dr. Marion I, Newbigin, Prof. G. A. J. 
Cole, 471 

Animal Psychology: die Neue Tierpsychologie, G. Bohn, 
Dr. Rose Thesing, A. E. Crawley, 396 

Animals: Unknown Animals in Central Africa, C. W. 
Hobley, 15; “The Under Dog,” S. Trist, 94; Animal 
Husbandry for Schools, Prof. M. W. Harper, 2290; 
Animal Kingdom illustrated in 27 Coloured Plates, Dr. 
Zwanziger, G. K. Gude, 710; Infancy of Animals, 
W. P. Pycraft, viii ; 

Annelid, New Aquatic, Rev. H. Friend, 132 q 

Antarctic: Mawson Expedition, 48; “Le Monde Polaire,” 
O. Nordenskjéld, G. Parmentier and M. Zimmermann, 
164; Stackhouse Expedition, 298, 667; Scott Expedition 
and Italian Geographical Society, 325; the Northern 
Party on Capt. Scott’s Expedition, R. Priestley, 325; 
Scott Specimens at the Natural History Museum, 350; 
“Scott’s Last Expedition,” 373; Scott Expedition 

Photographs, 430; Capt. Scott’s Journals at the British 

Museum, 590; National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-4: 

Meteorology, M. W. C. Hepworth, C.B., Prof. Ww. 

Meinardus, 393; New British Expedition, 506 ; Scotia’s 

Voyage: (1) Polycheta, L. N. G. Ramsay, 521; (2) 

New Bathydorus, T. J. Evans; (3) Genus Porponia, 

Prof. Carlgren, 730; Shackleton’s Transantarctic Ex- 

pedition, Dr. W. S. Bruce, 533, 666; Austrian Expedi- 

tion under Dr. F. Kénig, 590-1; Swedish Expedition, 


613; Antarctic Problems, Prof. E. David, C.M.G., 
F.R.S.,. 700 
Anthropology : 
General: the Uti-Krag near Rio de Janeiro, W. Knocke, 


49; Early Man in South America, A. Hrdlitka, and 


Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


others, Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S., 144; Man and his 

Forerunners, Prof. H. v. Buttel-Reepen, 160; Origin 

and Antiquity of Man, Dr. G. F. Wright, 160; L’Uomo 

Attuale una Specie Collettiva, V. Giuffrida-Ruggeri, 

160; die Rehobother Bastards und das Bastardierungs- 

problem beim Menschen, Dr. E. Fischer, 160; Pre- 

historic Trepanning, the late Dr. L. Championniére, 

273; First Engraving of Man of Middle Quaternary, 

MM. Mayet and Pissot, 285; Ancient Crania from New 

Zealand, Prof. A. Keith, 352; Stone Implements of the 

Tasmanians, Reg. A. Smith, 373; Man and his Future : 

the Anglo-Saxon, Lieut.-Col. Sedgwick, A. E. Crawley, 

396; Science of Human Behaviour, Dr. M. Parmelee, 

A. E. Crawley, 396; Prehistoric Remains on 

Lake Baikal, 456; Brain of Primitive Man, and 

Cranial Cast and Skull of Eoanthropus, Prof. G. Elliot 

Smith, 729; Tasmanian Aboriginal, Prof. R. J. A. 

Berry and Dr. A. W. D. Robertson; L. W. G. 

Buchner, .730; Pedagogical Anthropology, Maria 

Montessori, iii 

in Britain: Piltdown Skull, Dr. Smith A. Woodward, 

110, 545; Prof. G. Elliot Smith, F.R.S., 131, 267, 318, 

468, 545, 729; (and Brain Cast), Prof. A. Keith, 

F.R.S., 292, 345, 624; A. G. Thacker, 299; Prof. D. 

Waterston, 319; A. S. Underwood, 407; C. Dawson, 

545; Huxley Memorial Lecture: Paviland Cave, Prof. 

W. J. Sollas, 351; Oransay Island, A. H. Bishop, 482 ; 

Question of Teaching, 591; Teaching at Universities : 

Joint Committee, 725 

See British Association, Ethnology, Psychology 

_ Antiseptics, Use in increasing Growth of Crops, Dr. E. Js 
4 Russel and W. Buddin, 441 

| Arabian Sun-dial, Dr. C. Schoy, 231 

_ Arachnids, Prof. F. Dahl, 605 

Archeology : 

General: Aboriginal Sites on Red River, C. B. Moore, 
Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S., 18; Crete, 49; Malta, 49; 
Discovery of the Buried Harbour of Pompeii by A. 
Cozza, 82; Nippur Clay Tablets, Dr. Poebel, 83; 
Aramaic Incantation Texts, J. A. Montgomery, 105; 
Rock Markings at Gavr’inis, Prof. Luquet, 141; 
Annual of British School at Athens, 266; Stone Imple- 
ments of Tasmanians, J. P. Johnson, 320; British 
School at Rome, 527; Origin of the Dolmen, Prof. G. 
Elliot Smith, 537; Stone Age Burial-place in Abruzzi, 
Prof. Dall’ Osso, 668; Carchemish, 668; Stone 
Hammers from Assam, J. C. Brown, 705; Bactrian 
Bronze Axe, Sir C. H. Read, 721 

in Britain: Elephant Trench at Dewlish, Rev. O. Fisher, 
6, 166; G. W. B. McTurk, 166; Prehistoric Society 
of East Anglia, 201; Roman Fortress near Llandrindrod 
Wells, 204; Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Hornsea, 299; 
Striation of Flint Surfaces, J. Reid Moir, 363; 
Archeology of the Anglo-Saxon Settlements, E. 
Thurlow Leeds, 369; Flints found at Ipswich, J. Reid 
Moir, 483 ; Early Wars of Wessex, A. F. Major, C. W. 
Whistler, Rev. J. Griffith, 499; Recently Discovered 
Stone Circle near Matlock, J. Simpson, 555; Long- 
barrows of Cotswolds, Dr. E. T. Wilson, 591; Flints 
from Crayford, 614 

See British Association 

Arctic: Discovery of Land, 202; Explorations with Ice- 

breakers, M. Villkitski, 456 

Argentine Wild Horses, 435; Dr. W. D. Matthew, 661 

_ Armadillos, Dr. Matthew, 106; Polyembryonic Develop- 
_ ment, Prof. H. H. Newman, 142 

Arrow, Evolution of the, C. W. Hobley, 14 

_ Art: Scientific Identification of Pictures, Prof. A .P. 

Laurie, 558 

_ Arthropods: Arthropod Eye, Dr. Trojan, 54; Arachnids, 

) Prof. F. Dahl, 605 

_ Arum, Motor Ship, 434 

_ Ascidian, New Japanese Compound, Dr. A. Oka, 640 

_ Association of Public School Science Masters, 596 

Association of Technical Institutions, 645 

_ Astronomy : , 
_ General Treatises, G»c.: Didaktik der Himmelskunde 
und der Astronomischen Geographie, Dr. A. Héfler, 

130; Astronomy Simplified, Rev. A. C. Henderson, 

290; Astronomy, G. F. Chambers; ~ Daytime ° and 

Evening Exercises in Astronomy, Dr. Sarah F. 

Whiting, both W. E. Rolston, 420; Elements of De- 


Lndex 
re ener eee ee Yee 


XVil 


scriptive Astronomy, E, O. Tancock, 475; A.B.C. 
Guide to Astronomy, Mrs. H. Periam Hawkins, 578; 
Romer’s Adversaria, G. van Biesbroek and A. Tiber- 
ghien, 621; Astronomy, E. Hawks, 658; the Study of 
the Stars: Address, Prof. E .C. Pickering, 673 
Annuals and Charts: Astrographic Chart, Perth (W.A.) 
Section, 86; Annals of Bureau of Longitudes, 108; 
Journal of Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, 4343 
Annuals and Charts, 540; L’Astronomie, 616 
Comets: 52, 86, 108, 143, 177, 206, 224, 240, 276, 302, 
328, 354, 486, 512, 566, 670 
Instruments : Protecting Silvered Reflectors from Tarnish, 
52; Sun-dial: Arabische Gnomonik, Dr. C. Schoy, 231; 
Transit Circle Aid, Prof. Grossmann, 512; Crossley 
__ Reflector and Nebulz, 566 
Meteors: Curious Meteoric Display in Canada and the 
United States, 87; Remarkable Meteor on November 
24, Dr. A. A, Rambaut, F.R.S., 372, 402; J. S. Dines, 
402 
Moon: Change in Lunar Crater Eimmart, Prof. W. H. 
Pickering, 594; Origin of Structures on the Moon’s 
Surface, C. H. Plant, 556, 714; Rev. O. Fisher, 714; 
Systems of Rays on the Moon, Dr. H. J..Johnston- 
Lavis, 631 
Nebulae: Hind’s Nebula, 87; Variable Nebulz, 108; 
Statistics of Nebulz and Clusters, Prof. Charlier, 178; 
New Nebulze and Variable Stars, C. R. D’Esterre, 
434; Tuttle’s Nebula, 540 
Observatories: Cape of Good Hope, 87; New Hill 
Observatory, 383; Nantucket, 411; the Cape Observa- 
tory, Sir David Gill, K.C.B., F.R.S., Dr. F. W. 
Dyson, F.R.S., 556; Madrid, 594 
Planets: Elements and Numbers of Minor Planets, Dr. 
Cohn, 276; the Ways of the Planets, M. E. Martin, 
W. E. Rolston, 420; Planetary Observations, Prof. P. 
Lowell, 643; Formula for Elements of Satellites in the 
Solar System, F, Ollive, 724 
Time : Extension of Zone Time, 87; French Monument to 
“The Hour,” 616 
Miscellaneous: Proposed Institute for Theoretical Re- 
search, 276; Distance of the Horizon, Dr. John Ball, 
Capt. Tizard, C.B., F.R.S., 344; Death of Sir Robert 
S. Ball, F.R.S., 403; Gravitational Instability and the 
Nebular Hypothesis, J. H. Jeans, 416; Structure of the 
Universe, Prof. Kapteyn, 434; Astronomy in South 
Africa: Address, Dr. A. W. Roberts, 435; Galactic 
Coordinates, R. T. A. Innes, 566; New Lowndean 
Professor, 572; Aristotle, Capt. Hardcastle; Sir G. 
Greenhill, F.R.S., 584; Sir W. Ramsay, K.C.B., 
F.R.S.; Sir O. Lodge, F.R.S., 606; Death of Dr. 
S. C. Chandler, 611; Dark Regions in the Sky, Prof. 
E. E. Barnard, 671 
See Stars and Sun 
Astrophysics: Refraction radially from the Sun, F. E. 
Ross, 459; Spectra of Stars near North Pole, Miss 
Cannon, 594; Objective Prism for Radial Velocities, 
M. Hamy, 616 
Athens, Annual of British School at, 266 
Atlanta Meeting of the American Association, 610 
Atlantic Chart (U.S.), 107 
Atmosphere : Structure of the Atmosphere in Clear Weather, 
C. J. P. Cave, Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S., 57; Atmo- 
spheric Refraction and Distance of Horizon, T. W. 
Backhouse; Capt. T. H. Tizard, 96; Daily Tempera- 
ture Change at Great Heights, W. H. Dines, 440; 
Principia atmospherica, Dr. W. N. Shaw, 520; Upper 
Air Research, C. J. P. Cave, 624 
Atmospherics in Wireless Telegraphy, Prof. J. Perry, 
-R.S., 528; W. Hall and H. Morris-Airey, 554: 
R. F. Durrant, 585; Atmospheric Electricity and 
Wireless Telegraphy, H. Dember, 723 
Atoms: Intra-atomic Charge, A van den Broek, 372, 476; 
Frederick Soddy, F.R.S., 3090; Structure of the 
Atom, Prof. Ernest Rutherford, 423, 546; F. Soddy, 
F.R.S., 452; Dr. N. Campbell, 586; Atomic Models 
and X-Ray Spectra, Dr. F. A. Lindemann, 500, 631; 
Dr. N. Bohr, H. G. J. Moseley, 553: Prof. J. W. 
Nicholson, 583, 630; Sir O. Lodge, F.R.S., 609; Dr. 
H. S. Allen, 630, 713 
Attraction: Introduction to the Mathematical Theory of 
Attraction, Dr. F. A. Tarleton, 657 


XVill 


Index 


Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


Auckland Harbour and Teredo, 410 

Auditory Ossicles, Mammalian, R. W. Palmer, 
Auditory Organ in Cetacea, Sir W. Turner, 520 

Aural Illusion, N. Alliston, 61; T. B. Blathwayt, 293 

Aurora, 458; Influence of Diameter on Potential at Elec- 
trodes of Neon Tubes, G. Claude, 731 

Australia: Gum Trees, G. H. Maiden, Dr. W. Botting 
Hemsley, F.R.S., 12; Fungus Diseases of Potato, D. 
McAlpine, 27; Abrolhos Isles, 379; Cabinet Timbers, 
R. T. Baker, 552; Australian Federal Territory in 
N.S.W., G. Taylor, 561; Australian Meeting of the 
British Association, 587; Discovery of Australia, W. B. 
Alexander, 715 

Azolla in Norfolk, W. E. Palmer, 233 

Aviation: L’Aviation, Prof. Painlevé, Prof. Borel, and 
C. Maurain, 28; Langley Laboratory, 107; la Théorie 
de l’Aviation, R. Gaston, 130; Resistance of the Air 
and Aviation, G. Eiffel, J. C. Hunsaker, 342; Flight 
of Birds, F. W. Headley, 368; Mechanics of the 
Aéroplane, Capt. Duchéne, J. H. Ledeboer and T. O’B. 
Hubbard, 368; Holes:in the Air, Prof. W. J. Hum- 
phreys, 493; Automatic Aéroplane Controls, Prof. 
G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 609; Prof. S. P. Langley and 
Aviation, 718; see Aéroplanes 


204 j 


Bacteriology : Household Bacteriology, Estelle D. Buchanan 
and Prof. R. E. Buchanan, 28; Alcohol Formation by 
Bacillus coli, E. C. Grey, 107; Soil Mycology, Prof. 
Kossowicz, 131; Practical Bacteriology, Microbiology, 
and Serum Therapy, Dr. A. Besson, Prof. H. J. 
Hutchens, D.S.O., 193; Elements of Water Bacterio- 
logy, S. C. Prescott and C, E. A. Winslow, 197; 
Bacteriology of Diphtheria, Drs. Loeffler and others, 


379 

Barometric Variability at Kimberley, J. R. Sutton, 391; 
Two-hourly Period in Diurnal Variation, M. M’C. 
Fairgrieve, 722 

Bees’ Homing Instinct, H. Fabre, 237 

Beit Memorial Fellowships, 492 

Bereozovsk Gold Deposit, C. W. Purington, 678 

Berlin Urania, 99; Berlin Meeting of Electrotechnical 
Commission, 109 

Bernina Plant-geography, Dr. Riibel, 162 

Biblical Criticism, Dr. M. G. Kyle, 658 

Biochemistry, 107 

Biography: Letters and Recollections of Alexander Agassiz, 
G. R. Agassiz, Sir E, Ray Lankester, K.C.B., F.R.S., 
601; Works of John Caius, M.D., with Memoir by 
Dr. J. Venn, vi 

Biology : Essais de Synthése Scientifique, E. Rignano, 263 ; 
Contre la Métaphysique, F. Le Dantec, 263; the 
Microtomist’s Vade-Mecum, A. B. Lee, 290; Darwinism 
100 Years Ago, Dr. H. Gadow, F.R.S., 320; Prof. A. 
Dendy, F.R.S., 372; Remarkable Anticipation of 
Darwin, G. W. Sleeper, Prof. E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., 
588; Death of Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, O.M., 
F.R.S., 322, 347; Alfred Russel Wallace Memorials, 
Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S., Prof. E. B. Poulton, 
F.R.S., and Rev. J. Marchant, 425; Gruppenweise 
Artbildung, Prof. H. de Vries, 395; Science of Human 
Behaviour, Dr. M. Parmelee, A. E. Crawley, 396; 
Growth of Spongilla lacustris, Prof. W. N. Parker, 
416; Problems of Genetics, W. Bateson, F.R.S., 497; 
Zonal Structure in Plants and Animals, Prof. E. 
Kiister, 532; Association of Economic Biologists, 541 ; 
Spontaneous Generation, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, F.R.S., 
579; Dr. H. Charlton Bastian, F.R.S., 579, 685; 
Prof. J. B. Farmer, F.R.S., and Prof. V. H. Black- 
man, F.R.S., 660; Liquid Air as a Fixative, Prof. 
H. H. Dixon, 609; Instinct and Experience, Prof. 
C. Ll. Morgan, F.R.S., 627; Messmates, E. Step, viii 

Biology, Aquatic: Coloured Organisms on Sea-sand, Prof. 
Herdman, F.R.S., 5; the Substratum and Growth of 
Elodea, Dr. W. H. Brown, 54; Red-water due to 
Euglena, H. A. Wager, 96; Distribution of Phreatoicus, 
Dr. C. Chilton, 98; New Aquatic Annelid, Rev. H. 
Friend, 132; Plankton Distribution, C. O. Esterly, 241; 
Amcebze in Sponges, &c., J. H. Orton, 371, 606; Prof. 
A. Dendy, F.R.S., 399, 479; G.'P. Bidder, 479; 


Biology of Lake of Tiberias, Prof. T. Barrois, Dr. N. 
Annandale, Rev. T. R. R, Stebbing, F.R.S., 480 

Bird-migration, 171; Rings placed on Wild Birds, H, F. 
Witherby, 326; Routes, Horace Darwin, F.R.S., 370; 
Migratory Movements in 1911-12, 635 ; 

Birds: Scottish Ornithology, 1912, Leonora J, Rintoul and 
Evelyn V. Baxter, 171; Jahresbericht (1911) der Vogel- 
warte Rossitten, Prof. J. Thienemann, 228; Food of 
some British Wild Birds, W. E. Collinge, 228; Bodley — 
Head Natural History, E. D. Cuming, J. A. Shepherd, 
228; Home-life of the Terns, W. Bickerton, 294; the 
Charm of the Hills, S. Gordon, 294; Wild-life and the 
Camera, A. R. Dugmore, 294; Notes, 303, 726; Flight, 
F. W. Headley, 368; Protection Committee, 378; 
Peroneal Muscles, Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell, 441; 
Protection in Egypt, 455; British Birds’ Nests, R. 
Kearton, C. Kearton, 504; Our Vanishing Wild Life, 
Dr. W. T. Hornaday, 504; Our Common Sea-birds, 
Percy R. Lowe, 688; Bird Life throughout the Year, 
Dr. J. H. Salter, 688; Wild Life on the Wing, M. D. 
Haviland, 688; Willow-titmouse, T. A. Coward, 704 

Birds’ Plumage for Wear: Prohibition in United States, © 
48, 105; the Plumage Bill, Sir H. H. Johnston, 
G.C.M.G., K.C.B., 428, 501; Dr. H. O. Forbes, 476; 
L. Joseph, 501; a Woman’s Protest, 685; Plumage for 
Artificial Flies, Sir H. Maxwell, 562; Importation and 
French Trade, 617 

Birmingham: Handbook for Birmingham and Neighbour- 
hood, 48; Meeting of the British Association, 31, 65; 
Honorary Degrees at the University, 67 

Birth-rate Commission, 298 

Bismarck Archipelago and Melanesia, Dr. G, Friederici, 
S. H. Ray, 471 

Bison, an Extinct, Dr. O. P. Hay, 563 

Bleaching Agents, Action on Various Colouring Matters, 
R. L. Taylor, 546 

Blennius gattorugine, Tentacles of, H. A. Baylis, 624 

Blood, Laws of Absorption of Carbon Monoxide by, M. 
Nicloux, 521 

Blue, Egyptian, Dr. A. P. Laurie and others, 440 

Bodley Head Natural History: British Birds, 
Cuming, J. A. Shepherd, 228 

Books: Forthcoming Books of Science, 180; Cambridge 
University Press, 353 

Boric Acid in Food, Estimation, G. Bertrand, 625 

Botany : 

General: Fresh-water Flora of Germany, Austria, and 
Switzerland, Prof. A. Pascher, 60; Renascence Flora 
on Killiney Hill, N. Colgan, 84; Manual Flora of 
Egypt, Dr. R. Muschler, 162; Bush Days, Amy E, 
Mack, 162; Flora of Bristol, J. W. White, 162; 
Pflanzengeographische Monographie des 
gebietes, Dr, E. Riibel, 162; das Pflanzenreich, A. 
Engler, 162; Lime Chlorosis of Green Plants, P. Mazé 
and others, 192; International Congress in London in 
1914, 203; Plant Life, Prof. J. B. Farmer, 397,; Wild 
Flower Preservation, May Coley, 397; Transpiration, 
Sir F. Darwin, 440; Travels of Sir J. Hooker in 
Sikkim Himalaya, 440; Trees in Winter, Dr. M. F. 
Blakeslee and Dr. C. D. Jarvis, 504; Death of Sir 
Trevor Lawrence, Bart., 506; Algerian Sahara, Dr. 
~W. A. Cannon, 509; Vegetation for Reclaiming Tidal 
Lands, G. O. Case, 578; Cultivation of Sea-weeds in 
Japan, Prof. K. Yendo, 598; School Gardening, A. 
‘Logan; G. W. S. Brewer, 604; Botanical Congress in 
London, 1915, 667; Messmates, E. Step, viii 

Special : Eucalyptus, J. H. Maiden, W. B. Hemsley, F.R.S., 

’ 12; Water-lilies, Sir F. W. Moore, 17 ; Natural Hybridism 
in Genus Grevillea, J. J. Fletcher, 157; Geraniacez, 
R. Knuth, 162; Goodeniaceze and Brunoniacee, K. 
Krause, 162; Azolla in Norfolk, W. E. Palmer, 233; 
Acclimatisation of Novius cardinalis in France, P. 
Marchal, 258; Pollination of the Kaffir Bread Tree, 
R. Marloth, 259; Juvenile Flowering in Eucalyptus 
globulus, Prof. F. E. Weiss, 335; Development of the 
Natural Order Myrtaceze, E. C. Andrews, 336; New 
Mimicry Plant, R. Marloth, 391; Toadstools and Mush- 
rooms, E. Step, 397; Sterility in Daphne odora, 
Osawa, 484: Hybericum desetangsii in Britain, C. E. 
Salmon, 546; Bothrodendron kiltorkense, Prof. T. 
Johnson, 599 


E, D. ~ 


Bernina- — 


Nature, ] 
March 26, 1914 


_ See British Association 


s 
A 


Branchiura, F, Keyl, 592 
Brazil in 1912, J. C. Oakenfull, 4; South Brazil, Dr. W. 


Breitenbach, 29 P 
istol Flora, J. W. White, 162 
ish Association Australian Meeting in 1914; 587 


British Association Birmingham meeting, 31, 65; Inaugural 


Address, on Continuity, by Sir Oliver J. Lodge, F.R.S., 
President, 33, 606 

ection A—Mathematics and Physics: Opening Address : 
the Place of Pure Mathematics, H. F.. Baker, F.R.S., 
69 ; Physics, 304; Entropy and Probability, Prof. H. A. 
Lorentz, 305; Structure of the Atom, Prof. Rutherford, 
305; Resistances of Thin Metallic Films, Dr. Swann, 
305; Discussion on Radiation, J. H. Jeans, Prof. 
Lorentz, Dr. Bohr, Prof. Love,.and others, 305, 306; 
Lightning, Sir J. Larmor, 307; X-Rays and Crystals, 
Prof. Bragg, F.R.S., 307; Mathematics, 307; 
Dynamics of a Globular Stellar System, Prof. Edding- 
ton, 307; Discussion on Complex Stress Distribution, 
see Section G; Solar Results at Mt. Wilson, C. E. 
St. John, 307; Lunar Influence on Magnetism, Dr. S. 
Chapman, 307; Resonance Spectra, Prof. R. W. Wood, 
307; Twisting of Indiarubber, Prof. Poynting, 308; 
the Gas X, and Helium, Sir J. J. Thomson, 308; 
Method of Increasing Sensitiveness of Measuring In- 
struments, Dr. G. A. Shakespear, 308; a Seismo- 
graph, J. J. Shaw, 308, 437; Work at Shide, 309; 
Committee Reports, 308, 309; Meteorology and Geo- 
physics, 436; Temperature Balance between Egypt and 
European Stations, J. I. Craig, 436; Double Maximum 
in Annual Temperature Curves for Kew and Valencia, 
E. Gold and F. J. W. Whipple; Atmospheric Pollution 
Gauge, Dr. J. S. Owens; Determining Period of 
Waves, Dr. V. Cornish; Periodic Variations of Mag- 
netic Force, Dr. S. Chapman, all 437 

Section B—Chemistry: Opening Address, Prof. W. P. 
Wynne, F.R.S., 73, 329; Mixtures of Nitro Com- 
pounds and Amines coloured only in the Liquid State, 
Dr. Tinkler, 330; Optical Properties, Dr. Pickard and 
J. Kenyon, Dr. Lowry, Prof. L. Tschugaeff, Dr. T. S. 
Patterson, and others, 330; Utilisation of Fuel, Prof. 
Armstrong, Dr. Beilby, Dr. H. G.. Colman, H. J. 
Yates, Prof. Bone, &c., 330, 331; Gas-fire Science, 
H. J. Yates, 331; Coking Coals, Dr. R. V. Wheeler, 
331; Action of an Alkaline Natural Water on Lead, 
J. F. Liverseege and A. W. Knapp, Prof. P. F. Frank- 
land, 331; Radio-active Elements and the Periodic 
Law,.Mr. Soddy, A. Fleck, 331, 332; Radio-active 
Elements as Indicators, Dr. G. Hevesy, 332; Influence 
of Sodium and Potassium Chloride in varying Concen- 
tration upon Distribution of Benzoic and Salicylic 
Acids, Dr. B. de Szyszkowski, 332; Hydrogen Ion 
Concentration of the Sea, Dr. Prideaux, 332; Metal- 
lurgical Chemistry and Amorphous Theory, Dr. W. 
Rosenhain, Dr. G. T. Beilby, 332; Volatility of Metals, 
Prof. T. Turner, 333 ; Changes in Alloys by Annealing, 
O. F. Hudson, 333; Diffusion in Solid Solutions, Dr. 
C. H. Desch, 333 ; Solubility of Gases in Metals, Dr. A. 
Holt, 333 

Section C—Geology: Opening Address, Prof. E. J. 
Garwood, 111, 358; Spirorbis Limestone of North War- 
wickshire, G. Barrow, 358; Stream-courses of Black 
Country, H. Kay, 358; Rostro-carinate Flints, Prof. 
Sollas, 358; Flora and Fauna of Upper Keuper Sand- 
stones of Warwickshire, &c., L. J. Wills and W. 
Campbell Smith, 358; Progress of Coal Output of 
Midlands, F. G. Meachem, 358; Correlation of 
Leicestershire Coalfield, R. D. Vernon, 359; Relation 
of Limestones at Bala, Dr. Gertrude L. Elles, 359; 
Plant Petrifactions in Chert, Dr. Marie C. Stopes, 
359; Shelly and Graptolitic Faunas of British Ordo- 
vician, Dr. Gertrude L. Elles, 359; First Revision of 
British Ordovician Brachiopoda, Clara E. Sylvester, 
359; Stockingford Shales, V. C. Illing, 360; Igneous 
Rocks, Dr. A. H. Cox, 360; Machine for Cutting 
Thin Rock-sections, Prof. W. S. Boulton, 360 


Section D—Zoology : Opening Address, Dr. H. F. Gadow, 


F.R.S., 145; Sleeping Sickness, Prof. E. A. Minchin, 
384; Bionomics of Amfhidinium operculatum, R. D. 
Laurie; Influence of Osmotic Pressure on Regeneration 


Index 


——————— 
TE 


XIX 


of Gunda, Miss Jordan Lloyd; Habits and Building 
Organ of Pectinaria koreni, A. T. Watson; Eelworms, 
G. E, Johnson; Larva of the Star-fish Porania pul- 
villus, Dr. J. F. Gemmill; Artemia salina, T. J- 
Evans, all 385; Pseudohermaphrodite Daphnia, Dr. 
J. H. Ashworth; Position of Order Protura, R. S. 
Bagnall; Oviposition of a Fly on Centaurea, J. T. 
Wadsworth; West African Wasp, W. A. Lamborn; 
Heredity of Melanism in Lepidoptera, W. Bowater ; 
Pseudacrzeas and their Models on Victoria Nyanza, Dr. 
G. .D. H. Carpenter; Geographical Relations of 
Mimicry, Dr. F. A. Dixey, all 386; Mimicry, Prof. 
Poulton; the Ascidian Diazona violacea, Prof. Herd- 
man ; Early Evolution of Amphibia, D. M. S. Watson, 
Prof. Elliot Smith; Metamorphosis of Axolotl, E. G. 
Boulenger, all 387; Homology of the Gills, Dr. 
Ekman, Prof. H. Braus; Cultures of the Embryonic 
Heart, Prof. Braus; Phylogeny of Carapace of 
Leathery Turtle, Dr. Versluys; Unilateral Development 
of Secondary Male Characters in a Pheasant, Dr. C. J. 
Bond; Mammal-like Dentition in a Cynodont Reptile, 
Dr. R. Broom; Notharctus, an Eocene Lemur, Dr. 
W. K. Gregory, all 388; Morphology of the Mam- 
malian Tonsil, Miss M. L. Hett, 389; all Dr. J. H. 
Ashworth, 384-389; Convergence in the Mammalia, 
Prof. Dollo, Prof. van Bemmelen, Dr. Versluys, Dr. 
W. K. Gregory, 411 

Section E—Geography: Opening Address, Prof. H. N. 
Dickson, 150; Other Proceedings, 437; Map of Prince 
Charles Foreland, Spitsbergen, Dr. W. S. Bruce, 437; 
Fiord Lands and Social Development, C. B. Fawcett ; 
Accuracy of Triangulation of Britain, Capt. H. S. L. 
Winterbotham; Terms used in Triangulation, Capt. 
H. G. Lyons, F.R.S.; Precision of Field Latitudes in 
Egypt, B. F. E. Keeling, all 438 

Section G—Engineering: Opening Address: Electrifica- 
tion of Railways, Prof. Gisbert Kapp, 184; Proceed- 
ings, 542; Internal-combustion Engines for Railway 
Locomotion, F. W. Lanchester, 542; Bank-note 
Engraving, A. E. Bawtree; Joint Meeting with 
Section A on Stress Distributions; Flow of Solids, T. 
Reid; Strength of Free-ended Strutts, A.. Robertson ; 
Gyroscope Theory, J. W. Gordon; Harbour Projec- 
tions, E. R. Matthews; Apparatus for Exploring Sandy 
River Beds, Dr. J. S. Owens, 543 

Section H—Anthropology: Opening Adress, Sir Richard 
C. Temple, Bart., 207; Proceedings, 412; Speech and 
Jaw Conformation, Dr. Robinson, Prof. Elliot Smith; 
Age of Tribes of South-east Australia, Prof. W. J. 
Sollas; Seasonal Customs, Dr. Rivers, Miss Burne, 
&c.; Environment and Religious Belief in Siberia, 
Miss Czaplicka; Archeology of Cyprus, Prof. J. L. 
Myres; all 413; Archeology of Western Europe, 414 

Section I—Phystology: Opening Address, F. Gowland 
Hopkins, F.R.S., 213; General Proceedings, 461; 
Joint Meeting with Section M: the Hydrogen Ion Con- 
centration in Biological Processes, Prof. Sdérensen, 
462; Stock-breeding : the “Free Martin,” &c., K. J. J. 
Mackenzie, 462; Glycogen and Fat Metabolism of 
Crabs, Geofrey Smith, Dr. L. Doncaster, 462; Joint 
Meeting with Sections D and K: Synthesis of Organic 
Matter by Colloids and the Origin of Life, Prof. B. 
Moore, F.R.S., Sir O. Lodge, Prof. Armstrong, Prof. 
Priestley, 462; Regulation of Anzesthesia, 463 ; Carbon 
Dioxide Output in Man, Dr. Duffield; Post-pericardial 
Body of the Skate, Prof. E. Wace Carlier; Kata- 
thermometer, Prof. Leonard Hill, F.R.S.; Pulse and 
Resonance of Tissues, Prof. Hill and Dr. McQueen; 
Biochemistry of Neurone, Dr. F. W. Mott, F.R.S.; 
Blood Coagulation, Dr. J. Tait; Heart of Hedgehog, 
Dr. Tait and Miss Macnaughton; Relation of Organs 
to Body Weight, Prof. G. Dreyer, Dr. E. W. Ainley 
Walker, all 463; Kidney Weight, Dr. Roaf, 464; 


. Psychology Subsection, 464; all Dr. H. E. Roaf, 
461-464 : 
Subsection for Psychology: Absurdity of Psycho- 


physiological Parallelism, Dr. Wildon Carr; Laughter, 
Mr. McDougall, 516; Belief in Immature Minds, Prof. 
C. Read; Localisation of Visual Images, Prof. R. M. 
Ogden ; Sound Localisation, Dr. Myers; Habit Forma- 
tion in Guinea-pigs, Miss E. M. Smith; Rote Memory 


XX 


and Pure Memory, Miss May Smith; Fertility and 
Morbidity of Defective Stocks, Dr. Shrubsall; Testi- 
mony of Normal and Defective Children, Mr. Wyatt, 
all 517; all Cyril Burt, 516-517 
Section K—Botany: Opening Address, Miss Ethel 
Sargant, 242; General Proceedings, 488; Fossil Plants 
from Devonian Strata, Dr. D. H. Scott and Prof. 
E. C. Jeffery; New Ginkgoalian Leaf, H. H. Thomas; 
New Medullosa from Lower Coal, Dr. Ethel de 
Fraine; Anatomy of Cycads, Dr. le Goc; Pinna-trace 
in Filicales, R. C. Davie; Histology of Leptoids in a 
Moss, Miss M. Hume, all 488; Anthocyan Formation, 
W. N. Jones; Nature of Life, Prof. J. Reinke; Fungi, 
Dr. O. V. Darbishire, S. P. Wiltshire, Miss M. L. 
Baden, Miss E. M. Poulton; Microspora, Prof. G. S. 
West ; Zygnema ericetorum, Prof. West and Miss C. B. 
Starkey ; Suaeda fruticosa for checking Shingle, Prof. 
F. W. Oliver; Maritime Plants at Holme, P. 7 
Allen; Sand-dunes in Anglesea, Miss W. H. Wortham, 
all 489; Genetics, Dr. R. R. Gates; Major Cc. C. 
Hurst; Flowers under Insolation, Col. H. E. Rawson; 
Preservation of British Flora, A. R. Horwood; 
Exhibits, all 490 
Section L—Educational Science: From the Opening 
Address by Principal E. H. Griffiths, F.R.S., 250; 
the Modern University, Sir Alfred Hopkinson and 
others, 491; Psychological Subsection, 491; Spelling 
Reform, Sir Wm. Ramsay, Sir O. Lodge; Suggestion, 
Mrs. Meredith; Mental Differences in the Sexes, Mr. 
Burt; Museums, all 491; Registration and Manual 
Work; Act of 1902, 492 
Section M—Agriculture: Opening Address, Prof. T. B. 
Wood, 278; General Proceedings, 514; German 
Forestry, Prof. Fraser Story; “Maysick” Disease of 
Cereals, Mr. Collinge; Linseed Crop, D. Davidson ; 
Fungicidal Action of Bordeaux Mixture, Prof. Barker 
and Mr. Gimingham; Joint Discussion with Section K 
on Barley Production, E. S. Beaven and others; 
Utilisation of Sewage, Dr. Grossmann; Partial Sterili- 
sation of Soil with Quicklime, Dr. Hutchinson and 
Mr. McLennan, all 515; Protozoa of the Soil, Mr. 
Goodey; Nitrification in Pasture Soils, Mr. Giming- 
ham; Peat Conversion to Manure, Prof. Bottomley ; 
the Mite Eriophyes ribis, Miss Taylor; Weeds of 
Arable Land, Dr. Winifred Brenchley; the Two 
Varieties of Corn Spurry, Miss Armitage, all 516 
British Association Committee on Electrical Standards: 
Reports, 91; Committee on Radio-telegraphy, 277 
British Empire, Geography of the, W. L. Bunting and 
H. L. Collen, ix 
British Journal Photographic Almanac, 1914, 500 
British Medical Association, 536 
British Museum of Natural History: Catalogue of Books, 
MSS., Maps, and Drawings, 288; Catalogue of 
Noctuide, Sir G. F. Hampson, 288; Catalogue of 
Ungulate Mammals, R. Lydekker, F.R.S., 288 
British Mycological Society, 139 
British Radium Standard, Prof. E. Rutherford, F.R.S., 402 
British School at Athens, 266; British School at Rome, 527 
British Science Guild, 455, 719 
Brussels Meeting of Iron and Steel Institute, 88 
Bureau. des Longitudes, Annual of, 643 
Burma: Oil-fields, E. H. Pascoe, 9; Limestone Caves of 
Burma and Malay Peninsula, Dr. N. Annandale and 
others, 443 
Bush Days, Amy E. Mack, 162 
Butter-making, C. W. Walker-Tisdale and T. R. Robinson, 
vii 
Butterflies: Entomologist’s Log-book and Dictionary of 
Life Histories and Food Plants of British Macro- 
Lepidoptera, A. G. Scorer, 683 


Cabinet Timbers of Australia, R. T. Baker, 552 

Cacao, Fermentation of, H. H. Smith, 628 

Calcification in Dentine, J. H. Mummery, 440 

Calculus, Elementary Treatise on, W. S. Franklin and 
others, 341; “Let Us Have Our Calculus Early,” 
Prof. E. B. Wilson, 510 


Index 


[ Nature 
LMarch 26, 1914 


Calcutta University, Sir Indian 
Museum Centenary, 727 

Calendar : Indian Chronographys Extension of the “Indian 
Calendar,” R. Sewell, R. J. Pocock, 159 et : 

Cambridge : Mathematical Tripos, Part I., Papers, 1908-12, 
195 ; Cambridge Manuals, 382; Humphrey Owen Jones — 
Memorial, 519; Suggestions for Reform, A. I. 
Tillyard, 707; Works. of John Caius, M.D., with 
Memoir by Dr. Venn, vi 

Canada: Geological Survey, 618; Outlook for Mineral 
Industry, J. M. Bell, 678 ; 

Cancer and Malaria, Nature and Treatment of, -Dr. J. 
Beard; Dr. C. W. Saleeby, 60 

K.C.B., F RS 


A. Mookerjee, 257; 


Cape Observatory, Sir David Gill, 
F. W. Dyson, 556 

Cape Verde Islands, I. Friedlander, 484 

Capella, Faint Companion, Dr. Furuhjelm, 724 ". 

Carat, Metric, 723 7 

Carbohydrates, Methods of Estimation of, W. A. Davis and 
A. J. Daish, 352 ; ' 

Carbon, Thermal Ionisation from, Prof. O. W. Richard- — 
son, 649 

Carchemish Excavations, 668 

Carnegie Scholarship Memoirs, 179 ; 

Catalysis: Catalytic Esterification in the Wet Way, F. 
Bodroux, 521; la Catalyse en Chimie Organique, Paul 
Sabatier, 655; Catalytic Action of Traces of Hydrogen 
Peroxide in Water, Prof. H. B. Baker and L. H. 
Parker, 698 

Causal and Conditional Outlook, W. Roux, 4 

Celluloid Fire Danger, 593, 646 

Cellulose converted into Dextrose by Cold, Prof. Will- 
statter, 107 

Ceramics: Quantitative Inorganic Analysis, Dr. J. W. 
Mellor, vi 

Cetacea, Auditory Organ, Sir Wm. Turner, 520 

Chameleon, Anatomy, P. A. Methuen and J. Hewitt, 259 

Chank Bangle Industry, J. Hornell, 487 

Chemical Societies, International Association of, Sir Wm. 
Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S., 453 

Chemistry : . 

General: Methoden des chemischen Unterrichts, Dr. K. 

Scheid, Prof. A. Smithells, F.R.S., 287; Chemistry : 
Inorganic and Organic, with Experiments, C. L. Bloxam, 
A. G. Bloxam and Dr. S. J. Lewis, 343; Preliminary 
Chemistry, H. W. Bausor, 446; Course in eral 
Chemistry, Profs. W. McPherson and W. E. Hender- 
son, 446; Chemie, E. v. Meyer, F. Rinne, and others, 
446; General Chemistry Laboratory Manual, Prof. 
J. C. Blake, 655 


Analytical : Manual of Qualitative Analysis: Reagent and 7 


Combustion Methods, W. F. Hoyt, 446; Qualitative 
Analyse vom Standpunkte der Tonenlehre, Dr. W. 
Béttger, 446; Analysis of Oils, Fats, and Waxes, Dr. 
J. Lewkowitsch, 449; (1) Application of the Nephelo- 
meter; (2) Method of forming Copper Complexes of 
Amino-acids, &c., in Solution, Dr. Kober, 485; Gas 
Analysis, Prof. L. M. Dennis, 524; Rays of Positive 
Electricity and Application to Chemical Analysis, Sir 
J. J. Thomson, 549; Quantitative Analysis in Practice, 
Prof. J. Waddell, 655 ; Quantitative Inorganic Analysis, 
Dr. J. W-. Mellor, vi; see Chemistry, Technical 
of Ferments: Synthesis of Glucosides by Ferments, Prof. 
E. Bourquelot, 304; Synthesis by means of Ferments, 
Sir Lauder Brunton, Bart., 399; Grundriss der Fer- 
mentmethoden, Prof. J. Wohlgemuth, 524 
Inorganic: Handbuch der Arbeitsmethoden 
anorganischen Chemie, Dr. A. Stahler, 125 
Mineral: Traité, H. Erdmann, Prof. A. Corvisy, 262 
Organic: Cours de Chimie Organique, Prof. F. Swarts, 
125; Allen’s Commercial Organic Analysis, W. A. 
Davis and S. S. Sadtler, 125; Organometallic Com- 
pounds of Zinc and Magnesium, Dr. H. Wren, 261; 
Chemie der Kohlenstoffverbindungen, V. v. Richter, 
Dr. R. Anschutz und Dr. H. Meerwein, 262; Products 
isolated from Soot, Prof. Knecht and Miss Hibbert, 
442; Treatise on General and Judustrial Organic 
Chemistry, Dr. E. Molinari, T. H. Pope, 446; Organic 
Chemistry for Advanced Students, Prof. J. B. Cohen, 
F.R.S., 498; the Volatile Oils, E. Gildemeister and F. 


“in der 


Nature, ] 
March 26, 1914 


Index 


XXi 


Students of Medicine, Prof. J. Walker, F.R.S., 655 ; 
la Catalyse en Chimie Organique, Paul Sabatier, 655 
Physical: Osmotic Pressure, Prof. A. Findlay, 261; 
Thermodynamics, J. R. Partington, 265; die Existenz 
der Molkule, Prof. The Svedberg, 367; Experimental 
Modification of van der Waal’s Equation, J. P. Dalton, 
391; Physikalische Chemie der Gasreaktionen, Dr. K. 
Jellinek, 419; Physical Chemistry of Solutions, Prof. 
H. C. Jones, 461; Zonal Structure in Colloids, G. 
Abbott, 607, 687; Dr. H. J. Johnston-Lavis, 687 ; Appli- 
cation of Physico-chemical Theory to Technical Pro- 
cesses, Prof. R. Kremann, H. E. Potts, Dr. A. Mond, 
628; End-product of Thorium, Prof. Joly, F.R.S., and 
J. R. Cotter, 632; Active Nitrogen, Prof. H. B. Baker, 
F.R.S., and Hon. R. J. Strutt, F.R.S., 659; Specific 
Heats and the Periodic Law, Dr. H. Lewkowitsch, 
661; Specific Heats and the Periodic Law—Analogy 
from Sound, R. G. Durrant, 686; see Atoms and Matter 
Plant: Hydrocyanic Acid in Plants, Dr. J. M. Petrie, 
469 ; Introduction to Chemistry of Plant Products, Dr. 
P. Haas and T. G. Hill, 524; Liquid Air as a Fixative, 
Prof. H. H. Dixon, F.R.S., 609; Chemical Inter- 
pretation of Mendelian Factors for Flower Colour, 
M. Wheldale and H. L. Bassett, 623 
_ Practical: Prof. J. Campbell Brown, Dr. G. D. Ben- 
— gough, 655 
_ of Rubber: B. D. Porritt, 524 
Service, Prof. V. B. Lewes and J. S. S. Brame, 125 
Technical: Allen’s Commercial Organic Analysis, W. A. 
Davis and S. S. Sadtler, 125; Liquid Air, G. Claude, 
H. E. P. Cottrell; le Froid industriel, L. Marchis, 
both F. Soddy, F.R.S., 134; Chemistry of Dyeing, Dr. 
J. K. Wood, 261; Traité Complet d’Analyse Chimique 
Appliquée aux Essais Industriels, Profs. J. Post and 
B. Neumann, G. Chenu and M. Pellet, 262; Traité de 
Chimie Minérale, H. Erdmann, Prof. A. Corvisy, 262 ; 
Research Chemists in Works, W. P. Dreaper, 301, 


410; British Chemistry and Manufactures, W. 
Caspari, 353; General and Industrial Organic 
Chemistry, Dr. E. Molinari, T. H. Pope, 446; 


Chemical Technology and Analysis of Oils, Fats, and 
Waxes, Dr. J. Lewkowitsch, 449; the Volatile Oils, 
E. Gildemeister and Fr. Hoffmann, E. Kremers, 498 ; 
New Etching Reagent for Steel, Dr. W. Rosenhain, 
F.R.S., 529; Oxygen Content of Gases from Roasting 
Pyrites, L. T. Wright, 572; Fermentation of Cacao, 
H. H. Smith, 628; Chemistry and its Relations to 
Daily Life, Profs. Kahlenberg and Hart, 628; In- 
dustrial Poisoning, Dr. J. Rambousek, Dr. T. M. 
Legge, 628; Application of Physico-chemical Theory to 
Technical Processes, Prof. R. Kremann, H. E. Potts, 
Dr. A. Mond, 628 
_ Miscellaneous: Isomeric Change of Acids, J. Bougault, 
56; Death of Dr. Julius Lewkowitsch, 104; Conversion 
of Cellulose into Dextrose by means of Cold, Prof. 
Willstatter and L. Zechmeister, 107; Death of Prof. 
Hugh Marshall, F.R.S., Dr. L. Dobbin, 138; Alkyla- 
tion by Sodium Acids, A. Haller, 336; Heat of Forma- 
tion and Composition of Binary Mixtures, E. Baud, 
365; Displacement of Potassium in Felspar by 
Manure, G. André, 365; Bust of Sir Henry Roscoe for 
the Chemical Society, 377; Neutralisation of Chromic 
Acid, L. Margaillan, 417; an Anthocyanine identical 
with that formed in Autumn Red Leaves, R. Combes, 
417; Gases from Kilauea Crater, A. L. Day and E. S. 
Shepherd, 417; Optimum Temperature of Salicin 
Hydrolysis by Enzyme Action, A. Compton, 440; Cata- 
lytic Esterification in the Wet Way, F. Bodroux, 521; 
Columbium v. Niobium, Prof. F. W. Clarke, 528; Dr. 
J. F. Thorpe’s “Caged” Compound, W. W. Reed, 
J. F. T., 529; Benzhydrol, P. Sabatier and M. Murat, 
546; Ferrous Sulphate and its Hydrates, R. de 
Forcrand, 573; Relation of Covolume and Critical Con- 
stants, L. Gay, 573: Compounds with 606 and Silver 
Bromide, &c.,- J.. Danysz, 625; Epicamphor, 642; 
Alkylation of Cyclopentanones, A. Haller, 678; Cata- 
lytic Preparation of Decahydroquinoline, P. Sabatier 
and M. Murat, 679; Properties of Purified Substances, 
. Prof. H. B. Baker and L. H. Parker, 698; Acid Salts 
of Dibasic Acids, E. Jungfleisch and P. Landrieu, 730; 


Hoffmann, E. Kremers, 498; Organic Chemistry for | 


Velocity of Hydrogenation in presence of Platinum 
Black, G. Wavon, 730; Cyanogen Chlorides, V. 
Grignard, 731; Heat of Fusion of Hydrates, C. Leen- 
hardt, 731; Heat of Formation of Manganese Sulphide, 
S. Wolagdine, 731; Syntheses by Zinc Organo-metallic 
Derivatives, E. E. Blaise, 731; 
See British Association 

Chloride of Lime in Sanitation, A. H. Hooker, 93 

Chromosomes, Dimensions in Relation to Phylogeny, Prof. 
J. B. Farmer and L. Digby, 440 

Chronograph Reading Aid, Prof. E. Grossmann, 512 

Chronography, Indian, R. Sewell, R. J. Pocock, 159 

Circle: French Mnemonic Verses for Ratio of Circum- 
ference to Diameter, 458 

Circle, Stone, near Matlock, J. Simpson, 555 

Cirripede Remains from Chalk Marl, T. H. Withers, 440 

Civil Service, How to Enter, E. A. Carr, 398 

Clare Island Survey, 458, 625; Geology, J. R. Kilroe and 
T. Hallissy, 678 - 

Climate: Climatic Effect of the Great Lakes, C. H. 
Eshleman, 51; Climate and Weather of San Diego, 
California, F. A. Carpenter, 196; Place of Climatology 
in Medicine, Dr. W. Gordon, 448; No Change in 
Climate of Europe after rooo z.c., E. H. L. Krause, 
456; Origin of Climatic Changes, Prof. W. J. 
Humphreys, 479 

Clots, S. B. Schryver, 729 

Coal: Distillation under Reduced Pressure, MM. Pictet and 
Bouvier, 336; Gas Testing and Air Measurement in 
Coal Mines, C. Chandley, 448; Boring in Lorraine, 
R. Nicklés, 651; a Possible Cause of Explosions in 
Coal Mines, Prof. W. A. D. Rudge, 660; Coalfields of 
India, Prof. V. Ball, F.R.S., R. R. Simpson, iii 

Coast Erosion and Protection, E. R. Matthews, 164; Coast 
Erosion in Brittany, F. La Porte, 442 

Coin of King Offa for British Museum, 508 

Cold: le Froid industriel, L. Marchis, F. Soddy, F.R.S., 
134; Technical Production and Utilisation of Cold, G. 
Claude, H. E. P. Cottrell, L. Marchis, F. Soddy, 
F.R.S., 134; Death in Destitution of Ch. Tellier, the 
Inventor of Cold Storage, 236; Cold Storage of Fish, 
642 

Colloids, Zonal Structure, Prof. E. Kiister, 532; G. Abbott, 
607, 687; Dr. H. J. Johnston-Lavis, 687 

Colour Vision among Crustacea, 726 

Se eee on Sea-sand, Prof. W. A. Herdman, 

~RS., 5 

Columbia University, New York, 545 

Columbium versus Niobium, Prof. F. W. Clarke, 528 

Comets : Comet 1913b (Metcalf), 32, 86, 108, 143, 224, 240, 
276; Comet r1913c (Neujmin), 52, 86, 108, 143, 240; 
Unusually Star-like Aspect, Prof. Barnard, 302 ; Comet 
1913d (Westphal), 143, 177, 240, 276, 302, 328; Comet 
1913e (Zinner), 276, 302; Orbit, Miss Anna R. Kidder, 
354; Comet 1913f (Delavan), 486, 512, 566, 670; Comet 
seen at Perth, W.A., 177; Various, 206 

Commercial Geography of the World, O. J. R. Howarth, 
Prof. G. A. J. Cole, 471 

Concrete: Continuous Beams in Reinforced Concrete, B. 
Geen, 92; London County Council Regulations, 205 ; 
Electrolysis in Concrete, 697 

Conferences: International, on Structure of Matter, Prof. 
E. Rutherford, F.R.S., 347; on Safety of Life at Sea, 
355, 616; Educational, 567; Meteorological, in Edin- 
burgh on September 8, 667 

Congresses: Twelfth International Geological at Toronto, 
7; Ninth International Physiological, Dr. C. Lovatt 
Evans, 61; International, of Pharmacy at the Hague, 
174, 304; Botanical, London, 1914, 203 ; Irish Technical 
Instruction, 415; Tropical Agriculture at Paris, 461; 
Association of Economic Biologists at Liverpool, 541; 
Americanists, London, 1912, 562; Proceedings of the 
Fifth International Congress of Mathematicians at 
Cambridge, Profs. Hobson and Love, Prof. Bryan, 
F.R.S., 575; Morning Post Card List for 1914, 594; 
Phytopathological at Rome, 613; Botanical in London, 
1915, 667; First Indian Science Congress, 727° ° 

G. Archdall 


Consciousness, Physiological Factors of, 
Reid, 6 : : ee 
Continuity: British ‘Association Address, Sir Oliver J. 


Lodge, F.R.S., 33, 606 


Xxil 


Convergence in the Mammalia, 411 

Cooperation in Agriculture, G. H. Powell, 229 

Copepoda, British Parasitic, Dr. T. Scott and A. Scott, 
193, 239; Copepoda from West of Ireland, G. P. 
Farran, 650 

Copper-wire Circular, 723 \ 

Coral Atolls, Darwinian Theory of, Prof. E. B. Poulton, 

F.R.S., 712 

Corrosion Committee, 52 

Cotton Spinning, W. S. Taggart, 231; Effect of Water on 
Cotton Cultivation, Messrs. Hughes and Hurst, 722 

Couples consisting of Two Flames, G. Moreau, 442 

Crete, Minoan, K. T. Frost, 614 

Crops in Different Countries, Relative Productivity, B. C. 
Wallis, 165 

Crossley Reflector, 566 

Crustacea from Madagascar, Hon. Paul A. Methuen, Dr. 
W. T. Calman, 416; Colour Vision in Crustacea, 726 

Crystals: Reflection of y Rays from Crystals, Prof. E. 
Rutherford, F.R.S., Dr. Andrade, 267; Crystals and 
the X-Ray Spectrometer, Prof. W. H. Bragg, 416; 
W. L. Bragg, 416; Crystallising Properties of Electro- 
deposited Iron, Prof. H. C. H. Carpenter, 442; 
Chemie: Allgemeine Kristallographie und Mineralogie, 
E. v. Meyer, Fr. Rinne, and others, 446; X-Ray 
Spectra of Sulphur and Quartz, Prof. W. H. Bragg, 
649; X-Rays and Metallic Crystals, E. A. Owen and 
G. G. Blake, 686; Uniaxial Augite from Mull, A. F. 
Hallimond, 703 ; Apparatus for Grinding Crystal Plates 
and Prisms, H. H. Thomas and W. C. Smith, 703-4 


Cupellation Experiments, C. O. Bannister and G. Patchin, 


545 


Daghistan, G. Kennan, 380 

Dairy: British and Colonial Dairying, G. S. Thomson, 
vii; Farm and Creamery Butter-making and Student’s 
Reference Book, C. W. Walker-Tisdale and T. R. 
Robinson, vii 

Dark Regions in the Sky, Prof. Barnard, 670 

Darwinism 100 Years Ago, Dr. Hans Gadow, F.R.S., 320; 
Prof. A. Dendy, F.R.S., 372; Anticipation of Darwin 
by G. W. Sleeper, Prof. E. S. Poulton, 588; Darwinian 
Theory of Atolls, Prof. E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., 712 

Deaths: Ansorge (Dr. W. J.), 351; Ball (Sir Robert 
Stawell, F.R.S.), 378, 403; Barrett-Hamilton (Major 
G. E. H.), 667; Bertillon (Alphonse), 693 ; Bevan (Prof. 
P. V.), 455, 481; Bloxam (W. Popplewell), 507, 535; 
Bowles (Dr. R. L.), 350; Chandler (Dr. S. C.), 590, 
611; Clarke (Col, Alexander Ross, C.B., F.R.S.), 692; 
Cocchi (Prof. Igino), 378; Cock (Dr. Julia), 694; Cole 
(A. H.), 590; Diesel (Rudolph), 173; Eastman (Rear- 
Admiral John R.), 202; Fritsch (Dr. Anton), 379; 
Gilfillas (Rev. J. A.), 406; Gill (Sir David, K.C.B., 
F.R.S.), 612, 635; Gore (Col. St. George C.), 350; 
Greaves (John), 105; Gunning (Dr. J. W. B.), 483; 
Giinther (Dr. Albert, F.R.S.), 638; Hartley (Sir Walter 
Noel, F.R.S.), 81, 102; Hunting (William), 272; 
Jentink (Dr. Fredericus Anna), 326; Kimball (Dr. 
J. P.), 325; Knight (Dr. Ora W.), 378; Kolthoff 
(G. I.), 299; Lawrence (Sir Trevor, Bart.), 506; 
Ledger (Rev. Edmund), 482 ; Lewkowitsch (Dr. Julius), 
104; Lynch (H. F. B.), 378; Macfarlane (Dr. Alex- 
ander), (Dr. C. G. Knott), 81, 103; Marks (W. D.), 
590; Marshall (Prof. Hugh, F.R.S.), (Dr. L. Dobbin), 
48, 138; Marvin (Dr. Joseph Benson), 82; Merck (Dr. 
Louis), 104; Mitchell (Dr. Silas Weir), (Sir Lauder 
Brunton, Bart., ERS), 534; Mitchell (Mrs. Weir), 
612; Morris (E. L.), 140; Ogier (Dr. Jules), 139; 
Omond (Dr. R. T.), (Dr. C. G. Knott), 638; Parsons 
(Dr. H. F.), 298; Peckham (Dr. G. W.), 612; Peirce 
(Dr. B. O.), 612; Phin (John), 561; Poncet (Prof. 
Antonin), 105; Potonié (Henry), 380; Preece (Sir 
William. Henry, K.C.B., F.R.S.), 322; Reuter (Dr. 
Odo Morannal), 105; Roberts (Samuel, F.R.S.), 105; 
Robinson (C. B.), 536; Rosenbusch (Prof. H. F.), 694; 
Smith (H. Herbert), 236; Spitzka (Dr. E. C.), 612; 
Strathcona (Lord), 590, 612; Sutton (Martin Lebel 
456; Tellier (Charles), 236; Tuke (Sir John Batty), 
202; Uhler (Dr. P. R.), 297; Upton (Prof. Winslow), 


Index 


Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


=) a 
590; Wait (Prof. Lucien A.), 104; Wallis (A. J.), 350; 
Wilkins (J. W.), 482; Wormell (Dr. R.), 535 
Decimal Association, 384 - 
Deep-sea Hydraulic Engine, Prof. J. Joly, 704-5 - 
Design of Alternating Current Machinery, J. R, Barr and 
R. D. Archibald, M. Solomon, 126 2 | 
Development: Kausale und konditionale Weltanschauung, — 
und Entwicklungsmechanik, W. Roux, 4 7 
Dewlish Elephant Trench, Rev. O. Fisher, 6, 166; C. Reid, — 
F.R.S., 96; G. W. B. McTurk, 166; H. T. Ferrar, 371 
Diabetic Foods, 143 ’ 
Dictionary, British Empire Universities Modern English 
Illustrated, E. D. Price and Dr. H. T. Peck, 449 
Dicynodont Vomer, Dr. R, Broom, 6; Igerna B. rs Sollas 
and Prof. W. J. Sollas, F.R.S., 61 
Dielectric Circuit, F. W. Peek, jun., 593 
Diesel Engine, Locomotive with, 85 , 
Diet, Health through, K. G. Haig, 93 } £h 
Diffraction of Light by Particles comparable with the 
Wave-length, B. A. Keen and A. W. Porter, 416 a's 
Diphtheria, Bacteriology of, Drs. Loeffler and others, 370 
Diptera nematocera of India, E. Brunetti, 683 
Disease: Pancreatic Treatment, Dr. J. Beard, 165; Com- © 
parison of Vigorous and Feeble Organisms in Com- — 
bating Infection, A. Chauveau, 192; Prevention and 
Control, Prof. F. Ramaley and Dr. C. E. Giffin, 193; 
Practical Bacteriology and Serum Therapy, Dr. A. 
Besson, Prof. Hutchens, D.S.O., 193; Johne’s Disease 
(Enteritis Bovis), F. W. Twort and G. L. Y. Ingram, 
193; Comparison of Human and Bovine Aptitude for 
Tuberculosis, A. Chauveau, 224; Prof. Noguchi’s Re- 
searches on Infective Diseases, S. Paget, 295; (1) 
Malaria; (2) Parasitology, Prof. W. B. Herms, 316; 
Infection of Mammals by Flagelle of Ctenocephalus 
and Anopheles, A. Laveran, 336; Bacteriology of 
Diphtheria, Drs. Loeffler and others, 370; Non- 
bloodsucking Flies, Dr. G. S. Graham-Smith, 421; 
Anticipation of Work on Evolution of Germ Theory, 
G. W. Sleeper, Prof. E. B. Poulton, F.R.S.. 588; 
‘Handbuch der Hygiene, III., 3: Pathogene tierische 
Parasiten, Prof. von Wasielewski, G. H. F. Nuttall, 
629; Game Animals and Disease in Africa, R. B. 
Woosnam, 722 
Plants: Disease of Potato in Australia, D. McAlpine, 
27; Potato Fungus, Dr. Pethybridge, 598; Congress at 
Rome, 613; Hollyhock, J. Eriksson, 730 
Distance of the Visible Horizon, T. W. Backhouse; Capt. 
T. H. Tizard, C.B., F.R.S., 96 
Distemper, Dr. M’Gowan, 318 
Dog, the Under, S. Trist and others, 94 
Dolmen, Origin of, Prof. Elliot Smith, 537 
Domestic: Household Bacteriology, Estelle D. and Prof. 
R. E. Buchanan, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 28 
Dosage of Animal Drugs, Prof. Dreyer and Dr. Walker, 
623 
Dragonflies of Tasmania, R. J. Tillyard, 547; Giant 
Dragon-fly in Coal, H. Bolton, 729 
Drawing : Theory and Design of Structures, E. S. Andrews, 
4, 341; Elementary Workshop Drawing, H. A. Darling, 
92; Machine Construction and. Drawing, A. E. 
Ingham, 92 
Durham Magnesium Limestone, C. T. Trechmann, 729 
Dyeing, Chemistry of, Dr. J. K. Wood, 261 
Dynamics, Elementary Experimental, for Schools, C. E. | 
Ashford, 195 


Ear: Mammalian Auditory Ossicles, R. W. Palmer, 204 

Earth, the: Distribution of Radio-elements and Origin of 
the Earth, G. Craig, 29; Earth’s Age, H. S. Shelton, 
274; Secular Desiccation of the Earth, Prof. J. W. 
Gregory and others, 435; Ice Sheet and Desiccation of 
the Globe, C. E. P. Brooks, 520; the Earth, A. T. 
Swain, 550; Constitution of the Interior of the Earth 
as revealed by Earthquakes, R. D. Oldham, F.R.S., 


68. 

rarthinelieas Messina After-shocks and Omori’s Law, 51; 
Earthquake at Abancay in Peru, November 7, 350; 
House Architecture in Italy, 408; Records in North 
America on February 10, 666; Constitution of the 


Nature, ] 
March 26, 19¢4. 


Interior of the Earth as revealed by Earthquakes, 
R. D. Oldham, F.R.S., 684; Japanese Earthquake and 
a a Seismogram, Prof, Belar, Dr. C. Davison, 
oa 
farthwork Haul and Overhaul, Prof. J. C. L. Fish, 92 
Earwig, Sex Proportions in Scilly, H. H. Brindley, 441 
East, the Fringe of the, H. C., Lukach, 234 
East Anglia, Prehistoric Society of, 201, 2338, 273 
Easter, Date of, Fr. Burckhardt, 84 
Ebullioscope, 670 
‘Echinus, Characters of Hybrid Larve of, H. G. Newth, 
~ 98; Prof. MacBride, F.R.S., 33 
Economic: Economic Ornithology, W. =. Collinge, 228; 
Further Parasite of the large Larch Saw-fly, R. A. 
Wardle, 320; Congress of Association of Economic 
Biologists, 541 
Edinburgh: Reports from Laboratory of Royal College of 
4 Physicians, Dr. Gardner, 317 
Education: Physical Training, Lieut. G, Hébert, Dr. Mina 
: L. Dobbie, 27; Honours Students and Post-graduate 
Scholarships in Chemistry, Prof. Wynne, 81; Higher 
Education and the State, 270; Future Grants, J. A. 
Pease, 309; University Education in London, J. A. 
Pease, 356; Curricula of Secondary Schools, G. F. 
Daniell, 383; a National System, J. H. Whitehouse, 
475; Place of Study in College Curriculum, Dr. P. H. 
Churchman, 494; Highest University Education in 
Germany and France, Sir J. Donaldson, 517; Fatigue 
and Educational Work, W. H. Winch, T. H. Pear, 
&c., 542; Educational Conferences, 567; the Purpose of 
Education, St. G. L. Fox Pitt, 578; Association of 
Public School Science Masters, 596; Address, Prof. 
H. B. Baker, F.R.S., 596; Education of German 
Artisan, H. S. Rowell, 598; Educational Legislation in 
New South Wales, J. H. Reynolds, 663 ; Continuation 
Schools in England and Germany, 677; History of 
University Reform from 1800 a.p. and Suggestions for 
Cambridge, A. I. Tillyard, 707; Indian Administration, 
Prof. V. G. Kale, 711; Pedagogical Anthropology, 
] Maria Montessori, iii; see British Association 
Eels, Dr. Joh. Schmidt, 16 
_ Egypt, 141; Manual Flora, Dr. R. Muschler, 162; Earliest 
Perfect Tombs, Prof. Flinders Petrie, 204; Egyptian 
Blue, Dr. A. P. Laurie and others, 440; Journal 
Ancient Egypt, 562; Egyptian Phosphate Beds, 641; 
New Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 694 
Elastic Hysteresis in Steel, F. E. Rowett, 495 
Electric Charge, Elementary, and Avogadro Constant, 
__ Prof. Millikan, 458 
Engineering: Design. of Alternating Current Machinery, 
J. R. Barr and Archibald M. Solomon, 126; 
Laboratory Manual of Alternating Currents, Prof. 
J. H. Morecroft, M. Solomon, 126; Death of Sir W. H. 
Preece, K.C.B., F.R.S.), 322; Dielectric Circuit in 


High-voltage Engineering, F. W. Peek, jun., 593; 
High-tension Overhead Transmission Lines, B. Wel- 
bourn, 669 

Field, Separation of Spectral Lines by an, Prof. J. Stark, 
401 q 

Measuring Machine, Dr. P. E. Shaw, 593 

Photometry and Illumination, Prof. H. Bohle, M. 
Solomon, 126 

Resistance: Absolute Measures by Method based on 


Lorenz’s, F. E. Smith, 49s; Characteristics of Insula- 
tion Resistance, S. Evershed, 510 
Rheostats, Messrs. Isenthal and Co. Le sO7, 
Solar Phenomena, Dr. J. A. Harker, F.R.S., 131 
Standards : Reports of British Association Committee, 91 
Theory, Modern, Dr. N. R. Campbell, 339 
Traction, 353 
Waves, Atmospheric Refraction of, F. Kiebitz, 615; 
Transmission of Electric Waves along the Earth’s 
Surface, Prof. H. M. Macdonald, 703 
_ Electricity, ‘Atmospheric, Potential Gradient at Simla, Dr. 
q G. C. Simpson, 511 
a Roper Positive, Rays of, and their Application, Sir 
J. J. Thomson, O.M., F.R.S., 549 
¥ Electrocardiogram, Interpretation of. W. A. Jolly, 258 
_ Electrochemistry, Principles of Applied, Dr. A. J. Allmand, 
% M. Solomon, 126; Chemical Action stimulated by 
Alternating Currents, S. G. Brown, 703 


Lndex 


XXill 


Electrodes, Influence of Diameter of Neon Tubes on P.D. 
of, G. Claude, 731; Electrodeless Spectra of Hydrogen, 
I. Masson, 503 

Electrolysis of Lead and Iron in the Soil, M. Girousse, 311 

Electro-magnetic Theory : I Fenomeni Magnetici nelle Varie. 
Teorie, S. Magrini, 164; Paul Drude’s Physik des 
ABthers, Dr. W. K6nig, 473 

Electrometers, Modern, Dr. E. N. da C. Andrade, 132 

Electromotive Force of Normal Weston Cell, A. N. Shaw 
and Prof. Callendar, 495; under Ultra-violet Light, J. 
Pougnet, 546 

Electrons, Radiation of, Prof. 
F.R.S., 339 

Electroplating, W. R. Barclay and C, H. Hainsworth, 

. Solomon, 126 : 

Electrostatic Oscillograph, H. Ho and S. Koto, 335 

Electrotechnical Commission, Berlin Meeting of the Inter- 
national, 109 

Elephant Trench at Dewlish, Rev. O. Fisher, 6, 166; C. 
Reid, F.R‘S:, 96; G. W. B. McTurk, 166; H.: T. 
Ferrar, 371 

Elodea, Dr. W. H. Brown, 54 

Empires, the Fate of, Dr. A. J. Hubbard, A. E. Crawley, 
396 

Encyclopzedia, New, H. C. O'Neill, 266 

Engineering : Hydraulic Machinery, E. Butler, 2; Theory 
and Design of Structures, E. S. Andrews, 4; Course 
of Elementary Workshop Drawing, H. A. Darling, 92; 
Field Fortification, Col. G, J. Fiebeger, 92; Machine 
Construction and Drawing, A. E. Ingham, 92; Earth- 
work Haul and Overhaul, Prof. J. C. L. Fish, 92; 
Continuous Beams in Reinforced Concrete, B. Geen, 
92; Death of Dr. Rudolph Diesel, 173; Model Engineer 
Exhibition, 203; Laboratories at Dundee, 224; 
Engineering Research and its Coordination, Sir F. 
Donaldson, G. H. Roberts, 268; Death of Sir William 
Henry Preece, K.C.B., F.R.S., 322; Specific Heat of 
Superheated Steam, Prof. O. Knoblauch, 382; Motor 
Ship Arum, 434; Strength of Wire Ropes, Prof. G. 
Benoit and Mr. Woernle, 511; Improvement of Rivers, 
B. F. Thomas and D. A. Watt, 525; the Motor Ship 
Fionia, 565; see British Association 

Engines: les Moteurs Thermiques, F. Moritz, 95; Deep-sea 
Hydraulic, Prof. J. Joly, 704-5 

England, a Leisurely Tour in, J. J. Hissey, 498; Early 
Wars of Wessex, A. F. Major, Rev. J. Griffith, 499 

Englishwoman’s Year-book and Directory, 1914, 526 

Entomology: Life-history of a Water-beetle, F. Balfour- 


R. W. Wood, F. Soddy, 


Browne, 20; Entomological Notes, 180; Flies in 
Relation to Disease: Non-bloodsuckers, Dr. G. S. 
Graham-Smith, 421; Entomologist’s Log-book, and 


Dictionary of Life Histories and Food Plants of British 


Macro-Lepidoptera, A. G. Scorer, 683; Fauna of 
British India, Dr. Shipley, G. A. K. Marshall, E. 
Brunetti, 683; Handbuch der Entomologie, Prof. C. 
Schroder, 683; see Insects 

Enzymes, Prof. J. Wohlgemuth, 524 

Epicamphor, 642 

Etching Reagent for Steel, New, Dr. W. Rosenhain, 
F.R.S:, 529; 594 

Ether, see Aither 

Ethnography: Aborigines of South America, the late 
Colonel G. E. Church, Sir Clements R. Markham, 

K-C:B.,) x 

Ethnology: Philippine Myths, H. O. Beyer, 15; Exogamy 
and’ Totemism, the late Andrew Lang, 83; Hausa 
Folk-lore and Customs, R. S. Rattray, 159; the 


Golden Bough, Prof. J. G. Frazer, A. E. Crawley, 317; 
Ulster Folklore, Elizabeth Andrews, Rev. J. Griffith, 
343: Japan’s Inheritance, E. B. Mitford, 367; Staves 
‘used in West Africa in the Cult of Shongo, J. W. S. 
Macfie, 431; Japanese Magic connected with Birth of 
Children, Dr. W. Hildburgh, 441; the Touareg, Fr. de 
Zeltner, 441; Bismarck Archipelago and Peopling of 
Melanesia, Dr. G. Friederici, S. H. Ray, 471; Silent 
Bargaining in India, T. C. Hodson, 482 

Eucalyptus. J. H. Maiden, W. B. Hemsley, F.R.S., 12 

Eugenics Record Office, 204; Eugenics of War, 273; 
Eugenics Education Society, Prof. Karl Pearson, 606; 
Major Leonard Darwin, 633; E. Schuster, 660 

Euglena, H. A. Wager, 96 


XXIV 


Europe, Continent of, Prof. L. W. Lyde, 709 

Evaporation and Haze, L. J. Briggs and J. O. Belz, 107; 
Evaporation of Water, Y. Horiguti, 176 

Evolution: Development and Purpose: Philosophy of 
Evolution, Prof. L. T. Hobhouse, 2; By-products of 
Evolution, Prof. Dendy, 17; Anticipations of Darwin, 
320, 372, 588; Evolution and Genetics, W. Bateson, 


497 : 

Exhibition, Gas, 178; Physical Society’s, 460 

“Experience Teaches,” Ivon Trinda, 578 

Explosions in Coal Mines, Possible Cause of, Prof. 
W. A. D. Rudge, 660; Explosives, Method of Measur- 
ing Pressure in Detonation, Prof. B. Hopkinson, 416 

Eye: Arthropod Eye, Dr. Trojan, 54; Eye-preserving Glass 
for Spectacles, Sir W. Crookes, O.M., F.R.S., 357 


Falmouth Magnetic Work, 298 

Farm Crops, B. C. Wallis, 165; Farmer of To-morrow, 
F. I. Anderson, 229 

Fate of Empires, Dr. A. J. Hubbard, A. E. Crawley, 396 

Fatigue and Educational Work, 542 

Fats, Dr. J. Lewkowitsch, -449 

Fauna of the Sandwich Islands, D. Sharp, F.R.S., Prof. 
J. S. Gardiner, F.R.S., 101 

Feet of the Furtive, C. G. D. Roberts, 294 

Fermat’s Theorem, J. E. Rowe, 176 

Ferments: Synthesis by Ferments, Prof. Bourquelot, 
304; Synthesis by means of Ferments, Sir Lauder 
Brunton, 399; Reversibility of Ferment Action, Dr. 
A. C. Hill, 479; Grundriss der Fermentmethoden, Prof. 
J. Wohlgemuth, 524; Ferment in Waters causing 
Dehydration of Glycerol, E. Voisenet, 625; Fermenta- 
tion of Cacao, H. H. Smith, 628 

Fionia Motor Ship, 565 

Fiords and other Inlets, Prof. J. 
Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., 662 

Fire: (1) Luxfer Electro-glazing; (2) Safe Doors, 177; 
Specification for Chemical Extinguishers, 697 

Fish : Food of Canadian Fishes, Dr. G. Hewitt, 16; Fish 
Refuge off California, 173; British Parasitic Copepoda, 
Dr. T. Scott and A. Scott, 193; Cyprinodont of Sub- 
family Poeciliine, C. T. Regan, 416; Deep-sea Fishes 
on the Paris Market, J. Pellegrin, 496; Bathypelagic 
Angler-fish containing Scopeloid Fish three times its 
Length, C. T. Regan, 650; Port Erin Hatching Season, 


W. Gregory, F.R.S., 


6 

Fisheres: Pilchards in the Eastern Half of the English 
Channel, H. Swithinbank and G. E. Bullen, 452; 
Report of Advisory Committee on Research, 614; 
Cornish Pilchards’ Food, H. Swithinbank and G. E. 
Bullen, 695; Der Fischerbote, 696 

Flies : in Relation to Disease : Non-bloodsucking Flies, Dr. 

i Graham-Smith, 421; Hzmatophagous Flies, 

Capt. Patton and Capt. Craig, 432; Flight of House- 
fly, E. Hindle, 441; Artificial Flies, Sir H. Maxwell, 
Bart., 562 

Flight: Flight of Birds, F. W. Headley, 368; Mechanics 
of the Aéroplane: Principles of Flight, Capt. Duchéne, 
J. H. Ledeboer and T. O’B. Hubbard, 368; .Flight of 
Gulls behind Ships, P. Idrac, 495 

Flint: Pygmy Flints from Cape Colony, W. J. L. Abbott, 
83; Striation, J. Reid Moir, 363; Fractured Flints from 
Selsey, Sir E. Ray Lankester, K.C.B., F.R.S.; Prof. 
W. J. Sollas, F.R.S., 452 : 

Flora, Freshwater, of Germany, &c., Prof. Pascher, 60; 
Flora of Egypt, Dr. R. Muschler, 162; Flora of Bristol, 
J. W. White, 162 

Flower Preservation, Wild, May Coley, 397 

Flowing Road, C. Whitney, 294 

Fluids, Similarity of Motion and Surface Friction of, Dr. 
Stanton and J. R. Pannell, 650 

Fluorine in Fumerolle from Vesuvius, A. Gautier, 364 

Fly-fishing, Sir H. Maxwell, 562 

Follx-lore: Hausa Folk-lore, R. S. Rattray, 15q; Ulster, 
Folk-lore, Elizabeth Andrews, Rev. J. Griffith, 343 

Food of British Wild Birds, W. E. Collinge, 228 

Foraminifera: Clare Island Survey, E. Heron-Allen and 
A. Earland, 458 

Forestry: Theory and Practice of Working Plans, Prof. 


A. B. Recknagel, 289; Important Timber Trees of the 


In@ex 


———— ae er 


Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


=! 


United States, S. B. Elliott; 289; Handbook of 
Forestry, W. F. A. Hudson, 289; Forest Resources, 
Major de Lotbiniére, 432% Forestry Exhibition in 
London, 508; Position of Forestry, Major de Lot- 
biniére, 508 ie 

Forthcoming Books of Science, 180 ene, : 

Fortification, Text-book on Field, Col. G. J. Fiebeger, 92 

Fossil Crinoids, Dr. F. A. Bather, 335; Fossil Floras of 
Kent Coalfield, Dr. Arber, 468 ; 

Fourier Series, Methods for determining Terms to represent 
any Periodic Function, F. W. Grover, 696 

Fox-breeding, Black or Silver, C. H. Miihlberg, 614 

France: the Seine, Sir E. Thorpe, 234 

Frauenfeld Meeting of Swiss Society for Advancement of 
Science, 240 

Free-martin a Hermaphrodite Male, Messrs. Geddes and 
Thompson, 537 5 

Fringe of the East, H. C. Lukach, 234 

Fruit-growers, Appeal of Board of Agriculture to, 455 

Fuel, 407 

Fungus -Phytophthora erythroseptica, Dr. G. H. Pethy- 
bridge, 598 


Galactic Coordinates, 566 

Game: Protection in Egypt, 455; Our Vanishing 
Dr. W. T. Hornaday, 504. 

Gamma Rays and Crystals, Prof. Rutherford and Dr. 
Andrade, 267 

Gardening, School, A. Logan; G. W. S. Brewer, 604 

Gas: Determination of Sulphur in Illuminating Gas, R. S. 
McBride and E. R. Weaver, 177; National Gas 
Exhibition, 178; Gaseous Pressure and Radiation 
Pressure combined, T. Bialobjeski, 205; Physical 
Chemistry of Gas Reactions, Dr. K. Jellinek, 419; 
Residual Ionisation, Prof. J. C. McLennan, 424; Gas 
Testing and Air Measurement, C. Chandley, 448; 
Micro-balance, F. W. Aston, 495; Gas Analysis, Prof. 
L. M. Dennis, 524 

Gazelles without Water Supply, 695 

Genetics: Journal of Genetics, 352; Problems of Genetics, 
W. Bateson, F.R.S., 497; see Heredity 

Geodesy : Geodetic Observations and their Value: R.S.A. 
Address, Sir T. H. Holdich, K.C.M.G., 464; Death cf 
Col. A. R. Clarke, C.B., F.R.S., 692; Effect of the 
Ganges Alluvium on the Plumb Line, R. D. Oldham, 


Wild Life, 


793 

Geographical Distribution of Phreatoicus, 98 

Geography: Brazil in 1912, J. C. Oalenfull, 4; South 
Brazil, Dr. W. Breitenbach, 29; the Duab of 
Turkestan, W. R. Rickmers, 64; Central Asia, 105; 
Trans-Himalaya: Tibet, Sven Hedin, 167; the Seine, 
Sir E. Thorpe, 234; Fringe of the East, H. C. Lulsach, 
234; a Naturalist in Cannibal Land, A. S. Meek, 234; 
Japan’s Inheritance, E. B. Mitford, 367; Scott’s Last 
Expedition, 373; Daghistan, G. Kennan, 380; Relief — 
in Cartography, Capt. Lyons, 380; Karakoram Hima- 
layas, Dr. and Mrs. B. Workman, 380; Russian Arctic 


Exploration, 456; Tirol, &c., Prof. v. D. Torre; 
Mittelmeerbilder, Dr. T. Fischer, Dr. Riihl; Haut 
Tell en Tunisie, Dr. C. Monchicourt; Animal Geo- 


graphy, Dr. M. I. Newbigin; Commercial Geography, 
O. J. R. Howarth, all: Prof. G. A. J. Cole, 471; Text- 
book of Geography, A. W. Andrews, 498; New British 
Antarctic Expedition, 506; Shackleton’s Transantarctic 
Expedition, Dr. W. S. Bruce, 533; Yamal Peninsula, 
M. Zhitkof, 564; a Review of Geographical Reviews, 
671; Antarctic Problems, Prof. E. David, C.M.G., 
F.R.S., 700; the Continent of Europe, Prof. L. W. 
Lyde, 709; Industrial and Commercial Geography, 
Prof. J. Russell Smith, 709; Discovery of Australia, 
W. B. Alexander, 715; Maps and Survey, A. R. Hinks, 
F.R.S., v; British Empire, W. L. Bunting and H. Le 
Collen, ix; Preliminary Geography, E. G. Hodgkison, — 
ix; History of Geography, Dr. J. Scott Keltie and — 
O. J. R. Howarth, ix; Principles and Methods of 
Teaching, F: L. Holtz, ix; das Mittelmeergebiet, A. 
Philippson, ix , 

of Britain: Upper Thames Country and Severn-Avon 
Plain, N. E. MacMunn, 498; a Leisurely Tour in 


. Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


[ndex 


XXV 


—— 
England, J. J. 
Bunting and H. L. Collen, ix 
_ See British Association, also Antarctic, 
Geographical Society 
Physical: le Monde Polaire, O. Nordenskjéld, G. Par- 
__ -mentier, M. Zimmermann, 164 
Geological Society : Officers, 720 
Geology: Twelfth International Geological Congress in 
; Toronto: Monograph on Coal Resources of the World: 
Differentiation of Rock Magmas: Sedimentation and 
Correlation of the Precambrian: Lecture on the 
Geological Map of the World, E. de Margerie: Lecture 
on Egyptian Deserts, Dr. W. F. Hume, 7; Geological 
Survey of India: Oil-fields of Burma, E. H. Pascoe, 9 ; 
United States Geological Survey, 16, 505, 538, 618; 
Use of Geology to the Forester, Dr. C. B. Crampton, 
84; Coast Erosion and Protection, E. R. Matthews, 
164; Petrography of Polzen, Bohemia, K. H. Scheu- 
mann, 196; Great Serpentine Belt of New South Wales, 
W. N. Benson, 225, 336, 547; Practical Stone Quarry- 
ing, A. Greenwell and Dr. J. V. Elsden, 290; Work of 
Natural Forces in Relation to Time, Dr. G. F. Wright, 
346; Geological Sections through the Andes of Peru 
and Bolivia, J. A. Douglas, 363; Is the Earth Drying 
Up? Prof. J. W. Gregory, 435; Economic Geology of 
Papua, J. E. Carne, 436; Limestone Caves of Burma, 
Dr. N. Annandale and others, 443; Outlines of 
Mineralogy, for Geological Students, Prof. G. A. J. 
Cole, 475; Garnet as a Geological Barometer and an 
Infra-plutonic Zone, Dr. L. L. Fermor, 485; Mineral 
Resources of the United States, 505; Mountains: their 
Origin, Growth, and Decay, Prof. J. Geikie, F.R.S., 
530; the Earth, A. T. Swaine, 550; Grundziige der 
geologischen Formations- und Gebirgskunde, Prof. A. 
Tornquist, 550; Determinative Mineralogy, with 
Tables, Prof. J. V. Lewis, 551; Geology in North 
America, 618; Petrology of the Igneous Rocks, Dr. 
F. H. Hatch, 659; Nature and Origin of Fiords, Prof. 
J. W. Gregory, F.R.S., Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., 
662 
of Britain: Elephant Trench at Dewlish, Rev. O. Fisher, 
6, 166; C. Reid, F.R.S., 96; G. W. B. McTurk, 166; 
H. T. Ferrar, 371; Hampstead Heath, 137; Oil Shale 
in Skye, 169; Traces of supposed Post-glacial Lake in 
Mouth of Tyne, S. R. Hazelhurst, 327; Geology at the 
British Association, 358; Fractured Flints from Selsey, 
Sir E. Ray Lankester, K.C.B., F.R.S.; Prof. W. J. 
Sollas, F.R.S., 452; Geology of Kent Coalfield, Dr. 
E. A. N. Arber, 467; Rocks of Lough Nafooey, Co. 
Galway, C. I. Gardiner and Prof. Reynolds, 623; 
St. Tudwal’s Peninsula, Carnarvonshire, T. C. 
Nicholas, 624; Geology of Huntly, W. R. Watt, 678; 
Glacial Geology of East Lancashire, Dr. Jowett, 678; 
Clare Island, J. R. Kilroe and T. Hallissy, 678; 
Lithology of Durham Magnesium Limestones, C. T. 
Trechmann, 729 
See British Association 
Geometry: Principles of Projective Geometry Applied to 
the Straight Line and Conic, J. L. S. Hatton, 195; 
First Course in Projective Geometry, E. Howard 
Smart, 657; Semi-regular Polytopes in Hyperspace, 
722 
Germany: Fresh-water Flora, Prof. Pascher, 60; Fresh- 
water Fauna, Prof. Brauer, 60; German School 
Chemistry, Dr. K. Scheid, Prof. A. Smithells, F.R.S., 
287; University Education in Germany, Sir J. Donald- 
son, 517; Preservation of Nature, 672 
Gibraltar, Eddy Winds of, H. Harries, 440 
Gifts and Grants: Paris Pasteur Institute, for a work on 
Treatment of Meningitis, 90,000 francs bequest, 48; 
Leeds University School of Agriculture, 10,000l., 223 ; 
Science (International), 5,000,000 francs, from E. 
Solvay, 298; London School of Tropical Medicine, 
71,444l., from Malay States, Otto Beit, and Collections, 
-3250; Royal Society, soool. for Physical Research from 
Sir James Caird, Bart., 405; Cancer Research, soool. 
bequest from A. Friedlander, 482; Reading University 
College, roool. from L. G. Sutton, 648; Agricultural 
Development Fund, 649; Medical Department of 
Washington University, St. Louis, 150,000]. from the 
U.S. Education Board, 702 


and Royal 


Hissey, 498; British Empire, W. L. | Glaciers of Alps and Pyrenees, 641 


Glanders, 272 

Glasgow Memorial to Lord Kelvin, 200 

Glass: New Optical “Spectros,” 327; Eye-preserving 
Glasses, Sir W. Crookes, O.M., 357; Museum Glass, 
F. J. Cole, 373; Coloration in Glasses containing 
Copper, A. Granger, 391; Errors in Biochemical Ex- 
periments due to Zinc in Glass Vessels, M. Javillier, 
599; Temperature Variation of Photo-elastic Effect in 
Strained Glass, Prof. L. N. G. Filon, 649 

Glucosides, Synthesis of, by means of Ferments, Prof. E. 
Bourquelot, 304 

Glycosuria. Origin of Sugar secreted 
Lépine, 224 

Gold Deposit at Bereozovsk, in Urals, C. W. Purington, 
678 


in Phlorizic, R. 


7 

Golden Bough : Part vi., the Scapegoat, Prof. J. G. Frazer, 
A. E. Crawley, 317 

Graphic Representation of Formulz, Capt. R. K. Hezlet, 
195 

Gravitational Instability and the Nebular Hypothesis, J. H. 
Jeans, 416 

Greece, Ancient, and Slaves, Prof. Zaborowski, 493 

Greek Ceramics, 274 

Group-origin of Species, Prof. Hugo de Vries, 395 

Gum Trees, T. H. Maiden, W. B. Hemsley, F.R.S., 12 

Gypsy Lore Society, 238; Gypsies in Tudor Times, 640 


Habitats of a Marine Amoeba, J. H. Orton, 371, 607; Prof. 
Dendy, F.R.S., 399, 479; G. P. Bidder, 479 

Hzmolymph of Insects, K. Geyer, 16 

Hampstead Heath, 137 

Harmsworth Popular Science, 230 

Hausa Folk-lore and Customs, R. S. Rattray, 159 

Haut Tell, see Tunis 

Hawaii, United States Territory, Dr. W. T. Brigham, 
Prof. J. S. Gardiner, F.R.S., 346; Hawaiian Vol- 
canoes, T. A. Jaggar, jun., 639 

Hazell’s Annual for 1914, 500 ; 

Health through Diet, K. G. Haig, 93; Health in India, 
Sir Ronald Ross, K.C.B., F.R.S., 454 

Heart: Interpretation of the Electrocardiogram, W. A. 
Jolly, 258; Nervo-muscular Structures, Prof. A. F. S. 
Kent, 390 

Heat: Specific Heats at Low Temperatures, Drs. Eucken 
and Schwers, 51; les Moteurs Thermiques, F. Moritz, 
95; Vorlesungen iiber die Theorie der Warmestrahlung, 
Dr. Max Planck, 261; Introduction to the Mathe- 
matical Theory of Heat Conduction, Prof. L. R. 
Ingersoll and O. J. Zobel, 265; Thermal Conductivity 
of Mercury, H. R. Nettleton, 390; Expansion of Silica, 
Prof. H. L. Callendar, 467; Thermal Expansions of 
Mercury and Fused Silica, F. J. Harlow, 467; 
Systematic Course of Practical Science: II., A. W. 
Mason, 473; Pressure of Radiation and Carnot’s Prin- 
ciple, 500, 527, 553; C. G. Darwin, 585; Modern 
Methods of Measuring Temperatures, R. S. Whipple, 
569; Influence of Thermal Environment on Body-heat, 
E. R. Lyth, 577; Specific Heats and the Periodic Law, 
Dr. H. Lewkowitsch, 661; Specific Heats—Analogy 
from Sound, R. G. Durrant, 686; Principles of Thermo- 
dynamics, Prof. G. A. Goodenough, 682 

Heating and Ventilation, Prof. A. M. Greene, jun., 93 

Helium : Spectra of Helium and Hydrogen, E. J. Evans, 5; 
Prof. A. Fowler, F.R.S., 95, 231; Dr. N. Bohr, 231; 
Helium and Neon, Dr. N. Campbell, 239; Kathode 
Spectrum of Helium, Prof. P. G. Nutting, 401 

Hens’ Spurs developed by Ovariotomy, A. Pézard, 731 

Heredity : Hybrid Larve of Genus Echinus, H. G. Newth, 
98; Hybrids of Sea-urchins, Prof. E. W. MacBride, 
334; Gruppenweise Artbildung, Prof. H. de Vries, 395; 
Connection between Abnormal Sex-limited Transmission 
and Sterility, Dr. Doncaster, 441; Problems of 
Genetics, W. Bateson, F.R.S., 497; Pedigree of Split- 
foot or Lobster Claw, Dr. G. McMullan and Prof, K. 
Pearson, 537; Skin-colour in Negro-White Crosses, 
Dr. C. B. Davenport, 696 

High School Agriculture, Prof. W. G. Hummel and Bertha 
R. Hummel, 658 ’ 


XXVI 


Higher Education and the State, 270 

Hills, Charm of the, S. Gordon, 294 

Himalayas: Karakoram, Dr, and Mrs. Workman, 380; 
Gravimetric, &c., Work of Italian Expedition, 431; 
Travels of Sir Joseph Hooker in Sikkim, H. J. Elwes, 


440 

History: Early Wars of Wessex, A, F. Major, Rev. J. 
Griffith, 499 

Hollyhock, Attempt to Immunise, J. Eriksson and C. 
Hammarlund, 730 

Holothurians, 300 

Horizon, Distance of the Visible, T. W. Backhouse, 96; 
Dr. J. Ball; Capt. Tizard, C.B., F.R.S., 344; R. L. 
Cole, 425 

Horses: Board of Agriculture: Transit Order, 175; 
Inheritance of Coat-colour, Prof. W. S. Anderson, 352; 
Horse of Charles I., 379; Origin of Argentine Horses, 
435; Dr. W. D. Matthew, 661 

Household Bacteriology, Estelle D. Buchanan and Prof. 
R. E. Buchanan, 28 

Hull Museum, 15 

Human Behaviour, Dr. M. Parmelee, A. E. Crawley, 396 

Hutchinson Museums, 237 

Hybrids: Hybrid Larvae of Echinus, H. G. Newth, 98; 
Sea Urchins, Prof. MacBride, F.R.S., 334; Natural 
Hybridism in Genus Grevillea, J. J. Fletcher, 157 

Hydraulic Machinery: a Practical Handbook, E. Butler, 2 

Hydrocyanic Acid in Plants, Dr. J. M. Petrie, 469 

Hydrogen: Spectra of Helium and Hydrogen, E. J. Evans, 
5; Prof. A. Fowler, F.R-S., 95, 231; Dr. N. Bohr, 
231; Electrodeless Spectra of Hydrogen, Irvine Masson, 


503 

Hydrography: Danish Expedition to the Mediterranean, 
J. Schmidt, 10; Scientific Papers, J. Y. Buchanan, 
Betsy, a550 

Hydrology, Medical, Dr. R. F. Fox, 708 

Hydromechanics: Kinetic Energy of Viscous Flow through 
a Tube, Prof. A. H. Gibson, 521 

Hygiene: Social Hygiene, H. Ellis, 59; Handbuch der 
Hygiene, Profs. Rubner, v. Gruber, and Ficker, Prof. 
Th. von Wasielewski, G, H. F. Nuttall, 629 


Ice: Ice Calorimeter, Ezer Griffiths, 335; Ice Patrol in 

North Atlantic, 408 ; Ocean Temperatures near Icebergs, 

C. W. Waidner and others, 414; First U.S. Patent for 

Ice Manufacture, 511; Meteorological Conditions of 

an Ice Sheet, C, E. P. Brooks, 520 

Ido: (Weltsprache), 398 

Illumination: Electrical Photometry and _ Illumination, 
Prof. H. Bohle, M. Solomon, 126; Gas, Radiation, and 
Illumination, P. Hégner, J. Eck, 448; Illumination 
Committee, 456 

Incandescent Lamps, 722-3 

India: Malarial Committee at Madras, 14; Nor’-westers 
and Monsoon Prediction, E. Digby, 25 Visvakarma, 
141, 536; Indian Chronography, R. Sewell, R. 
Pocock, 159; Bakshali MS. and Hindu Mathematics, 
176; Calcutta University, 257; Chemical Research in 
Bengal, 410; Health in India, Sir Ronald Ross, 
K.C.B., F.R.S., 454; Indian Museum, 457; Indian 
Tobaccos, Gabrielle L. C. Howard, 457; Silent Bar- 
gaining, 482; Lepidoptera Indica, 483; Geological 
Survey, Dr. L. L. Fermor, 485; Chank Bangle 
Industry, J. Hornell, 487; Atmospheric Electricity at 
Simla, Dr. G. C, Simpson, 511; Indian Survey, Col. 
Burrard, F.R.S., 645; Fauna of British India: 
Diptera, E. Brunetti, 683; Rajapur Intermittent 
Springs, H. H. Mann and S. R. Paranjpye, 705; 
Indian Administration, Prof. Vaman G, Kale, 711; 
Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine, 720; Indian 
Museum and Science Congress: Proposed Indian 
Association for Advancement of Science, 727; Coal- 
fields of India, Prof. V. Ball, F.R.S., R, R. Simp- 
son, lll 

Indigo: Behar Planters’ Report, 509 

Industrial. Poisoning from Manufacturing Processes, Dr. J. 
Rambousek, 628; Industrial and Commercial 
graphy, Prof. J. Russell Smith, 709 

Inertia, Mass as Measure of, Prof. W. C. Baker, 268 


Geo- 


Index 


Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


Infective Diseases, Prof. Noguchi’s Researches, S. Paget, 
295 

Insects: Hamolymph of Insects; and Sex, K. 
Death-feigning Stick Insects, P. Schmidt, 145; Insect 
Workers, W. J. Claxton, 294; a Further Parasite of 
the large Larch Saw-fly, R. A. Wardle, 320; Dwellings 
constructed by Freshwater Insects, Dr. C. Wesenberg- 
Lund, 326; Wine Traps for Capturing Moths of 
Cochylis, L. Moreau and E. Vinet, 495; Phromnia 
marginella in India, Dr. A. D. Imms, 704; Injurious — 
Insects, Prof. W. O’Kane, viii; see Entomology ee 

Instinct and Experience, Prof. C. LI. Morgan, F.R.S., 627 

Institute of Chemistry, 410 7 

Institute of Metals, 52 

Institution of Civil Engineers: James Forrest Lecture, A. 
Gracie, 275; Address on Port Authorities, A. G, Lyster, © 
328 

Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 569; Tests for Internal 
Combustion Engines, W. A. Tookey, 594 

International Association of Chemical Societies, Sir Wm. 
Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S., 45 7 

International Union for Solar Research, Prof. A. Fowler, 
F.R.S., 30 

Intra-atomic Charge, A. 
Soddy, F.R.S., 399 

Inventions : Scientific American Prizes for Essays on, 351 

Ionisation: TIonisation by Collision, Lecture Experiment, 
F. J. Harlow, 390; Residual Ionisation in Gases, Prof. 
J. C. McLennan, 424; Thermal Ionisation from 
Carbon, Prof. O. W. Richardson, 649 

Ionomagnetic Rotation, 142 

Irish Lights, 507 

Iron: Iron Making in Alabama, W. B. Phillips, 3; Iron 
and Steel, O. F. Hudson and Dr. G. D. Bengough, 3; 
Carnegie Scholarship Memoirs, 179; Influence of 
Silicon on Solubility of Carbon in Iron, G. Charpy and 
A. Cornu, 390; Crystallising Properties of Electro- 
deposited Iron, Prof. H. C. H. Carpenter, 442; Are 
Spectrum of Iron, K. Burns, 566; Iron and Steel 
Institute: Brussels Meeting: Metallurgy of Iron in 
Belgium, Baron de Laveleye; Coke, Baron Coppée; 
Utilisation of Blast-furnace Gases in Metallurgy, M. 
Houbaer; Artificial Enrichment with Oxygen of Air 
for Blast-furnace, M. Trasenster; Open-hearth Steel 
Furnaces, Mr. Talbot; Electric Refining of Steel in an 
Induction Furnace, O. Frick, 89 

Irritability, Prof. Max Verworn, 577 


Geyer, 16 - 


van den Broek, 372, 476; F. 


Japan: Japanese and Formosan Mammals, B. Aoki, 175; 
Japan’s Inheritance, E. Bruce Mitford, 367; Japanese 
Magic connected with Children, Dr. W. Hildburgh, 
441; Recent Volcanic Eruptions, 589; Earthquake, Dr. 
«C. Davison, 716 

Java Fishes and Reptiles, 721 

Johne’s Disease, F. W. Twort and G. L. Y. Ingram, 193 


Kala-azar, A. Laveran, 390 

Kathode Spectrum of Helium, Prof. P. G. Nutting, 4o1 

Kelps, Giant, of Pacific, F. K. Cameron, 510 

Kelvin Memorial, Glasgow, 200 

Kent Coalfield, Dr. E. A. N. Arber, 467, 468 

Ketones, Selective Absorption of, Prof. G. 
and I. M. Heilbron, 495 : 

Kew, Palzobotanical Institute for, Prof. A. G. Nathorst, 
502; Kew Gardens, 507 

Kinematograph, Child and: Report, 439 

Kinetic Energy of Viscous Flow through a Tube, Prof. 
A. H. Gibson, 521 

King’s College Memorial to Lord Lister, 595 

Koutchino, Research in Aérodynamics at, 233 


G. Henderson 


Lacteal Glands, Elimination of Dyestuffs by, P. Sisley and 
Ch. Porcher, 311 

Lammermoors, In the Lap of the, W. McConachie, Prof. 
J. A. Thomson, 340 

Lancashire, Glacial Geology of East, Dr. A. Jowett, 678 

Language: Weltsprache und Wissenschaft, Prof. Couturat 
and others, 398 


Nature, 
_ March.26, 1914 


Larch Saw-fly, a Further Parasite of the Large, R. A. 

_ Wardle, 320 

Latitude Variation and Radial Refraction from the Sun, 

P. F, E. Ross, 459. 

‘Learning Process, Prof. S. S. Colvin, 129 

Lecithins, 410 

Leeches, New European, Dr. M. v. Gedroyé, 145 

Left-handedness, 563 

Lepidoptera Indica, Dr. F. Moore, Col. Swinhoe, 483 

eprosy, Dr. H. Bayon, 379 

Level with Damped Mercury, A. Broca and C, Florian, 442 

Licences for Wireless, 320, 719 

Lichens, Marine, of Howth, Miss M. C. Knowles, 142 

Light: Electrical Photometry and Illumination, Prof. H. 

Bohle, M. Solomon, 126; Light Energy required to 

produce the Photographic Latent Image, P. G. 
Nutting, 293; Magneto-optics, P. Zeeman, 313; New 
Glass “Spectros” absorbing Ultra-violet Rays, 327; 
Multiple Vision with a Single Eye, Prof. A. M. 
Worthington, 328; Researches in Physical Optics: 
Radiation of Electrons, Prof. R. W. Wood, 339; Pre- 
paration of Eye-preserving Glass for Spectacles, Sir W. 
Crookes, O.M., F.R.S., 357; Negative After-images 
and Successive Contrast, Prof. A. W. Porter and Dr. 
F. W. Edridge-Green, 363; Diffraction by Particles 
comparable to Wave-length, B. A. Keen and A. W. 
Porter, 416; Mathematical Representation of a 
Wave-pulse, Dr. R. A. Houstoun, 416; Light, 
Radiation, and Illumination, P. Hégner, J. Eck, 448; 
Reflection of Light at the Confines of a Diffusing 
Medium, Lord Rayleigh, O.M., F.R.S., 450; Scatter- 
ing in Reflection from Grating, Prof. Barus, 451; Inter- 
mittent Vision, A. Mallock, 494; Standard Wave-length 
Determinations, Messrs. St. John and Ware, 512; 
“Davon” Micro-telescope, Prof. C. V. Boys, 595; Path 
of Ray in Rotating Solid, E. M. Anderson, 730 

Lightning Conductors, Franklin’s, at St. Paul’s, 13 

' Lime Manufacture, U.S. Bureau of Standards, 697 

' Lip-reading, E. B. Nitchie, 422 

Liquid: Liquid Air, G. Claude, H. E. P. Cottrell, F. 
Soddy, F.R.S., 134; Slipping of Liquids over Solids, 
R. Détrait, 433; Liquid Air as a Fixative, Prof. H. H. 
Dixon, 609 

“Lobster-claw ” Deformity, 537 

Locomotive, Sulzer-Diesel, 85 

Locust Extermination in Sudan, 614 

Logarithms: Four-figure Tables, C. Godfrey and A. W. 
Siddons, 195 

London: London Waters: Report, 49; Problem of the 
University of London, 426, 455; London County 
Council Conference of Teachers, 542; London Natural 
History Society, 590 

Loose-leaf-Book, Vesterling Org. Co., 643 


Machine Construction and Drawing, A. E. Ingham, 92 

Madrid Observatory Annual, 594 

Magnesium, Organometallic Compounds of Zinc and, Dr. 
H. Wren, 261 

Magnetism: I Fenomeni Magnetici nelle Varie Teorie, S. 
Magrini, 164; Magnetic Properties of Ferro-, Para-, 
and Dia-magnetic Substances, Prof. Honda and pupils, 
409; Realisation of High Magnetic Fields, H. 
Deslandres and A. Perot, 650; Subsidence of Torsional 
Oscillations of Nickel Wires in Alternating Fields, 
Prof. W. Brown and J. Smith, 704 

Magnetism of the Sun, Hale’s Attempt to determine the 
General, Kr. Birkeland, 55 

Magnetism, Terrestrial: Magnetic Storms and_ Solar 
Phenomena, J. Bosler, Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S., 19; 
Variations in the Earth’s Magnetic Field, Prof. 
Nipher, 240; Diurnal Variation, G. W. Walker, 363; 
Declination on Atlantic (Carnegie), 669 

_ Magnetometers, Tungsten Wire Suspensions for, S. Chap- 

J man and W. W. Bryant, 585 

Magneton and Planck’s Constant, Dr. H. S. Allen (Atomic 

Models), 630, 713; S. D. Chalmers, 687 

Magneto-optics: Magnetic Resolution of Spectrum Lines, 

_ Prof. P. Zeeman, 313 

Malaria: Malarial Committee of India, 14; Nature and 
Treatment of Cancer and Malaria, Dr. J. Beard; Dr. 


Lndex 


XXxvli 


C, W.. Saleeby, 60; Pancreatic Treatment, Dr. J. 
Beard, 165; Cause and Control, Prof. W. B. Herms, 
316; New Malarial Parasite (Plasmodium tenue) of 
Man, Dr. J. W. W. Stephens, 729 

Malta, Prehistoric Sites, 49 

Mammals: Japanese, B. Aoki, 175; Ungulate Mammals, 
British Museum Catalogue, R, Lydekker, F.R.S., 288; 
Convergence in Mammalia, 411; Evolution of Limbs, 
Dr. Broom, 640 

Man: Antiquity in S. America, A. Hrdlitka, Dr. Haddon, 
F.R.S., 144; Man and his Forerunners, Prof. H. v. 
Buttel-Reepen, A. G. Thacker, 160; Origin and 
Antiquity of Man, Dr. G, F, Wright, 160; L’Uomo 
Attuale una Specie Collettiva, V. Giuffrida-Ruggeri, 
160; die Rehobother Bastards, Dr, E. Fischer, 160; 
Man and his Future: the Anglo-Saxon, Lieut.-Col. W. 
Sedgwick, A. E. Crawley, 396 

Manchester: Old Natural History Society, F. Nicholson, 


335 

Maps: Relief in Cartography, Capt. H. G. Lyons, 380; 
Maps and Survey, A. R. Hinks, F.R.S., v 

Marine Amceba, Habitats, J. H. Orton, 371, 606; 399, 479 

Mars: Canals seen with 4o-inch, Prof. Lowell, 643 

Mass as a Measure of Inertia, Prof. W. C. Baker, 268 

Mathematics: Place of Pure Mathematics, H. F. Baker, 
F.R.S., 69; Death of Dr. A. Macfarlane, Dr. C. G. 
Knott, 103; Hindu Mathematics, 176; (1) Elementary 
Algebra; (2) Four-figure Tables, C. Godfrey and 
A. W. Siddons, 195; Papers Set in the Mathematical 
Tripos, Part I., Cambridge, 1908-12, 195; Elementary 
Experimental Dynamics for Schools, C. E. Ashford, 
195; Mathematics, Science, and Drawing for the Pre- 
liminary Technical Course, L. J. Castle, 195; Nomo- 
graphy, Capt. R. K. Hezlet, 195; Principles of Projec- 
tive Geometry Applied to Straight Line and Conic, 
J. L. S. Hatton, 195; Scientific Papers, Lord Ray- 
leigh, O.M., F-.R.S., 227; Mathematical Theory of 
Heat Conduction, Prof. Ingersoll and O. J. Zobel, 
265; Practical Mathematics: First Year, A. E, Young, 
341; Elementary Treatise on Calculus, Messrs. 
Franklin, MacNutt, and Charles, 341; Problémes de 
Mécanique et Cours de Cinématique, Prof. C. 
Guichard, MM. Dautry et Deschamps, 341; Further 
Problems in the Theory and Design of Structures, E. S. 
Andrews, 341; Mathematical Representation of a Light 
Pulse, Dr. R. A. Houstoun, 416; Principia Mathe- 
matica, Dr. A. N. Whitehead, F.R.S., and B. Russell, 
F.R.S., 445; Mnemonic Verse for 7, 458; Note, 510; 
Projective Geometry, H. Piaggio; “The Writer of the 
Note on p. 510,” 607; Marsh’s Mathematics Work- 
book, H. W. Marsh, 552; Proceedings of the Fifth 
International Congress of Mathematicians at Cam- 
bridge, Prof. E. W. Hobson and Prof. A. E. H. Love, 
Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 575; Need for News, 
General and Personal, 592; Matter and Some of its 
Dimensions, W. K. Carr, 605; Continuity: B.A.A. 
Address, Sir O. Lodge, 606; Vectorial Mechanics, Dr. 
L. Silberstein, 657; Introduction to the Mathematical 
Theory of Attraction, Dr. F. A. Tarleton, 657; First 
Course in Projective Geometry, 657; Catalogue of 
Mathematical Journals, 669; Theory of Chance applied 
to Radio-activity, Prof. L. v. Bortlkiewicz, 684; Semi- 
regular Polytopes, 722; see British Association 

Matter: Les Idées Modernes, E. Bauer, Mme. Curie, and 
others, F. Soddy, F.R.S., 339; International. Con- 
ference on Structure of Matter, 347; Matter and Some 
of its Dimensions, W. K. Carr, 605 

Mechanics: Mechanics of Development: Causal and Con- 
ditional Outlook, W. Roux, 4; Machine Construction 
and Drawing, A. E. Ingham, 92; Mass as Measure of 
Inertia, Prof. Baker, 268; Problémes de Mécanique, 
Prof. Guichard, MM. Dautry et Deschamps, 341; 
Theory and Design of Structures, E. S. Andrews, 4, 
341; Mechanics of the Aéroplane, Capt. Duchéne, J. H. 
Ledeboer and T. O’B. Hubbard, 368; Pressure in 
Explosions, Prof. B. WHopkinson, 416; Vectorial 
Mechanics, Dr. L. Silberstein, 657; Strength of Stayed 
Flat Plates, C. E. Stromeyer, 670 

Medicine: the People’s Medical Guide, Dr. J. Grimshaw, 
59; Medical School Addresses, 171; Death of Dr. 
Lucas-Championniére, 271; Infective Diseases, Prof. 


XXVIII 


Noguchi, S. Paget, 295; Death of Edward. Nettleship, 
F.R.S., 297; Reports from the Laboratory of the 
Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, 317; Ideals 
and Organisation of a Medical Society, Dr. J. B. 
Hurry, 422; Place of Climatology in Medicine, Dr. W. 
Gordon, 448; Health in India, Sir R. Ross, K.C.B., 
“.R.S., 454; Beit Memorial Fellowships, 492; Lord 
Lister: his Life and Work, Dr. G. T. Wrench, Dr. 
C. J. Martin, F.R.S., 523; Death of Dr. Weir 
Mitchell, Sir L. Brunton, Bart., F.R.S., 534; Organic 
Chemistry for Students of Medicine, Prof. J. Walker, 
F.R.S., 655; New Type of Anaphylaxis, Prof. C. 
Richet, 678; Medizinische Physik, Prof. O. Fischer, 
682; Medical Hydrology, Dr. R. Fortescue Fox, 708 ; 
Examination of School Children, 711; Anaphylaxis, 
Prof. Richet, J. M. Bligh, iv 

Mediterranean : Oceanography of the Mediterranean, Joh. 
Schmidt, 10; Mediterranean Cloud and Sunshine, J. 
Friedemann, 352; Mittelmeerbilder, Dr. T. Fischer, 
Dr. Riihl, Prof. Cole, 471; das Mittelmeergebiet, A. 
Philippson, ix 

Medley of Weather Lore, M. E. S. Wright, 398 

Melanesia, Peopling of, Dr. G. Friederici, S. H. Ray, 471 

Mendelian Factors for Flower Colour, M. Wheldale and 
H. L. Bassett, 623 

Mental Defect, Mendelism and, Dr. D. Heron, 327 

Mercury: Thermal Conductivity, H. R. Nettleton, 390; 
New. Arrangement of Mercury Lamp, M. Billon- 
Daguerre and others, 390; Phosphorescence of Mercury 
Vapour, F. S. Phillips, 401; Localities, J. E. Carne, 
433; Expansions of Mercury and Silica, F. J. Harlow, 
467; Alternating Arc in Mercury Vapour, E. Darmois, 
650 

Mercury, Planet, Transit of, May 6, 1707, 622 

Mesothorium Emanations, 105 

Metallography, Dr. C: H. Desch, 197 

Metallurgy: Institute of Metals: Meeting at Ghent: 
Corrosion Committee’s Report, Dr. Bengough and 
R. M. Jones; Intercrystalline Cohesion, Dr. W. Rosen- 
hain, F.R.S., and D. Ewen, &c., 52; Electroplating, 
W. R. Barclay and C. H. Hainsworth, M. Solomon, 
126; Carnegie Scholarship Memoirs, 179; Organo- 
metallic Compounds of Zinc and Magnesium, Dr. H. 
Wren, 261; Passivity of Metals, Dr. Grube, Dr. 
Reichenstein, D. Allen, Prob. Leblanc, Prof. Schoch, 
Prof. G. Schmidt, 356; Mineral Resources of the 
United States, 505; Cupellation Experiments, C. O. 
Bannister and G. Patchin, 545; Influence of Shaking 
on Solution of Copper in Nitric Acid, M. Drapier, 679 ; 
Liquid Steel: its Manufacture and Cost, D. Carnegie, 
S. G. Gladwin, Prof: J. O. Arnold, F.R.S., 681; 
Pocket-book for Miners and Metallurgists, F. D. 
Power, 684; X-Rays and Metallic Crystals, E. A. Owen 
and G. G. Blake, 686; Transparence of the Surface 
Film in Polishing Metals, Dr. G. T. Beilby, F.R.S., 
691 ; Density of Liquid Metals, P. Pascal, 730 

Metaphysics : Contre la Métaphysique, F. Le Dantec, 263 

Meteorology : Southern Hemisphere Seasonal Correlations, 
R. C. Mossman, 17, 300, 538, 669; North-westers and 
Monsoon Prediction, E. Digby, 25; Monsoon Fore- 
casting, Dr. C. Braak, 510; the Past Summer, C. 
Harding, 53; Structure of the Atmosphere in Clear 
Weather, C. J. P. Cave, Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S., 
57; Climate and Weather of San Diego, California, 
F. A. Carpenter, 196; Meteorological Committee’s 
Report, 205; Netherlands, 274; Barometric Variability 
in South Africa, J. R. Sutton, 391; National Antarctic 
Expedition, 1901-4: Meteorology, M. W. C. Campbell 
Hepworth, Prof. W. Meinardus, 393; a Medley of 
Weather Lore, M. E. S. Wright, 398; Nile Flood of 
1913, H. E. Hurst, 424; Nile Rains and Flood of 19011, 
484; Daily Temperature Change at Great Heights, 
W. H. Dines, 440; Eddy Winds of Gibraltar, H. 
Harries, 440; Wind Provinces, R. M. Deeley, 478; 
Origin of Climatic Changes, 479; Great Rain Storm at 
Doncaster, September 17, 1913, R. C. Mossman, 520; 
Snow in the United States, Dr. J. E. Church, jun., 
520 ;.- Meteorological! Conditions of an Ice Sheet, 
C. E. P. Brooks, 520; Principia atmospherica, Dr. 
W. N. Shaw, 520; Meteorological Office Reports, 536; 
Weather Forecasting, R. M. Deeley, 608; W. H. 


Index 


[ Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


Dines, F.R.S., 659; Weather Forecasts in England, 
A. Mallock, F.R.S., 711; Recent Temperatures in 
Europe, 617; Upper Air Research, C. J. P. Cave, 624 
Meteorological Office: the Observer’s Handbook, 1913, 
629; Conference in Edinburgh on September 8, 667 3 
Daily Synoptic Charts of Northern Hemisphere and 
Absolute Units, 715; Snowfall in Train Shed, Dr. L. 
Bell, 720; Two-hourly Barometric Variations, M. M’C. 
Fairgrieve, 722 L 

Meteoric Stone of Wittekrantz, South Africa, Dr. G. T. 
Prior, 364 ‘ " 

Meteors: Curious Meteoric Display in America, 875 
Remarkable Meteor on November 24, Dr. A. A. 
Rambaut, F.R.S., 372, 402; J. S. Dines, aa 
Detohating Fireball on January 19, W. F. Denning, 
670; Rumanian Superstition ve January and Novem-- 
ber, 720 va 

Metric: Carat, Order in Council, 271, 723; Spread of the 
Metric System, 384 

Micro-balance for Densities of Gases, F. W. Aston, 495 

Micrometer, Coincidence, free from Personality, A. Claude 
and L. Driencourt, 311 4 

Micro-organisms, Transport MM. Trillat and 
Fornassier, 365 

Microscope Stands and Objectives, Swift’s, 329 

Microscopical Examination of Skin and Leather, G. Abt, 
206 

Micro-telescope, “Davon,” Prof. C. V. Boys, F.R.S., 

Microtomist’s Vade-Mecum, A. B. Lee, 290 

Migration Routes, Horace Darwin, F.R.S., 370 

Milk : Untreated Milk best for Infants, R. Mond, 537, 590; 
Electrical Conductivity of Milk during Concentration, 
L. C. Jackson and others, 573 

Mimicry, G. D. H. Carpenter, 237; Prof. Poulton, 300; 
New Mimicry Plant, R. Marloth, 391; Mimikry und 
Verwandte Erscheinungen, Dr. A. Jacobi, 653 

Mind: the Game of Mind, Percy M. Campbell, 2; Mind © 
and Health: Systems of Divine Healing, Dr. E. E. ~ 
Weaver, 2; Development and Purpose, Prof. L. T. 
Hobhouse, 2 5 

Mineralogy: Spodumene from Namaqualand, A. R. E. 
Walker, 123; Traité de Chimie Minérale, H. Erdmann, 
Prof. A. Corvisy, 262; the Mineral Kingdom, Dr. R. 
Brauns, L. J. Spencer, 316; Minerals of Meldon in 
Devon, A. Russell, 364; Crystalline Basic Copper ~ 
Phosphate from Rhodesia, A. Hutchinson and A. M. : 
MacGregor, 364; Chemie: Allgemeine Kristallographie 
und Mineralogie, E. v. Meyer, Fr. Rinne, and others, 
446; Outlines of Mineralogy for Geological Students, 
Prof. G. A. J. Cole, 475; Mineral Resources of the 
United States, 505; Determinative Mineralogy, 
Prof. J. V. Lewis, 550; Effects of Temperature, F. E. 
Wright, 565; Mineral Industry in Canada, J. M. Bell, 
678 ; Genetic Classification of Rocks and Ore Deposits, 
T. Crook, 703 

Mines: Gas Testing, C. Chandley, 448; Mines of the 
Ottoman Empire, G. M. Edwards, 546; Life of Alex. 
Agassiz, G. R. Agassiz, Sir E. Ray Lankester, 
K.C.B., F.R.S., 601; Pocket-book for Miners and 
Metallurgists, F. D. Power, 684; Output of British 
Mines and Quarries, 721 

Mirrors, Silvered: Protection from Tarnishing, 52 

Mississippi Archeology, C. B. Moore, Dr. A. C. Haddon, 
F.R.S., 18 

Model Engineer Exhibition, 203 

Modern Electrical Theory, Dr. N. R. Campbell, F. Soddy, 
F.R.S., 339 

Molecule: die Existenz der Molkule: 
Studien, Prof. The Svedberg, 367 

Mollusca from Sudan, Jane Longstaff and others, 468 

Monazite from New Localities, S. J. Johnstone. 573 

Monsoon Prediction, E. Digby, 25; Monsoon Forecast for 
Java, Dr. C. Braak, 510 

Monte Rosa Expedition, 677 

Moon: New Poet of Nature, 166; a Day in the Moon, 
Abbé Th. Moreux, 422; Systems of Rays on the 
Moon’s Surface, C. H. Plant, 556; Dr. H. J. Johnston- 
Lavis, 631 ; Origin of Structures on the Moon’s Surface, 
Rev. O. Fisher, C. Hubert Plant, 714; Change in 
Crater Eimmart, Prof. W. H. Pickering, 594 

Moorlands of North-Eastern Yorkshire, F. Elgee, viii 


by Air, 


595 


Experimentelle 


‘Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


Motor Ship Arum, 434; Fionia, 565 

Mount Wilson: Standard Wave-lengths, Messrs. St. John 
and Ware, 512 

fountains, Prof. J. Geikie, F.R.S., 530 

Museums: Museums Association’ Conference, 351; Museum 
Glass, F. J. Cole, 373; Museum Guides, C. Hallett, 


537 : 

N Bo toms, Ed. Step, 397 

Music: Pianoforte Touch, Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 292 
Mycology: Fungus Diseases of Potato in Australia, D. 
McAlpine, 27; Soil Mycology, Prof. A. Kossowicz, 131 


Nantucket Observatory, 411 
Napier Tercentenary, 639 
National Physical Laboratory, Researches, 239 


Natural Forces, Work of, in relation.to Time, Dr. G. F. 


Nature Protection: International, E. Perrier, 417; in Italy, 
590; in Germany, 672; Nature Reserve in Tunis, 


40 
Nature Study: Fresh-water Flora and Fauna of Germany, 

60; Bodley Head: British Birds: Passeres, E. D. 
Cuming, J. A. Shepherd, 228; Terns, W. Bickerton, 
294; Charm of the Hills, S. Gordon, 294; the Flowing 
Road (South American Rivers), C. Whitney, 294; Wild 
Life and the Camera, A. R. Dugmore, 294; Feet of 
the Furtive, C. G. D. Roberts, 294; Insect Workers, 
W. J. Claxton, 294; Letters from Nature’s Workshop, 
W. J. Claxton, 294; Some Secrets of Nature, Anon ; 
the Romance of Nature, Anon., In the Lap of the 
Lammermoors, W. McConachie, all Prof. J. A. Thom- 
son, 340; Animal Geography, Dr. M. I. Newbigin, 
Prof. Cole, 471; British Birds’ Nests, R. and C. 
Kearton, 504; Our Vanishing Wild Life, Dr. W. T. 
Hornaday, 504; Trees in Winter, Dr. M. F. Blakeslee 
and Dr. C. D. Jarvis, 504; Messmates, E. Step, viii; 
Infancy of Animals, W. P. Pycraft, viii; Moorlands of 
__. N.E. Yorkshire, F. Elgee, viii 
Naval Architecture: James Forrest Lecture, A. Gracie, 
275; Death of Dr. Thearle, 349; Ship Resistance, Dr. 
T. H. Havelock, 416 
Naval Education, Sir A. Ewing, 520 
' Nebula: Hind’s Variable Nebula at Maximum, 87, 108; 
Statistics, Prof. Charlier, 178; Radial Velocity of 
Andromeda Nebula, V. M. Slipher, 411; New Nebule, 
C. R. D’Esterre, 434; Tuttle’s Nebula, M. Borrelly, 
540; Nebulz and the Crossley Reflector, 566 
- Nebular Hypothesis, J. H. Jeans, 416 
ae Crosses, Skin-colour in, Dr. Davenport, 
‘Neon, Attempts to Observe Production of Neon by Electric 
Discharge, Hon. R. J. Strutt, F.R.S., 494; a Second 
a Spectrum, T. R. Merton, 495 
_ Nephelometer, Dr. Kober, 485 


i 


‘New Guinea, A. S. Meek, 234; (Dutch), A. F. R. 
5 Wollaston, 668 
New South Wales: Educational Legislation, J. H. 


Reynolds, 663 
-Newton’s House in St. Martin’s Street, W.C., 456 
_ Nickel Deposition on Aluminium, J. Canac and E. Tassilly, 


; 599 
Nile Flood of 1913, H. E. Hurst, 424; of rgr1, 484 
Nitrogen: Industrial Fixation of Atmospheric Nitrogen, 
Prof. C. Matignon, 177; Second Group of Bands in 
Magnetic Field, H. Deslandres and L, d’Azambuja, 
625; Active Nitrogen, Prof. H. B. Baker, F.R.S., and 
Hon. R. J. Strutt, F.R.S., 659; Proof that the Three 
Valencies of the Nitrogen Atom are not in one Plane, 
Dr. Mills and Miss Bain, 724 : 
Noctuide, Catalogue of British Museum Collection, Sir 
_ G. F. Hampson, 288 
omography, Captain R. K. Hezlet, 195 
orfolk : Azolla, W. E. Palmer, 233; Norfollk and Norwich 
_____ Naturalists’ Society, 641 : 
North Sea Weather, Dr. N. Ekholm, 85; North Sea Fauna, 


Bo) 407 
umerals, Greek, M. N. Tod, 266 


Index 


XxXiX 


Ocean Temperatures near Icebergs, 414 

Oceanography of the Mediterranean: Report on Danish 
Expedition, J. Schmidt, 10; Oceanographic Researches, 
J. Y. Buchanan, F.R.S., 551 


_CEnothera, Prof. H. de Vries, 395 


Oil: Oil-fields of Burma, E. H. Pascoe, 9; Oil Shale in 
Skye, 13, 169; Chemical Technology and Analysis of 
Oils, Fats, and Waxes, Dr. J. Lewkowitsch, 449; 
Volatile Oils, E. Gildemeister and F. Hoffmann, E. 
Kremers, 498; Waning Petroleum Supply, 566 

Opium Poppy in Yunnan, F. K. Ward, 168 

Oransay Island Excavations, A. H. Bishop, 482 

Orchid Conference, 50 

Ornithology: Scottish Ornithology in 1912, Leonora J. 
Rintoul and Evelyn V. Baxter, 171; Ornithological 
Notes, 303, 726; see Birds 

Orrery, Messrs. G. Philip and Son, Ltd., 615 

Osmotic Pressure, Prof. A. Findlay, 261; W. R. Bousfield, 
703; in Plants, Prof. H. H. Dixon and Ww. R. G. 
Atkins, 538 

Oxford, Things Seen in, N. J. Davidson, 711 

Oxydases and their Inhibitors in Plant Tissues, W. eS 
Atkins, 495 

Oxygen, Revision of Density, F. O. Germann, 390 ; Oxygen 
Content of Gases from Roasting Pyrites, L. T. Wright, 


572 
Ozone and Hydrogen Peroxide, Method for Estimation, 565 


‘Palzobotany : Inaugural Lecture at University College, Dr. 


Marie C. Stopes, 237, 360; Medullosa pusilla, Dr. 
D. H. Scott, 390; Flora of South Staffordshire Coal- 
field, Dr. F. Kidston, 442; Sphaerostoma ovale, Prof. 
Margaret J. Benson, 442; Ginkgophyllum kiltorkense, 
Prof. T. Johnson, 495; Palzobotanical Institute at 
Kew, Prof. A. G. Nathorst, 502; Bothrodendron 
kiltorkense, Prof. T. Johnson, 599 
Palzontology: the Dicynodont Vomer, Dr. R. Broom, 
6; Igerna B. . Sollas and Prof. W.. J. 
Sollas, F.R.S., 61; Anthodon, Dr. R. Broom, 
51; dentate and Zalamdodont Mammals, Dr. 
Matthew, 106; Death of Dr. A. Fritsch, 379; Death 
of H. Potonié, 380; Vertebrates of New Mexico, 
Messrs. Case, Williston, and Mehl, 432; Vertebrates 
found in Asphalt-springs, California, W. D. Matthew, 
457; Papers on Vertebrate Paleontology, 514; Plesio- 
saurian Leurospondylus ultimus, 563; Tertiary 
Mammals, 592; Limbs and Evolution of Mammals, 
640; Sharks’ Teeth, 640; Mosasaurian Reptiles, C. W. 
Gilmore, Prof. L. Dollo, 695; Giant Dragon-fly in 
Radstock Coal, H. Bolton, 729 
Panama Canal and Earthquakes, 174; D. F. MacDonald, 
300; 408, 508; Panama Locks Control, 724 
Pancreatic Treatment of Tuberculosis, Dr. J. Beard, 165 
Papers, New Device for Filing, 643 ‘ 
Papua: Coal, Petroleum, and Copper in Papua, J. E. 
Carne, 436; see New Guinea 
Parasites : Gregarine Porospora, 
106; British Parasitic Copepoda, Dr. T. Scott and A. 
Scott, 193; (Corrected Price), 239; Laboratory Guide 
to Parasitology, Prof. W. B. Herms, 316; Handbuch 
der Hygiene, Profs. Rubner, v. Gruber, and Ficker, 
Prof.. von Wasielewski, G. H. F. Nuttall, 629; New 
Malarial Parasite of Man, Dr. J. W. W. Stephens, 729 
Paris Academy of Sciences: Prize Awards, 512; Prize 
Subjects, 540 
Paris, Turbines of the s.s., 434 
Paviland Cave, Prof. Sollas, 351 
Peas, Gametic Reduplication, 
Pellew, 352 “ae 
Pedagogical Anthropology, Maria Montessori, iii 
Pelargonium, Dr. R. Knuth, 163 
Pellagra in the Colne Valley, Dr. Blandy, 84; Pellagra, 
611 
Penguin, King-, R. C. Murphy, 381 
Perfumery, J. C. Umney, 593 
Periodic Law, Specific Heats and the, 
661; R. G. Durrant, 686 3 
Petrography’ of Polzen District, Bohemia, K. 
mann, 196 


MM. Léger and Duboscq, 


Prof. Punnett and Miss 


Dr. H. Lewkowitsch, 
H. ‘Schevu- 


., Nat: 

XXX L, UHACX Maree ae ee 
ee er Oe ee a ow 
Petroleum: Institution of Petroleum Technologists, 561; | Conductivity of Fluids of the Organism, A. Jayal, 7303 


Waning Supply of Petroleum, 566 

Petrology of the Igneous Rocks, Dr. F. H. Hatch, 659 

Pharmacological Action of Tetra-alkyl Ammonium Com- 
pounds, Prof. C. R. Marshall, 442, 520 

Pharmacy, International Congress of, 174, 304 

Philippine Myths, H. O. Beyer, 15; Colour Photographs of 
Philippine Races, Dean Worcester, 509 

Philosophy: the Game of Mind, Percy M. Campbell, 2; 
Mind and Health, Dr. E. E. Weaver, 2; Development 
and Purpose, Prof. L. T. Hobhouse, 2; Essais de 
Synthése Scientifique, E. Rignano, 263; Contre la 
Métaphysique, F. Le Dantec, 263; Modern Science and 
Prof. Bergson, H. S. R. Elliot, 263; Wissenschaft 
und Wirklichkeit, Max Frischeisen-K6hler, 263; the 
Young Nietzsche, 263; Philosophy of Vitalism, Prof. 
E. W. MacBride, F.R.S., 290, 400; Prof, Hans 
Driesch, 400 

Phosphate Beds of Safaga, Dr. J. Ball, 641 

Phosphorescence of Mercury Vapour, F. S. Phillips, gor 

Photochemical Reactions, Non-influence of Oxygen, M. 
Boll and V. Henri, 573 

Photo-electric Effect : Selective Action of Metals, G. Reboul, 


ion 

Photography: Exhibition of Royal Photographical Society, 
18; Grand Canyon, A. L. Coburn, 174; Light Energy 
required to produce the Latent Image, P. G. Nutting, 
293; “Wellcome” Photographic Exposure Record and 
Diary, 1914, 449; British Journal Photographic 
Almanac, 1914, 500; Wratten and Wainwright Plates, 


723 
Photometry, Electrical, Prof. H. Bohle, M. Solomon, 126 
Phreatoicus, Geographical Distribution of, Dr. C. Chilton, 
8 


Phiomiia, Dr. A. D. Imms, 704 

Physical Optics: Radiation of Electrons, Prof. R. W. 
Wood, 339 

Physical Society: Exhibition, 460; Officers, 720 

Physical Training, Lieut. G. Hébert, Dr. Mina L. Dobbie, 


27 

Physics: Continuity, Sir O. Lodge, F-.R.S., 33, 606; 
Scientific Papers, Lord Rayleigh, O.M., F.R S., 12275 
Researches of the National Physical Laboratory, 239; 


Presentation of Bust of Lord Kelvin at Edinburgh, 
303; Physics at the British Association, 304; les Idées 
Modernes sur la Constitution de la Matiére, E. Bauer, 
A. Blanc, E. Bloch, Mme. P. Curie, A. Debierne, and 
others, F. Soddy, F.R.S., 339; Conseil International 
Solvay, 347; die Existenz der Molkule Prof. The 
Svedberg, 367; Physics: an Elementary Text-book, 
Dr. C. G. Knott, 398; Recent Physical Research, D. 


Owen, 422; Mechanics and Heat: an Elementary 
Applied Course, J. Duncan, 473; Experimental 
Science, S. E. Brown, 473; Practical Physics for 


Secondary Schools, N. H. Black and Dr. H. N. Davis, 
473; Text-book of Physics, A. W. Duff, 473 ; Systematic 
Course of Practical Science for Schools, A. W. Mason, 
473; Paul Drude’s Physik des Aethers, Dr. W. Kénig, 
473; “Semi-absolute,” “Enquirer,” 530; Energy of 
Atoms at Absolute Zero, 539; die Physik der bewegten 
Materie und die Relativitatstheorie, Dr. Max B. 
Weinstein, 577; Aristotle’s Physics, Capt. J. H. Hard- 
castle; Sir G. Greenhill, F.R.S., 584; Sir Wm. 
Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S.; Sir O. Lodge, F.R.S., 606; 
Matter and.Some of its Dimensions, W. K. Carr, 605 ; 
a_ Text-book of Physics, Dr. R. S. Willows, 682; 
Medizinische Physik, Prof. O. Fischer, 682; Inter- 
national Committee Symbols, 697; see British Associa- 
tion, also Atoms, Radiation, and other individual 
headings 

Physiology: Physiological Factors of Consciousness, G. 
Archdall Reid, 6; International Physiological Congress, 
Dr. C. Lovatt Evans, 61; New Function of Vascular 
Walls, MM. Lépine and Boulud, 285; Effects of High- 
frequency Currents, T. T. Baker, 509; Irritability, 
Prof. Max Verworn, 577; Influence of Thermal En- 
vironment on Circulation and Body-heat, E. R. Lyth, 
577; Effects of Stimulants, Prof. H. E. Armstrong, 
670; Monte Rosa Expedition of 1911, 677; Proportion 
of Lipoids in the Tissues, A. Mayer, 579; Electrical 


see British Association = ere 

Physiology, Animal: the Arthropod Lye, Dr. Trojan, 54; 
Laws of Absorption of Carbon Monoxide by the Blood, 
M. Nicloux, 679; Colour Vision among Crustacea, 726 

Physiology, Veterinary, Major-Gen. F. Smith, C.B., 
C.M.G., 420 - : 

Pi, French Verses for 7, 458 F, 

Pianoforte Touch, Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 292, 4253 
Prof. S. Pickering, F.R.S., 425 

Pictures, Scientific Methods of Identifying, Prof. A. P. 
Laurie, 558 

Pilchards in the Eastern English Channel, H. Swithinbank 
and G. E. Bullen, 452; Pilchards’ Food, H. Swithin- 
bank and G. E. Bullen, 695 

Piltdown Skull, 110; Prof. G. Elliot Smith, F:RS3 
131, 267, 318, 468, 545, 729; Prof. A. Keith, F.R.S., 
197, 292, 345; A. G. Thacker, 299; (Mandible), Prof. 
David Waterston, 319; A. S. Underwood, 407; C. 
Dawson and Dr. A. S. Woodward, 545 ‘ 

Pipes from Red River (illustration), 19 

Planck’s Constant, the Magneton and, Dr. H. S. Allen, | 
630; S. D. Chalmers, 687 

Planets: Elements and Numbers of Minor Planets, Dr. 
Cohn, 276; the Ways of the Planets, M. E. Martin, 
W. E. Rolston, 420 ’ 

Plankton: Phytoplankton of Danish Seas, Dr. Ostenfeld, 
16; Plankton Distribution, C. O. Esterly, 241; New 
Quantitative Tow-net, Dr. E. J. Allen, 335 

Plant Diseases, Congress at Rome, 613; see Disease 

Plant Ecology, Dr. E. Riibel, 615 

Plant-Geography of Bernina District, Dr. E. Riibel, 162 

Plant Products, Introduction to Chemistry of, Dr. P. Haas 
and T. G. Hill, 524 

Plant Protection, Dr. A. B. Rendle, F.R.S., 130 ‘ 

Plants: Pflanzenreich, A. Engler, R. Knuth, K. Krause, 
162; Plant Life, Prof. J. B. Farmer, 397; Hydrocyaniec — 
Acid in Plants, Dr. J. M. Petrie, 469; Oxydases and 
their Inhibitors in Plant Tissues, W. R. G. Atkins, 
495; Conversion of Red Pigment to a Yellow, R. 
Combes, 522 ; Spread of Morbid Changes from Branches 
killed by Heat, Prof. H. H. Dixon, 599; Sap, Prof. 
Dixon, 704 

Plants, Aquatic: Biology of Elodea, Dr. W. H. Brown, 54 

Plates, Strength of Stayed Flat, C. E. Stromeyer, 670 

Plumage Bill, Sir H. H. Johnston, G.C.M.G., FAR Ss, 
428, 501; Dr. H. O. Forbes, 476; L. Joseph, sor; 
“O. L.,” 685; Artificial Flies, Sir H. Maxwell, 562 ; 
United States Bill, 48, 105, 639; French Importation, 
617 

Poet of Nature, New, 166 

Poisoning: Industrial Poisoning from Fumes, Gases, and 
Poisons, Dr. J. Rambousek, 628; Anaphylaxis, Prof. 
Ch. Richet, J. M. Bligh, 678, iv 

Polar: le Monde Polaire, O. Nordenskjéld, G. Parmentier . 
and M.. Zimmermann, 164; see Antarctic and Arctic 

Polarisation and Energy Losses in Dielectrics, Dr. A. W. 
Ashton, 390; Polarisation of Sky Light, A. Boutaric, 
485 ; Polarisation Capacity of an Electrode, P. Vaillant, 


Polished Metals, Transparence of Surface Film, Dr. G. T. 
Beilby, F.R.S., 691 

Pollination of Kaffir Bread Tree, R. Marloth, 259 

Polychaeta, R. Southern, 624 

Polzen Rocks, K. H. Scheumann, 196 

Pompeii, Discovery of Buried Harbour, 83 

Popular Science, Harmsworth’s, 230 

Porcelain, Fritted or Soft, A. Granger, 381 

Port Authorities, A. G. Lyster, 328 

Positive Electricity, Ravs of, and their Application to 
Chemical Analysis, Sir J. J. Thomson, O.M., F.R.S., 


Boeck, Kelp and other Sources of, F. K. Cameron, 510 

Potato: Fungus Diseases in Australia, D. McAlpine, 27; 
573; Disease*produced by Phytophthora erythroseptica, 
Dr. G. H. Pethybridge, 598 

Poultry and Egg Trade, British, E. Brown, 538 

Prehistoric Society of East Anglia, 201 

Pressure: Pressure in Detonation of Explosives, Prof. B. 
Hopkinson, 416; Pressure of Radiation, Prof. H. L. 


NV cture, 

Marc 26, 1914 

——— See 
Callendar, F.R.S., 450, 500, 553, 629; (and Carnot’s 
Principle), Lord Rayleigh, 527; C. G. Darwin, 585 

Principia Mathematica, Dr. A. N. Whitehead, F.R.S., and 

P B. Russell, F.R.S., 445 

Prize Awards of Paris Academy of Sciences for 1913, 512 

Prizes Offered: by Pasteur Institute for Work on Treat- 
ment of Meningitis, 48; Beneden Prize of 2800 francs 
for Embryology or Cytology, 379; 100 Dollars for 
Paper on Availability of Pearson’s Formule for 
Psychophysics, 508; Paris Academy of Sciences, Prize 
Subjects for 1915, 540 

Projective Geometry, H. 

% Note,” 607 5 

Protozoa, Soil, K. R. Lewin and C. H. Martin, 632, 677 

Psychiatry, Modern Problems in, Prof. E. Lugaro, Drs. 
Orr and Rows, 231 

Psycho-analysis, Dr. W. Brown, 643 

Psychology: Association and Inhibition, Prof. Shepard and 
H. M. Fogelsonge, 15; Continuity: British Association 
Address, Sir O. Lodge, F.R.S., 33; the Learning 
Process, Prof. S. S. Colvin, 129; Introduction to 
Psychology, Prof. R. M. Yerkes, 129 ; Experiments in 
Educational Psychology, Dr. D. Starch, 120; Man and 
his Future: the Anglo-Saxon, Lieut.-Col. Sedgwick ; 
the Fate of Empires, Dr. A. J. Hubbard; Science of 
Human Behaviour, Dr. M. Parmelee; all A. E. 
Crawley, 396; Instinct and Experience, Prof. C. LI. 
Morgan, F.R.S., 627; New Theory, Prof. S. Freud, 
Dr. W. Brown, 643; see British Association 

Psychology, Animal, G. Bohn, Dr. Rose Thesing, A. E. 
Crawley, 396 

Pumping and Hydraulic Machinery, Modern, E. Butler, 2 


Piaggio; “The Writer of the 


Quarrying, Practical Stone-, A. Greenwell and Dr. J. V. 
Elsden, 290 


Rabies, Dr. Hideyo 
Manouélian, 365 

Radiation : Theory of Radiation, Prof. G. B. McLaren, 165, 
233; Prof. J. W. Nicholson, 199; Theorie der Warme- 
strahlung, Dr. Max Planck, 261; Pressure of Radiation 
and Carnot’s Principle, Prof. H. L. Callendar, F.R.S., 
450, 500, 553, 629; Lord Rayleigh, O.M., F.R.S., 527; 
C. G. Darwin, 585; the Radiation Problem, Dr. E. E. 
Fournier d’Albe, 688 

Radio-activity : Branch Product in Actinium C, E. Mars- 
den, R. H. Wilson, 29; Simple Method of Counting 
both a and 8 Particles, Dr. H. Geiger, 85; Reflection 
of y Rays from Crystals, Prof. Rutherford and Dr. 
Andrade, 267; les Idées Modernes sur la Constitution 
de la Matiére, E. Bauer, Mme. Curie, and others, 
F. Soddy, F.R.S., 339; Residual Ionisation in Gases, 
Prof. J. C. McLennan, 424; the End-product of 
Thorium, Prof. J. Joly, F.R.S., and J. R. Cotter, 632, 
661; Search in Russia for Minerals, 666; Radio- 
activity, Prof. L. v. Bortkiewicz, 684; Work of the 
Vienna Radium Institute, 699 

Radio-elements, Terrestrial Distribution of, and Origin of 
the Earth, George Craig, 29 

Radiology : Emanations of Mesothorium, 105 

Radio-telegraphy, see Wireless, 277 

Radium: Radium Institute and Radium Emanation, 172; 
Science and the Lay Press, One of the Reporters, 199; 
Radium Resources, F. Soddy, F.R.S., 376; the British 
Radium Standard, Prof. E. Rutherford, F.R.S., 402; 
Phenomena of Solution of Radium Emanation, Dr. T. 
Godlewski, 409; Directions for sending Radium, Dr. 
Glazebrook, 430; Supposed Separation ot Radium D 
from Lead, C. Staehling, 521 

Railways: Audible Signals for Locomotives and Electric 
Lighting of Trains in France, 539 

Rain: British Rainfall in 1912, Dr. H. R. Mill, C. Salter, 
60; in 1913, 696; Rain Storm at Doncaster, September 
17, 1913, R. C. Mossman and C. Salter, 520 

Rats and Danysz Virus, 274 

Rays of Positive Electricity, Sir J. J. Thomson, O.M., 
F.R.S., 549 

Reaction, Delayed, in Animals and Children, Dr. W. S. 
Hunter, 15 

Reagents, Merck’s Index, 17 

Red-water due to Euglena, H. A. Wager, 96 


Noguchi, 173; Negri’s Corpuscles, Y. 


Index 


XXX1 


Reflection of y Rays, 267; of X-Rays, M. de Broglie; E. 
Jacot, 423; of Light at the Confines of a Diffusing 
Medium, Lord Rayleigh, O.M., F.R.S., 450; Scatter- 
ing in Regular Reflection from a Transparent Grating : 
Analogy to Reflection of X-Rays, Prof. C. Barus, 451 

Reflex Action, Prof. Verworn, E. R. Lyth, 577 

Refraction of Electric Waves in the Atmosphere, 
Kiebitz, 615 

Regeneration in Gunda ulvae, Dorothy J. Lloyd, 385, 729 

Rehobother Bastards, Dr. E. Fischer, 160 

Relativity, the Case against, Dr. Max B. Weinstein, 577 


Be 


Religion: the Golden Bough, Prof. J. G. Frazer, A. E- 
Crawley, 317 

Reptiles from Colombian Choco, G. A. Boulenger, 416 

Resistance of Struts, &c., in an Air Current, A. P- 


Thurston, 642 
Reversibility of Ferment Action, Dr. A. C. Hill, 479 


REVIEWS AND Our BOOKSHELF. 


Agriculture : 

Anderson (F. I.), the Farmer of To-morrow, 229 

Brewer (G. W. S.), Educational School Gardening and 
Handwork, 604 

Case (Gerald O.), the Use of Vegetation for Reclaiming 
Tidal Lands, 578 

Collinge (W. E.), Food of some British Wild Birds, 228 

Elliott (S. B.), Important Timber Trees of the United 
States: a Manual of Practical Forestry, 289 

French Hydrological Service: (a) Région des Alpes: (6) 
Région du Sud-Ouest, 436 

Harper (Prof. M. W.), Animal Husbandry for Schools, 


229 
Hudson (W. F. A.), Handbool: of Forestry, 289 
Hummel (Prof. W. G., and Bertha), Materials and 
Methods in High School Agriculture, 658 
Johnson (W. H.), Elementary Tropical Agriculture, 229 
Kossowicz (Prof. A.), Einftihrung in die Agrilultur- 
mykologie, 131 
Logan (A.), Principles and Practice of School Gardening, 
604 
McAlpine (D.), Handbook of Fungus Diseases of the 
Potato in Australia and their Treatment, 27 
Powell (G. H.),° Cooperation in Agriculture, G. H. 
Powell, 229 
Recknagel (Prof. A. B.), Theory and Practice of Working 
Plans (Forest Organisation), 289 
South-Eastern Agricultural College, Wye, Kent, Journal 
of the, 487 
Thomson (G. S.), British and Colonial Dairying, Sup. vii 
U.S. Department of Agriculture: Bureau of Soils 
Bulletins, 560 
Walker-Tisdale (C. W.) and T. R. Robinson, Farm and 
Creamery Butter-making and Student's Reference 
Book, Sup. vii 
Wieler (Prof. A.), Pflanzenwachsthum und Kalkmangel 
im Boden, 560 
Anthropology : ‘ 
Andrews (Elizabeth), Ulster Folklore, Rev. J. Griffith, 
Batah School at Athens, Annual of the, 266 
British School at Rome, Papers of the, Rev. J. Griffith, 


ary 

Bete Reeeen (Prof. H. v.), A. G. Thacker, Man and his 
Forerunners, 160 

Church (the late Colonel G. E.), Clements R. Markham, 
K.C.B., Aborigines of South America, 1 

Fischer (Dr. E.), Die Rehobother Bastards und das 
Bastardierungsproblem beim Menschen, 160 ‘ 

Frazer (Prof. J. G.), the Golden Bough: Part vi., the 
Scapegoat, A. E. Crawley, 317 : 

Friederici (Dr. G.), Forschungsreise nach dem Bismarck- 
Archipel, 1908: III., Eine melanesische Wanderstrasse, 
Sidney H. Ray, 471 

Giuffrida-Ruggeri (V.), 
Collettiva, 160 : 

Hrdligka (Ales) and others, Early Man in South America, 
Dr. A. C. Haddon, F-.R.S., 144 

Hubbard (Dr. A. J.), the Fate of Empires, A. E. Crawley, 


L’Uomo Attuale una Specie 


6 
Tats (E. Thurlow), Archeology of the Anglo-Saxon 
Settlements, 369 


XXXII 


Lndex 


[ Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


TS LL —__—————— —“swa—_——— 


Major (A. F.), C. W. Whistler, 
Rev. J. Griffith, 499 

Montessori (Maria), I. C. Cooper, Pedagogical Anthropo- 
logy, Sup. iii 

Parmelee (Dr. M.), Science of Human Behaviour, A. E. 
Crawley, 396 

Pearson (Prof. Karl, F.R.S.), E. Nettleship, F.R.S., and 
C. H. Usher, Monograph on Albinism in Man, 717 

Pyle (Dr. W. H.), Examination of School Children, 711 

Rattray (R. Sutherland), Hausa Folk-lore, Customs, 
Proverbs, &c., 1 . 

Sedgwick. (Lieut.-Col. W.), Man and his Future: the 
Anglo-Saxon, A. E. Crawley, 396 

Whitney (C.), the Flowing Road (Venezuela), 294 

Wright (Dr. G. F.), Origin and Antiquity of Man, 160 

Biology: , 

Anon., The Romance of’ Nature, 
Thomson, 340 

Anon., Some Secrets of Nature, Prof. J. A. Thomson, 340 

Baker (R. T.), Cabinet Timbers of Australia, 552 

Bateson (Wm., F.R.S.), Problems of Genetics, 497 

Besson (Dr. A.), Prof. H. J. Hutchens, D.S.O., Practical 
Bacteriology, Microbiology, &c., 193 

Bickerton (W.), Home-life of the Terns, 294 

Blakeslee (Dr. M. F.) and Dr. C. D. Jarvis, Trees in 


Early Wars of Wessex, 


Prof. J. Arthur 


Winter, 50 
Bohn (G.), Dr. Rose Thesing, Die Neue Tierpsychologie, 
396 


Brauer (Prof. Dr.), Die Siisswasserfauna Deutschlands, 
eine Exkursions-fauna, 60 

British Museum (Natural History) Catalogues : (1) Books, 
Manuscripts, Maps, and Drawings: Vol. iv., 288; 
(2) Noctuide, by Sir G. F. Hampson, 288; (3) Ungu- 
late Mammals: Vol. i., Artiodactyla, Family Bovide, 
by R. Lydekker, F.R.S., 288 

Brown (Dr. W. H.), Elodea, 54 

Brucker (Prof. E.), Zoology, Prof. J. A. Thomson, 340 

Buchanan (Estelle D. and Prof. R. E.), Household 
Bacteriology, Prof. Hewlett, 28 

Case (G. O.), the Use of Vegetation for Reclaiming Tidal 
Lands, «78 

Claxton (W. J.), Insect Workers, 294; Letters from 
Nature’s Workshop, 294 

Coley (May), Wild Flower Preservation, 397 

Collinge (W. E.), Food of some British Wild Birds, 228 

Cuming (E. D.), J. A. Shepherd, the Bodley Head 
Natural History: British Birds: Passeres, 228 

Dahl (Prof. F.), Vergleichende Physiologie und Morpho- 
logie der Spinnentiere, 605 

Dugmore (A. R.), Wild Life and the Camera, 204 

Elgee (F.), Moorlands of North-Eastern Yorkshire, 
Sup. viii 

Elliott (S. B.), Important Timber Trees of the United 
States: a Manual of Practical Forestry, 289 

Engler (A.), R. Knuth, K. Krause, Das Pflanzenreich: 
Geraniacez : Goodeniaceze and Brunoniacez, 162 

Esterly (C. O.), Occurrence and Vertical Distribution of 
the Copepoda of the San Diego Region, 241 

Farmer (Prof. J. B.), Plant Life, 397 

Gordon (S.), the Charm of the Hills, 294 

Graham-Smith (Dr. G. S.), Flies in Relation to Disease : 
Non-bloodsucking Flies, 421 

Hampson (Sir G. F.), Catalogue of Noctuide in the 
British Museum, 288 

Hampstead Scientific Society, Hampstead Heath: its 
Geology and Natural History, 137 

Haviland (M. D.), Wild Life on the Wing, 688 

Headley (F. W.), the Flight of Birds, 368 

Herms (Prof. W. B.), Laboratory Guide to the Study of 
Parasitology, 316 

Hopkinson (John), a Bibliography of the Tunicata, 288 

Hornaday (Dr. W. T.), Our Vanishing Wild Life, 504 

Hudson (W. F. A.), a Handbook of Forestry, 289 

Jacobi (Dr. A.), Mimikry und Verwandte Erscheinungen, 
653 

Joint Committee of the Royal Society and British Associa- 
tion, D. Sharp, F.R.S., Fauna Hawaiiensis, Prof. J. 
Stanley Gardiner, F.R.S., ror 

Kearton (R.), C. Kearton, British Birds’ Nests, so4 

Kossowicz (Prof. A.), Einftthrung in die Agrikultur- 
mykologie, 131 


Kiister (Prof. E.), Zonenbildung in kolloidalen Medien, 


532 P 
Lee (A. B.), the Microtomist’s Vade-Mecum, 290 es 
Lowe (Percy R.), Our Common Sea-birds, 688 : 
Lydekker (R., F.R.S.), Catalogue of the Ungulate 

Mammals in the British Museum (Natural History), 

288 
Lyth (E. R.), Studies on the Influence of Thermal 

Environment on the Circulation and the Body-heat, 

577 
McConachie, In the Lap of the Lammermoors, Prof. 

J. A. Thomson, 340 
Mack (Amy E.), J. Ramsay and L. Harrison, Bush Days, 

162 


Maiden (J. .H.), a Critical 
Eucalyptus, Dr. W. 

Morgan (Prof. C. LI., 
627 

Muschler (Dr. Reno), a Manual Flora of Egypt, 162 ; 

va (Dr. Marion I.), Animal Geography, Prof, 

ole, 471 

O’Kane (Prof. W.), Injurious Insects: How to Recognise 
and Control Them, Sup. viii 

Parmelee (Dr. M.), the Science of Human Behaviour, 
A. E. Crawley, 396 

Pascher (Prof. A.), Die Siisswasser-Flora Deutschlands, 
Osterreichs und der Schweiz, 60 

Prescott (S. C.) and C. E. A. Winslow, Elements of 
Water Bacteriology, 197 

Pycraft (W. P.), the Infancy of Animals, Sup. viii 

Recknagel (Prof. A. B.), Theory and Practice of Working 
Plans (Forest Organisation), 289 

Richet (Prof. Ch.), J. Murray Bligh, . Anaphylaxis, 
Sup, iv ’ 

Rignano (E.), Essais de Synthése Scientifique, 263 

Rintoul (Leonora J.) and Evelyn V. Baxter, Report on 
Scottish Ornithology in 1912, including Migration, 171 

Roberts (C. G. D.), the Feet of the Furtive, 294 

Roux (W.), Ueber kausale und konditionale Weltan- 
schauung und deren  Stellung 
mechanik, 4 é 

Riibel (Dr. E.), Pflanzengeographische Monographie des 
Berninagebietes, 162 

Rubner, v. Gruber, and Ficker (Profs.), Handbuch der — 
Hygiene, G. H. F. Nuttall, 629 A 

Salter (Dr. J. H.), Bird Life throughout the Year, 688 

Schroder (Prof. Chr.), Handbuch der Entomologie, 683 

Scorer (A. G.), the Entomologist’s Log-book, and 
Dictionary of the Life Histories and Food Plants of 
the British Macro-Lepidoptera, 683 

Scott (Dr. T.) and A. Scott, British Parasitic Copepoda, 


Revision of the Genu 
Botting Hemsley, F.R.S., 12 ‘ 
F.R.S.), Instinct and Experience, 


zur Entwicklungs- 


193 

Shipley (Dr. A. E.), Guy A. K. Marshall, E. Brunetti, 
the Fauna of British India: Diptera nematocera, 683 

Sleeper (G. W.), Evolution and the Germ Theory of 
Disease (printed 1849?), Prof. E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., 
88 

Smith (Major-General F., C.B., C.M.G.), Manual of 
Veterinary Physiology, 420 

Step (E.), Toadstools and Mushrooms of the Countryside, 
397; Messmates: a Book of Strange Companion- 
ships in Nature, Sup. viii 

Thienemann (Prof. J.), XI. Jahresbericht (1911) der 
Vogelwarte Rossitten der Deutschen Ornithologischen 
Gesellschaft, 228 - 

Trist (S.), the Under Dog: Wrongs Suffered by Animals 
at the Hand of Man, 94 : 

Trojan (Dr. E.), Das Auge von Palaemon Squilla, 54 

Verworn (Prof. Max), Irritability: a Physiological 
Analysis of the General Effect of Stimuli in Living 
Substance, 577 

Vries (Prof. Hugo de), 
Cnothera, &c., 395 

White (J. W.), Flora of Bristol, 162 

Zwanziger (Dr.), G. K. Gude, the Animal Kingdom 
illustrated in 27 Coloured Plates, containing several 
Hundreds of Species, 710 

Chemistry : : Fs 

Allen’s Commercial Organic Analysis, edited by W. A. 

Davis and S. S. Sadtler, 125 ~ 


Gruppenweise Artbildung: 


Nature 
March 26, 1414 


Allmand (Dr. A. J.), Principles of Applied Electro- 
__ chemistry, M. Solomon, 126 : 

Bauer (E.), A. Blanc, E. Bloch, Mme. P. Curie, A. 
_ Debierne, and others, Les Idées Modernes sur la Con- 
__ stitution de la Matiére, F. Soddy, F.R.S., 339 
-Bausor (H. W.), Preliminary Chemistry, 446 
‘Blake (Prof. J. C.), General Chemistry Laboratory 
Manual, 655 : 

Bloxam (C. L.), A. G. Bloxam and Dr. S. J. Lewis, 
_ Chemistry: Inorganic and Organic, with Experiments, 


Be 343. 
Bottger (Dr. W.), Qualitative Analyse vom Standpunkte 
__ der Tonenlehre, 446 
_ Brown (Prof. J. Campbell), Dr. G. D. Bengough, Prac- 
tical Chemistry, 655 5 
Bryant (V. S.), Laboratory Text-book of Chemistry, 262 
Carnegie (D.), S. G. Gladwin, Liquid Steel, Prof. J. O. 
Arnold, F.R.S., 681 
_ Carnegie Scholarship Memoirs (on Iron and Steel), 179 
_Chandley (C.), Gas Testing and Air Measurement (in 
Mines), 448. 
_ Claude (G.), H. E. P. Cottrell, Liquid Air, Oxygen, 
_ _ Nitrogen, F. Soddy, F.R.S., 1 
Cohen (Prof. J. B., F.R.S.), 
q Advanced Students, 498 
_ Curie (Mme. P.), see Bauer 
_ Davis (W. A.) and S. S. Sadtler, Allen’s Commercial 
Organic Analysis, 125 
Dennis (Prof. L. M.), Gas Analysis, 524 
Erdmann (H.), Traité de Chimie Minérale, Prof. A. 
‘ Corvisy, 262 
_ Findlay (Prof. A.), Osmotic Pressure, 261 
Gildemeister (E.) and Fr. Hoffmann, E. Kremers, the 
Volatile Oils, 498 ‘ 
- Haas (Dr. Paul) and T. G. Hill, Introduction to the 
; Chemistry of Plant Products, 524 
_ Hooker (A. H.), Chloride of Lime in Sanitation, 93 
Hoyt (W. F.), Manual of Qualitative Analysis: Reagent 
_ _.and Combustion Methods, 446 
Hudson (O. F.) and Dr. G. 
Steel, 3 
- Jellinek (Dr. K.), Physikalische Chemie der homogenen 
|. und heterogenen Gasreaktionen, 419 
_ Jones (Prof: H. C.), Freezing Point-lowering, &c., of 
Solutions, 461 
Kahlenberg (Prof. L. and Prof. E. B.), Chemistry and 
its Relations to Daily Life, 628 
Kremann (Prof. R.), H. E. Potts, Dr. A. Mond, Applica- 
tion of Physico-chemical Theory to Technical Processes 
and Manufacturing Methods, 628 
' Lewes (Prof. V. B.) and J. S. S. Brame, Service 
Chemistry: a Short Manual of Chemistry and Metal- 
lurgy, and their Application in the Naval and Military 
} Services, 125 
Lewis (J. Volney), Determinative Mineralogy, 550 
_ Lewkowitsch (Dr. J.), Chemical Technology and Analysis 
‘ of Oils, Fats, and Waxes, 449 
_~* McPherson (Prof. W.) and Prof. W. E. Henderson, a 
Course in General Chemistry, 446 
Mellor (Dr. J. W.), Treatise on Quantitative Inorganic 
ae: Vol i. of Treatise on Ceramic Industries, 
up. Vi 
_ Meyer (E. v.), Fr. Rinne, G. Engler and others, Chemie : 
Allgemeine Kristallographie und Mineralogie, 446 
_ Molinari (Dr. E.), T. H. Pope, Treatise on General and 
Industrial Organic Chemistry, 446 
Partington (J.’R.), Text-book of Thermodynamics (with 
special reference to Chemistry), 265 
Porritt (B. D.), Chemistry of Rubber, 524 
Post (Prof. J.) and Prof. B. Neumann, G. Chenu and 
M. Pellet, Traité Complet d’Analyse Chimique 
Appliquée aux Essais Industriels, 262 


34 5 ; 
Organic Chemistry for 


D. Bengough, Iron and 


4 f 
- Rambousek (Dr. J.), Dr. T. M. Legge, Industrial 
v Poisoning from Fumes, Gases, and Poisons of Manu- 
facturing Processes, 623 
Richter (V. v.), Dr. R. Anschutz, Dr. H. Meerwein, 
Chemie der Kohlenstoffverbindungen oder organische 
' Chemie, 262 
Sabatier (Paul), La Catalyse en Chimie Organique, 655 


L[ndex 


| Power (F. D.), Pocket-book for Miners and Metallurgists, 


XXXill 


Scheid (Dr. Karl), Methodik des chemischen Unterrichts, 
Prof. A. Smithells, F.R.S., 287 ‘ 
Stahler (Dr. A.),, Handbuch der Arbeitsmethoden in der 
anorganischen Chemie, 125 
_ Svedberg (Prof. The), Die 
Experimentelle Studien, 367 
Swarts (Prof. F.), Cours de Chimie Organique, 125 
Thomson (Sir J. J., O.M., F.R.S.), Rays of Positive 
Electricity and their Application to Chemical Analysis, 


Existenz der Molkule: 


549 
Waddell (Prof. J.), Quantitative Analysis in Practice, 


655 

Walker (Prof. J., F.R.S.), Organic Chemistry for 
Students of Medicine, 655 

Wohlgemuth (Prof. J.), Grundriss.der Fermentmethoden, 


524 
Wood (Dr. J. K.), Chemistry of Dyeing, 261 
Wren (Dr. H.), Organometallic Compounds. of Zinc and 
Magnesium, 261 
Engineering : 
Andrews (E. S.), Theory and Design of Structures, 4; 
Further Problems in Theory and Design of Structures, 


341 

Barr (J. R.) and R. D. Archibald, Design of Alternating 
Current Machinery, M. Solomon, 126 

Berger (K.), P. Le Normand, La Télégraphie et la 
Téléphonie Simultanée et la Téléphonie Multiple, M. 
Solomon, 126 

Bohle (Prof. H.), Electrical Photometry and I!lumina- 
tion, M. Solomon, 126 

British Association Committee, Reports on Electrical 
Standards, 91 

Butler (E.), Modern Pumping and Hydraulic Machinery : 
a Practical Handbook, 2 

Carnegie (D.), S. G. Gladwin, Liquid Steel, its Manu- 
facture and Cost, Prof. J. O. Arnold, F.R.S., 681 

Darling (H. A.), Course of Elementary Workshop 
Drawing, 92 

Duchéne (Capt.), J. H. Ledeboer and T. O’B. Hubbard, 
“Mechanics of the Aéroplane, 368 

Eichhorn (Dr. G.), Jahrbuch der drahtlosen Telegraphie 
und Telephonie, 672 

Eiffel (G.), J. C. Hunsaker, the Resistance of the Air 
and Aviation, 342 

Fiebeger (Col. G. J.), Text-book on Field Fortification, 


2 

Fish (Prof. J. C. L.), Earthwork Haul and Overhaul, 
including Economic Distribution, 92 

Fleming (Prof. J. A., F.R.S.), Wonders of Wireless 
Telegraphy, 526 

Gaston (R.), La Théorie de l’Aviation, 130 

Geen (Burnard), Continuous Beams in Reinforced Con- 
crete, 92 

Gibson (C. R.), Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony with- 
out Wires, 682 

Greene (Prof. A. M., jun.), Elements of Heating and 
Ventilation, 93 : 

Hoégner (P.), Justus Eck, Light, Radiation, and Illumina- 
tion, 448 

Wieisin (A. E.), Machine Construction and Drawing, 92 

Marchis (L.), Le Froid industriel, F. Soddy, F.R.S., 134 

Morecroft (Prof. J. H.), Laboratory Manual of Alternat- 
ing Currents, M. Solomon, 126 

Moritz (F.), Les Moteurs Thermiques dans leur Rapports 
avec la Thermodynamique, 95 f 

Painlevé (Prof. P.), Prof. E. Borel, and Ch. Maurain, 
L’Aviation, 28 

Pendry (H. W.), the Baudét Printing Telegraph System, 
M. Solomon, 126 

Power (F. D.), Pocket-book for Miners and Metal- 
lurgists, 684 j i 

Thomas (B. F.) and D. A. Watt, Improvement of Rivers, 


525 : 

Walicden (S. L.), Aéroplanes in Gusts, 130 ‘ 

Wireless Telegraph Operators Working Installations 
Licensed by H.M. Postmaster-General, Handbook for, 
672 

Geography : 

Andrews (A. W.), Text-book of Geography, 498 
Breitenbach (Dr. W.), Aus Siid-Brasilien : Erinnerungen 
und Aufzeichnungen, 29 


XXXIV 
MEI UN AW 


Buchanan (J. Y., F.R.S.), Scientific Papers [Oceano- 
graphic], 551 

Bunting (W. L.) and H. L. Collen, Geography of the 
British Empire, Sup. ix 

Fischer (Dr. T.), Dr. A. Ril, Mittelmeerbilder, Prof. 
G. A. J. Cole, 471 

Hedin (Sven), Trans-Himalaya: Discoveries and Adven- 
tures in Tibet, 167 

Hinks (A. R., F.R.S.), Maps and Survey, Sup. v 

Hissey (J. J.), a Leisurely Tour in England, 498 

Hodgkison (E. G.), Preliminary Geography, Sup. ix 

Holtz (F. L.), Principles and Methods of Teaching 
Geography, Sup. ix 

Howarth (O. J. R.), Commercial Geography of the 
World, Prof. G. A. J. Cole, 471 

Indian Survey: (1) Report; (2) Records, Col. S. G. 
Burrard, F.R.S., 645 

Kale (Prof. Vaman G.), Indian Administration, 711 

Keltie (Dr. J. Scott) and O. J. R. Howarth, History of 
Geography, Sup. ix 

Lukach (H. C.), the Fringe of the East: a Journey 
through Past and Present Provinces of Turkey, 234 

Lyde (Prof. L. W.), the Continent of Europe, 709 

MacMunn (N. E.), Upper Thames Country and Severn- 
Avon Plain, 498 

Meek (A. S.), a Naturalist in Cannibal Land, 234 

Mitford (E. Bruce), Japan’s Inheritance, 367 

Monchicourt (Dr. Ch.), La Région du Haut Tell en 
Tunisie, Prof. G. A. J. Cole, 471 

Newbigin (Dr. Marion I.), Animal Geography, Prof. 
G. A. J. Cole, 471 

Nordenskjo6ld (Otto), G. Parmentier and M. Zimmer- 
mann, Le Monde Polaire, 164 

Oakenfull (J. C.), Brazil in 1912, 4 

Philippson (A.), Das Mittelmeergebiet: seine 
graphische und Kulturelle Eigenart, Sup. ix 

Rickmers (W. Rickmer), the Duab of Turkestan, 64 

Schmidt (Joh.), Report on the Danish Oceanographical 
Expeditions of 1908-10 to the Mediterranean, 10 

Scott (Captain R. F., R.N., C.V.O.), Scott’s Last 
Expedition: Vol. i., Journals of Captain Scott; Vol. 
ii., Reports of Journeys and Scientific Work under- 
taken by Dr. E. A. Wilson and the Surviving Members, 
Leonard Huxley, 373 

Smith (Prof. J. Russell), Industrial and Commercial 
Geography, 709 

Thorpe (Sir Edward), the Seine from Havre to Paris, 234 

Torre (Prof. K. W. von Dalla), Tirol, Vorarlberg und 
Liechtenstein, Prof. G. A. J. Cole, 471 

Ward (F. Kingdon), the Land of the Blue Poppy : 
Travels of a Naturalist in Eastern Tibet, 167 

Whitney (C.), the Flowing Road, Adventuring on the 
Great Rivers of South America, 294 

Wilson (Dr. E. A.), see Scott (Capt. R. F.) 

Geology: 

Ball (Prof. V., F.R.S.), R. R. Simpson, Coalfields of 
India, Sup. iii 

Brauns (Dr. R.), the Mineral Kingdom, 316 

Canada: Geological Survey Branch of Department of 
Mines, 618 

Carne (J. E.), Coal, Petroleum, and Copper in Papua, 436 

Cole (Prof. G. A. J.), Outlines of Mineralogy for 
Geological Students, 475 

Desch (Dr. C. H.), Metallurgy, 197 

Elgee (F.), the Moorlands of North-Eastern Yorkshire, 
Sup. viii 

Geikie (Prof. J., F.R.S.), 
Growth, and Decay, 530 

Greenwell (A.) and Dr. J. V. Elsden, Practical Stone 
Quarrying, 290 

Gregory (Prof. J. W., F.R.S.), Nature and Origin of 
Fiords, Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., 662 

Hampstead Scientific Society, Hampstead Heath, 137 

Hatch (Dr. F. H.), Petrology of the Igneous Rocks, 659 

Hudson (O. F.) and Dr. G. D. Bengough, Iron and 
Steel: an Introductory Text-book for Engineers and 
Metallurgists, 3 

Lewis (Prof. J. Volney), Determinative Mineralogy, with 
Tables, 550 

Matthews (E. R.), Coast Erosion and Protection, 164 

Pascoe (E. H.), the Oil-fields of Burma, 9 


Geo- 


Mountains: their Origin, 


L[ndex 


» Phillips (W. B.), Iron Making in Alabama 


Mathematics and Physics: 


[ Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


’ 

Power (F. D.), Pocket-book for Miners and Netallurgi 
68 

edie (Dr. F. L.), Underground Waters for Commercial 
Purposes, 474 

Scheumann (K. H.), Petrographische Untersuchungen ar 
Gesteinen des Polzengebietes in Nord-Béhmen, 196 

Swaine (A. T.), the -Earth: its Genesis and Evolution 
considered in the Light of the most recent Scientific 
Research, 551 

Tornquist (Prof. A.), Grundziige 
Formations- und Gebirgskunde, 550 

United States Geological Survey, Mineral Resources of 
the United States, 1911, 505; Various Papers, 618 - 


der geologischen 


Allmand (Dr. A. J.), 
chemistry, M. Solomon, 126 5 

Andrews (E. S.), Theory and Design of Structures, 4, 34 

Ashford (C. E.), Elementary Experimental Dynamics for 
Schools, 195 i 

Bauer (E.), A. Blanc, E. Bloch, Mme. P. Curie, 4 : 
Debierne, and others, Les Idées Modernes sur la Con: 
stitution de la Matiére: Conférences faites en 1912, 
F, Soddy, F.R.S., 339 , 

Black (N. H.) and Dr. H. N. Davis, Practical Physics 
for Secondary Schools, 473 ‘ 

Bohle (Prof. H.), Electrical Photometry and Illumina: 
tion, M. Solomon, 126 - 

Bortkiewicz (Prof. L. v.), die Radioaktive Strahlung als 
Gegenstand wahrscheinlichkeitstheoretischer Untersuch- 
ungen, 684 

British Association Committee, 
Standards, 91 

Brown (S. E.), Experimental Science: I., Physics, 473 

Cambridge University, Papers Set in the Mathematical 
Tripos, Part I., 195 

Campbell (Dr. N. R.), Modern Electrical Theory, F. 
Soddy, F.R.S., 339 

Carpenter (F. A.), Climate and Weather of San Diego, 
California, 196 

Carr (W. K.), Matter and Some of its Dimensions, 605 

Castle (L. J.), Mathematics, Science, and Drawing for 
the Preliminary Technical Course, 195 

Cave (C. J. P.), the Structure of the Atmosphere in 
Clear Weather: a Study of Soundings with Pilot 
Balloons, Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S., 57 

Chambers (G. F.), Astronomy, W. E. Rolston, 420, =” 

Congress of Mathematicians, Proceedings of the Fifth, 
Prof. E. W. Hobson and Prof. A. E. H. Love, Editors, 
Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 575 , } 

Drude (Paul), Dr. W. Kénig, Physik des thers auf — 
Elektro-magnetischer Grundlage, 473 

Duchéne (Capt.), J. H. Ledeboer and T. O’B. Hubbard, 
Mechanics of the Aéroplane, 368 

Duff (A. W.), Text-book of Physics, 473 

Duncan (J.), Mechanics and Heat: 
Course of Applied Physics, 473 ae 

Eiffel (G.), J. C. Hunsaker, Resistance of the Air and 
Aviation, 342 ; 

Fischer (Prof. Otto), Medizinische Physik, 682 

Fleming (Prof. J. A., F.R.S.), Wonders of Wireless 
Telegraphy, 526 

Franklin (W. S.), B. MacNutt, and R. L. Charles, 
Elementary Treatise on Calculus, 341 rk 

Gaston (R.), M. Farman, La Théorie de 1’Aviation: son’ 
Application a 1’Aéroplane, 130 = 

Gibson (C. R.), Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony, 682 

Gill (Sir David, K.C.B., F.R.S.), History and Deserip- 
tion of the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, — 
Dr. F. W. Dyson, 556 a 

Godfrey (C.) and A. W. Siddons, Elementary Algebra, 
195; Four-figure Tables, 195 ‘ 

Goodenough (Prof. G. A.), Principles of Thermodynamics, — 
68 


Principles of Applied Electro- 


Reports on Electrical 


an Elementary 


2 

Guichard (Prof. C.), MM. Dautry et Deschamps, — 
Problémes de Mécanique et cours de Cinématique, 341 

Hatton (J. L. S.), Principles of Projective Geometry 
Applied to the Straight Line and Conic, 195 

Hawkins (Mrs. H. Periam), the A.B.C. Guide to © 
Astronomy, 578 

Hawks (Ellison), Astronomy, 658 


"Headley (F. W.), 
- Henderson (Rev. A. C.), 


March 20, 


Nature, J 
1914, 


the Flight of Birds, 368 
Astronomy Simplified, 290 
C., C.B.), National Antarctic Expedi- 


Hepworth (M. W. 
Prof. W. Meinardus, 393 


tion, 1901-4: Meteorology ii., 


 Hezlet (Captain R. K.), Nomography, or the Graphic 


Representation of Formula, 195 
Héfler (Dr. Alois), Didaktik der Himmelskunde und der 
Astronomischer Geographie, 130 


: Ingersoll (Prof. L. R.) and O. J. Zobel, Introduction to 


the Mathematical Theory of Heat Conduction, 265 


Knott (Dr. C. G.), Physics : an Elementary Text-book for 


University Classes, 398 
Koutchino, Researches of the Institut Aerodynamique de, 


' 233 
Lodge {Sir O., F.R.S.), Continuity, 606 


Macaulay (W. H.), Laws of Thermodynamics, 265 
Magrini (Silvio), I Fenomeni Magnetici Nelle Varie 
Teorie Elettri-Magnetiche : Note Storico-Critiche, 164 


{ Marsh (H. W.), Marsh’s Mathematics Work-book, 552 


Martin (M. E.), the Ways of the Planets, W. E. Rolston, 


420 

Mason (A. W.), a Systematic Course of Practical Science 
for Secondary and other Schools: Book II., Experi- 
mental Heat, 473 

Meteorological Office : the Observer’s Handbook, 629 


Mill (Dr. H. R.), C. Salter, British Rainfall, 1912, 60 


Moreux (Abbé Th.), a Day in the Moon, 422 
National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-4: M. W. Campbell 
Hepworth, C.B., Meteorology, Prof. W. Meinardus, 


393 

Owen (D.), Recent Physical Research, 422 

Partington (J. R.), Text-book of Thermodynamics (with 
special reference to Chemistry), 265 

Planck (Dr. Max), Vorlesungen iiber die Theorie der 
Warmestrahlung, 261; R. Chevassus, Legons de 
‘Thermodynamique, 265 

Rayleigh (John William Strutt, Baron, O.M., F.R.S.), 
Scientific Papers, 227 

Romer (Ole), G. van Biesbroek and A. Tiberghien, 
Adversaria, 621 

Schoy (Dr. Carl), Arabische Gnomonik, 231 

Silberstein (Dr. L.), Vectorial Mechanics, 657 

Smart (E. Howard), First Course in Projective Geometry, 
657 

Svedberg (Prof. The), Die Existenz der Mollcule, 367 

Tancock (E. O.), Elements of Descriptive Astronomy, 475 

Tarleton (Dr. F. A.), Introduction to the Mathematical 
Theory of Attraction, 657 

Thomson (Sir J. J., O.M., F.R.S.), Rays of Positive 
Electricity and their Application to Chemical Analysis, 


549 

United States Weather Bureau, Daily Weather Maps ct 
the Northern Hemisphere, 715 

Waals (Dr. J. D. v. d.), Dr. Ph. Kohnstamm, Lehrbuch 
der. Thermodynamik, 265 

Walkden (S. L.), Aéroplanes in Gusts, 130, 268 

Weinstein (Dr. Max B.), die Physik der bewegten 
Materie und die Relativitatstheorie, 577 

Whitehead (Dr. A. N., F.R.S.) and B. Russell, F.R.S., 
Principia Mathematica, 445 

Whiting (Dr. Sarah F.), Daytime and Evening Exercises 
in Astronomy, W. E. Rolston, 420 

Willows (Dr. R. S.), a Text-book of Physics, 682 

Wood (Prof. R. W.), Researches in Physical Optics, with 
especial reference to Radiation of Electrons, F. Soddy, 
F.R.S., 339 

Wright (M. E. S.), a Medley of Weather Lore, 398 

Young (A. E.), Practical Mathematics: First Year, 341 

Zeeman (Prof. P.), Researches in Magneto-optics: with 
special reference to the Magnetic Resolution of Spec- 
trum Lines, 313 


_ Medicine: 


Besson (Dr. A.), Prof. H. J. Hutchens, D.S.O., Pra:- 
tical Bacteriology, Microbiology, and Serum Therapy 
(Medical and Veterinary), 193 ; 

Buchanan (Estelle D.) and Prof. R. E.° Buchanan, 
Household Bacteriology: for Students in [umestic 
Science, 28 . 

Ellis (Havelock), the Task of Social Hygiene, 5¢ 

Fischer (Prof. Otto), Medizinische Physik, 682 


Lndex 


XAXV 


Fox 
Medical Hydrology, 708 

Gordon (Dr. W.), the Place of Climatology in Medicine : 
Samuel Hyde Memorial Lectures, 1913, 448 

Grimshaw (Dr. John), the People’s Medical Guide, 59 

Haig (K. G.), Dr. A. Haig, Practical Guide to the Uric- 
Acid-Free Diet, 93 


(Dr. R. Fortescue), Principles and Practice of 


Hébert (Lieut. G.), Ma Lecon-Type d’Entrainement 
complet et utilitaire, Dr. Mina L. Dobbie, 27 

Herms (Prof. W. B.), a Laboratory Guide to the Study 
of Parasitology, 316; Malaria: Cause and Control, 316 

Hurry (Dr. J. B.), Ideals and Organisation of a Medical 
Society, 422 

Lister, see Wrench 

Loeffler (Dr. A.) and others, Bacteriology of Diphtheria, 


370 
Lyth (E. R.), Studies of the Influence of Thermal 
Environment on the Circulation and the Body-heat, 


577 

Pearson (Karl, F.R.S.), E. Nettleship, F.R.S., and 
C. H. Usher, a Monograph on Albinism in Man, 717 

Pyle (Dr. W. H.), Examination of School Children, 711 

Ramaley (Prof. F.) and Dr. C. E. Giffin, Prevention 
and Control of Disease, 193 

Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, Reports from 
the Laboratory of the, edited by Dr. G. L. Gulland 
and Dr. J. Ritchie, 317 

Prescott (S. C.) and C. E. A. Winslow, Elements of 
Water Bacteriology, with special reference to Sanitary 
Water Analysis, 197 

Rambousek (Dr. J.), Tenis 
Poisoning, 628 

Richet (Prof. C.), J. M. Bligh, Anaphylaxis, Sup. iv 

Rubner (Prof. M.), Prof. M. v. Gruber, and Prof. M. 
Ficker, Handbuch der Hygiene, G. H. F. Nuttall, 629 

Smith (Major-General F., C.B., C.M.G.), Manual of 
Veterinary Physiology, 420 

Twort (F. W.) and G. L. Y. Ingram, Monograph on 
Johne’s Disease (Enteritis Chronica Pseudotuberculosa 


Dr. Legge, Industrial 


Bovis), 193 
Verworn (Prof. Max), Irritability, 577 
Weaver (Dr. E. E.), Mind and Health: with an 


Examination of some Systems of Divine Healing, 2 
Wrench (Dr. G. T.), Lord Lister: his Life and Work, 
Dr. C. J. Martin, F.R.S., 523 


Philosophy and Psychology: 


Bohn (G.), Dr. Rose Thesing, Die Neue Tierpsychologic, 
A. E. Crawley, 396 

Campbell (Percy M.), the Game of Mind: a Study in 
Psychological Disillusionment, 2 

Colvin (Prof. S. S.), the Learning Process, 129 

Elliot (H. S. R.), Modern Science and the Illusions of 
Prof. Bergson, 263 

Férster-Nietzsche (Frau), the Young Nietzsche, 263 

Frischeisen-Kohler (Max), Wissenschaft und Wirklich- 
keit, 263 

Hobhouse (Prof. L. T.), Development and Purpose, 2 

Hubbard (Dr. A. J.), the Fate of Empires, Ave Ee 
Crawley, 396 

Kyle (Dr. M. G.), the Deciding Voice of the Monuments 
in Biblical Criticism, 658 

Le Dantec (F.), Contre la Métaphysique, 263 

Lugaro (Prof. E.), Drs. D. Orr and R. G. Rows, Modern 
Problems in Psychiatry, 231 

Parmelee (Dr. M.), the Science of Human Behaviour, 
A. E. Crawley, 396 

Pitt (St. G. L. Fox), the Purpose of Education, 578 

Rignano (E.), Essais de Synthése Scientifique, 263 

Sedgwick (Lieut.-Col. W.), Man and his Future: ii., the 
Anglo-Saxon, A. E. Crawley, 396 

Starch (Dr. D.), Experiments in Educational Psychology, 


129 

Weaver (Dr. E. E.), Mind and Health: Systems of 
Divine Healing, 2 

Yerkes (Prof. R. M.), Introduction to Psycholegy, 129 


Technology: 


Baker (R. T.), Cabinet Timbers of Australia, 552. 

Barclay (W. R.) and C. H. Hainsworth, Electroplating : 
with a chapter on Metal-colouring and Bronzing, M 
Solomon, 126 


XXXVI 


British Journal Photographic Album, G. E. Brown, Ed., 


500 

Carnegie (David), S. G. Gladwin, Liquid Steel, its 
Manufacture and Cost, Prof. J. O. Arnold, F.R.S., 681 

Chandley (C.), Gas Testing and Air Measurement (in 
Mines), 448 

Claude (G.), H. E. P. Cottrell, 
Nitrogen, F. Soddy, F.R.S., 134 

Desch (Dr. C, H.), Metallography, 197 

Greenwell (A.) and Dr. J. V. Elsden, Practical Stone 
Quarrying, 290 

Kremann (Prof. R.), H. E, Potts, Dr. A. Mond, Appli- 
cation of Physico-chemical Theory to Technical Pro- 
cesses and Manufacturing Methods, 628 

Marchis (L.), Le Froid industriel, F. Soddy, F.R.S., 134 

Phillips (W. B.), Iron Making in Alabama, 3 

Rector (Dr. F. L.), Underground Waters for Commercial 
Purposes, 474 

Smith (H. H.), Fermentation of Cacao, 628 

Taggart (W. S.), Cotton Spinning, 231 

“Wellcome” Photographic Exposure Record and Diary, 
1914, 449 

Wilson (Dr. H. Maclean) and Dr. H. T. Calvert, Text- 
book on Trade Waste Waters: their Nature and 
Disposal, 91 

Miscellaneous : 

Agassiz (Alexander), Letters and Recollections of, edited 
by G. R. Agassiz, Sir E. Ray Lankester, K.C.B., 
F.R.S., 601 

Caius (Dr. John), the Words of John Caius, M.D., 
Second Founder of Gonville and Caius College: with a 
Memoir by Dr. J. Venn, E. S. Roberts, Sup. vi 

Carr (E. A.), How to Enter the Civil Service, 398 

Couturat (Prof. L.), Profs. Jespersen, Lorenz, Ostwald, 
and von Pfaundler, Weltsprache und Wissenschaft, 398 

Davidson (Norman J.), Things Seen in Oxford, 711 

Englishwoman’s Year-book and Directory, 1914, edited 
by G. E. Mitton, 526 

Gibson (C. R.), the Romance of Scientific Discovery, 369 

Harmsworth Popular Science, edited by Arthur Mee, 230 

Hazell’s Annual for 1914, T. A. Ingram, Ed., 500 

Hébert (Lieut. G.), Lecon-Type d’Entrainement, Dr. 
Mina L. Dobbie, 27 

Kale (Prof. Vaman G.), Indian Administration, 711 

McClelland (E. H.), Bibliography of Smoke and Smoke 
Prevention, 699 

McConachie (W.), in the Lap of the Lammermoors, 340 

Mitford (E. Bruce), Japan’s Inheritance, 367 

Nitchie (Ed. B.), Lip-reading, 422 

O'Neill (H. C.), the New Encyclopzedia, 266 

Price (E. D.) and Dr. H. T. Peck, the British Empire 
Universities Modern English Illustrated Dictionary, 449 

Roberts (C. G. D.), the Feet of the Furtive, 294 

Royal Society of London: Celebration of the 
Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the, 553 

Sewell (R.), Indian Chronography: an Extension of the 
“Indian Calendar,” R. J. Pocock, 159 

Smithsonian Report for 1912, Scientific Papers in the, 


Liquid Air, Oxygen, 


Two 


49 
Tillyard (A. I.), History of University Reform from 
1800 A.D. to the Present Time, with suggestions 
towards a Complete Scheme for the University of 
Cambridge, 707 
Trinda (Ivon), Experience Teaches: 
Youths as to their Careers, 578 
Trist (S.), the Under Dog, 94 
Whitehouse (J. H., M.P.), a National System of Educa- 
tion, 475 
Who's Who, 1914, 526 
Who’s Who Year-book for 1914-15, 526 
Who’s Who in Science: International, 1914: edited by 
H. H. Stephenson, 553 
Wright (M. E. S.), a Medley of Weather Lore, 398 
Writers’ and Artists’ Year-book, 1914, edited by G. E. 
Mitton, 526 
Rheostats, Messrs. Isenthal and Co., 567 
Rhinoceros, Lado-Enclave white, E. Heller, 457 
Rhone Valley, C. Depéret, 258 
Rice: Analysis of Asiatic Rice, 409; Rice Soils, W.-H. 
Harrison and Aiyer, 564 
Rio Grande, 106 


Some Advice to 


L[hdex 


‘Scott Antarctic Expedition: Specimens on View at South 


[ Nature, 
March .6, 1914 


Rivers, Improvement of, B. F. Thomas and D. A. Watt, 
ae “ at 

Road Dangers, 17 

Roman City at Corbridge, 141 

Romance of Scientific Discovery, C. R. Gibson, 


369 
Rome: Papers of the British School, 527; 


Excavations at 
Palatine Hill: the Mundus, Comm. Boni, 562 7 
Rotatory Power, Optical, in Homologous Series, Messrs. 
Pickard and Kenyon, 539 7 
Rothamsted: New Laboratory, 172; 
Centenary, 562 
Royal Astronomical Society : 
Royal College of Science, 649 
Royal Geographical Society: the Northern Party on Ga 
Scott’s Antarctic Expedition, R. Priestley, 325; Re 
in Cartography, Capt. H. G. Lyons, 380; the Kara- 
koram Himalayas, Dr. and Mrs. B. Workman, 380; 
the Australian Federal Territory, Griffith Taylor, 561; 
Transantarctic Project, Sir E. Shackleton, 666 ; Dutch 
New Guinea, A. F. R. Wollaston, 668; Antarctic 
Problems, Prof. Edgeworth David, C.M.G., F.R.S., 


Lawes and Gilbert 
Council Elections, 694 


700 
Royal Institution Discourse: Life-history of a Water- 
beetle, F. Balfour Browne, 20 A 
Royal Microscopical Society's Conversazione, 237 - 
Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, Sir D. Gill, 

K.C.B., F.R.S., Dr. F. W. Dyson, F.R.S., 556 
Royal Photographical Society’s Exhibition, 18 
Royal Society : Council Elections, 324; Medals, 350; Anni-— 

versary Meeting, 404; the Royal Society and the 

Government, Sir J. Larmor, 481; Celebration of the — 

25oth Anniversary, July 15-19, 1912, 553 ’ 
Rubber, Chemistry of, B. D. Porritt, 524 
Rural Text-book : Animal Husbandry, Prof. M. W. Harper, 

229 

Rust-fungi of Nova Scotia, W. P. Fraser, 564 


Sahara, Botany of, Dr. W. A. Cannon, 509 

Sakurashima Eruption, 561 

Salmon: Relation of Reproduction and Migrations, L. 
Roule, 547; Wye Salmon, J. A. Hutton, 563 

San Diego, Climate and Weather of, F. A. Carpenter, 196 

San Francisco Water Supply from Hetch-Hetchy Valley, 

6 

Sait Wedceatian for Arresting Drifting, G. O. Case, 578 

Sandwich Islands Zoology, Prof. J. S. Gardiner, F.R.S., 
101 

Sanitation, Chloride of Lime in, A. H. Hooker, 93 

Sap: Enzymic Activity of Sap of Vegetables, T. Tadokoro, 
301; (1) Changes in Sap caused by Heating a Branch; 
(2) Tensile Strength of Sap of Trees, Prof. H. H. q 
Dixon, 704 ; 

Satellites, Formula for, F. Ollive, 724 

Saturn, Satellites of, P. Lowell, 643 

Scattering in the case of Regular Reflection from a Trans- 
parent Grating, Prof. C. Barus, 451 ; 

Schools: Curricula of Secondary Schools, G. F. Daniell, 
383 ; Public Schools, 596; School Gardening, A. Logan, 
G. W. S. Brewer, 604; Examination of School 
Children, Dr, W. H. Pyle, 711 

Science: Urania Gesellschaft, Berlin, 99; South African 
Association, 174; Forthcoming Books of Science, 180; 
Science and the Lay Press, “One of the Reporters,” 
199; Harmsworth Popular Science, 230; Swiss Society 
for Advancement of Science, 240; Applied Science in 
Sheffield University, 277; Stock-taking in Business of 
Science, 326; the Threshold of Science—and Beyond, 
Prof. J. A. Thompson, 340; Romance of Scientific 
Discovery, C. R. Gibson, 369; Science of Human 
Behaviour, Dr. M. Parmelee, A. E. Crawley, 396;. 
International Language, Prof. Couturat and others, 
398; Scientific Identification of Pictures, Prof. A. P. 
Laurie, 558; Science in the Public Schools, Prof. H. B. 
Baker, F.R.S., 596; Atlanta Meeting of the American 
Association, 610; Scientific Papers, J. W. Strutt, Baron 
Rayleigh, O.M., F.R.S., 227; Scientific Papers in the 
Smithsonian Report, 1912, 493; Scientific Papers, J. Y. 
Buchanan, F.R.S., 551 


Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


a Kensington, 350; Scott’s Last Expedition, 373 

Scottish Meteorological Society, 565 

Scottish Ornithology in 1912, Leonora J. Rintoul and 
Evelyn V. Baxter, 171 

_ Sea, International Conference on Safety of Life at, 355, 616 

Sea-birds, Our Common, P. R. Lowe, 688 

Sea-elephants, Prospects, R. C. Murphy, 381 

Sea-sand, Coloured Organisms on, Prof. 
FRiSs5& 

Sea-weeds, Cultivation in Japan, Prof. K. Yendo, 598 

Seine from Havre to Paris, Sir E. Thorpe, 234 

Seismology: the Undagraph, Dr. O. Klotz, 97; Italian 
Seismological Society, 106; Laibach Seismogram and 
the Earthquake in Japan, Prof. Belar, Dr. C. Davison, 
716; see Earthquakes 

Selection: Darwinism roo Years Ago, Dr. H. Gadow, 
F.R.S., 320 

_ Semi-absolute, “Enquirer,” 530 

_ Series, New Theory of, F. Tavani, 538 

Serum Therapy, Dr. Besson, Prof. Hutchens, 193 

_ Service Chemistry, Prof. V. B. Lewes and J. S. S. Brame, 


Herdman, 


125 
Severn-Avon Plain, N. E. MacMunn, 498 
Sex Proportions of Earwig in. Scilly, H. H. Brindley, 441 
Sharks’ Teeth from Southern Tertiaries, 640 
Sheffield, Applied Science in University of, 277 
Shells: Aldrich Collection, 202 
Ship Resistance, Dr. T. H. Havelock, 416 
Silica, Expansion of, Prof. H. L. Callendar, 467; F. J. 
Harlow, 467 
Six : Bromine and other Compounds of 606; J. Danysz, 625 
Skin, Microscopical Examination of, G. Abt, 206 
Skye, Oil Shale in, 169 
Sleeping Sickness: New Mild Form, Dr. Macfie, 14; 
Report of Luangwa Commission, Dr. Kinghorn, Dr. 
Yorke, and Mr. Lloyd, 49; 139; Sleeping Sickness in 
Island of Principe, Surgeon-Capt. da Costa, Lieut.-Col. 
Wyllie, 509 
Smithsonian Report for 1912, 493 
Smoke and Smoke Prevention: 
McClelland, 699 
Snow in United States, Dr. J. E. Church, jun., 520 
Scaps and the Skin, Dr. Gardner, 317 
Société Helvétique des Sciences Naturelles, 240 
Societies : 
Asiatic Society of Bengal, 25, 443, 705 
Cambridge: Philosophical Society, 310, 441, 468 
Challenger Society, 335, 650 
Faraday Society, 441 
Geological Society, 363, 467, 545, 623, 678, 729 
Gottingen, 259 
Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, 545, 678 
Linnean Society, 364, 440, 468, 546, 624 
Linnean Society of New South Wales, 157, 225, 336, 469, 


Bibliography, E. H. 


547 
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, 335, 442, 
468, 546, 650, 704 
Mathematical Society, 364, 468, 624, 704 
Mineralogical Society, 364, 703 
Physical Society, 335, 390, 467, 703 
Royal Anthropological Institute, 363, 411, 624 
», Dublin Society, 495, 598, 704 
» Irish Academy, 624, 678 
1, Meteorological Society, 440, 520, 624 
» Society, 334, 363, 390, 416, 440, 494, 623, 649, 677 
7931 729 
»» Society of Edinburgh, 442, 520, 730 
1, Society of South Africa, 123, 258, 391 
Society of Chemical Industry, 441, 572 
Zoological Society, 335. 416, 440, 704 
Sociology: the Task of Social Hygiene, Havelock Ellis, 59 


Sodium, Temperature Variation of Latent Heat, E. 
Griffiths, 650 
Soil: Soil Mycology, Prof. A. Kossowicz, 131; Lime 


Chlorosis of Green Plants, P. Mazé and others, 192; 
Insect Fauna of the Soil, A. E. Cameron, 352; Use of 
Antiseptics in Soil, Dr. E. J. Russel and W. Buddin, 
441; Soil-fertility, Dr. R. Greig-Smith, 547; Nitro- 
genous Constituents, O. Schreiner and J. J. Skinner; 
Carbonised Material, O. Schreiner and B. E. Brown; 
Soil Catalysis, M. X. Sullivan and F. R. Reid, 560; 


Index 


XXXVil 


Effect on Plant Growth of Removal of Calcium Car- 
bonate, A. Wieler, 560; Swamp Rice Soils, W. H. 
Harrison and S. Aiyer, 564; Soil Protozoa, K. R. 
Lewin and C. H. Martin, 632, 677; Illinois System of 
Permanent Fertility, Prof. Hopkins, 642 

Solar Electrical Phenomena, K. Birkeland, Dr. ‘J... eas 
Harker, F.R.S., 131 

Solutions of Radio-active Products, Dr. T. Godlewski, 409; 
Physical Chemistry of Solutions, Prof. H. C. Jones, 
461; Preparing Aqueous Colloidal Solutions of Metals, 
H. Morris-Airey and J. H. Long, 511 

Soot, Products Isolated from, Prof. E. 
E. Hibbert, 442 

Sound: Aural Illusion, N. Alliston, 61; an Aural Illusion, 
T. B. Blathwayt, 293; Sound Effects at Contacts with 
Alternating Current, R. Dongier and C. E. Brazier, 
258; Pianoforte Touch, Prof. S. Pickering, F.R.S.; 
Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 425; Abnormal Propaga- 
tion of Sound-waves in Atmosphere, S. Fujiwhara, 592 

South African Association for the Advancement of Science, 
174; Astronomy in South Africa, Dr. A. W. Roberts, 


Knecht and Miss 


435 

South America, Antiquity of Man in, A. Hrdlitka and 
others, Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S., 144 

South Georgia, Birds and Seals, 381 

South London Entomological Society, 175 

Southern Hemisphere Seasonal Correlations, R. C. Moss- 
man, 17, 300, 538, 669 7 

Species, Group-origin of, Prof. H. de Vries, 395 

Specific Heats and the Periodic Law, Dr. H. Lewkowitsch, 
661; Analogy from Sound, R. G. Durrant, 686 

Spectacles, Eye-preserving Glass for, Sir W. Crookes, 
O.M., F.R.S., 357 

Spectra: Spectra of Helium and Hydrogen, E. J. Evans, 5; 
Prof. A. Fowler, F.R.S., 95, 231; Dr. N. Bohr, 231; 
Kathode Spectrum of Helium, Prof. P. G. Nutting, 
401; Watt’s Index, 435; Second Spectrum of Neon, 
T. R. Merton, 495; Electrodeless Spectra of Hydrogen, 
Irvine Masson, 503; Mount Wilson Standard Wave- 
lengths, 512; Band Spectrum of Aluminium, A. de 
Gramont, 521; Arc Spectrum of Iron, K. Burns, 566; 
see Stars, Sun, and X-Ray Spectra 

Spectroheliographic Results from Meudon, H. Deslandres 
and L, d’Azambuja, 178 

Spectroscopy: New Laboratory Results, 86; Death of Sir 
W. N. Hartley, F.R.S., 102; Magneto-optics, P. 
Zeeman, 313; Action of Magnetic Field on Ultra-violet 
in Water-vapour, H. Deslandres and L. d’Azambuja, 
364; Observation of Separation of Spectral Lines by an 
Electric Field, Prof. J. Stark, 401; Action of Magnetic 
Field on Lines of Lighting Gas, H. Deslandres and 
V. Burson, 495; Mt. Wilson Standard Wave-lengths, 
512; Stark-Zeeman Effect in an Electric Field, A. Lo 
Surdo, 536; Measurement of Small Displacements of 
Lines, J. Evershed, 540 

Spinning, Cotton, W. S. Taggart, 231 

Sponges, Amcebe in, J. H. Orton, 371, 606; Prof. Dendy, 
F.R.S., 399, 479; G. P. Bidder, 479 

Spontaneous Generation, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 579; Dr. 
H. C. Bastian, F.R.S., 579, 685; Prof. J. B. Farmer, 
F.R.S., and Prof. V. H. Blackman, F.R.S., 660 

Springs, Intermittent, at Rajapur, H. H. Mann and S. R. 
Paranjpye, 705 

Stability of Aéroplanes, Dr. G. A. Shakespear, 165 

Stars: Summary of Stellar Spectra, G. Abetti, 18; Spec- 
trum of a Wolf-Rayet Star, P. W. Merrill, 109; 
Europium in Stellar Spectra, F. E. Baxandall, 329; 
Radial Velocities with the Objective Prism, Dr. 
Schlesinger, 329; M. Hamy, 599, 616; with Objective 
Grating, M. Hamy, 383; Classification of Spectra, 
P. W. Merrill; Miss E. Phoebe Waterman, 354; Photo- 
graphic Magnitudes of Comparison Stars, C. H. 
Gingrich, 411; Distribution in Relation to Spectral 
Type, Prof. A. S. Eddington, 468; Magnesium Lines 
in Stellar Spectra, F. E. Baxandall, 468; Spectra of 
Stars near North Pole, Miss Cannon, 594; the Study 
of the Stars: Address, Prof. E. C. Pickering, 673 

Double : Orbits of Eclipsing Binaries, Dr. H. Shapley, 

240; Magnifying Powers used, T. Lewis, 354; RZ 
Cassiopeiz, K. Graff, 411; Faint Companion to 
Capella, Dr. R. Furuhjelm, 724 


XXXVIil 


L[ndex 


Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


Variable: Rotating Ellipsoid, 86; Light Curve of o Ceti, 
G. B. Lacchini, 240; New Nove, 434-5; Bright 
Hydrogen Lines in Stellar Spectra, and P Cygni, 
P. W. Merrill, 540 

Star-streams: Lucretius or Kapteyn? 530 

State, Higher Education and the, 270; Practical Guide to 
State Employment, E. A. Carr, 398 

Steam, Specific Heat of Superheated, Prof. O. Knoblauch, 


382 

Steel : Elastic Hysteresis, F. E. Rowett, 495; New Etching 
Reagent for Steel, Dr. W. Rosenhain, F.R.S., 529; 
Rosenhain’s Method, 594; Liquid Steel, its Manufac- 
ture and Cost, D. Carnegie, S. G. Gladwin, Prof. J. O. 
Arnold, F.R.S., 681; Thermomagnetic Study of the 
Eutectoid Transmission Point of Carbon Steels, Dr. 
S. W. J. Smith and J. Guild, 703 

Stereoscopic Method, New, for Naked Eye, 141 

Sterility and Abnormal Sex-limited Transmission, 
Doncaster, 441 

Stone: Practical Stone Quarrying, A. Greenwell and Dr. 
J. V. Elsden, 290; Stone Implements of Tasmanians, 
J. P. Johnson, 320; R. A. Smith, 373; Stone Circle 
Discovered near Matlock, Derbyshire, J. Simpson, 555 ; 
Stone Hammers from Assam, J. C. Brown, 705 

Structure of the Atom and Intra-atomic Charge, A. van den 
Broek, 372, 476; F. Soddy, F.R.S., 399, 452; Prof. E. 
Rutherford, F.R.S., 423; Dr. N. Campbell, 586 

Structure of Matter, International Conference on, Prof. E. 
Rutherford, F.R.S., 347 

Structures, the Theory and Design of, E. S. Andrews, 4, 


Dr. 


I 

Sescutcine: Dr. J. M. Petrie, 547 

Suez Canal: Tablet to Alois Negrelli, the Surveyor, 13 

Sugar: Sugar-cane Frog-hopper, F. W. Urich, 180; Sugar 
School, 299 ; Sugar-cane Stomata, W. R. Dunlop, 722 


Sulphuric Acid in Leaden Chambers, E. Briner and A. 
Kuhne, 123 
Summer of 1913, Ch. Harding, 53 
Sun: Magnetic Storms and Solar Phenomena, J. Bosler, 
Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S., 19; International Union for 
Solar Research, Prof. A. Fowler, F.R.S., 30; Re- 
searches, 52; Diminution of Solar Radiation in 1912, 
L. Gorezynski, 86; Photographic Study of Photo- 
sphere, S. Chevalier, 178; Spectroheliographic Results 
from Meudon, H. Deslandres and L. d’Azambuja, 178 ; 
Sols ivity and Cyclones, Rev. S. Sarasola, S.J., 
nv ical Matter and the Solar Constant, E. Belot, 
- Radiation and Polarisation of Sky Light, 
suu ‘ic, 485; Measurement of Small Displacements 
ot Spectrum Lines, J. Evershed, 540; Wave-lengths of 
Chromospheric Lines, 643 
Sun-spots: Radial Velocities, C. Saint-John, 123 ; Sun-spot 
Areas for 1912, Dr. Dyson, 383; Periodicities in Pro- 
minences and Spots compared, T. Royd, 724 
Sundial, Arabian, Dr. C. Schoy, 231 
Sunset-glows, 640 
Surface Tension Influence on Removal of Micro-organisms, 
A. Trillat, 547 
Surgery: Lord Lister: his Life and Work, Dr. G. ale 
Wrench, Dr. Martin, F.R.S., 523; Memorial Tablet, 
595; Trepanning among Ancient Peoples, K. Minakata, 
555 
Sieeene Accuracy of Principal Triangulation of United 
Kingdom, Capt. H. S. L. Winterbotham, R.E., 438, 
713; T. L. Bennett, 713; Geodetic Observations and 
their Value, Sir T. Holdich, K.C.M.G., 464; 
Survey of India, 645; Maps and Survey, A. R. Hinks, v 
Swine : Size of Litters and Number of Nipples, 238 
Swiss Society for Advancement of Science, 240 
Synthesis: Essais de Synthése Scientifique, E. Rignano, 
263; Synthesis by means of Ferments, Prof. E. 
Bourquelot, 304; Sir L. Brunton, Bart., 399 
Syphilis in Nature in Rabbits, 593 


Tables: ~Four-figure Tables, C. Godfrey and A. W. 
Siddons, 195; Determinative Mineralogy, with Tables, 
J. V. Lewis, 550-1 

Tar, Vacuum, A. Pictet and M. Bouvier, 521 


Tasmanians, Stone Implements of, J. P. Johnson, 320;, 


Reg. A. Smith, 373; Place in Nature of the Tasmanian — 


Aboriginal, Prof. R. J. A. Berry and Dr. A. W. D. 
Robertson, 730; Cranium, L. W. G. Buchner, 730 
Technical: Mathematics, Science, and Drawing for the 

Preliminary Technical Course, L. J. Castle, 
Application of Physico-chemical Theory to Technical 
Processes, Prof. R. Kremann, H. E. Potts, Dr. A. 
Mond, 628; Association of Technical Institutions, 645 
Teeth : Process of Calcification in Enamel, J. H. Mummery, 


440 
Telegraphy: la Télégraphie et la Téléphonie Simultanées, 
K. Berger, P. Le Normand, M. Solomon, 126; the 


1055 


Baudot Printing Telegraph System, H. W. Pendry, — 


M. Solomon, 126; Committee on High-speed Tele- 
graphy, 638; Inter-Imperial Telegraphy, C. 
642; Wireless Telegraphy, see Wireless 

Telephone Cables, Use of Distributed Inductance in, 508 

Telescope: Regulation for Autocollimation, G. Lippmann, 
599; Thermometric Coefficient of Wire-micrometer, G. 
Bigourdan, 650 

Temperature: Ocean Temperatures near Icebergs, C. W. 
Waidner and others, 414; Tests of Apparatus at 
Bureau of Standards, 485 ; Energy of Atoms at Absolute 
Zero, 539; Modern Methods of Measuring Tempera- 
ture, R. S. Whipple, 569; Recent Temperatures in 
Europe, 617 

Terns, Home-life of, W. Bickerton, 294 

Terrestrial, see Earth 

Thames Country, Upper, N. E. MacMunn, 498 

Theology : the Monuments in Biblical Criticism, Dr. M. G. 
Kyle, 658 

Thermodynamics: Thermodynamic Properties of Liquids, 
Dr. P. W. Bridgman, 142; Laws of Thermodynamics, 
W. H. Macaulay, 265; Text-book of Thermodynamics 
(with special reference to Chemistry), J. R. Partington, 
265; Lehrbuch der Thermodynamik, Dr. V. D. Waals, 
Dr. Ph. Kohnstamm, 265; Lecons de Thermo- 
dynamique, Dr. Max Planck, R. Chevassus, 265; 
Eemnoipits of Thermodynamics, Prof. G. A. Goodenough, 
682 

Thorium, End-product of, Prof. Joly and J. R. Cotter, 
632, 661 

Tiberias, Lake of: Molluscan Fauna, &c., H. B. Preston 
and others, 443; Biology of, Prof. T. Barrois, Dr. N. 
Annandale, Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing, F.R.S., 480 

Tibet: Trans-Himalaya, Sven Hedin, 167; Land of the 
Blue Poppy, F. K.- Ward, 167 

Tidal Lands, Use of Vegetation for Reclaiming, G. O. 
Case, 578 

Time: Extension of Zone Time, 87; Theory of Time and 
Space, Dr. A. A. Robb, 485 

Tin, Bibliography, 641 

Toadstools and Mushrooms, E. Step, 397 

Tonga Islands, 83 

Touareg, Fr. de Zeltner, 441 

Trade Waste Waters, Dr. 
H. T. Calvert, 91 

Transit Circle Chronograph Aid, 512 

Transmutation of the Elements, Dr. N. Campbell, 239 

Transparence of Surface Film in Polishing Metals, Dr. 
Beilby, F.R.S., 691 

Transpiration : (1) Method of Studying, (2) Effect of Light 
on, Sir F. Darwin, 440 

Travel: Tibet, 167; the Seine, Sir E. Thorpe, 234; the 
Fringe of the East, H. C. Lukach, 234; a Naturalist 
in Cannibal Land, A. S. Meek, 234; Things Seen in 
Oxford, N. J. Davidson, 711 

Trees: Trees in Winter, Dr. M. F. Blakeslee and Dr. 
C. D. Jarvis, 504; (1) Changes in Sap caused by 
Heating; (2) Tensile Strength of Sap, Prof. H. H. 
Dixon, 599, 704 

Trepanning, Prehistoric, 273; Trepanning among Ancient 
Peoples, Kumagusu Minakata, 555 

Triangulation of the United Kingdom, Accuracy of, Capt. 
H. S. L.. Winterbotham, R.E., 438, 713; T. 
Bennett, 713 

Tricarboxylic Acid, Formula for, W. W. Reed, Dr. J. F. 
Thorpe, 529 

Tropical: Elementary Tropical Agriculture, W. H. John- 
son, 229; Third International Congress of Tropical 


H. Maclean Wilson and Dr. 


Bright, _ 


Nature, } 
March 26, 1914 


_. Agriculture, 461; New School of Tropical Medicine at 
: Calcutta, 720 

Trypanosomes : New Human Species, Dr. J. W. S. Macfie, 
; 14; Use of New Medical Combinations for Trypano- 
somiasis, J. Danysz, 285; Trypanosoma soudanense as 
cause of Debab, A. Laveran, 599 

_ Trypsin and Poison of Calotropis procera, C. Gerber and 
P. Flourens, 258 

Tsetse-flies, 50 

Tuberculosis : Bovine Tuberculosis in Man, Dr. S. Williams, 
] 105; Pancreatic Treatment, Dr. J. Beard, 165; Com- 
parison of Human and Bovine Aptitude, A. Chauveau, 
224; Path of Penetration of Virus in Calf, P. Chaussé, 
285; Tuberculosis of Bone and Joint, Dr. J. Fraser, 
318; Generalised Lymphatic Stage, A. Calmette and 
V. Grysez, 417; Tuberculosis and Milk, 590; Infection 
by Air-currents, P. Chaussé, 599 
Tungsten Wire Suspensions for 

Chapman and W. W. Bryant, 585 : 
Tunicata, Bibliography of, J. Hopkinson, 288 

Tunis: la Région du Haut Tell, Dr. C. Monchicourt, Prof. 
G. A. J. Cole, 471 

- Turbines: Geared Turbines of the Channel Steamer Paris, 
434; Kénigin Luise Trials, and Fottinger Transformer, 


Magnetometers, S. 


ten: the Duab of, W. R. Rickmers, 64 

Turkey, H. C. Lukach, 234 

Tyrol, Vorarlberg, und Liechtenstein, Prof. Torre, Prof. 
G. A. J. Cole, 471 


Ulster Folklore, Elizabeth Andrews, Rev. J. Griffith, 343 
_ Ultra-violet Rays and New Glass “Spectros,” 327; New 
Glasses for Spectacles, Sir W. Crookes, O.M., F.R.S., 


357 
Undagraph, Dr. O. Klotz, 96 
Under Dog, S. Trist and others, 94 
Underground Waters, Dr. F. L. Rector, 474 
Unit of Angular Momentum, Natural, Prof. G. B. 
McLaren, 165; Prof. J. W. Nicholson, 199; Dr. Allen, 
630, 713; S. D. Chalmers, 687 
United States: Mineral Resources, 505; Bureau of Soils, 
560; U.S. Geological Survey, 16, 538, 618; University 
Statistics, Prof. R. Tombo, jun., 702 
Universe, Structure of, Prof. Kapteyn, 434 
Universities: Budgets, 110; University Education in 
London, Joseph A. Pease, 356; the Problem of the 
University of London, 426; Highest University Educa- 
tion in Germany and France, Sir James Donaldson, 
517; National University for Washington, U.S.A., 598; 
History of University Reform from 1800 a.p. and 
Suggestions for Cambridge, A. I. Tillyard, 707; Things 
Seen in Oxford, N. J. Davidson, 711; Teaching of 
Anthropology : Joint Committee, 725 
Urania Gesellschaft, Berlin, 99 
Uranium, Nuclear Degeneration of Plant Cells due to, 
C. Acqua, 539 : 
Urea, Identification and Precipitation in very dilute Solu- 
tions of, R. Fosse, 391 


Vaccination, Dr. Millard, 668 
Vaccine, an Atoxic Antigonococcic, C. Nicolle and L. 
Blaizot, 224 
Vacuum Tar, A. Pictet and M. Bouvier, 521 
Vapour Pressure Formula of van der Waals, Modification, 
J. P. Dalton, 391 
Vector Notations, Prof. E. B. Wilson, 
Mechanics, Dr. L. Silberstein, 657 
Venereal Diseases Commission, 271 
Ventilation, Prof. A. M. Greene, jun., 93 
Vertebrate Palzontology, Papers, 514 
_ Vesuvius: Observations at the Bottom of the Crater, 591; 
Prof. J. W. Judd, C.B., F.R.S., F. Burlingham, 633 
Veterinary Science: Practical Bacteriology, and Serum 
Therapy, Dr. Besson, Prof. H. J. Hutchens, D.S.O., 
193; Johne’s Disease, F. W. Twort and G. L. Y. 
Ingram, 193; Death of Wm. Hunting, 272; Manual 
of Veterinary Physiology, Major-Gen. F. Smith, C.B., 
C.M.G., 420 ‘ 
Vibrations on Strings, Method for Production, Prof. J. A. 
Fleming, 467 


176; Vectorial 


Index 


XXXiX 


Vienna Radium Institute, 699 

Vine, Manuring with Manganese Sulphate, 275 

Vision: Multiple Vision with a Single Eye, Prof. A. M. 
Worthington, 328; Intermittent Vision, A. Mallock, 
494; Colour Vision of Crustacea, Dr. von Fritsch and 
Herr Rupelwieser, 726 

Vitalism, Philosophy of, Prof. E. W. MacBride, F.R.S., 
291, 400; Prof. Hans Driesch, 400; Prof. E. du Bois- 
Reymond, 483 

Volcanoes: Eruption on Ambryn Island, New Hebrides, 
455; Volcanic Dust, Prof. W. J. Humphreys, 479; 
Eruption of Mt. Sakurashima, 561; Recent Eruptions 
in Japan, 589; Inside Vesuvius, F. Burlingham, 591; 
Observations at the Bottom of the Crater of Vesuvius, 
Prof. J. W. Judd, F.R.S., F. Burlingham, 633 ; Sound- 
waves due to Eruptions, S. Fujiwhara, 592; Origin of 
Structures on the Moon’s Surface, C. H. Plant, 556, 
714; Dr. Johnston-Lavis, 631; Rev. O. Fisher, 714 

Volturno Fire and Wireless, 202 


Wallaby, Capt. Pelsart, 715 

Wasp, Queen, seen January 22, 613 

Water: Modern Pumping and Hydraulic Machinery, E. 
Butler, 2; Trade Waste Waters, Drs. H. M. Wilson 
and H. T. Calvert, 91; Elements of Water Bacterio- 
logy, S. C. Prescott and C. E. A. Winslow, 197; Water 
and Volcanic Gases, A. L. Day and E. S. Shepherd, 
391; Spongilla lacustris in Cardiff Waterworks, Prof. 
W. N. Parker, 416; Underground Waters for Com- 
mercial Purposes, Dr. F. L. Rector, 474; Improvement 
of Rivers, B. F. Thomas and D. A. Watt, 524; 
Fouling of Water Supply by Oscillatoria, Prof. T. 
Johnson, 704; Medical Hydrology, Dr. R. F. Fox, 708; 
Removal of Micro-organisms by Air-current, A. Trillat, 


73% 

Water-beetle, Life-history of a: Royal Institution Dis- 
course, F. Balfour Browne, 20 

Water-lilies, Sir F. W. Moore, 17 

Waterplanes: Daily Mail soool. Prize Race, 12 

Wave-counter : the Undagraph, Dr. O. Klotz, 97 

Weather: a Medley of Weather Lore, M. E. S. Wright, 
398; Weather Fallacies, A. O. Walker, 433; Daily 
Weather Maps of U.S. Weather Bureau, 641, 717; 
Weather Forecasting, R. M. Deeley, 608; W. | 
Dines, F.R.S., 680; Weather Forecasts" Englanu, 
A. Mallock, F.R.S., 711; see MeteorologyiboN - 

Weevils, Australian, A. M. Lea, 225 walo2 

Wessex, Early Wars of, A. F. Major, C. \»*~Wihistler, 
Rev. J. Griffith, 499 i 

Who’s Who, 1914, 526; Who’s Who Year-book for 1914-15, 
526; Who’s Who in Science: International, 1914, 553 ; 
Corrected Price, 594 

Wild: Wild Life and the Camera, A. R. Dugmore, 294; 
Wild Birds Protection Acts: Committee, 378; Wild 
Flower Preservation, May Coley, 397; Our Vanishing 
Wild Life, Dr. W. T. Hornaday, 504; Wild Life on 
the Wing, M. D. Haviland, 688 

Willow-titmouse in Lancashire and Cheshire, T. A. Coward, 


70. 

Wind 4Storm in Wales, 273; Wind Provinces, R. M. 
Deeley, 47: 

Wire Ropes, Prof. G. Benoit and Mr. Woernle, 511 

Wireless: London Wireless Club, 140; Installation at 
Florence Cathedral, 173 ; Sound Effects at Contacts, MM. 
Dongier and Brazier, 258; Committees on Radio-tele- 
graphic Investigations, 277; Licences for Wireless Tele- 
graphy, 320; British Science Guild and the Post-Office 
Tax, 719; Death of Sir W. H. Preece, K.C.B., F.R.S., 
323 ; Committee appointed by Postmaster-General, 325 ; 
Wireless in Himalayas, 431; Wonders of Wireless 
Telegraphy, Prof. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S., 526; 
“ Atmospherics,” Prof. J. Perry, F.R.S., 528; W. Hall 
and H. Morris-Airey, 554; R. F. Durrant, 585; Atmo- 
spheric Electricity and Day and Night Difference, ie 
Dember, 723; Inter-Imperial Telegraphy, C. Bright, 
642; Address to Wireless Society of London, A. A. C. 
Swinton, 647; Jahrbuch, Dr. G. Eichhorn, 672; Hand- 
book for Wireless Telegraph Operators Working 
Licensed Installations, 672; Wireless Telegraphy and 


xl Index 
ea 
Zoological Gardens, Dr. Chalmers Mitchell, 432; Zoological -— 


Telephony, C. R. Gibson, 682; Curve for Plates of 
Rotating Sector Condenser, W. Duddell, 697 . 
Wireless Telephony, C. R. Gibson, 682; in a Yorkshire 
Coal Mine, 49 
Wood : Cabinet Timbers of Australia, R. T. Baker, 552 
Worm, New Deep-sea Nemertine, Dr. Brinkmann, 145 
Writers’ and Artists’. Year-book, 1914, 526 


X-Rays and Crystals, M. de Broglie, 327; Influence of Crystal 
on Spectrum in X-Ray Spectrometer, Prof. W. H. 
Bragg, F.R.S., 416; Analysis of Crystals by X-Ray 
Spectrometer, W. L. Bragg, 416; Reflection of X-Rays, 

M. de Broglie; E. Jacot, 423; Analogy to Reflection of 

X-Rays from Crystals, Prof. C. Barus, 451; Atomic 

Models and X-Ray Spectra, Dr. F. A. Lindemann, 500, 

630; Dr. N. Bohr; Dr. H. G. J. Moseley, 553; Prof. 

J. W. Nicholson, 583, 630; Sir O. Lodge, F-.R.S., 

609; Dr. H. S. Allen, 630, 713; New X-Ray Tube, 

W. Coolidge, 613 ; X-Ray Spectra given by Crystals of 

Sulphur and Quartz, Prof. W. H. Bragg, 649; X-Rays 

and Metallic Crystals, E. A. Owen and G. G. Blake, 

686 ; the Radiation Problem, E. E. F. d’Albe, 689 


Yamal Peninsula, M. Zhitkof, 564 

Year-books : Year-book of the Scientific Societies of Great 
Britain, 434; Who’s Who, 526; Englishwoman’s Year- 
book and Directory, 526; Writers’ and Artists’ Year- 
book, 526 

Yorkshire, Moorlands of, F. Elgee, viii 

Young’s Modulus: Demonstration, G. Chatterji, 705 


Zeeman Effect: Abnormal Effect with Sodium, R. Fortrat, 
285; Researches in Magneto-optics, Prof. P. Zeeman, 
313; Zeeman-Stark Effect, A. Lo Surdo, 536 

Zinc: Organometallic Compounds of Zine and Magnesium, 
Dr. H. Wren, 261; Comparative Influence of Zinc on 
Growth of Hypomycetes, M. Javillier and Mme. 
Tchernoroutsky, 496 

Zircon, Prof. Strutt, 416 

Zodiacal Matter, E. Belot, 460 

Zonal Structure in Plants and Animals, Prof. E. Kiister, 
532; Zonal Structure in Colloids, G. Abbott, 607, 687; 
Dr. H. J. Johnston-Lavis, 687 

Zoological Catalogues: Catalogue of Books, MSS., 
Drawings, in the British Museum (Natural History), 
288; Bibliography of Tunicata, J. Hopkinson, 288; 
Catalogue of Noctuide in the British Museum, Sir 
G. F. Hampson, 288; Catalogue of Ungulate Mammals 
in the British Museum, R. Lydekker, F.R.S., 288 


[ Nature, 
March 26, 1914 


Park of Scotland, 379; Giza Zoological Gardens, 668-9 
Zoology : 7 3 

General: Fresh-water Fauna of Germany, Prof. Brauer, 
60; Zoology of the Sandwich Islands, D. Sharp, - 
F.R.S., Prof. J. S. Gardiner, F.R.S., ro1; Philosophy 
of Vitalism, Prof. E. W. MacBride, F.R.S., 291, 400; 
Prof. Hans Driesch, 400; Zoology, Prof. E. Brucker, 
340; Dimensions of Chromosomes in relation to 
Phylogeny, Prof. J. B. Farmer and L. Digby, 440 ; 
Life of Alexander Agassiz, G. R. Agassiz, Sir E. R. 
Lankester, 601; Mimikry und Verwandte Erschein- 
ungen, Dr. A. Jacobi, 653; Death of Dr. Albert 
Ginther, F.R.S., 664; the Animal Kingdom illus- 
trated, Dr. Zwanziger, G. K. Gude, 710; Infancy of 
Animals, W. P. Pycraft, viii 

Invertebrate : Hybrid Larve of Echinus, H. G. Newth, 
98; (1) Genital Apertures in Hirudinea; (2) New 
Phreodrilid, E. J. Goddard, 123; Papers on Inverte- 
brates, 145; das Tierreich, 204; das Tierreich: 
Cumacea or Sympoda, Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing, 407; 
Revision of Australian, Curculionidz of Sub-family 
Cryptorhynchides, A. M. Lea, 225; Copepoda of San 
Diego, C. O. Esterly, 241; Changes in Branchial 
Lamellz of Ligia oceanica in Fresh and Salt Water, 
Miss D. A. Stewart, 335; Marine Amcebe in Sponges, ~ 
&c., J. H. Orton, 371, 606; Prof. A. Dendy, F.R.S. 
399, 479; G. P. Bidder, 479; Freshwater Decapod 
Crustacea from Madagascar, Dr. W. T. Calman, 416; 
New Species of Trematodes, Miss Marie V. Lebour, 
440; Molluscan Fauna of Lake of Tiberias, H. B. 
Preston, 443; Crustacea Stomatopoda, S. W. Kemp, - 
483; Ehrlich’s Intra-vitam Staining with Methylene- 
blue applied to Nervous System of Polyzoa, A. 
Gerwerzhagen, 537; Flagellate Protozoa in Larval 
Crane-fly, Miss Doris Mackinnon, 563; Invertebrates 
and Botanic Gardens, 592; Physiologie und Morpho- 
logie der Spinnentiere, Prof. F. Dahl, 605; New 
Remarkable Ascidian, Dr. A. Oka, 640; Darwinian 
Theory of Atolls, Prof. E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., wia* 
Influence of Position of Cut upon Regeneration of 
Gunda ulvae, Dorothy J. Lloyd, 729; New Antarctic 
Bathydorus with Two Gills, T. J. Evans, 730; Genus 
Porponia (Antarctic), Prof. Carlgren, 730; Messmates, 
E. Step, viii 

Vertebrate: Possible Unknown Animals in Africa, C, W. 
Hobley, 15; New British Shrew- and Field-mice, 84; 
Anatomy of the Chameleon, P. A. Methuen and Le 
Hewitt, 259; Reptiles and Batrachians from the 
Colombian Choco, G. A. Boulenger, 416; Origin of 
Argentine Horses, 435; Dr. W. D. Matthew, 661; 
Gazelles Existing without Water, 695 

See also British Association, Birds, Fish, Insects 


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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1913. 


NOTES ON THE ABORIGINES OF SOUTH 
AMERICA. 

Aborigines of South America. By the late Colonel 
Ge. Church. Edited by an Old Friend, 
Clements R. Markham, K.C.B. Pp. xix+314. 
(London: Chapman & Hall, Ltd., 1912.) Price 
tos. 6d. net. 

_“Y°HE author of this posthumous work was a 
: descendant of the earliest New England 
colonists. Born in 1835, he became a surveying 
engineer, and his first introduction to South 
‘America was of a kind sufficient to shape his whole 
career. As a member of an expedition sent out 
by the Government of Buenos Aires in 1859 to 
_ explore the south-western frontiers, he partook 
of severe fighting with the then still unsubdued 
Araucanians and Patagones. Then. he served 
through the whole of the Civil War in the United 
States, and next he joined the General Staff of 
Juarez against Maximilian. After that , episode 
we find him in Bolivia, which he reached once by 
Buenos Aires, another time by Peru, busy with 
concessions of the navigation of Bolivian and 
Brazilian rivers. A political mission to Ecuador, 
the building of an Argentine railway, business in 
Panama, Costa Rica, and elsewhere afforded him 
well-nigh unrivalled opportunities of studying land 
and peoples of South America before he settled 
down in London, where he devoted much time ‘to 
his favourite geographical and_ ethnological 
Studies. 

The author’s intention to write a comprehensive 
"work on the aborigines of South America was 
frustrated by his death in 1910, and only the less 
incomplete chapters have been edited by his friend, 
‘Sir C. R. Markham, himself a traveller in those 
-parts of the world. They are apparently not so 
NO. 2288. vot. a2l 


much notes by the experienced, observant traveller 
as critical, carefully sifted extracts from the 


| numerous accounts of previous explorers, whose 


| dominant race made its 


accounts alone can bear upon the “history ” of 
these wild, roaming, barbaric tribes. In many 
cases the bewildering number of names, mostly 
nicknames bestowed upon each other by the 
various clans and muddled by the Europeans, have 
been reduced to synonymic order. Presumably 
all the aborigines of the whole continent are of 
one stock, but time and separation and environ- 
ment have diversified them. One of the most 
vigorous were the Caraios, Caraibes, Guaranis, or 
Tupis, with their origin in Paraguay, whence this 
influence felt from La 
Plata to Orinoco and spread even to the Antilles. 
Several chapters are devoted to the unravelling 


| of the resulting dislodgment of the coast-tribes 


of Brazil and those of Amazonia, and to the 
troubles brought upon them by the Portuguese 
and Spaniards. The scanty notes made by the 
white man, not always well educated, be he 
soldier, trader, or missionary, about customs, 
arms, and ornaments, are often the only facts 
known about many a so-called tribe. 

Within late Tertiary periods the whole continent 
seems to have been divided into an eastern and 
a western half, from Uruguay to the Orinoco, by a 
system of enormous lakes. Our author evidently 
believed that such a division still existed when 
man already inhabited South America, before the 
Pampean and Amazonian inland seas and other 
lakes, of which Titicaca is a remnant, had yet 
been drained by the present great river systems. 
This somewhat rash idea is on a par with the 
suggestion that South America may have been 
connected with Africa or Australia via Antarctica 
at a period when climatic conditions made these 
dreamlands a pleasant abode for man and thus 
account for the puzzling origin of the Patagonians. 

B 


bo 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 4, 1913 


HYDRAULIC MACHINERY. 

Modern Pumping and Hydraulic Machinery: 
Being a Practical Handbook for Engineers, 
Designers, and Others. 
+473. (London: C. Griffin and Co., 
1913.) Price r8s. net. 

N examination of this important work brings 
home to the reader some idea of the enor- 
mous extent and ever-increasing variety of 
machinery that is used in connection with 
hydraulics; for, although this treatise is devoted 
to the consideration of the wide range of machinery 
and appliances connected with almost every known 
type used in pumping operations, the amount of 
other classes of hydraulic machinery which the 
exigencies of space excluded would well fill the 
pages of another volume. For this reason the 
subtitle is too comprehensive and rather mislead- 
ing, as the book does not deal with hydraulic 
machinery ‘‘as applied to all purposes ”; but, it is 
fair to say, the author has wisely restricted its 
scope to enable him to deal comprehensively with 
the sections selected, and in a broad way included 
in the title “pumping machinery.” The ground 
chosen has been covered in an exhaustive and 
systematic way, and a glance at the contents 
shows how varied is the machinery dealt with, 
for it embraces machinery used for water-supply, 
wells, mines, drainage, irrigation, dredging, re- 
clamation work, and for raising petroleum from 
deep wells, and a chapter is devoted to hydraulic 
power wheels and turbines. 

There is no lack of admirable’ books on the 
theory of hydraulics and of hydraulic machines, 
but the many important developments and im- 
provements made in hydraulic machinery in recent 
years have doubtless created a demand for just 
such a book as Mr. Butler has so ably produced, 
and the information it contains cannot fail to be 
of use to the practical engineer and others engaged 
either in the construction or application of 
hydraulic machinery, to say nothing of its educa- 
tional value to the engineering student. The 
designer will also appreciate the book, as it con- 
tains a wealth of detail and descriptive matter, 
but his requirements as to the proportioning of 
parts have not received the attention they might 
with advantage have had given to them here and 
there in a treatise of this type. No better work 
than Seaton’s ‘“‘ Marine Engineering ” can be cited 
as an example of what can be done in this direc- 
tion to help the designer. The Humphrey gas-dis- 
placement pump, the most important invention 
in pumping machinery made in recent years, is 
fully described, and the author gives some par- 
ticulars of previous inventions of this type, but 
omits to mention that the first-known internal com- 


2288, VOL. 92] 


Ltd., 


By E. Butler, Pp. xvi | 


| bustion pump was Tatham’s, patented about 1894, 
and referred to in the discussion on the Humphrey 
pump at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. — 

The illustrations are extremely well reproduced, 
with few exceptions; for instance, the longitudinal 
_ sections on p. 387 look rather too confusing to be 
easily read, owing to their coarse section lining. 
; On the other hand, the diagram on p. 377, showing — 
development of vane curvature in an impeller 
wheel, is admirable. q 

The book is a notable addition to the literature 
of the subject, and should be well received. 


H. Jo 


MIND, HEALTH AND PURPOSE. 
(1) The Game of Mind: A Study in Psychological 


Disillusionment. By Percy M. Campbell. Pp. 
iii+80. (New York: Baker and Taylor Co., 
1913.) Price 75 cents net. ; 


(2) Mind and Health. With an Examination of 
some Systems of Divine Healing. By Dr. 
E. E. Weaver. With an Introduction by Dr. 
G. Stanley Hall. Pp. xv+500. (New York: 
The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan 
& Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 8s. 6d. net. : 

(3) Devalopiient and Purpose: An Essay ‘oman 
a Philosophy of Evolution. By Prof. L. T. 


Hobhouse. Pp. xxix+383. (London: Mac- © 
millan & Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price ros. net. 5 
“The Game of Mind” Mr. Campbell 


N 

I puts the question: “To what extent does 

the mere reiteration, by the possessor of a tooth- 
ache, of the complaint that he is indeed feeling 
pain, influence or constitute that pain? In other 
words, If the victim were so organised that he — 
need not perforce tell himself each instant that 
he is being hurt, would the hurt exist as such 
at all?” And Mr. Campbell replies: “We are 
convinced that it would not.” Mr. Campbell, of 
course, discusses many other questions; but his 
method of argument displays the same degree of 
cogency throughout. , 
(2) In “Mind and Health” Mr. Weaver dis- — 
cusses ‘‘some of the distinctive religious and 
philosophical systems of healing,” and lays down 
“the plan of a valid system of healing on re- 
ligious ground.” The first element of “a valid 
religious psychotherapy” he declares to be that — 


“sickness comes from want of goodness.” 
“Goodness ” is, of course, an ambiguous term; 
and Mr. Weaver very properly describes the 


sense in which he uses it: ““A goodness that starts © 
in the spiritual and will be allowed to work un- 
fettered and unhindered in the intellectual, emo- - 
tional, and physical life will not be sick. It knows 
no sickness.”” If goodness of this kind—a good- 
ness which knows no. sickness—is to be pro- 


SEPTEMBER 4, I91 3] 


NATURE 


ios) 


uced in the patient, then it must first be pos- 
essed by the practitioner : “The power of healing 
eleased through a religious psychotherapy should 
mediated by the minister of religion.” If so, 
hen, Mr. Weaver argues, the Christian Church 
lust carry on the ministry of religious psycho- 
herapy. Mr. Weaver’s fundamental assumption, 
hen, is: Be good (or get someone to make you 
food) and you won’t be ill. It is a defect of his 
ook, however, that he does not convince the 
eader of the truth of the assumption. 

(3) Mr. Hobhouse’s ‘Development and Pur- 
jose” is a contribution to philosophy, serious, 
olid, and certainly heavy. ‘‘The book completes 
| scheme which has occupied the writer for twenty- 
ix years, and has been carried through successive 
ages in three previous works.” But the scheme 
has come to be completed in a way which a quarter 
bf a century ago Mr. Hobhouse did not foresee 
x intend. He has come to hold that in the pro- 
tess of evolution both mechanical causation and 
eleological causation are at work; and, what is 
nore, that mechanical causation involves teleo- 


Intelligent action is truly purposive, that is to 
Say it is teleological causation and is not resolv- 
able into mechanical laws. The actual order of 
reality, he tells us, is determined by the impulse 
‘realise the future: what we do now is deter- 
/mined by what we want to be or do in 
e future. But, if that is so, it seems 
to the reader as though no place were left for 
mechanical causation, no need for causes prior 
in time to their effects. Mr. Hobhouse, however, 
holds that mechanical causation involves teleo- 
logical causation, i.e. apparently that there could 
be no cause prior in time to the effects unless there 
were causes which, being teleological, are not 
prior in time to their effects. From this it would 
seem that the source of the trouble lies in the 
assumption that causes must be in time; on that 
assumption causes must both be and not be prior 
in time to their effects. 

_ Mr. Hobhouse, though he sees and says that 
in the more ultimate sense Reality is not in time, 
but time is in Reality, does not devote more than 
this single sentence to the way in which, as it 
seems to us, the notion of time refracts causation 
into mechanical and teleological causes. How- 
ever, Mr. Hobhouse’s services to the cause of 
Philosophy are recognised by all interested in 
philosophy ; and all will be glad that the Univer- 
of Durham has, in recognition of those 
ervices, conferred upon him the honorary degree 
f D.Litt. 

B NO. 2288, VoL. 92] 


IRON AND STEEL METALLURGY. 


(1) Iron Making in Alabama. Third Edition. 
W. B. Phillips. Pp. 254+xxxi plates. 
bama: The University, 1912.) 

(2) Iron and Steel: An Introductory Text-book 
for Engineers and Metallurgists. By O. F. 
Hudson and Dr. G. D. Bengough. Pp. x +173. 
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd. 1913.) Price 
6s. net. 

T would be difficult to find a better illustra- 

tion of the wide range of subjects involved 
in the study of iron and steel than these two 
books. Whereas one deals mainly with the ex- 
traction of iron from its ores, the other is largely 
concerned with the properties of the recovered 
metal, and the subjects range from the mining 
of the ore and the washing of coal on the one 
hand, to the constitution of steel and the electro- 
lytic theory of corrosion on the other. 

(1) The book by Mr. Phillips is published by the 
Geological Survey of Alabama, and is of necessity 
somewhat statistical. It is seldom, however, that 
one finds statistics dealt with in such an interest- 
ing manner. The title of the book might more 
accurately and with advantage be described as 
“Tron and Steel Making in Alabama,” for it 
includes an excellent account of the steel-works 
of the State, which are responsible for an annual 
output of nearly half a million tons of steel in 
all sections, from rails to wire. 

The first part of the book deals exhaustively with 
the iron ores of Alabama, and a chapter is devoted 
to experimental work on concentration. Fluxes 
and fuels are then considered, and much useful 
information is given on coking practice and the 
employment of by-product coke ovens.  Blast- 
furnace practice, as regards both coke and char- 
coal furnaces, is considered in detail, and the 
growth and development of the modern Dlast- 
furnace is traced from the year 1894 to 1Igio. 
This is followed by an excellent account of the 
steel-works and rolling-mills of the State, and 
finally there is a chapter on coal-washing. Not 
the least useful feature of the book is the large 
number of tables of statistics, and some reference 
must be made to the excellent series of illustra- 
tions, thirty in number, which are reproduced 
from photographs. 

The extent of the iron and steel industry in 
Alabama may be gauged from the fact that in 
the year 1910 nearly five million tons of ore were 
mined and sixteen million tons of coal, of which 
five million tons were converted into coke. The 
production of pig-iron amounted to two million 
tons, and of steel half a million tons. Such an 
industry is of more than local importance, and 


By 
(Ala- 


4 NATURE 


Mr. Phillips’s volume will be greatly appreciated 
not only by those who are connected with 
Alabama, but by all who are interested in the 
manufacture of iron and steel wherever it may be 
carried on. 

(2) Mr. Hudson’s book is one of a series of text- 
books which are described as “introductory to 
the chemistry of the national industries.” It is 
written in a clear and concise manner, and deals 
very ably with recent scientific investigations and 
theories regarding the constitution of iron and 
steel. The principles underlying the smelting of 
iron, the manufacture of wrought iron and steel, 
foundry practice, and such processes as case- 
hardening, welding, &c., are reviewed very briefly, 
but no attempt is made to treat these subjects 
from the manufacturing point of view, and this part 
of the book can scarcely be regarded as an intro- 
duction to the metallurgy of iron and steel, except 
for very elementary students. The book is in- 
tended primarily for those interested in the 
physico-chemical rather than the practical aspects 
of the subject, and this is clearly the intention 
of the author, who states in his preface that 
“practical details of the methods of production 
have been avoided almost entirely, in order that 
more attention may be devoted to such matters 
as an explanation of the constitution of steel and 
cast-iron, and the effects of mechanical and heat 
treatment on the properties of these alloys.” In 
the later chapters these subjects have been very 
completely dealt with, and, together with. the 
chapter on corrosion by Dr. Bengough, will be 
welcomed by many students of metallurgy. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


Ueber kausale und konditionale. Weltanschauung 
und deren Stellung sur Entwicklungsmechanik. 
By Wilhelm Roux, Pp. 66. (Leipzig: W. 
Engelmann, 1913.) Price 1.50 marks. 

Pror. Roux makes game of Prof. Verworn’s 
recent essay on the causal and the conditional out- 
look on the world, which was, we think, reviewed 
some months ago in Nature. What is true in 
Verworn’s essay is not new, and what is new is 
not true. The causal outlook, which has been in 
vogue “from the Stone age down to Verworn,”’ is 
not to be superseded by a crude ‘“conditionism.” 
What is sound in Verworn’s emphasis that the 
scientific task is to inquire into all the antecedent 
conditions is recognised by all investigators. The 
change proposed is verbal, for as soon as a process 
is set a-going, its conditions become active factors 
The complete conditions are the com- 
plete causes. Verworn lays great stress on what 
he calls the “effective equivalence” of the con- 
ditions of any process or result, but Roux cannot 
accept the phrase. Equally necessary the factors 
are, but certainly not equivalent. 


NO. 2288, VOL. 92| 


Or causes. 


[SEPTEMBER 4, I913 


In the study of development the specifitas 
potentiae of each of the various factors is well 
known. In vital processes the internal and the 
external conditions cannot be spoken of as equi- 
valent, as Verworn proposes. The constitution of 
an ovum includes factors which determine a 
certain, within limits, typical result; the external 
conditions of oxygen, warmth, moisture, and so 
on, activate and sustain the development. Thus 
Roux distinguishes between “determining” and 
“realising” factors, and says that it is nonsense 
to speak of their ‘‘ equivalence.” 

From time to time in his brilliant series of 
studies in “developmental mechanics’ Roux has 
given a causal analysis of the known factors in- 
volved, distinguishing, for instance, between in- 
ternal and external, determining and realising, 
necessary and “ 
is entirely opposed to the false simplicity which 
Verworn’s ‘‘conditionism” would suggest. 
There has been hard hitting on both sides, but 
perhaps it is instructive to remember that Ver- 
worn’s life has been largely spent in the study 
of metabolism, and Roux’s in the study of develop- 
ment—which is for him an “autopheenesis,” “a 
becoming-visible of ,manifoldness by the proper 
activity of the germ.’ J. °AGRES 


Brazil in 1912. By J. C. Oakenfull. Pp. viii+ 
498. (London: Robert Atkinson, Ltd., 1913.) 
Price 5s. = 


Tuis is the fourth annual edition of an excellent 
handbook on Brazil. As usual, it is well and pro- 
fusely illustrated, the large map of the country 
and the coloured frontispiece showing the precious 
stones of Brazil being especially good. The book 
deals in an interesting manner with the history 
and geography of Brazil; but the chapters on the 
anthropology and ethnography, the geology and 
paleontology, the mineralogy, and the agriculture 
of Brazil will appeal more directly to scientific 
readers. 

The book is intended for free distribution, but 


duplicate and trade copies can be obtained at aS : 


price stated. 
Teachers of geography will find it an interest- 


ing and valuable work of reference in the school — 


library. 


The Theory and Design of Structures. 
book for the Use of Students, Draughtsmen, 
and Engineers engaged in Constructional Work. 


By E. S. Andrews. Third edition. Pp. xii+ 
618. (London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 
1913.) Price 9s. net. 


Tue first edition of this book was reviewed at 
some length in the issue of Nature for March 18, 
1909 (vol. Ixxx., p. 64). The additions made to 
the present edition are incorporated in an appendix 
of some twenty-seven pages, and these include 
a note on Dr. Stanton’s experiments on wind 
pressure. The notation in the chapter on re- 
inforced. concrete has been made to agree with 
that proposed by the Concrete Institute, and 
numerous exercises have been added to the volume. 


not necessary” factors; and he 


A Text- | 


fj 


| 


SEPTEMBER 4, 1913] NATURE 5 


LEITERS TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Bsitor does not hold himself responsible for 
epinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertaxe to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 


taken of anonymous communications. | 


The Spectra of Helium and Hydrogen. 


Tue spectra of helium and hydrogen have acquired 
considerable importance in view of the recent experi- 
-mental researches of Prof. Fowler and the theoretical 
investigations of Dr. Bohr. Before the appearance of 
Fowler’s investigation the only hydrogen series known 
terrestrially were the diffuse series, consisting of the 
He, HB, &c., lines, and the infra-red series predicted 
by Ritz, two members of which (18751-3 and 12817-6) 
were observed by Paschen. However, by passing a 
strong condensed discharge through mixtures of 
helium and hydrogen, Fowler was able to photograph 
four members of the principal series, the strongest 


line of which is at 4686. 
It should be noted that the 4686 line appeared on the 


oo so won 
S ~ “1 
© Ee) on 
© rr) at 
| | I] 


E 
2 3 ge 
i ? aa: 


II. 


photograph of the spectrum of a helium tube, which 
had been taken at the Solar Physics Observatory at 
South Kensington several years ago. Sir Norman 
Lockyer and Baxandall in their paper pointed out that 
the terrestrial line was very probably identical in origin 
with the chromospheric line of nearly the same wave- 
length photographed Curing the eclipse of January, 
1898. They also noticed that the 4685-90 chromo- 
spheric line is of the same nature as the helium 
eclipse lines, being long and sharply defined. They 
concluded that the line is probably due to a gas, which 
is associated in some way with helium. The 4686 
line has also been observed in the spectra of stars of 
the fifth type, and in the spectra of certain nebule, 
and had been attributed to hydrogen in accordance 
with Rydberg’s calculations, which depend on the 
numerical relations existing between the different 
series. 

__ In addition to the series having the 4686 line as 
first member, Fowler was able to photograph three 
members of the sharp series, which are found in the 
spectrum of & Puppis, and three members of a new 
ultra-violet series, which he calls the second principal 
series of hydrogen. According to the theory put for- 
ward by Dr. Bohr, the two principal series _and the 


NO. 2288, VOL. 92] 


this cr eny other part cf Naturr. No notice is 


—4713 
— 4686 
— 3889 


sharp series are given by helium. Also it should be 
possible to obtain the diffuse series from helium con- 
taining no hydrogen when the sharp series appears. 

For some time I have been investigating the origin 
of the 4686 line, and the experiments already carried 
out support Bohr’s theory. The chief difficulty con- 
sisted in driving out hydrogen from the poles of the 
helium spectrum tube, but this was accomplished so 
far as spectroscopic evidence goes. No hydrogen 
could be detected in the bulbs and capillary when 
heavy discharges from a coil capable of giving a 
20-in. spark were passed through the tube. The 4686 
line was strong in the capillary and fairly strong in 
the bulbs. The pressure of helium employed in these 
experiments varied from about 0-25 mm. to 1 mm. 
The capillary, in addition to the helium spectrum and 
the 4686 line, showed impurity lines due to oxygen. 

Photographs I. and II. show the spectra obtained 
when a strong condensed discharge is passed through 
helium at pressures of t mm. and 0-3 mm. respectively. 
In the first photograph the 4686 line is of nearly 
the same intensity as the 4713 helium line, and the 
two are scarcely separated in the reproduction. The 
low-pressure photograph (Fig. 2) shows the 4686 line 
much stronger than the 4713 line. In 
both cases the hydrogen lines at 6563 
and 4861 are not seen. The 4686 line 
could not be obtained from an ordinary 
hydrogen tube, nor from a neon tube 
containing a small amount of hydrogen 
as impurity. A tube containing a mix- 
ture of hydrogen and purified argon 
was also prepared, but the line was not 
visible when heavy condensed discharges 
were passed through the mixture. 

E. J. Evans. 
The University, Manchester, 
August 11 


3889 


Coloured Organisms on Sea-Sand. 


A variED and interesting field of 
investigation awaits the microscopist 
who will make a detailed examination 
of the minute fauna and flora of ap- 
parently barren sands on the seashore. 
To-day, on landing at the island of 
Oronsay at low tide, the otherwise 
pure white sand was seen to be 
coloured pink in one area, for an 
extent of several yards, green a little further 
up the beach, and golden-brown in small patches 
here and there. On examining samples with the 
microscope the brown colour was found to be due 
to living diatoms (not dinoflagellates in this case), 
naviculoid forms like Caloneis; the pink is formed 
of amorphous masses of fine granules in a jelly loosely 
adhering to the sand-grains, and may perhaps prove 
to be bacteria in a zoogloea state, while the green is 
caused by patches of a very simple alga (? a Cocco- 
phycid) made up of groups of rounded green cells in a 
single layer on the sand-grains. I have kept samples 
of all the organisms and will submit them to a botanist 
for more precise identification. _No Amphidinium 
patches were present so far as I could see. The 
variety of organisms present in the one little bay, the 
extraordinary abundance in each patch, and the bright- 
ness of the colour produced on the white sand were 
very striking, and seemed worthy of note. 

The colour was not in any of these cases due to the 
sand-grains themselves, which are mostly clear quartz 
with, as usual, a few black specks and some white 
shell fragments. Nor was there apparently any fresh- 
water on the beach, and certainly not any sewage or 
other source of impurity. It is a lonely, sandy bay, 


6 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 4, 1913 


inhabited only by sea-birds and seals, and the nearest 
house is on the opposite side of the island at least four 
miles away by the coast. The sea-water seemed very 
clear, of salinity 26-5, and the sandy bottom could 
be seen from the yacht anchored in five fathoms. 

Diatom patches are no doubt abundant in many 
places; probably the simple green alga encrusting the 
sand-grains is known to botanists, and I have cer- 
tainly seen the pink organism elsewhere. Probably 
other coloured patches due to micro-organisms are 
present on many beaches. It would be interesting to 
have them more thoroughly investigated—biochemic- 
ally, if possible—by someone living on the spot, and 
able to study their changes day by day. 

W. A. HeERpMaN. 
S.Y. Runa, Sound of Islay, August 27. 


Physiological Factors of Consciousness. ‘ 
Mr. Asput Majin (Nature, August 28) asks ; ‘* What 
is the true explanation of the fact that stimuli 
sufficiently strong to arouse vivid sensations in a 
subject while he is wide awake apparently fail to 
arouse any sensations at all in a state of unconscious- 
ness?”’ But is there any evidence that stimuli do not 


arouse identical sensations in the waking and the | 


sleeping states? As a medical man, I am frequently 
“rung up.’’ As far as I am able to judge, I am 
invariably awakened out of a dream. I am_ never 
dreamless. My consciousness never sleeps. 

But, in proportion to the depth of slumber, memory 
uppears to be abolished. Memory is ample in propor- 
tion as it is clear and coherent—in proportion as it 
links the present with the past and so fulfils its func- 
tion of affording a guide for the future. In dreams, 
since it is so much in abeyance, we live almost wholly 


; examine 


' between this and the Crag period? 
| we have. 


| parently 


referred to, are worked flints. Upon their testimony 
Mr. Moir, and those who agree with him, would carry 
man’s work back to the Pliocen€ period of the Suffollx 
Crag. Mr. Moir kindly allowed me to see a few of 
his specimens, and I am inclined to think that some 
of them show artificial chipping. The deposit in which 
the Piltdown skull was found is said to be early 
Pleistocene. Have we any indication of man’s worl: 
In my opinion 
I refer to the remarkable trench at Dew- 
lish, Dorset,’ which before it was excavated contained 
abundant remains of Elephas meridionalis and no 
other fossils, though Mr. Grist has found eoliths.* 
It is difficult to account for the formation of 
this peculiar trench in  challk by any natural — 
process. Mr. Clement Reid, who spent four days to 
it, tells us that ‘tthe fissure, or rather 
trough, ended abruptly without any trace of a con- 
tinuing joint. It was not a fault, for the lines of 
flint nodules corresponded on each side.’ * Mr. Reid, 
at the British Association at Cambridge, described the: 
termination of the trench as “‘apse-like.’’ It opened 
out diagonally at one end on to the steep slope of the 
side of a valley. It was 103 ft. long and 12 ft. deep. 
The width, as the photographs show, was not quite 
uniform, and Mr. Reid said that in the narrow place 
he could just get along. It is remarkable that here 
the walls approach from each side—a feature ap- 
incompatible with any natural causation. 
After the trench had been refilled, I met with a 
description and photograph of a pitfall for elephants 


‘in Africa; and that led me to believe that this trench 


was artificial, and dug out for the same purpose. 
If this view is correct, it shows that man existed im 


, Pliocene times, and was already a social being capable 
| 


in the ‘immediate present,” taking little thought of | 


ings do not then surprise us; for these do not 
then contradict stored experience. On that account, 
also, we seldom remember our dreams unless they 
occur in light slumber (half-wakefulness), or 
unless our attention is called to them immediately on 
waking while our minds are still tingling ‘with 
them. I am sure, if anyone tries the experiment 
of having himself awakened for a few occasions by 
the insistent question, “What are you dreaming 
about? "—if his attention is immediately fixed on his 
dream—he will soon be convinced that there is no 
such thing as dreamless sleep. 

By way of illustration ; I remember a terrible dream. 
An enemy had his hand on my mouth and was suf- 
focating me. I awoke to find the tail of my friend 
the cat, who had come on his morning visit, laid 
across my lips. The dreams of ill-health, and especially 
of indigestion, are usually unpleasant and sometimes 
fearful. 

I take it, then, that sensations are the stuff that 
dreams are made of. They are the same sensations 
that we feel in our waking states, but; when woven 
into our dreams, they are wrongly interpreted. 

G. ArcHDALL Rep. 
Netherby, Victoria Road, S. Southsea, 
August 209. 


The Elephant Trench at Dewlish—Was it Dug? 


THE question of the brain capacity of the Piltdown 
and other fossil skulls must be decided by anatomists ; 
but a sidelight may be thrown on the subject of the 
intelligence of early man by a consideration of the 
works of which*he was capable. The most indestruc- 


the past or the future. Absurd or improbable happen- | the express purpose of testing this questions 


of a great undertaking, for no one individual could 
have effected such a work. 

My hope is that this trench may be reopened for 
‘ It has 


/ never been bottomed except at the end where it 


| opened on the valley. 


tible of these, and consequently the most frequently / 


NO. 2288, VOL. 92] 


Elsewhere two or three feet 
remain undisturbed. If it was artificial, some indica- 
tion of the tools used might possibly be found at the 
bottom. The expense could not be great, and my 
object in writing this is to endeavour to excite such 
interest in the subject as may perhaps lead to a proper 
investigation. But a competent geologist, whose 


| verdict would carry weight, ought to undertake it. 


Graveley, Huntingdon. O. Fisuer. 


Note on the Dicynodont Vomer. 


In 1898 I directed attention to the fact that the 
paired elements in the front of the palate of lizards and 
snakes seem in all their relations to agree with the 
pair of bones in Ornithorhynchus, which afterwards 
fuse to form the dumb-bell bone, and that they cannot 
be homologous with the median unpaired vomer of 
mammals, and must have another name, and I pro- 
posed to call them prevomers. While the embryo- 
logical evidence seems conclusive, the palzeontological 
testimony has not hitherto been so satisfactory as one 
could desire. Cynodont reptiles appear to have a single 
median vomer, very like that of the mammal, and 
one specimen of Gomphognathus shows what appear 
to be a pair of elements in front.. Dicynodon appears 
to have also a single median vomer, and no paired 
elements. The Therocephalians, on the other hand, 
have a pair of large anterior elements, and apparently 
no median element. With the palzontological 


1 See paper by the writer with two photographic views, Quart. Journ. 
Geol. Soc., 1905. 
% Journ. Roy. Anthropological Institute, vol. x1., toto. 
* See ‘Geological Survey Memoirs," 1899, p. 34- 
' 


oat 


SEPTEMBER 4, 1913] 


evidence in this condition, it is not surprising that the 
theory, though fully accepted by a few, and hesitat- 
ingly by others, has failed so far to be generally 


adopted. 


For the last ten or twelve years I have constantly 


been on the look-out for a specimen which, while 


possessing a large median true vomer has also a 
pair of large distinct paired prevomers. Mr. D. M. S. 
Watson believes he has discovered in the British 
Museum a specimen of Lycosuchus showing a median 
vomer between the pterygoids, and certainly a pair 
of large prevomers in front. Unfortunately, though 
the specimen is satisfactory enough for those who 
believe the median vomer to be quite a different 
element from the reptilian paired ‘“‘vomers,”’ it is not 
convincing enough for the doubter. 

In two species of the small Upper Permian Thero- 
cephalian genus Ictidognathus, I find a peculiarly 
complicated but single median vomerine bone, but in 
a third species, closely allied, I find clear evidence that 
the apparently single bone is composed of the paired 
prevomers anchylosed. Further, the anchylosed pre- 
vomers have exactly similar relations to the palatines 
and pterygoids that the median bone in Dicynodon 
has, and at first it looked as though the theory had 
received a severe blow. 

Fortunately a specimen of a large species of 
Dicynodon has just been discovered that clears up all 
the confusion. The median bone, which lies between 
the posterior pairs in Dicynodon is the anchylosed 
prevomers. Above it, and completely concealed by it, 
is a large, well-developed, typically mammalian 
median vomer extending from the basisphenoid behind 
to the premaxilla in front. Along its upper side the 
vomer is grooved for the large basal and ethmoidal 
cartilages. Posteriorly it is closely united to the basi- 
sphenoid. The bone completely confirms the view I 
expressed in 1898 that the mammalian vomer is the 
reptilian parasphenoid, and quite a different element 
from the prevomers. R. Broom. 

American Museum of Natural! History, 

New York, August 10. 


THE TWELFTH INTERNATIONAL 
GEOLOGICAL CONGRESS. 


“| Meee first meeting of the International Geologi- 
cal Congress in Canada, and the third in the 
western continent, held its session in Toronto from 
August 7 to August 14, under the presidency of 
Dr. F. D. Adams, of McGill University. Alto- 
gether 1152 members were enrolled, about half of 
whom attended the meeting; and forty-six coun- 
tries were represented by their leading geologists. 
Probably never before had Canada entertained a 
gathering so distinctively international, and great 
interest was manifested in the work of the con- 
gress, not only in Toronto, but throughout the 
Dominion. The honorary president of the con- 
gress, H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught, who was 
unable to attend, was represented at the opening 
session by the Right Hon. Sir Charles Fitzpatrick, 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, 
and by him a warm welcome to the Dominion was 
extended to the visiting delegates in a graceful 


speech in French, the official language of the 


congress, Ontario was represented by the Hon. 
-W. H. Hearst, Minister of Mines for that pro- 
vince, Toronto by Alderman Church, and the 
University of Toronto by President Falconer, to 
whom the congress was indebted for the use of 


NO. 2288, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 7 


several of the university buildings during the meet- 
ings. 

The chief work delegated to the twelfth congress 
| had been the preparation of a monograph on the 
| coal resources of the world, to serve as a com- 
panion work to the iron resources of the world, 
prepared for the eleventh congress at Stockholm. 
The general secretary of the congress, Director 
Brock, of the Canadian Geological Survey, pre- 
sented the monograph, and summarised its main 
features. It consists of three quarto volumes, 
accompanied by a 68-page atlas, and contains 
reports from sixty-four different countries. The 
editing has been in the hands of a committee of 
the Geological Survey of Canada, consisting of 
Messrs. McInnes, Leach, and Dowling. Mr. 
Brock contributes the preface, Mr. Dowling an 
introduction summarising the main reports, while 
contributions by experts from the various coun- 
tries of the world form the major part of the work. 
The total coal resources of the world are estimated 
at 7,397,533 million tons, of which 4,000,000 
million tons are bituminous, 3,000,000 million tons 
brown coal, and the remainder anthracite. As the 
world’s production in 1910 was 1,145 million tons, 
the exhaustion of our coal supplies is by no means 
an immediate problem. Approximate reserves of 
some of the chief countries are as follows :— 
Canada, 1,234,269 million tons; United States, 
3,214,174 million tons; United Kingdom, 189,535 
million tons; France, 17,585 million tons; Ger- 
many, 85,551 million tons; Russia, 233,997 million 
tons. . In Switzerland only 4500 tons of coal 
remain. The preparation of the monograph in- 
volved a large amount of special investigation in 
several of the countries from which reports were 
submitted; and the three volumes, with the atlas 
of beautifully executed maps, will serve as a 
fitting companion volume to the iron resources of 
the world. 

In order to facilitate business, the congress 
resolved itself into three sections, which met con- 
currently. Over eighty papers were presented, the 
majority of which had direct bearing on the topics 
which had been suggested for the consideration of 
the congress. On the subject of the differentiation 
of rock magmas the session was interesting, 
rather because of the variety of hypotheses than 
because of any distinct contribution to views 
already propounded elsewhere. Daly advocated 
stoping and gravitational movement, Harker frac- 
tional crystallisation, Loewinson-Lessing differen- 
tiation in liquid state, Evans immiscible liquid 
phases, while Bergent emphasised recurrent basic 
and acid succession in its bearing on the problem, 
Iddings and Washington pointed out from differ- 
ent points of view the necessity of sufficient ana- 
lyses within petrographical provinces. Hobbs 
referred to the relationship between certain petro- 
graphical provinces and clay states, and Cross 
discussed Hawaiian lavas from the point of view 
of the Atlantic-Pacific classification. Bdckstrém, 
in summing up the discussion, advocated the con- 
servative attitude until experimental work was 
sufficiently advanced to justify broad conclusions. 
'. The theme “The Influence. of Depth on the 


8 NATURE 


’ 


Character of Metalliferous Deposits” was of 
special interest to economic geologists and mining 
engineers. Kemp dealt generally with primary 
and secondary precipitation; Krusch with colloidal 
precipitation of primary and secondary ores; 
Emmons with experimental evidence bearing on 
the precipitation of gold, silver, and copper, and 
the effect of the primary ores; Fermor with the 
action of oxygen and carbonic acid at considerable 
depths; Fanning with ore occurrences in the Phil- 
lipines. In the general discussion, in which 
Lindgren, Winchell, Lawson, Kitson, and others 
took part, the question of the formation of veins 
consequent on mineral crystallisation, and that of 
secondary gold deposition from placers, were 
taken up. 

What were perhaps the most interesting dis- 
cussions to the majority of the members of the 
congress were those on the sedimentation and the 
correlation of the Precambrian. The excursions 
provided to the vast Precambrian areas of Ganada 
had attracted to the congress authorities from the 
Precambrian fields in all other countries; and the 
discussions were illuminating in that they focussed 
the experience of work in many fields on the intri- 
cate problems presented. The succession in Fin- 
land was given by Sederholm, who also illustrated 
by slides some clear instances of granitisation on 
a regional scale. Cole explained the intrusive 
relationships in north-west Ireland. The difficul- 
ties encountered by Scottish geologists in correlat- 
ing the Precambrian of the Highlands were ex- 
plained by Horne. An outline of the Precambrian 
of the British Isles was given by Strahan. Holland 
pointed out the broad similarities between the 
series in India and in North America. Coleman 
and Collins dealt more particularly with the area 
east of Lake Superior. A rather keen discussion 
took place when the classification submitted by 
Lawson as based on work in the Rainy Lake area 
was questioned by Leith and Lane. Altogether 
the session was illuminative of the difficulties in 
the way of any attempt to correlate the Precam- 
brian in widely separated areas. 

Other topics considered can only be mentioned 
in brief. On the physical and faunal character- 
istics of Paleozoic seas papers were presented by 


Chamberlin, Schuchert, Ulrich, Frech, and 
Holtedahl. To the topic of interglacial periods 
Lamplugh, Coleman, Upham, Alden, Tyrrell, 


Wolff, and Holst contributed; while at a special 
session on tectonics papers were given by 
Paulcke, Dahlbiom, Mess, and Smith, McDonald, 
Howe and Hovey. Numerous miscellaneous 
papers were also submitted dealing with subjects 
of geological and mineralogical interest. 

During the session of the congress two popular 
lectures were delivered, to which the Toronto 
public were invited. The first was by M. Em- 
manuel de Margerie on the geological map of the 
world. The lecturer gave some very practical 


1 The discussion had at least one permanent result. A resolution proposed 
by Dr. Sederholm was passed by the Congress to the effect that geological 
surveys of countries which have contiguous areas of Precambrian rocks form 
international committees to include representatives of the geological surveys 
of all the countries concerned, for the purpose of correlating the Precambrian 
formations in the different countries. 


NO. 2288, VOL. 92] 


[SEPTEMBER 4, 1913 


suggestions to the committee in charge of the 
preparation of the map. He advocated the con- 
tinental as opposed to the World map, and the 
discrimination by colour between marine and 
lacustrine sediments, and between folded and un- 
folded areas. The continental areas were dis- 
cussed seriatim, with practical hints as to map- 
construction. Of more interest to the general 
public was a lecture by Dr. W. F. Hume on desert 
phenomena in Egypt. The lecture, which was 
illustrated by slides, presented a clear picture of 
the geological conditions, and in particular of the 
effects of sand erosion on the exposed rocks. 
Much could be inferred from the slides as to the 
actual conditions under which work is carried on 
in desert countries. 

Notwithstanding the interest evinced in papers 
and discussions, the value of the twelfth congress 
to the visiting delegates lay mainly in the excur- 
sions which they were enabled to undertake to 
many points of geological and mining interest 
throughout the Dominion. Elaborate preparations 
had been made by the Geological Survey of 
Canada to ensure the success of this feature of the 
meeting, and the total length of line covered by 
the guide books considerably exceeded 20,000 
miles. From July 13 to September 23 excursions 
practically without a break were arranged for 
—frequently three, or even more, concurrently. 
The maritime provinces were visited, before the 
session, under the guidance of Dr. G. A. Young; 
Sudbury, Cobalt, and Porcupine before and after 
the session, the excursions being led by Dr. W. G. 
Miller; while two transcontinental excursions, the 
first of more particular interest to petrologists and 
stratigraphers, the second to economic geologists 
and mining engineers, had as leaders Dr. Adams 
and Mr. Brock respectively. An excursion of 
particular interest, of which many would have 
gladly availed themselves had time permitted, was 
that to the Yukon and Alaska boundary, led by 
Mr. McConnell. Besides these longer excursions 
numerous field-trips were made, both before and 
during the session in Toronto. To the localities 
in the vicinity of Toronto Dr. Coleman and Dr. 
Parks acted as guides. 

For the excursions a series of guide-books was 
prepared by the Geological Survey of Canada, 
which contained besides the reading matter numer- 
ous coloured maps, topographical maps, and 
photographs. Apart from the immediate value to 
the members of the congress, the guide-books 
represent an important contribution to Canadian 
geology. They summarise a large amount of 
investigation accessible only in the reports of the 
survey, and contribute as well a considerable 
proportion of new material. They cover the main 
routes of travel, and will prove valuable books of 
reference, not only to geologists and engineers, 
but also to any travellers who may be interested 
in the resources and rock formations of the 
country. The interest which the excursions had 
aroused in Canadian geology was shown by the 
eagerness with which the literature supplied by 
the Geological Survey and mines branches was 
sought after. From this point of view the con- 


SEPTEMBER 4, 1913] 


NATURE 9 


gress has served as an excellent distributing 
agency for the literature on the geology and 
mineral resources of the Dominion. 

While the delegates were in Ottawa occasion 
was taken to do honour to the memory of the 
first director of the Geological Survey of Canada. 
Affixed to a block of Laurentian rock, in which 
formation Sir William Logan did pioneer work, a 
tablet has been placed in the Victoria Memorial 
Museum. The tablet, which was unveiled in the 
presence of the visiting delegates, bears the fol- 
lowing inscription :—‘‘ William Logan, K.T., 
LL.D., F.R.S., 1798-1875, the Father of Cana- 
dian Geology, Founder and First Director Geolo- 
gical Survey of Canada, 1842-1869. Erected by 
the International Geological Congress (Canada), 
1913.” Two of the Canadian universities took 
advantage of the opportunity afforded them to 
honour some of the visiting members of the con- 
gress. On August 1, McGill University conferred 
the degree of LL.D. on J. F. Kemp, U.S.A.; 
H. Backstrém, Sweden; A. Lacroix, France; A. 
Bergent, Germany; and A. Harker, England. On 
August 14, the last day of the congress, the 
University of Toronto paid a similar honour to 
P. M. Termier, France; T. C. Chamberlin, 
U.S.A.; R. Beck, Germany; J. J. Sederholm, 
Finland; T. Tschermyschev, Russia; A. Strahan, 
England; and W. G. Miller, Canada. A ceremony 
very different in character—though no less digni- 
fied—was performed when the delegates visited 
Montreal. At the old Indian reservation of 
Caughnawga the visitors were treated to a short 
exhibition of the Indian national game, to an 
Indian play depicting the courtship of former 
times, and finally four of the party were selected to 
become chiefs of the tribe. They were:—I. P. 
Tolmatchew, Russia; W. Paulcke, Germany; 
H. M. Cadell, Scotland; and F. D. Adams, 
Canada. After going through the dance of adop- 
tion they were given Indian names, and were 
received as full members of the tribe. 

No account of the twelfth congress would be 
complete without reference to the kindnesses 
showered on the delegates during their visit to 
Toronto. The local committee and ladies’ com- 
mittee, aided by the executive committee of the 
congress, had made very extensive and thorough 
arrangements, and the people of Toronto re- 
sponded in a most whole-hearted manner. Recep- 
tions, banquets, garden-parties, and afternoon 
teas were prominent features in the proceedings; 
automobiles were at the disposal of the members; 
and several of the clubs in town were thrown 
open while the congress was in session. If one 
may judge from the appreciative remarks to be 
heard on every side, the visiting delegates carried 
away with them very pleasant memories of 
Toronto and its people. 

On the invitation of M. A. Renier, who repre- 
sented the Government of Belgium, it was decided 
to hold the thirteenth congress in Belgium four 
years hence. The subject on which a_ special 
monograph shall be issued by the executive com- 
mittee of the congress of 1917 was left to the 
discretion of the new committee. REC. W. 


NO. 2288, VOL. 92] 


THE OIL-FIELDS OF BURMA. 


ee appearance of this memoir will be wel- 

comed equally by those who are engaged in 
the study of petroleum from a purely scientific 
point of view, and by those who are merely con- 
cerned with its profitable exploitation in Burma 
and other parts of the Indian Empire; not only 
because the author possesses a special knowledge 
of the subject in both aspects, but also because 
he has brought together, and arranged in a con- 
cise and readable manner, a mass of information 
that has hitherto been scattered through the pages 
of a voluminous literature, not always readily 
accessible. 

For close upon a century after Michael Symes 
and Hiram Cox, in the course of their journeys 
up the “ Erai-Wuddey ” to the court of Ava, had 
visited the earth-oil wells of “‘ Yanangheoum,” the 
great oil-belt of Burma remained almost un- 
explored by Europeans. The virtues of ‘“‘ Rangoon 
oil” as a lubricant, especially for small arms, be- 
came well known; and following on Dr. Christi- 
son’s discovery, in 1836, that it contained a large 
proportion of solid paraffin, considerable quanti- 
ties of the crude oil were imported into this 
country for the manufacture of candles. But nv 
further developments took place until, within a 
year of the aanexation of Upper Burma, in 1886, 
exploitation on modern lines began to supersede 
the antiquated methods of the Burmese, and a 
systematic investigation of the conditions under 
which the oil occurred was taken in hand. 

As a result of these investigations, carried on 
not only by officers of the Geological Survey, but 
also by geologists employed by the several oil 
companies, it has become apparent that the petrol- 
eum is practically confined to certain horizons— 
whether one or more has not yet been definitely 
ascertained—in the upper portion of the enormous 
accumulation of clays and incoherent sandstones 
known as the Pegu system, corresponding: fairly 
closely with the Miocene of Europe. These beds, 
according to Mr. Pascoe, were deposited in a 
great gulf some 4oo miles in length, occupying 
the greater portion of the present Irrawaddy 
valley. Orogenic folding, proceeding, in part, 
simultaneously with the deposition of the beds, 
has thrown them into a series of elongated domes, 
beneath which the oil has accumulated. The 
second and third parts of the memoir are devoted 
to a discussion of the structure of each of the 
anticlines so far examined, and of its capabilities 
as a producery of oil. 

The most productive of these anticlines as yet 
discovered is that of Yenangyaung, where Dr. 
Oldham first recognised, in 1855, the connection 
between anticlinal structure and the accumulation 
of petroleum. Here the oil is confined within an 
area of less than one-and-a-half square miles, and 
yet, since the year 1888, this little field has pro- 
duced more than a thousand million gallons. No- 
thing like this has been discovered elsewhere in 


1 “The Oil-fields of Burma.” By E. H. Pascoe. Pp. xxxix-+269+54 
plates. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India. (Calcutta: Geological 
Paes 3 London : Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner and Co., Ltd., 1912.) Price 
6s. 8a. 


10 


Burma, though many an anticline, apparently as 
well fitted for the storage of petroleum, has been 
examined and tested. Meanwhile no fewer than 
nine companies are engaged in a race for the 
deeper and richer oil-sands in the Yenangyaung 
field, and it would appear that the end cannot be 
far off. One may, perhaps, be allowed to express 
regret that steps were not taken by Government 
to regulate this competition until it had seriously 
affected the resources of the field; especially in 
view of the fact that Burma is the only country 
- directly under Imperial control which is known 
to possess large stores of petroleum, and that 
an adequate supply of fuel oil may become, in 
the near future, of vital importance to the national 
existence. 


1 


Pivad. tr Naty 


2 ve ee 
ag OS 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 4, I9I3 


suggestive, as well as the affinity shown to exist 
between petroleum gas and such admittedly 
organic products as marsh-g’as and firedamp, in 
respect of the proportion of methane that they 
contain. The solution of the problem is one of 
great practical importance, for upon it depends 
the question whether an oil-sand, once drained of 
its petroleum, might ever recover its productive- 
ness. 1. A. eee 


OCEANOGRAPHY OF THE MEDITER- 
RANEAN.1 


THE Mediterranean Sea has always been an 
attractive field for oceanographical investiga- 
tion, since it presents many features which con- 


Yenangyaung—Native well-digger in diving dress. (The man on his right is holding the mirror used to illuminate the bottom of the wel.) 
From Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, vol. xl., parti., “* Ihe Oil-fields of Burma.” 


In the final chapters of the work will be found 
an able discussion of the origin of petroleum, 
and of its relations to geotectonic structure. The 
difficulty of accounting for the presence of oil- 
sands above a water-bearing stratum (a by no 
means uncommon occurrence at Yenangyaung) 
on any theory of inorganic origin, which would 
entail an upward migration of the oil from a deep- 
seated source, seems to be insuperable; while, on 
the other hand, the arguments brought forward in 
favour of an organic origin, at least in Burma, 
Assam, and other similar areas, seem no less con- 
vincing. Though any direct geneti¢ relation be- 
tween coal and oil is expressly disclaimed, their 
close juxtaposition in those countries is highly 

NO. 2288, VOL. 92] 


trast strongly with those of the other enclosed 
seas. Italy, Sicily, and a submarine ridge over 
which the greatest depth of water is about 400 
metres, separate the whole area into two sea- 
basins. The western one, comprising the Balearic 
and Tyrrhenian Seas, is, for the most part, about 
2000-3000 metres in depth; while the eastern 
basin, which includes all the seas to the east of 
Italy and Sicily, is rather deeper on the average, 


and soundings of more than 4000 metres have ~ 


been made. Large coastal areas, like the North 
Sea, with depths of less than 200 metres do not 


1 Report on the Danish Oceanographical Expeditions of 1909-10 to the 
Mediterranean and Adjacent Seas. Edited by Joh. Schmidt. Vol. i., Intro- 
duction, Hydrography, and Se1-bottom Deposits. (Copenhagen, 1912.) 
Pp. 270+xx plates. 


SEPTEMBER 4, 1913] 


NATURE ; II 


exist, and because of this absence of extensive 
tracts of sea-bottom of moderate depth, fisheries 
on the scale of those of the North Atlantic enclosed 
seas are non-existent. Because of this relative 
unimportance of the sea-fisheries, the fauna of the 
Mediterranean is not nearly so well known as, 
for instance, that of the North Sea and Baltic; 
and the remainder of the reports of the Danish 
expeditions, dealing with the biological investiga- 
tions, promise to be of exceptional interest on this 
account. 

The sea-bottom deposits are of relatively little 
interest. Over by far the greater part of the 
Mediterranean the bottom is covered by ter- 
rigenous materials. These contain far less volcanic 
débris than might have been suspected. Siliceous 
materials are also relatively rare, and the chief 
calcareous deposits are to be found over relatively 
small areas, and contain Pteropod shells. 

The hydrographic conditions*in the Mediter- 
ranean depend mainly on the fact that this water 
area is one of high concentration. The amount 
of water received from the rainfall over the land 
area which it drains is far less (less than a quarter, 
it is said) than the amount of water removed by 
evaporation. The temperature of the superficial 
strata of water is relatively high: even at a depth 
of 1000 metres it is uniformly 13°C., while the 
salinity is also relatively high, being everywhere 
about 38 per mille in the bottom and intermediate 
strata. This excess of evaporation over precipita- 
tion would lead, of course, to a reduction of water- 
level, were it not compensated by the strong inflow 
from the Atlantic through the Straits of Gibraltar. 
But this inflow tends, of course, to raise the hydro- 
static pressure of the water in the sea, and there- 
fore a counter-current sets out from the Mediter- 
ranean into the open Atlantic Ocean. The inflow- 
ing current is superficial, has a velocity of from 
one to three knots, a temperature which is that 
of the Atlantic water in the Spanish Bay, and a 
salinity of about 36 per mille. The outflowing 
current is a deep one, its velocity varies from one- 
half to about five knots, its temperature is uni- 
formly about 13° C., and its salinity is about 
38 per mille. The variations in velocity are due 
to the tidal streams in the straits. 

The volume of relatively warm and dense water 
flowing out from the Mediterranean is very con- 
siderable. This water is so highly saline that it 
flows on as a bottom or intermediate current in 
spite of its high temperature. Although its direc- 
tion is nearly east to west as it emerges from the 
straits, it soon becomes deflected to the north and 
east as the result of the earth’s rotation, and it 
approaches the coasts of the British Islands. 
Normally it flows to the west of Ireland, and 
Dickson has shown that it may be present even 
so far north as the channel between Rockall and 
Scotland, but as a rule the current must flow 
along deep depressions of the sea-bottom. If, 
however, it is unusually strong it may enter the 
shallower sea-basins, and Bassett has recently 
suggested that unusually high salinities in such 
enclosed sea areas as the English Channel or Irish 


NO. 2288, VOL. 92] 


| Sea may be due, not to an unusually strong Gulf 
Stream drift, but more probably to the presence 
of this highly saline Mediterranean water. This 
indeed, appears to have been the case in the 
summer of 1912 in the Irish Sea and adjacent 
waters. 

Precisely the opposite conditions exist in re- 
| lation to the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmora. 
The latter basin has a depth of 1000 to 2000 
metres, and the Black Sea has a maximum depth 
of about 2200 metres. The Black Sea is an area 
of excess of precipitation over evaporation, so that 
the superficial strata of water are of low salinity. 
From the surface down to about 20 metres the 
salinity is about 17°5 per mille, and it is nearly 
constant at this limiting depth, increasing towards 
the bottom. The temperature appears to be nearly 
constant at about 80 metres depth, and also in- 
creases slightly towards the bottom. Because of 
the excess of precipitation over evaporation the 
water-level of the Black Sea tends to rise, but 
this is prevented, of course, by an outflow of 
relatively light water through the Bosporus into 
the Sea of Marmora, and from the latter basin 
through the Dardanelles into the Mediterranean. 
| But since this outflow reduces the hydrostatic 
pressure of the communicating water masses, a 
counter-current of relatively dense Mediterranean 
water enters the Sea of Marmora, and then the 
Black Sea through the Bosporus. The water 
flowing out from the Black Sea is a surface 
current, that flowing in a deep one. The depth 
of water at the entrance to the Black Sea is, how- 
ever, very small, and the existence of this “sill” 
prevents the complete renewal or ventilation of 
the deeper strata of water, a condition which also 
exists, on a much smaller scale, in some of the 
Norwegian fjords. The absence of renewal of 
water leads to the stagnation of most of the water 
of the Black Sea: not only is oxygen absent in 
the deeper layers, but its place is actually taken 
by sulphuretted hydrogen, and except for some 
forms of bacteria this water-mass is lifeless. 

The horizontal water circulation in the Mediter- 
ranean depends on the Atlantic inflow. This is 
at first west to east in direction, but, becoming 
deflected to the right in consequence of the rota- 
tion of the earth, it flows along the coast of Africa. 
The direction of flow of surface-water then follows 
the general scheme of that in the northern hemi- 
sphere. Two cyclonic circulations are set up in 
the western basin—one in the Balearic Sea to 
the west of Sardinia and Corsica, and another in 
the Tyrrhenian Sea. The main stream enters the 
eastern basin through the channel between Sicily 
and Tunis, and then becomes deflected, forming 
another cyclonic circulation. There is also an 
intermediate level water circulation which depends 
for its direction on a complex resultant of super- 
ficial horizontal circulation and vertical circula- 
tions due to concentration and cooling of super- 
ficial waters. This intermediate circulation is 
difficult to explain, and, indeed, is still imperfectly 
known. It is, of course, the origin of the westerly 
flowing deep current in the straits, and seems to 


12 NATURE 


result from the junction of two main streams flow- 
ing to the south of Sardinia and the north of 
Corsica respectively. 

Many disputed questions are discussed by the 
authors of the papers in this report, and we await 
with interest the results of the biological investi- 
gations. There is no doubt that the fishes and 
other groups of animals inhabiting the Mediter- 
ranean area are still imperfectly known; while 
the investigation of the pelagic microscopic life of 
these seas is one which is full of interest. A good 
deal of such work has, of course, already been 
done, but the results of investigators thoroughly 
familiar with deep-sea work of this kind in the 
northern seas are sure to be interesting, and the 
comparisons which we may expect they will at- 
tempt ought to throw new light on many questions 
of general biological interest. Pllc 


[SEPTEMBER 4, 1913 


ies : 
in existence, and a very wide personal experience 


in the forests of all parts of the country. Up- 
wards of one-third of these nfnety-four species 
are of later date than Bentham’s “Flora Australi- 
ensis,”’ or were not given specific rank by 
Bentham. From a rough calculation the number 
of valid species of Eucalyptus will not be fewer 
than 150; some generally dispersed, though the 
western species are mostly different from the 
eastern, and many of them bear more conspicuous 
flowers than the eastern. Others are very rare 
and near extinction, notably the very large- 
flowered, shrubby E. macrocarpa. It is to be 
hoped that Mr. Maiden’s health and official duties 
will permit him to bring this valuable monograph 
to a relatively early conclusion, as it is only in the 
complete form that it can be fully useful. 
W. Bortinc HEMSLEY. 


THE GUM TREES OF AUSTRALIA.} 


R. T. H. MAIDEN, the director of the 
I Botanic Gardens, Sydney, N.S.W., pub- 
lished the first part of his great work on the 
characteristic Australian genus Eucalyptus in 1903, 
and it has now reached the seventeenth part. 
There is no other country of the same extent as 
Australia in which one genus of trees largely pre- 
dominates throughout and, at the same time, has 
few extensions beyond. It has been estimated 
that three-fourths of the forest vegetation of 
Australia consists of gum trees and bushes, yet 
the genus is not represented in, the native flora 
of New Zealand, New Caledonia, Lord Howe 
Island, and other contiguous countries, including, 
I believe, New Guinea, though E. alba is a native 
of Timor. 

But, like Baeckia and Melaleuca, other myrta- 
ceous genera, Eucalyptus has a considerable north- 
ward extension in eastern Asia, limited, however, 
to one species the present distribution of which is 
peculiar. Mr. Maiden has succeeded in showing 
that this species, E. naudiniana, abundant in Neu 
Pommern (New Britain), is the same as that 
discovered in Mindanao, Philippines, by the 
United States Exploring Expedition (1838-42), and 
described under the name multiflora—a name pre- 
viously occupied. These two localities are separ- 
ated by about 13° of latitude and 25° of longi- 
tude, or, approximately, 1500 miles, and hitherto 
E. naudiniana has not been recorded from any 
intermediate locality. Its presence in the Philip- 
pines is an interesting fact in phytogeography, 
and the question arises, Is it a straggler of a 
southern migration, or is it, and similar outliers, 
a northward extension of a type of southern 
origin? But this is not the place to discuss the 
point. 

So far Mr. Maiden has described and figured 
ninety-four species of Eucalyptus, and given all 
details available of their distribution, based on 
practically all the important herbarium material 


1 "A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus” By J. H. Maiden, 
Government Botanist of New South Wales, Parts xii-xvii. Plates 50-76, 
with descriptive letterpress. - (Published by Authority of the Government of 
the State of New Sonth Wales, rg10-13.) Price 25. 6a. each part. 


NO. 2288, VOL. 92] 


NOTES. 


We are informed by Dr. H. Mohn that he has 
resigned the professorship of meteorology in the Uni- 
versity of Christiania and the directorship of the 
Meteorological Institute of Norway. Mr. Aksel S. 
Steen has been appointed to succeed him in these 
positions. 


Ar the time of going to press with our issue of last 
week, the race by Mr. H. G. Hawker in an all-British 
waterplane for the 5oool. prize offered by The Daily 
Mail was in progress. The distance to be covered was 
1540 miles, and of this 1043 had been accomplished on 
Wednesday when, according to the aviator, his foot 
slipping off the rudder bar, he lost control of the 
machine, which fell into the water of Lough Shinny, 
Ireland, and was wrecked. Mr. Hawker and his com- 
panion, Mr. Kauper, were rescued, the first-named un- 
injured, but the latter with a broken arm and 
other injuries. Although the task set him to accom~ 
plish was not fulfilled, the aviator must be con- 
gratulated upon having made a very satisfactory series 
of flights. The machine, fitted with a Green engine, 
was built by the Sopwith Aviation Company, and was 
a biplane with a span between the wing tips of 50 ft., 
and a length of 31 ft. 6 in. It had two main floats, 
with single hydroplane step, each weighing 170 Ib., 
and also a small torpedo float under the tail. The 
total weight-of the machine and passengers was esti- 
mated at 2400 Ib. 


Tue next International Conference on Cancer (the 
fourth) is to be held at Copenhagen in 1916. 


AccoRDING to the New York Medical Journal, an 


International Exposition of Safety and Sanitation will 
take place in New York in December next. It will 
include exhibits devoted to safety, health, sanitation, 
the prevention of accidents, the welfare of the public 
and the individual, and the advancement of the science 
of industry. Exhibits from foreign countries will, by 
a special Act of Congress, be admitted free of duty. 5 


A REPORT from Vienna states that a ship has been 
purchased for an Austrian expedition to the South 
Polar regions, and that funds are being collected in 


SEPTEMBER 4, 1913] 


aid of the object. The expedition is to be under the 
leadership of Dr. F. Kénig, of Graz, and the proposal 
is that it shall leave Trieste in May next. A large 
donation to the funds has been given by the Austrian 
Academy of Science, and the Austrian Geographical 
Society has promised an annual subsidy towards the 
cost of the undertaking. 


Mr. D. A. BaNNERMAN has returned from a zoo- 
logical mission to the eastern islands of the Canary 
group, undertaken with the object of procuring 
examples of the birds of these islands for the Natural 
History Museum. The islands visited were Fuerte- 
ventura, Lanzarote, Graciosa, Montana Clara, Roque 
de I’Oueste, and Alegranza, several of which had not 
previously been visited by a collector. Mr. Banner- 
man succeeded in obtaining a number of rare and 
interesting species peculiar to the islands, while the 
fact that the birds were collected in their breeding 
plumage renders them of special value to the museum 
bird room. On Alegranza a new species of chat was 
discovered. 


REFERENCE was made in our last issue to the three 
educational museums which were founded and 
equipped by the late Sir Jonathan Hutchinson. We 
* regret to learn from The Times that the future of these 
institutions is in an uncertain state and causing 
anxiety to those who have been privileged to make 
use of them. So far as the museum of Haslemere is 
concerned, there is a strong feeling in the town that 
everything should be done to retain the institution, 
and it is understood that the family are willing to 
hand it over to a responsible committee or body of 
trustees so that the museum may be placed on a per. 
manent and public basis. The*annual cost of main- 
tenance on the present lines is about 4ool:, and an 
appeal will shortly be issued with the hove of securing 
this sum for five years at least, it being thought that 
by that time those who are interested in the matter 
will have had an opportunity of deciding what are the 
best steps to be taken for the permanent control and 
maintenance of the museum. 


As was stated in our issue of July 3 last, plans are 
being prepared for the new buildings to be erected 
at the Rothamsted experiment station in commemora- 
tion of the centenary of the birth of Sir John Lawes 
and Sir Henry Gilbert. We now learn from the 
Journal of the Royal Society of Arts that strong com- 
mittees are being formed to raise the necessary funds 
‘or the memorial. It is stated that the sum of 12,000. 
is required, and of this amount half will have to be 
raised by public subscription, the remaining half being 
obtainable from the development fund. 


A TABLET was unveiled on Sunday last at Primiero, 
Southern Tyrol, on the house in which Alois Negrelli 
was born, to commemorate Negrelli’s work as sur- 
veyor of the Suez Canal. He began his investigations 
in 1847, completed his plans in 1855-6, and in 1858 
was appointed inspector-general of the Suez Canal 
works. He died on October 1 ef the latter year. 


WE note, with regret, the death, at the age of 
sixty-six, from typhoid fever, while on his 
voyage home from the Philippines, of Dr. Tem- 


NO. 2288, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 13 


o 


pest Anderson, who for a time lectured on volcanoes 
at the Royal Institution. He was joint author 
of the report to the Royal Society on the seismic dis- 
turbances in the West Indies in 1902 and 1907, and 
had filled, among other positions, those of president 
of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society and the 
Museums Association. 


Tue death is announced, at the age of sixty-six, 
of Col. Andrew Clark, a gold medallist of the British 
Medical Association, lecturer on surgery at the Middle- 
sex Hospital Medical School, and author of the 
“Middlesex Hospital Surgical Reports, 1872-4,’’ and 
of ‘‘Ambulance Lectures.’’ He also edited the fourth 
edition of ‘‘ Fairlie Clark’s Manual of Surgery.” 


Ir is stated in The Allahabad Pioneer Mail that the 
Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior is giving special atten- 
tion to the valuable archeological relics and treasures 
in his State, and is taking steps to create an archzo- 
logical department in Gwalior. In furtherance of this 
object he has sought the advice and cooperation of 
the Director-General of Archaeology in India. 


AccoRDING to The Scientific American, a large naval 
radio station is shortly to be constructed by the United 
States at Caimeto, Panama, to be known as the Darien 
Radio Station. It will consist of three towers, each 
600 ft. in height. The bases of the towers will be 
180 ft. above sea-level, and they will be arranged in a 
triangle measuring goo ft. on each side. The sending 
and receiving radius will be about 3000 miles direct 
reach to the Arlington Station, to San Francisco, and 
to Valdivia, 420 miles south of Valparaiso, on the 
Pacific, and Buenos Aires on the Atlantic. It will 
cover a vessel anywhere on the east coast of the 
United States, and communicate with St. Vincent. 
The system to be used is the Poulsen. 


New lightning conductors have been installed on St. 
Paul’s Cathedral. In the course of the operations 
part of one of the original iron bar conductors erected 
more than 140 years ago under the supervision of Ben- 
jamin Franklin was discovered. This bar, having been 
inside one of the towers and so not exposed to the 
weather, was still in a good state of preservation. 
The Times recalls that the fixing of these ‘ Franklin 
rods,” as they were called, led to a heated controversy 
as to whether lightning conductors should have points 
or balls as terminals. The president of the Royal 
Society, who advocated points, had to resign. King 
George III. was a strong adherent to ball terminals. 


Ir is announced in The Times that a discovery of 
oil shale has been made in the island of Skye by Dr. 
G. W. Lee, a member of the scientific staff of the 
Scottish Geological Survey and Museum, Edinburgh, 
who was examining the geological structure of the east 
coast of Skye. The extent and value of the deposits 
are not yet fully known, but it is stated that the seam 
discovered is about 11 ft. in thickness, that it extends 
over a considerable area, and that, although not of 
first-class quality or so good as the seams worked in 
the Lothians, it is likely to prove sufficiently good to 
be worked successfully, in view of the improved 
methods of operation now followed by the leading 
shale oil firms. 


14 NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 4, 1913 


Tue droughty summer has closed with some excep- | tains important investigations dealing chiefly with 


tionally heavy rainfalls over the south-eastern portion 
of England, where the rains for the last two or three 
days of August have materially modified the aggregate 
measurements for the season. At Greenwich the rain- 
fall for the three days, August 29 to 31, was 1-22 in., 
which is more than the total for the preceding part of 
the month. Without the rainfall for the last three 
days of summer the total for the three months at 
Greenwich would have been more than an inch less 
than for the corresponding season in the abnormally 
fine year 1911. The total rainfall for the summer at 
Greenwich is 4-69 in., whilst in 1912 it was 7-86 in., 
and in 1911 it was 3-72 in. The driest summer of the 
last seventy years occurred in 1864 with 2-50 in., and in 
the last fifty years there have been fourteen summers 
drier than the one which has just closed. At Green- 
wich the summer rains this year are 7o per cent. of 
the average. In places the recent rains have not had 
much influence on the total for the summer. At Jersey 
the summer rains, June, July, and August, are only 
28 per cent. of the average; at Leith, 4o per cent., 
where until August 28 they were only 28 per cent. ; 
at Valencia, 51 per cent.; and at Liverpool, 66 per 
cent. The mean temperature for the three months at 
Greenwich was 61°, which is in precise agreement 
with 1912, and 5° cooler than 1911. The sunshine this 
summer was 442 hours, in 1912 it was 497 hours, and 
in 1911 it was 819 hours. 


Tue proceedings of the third meeting of the General 
Malarial Committee of the Government of India, held 
at Madras during November, 1912, have been pub- 
lished recently as a substantial volume, which contains 
much interesting reading and affords evidence of a 
great deal of energetic and enthusiastic research upon 
the etiology of disease in India. The papers and 
discussions reported cover a wider field than the title 
indicates. Several papers deal with the question of 
Stegomyia fasciata, the mosquito known to be the 
carrier of yellow fever in the New World; in view of 
the approaching opening of the Panama Canal, when 
the endemic home of yellow fever will be brought into 
closer communication with the Far East than it is at 
present, the degree of prevalence of this mosquito in 
the ports of India is likely to become a matter of 
urgent practical sanitary importance. Other papers 
read dealt with the vexed question of the transmission 
of Kala Azar. Capt. Patton, who regards the parasite 
causing this disease as a member of a group of 
Flagellates primarily parasitic in insects, has observed 
developmental stages of the parasite in the common 
bed-bug, but as yet no satisfactory experimental proof 
that the bed-bug transmits Kala Azar has been 
brought forward, nor has the existence of any “ reser- 
voir "’ of the disease in domestic or wild animals be 
demonstrated. The problem of Kala Azar is, how- 
ever, under investigation by a number of competent 
workers, and its solution in the near future may be 
confidently expected. 


Tue Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine has 
issued its report for the year 1911 (more correctly for 
the year ending March, 1912). The bulk of the report 
is written by the director, Dr. Anton Breinl, and con- 


NO, 2288, VOL. 92] 


parasitic worms and Protozoa, illustrated by eleven 
excellent lithographed plates. “Especially notewerthy 
amongst these researches is an investigation into the 
morphology and life-history of Onchocerca gibsoni, 
the nematode parasite which causes the so-called 
worm-nodules in Australian cattle. A number of 
experiments were recorded which were directed to- 
wards solving the problem of the transmission of this 
parasite, but up to the present these experiments have 
not led to any conclusive results as to the intermediary 
host of the worm. Appended to the director’s report 
is that of the entomologist, Mr. Frank H. Taylor, 
and a report on the Cestoda and Acanthocephala of 
North Queensland, by Dr. T. Harvey Johnston. The 
entire report makes a quarto volume of 96 pp. and 
17 plates, neatly bound in cloth, but having one defect 
from the point of view of the bibliographer, namely, 
that there is nowhere any indication to be found of 
the date of publication, whether 1912 or 1913. This 
is an unfortunate omission in a work which describes 
numerous new species of animals, including even a 
new species of Cyclops. 


In a recent number of the Annals of Tropical 
Medicine and Parasitology (vol. vii., No. 3A), Dr. 
J. W. Scott Macfie gives an account of a new species 
of trypanosome observed in human beings in Nigeria. 
It occurs most commonly in young people, and pro- 
duces a mild form of sleeping sickness in which the 
trypanosomes cannot be found in the peripheral blood, 
but are present in the lymphatic glands. To the 
smaller experimental animals of the laboratory the 


trypanosome appears to be but slightly pathogenic. — 


In the blood of the guinea-pig the trypanosome is 
smaller than Trypanosoma gambiense; like that 
species it is polymorphic, with long and slender, short 
and stumpy, and intermediate forms, and a few minute 
trypanosomes, measuring as little as 8 mu in length, 
appear constantly in the blood-films. Some of the 
short, stumpy forms have the principal nucleus 
situated far forwards at the anterior (flagellar) end 
of the body. Forms in which the flagellum appears 
to be free from the body for its whole length are also 
found. The Nigerian trypanosome is regarded by Dr. 
Macfie as a species distinct from T. gambiense, and 
is given the name T. nigeriense. 


In part 6, vol. iii., of the Journal of the East Africa 
and Uganda Natural History Society, Mr. C. W. 
Hobley discusses, from an examination of weapons 
used by the Pygmy and other neighbouring tribes, 
the question of the evolution of the arrow. He comes 
to the conclusion that the use of the stone point is 
later than that of the thorn; hence, that the use of 
poison applied to the tip is probably older than is 
commonly supposed; the lateral barbs were suggested 
by some of the many thorny-stemmed plants which 
flourish in the bush in which the hunter lived. He 
suggests that the aboriginal tribes of the centre of 
the continent passed direct from the use of natural 
thorns to the use of iron points, but the people east 
of Lake Victoria began with natural thorn points, 
passed through an age in which stone arrow-points 
were used, and eventually passed into anironage, the 


| 


SEPTEMBER 4, 1913] 


“variation in development depending on the absence or 

presence of suitable stone for making arrow-points. 
The wooden point still survives, but only sporadically ; 
the stone point has disappeared, but the leaf-shaped 
iron point used by some of the Kavirondo, Nandi, and 
also found among the Tharaka, is undoubtedly a 
copy of the leaf-shaped stone arrow-head, of which 
good examples are now coming to light. 


Tue possibility of the existence of some hitherto 
unidentified animals in Central Africa is again raised 
in a communication by Mr. C. W. Hobley, published 
in part 6, vol. iii., of the Journal of the East Africa 
and Uganda Natural History Society. One of them 
is described as possessing ‘thick, reddish-brown hair, 
with a slight streak of white down the hindquarters, 
rather long from hock to foot, rather bigger than a 
hyena, with largish ears.’ Some naturalists are in- 
clined to identify it with the hairy ant-bear, 
Orycteropus; but most of those who have seen it are 
well acquainted with the ant-bear, and it is an almost 
unique phenomenon for an ant-bear to be seen abroad 
in daylight. The natives, again, have tales of a lake 
monster which the Baganda call Lukwata. Europeans 
have seen a strange beast swimming in the Napoleon 
Gulf, which was apparently not a crocodile. An 
American sportsman, E. B. Bronson, saw on the Gori 
River, Lake Victoria, a beast ‘“‘14 to 15 feet long, 
head as big as a lioness but shaped and marked as a 
leopard, two long white fangs sticking down straight 
out of his upper jaw, scaled like an armadillo, back 
broad as a hippo, spotted like a leopard, and a broad, 
fine tail; the imprints of its feet were as large as 
that of a hippo but clawed like a reptile.’’ Another 
monster has been seen by natives ‘‘as large as a 
man, sometimes going on four legs, sometimes on 
two, in general appearance like a huge baboon, and 
very fierce.’’ Naturalists will await with interest the 
discovery of specimens of these strange animals. 


Berore the publication, in The Philippine Journal of 
Science for April last, of Mr. H. O. Beyer’s paper on 
origin myths among the mountain peoples of the 
Philippines, no representative collection of Philippine 
myths had been made. Until recent years it was 
believed that all ancient records written in the 
syllabic alphabets which the Filipinos possessed at 
the time of the Spanish conquest had been lost; but 
two of these alphabets are now found in use by wild 
tribes of Palawan and Mindoro, and ancient manu- 
scripts written in the old Bisaya character have re- 
cently been discovered in a cave in the island of 
Negros. These still await publication. Mr. Beyer’s 
paper is based on oral tradition and gives a large 
collection of interesting legends, including an under- 
ground death-land, a story of the Atlas type, in which 
the world is supported by a post created by the chief 
deity and near which he dwells, and a remarkable 
flood myth current among the Central Ifugaos. It 
may be hoped that Mr. Beyer will continue his 
researches in the new folklore area. 


Mr. T. SueprparD, curator of the Municipal 
Museum, Hull, has issued a fourth edition of his 
catalogue of the collections under his charge. This 
is rendered necessary by the process of rearrange- 


NO. 2288, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 15 


ment which followed important additions to the collec- 
tions, and the establishment of the new Wilberforce 
House Museum and the Pickering Museum of 
Fisheries and Shipping, which has done much to re- 
move the pressure on the original buildings. Wilber- 
force House, built for the Lister family, about the 
end of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, a beautiful olduresi- 
dence with numerous relics, was the birthplace of the 
philanthropist, William Wilberforce, born here in 1759, 
and has now become the repository of collections illus- 
trating his life, and of the general history of 
Kingston-upon-Hull. The Pickering Museum is 
largely devoted to collections illustrating the whaling, 
fishing, and shipping industries, the nucleus being 
the specimens collected by a public-spirited citizen, 
Mr. C. Pickering. Hull is to be congratulated on the 
activity displayed by its municipality and residents on 
the establishment of these museums, and the curator, 
Mr. T. Sheppard, on the valuable series of catalogues 
issued’ at a nominal price. 


Dr. W. S. Huntsr’s ‘‘The Delayed Reaction in 
Animals and Children,” affords an interesting con- 
tribution to the ‘Behavior Monograph Series.” A 
release box is employed leading to three different 
compartments, any one of which can be illuminated 
by the experimenter. The compartment which is 
illuminated can be opened and entered by the sub- 
ject, whereas the other compartments are closed. 
Food is obtained by entering the illuminated compart- 
ment. Rats, dogs, raccoons, and children were used 
as subjects. After a clear association had been estab- 
lished between the movements leading to food and the 
light which might appear in any one of the three boxes, 
experiments were begun in which the light was turned 
off before the subject had made the appropriate 
reaction. The research consisted in determining the 
maximal length of this delay-period which is com- 
patible with a correct response, and in ascertaining 
the psychological factors at work permitting of the 
correct response after the delay-period. The atithor 
lays stress on the importance of what he terms 
“sensory thought.” 

THE current number of The Psychological Review 
contains an important paper on association and inhi- 
bition, by Prof. J. F. Shepard and Mr. H. M. Fogel- 
songe, based on the learning of nonsense-syllables. 
In the first series of experiments these were learnt in 
pairs, and subsequently the subject was tested by being 
shown the first syllable of a pair either alone or in 
different combinations. These combinations of first 
syllables were either shown successively or simul- 
taneously. Where two first syllables were shown suc- 
cessively, the second was shown at such an interval 
that the association set up by the former was not . 
already completed in the subject. In a second series 
of experiments, three, instead of two, syllables were 
learnt together, and, in testing, the first two of the 
three syllables were shown simultaneously ; these might 
belong to the same or to different three-syllable groups. 
In other series of experiments two different syllables 
were each separately learnt in conjunction with one 
and the same syllable; the two syllables were subse- 
quently presented successively to the subject when 
tested. The resulting reproduction-times, as measured 


16 NATURE 


by the chronoscope, convince the authors that the 
inhibition or facilitation thus experimentally produced 
is one “which cannot be. . . explained neurologic- 
ally as a division of energy, or drainage.’ They be- 
lieve that ‘‘an association cannot be explained as a 
mere path of lowered resistance,” but that it ‘*in- 
volvgs other processes which prevent any other 
stimulus from using the same neuroses af the same 
time . . . and which block any other association that 
is tending to operate at the same time, even though 
both will lead to the same end result.” 


In vol. viii., Section D, No. 3. of The Philippine 
Journal of Science, Mr. A. E. W. Salt gives an 
elaborate account of the endowment provided by Fran- 
cisco de Carriedo y Peredo, the greatest benefactor of 
the city of Manila, who died in 1743. From the funds 
received under his will, a water supply was provided 
for the city until the American occupation. A new 
system to supplement the ancient supply was opened 
in 1908. Water is now brought from an almost 
virgin watershed of one hundred square miles in area, 
and thence carried to a storage reservoir with a 
capacity of 210,000,000 gallons. The city, however, 
is so rapidly developing that this system is barely 
adequate to the needs of the population. Mr. Salt 
has done good service in directing attention to the 
benevolence of a citizen who, at a time when sanita- 
tion occupied little public attention, devoted his wealth 
to this excellent purpose. 


In Professional Paper No. 79 of the United States 
Geological Survey, Mr. H. S. Williams discusses the 
recurrent Tropidoleptus zones of thé Upper Devonian 
in New York. In preparing the data for the Watkins 
Glen-Catatonk folio (No. 169 Geol. Atlas USUS, 
Geol. Survey, 1909) the occasional discovery of 
Tripodolpetus carinatus (Conrad) in strata far above 
the supposed range of the species or of the fauna with 
which the species is normally associated led the writer 
to undertake an examination of the sections and 
sequence of fauna where they appeared. The result 
throws important light upon the regional geography. 
The departure and return of the fauna must have 
been due to diastrophic changes which produced re- 
curring favourable or unfavourable conditions for the 
existence of the fauna. Those changes of conditions 
may have resulted from the alternate closing and 
reopening of an actual passage-way which obstructed 
or admitted the access of the fauna and of waters 
favourable to them, or from changes that affected 
the direction, character, or volume of the existing 
ocean currents. 

THe insect food of Canadian fresh-water fishes 
forms the subject of an article by Dr. Gordon Hewitt, 
the Dominion entomologist, published in the fourth 
annual report of the Commision of [Fish] Conservation 
of Ottawa. Attention is directed by the author to the 
futility of attempting to restock depleted rivers, or to 
introduce new kinds of fish into Canadian rivers, 
without taking measures to ensure an abundant supply 
of suitable insect food. In Europe it has been demon- 
strated that the artificial cultivation of many kinds of 
insects constituting ‘the chief food of fishes is per- 
practicable; and in many rivers an insect 


NO. 2288, VOL. 92] 


fectly 


[SEPTEMBER 4, 1913 
hatchery is almost as necessary and important as a 
fish-hatchery. Before such insectaria can be introduced 
with satisfactory results in Canada, a close investiga-_ 
tion into the nature of the food of native or intro- 
duced fishes is absolutely essential. 


A RECENT number of the Zeitschrift fiir wissen- 
schaftliche Zoologie (Bd. cv., Heft 3) is entirely de- 
voted to a memoir on the chemical composition of the 
hemolymph of insects and its significance as regards 
sexual differentiation. According to the author, Herr 
Kurt Geyer, the haemolymph in caterpillars and pup 
of Lepidoptera is usually green in females and pale 
yellow or colourless in males. The green pigment 
is, as Poulton has already shown, slightly altered 
chlorophyll in solution, derived from the food-plant ; 
it constitutes a protective coloration, and it is improb- 
able that it has any assimilatory function. The yellow 
colour of the male haemolymph is due to the yellow 
constituents of chlorophyll (xanthophyll). The hamo- 
lymph of non-phytophagous insects shows no such 
colour difference. When the male and female hemo- 
lymph are mixed a heavy precipitate is at once formed, 
and this reaction can only be distinguished quantita- 
tively from that which takes place between different 
species. The author concludes that in insects the 
entire soma is sexually differentiated in male and 
female. 

Dr. C. H. Ostenretp’s account of the biology and 
distribution of the phytoplankton of Danish seas (De 
Danske Farvandes Plankton i aarene 1898-1901. 
Phytoplankton og Protozoer. D. Kgl. Danske, 
Vidensk. Selsk. Skrifter. 7. Raekke, Naturvidensk 
og Mathem. Afd. ix. 2. 1913) is of more than local 
interest. The main work is written in the Danish 
language, but there is a résumé in French, extending 
to 65 pp., which in itself constitutes one of the best 
summary accounts which we possess of the present 
state of our knowledge of the general problems of 
the biology of plankton organisms. The Danish seas, 
extending as they do from the Baltic through the deep 
waters of the Skager Rak to the North Sea, furnish 
such wide variations in salinity, temperature, and 
chemical constitution, that they offer exceptional 
opportunities for studying the effects of physical con- 
ditions on the distribution of the plankton, and this 
aspect of the subject receives a full consideration in 
the report. A good bibliography will be found on 
Pp- 346-352. 

From the Kommissionen for Havundersogelser in 
Copenhagen we have received three further reports 
dealing with the investigations which have been 
carried out under the direction of Dr. Johs. Schmidt- 
into the life-histories of eels. These are: Danish re- 
searches in the Atlantic and Mediterranean on the 
life-history of the freshwater-eel (Anguilla vulgaris, 
Turt.), with notes on other species, by Johs. Schmidt 
(Internat. Revue Hydrobiologie und Hydrographie, 
1912); on the identification of murznoid larvee in their 
early (preleptocephaline) stages, by Johs. Schmidt 
(Meddel. Komm. Havunders. Fiskeri Bd. iv. 2); and 
the metamorphosis of elvers as influenced by outward 
conditions—some experiments, by A. Strubberg 
(Meddel. Komm. Havunders. Fiskeri Bd. iv. 3). In 
Narvre, vol. Ixxxix., pp. 633-636, Dr. Schmidt himself 


: 


SEPTEMBER 4, 1913]| 


gave a brief account of these researches, and those 


interested in the subject will no doubt welcome the 


more detailed reports. 


Ix his presidential address to the Quekett Micro- 
scopical Club for this year, Prof. Dendy dealt with 
the subject of ‘‘ By-products of Evolution,” illustrating 
his theme by the spicules, more particularly the 
microscleres of siliceous sponges. After pointing out 
that these minute spicules exhibit constant specific 
characters, and have undoubtedly arisen by some pro- 
cess of evolution, since one form leads on to another, 
just as in the case of any other characters, it is argued 
that natural selection cannot be directly responsible 
for their origin, on the ground that the minute differ- 
ences in the form of the microscleres cannot be of any 
importance to the sponge in the soft tissues of which 
they are scattered without order or arrangement. By 
the principle of correlation non-adaptive characters of 
this kind may be linked inseparably with other cha- 
racters which being adaptive, are directly influenced 
by natural selection, in such a way that any variation 
in the one must be accompanied by a corresponding 
variation in the other. Thus, a _non-adaptive 
character may undergo a progressive evolution in- 
directly controlled by the action of natural selection. 
The principle of correlation cannot, however, be 
invoked to explain the specific forms assumed by the 
microscleres; it can only help to explain why such 
characters exist at all and why they should undergo 
progressive evolution. The specific form of the micro- 
sclere must be produced by chemical and physical 
causes involved in, and controlled by, the hereditary 
constitution of the mother-cell. 

Str F. W. Moore contributes a useful paper on 
hardy water-lilies to Irish Gardening (vol. viii. May, 
1913), including not merely cultural hints and lists of 
species suitable for ponds of different depths, but also 
some interesting remarks on the general biology and 
mode of growth of these plants. For instance, the 
author lays stress on the importance of the study of 
roots to the gardener; observation of water-lilies 
shows that from early April to June new roots are 
developed rapidly as the new leaves and flower-buds 
are formed and the rhizome elongates, while the older 
roots largely die away after having served as collectors 
of food reserves during previous years and as anchors 
during the winter. It is also noted that while, as a 
rule, the flowers close on bright days between three 
and four o’clock in the afternoon, if after noon the 
day becomes wet and gloomy the flowers usually 
remain open until dark. ; 

In continuation of his investigations into ‘‘ Southern 
Hemisphere Seasonal Correlations ” (Nature, August 
7), Mr. R. C. Mossman contributed a fourth article 
to Symons’s Meteorological Magazine for August. He 
pointed out an interesting instance of the temporary 
character of many correlations. The example chosen 
was the comparison of April to September rainfall at 
Trinidad (West Indies) with that at Azo (Argentine 
Republic) for the following six months. Dealing with 
the fifty years, 1862-1911, it was found that from 1862 
to 1877 and from 1895 to 1911 there was no relation 
between the rainfall of the six-monthly periods; but 
during the seventeen years 1878-94 the curves showing 

NO. 2288, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


17 


the rainfall departure from normal are the reverse of 
each other. The author observes that these results 
are of importance, as they show that the physical 
processes that produced a given precipitation at Trini- 
dad during the period under discussion were associatéd 
during the six months following by an opposite effect 
in the south temperate zone, some 2850 geographical 
miles distant. Mr. Mossman also refers to one or two 
interesting correlations in other regions, especially one 
between the rainfall of Java and Trinidad. 

Tue Meteorological Office chart of the North Atlan- 
tic and Mediterranean for September (first issue) shows 
that the last report from the scout-ship Scotia was 
dated August 7 in 54° 45’ N., 49° 30’ W.; no ice in 
sight. It is pointed out that the full scope and value 
of the work accomplished cannot be estimated until 
the reports of the captain and scientific staff have been 
submitted. The ice notices which may prove to have 
been of most value are those relating to the compara- 
tively small quantities that have been seen drifting 
south in the polar current. An important feature this 
year is the fact that the ice has been held up, for the 
most part, north of latitude 43°. The special reports 
above mentioned will, it is thought, no doubt decide 
whether this was due to abnormal strength of the 
Gulf Stream, to unusual weakness of the Labrador 
current, or to both causes. 

A circuLar headed ‘*Road Dangers’ has been 
widely circulated by the editor of The Automotor 
Journal, It suggests that the dangers both of 
vehicular and foot-passenger traffic might be greatly 
minimised if at crossings the traffic of one street were 
arbitrarily given a right of way and the traffic of 
the other street which crosses it were made to go 
dead slow by a sign that must be obeyed. The writer 
of the circular considers that not only would the 
accidents that occur from collisions of vehicles at 
crossings be greatly reduced, but the noisy use of the 
horn would be no longer necessary. It is difficult to 
see how the suggestion can be carried out without 
some enactment giving to a street authority a power 
to make bye-laws controlling the traffic in the less 
important streets and which can be enforced by the 
police. It would be easy for the Chief Commissioner, 
through his advisers in Scotland Yard, to decide which 
streets are to be of primary and which are to be of 
secondary importance, but short of keeping a constable 
on traffic duty at every crossing it is difficult to see 
how, with his existing powers, he can instruct them 
to summon drivers disobeying notices informing them 
that they must give way to traffic in the preferred 
streets. 

WE have received a copy of the third edition of 
Merck’s ‘‘ Reagenzien-Verzeichnis.”” It is a volume of 
446 pages, and all the commoner reagents, tests, 
hardening and preservative fluids, and the like are 
given alphabetically under authors’ names, some 5000 
formula being thus detailed, with references to the 
literature. There is further a valuable list of the sub- 
stances for which the tests are employed, and a similar 
one for those used in microscopic work. Finally, there 
is an index of the preparations employed for the 
various tests, with authors’ names attached; thus 


’ we find that ‘‘arbutin ’ was recommended by Reichard 


18 NATURE 


as a test for nitric acid. The lists are most complete, 
and so far as we have been able to refer to them are 
accurate, and are not confined to recent work; e.g. 
Beale’s carmine stain and injection fluids are given. 
The volume will be of the greatest service in the 
chemical and the biological laboratory. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 
ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES FOR SEPTEMBER :— 
Sept. 8. 20h. 46m. Jupiter in conjunction with the 

Moon (Jupiter 4° 56’ N.). 
ro. 17h. om. Saturn at quadrature to the Sun 
(go° distant). 
» 20h. om. Venus in the ascending node. 
» 22h. 14m. Uranus in conjunction with 
the Moon (Uranus 3° 35’ N.). 
14. 20h. om. Juno in conjunction with the 
Moon (Juno 0° 20’ N.). 

15. oh. 48m. Moon eclipsed, 
Greenwich. 

16. 3h. om. Mercury in superior conjunction 
with the Sun. 

22. gh. 2m. Saturn in conjunction with the 
Moon (Saturn 6° 59’ S.) 

23. 3h. 53m. Sun enters Sign of Libra; 
autumn commences. 

,, 8h. 22m. Mars in conjunction with the 
Moon (Mars 5° 6’ S.). 

25. oh. 7m. Neptune in conjunction with the 

Moon (Neptune 5° o’ S.). 
8h. 34m. Venus in conjunction with the 

Moon (Venus 1° 21’ S.). 

29. 16h. 46m. Sun eclipsed, invisible at 
Greenwich. 

30. 12h. om. Saturn stationary. 

5» 13h. 2m. Mercury in conjunction with the 
Moon (Mercury 2° 36’ N.). 

Tue SPECTRA OF THE Stars.—After many years of 
patient labour by such pioneers as Rutherfurd, Secchi, 
Huggins, Vogel, Pickering and his co-workers, Lockyer 
and McClean, the subject of stellar spectra has at- 
tracted during the last decade the attention of an 
ever-increasing number of students in astronomy, 
astrophysics, physics, and chemistry. This is no 
doubt thanks in a great measure to the enormous 
number of spectra classified in connection with the 
Draper catalogue, but also largely to the simple 
nomenclature developed by Miss A. J. Cannon, further 
simplified by the suggestions of Dr. Hertzsprung. 
Although classification merely has received a great 
amount of attention of recent years, perhaps partly 
due to the prominence given to the matter by the Solar 
Union making it the work of a special committee, 
yet many important pieces of work have been accom- 
plished beyond. Such are Campbell’s and Kapteyn’s 
work on the relations between radial velocities and 
type of spectrum, the similar work of Lewis Boss on 
the relation between proper motion and type, the work 
of Pickering and others on the distribution of stars of 
particular type of spectrum with reference to the Milky 
Way, &c. It is perhaps fitting that the import- 
ance of the subject should have led to the publication 
of a summary in the Memoirs of the Society of 
Italian Spectroscopists, No. 6, from the pen of Signor 
G. Abetti. It is, however, passing strange that this 
writer makes no mention of the work of Rutherfurd, 
Huggins, Lockyer, or McClean, except perhaps that 
some of them may be referred to in an ‘&c.”" Signor 
Abetti does not deal at all adequately with the litera- 
ture on the chemical constitution of the stars. He 
does state, however, that titanium stars are on a level 
nearer to the helium stars than are the iron stars— 
a statement for which we know no justification. 


NO. 2288, VOL. 92] 


invisible at 


[SEPTEMBER 4, 1913 


EXHIBITION OF THE ROYAL PHOTO- 
GRAPHIC SOCIETY. 
‘THE Royal Photographic Sociéty’s annual exhibi- 
tion at the Gallery of the Royal Society of British 
Artists, Suffolk Street, Haymarket, is well worth a visit 
by anyone interested in photography and its applications 
before it closes on October 4. Besides an excellent 
collection of works that are notable for their pictorial 
quality, and that will be examined by technicians as 
illustrations of the possibilities of the processes that 
they represent, there is a larger than usual number 
of colour transparencies, and also exhibits that are 
of specially scientific interest. The colour trans- 
parencies are chiefly autochromes, but there are many 
on the new Paget plate and a few ‘‘ Dufays,’’ both of 
which latter will quite well bear comparison with the 
autochromes for the quality of their colour and detail. 
In the scientific section, Lt.-Col. J. W. Gifford shows 
a large number of original photographs of spectra of 
the metals taken with a quartz optical train of large 
aperture. Mr. G. Reboul shows that cuprous 
chloride, produced by exposing a polished copper plate 
to chlorine gas, will furnish photographs by treatment 
somewhat similar to that employed in the production 
of daguerreotypes. The. insecurity of intaglio plate 
printing for monetary documents is again demon- 
strated by Mr. A. E. Bawtree in his copies of stamps, 
the genuine stamp and the forgeries being indistin- 
guishable. The photo-micrographic séction is par- 
ticularly strong. ‘The method of discovering a differ- 
ence in the colloids present in jams, and of detecting 
various adulterations, is excellently shown in a series of 
low-power photo-micrographs by Mr. E. Marriage. 
Of other series, the ‘‘ Histology of the Optic Nerve 
of Sheep,’ by Mr. J. T. Holder; the ‘‘Corpuscular 
Elements of Human Blood,” by Dr. D. H. Hutchin- 
son; and Mr. J. M. Offord’s ‘‘Diatoms under High 
Power,” deserve special notice. There is a fine col- 
lection of radiographs by Dr. Bela Alexander, Dr. 
G. H. Rodman, Dr. Gilbert Scott, Dr. Robert Knox, 
and Dr. Thurstan Holland, some taken in a small 
fraction of a second. In this direction the most novel 
work is by M. Pierre Goby, who by the use of ultra- 
soft rays secures quite full details in the most delicate 
transparent membranes, such as insects’ wings, at the 
same time as showing the internal structure of the 
insect. But more wonderful are his micro-radio- 
graphs, made by using the fine pencil of Réntgen rays 
that passes through a small hole in a lead screen. The 
detail in parts of small vertebrates only a fraction of 
an inch in length, is so well reproduced that a fifteen 
or seventeen times enlargement would be considered 
excellently sharp for a direct radiograph. M. Goby 
applies his method to foraminifera and other minute 
objects with similar success. Among the other ex- 
hibits there are a process with examples of a method 
of producing colour transparencies by the absorption 
of dyes in fish-glue, by Mr. Bawtree, and good col- 
lections of natural history photographs, lantern slides, 
and stereoscopic transparencies. 


THE ARCHAOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS 
IN THE MISSISSIPPI REGION. 


| the publication referred to below Mr. Clarence B. 
Moore gives us another of his very careful de- 
scriptions of the systematic excavations he is under- 
taking in the Mississippi valley, and, as usual, it is 
profusely illustrated with most excellent photographs 
and coloured plates. By these investigations and the 
superb way in which he publishes his results, Mr. 
Moore is laying a sure foundation for future general- 


1 ‘*Some Aboriginal Sites on Red River."’ By Clarence B. Moore. 
Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, xiv., 1912. 


ee 


SEPTEMBER 4, 1913] 


isations. The last year’s work covered 519 miles of 
the Red River from its confluence with the 
Mississippi. Few burial places were found in 
Louisiana, as these were mainly in the often 
flooded level ground, and the artificial 
were erected for places of residence; since most of the 
finds are obtained from graves the spoil was not very 
large, and as many of the mounds are now utilised 
they could not be satisfactorily investigated. 

Along the Red River in Arkansas the conditions in 
the main are different; mounds containing burials, 
some of them richly endowed with artifacts, are fairly 
abundant, and further northward the lavish use of 
pottery with burials has often been described. It 
seems probable that the Arkansas mound burials were 
those of people of consequence. The pottery of Arkan- 
sas is as a rule tempered with fine gravel or sand, or 
with small bits of pottery, though kitchen vessels are 
often shell-tempered. The ware is thin and carefully 
modelled. There are few unusual shapes, grotesque 
or life forms were very rarely attempted, though they 
occur in the region to the north. Many vessels bear 
a high polish, and nearly all have incised designs 
filled in with red or white pigment. Circles, often 
series of concentric circles (probably sun-symbols), 
form a frequently recurring design. Decoration in 
polychrome was very exceptional, though common 


A remarkable feature—indeed, it 
is unique—in connection with some of the mounds 
is the depth of the grave-pits; one reached 15-5 ft. in 
two | 


more to the north. 


depth. Among several interesting pipes, 

types have not been met with hitherto. One 
form, from Haley Place, is of earthenware, 
the truncate conical bowl of which occurs at 


some distance from the end, the terminal continua- | 
| protuberances, 


tion of the stem being hollow; one is nearly 23 in. 
long. The other, from Gahagan, is moulded to repre- 
sent a kneeling man; there is a communication be- 
tween the bowl and the open mouth of the figure, so 
that smoke can be made to emerge from it when the 
pipe is in use (Fig. 1). A number of beautiful useful 
and ceremonial stone implements were found, and 
various interesting pendants, some of which have the 
form of a lizard; one was tormerly coated with 
sheet copper, as were also the large circular ear- 
plugs of limestone. It is, however, impossible to 
point out all the items of interest in this memoir. 
Dr. Hrdli¢ka adds a notice on the human remains. 
He says the skeletons from Haley Place and the 
McClure mounds probably may be safely ascribed to 
an extension of the Natchez people; the skulls ex- 
hibited deformation of the ‘* Flathead” variety. 
A. C. Happon. 


NO. 2288, VOL. 92} 


mounds | 


NATURE 19 


MAGNETIC STORMS AND SOLAR 
PHENOMENA.1 


[‘ the publication referred to below only the first 
thesis is printed. It deals with the relations 
between magnetic storms and solar phenomena. The 
thesis shows the nimbleness of mind one hopes to see 
in those who have taken high mathematical degrees 
at Cambridge, accompanied by a knowledge of terres- 
trial magnetism most unusual] in British seats of learn- 
ing. There are, it is true, researches bearing on the 
subjects investigated of which the author seems un- 
aware, but his knowledge of foreign writings, includ- 
in theoretical work by Kelvin, Larmor, Birkeland, 
Stérmer, and Schuster, and observational work by 
Walker, Airy, Ellis, Maunder, Hale, and many others, 
is highly commendable. Also the attitude he adopts 
towards the work he criticises is generally philo- 
sophical. Thus, taking Kelvin’s attempted demon- 
stration that solar action cannot be the proximate 
cause of magnetic storms, Bosler points out that there 
are possibilities not considered by Kelvin making 
much smaller demands on the sun’s stores-of energy, 
and that in the light of modern knowledge no one can 
say what is a reasonable limit to solar expenditure. 
On the other hand, he recognises that Kelvin’s 
work directed attention to a point apt to be 
overlooked. 

Dr. Bosler regards his countryman Marchand (1887) 
as the first to claim a connection between the occur- 
rence of magnetic storms and the presence of individual 
sun-spots or faculae near the sun’s central meridian, 
but he regards Maunder’s observations on the recur- 
rence of storms in the solar rotation period as the 
strongest evidence yet advanced in favour of this view. 
He seems to be unaware of Broun’s early work. He 


| apparently accepts Sabine’s deduction of an eleven- 
| year period—corresponding to the 


solar period—in 
magnetic disturbances, but while recognising the 
strength of the evidence adduced—especially that of 
Maunder—in favour of solar jet theories, he considers 
Dr. Schuster to have demonstrated the impossibility 
of swarms of any kind of electrified particles sticking 
together all the way from the sun to the earth. The 
view he inclines to is that earth currents are the imme- 
diate cause of most, if not all, magnetic disturbances. 
The evidence he advances in favour of this view is 
derived from comparisons of records of magnetic 
storms at Pare St. Maur and Greenwich—especially 
those known as ‘‘sudden commencements '"'—with cor- 
responding records of earth currents. This from an 
observational point of view is probably the most 
important part of the thesis, though only partly 
novel. 

The author thinks earth currents may be produced 
by movements of electrified matter—associated with 
r spots, or facula—on the sun. 
Taking the case of a cable of 0-25 cm.? section, made 
of copper of resistivity 1600, enclosing a circle 8000 km. 
in perimeter, he calculates that the current induced 
in the cable by a magnetic field of amplitude roy and 
period ro sec., normal to the plane of the circle, would 
at a distance 6f one metre from the wire produce an 
alternating magnetic field of amplitude 12507. This 
is adduced as an illustration of how a small field 
originating in the sun might be amplified on the earth. 
The idea may be worth considering, but the problem 
treated seems somewhat too remote from actuality. 
The magnetician will find a variety of other interest- 
ing matter in the thesis. 

C. CHREE. 


1 ‘© Theses rrésentées A la Faculté des Sciences de Paris pour obtenir le 
grade de Docteur és Sciences Mathématiques." By M. J. Bosler. Pp. 96. 
‘Paris : Gauthier-Villars, 1912.) 


20 NATURE 


THE LIFE-HISTORY OF A WATER- 
BEETLE. 

‘THE life-history of a water-beetle can be outlined 

in a very few words. An egg is laid by the 
mother-beetle: an aquatic larva hatches out which 
feeds and grows, and, during the process of growth, 
moults several times. When full grown it leaves the 
water and burrows into the earth, forming a ‘‘ cell,” 
in which it changes to a pupa. After a time the 
pupal skin is cast off, and the perfect insect makes 
its way out of the cell and resumes its life in the 
water. 

There are, however, all sorts of interesting details 
in the life-history, and these details often differ con- 
siderably in different types. There are differences in 
the egg-laying habits; differences in the method of 
development of the embryo; differences in the way 
the larva gets out of the egg; differences in the way 
it feeds and in the nature of its food, and so on; and 
it is these differences which are of importance to each 
species in enabling it to fit in among other species in 
the life of the community. 

Although there are a number of widely separated 
species of beetles which inhabit the water, there are 
two groups which are usually referred to as ‘‘ water- 
beetles,” and these may be broadly distinguished as 
the swimming carnivorous group—the Hydradephaga 
—and the creeping herbivorous group—the Palpi- 
cornia, or Hydrophilide. The description of this 
second group is not strictly accurate, as the larve 
are, apparently without exception, carnivorous, and 
the perfect insects, although capable of subsisting 
upon a vegetable diet, in at least many cases enjoy 
animal food; and although they are somewhat differ- 
ently constructed from the swimming water-beetles, 
some of them are very fair swimmers. 

I propose to outline the life-history of a type of the 
Hydradephaga, and then to compare with it a type 
of the Palpicornia; and as a type of the former group 
I will describe a species of Dytiscus, D. lapponicus, 
the life-history of which I worked out during last 
summer. 

The male and female differ in general appearance, 
the former having smooth wing-cases, the latter 
having these grooved or fluted. The male has also 
a pad on each of the front legs, while the female 
has quite simple front legs. The slide also shows a 
full-grown larva, and thus gives an idea of the rela- 
tive sizes of these two stages of the species. 

This species is extremely local in. the British Islands, 
only having been found in a few localities in Scot- 
land, and in one in north-west Ireland. It inhabits 
lochs, usually mere lochans, at altitudes of from 
800 ft. upward, and there are certain characteristics 
about its habitat which make it possible generally to 
tell at a glance whether a particular lochan is or is 
not likely to hold the species. 

As a rule the habitat is a bare stony lochan, with 
very little vegetation; it has no stream flowing into 
or out of it, and trout and lapponicus are mutually 
exclusive. There are usually newts and fresh-water 
shrimps (gammarus), but otherwise there is always a 
marked scarcity of animal life. Very few other water- 
beetles are associated with lapponicus, which usually 
is abundant where it occurs. . 

The only place I have found the species in great 
abundance is in a lochan aso ft. above sea-level on the 
island of Eigg. Along its eastern side this lochan 
4s strewn with large stones, and under these the 
heetle is to be found, often as many as four or five 
under one stone. It occurs in other lochans on Eigg, 


1 Discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, Mey o, by 
F. Falfonr Browne. 4 


NO. 2288, VoL. 92] 


[SEPTEMBER 4, 1913 


and has been found also in Rhum, Skye, Mull, and 
, Arran, but otherwise it is only known from Inverness- 
| shire, ° 

One place in Mull where it used to occur abundantly 
is a peculiar loch, situated in the top of a hill, about 
800 ft. behind Tobermory. The place looks like the 
crater of a volcano, but I believe is not so described 
by geologists. The species has apparently quite dis- 
appeared from this loch; it is probably slowly dis- 
appearing from our islands, being a remnant of the 
fauna which abounded when our climate was much 
colder than it is at present. 

All my specimens came from the one lochan on 
Eigg, and they were placed in large tubs in my 
garden in the north of Ireland. The tubs are filled 
with water, but the bottom is covered by a thick 
layer of soil, and in the soil a few species of water 
plants thrive, chiefly the common water-grass, Glyceria 
aquatica. The tubs are covered with wire-gauze to 
prevent the beetles escaping. 

Now the Dytiscus possesses a small apparatus 
capable of piercing the tissues of the water-plants, 
and each time this borer makes a hole in the water- 
plant one egg is deposited. In my tubs the lapponicus 
chose the water-grass as the receptacle for its eggs. 
In its native home this grass does not grow, the only 
water-plants being a common rush, a species of 
juncus, and the club rush eleocharis, both possessing 
round stems. Now, the grass possesses a round stem 
surrounded by leaves, each leaf consisting of a long 
sheathing base and a free lamina or blade. The 
sheath is keeled, and in every case the mother-beetle 
pierced the leaf-sheath, and always in the line of the 
keel, depositing the egg in the tissues of the sheath, 
and this shows the peculiar instinct possessed by the 
mother in the deposition of her eggs and the extreme 
sensitiveness of the borer or ovipositor. Although I 
examined very carefully the plants in the tubs, only 
twice did I find that the ovipositor had passed right 
through the sheath and dropped the egg between that 
and the stem. 

Lapponicus, unlike our other species of Dytiscus 
has a very definite egg-laying period, commencing in 
March and ending in June. From two of the, British 
species I have had eggs in October, December, and 
February, as well as in the summer months. 

I collected a number of the eggs, dissecting them 
out of the leaf-sheaths, and placed them on wet cotton 
wool in tumblers and watched their development. 

I do not intend to weary you with the details of 
the development of the embryo, but I wish to point out 
that the embryo first appears on a part of one side 
of the mass of yolk—it does not at first occupy the 
whole length of the egg—and it then extends first 
backwards and then forwards, and the sides grow up 
around the yolk until the embryo ultimately encloses 
it. The nerve-chord does not increase in length with 
the embryo, and consequently appears to shorten as 
the embryo extends in the egg. 

The development of the embryo occupies about three 
weeks in June, but temperature affects the length of 
this embryonic period. In the case of another species, 
an egg laid in April matured in three weeks, while 
one laid in winter took six weeks to hatch. 

Towards the end of the embryonic period the 
pressure of the embryo in the shell is very great. T 
accidentally punctured an egg with a needle when 
turning it over, and immediately a portion of the 
embryo bulged through, just as the inner tube of a 
pneumatic tyre tends to bulge through a tear in the 
outer cover. The pressure is also indicated by the 
changed shape of the egg during the final stages. 

During the latter part of the egg-period, there are 
various slight movements of the embryo, but during 


| the last few hours certain very definite movements 


a 


SEPTEMBER 4, 1913] 


NATURE 21 


become noticeable. In the first place, inside the head 
a spasmodic pulsation is visible, at first at long in- 
tervals, but later more or less continuously. I have 
observed this pulsation in eggs of other water-beetles, 
and also in those of the dragon-fly, and although I am 
not sure that the interpretation is the same in dragon- 
fly and water-beetle, 1 am satisfied in the latter case 
the pulsation is really a swallowing process. 

The larve of all the water-beetles I have examined 

possess a special sucking apparatus known as a 
“pharyngeal pump,”’ the use of which I shall describe 
directly, and in the embryo this pump apparently 
comes into use to absorb the fluid which surrounds 
the embryo in the shell; the embryo merely drinks this 
up. 
After this sucking-pump begins to work, various 
other movements of the internal organs can be ob- 
served, including peristalsis, and also at infrequent 
intervals the whole body moves slightly in the shell, 
the tendency being to push the head into the end. 
One other movement is to be noted, and that is an 
up-and-down motion of the head, at first very slight, 
but later becoming very marked. 

On either side of the head is a small papilla, at 
the apex of which is a minute, slightly curved spine. 
When the embryo is at rest, this papilla lies in a 
slight depression, but when the sucking-pump is at 
work the papilla bulges outward, so that the spine 
touches the shell. Thus when the head moves up and 
down and the sucking-pump works at the same time, 
the two spines scrape along the inside of the shell and 
ultimately burst it open. They are, therefore, ‘‘ hatch- 
ing spines,” and similar instruments differently 
situated have been observed in a few insect embryos 
of other orders. 

You see, therefore, that the shell bursts open at 
the head end; immediately it bursts the compressed 
larva bulges out, and by slight writhing movements 
works its way clear of the shell, the whole operation 
taking less than two minutes. As soon as the larva is 
clear of the shell the tail straightens out, and the 
legs and mouth parts assume their natural position. 
In the embryo there is a peculiar fold in the upper 
part of each jaw, but within two or three minutes of 
the larva’s escape this fold has completely disappeared. 

From the moment the larva escapes it begins to 
grow in length and breadth. The long air-tubes in 
the body are flat, but have a bright silvery appearance, 
suggesting that some gas has been secreted in them; 
but the larva is heavier than the water, and therefore 
sinks to the bottom. For a time, half an hour or 
more, it rests quietly and shows no desire to get to 
the surface, but sooner or later it gets restless and 
swims to the surface, using its feathered legs as oars, 
and raises its tail to the surface film and remains 
suspended for a few minutes. After this the newly 
hatched larva is buoyant, and cannot remain away 
from the surface without holding on to the submerged 
vegetation. The buoyancy is, however, only tem- 
porary, as older larve frequently require to swim to 
the surface to renew their air-supply. 

In the insect, breathing and blood-circulation are 
normally not intimately associated as in other 
animals. In a human being or a fish, or even in a 
snail, air is taken into special organs—lungs or gills 
—where the blood takes up the oxygen and carries 
it through the whole body. In the insect the blood 
has usually nothing to do with the aération of the 
different organs, the whole body being permeated by 
innumerable air-tubes. y 

In all the water-beetle larva which come to the 
surface to obtain their air, these innumerable air- 
tubes communicate with two large air-tubes which 
run the length of the body, one on each side, and 
these open on the last segment. Hence, when a larva 


NO. 2288, VOL. 92] 


requires to renew its air-supply it comes up tail first, 
bringing the openings of the two lateral trachez into 
communication with the air, and by contracting and 
expanding the body it exhales the used-up air and 
inhales fresh air. 

For a day or so after hatching the larva is sott and 
is not hungry, but once its skin and jaws have . 
hardened it begins to look about for food. I found 
that tadpoles and pieces of chopped worm were suit- 
able food, but under natural conditions small newts, 
water-shrimps, and insect larvag—including brothers 
and sisters—constitute the normal diet. It is impos- 
sible to keep two larva together in one small vessel, 
as one invariably attacks and kills the other within 
a few hours. Even when I gave a tub to four speci- 
mens only one survived after a few weeks, so that 
in a small loch, where at least some thousands of 
these larve hatch out, the death-rate must be 
enormous. 

The method of feeding of the larva is peculiar. 
The two long sharply pointed jaws are each pierced 
with a fine tube, of which one end opens on 
the inner side just below the apex, and the other end 
opens on the upper side just near the base. When 
the jaws are closed the inner ends of these tubes 
communicate with the corners of the mouth, but 
when the jaws are open the inner ends of these tubes 
do not communicate with the mouth at all. The 
mouth itself is also peculiar. In a front view of the 
head it is visible as a long narrow slit between the 
bases of the jaws, but if this slit is examined it is 
found that across the lower side of it is a raised ridge 
which fits into a groove running across the upper 
side of it. When the jaws are wide apart the ridge 
and groove are separated, and the mouth is open, but 
as soon as the jaws come together the ridge fits into 
the groove, and the mouth is closed. As soon, there- 
fore, as the larva seizes its prey its mouth is closed, 
and the only communication into it is through the 
tubes in the jaws, the basal ends of which now open 
into the corners of the mouth. 

Immediately behind the mouth is the powerful suck- 
ing-pump, the pharynx, which I mentioned in connec- 
tion with the embryo. By expansion and contraction 
of its muscles it sucks in the juices of the prey 
through the tubes in the jaws. But if this were the 
whole process of feeding there would be a consider- 
able waste, as a worm or a tadpole consists of a 
large amount of solid material; and yet, if one 
watches one of these larva feeding, one will find that 
almost nothing is left of the prey except the skin, 
This is due to the fact that at short intervals the 
sucking-pump stops working and saliva is poured into 
the prey. This saliva digests and dissolves away 
the solid parts of the food, which are then sucked in 
by the larva. The process of digestion, which in most 
animals takes place internally, is carried on in these 
larvz outside the body. 

With regard to the duration of the larval period, in 
my examples this varied from six to nine weeks. 
This period is divided into three stages, there being 
two moults prior to the final one which produces the 
pupa. Each of the first two stages only lasts about 
ten days. so that the last stage is a very long one, 
as it is in all other insects. 

This last stage is also divisible into two parts, the 
first occupying four or five weeks, during which the 
larva feeds and grows as in the previous stages, the 
second occupying two to four weeks, being spent out 
of the water making a cell in the earth, and resting 
preparatory to becoming a pupa. 

In the few cases which I had the opportunity of 
observing, the full-grown larva always left the water 
in the morning between eight and ten o’clock; but 
whether this is the rule with this species, or whether 


22 NATURE 


it was connected with the artificial conditions in which 
my larve were reared, I do not know. 

‘Once the larva leaves the water it crawls about 
very actively, seeking a suitable place to enter the 
earth. If left to itself it usually selected a stone and 
burrowed underneath it, but I found that if I made 
an artificial burrow—with a pencil, for instance—the 
larva could be made to crawl into this, and as a 
rule would make its “cell” in it. By making such 
a burrow against the glass side of a box filled with 
earth, I was able to watch the process of the forma- 
tion of the pupal cell. 

Once the larva has entered and adopted the burrow, 
it straightway begins to prepare its cell, and this is 
done by enlarging part of the burrow. The jaws are 
now used for transporting pellets of soil from one 
position to another, and for breaking up the pellets 
into their separate particles. | Very little earth is 
actually pushed into the unused part of the burrow, 
the cell being formed almost entirely by breaking up 
the pellets of soil and battering the fine particles 
against the sides. The vertex of the head is the 
main battering-ram, but the larva, which during the 
whole precess of making the cell lies with its tail 
bent over its head, also flattens out the earth with 
its body. 

The actual making of the cell occupies about twelve 
hours, and during that time the larva does not rest 
for a moment. At the end of that time it is appar- 
ently tired out, and rests in any position, often 
stretched across the cell, its head pressed against one 
side and its curved body against the other. It thus 
rests for about twenty-four hours, after which it bends 
its tail underneath it and usually adopts a sitting-up 
position—reminding one of Tenniel’s illustration in 
“Alice in Wonderland” of the caterpillar sitting on 
the mushroom. It is, however, very restless, and 
frequently changes its position, tossing from side to 
side. 

The pupa appears, after the larva has been thus 
resting for a fortnight or more, by the larval skin 
splitting along the back and being cast off at the tail 
end. On its back are to be seen a number of short 
projecting spines, and Lyonnet suggested in the case 
of another pupa, similarly though better equipped, 
that these are for the purpose of raising it off the 
damp soil of the cell. This may be true, but in my 
experience the pupa most usually lies, so to speak, 
on its face rather than on its back. 

The pupal stage lasts about three weeks, and the 
only change noticeable during that time is a slight 
pigmentation of what is at first a perfectly white 
pupa. At the end of the pupal stage the skin ruptures 
along the back, and the perfect insect comes forth at 
first white and soft, but in the course of two or three 
days it assumes its normal coloration, and after a 
longer period its normal hardness. After a week or 
so it makes its way out of the punal cell by biting 
and scraping, and at once goes to the water. 

In its native haunts it spends most of its time 
amongst the stones and mud at the bottom, occasion- 
ally coming up to renew its air-supply, and in my 
tubs also it was seldom to be seen. 

With regard to its winter habits, it apparently 
buries itself at the bottom of the loch as soon as 
the cold weather begins, and sleeps until the following 
spring. In my tubs it disappeared completely in 
October or November, burrowing deep into the soft 
oozy mud at the bottom, and there it remained until 
the following March. During all this time the meta- 
bolic processes must be practically at a standstill, as 
otherwise the insect would require to renew its air- 
suvnly at frequent intervals. 

Having now outlined the life-history of this type 
of the swimming carnivorous water-beetles, I will take 


No, 2288, VOL. a2] 


[SEPTEMBER 4, 1913 


an example of the other group, and the one I have 
chosen goes by the name of Hydrocharis carabéides. 
There is only one species of Hydrogharis in the British 
Islands, and it is practically confined to the south- 
east of England, only very occasionally having been 
found anywhere else in the country. It inhabits stag- 
nant ponds and drains, and is not uncommon in a few . 
places in Surrey, Essex, and Middlesex. 

I began to experiment with it five years ago in the 
north-east of Ireland, having obtained my specimens 
from Surrey. Each year I obtained eggs, reared the 
larvee, and renewed and increased my stock, so that 
it is obviously not the climate of north-eastern Ireland 
which prevents this species from being a native there. 

The conditions in my tubs were just such as are to 
be found in any pond or drain in the country, and 
apparently the only reason why this species is con- 
fined to the south-east of England is that competing 
species prevent it from extending its range. 

Whereas Dytiscus lays its eggs singly in holes 
pierced by it in the living vegetation, Hydrocharis 
builds an elaborate silken cocoon which floats in the 
water, and in which about fifty eggs are deposited. 

The spinning of the cocoon is a wonderful process. 
The beetle carries on its underside a film of air, which 
is part of its supply for breathing. The cocoon is 
actually spun on a part of this film of air, which is 
then detached from the rest of the film as a bubble 
enclosed in silk. The egg-laying commences soon 
after the cocoon is begun, and the eggs are arranged 
side by side in the cocoon standing upon one end, 
being fastened in position by silken threads. A space 
above the eggs is filled with very loosely woven silk. 

In closing up the cocoon a peculiar plate-like struc- 
ture is formed of very closely woven silk, and this 
ends in an upward projection known as the “mast.” 
The purpose of this ‘‘mast’’ is not known. It is 
not a tubular structure, but merely a band of silk. 
It has been stated that if it is cut off the eggs die, 
but in the case of another species I have hatched 
eggs removed from the cocoon and submerged, so that 
the suggestion that the mast is necessary for keeping 
up the air-supply is without foundation. 

I shall not weary you with details of the develop- 
ment of the embryo beyond mentioning that, unlike 
Dytiscus, the embryo from the first occupies the whole 
length of the egg, and that the nerve chord, again 
unlike Dytiscus, grows with the embryo as it develops. 
The only other point I need mention is that in the 
cocoon all the embryos develop head downwards. 

The egg-laying period of Hydrocharis extends from 
about the middle of May until about the middle of 
Tuly in my tubs, but it may perhaps be rather longer 
in the south-eastern parts of England. The incuba- 
tion of the egg occupies nine or ten days, and, as in 
the case of Dytiscus, towards the end the embryo 
is very tightly packed within the shell. There is, 
however, no special hatching apparatus that I have 
been able to find. The pulsating organ or sucking- 
pump in the head is visible, and there are also move- 
ments of the embrvo, but at the end the skin splits_ 
along the back and the larva treads it off, giving a 
peculiar backward wriggle. . 

Now, under normal conditions the newly hatched 
larva does not at once leave the cocoon; in fact, it 
does not appear for one or even two days after hatch- 
ing. As soon as it bursts the egg-shell it wriggles 
backwards out of the egg into the space above all 
the eggs, and it is interesting to note that the hairs 
on the body of the newly hatched larva all point 
forwards. As the larve hatch, the empty shell and 
the silk bindings become broken down—I think they 
are chewed by the larve—and the whole cocoon ulti- 
mately becomes filled with the larve. 

In those cases where I dissected the eggs out of 


ee Crewe 


———— eo 


SEPTEMBER 4, 1913]| 


the cocoon and allowed them to develop on the wet 
cotton wool, the newly hatched larve congregated 
into a mass and remained so for a day or two, after 
which they became active in search of food. 

You will notice that the larva possesses on each 
body segment a pair of lateral processes, and on the 
last segment a pair of ventrally placed processes of a 
different kind. These latter, which are possessed by 
all water-beetle larvee which come to the surface tor 
their air, have probably some connection with raising 
the tail to the surface for breathing, but the hairy 
lateral processes have been called gills. Many larvee 
of the Palpicornia have lateral processes, usually 
smaller than those of Hydrocharis, but in no case are 
they really gills, and the larve quickly drown if 
prevented from bringing their tails to the surface to 
renew their air-supply. 

The larve of Hydrocharis, like those of Dytis- 
cus, will eat almost any kind of animal matter, and 
hence they are easily supplied. I fed them mostly 
upon chopped worms, but their method of feeding is 
very different from that of Dytiscus. They seize 
their food with the jaws, antennz, and the other 
mouth parts, and they then come to the surface, and 
raising their heads and part of the body out of the 
water, they proceed to chew up the food by opening 
and closing the jaws, turning it from time to time 
with the other mouth parts. The jaws are not per- 
forated, nor is there any mouth-lock as in Dytiscus, 
and they suck in the juices of the prey by the mouth, 
spitting up saliva at intervals, which actually froths 
over the food and digests it, the dissolved material 
then being sucked down. The external digestion is so 
complete that in the case of a thick piece of worm 
all that is ultimately rejected is the thin transparent 
outer nellicle. 

In the mouth parts of the larva I want to direct 
your attention to a curious want of bilateral sym- 
metry, noticeable not only in the jaws—one of which, 
the left, has a small extra tooth near its base—but 
also in the upper lip. In many species there is an 
absence of bilateral symmetry where a pair of organs 
are complementary. Thus in the jaws of the beetle 
itself, the base of the left one is hollowed out to 
receive the base of the right one, which is convex, 
the two being related as pestle and mortar for grind- 
ing up the food. The larva of another species of the 
same group also shows asymmetry of the jaws, but 
here again it is definitely associated with the method 
of feeding. This species feeds upon pond snails, and 
the left jaw holds the shell while the right jaw with 
its large double tooth cuts through it. 

The asymmetry of the upper lip, however, is at 
present inexplicable, and, curiously enough, it occurs 
in several other species. - 

The larva of Hydrocharis, like that of Dytiscus, 
passes through three stages, the first two of which 
occupy from five to eight days, and the third stage, 
up to the time the larva is full grown, occupies about 
four weeks. It then leaves the water and burrows 
into the earth, forming a cell, just as the Dytiscus 
larva did. I had many specimens of these larva, 
and so made many experiments with them, and one 
curious fact about them is that the instinct which 
leads them to burrow into the ground and make a 
pupal cell only lasts for one or, at most, two days. 
In no case, where I removed a larva even imme- 
diately after the completion of its cell, did it make 
any attempt to form another one, and if left on the 
surface of the soil it moved about listlessly and ulti- 
mately died, apparently of drought, since if placed in 


_a damp position, for instance, in an artificial cell, it 


survived and pupated. If a cell was damaged before 


completion the larva often completely destroyed it, 


NO. 2288, vor. 92] 


NATURE 23 


apparently in the attempt to repair the damage, and 
would be found sitting amongst the ruins. 

Once the cell is completed the larva rests for about 
three weeks, at the ena of which time the skin is cast 
otf and a greenish-white pupa appears. This is more 
spinose than that of Dytiscus; but it also prefers to 
lie upon its face, resting upon the two small tail 
projections and upon the “‘collar’’ of the prothorax. 

The perfect insect appears after about ten days, so 
that the whole life-cycle occupies about nine or ten 
weeks from the laying of the egg to the appearance 
of the perfect insect. This time, however, may be 
greatly prolonged under less favourable conditions. 
Thus, the later egg-cocoons produce larve which take 
twelve or fourteen weeks to grow up, and the cocoons 
built in July produce beetles which do not leave the 
pupal cell for six or seven months. The larve leave 
the water in September and even in October, and 
after three or four weeks turn into pupe. These 
pupz turn into beetles in late October or November, 
but the beetles remain, apparently torpid, until the 
following March or April, when they make their way 
out and to the water. 

I have mentioned that the larve of both Dytiscus 
and Hydrocharis breathe in the same manner by rais- 
ing the tail to the surface. The perfect insects, how- 
ever, assume very different positions when taking in 
their air-supply. 

Dytiscus floats up to the surface tail first, taking in 
air between the body and the great wing-cases which 
cover it, and it is in this cavity under the wing-cases 
that the whole reserve of air is carried. 

On either side of the body under the wing-cases is 
a row of pits, spiracles; the last pair of these are 
much larger than the others. When the insect rises 
tail first to the surface, the tubes connected with this 
last pair contract and expand, just as in the larva, 
renewing the air-supply in the whole tube system, 
while at the same time the body contracts and ex- 
pands, renewing the reserve supply under the wing- 
cases, 

Hydrocharis, on the other hand, comes to the sur- 
face head first, turns its head on one side, and pushes 
its short, club-like antenna through the surface-film. 
Now a large part of the under side of this beetle is 
covered with fine velvety hair, which retains a thin 
film of air upon it, just as a piece of velvet does when 
gently pushed under water. When the beetle raises 
its antenna above the water it brings this film of air 
into communication with the air above the water. 
It also has a reserve supply under its wing-cases, and 
this communicates at the sides with the ventral film, 
and by expansion and contraction of the body the 
used-up air is expelled above the water and fresh air 
is taken in. In Hydrocharis the most important 
spiracles are situated well forward, and thus the used 
air from the air-tubes is expelled and fresh air taken 
in at the front end of the body instead of the tail 
end. 

Anyone who examines Hydrocharis and compares 
it with Dytiscus will at once see great structural 
differences. In a ventral view of the two types, com- 
paring the heads, the most noticeable difference is in 
the antennz, which are filamentous in the former and 
clubbed in the latter, and the maxillary palpi, which 
are short in the former and long in the latter, in 
which they are used under water as feelers, just as 
are the antennz of Dytiscus. 

Passing over other less remarkable differences in 
the heads of the two types and coming to the body, 
one at once notices the different disposition of the 
legs : in Dytiscus the first two pairs are close together, 
in Hydrocharis the three pairs are about equidistant. 
In Dytiscus the basal segment of each hind leg—the 


24 


NATORE 


coxa marked 3*—on the sereen is large, and the two 
coxz are fused into a single piece which is firmly fixed 
into the body. In Hydrocharis the coxa is long and 
narrow; the two coxz are separate, and each is 
hinged on to the body. The firm fixing in Dytiscus 
gives it a much more powerful leg-drive than the 
hinging gives to Hydrocharis, and hence Dytiscus is 
a more efficient swimmer. 

These differences between the two types are there- 
fore connected with differences in function. The 
antennz of Dytiscus are feelers, while those of Hydro- 
charis are connected with breathing, and the disposi- 
tion of the legs and their methods of attachment to 
the body are connected with differences in mode of 
progression, Dytiscus being a ‘“‘swimmer,”’ and Hydro- 
charis chiefly a ‘“‘creeper’’ on the submerged vegeta- 
tion. 

In these two groups of water-beetles, the Hydra- 
dephaga represented by Dytiscus and the Palpicornia 
represented by Hydrocharis, we have two types of 
adaptation to an aquatic existence. Each type has 
originated independently of the other—that is, they are 
not descended from a common aquatic ancestor, Each 
represents a part of a large terrestrial family, and 
each has probably developed an aquatic habit as a 
result of competition, stronger land forms having 
driven the weaker off the land and into the water. 

Just as each group has originated under the 
stimulus of competition, so, within each group, com- 
petition has moulded the different forms, and the 
peculiar details in the life-history of any one form 
are just those which enable it to retain its place in 
the community to which it belongs, and to hold its 
own in the great struggle for existence. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


THE announcement is made of the resignation of 
Dr. A. L. Bowley of the professorship of mathematics 
and economics at University College, Reading. 

Pror. J. S. Kinastey, of Tufts College, has been 
appointed professor of zoology, in charge of verte- 
brates, in the University of [linois. 

Dr. K. F. Meyer, director of the laboratories of the 
Pennsylvania State Livestock Sanitary Board, has 

vacated that position to fill the chair of bacteriology 
at the University of California. Dr. J. B. Harden- 
bergh has been appointed to succeed Dr. Meyer in the 
first-named post. 

Pror. Hersert V. Neat, who has held the chair of 
biology at Knox College, Illinois, since 1897, has 
accepted an appointment to a similar post at Tufts 
College, Massachusetts. He has already had some 
acquaintance with the work of that college, having 
been for the last five years an associate director of 
the Tufts biological laboratory at S. Harpswell, Maine. 

Ir is announced in The Indian Medical Gazette 
that the scheme for the establishment of a School of 
Tropical Medicine in Calcutta is now so far advanced 
towards fulfilment that there is everv reason to hope 
that it will be opened in the autumn of next year. 
Already valuable work on cholera, epidemic dropsy, 
dysentery, and other diseases has been done by a few 
workers in Calcutta. What is now wanted is money. 
Our Indian contemporary asks for substantial endow- 
ments of three or four lakhs for several additional 
research chairs, or annual subscriptions of 20,000 
rupees for each. 

An effort is about to be made to raise a fund of 
20,0001. for the foundation of a chair of engineering 
chemistry at Princeton University. This campaign will 
be undertaken mainly by members of the federation of 
Pinceton clubs of New Jersey, with the object of the 


NO. 2288, VOL. 92] 


[SEPTEMBER 4, 1913 


advancement of chemical industries in that State. The 
course of instruction to be given by the occupant of 
the proposed chair will supply engineering students 
with a knowledge of the commonest construction 
materials of the chemical industries, and of various 
materials that now take the place of the direct products 
of the soil. 


A course of lectures on tuberculosis, for general 


practitioners and especially for candidates as tuber- 


culosis officers, has been arranged by the Royal Inst:- 
tute of Public Health. The introductory lecture will 
be delivered by Prof. G. Sims Woodhead on October 10. 
Subsequent discourses will be given by Dr. C. Porter 
(* The problem of Tuberculosis in relation to Insurance 
and Public Health’), by Prof. Woodhead (‘* The Spread 
of Tuberculosis"), by Dr. J. E. Squire (* Diagnosis ”’), 
by Dr. T. N. Kelynack (‘* Tuberculosis in Childhood ”), 
by Dr. C. Wall (** General Treatment”), by Dr. C, 
Riviere (*‘S»ecific Treatment,” &c.), by Dr. T. D- 
Lister (** Sanatorium Treatment”), by Dr. A. Green- 
wood (‘The Prevention of Tuberculosis’), and Dr. 
H. O. West will outline a co-ordinated scheme for 
dealing with the malady. 

Tue medical schools of London and the provinces 
are beginning to announce the opening functions of 
their winter session. Prof. Sir William Osler, Bart., 
F.R.S., is to distribute the prizes and deliver an 
address at, St. George’s Hospital on October 1; at 
St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, the prizes will be 
presented and an address given by Sir John Prescott 
Hewett, K.C.S.I., on the same date; Mr. W. Samp- 
son Handley will deliver an address and Sir Squire 
Bancroft distribute the prizes at the Middlesex Hos- 
pital on October 1, on which date also Sir Charles 
Pardey Lukis, K.C.S.I., will give an address at the 
London School of Medicine for Women. On October 7 
a lecture will be delivered at the University of Birming- 
ham by Prof. Arthur Keith, F.R.S., on “The Present 
Problems relating to the Antiquity of Man’ 

Mvcu interesting information as to the progress of 
secondary education in England is contained in the 
recently published Blue-book (Cd. 6934), “ Statistics of 
Public Education in England and Wales, Part ip 
Educational Statistics, 1911-12."’ During the school 
year dealt with, there were in England 885 efficient 
secondary schools receiving grants from the Board of 
Education; of these 358 were for boys, 311 for girls, 
and 216 admitted both boys and girls. The teaching 
in these schools was in the hands of 9126 full-time 
teachers, of whom 4584 were men and 4542 women; 
and they were assisted by 3082 part-time instructors. 
The schools were attended by 150,605 pupils—81,383 
boys and 69,222 girls. Of the total number of pupils 
39,427 were under twelve years of age, 98,623 were 
between twelve and sixteen years of age, 11,559 
between sixteen and eighteen years of age, and a°6 
more than eighteen years of age. As regards the 
management of the schools, it may be pointed out 
that 325 were prov ided by local education authorities, 
427 were foundation and other schools, 48 were Roman 
Catholic schools, and 28 Girls’ Public Day School 
Trust schools. 

THE prospectus for the session 1913-14 of the Day 
and Evening College for Men and Women at the 
South-Western Polytechnic Institute, Chelsea, has 
been received. The day college is intended for 
students above the age of sixteen, and the courses of 
study are suited for ‘technological and university pur- 
poses. The prospectus, we observe, points out that 
those who enter for technical instruction should have 
received previously a sound English education and 
should have acouired an elementary knowledge of 
mathematics and, if possible, of physics and chem- 
istry. The courses are arranged to occupy three years. 


~ 


SEPTEMBER 4, 1913] 


On entering the student is asked to state whether 
he wishes to be trained as a mechanical or electrical 
engineer, or as a consulting or industrial chemist. 
In any of these cases he will find mapped out for him 
a complete course of study, involving laboratory in- 
struction, tutorial work, attendance at lectures, exer- 
cises in mathematics, geometrical, mechanical, and 
architectural drawing, and instruction in the. work- 
shops. 
pure and applied science have been arranged at very 
moderate fees, and in their anxiety that no properly 
qualified person should be debarred from attending 
classes through inability to pay fees, the governors 
have arranged that apprentices, learners, and im- 
provers, under the age of twenty-one years, may be 
admitted to all classes and courses at half-fees, on 
production of their employer’s certificate. 


Tue prospectus of the Belfast Municipal Technical 
Institute for next session has been received. The 
object of the institute is to provide instruction in the 
principles of those arts and sciences which bear upon 
the industries of Belfast, and to show by experiment 
how these principles may be applied to their advance- 
ment. A day technical course has been established to 
give instruction in mechanical engineering, electrical 
engineering, the textile industries, and pure and 
applied chemistry. The course provides a sound 
training for youths who aim at filling positions of 
responsibility in various industries. A trade prepara- 
tory school, which constitutes a junior section of the 
day technical department, provides a_ specialised 
training for boys who are intended for industrial 
occupations. The evening classes are suitable for per- 
sons engaged during the day who desire to supplement 
the knowledge and experience gained in the workshop 
or warehouse. The needs of women are catered for 
in the same complete manner as those for men. It 
is not possible here to enumerate all the interesting 
ways in which the technical instruction committee 
has endeavoured to assist local industries, but mention 
may be made of the public textile testing and condi- 
tioning house which has been opened in the institute. 
It undertakes the examination of textile materials with 
the view of ascertaining their true weight, length, 
strength, and so on; and it carries out such other 
investigations as manufacturers and others may 
desire. . 


PAMPHLETs giving full particulars in connection with 
the faculty of medical sciences and with the faculty of 
engineering for the coming session have been pub- 
lished by University College, London. The college 
faculty of medical sciences comprises the departments 
of physics, chemistry, botany, and zoology (the pre- 
liminary medical sciences), also the departments of 
anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology (the inter- 
mediate medical sciences), and the departments of 
hygiene and public health, and of pathological chem- 
istry (post-graduate study). Full preliminary and 
intermediate courses of study are provided for students 
desirous of obtaining the medical degrees of the Uni- 
versity of London, as well as for students seeking 
the qualifications of other universities and licensing 
bodies. Each of the departments is also equipped 
for more advanced work, and provides facilities for 
research. The faculty of engineering, including the 
departments of mechanical, heating and ventilating, 
electrical, civil and municipal engineering, is intended 
to provide for students wishing to devote themselves 
to engineering a systematic training in the application 
of scientific principles to industrial purposes. The 
courses are also suited to the requirements of students 
who intend to enter for appointments in the Indian 
Public Works Department, Engineering Department 
of the General Post Office, Department of the Direc- 


NO. 2288, VOL. 92] 


Evening courses in almost every branch of. 


NATURE 25 


tor of Engineering and Architectural Works in the 
Admiralty, Patent Office, and other similar services, 
or of those who intend to become patent agents, tech- 
nical teachers, and chemical engineers. The engineer- 
ing departments have been recognised by the Board 
of Trade as providing suitable technical training for 
marine engineers. Facilities are provided for post- 
graduate and research work in all the subjects. 


Tue Yorkshire Summer School of Geography, 
organised this year by the University of Leeds, com- 
pleted a successful inaugural session on August 23. 
More than a hundred students were in residence for 
three weeks at and near Whitby, the headquarters 
being in the new buildings of the County School, 
which were kindly lent for the purpose by the gover- 
nors. Systematic instruction in the methods of 
modern geographical study was aimed at by choosing 
Yorkshire as a representative area, and studying as 
exhaustively as possible all the factors and relationships 
connected with its structure and location. A course 
of five lectures on the physical geography an@ special 
geological features of the district was given by Prof. 
P. F. Kendall, together with lectures on the North 
Sea, and on meteorology by Mr. A. Gilligan. This 
led to the study of special topics of industrial or his- 
torical character, including plant distribution and 
agriculture (Dr. W. G. Smith), metalliferous and coal 
mining (Mr. A. Gilligan), the textile and metallurgical 
industries, ports, fisheries and communications (Mr. 
Ll. Rodwell Jones), prehistoric Yorkshire (Prof. P. F. 
Kendall), the Roman occupation (Mr. P. W. Dodd), 
Saxon and Danish Yorkshire (Mr. W. G. Colling- 
wood), medieval Yorkshire (Mr. H. B. McCall), archi- 
tecture (Mr. S. D. Kitson), place-names and language 
(Prof. Moorman), Old Whitby as a port (Mr. E. H. 
Chapman), and river development (Prof. Kendall). The 
course concluded with two lectures on the teaching of 
geography by Mr. W. P. Welpton. The practical 
work included the reading and enlargement of topo- 
graphical maps, the examination of typical rocks, the 
making of models and microscope sections, field 
surveys, and the reading and construction of meteoro- 
logical charts. Frequent excursions were made to 
places of geological and industrial interest in the 
neighbourhood, and an afternoon was devoted to the 
study of a typical Yorkshire farm, with large-scale 
plans showing the rotation of crops on each field for 
the past four years. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
CaLcurra. 

Asiatic Society of Bengal, August 
Nor’-westers and monsoon prediction. Nor’-westers 
have hitherto received little scientific attention. The 
entire literature is covered by a monograph by Sir 
John Eliot in 1876 and certain observations in a paper 
of his in 1910 on the anemographic records of Saugor 
Island. His observations and deductions are sum- 
marised. The structure of a typical nor’-wester is 
analysed. Its form and motion appear to show it is 
not a cyclonic eddy but a rectilinear splitting of. the 
still-air layer between the lower southerly and upper 
northerly wind, which takes place transversely to the 
direction of motion of the storm mass. The absence 
of hail and the rapidity of the motion support this 
theory. A typically complete nor’-wester indicates a 
strong northerly upper current, and therefore the 
probability that the advance of the monsoon will be 
delayed. Weak or ill-formed nor’-westers indicate a 
weak upper current and little opposition to the mon- 
soon. The factors that require study are briefly 
enumerated and divided into those which can be noted 
by individual observers and those which require co- 


6.—E. Digby. 


: ordinated effort. 


26 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Michigan Agricultural College. Experiment Station. 
Division of Soils. Technical Bulletin No. 17: An 
Investigation of Soil Temperature and some of the 
most Important Factors Influencing it. By G. J. 
Bouyoucos. Pp. 196. (East Lansing, Michigan.) 

Animals of the Past. An Account of some of 
the Creatures of the Ancient World. By F. A. Lucas. 
Pp. xxi+266. (New York: American Museum of 
Natural History.) (Handbook Series No. 4.) 

The Climate and Weather of San Diego, Cali- 


fornia. By Ford A. Carpenter. Pp. xii+118. (San 
Diego: Chamber of Commerce.) 
New South Wales. Department of Mines. Geo- 


logical Survey. 
on the Cobar 
Part i. Pp, x+207. 
4s. 6d. 

Lord Lister: his Life and Work. 
Wrench. Pp. 384. 
Unwin.) 15s. net. 


Mineral Resources, No. 17: Report 
Gold-field. By E. C. Andrews. 
(Also Maps to above.) (Sydney.) 


By Dr. Gia 
(London and Leipzig: T. Fisher 


Fabre, Poet of Science. By Dr. C. V. Legros. 
Translated by B. Miall. Pp. 352. (London and 
Leipzig: T. Fisher Unwin.) tos, 6d. net. 

Die Garungsgewerbe und ihre naturwissenschaft- 
lichen Grundlagen. By Prof. W. Henneberg and 


Dr. G. Bode. Pp. v+128. (Leipzig: Quelle and 
Meyer.) 1.25 marks. 
Wie ernahrt sich die Pflanze? Naturbeobach- 


tungen draussen und im Hause. 
Pp. v+188. (Leipzig: 
marks. 

Geschichte des naturwissenschaftlichen und mathe- 
matischen Unterrichts. By Prof. F. Paul. Pp. ix+ 


By Otto Krieger. 
Quelle and Meyer.) 1.80 


308. (Leipzig: Quelle and Meyer.) 8.60 marks. 
Note sur une Illusion de Relativité. By M. 
Gandillot. Pp. 88. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars.) 6 
francs. 
Chemistry and its Relations to Daily Life. By 
Prof. L. Kahlenberg and Prof. E. B. Hart. Pp. vii+ 
593- (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: 


Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 5s. 6d. net. 

Board of Education. Reports for the Year 1911-12 
from those Universities and University Colleges in 
Great Britain which are in Receipt of Grant from the 


Board of Education. Vol. I. Pp. xxxi+465. (Cd. 
7008.) 2s. Vol. II. Pp. iit+454. (Cd. 7009.) 1s. tod. 
bay H.M. Stationery Office; Wyman and Sons, 
Ltd. 

The Peregrine Falcon at the Eyrie. By F. 
Heatherly. Pp. x+78. (London: ‘Country Life” 


Offices; G. Newnes, Ltd.) 5s. net. 

Einfuhrung in die Allgemeine Biologie. By Prof. 
W. T. Sedgwick and Prof. E. B. Wilson. Autorisierte 
iibersetzung nach der Zweiten auflage by Dr. R. 


Thesing. Pp. x+302. (Leipzig and Berlin: B. G. 
Teubner.) 6 marks. 
Himmelsglobus aus Modelliernetzen die Sterne 


durchzustechen und von innen heraus zu betrachten. 
By Prof. A. Héfler. (In drei Ausgaben.) Ausgabe i. 
(Leipzig and Berlin: B. G. Teubner.) 1.50 marks. 

A Laboratory Manual of Invertebrate Zoology. 
By Dr. G. A. Drew. Second edition, revised. Pp. 
ix+213. (Philadelphia and London: W. B. Saunders 
Co.) 6s. net, 

Ergebnisse der Zweiten Deutschen Zentral-Afrika- 


Expedition, IQIO-IQII. Unter Fiihrung Adolf 
Friedrichs, Herzogs zu Mecklenberg. Band i.: Zoo- 
logie; Teil i., Hamogregarinen. Byars oi 


Schubotz. Pp. 22+4 plates. (Leipzig :~ Klinkhardt | 


1.60 marks. 

and Air Measurement. By C. 
Pp. vit+77. (London: Methuen and Co., 
6d. 


; 7 
NO. 2288, VOL. 92} 


and Biermann.) 
Gas Testing 
Chandley. 
I.td.) 1s, 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 4, 1913 
f 


A Text-Book of Geography. By A. W. Andrews. 
Pp. xii+655. (London: E. Arnold.) 55. 


A Text-Book of Physics. By@Dr. R. S. Willows. 


Pp. viii+471. 

University of Pennsylvania. 
tions of the Babylonian Section, Vol. iii. : 
Incantation Texts from Nippur. By Prof. J. A. Mont- 
gomery. Pp. 326+xli plates. (Philadelphia: Uni- 
versity Museum.) 

Yorkshire Type Ammonites. Edited by S. S. 
Buckman. Part x. Pp. v, vit+g9 plates+ descriptions. 
Nos. 75-83. (London: W. Wesley and Son.) 3s. 6d. 
net. 

The Differentiation and Specificity of Starches in 
Relation to Genera, Species, &c. Stereochemistry 
applied to Protoplasmic Processes and Products, and 
as a Strictly Scientific Basis for the Classification of 
Plants and Animals. By Prof. E. T. Reichert. 
Part i. Pp. xvii+342+21+102 plates. Part il. 
Xvii+343-900+18. (Washington, U.S.A.: Carnegie 
Institution.) 


(London: E. Arnold.) 7s. 6d. net. 
The Museum Publica- 
Aramaic 


CONTENTS. 


Notes on the Aborigines of South America. ... 1 


Hydraulic ‘Machinery. By Haj. Sin... yo. seen = 
Mind, Health and Purpose . <.'.).) si.) .0:s- eee 2 
Ironvand: Steel Metallurgy. .:. . =o. ).)u)2 ee 3° 
Our Bookshelf... 9: 2 . .0. 9) sce 4 
Letters to the Editor :— 
The Spectra of Helium and Hydrogen, (Z//ustrated.) 
—E.J; Evans . ... :..0 2.) ae 
Coloured Organisms on Sea-Sand.—Prof: W. A. 
Herdman, F.R.S. .. er ene 5 
Physiological Factors of Consciousness. —G, Archdall e 
Rei ny ps! 9, Laie Sake poumagl eee oar 
The Elephant Trench at Dewlish—Was it Dug?— 
Rev, OF Bisher. 9.) .).c desi see oe 6 
Note on the Dicynodont Vomer.—Dr. R. Broom. . 6 
The Twelfth International Geological Congress, By 
SA CH\ | AOMORI Ss 5 oar 


The Oil-Fields of Burma. (///ustrated.) By T.H.D.L. 9 


Oceanography of the Mediterranean, ByJ.J.... 10 
The Gum Trees of Australia, By Dr. W. Botting 
Hemsley, FUR.S: .9ay. .. oie ue cee ne 12 
NC a Se MEE Sel pea 12 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Astronomical Occurrences for September. . ... . 18. 
The Spectra of the Stars. .. 2. sgn > eee 18. 
Exhibition of the Royal Photographic Society. . . 18 
The Archzological Investigations in the Mississippi 
Region, (///ustrated.) By Dr, A.C. Haddon, F.R.S. 18 
Magnetic Storms and Solar Phenomena. By Dr. 
Cai@hree, E.R.S. \:ocay .. i saeieecs seen ae 19 
The Life-History of a Water-Beetle. By F. Balfour 
BrOWDE fir.6. .. 62 pals ly ee sara + 20: 
University and Educational Intelligence ..... + 24 
Societies and Academies... Gabe.) = ses 3 ne . 25. 
Books Received). ~ i. 1's hc senineen se eae, ti 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN & CO., Lrtp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 
Telegraphic Address: Puusts, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


Pp. ; 


— 


SEPTEMBER 4, 1913] 


[GLASS TOP BOXES 


20 STOCK SIZES. 
| Any size to order. 


Card or Wood 
Sides. 


Sample Card-side 
Box and List post 
free, 1d. stamp. 


FLATTERS & GARNETT, Ltd., 
309 OXFORD ROAD (°pEitrsty’), MANCHESTER. 


. 


; 


7 


Sales by #uction. 

q STEVENS’ AUCTION ROOMS. Estp. 1760. 

_ A Sale by Auction is held EVERY FRIDAY 

a: at 12.30, which affords first-class opportunities for the disposal or 
urchase of SCIENTIFIC AND ELECTRICAL APPARATUS, 

. icroscopes and Accessories, Surveying Instruments, Photographic 

Cameras and Lenses, Lathes and Tools, Cinematographs and Film:, 

and Miscellaneous Property. AA 

_ Catalogues and terms for selling will be forwarded on application to 


Mx. J. C. STEVENS, 
. 38 KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON, W.C. 


LIST OF BRITISH FOSSILS. 


JAMES R. GREGORY & CO. have reprinted their FOSSIL LIST, 
representing about one-fifth of their Stock of Fossils. 


Copies may be had from 


JAMES R. GREGORY & CO., 


Mineralogists, &c., 
139 FULHAM ROAD, SOUTH KENSINGTON, S.W. 


Telegrams : ‘‘ Meteorites, Rhone, London.” Telephone: 2841 Western. 
a 


LIVING SPECIMENS FOR 
THE MICROSCOPE. 


Volvox, Spirogyra, Desmids, Diatoms, Amoeba, Arcella, Actinospherium, 
Vorticella, Stentor, Hydra, Floscularia, Stephanoceros, Melicerta, and many 
other specimens of Pond Life. Price 1s. per Tube, Post Free. Helix 
pomatia, Astacus, Amphioxus, Rana, Anodon, &c., for Dissection purposes. 


HOMAS BOLTON, 
25 BALSALL HEATH ROAD, BIRMINGHAM. 


MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 
OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 
THE LABORATORY, PLYMOUTH. 

The following animals can always be supplied, either living 
or preserved by the best methods :— 

Sycon; Clava, Obelia, Sertularia; Actinia, Tealia, Caryopbyllia, Alcy- 
onium; Hormiphora (preserved); Leptoplana; Lineus, Amphiporus, 
Nereis, Aphrodite, Arenicola, Lanice, Terebella; Lepas, Balanus, 
Gammarus, Ligia Mysis, Nebalia, Carcinus; Patella, Buccinum, Eledone, 
Pectens Bugula, Crisia, Pedicellina, Holothuria, Asterias, Echinus, 
Salpa (preserved), Scyllium, Raia, &c., &c. 

or prices and more detailed lists apply to 


Biological Laboratory, Plymouth. THE DIRECTOR. 


SEPTEMBER 


NO. NOW 


NATURE 1X 


WATKINS & DONCASTER, 


Naturalists and Manufacturers of 


CABINETS AND APPARATUS 


FOR COLLECTORS OF INSECTS, BIRDS’ EGGS AND SKINS. 
MINERALS, PLANTS, &c. 


N.B.—For Excellence and Superiority of Cabinets and Apparatus 
references are permitted to distinguished patrons, Museums, Colleges, &c. 


A LARGE STOCK OF INSECTs, BIRDS’ EGGS AND SKINS, 


SPECIALITY.—Objects for Nature Study, 
Drawing Classes, &c. 


Birds, Mammals, &e., Preserved and Mounted by First-class 
Workmen true to Nature. 


All Books and Publications (New and Second-hand) on Insects, 
Birds’ Eggs, &c., supplied. 


386 STRAND, LONDON, W.C. 


(Five Doors from Charing Cross.) 
FULL OATALOGUE POST FREE. 


ALL KINDS OF BRITISH AND FOREIGN 


Mineral Specimens, 


COMMON MINERAL ORES, and 
CHOICE CRYSTALLIZED SPECIMENS 
at ALL PRICES on view at 
RICHARDS’ SHOW ROOMS. 


Note new Address :— Lists free. 


48 Sydney Street, Fulham Road, South Kensington, London, S.W. 


SKELETONS® SKULLS 2 
Specimens and Preparations for Teachinz 


BIOLOGY & ZOOLOGY 


and for Museums. 


Lists on Application. 


EDWARD GERRARD & SONS 
Osteologists and Taxidermists, 
NATURAL HISTORY STUDIOS 
6I College Place, 
Camden Town, London. 


WEI NERALS. 


CHOICE AND RARE SPECIMENS 
FROM ALL PARTS of THE WORLD. 


Cheapest House in the line for Collections, Specimens, Blow- 
pipe Sets, Cabinets, Glass-Capped Boxes, Trays, &c., &c. 


We can fix you up with anything and everything in the way 
of Apparatus for Geological and Mineralogical Work. 


RUSSELL & SHAW, 
38 Gt. James Street, Bedford Row, London, W.C. 


READY. 


THE SCHoOooL wWworRitubD. 


A MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF EDUCATIONAL WORK AND PROGRESS. Sixpence MONTHLY. YFARLY VOL., 7s. 6d. net. 
CONTENTS. 

The Congested Curriculum.—The Kinematograph in the Teaching of Natural Science. By 

H. O. Hale, M.A.—The Correction and Supervision of Written Work in Girls’ Secondary Schools. 

By Miss M. E. Wigg.—Parent-Teacher Associations. [y Miss Hilda Wilson, M.A. (Lond.).—A School Wire- 

By H. Matthews, B.Sc.—Shorthand and Typewriting in Secondary Schools. By 

By J. S. Thornton, B.A.—The Secondary Education of Girls in 


| less Installation. 
Fred Charles, B.A.—The State and the School. 
Prussia. II. By Mark P. Mayo, B.A.—Personal Paragraphs. By Onlooker.—The Kinematograph in Education.— 
Secondary Education in England in 1911-12.—History and Current Events.—Items of Interest : General ; Scottish ; Irish ; 
Welsh.—The Greek Mind and its Expression.—Gardening for School Children.—Reviews of Recent School Books and 

_ Apparatus.—Educational books published during July, 1913.—Correspondence : Construction for the Direction of a Magnetic 


Line of Force. By W. H. Scarborough, M.A., B.Sc.—Grammatical Reform. 


By Ll. M. Penn, M.A.—Philip’s Comparative 
Series of Wall Atlases. 


By J. F. Unstead, M.A., D.Sc. ; E. G. R. Taylor, B.Sc. ; The Reviewer. 
MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD., LONDON, 


Microscopes and Accessories 
Microtomes and Accessories 


Photomicrographic Apparatus 


Projection Apparatus 


Blood Counting Appliances 


Aplanatic Pocket Lenses 


For Field 


Prism Binoculars ang" Theatre 


ETC. 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 4, I913 


THE Gs 
“LORD BURY” 


Telescope. 


Supplied in large numbers 
for use by Travellers and 

Sportsmen. 

Fitted with pancratie tube 
varying the power from 25 

to 35 diameters. 


Size closed, 10”; IMlastrated 
extended, 31”. PRS a! 
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Will make out wild fowl at The 
16 miles, will discern a > 
flagstaff at 22 miles, and - Lord Bury 
name of lightship at 
eae Telescope, 


in bronzed brass, 
POST FREE 


and fitted in Leather 

on Sling Case (weight of 
receipt of telescope 2 Ib. 3 02,). 
Remit- £4 4 0) 


tance. 


Ditto in bronzed light metab 
(weight of telescope 1 Ib. 8 0z.). 


£5 15 O 


Awarded Grand Prix at the Exhibition 
of the 


International Medical Congress. 


18 BLOOMSBURY SQUARE, W.C. 


(A few doors from the British 


Opticians and Scientific Instrument ‘aribeat 
to the British & Foreign Govts.; 


Museum). 
LONDON. 
Established 1852, 


WATSON’S “SUNICA” PRISM BINOCULARS 


The embodiment of DAINTINESS and PERFECTION. 


To motor, walk, cycle, boat, climb, or make holiday without a Prism Glass means losing a cousidenghie’ 
amount of enjoyment. A Prism’ Glass reveals hosts of sights that would otherwise be invisible, and adds a 
new charm to everything ohserved. 

Watson’s “SUNICA” Prism Glass is the right magnification—the compact size—and is the 
always dependable companion that is so much desired. IT IS BRITISH- MADE ‘THROUGHOUT AT 
BARNET, HERTS, and that means sound workmanship and quality. i! 
It is waterproof and can be immersed in water, | It has wonderful steregsco ic effect. 

It will withstand rough usage. A very large angle of field of view—48’—enables 
It is covered with vulcanite of morocco leather a large surface to be embraced. 
pattern. The optical quality cannot be surpassed. 
Magnification, 6 diameters. Diameter of Objectives, 0':90in. Height,42in. Weight, 22 oz, 


PRICE (post free), with neck sling, and in best solid leather sling case ... £6 O O 


W. WATSON & SONS, Ltd. (7°9337""), 313 High Holborn, London, W.C. 
Optical Works :-HIGH BARNET, HERTS. 


Depots {2EASY ROW, BIRMINGHA 
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St. Martin's Street, London, W.C., and THe Macmitvan Co., 66 Fifth Avenue, New York.—Txuurspay, September a IOI. 


Back View. 


SPENCER DISSECTING MICROSCOPE, No. 86a. 


Plate Glass Ste age, mirror to reflect light to object _ Hollow Block 
for Dissecting Instruments and Lenses, | Witn 9x Doublet, 10/6 


Price List on application. 


406 STRAND & 457 WEST STRAND, © 


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a a an 


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A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF. SCIENC} 


“To the solid ground 
Of Nites trusts the mind which builds for aye. 


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No. 2289, VoL. 92]. THURSDAY, 


SEPTEMBER 


_[Price SIXPENCE 


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Registered as a Newspaper at the ‘veneral Post (fice. ' 


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(W.&J.GEORGE. LTD.,SUCC #2) : LONDON, E.G: 


JOHN J. GRIFFIN & Sons, L” 


KINGSWAY, LONDON, W.C. 


‘Scientific Instrument Makers. 


ANB sBOW 
(C. V. Boys’; Patent.) e 

ge For Studying Liquid Films, op , 
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2 Packi 
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Including 2 Bottles of special Soap Solution and Full Instructions, 


REYNOLDS & BRANSON, Ltd., 


Chemical and Scientific Instrument Makers to 
His Majesty’s Government (Indian, Home & Colonial). 
“ Rystos ’ 
Analytical Balance 


with Magnalium Beam. 


Improved vertical movement of rider 
hook, rider scale from end to end of 


beam, and plumb line. The bearings 
are agate throughout; the beam of 
hard magnalium. Base of black 


crystal. Mahogany case with counter- 
poised doors & brass levelling screws. 

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sensitive to r/1oth milligramme, extra 
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Ditto, Ditto, to carry 200 grammes, 
with straight beam, of cheaper con- 
struction .. 


New Catalogue of Balances, 24 pages, on epotentian 


Catalogues of Chemical and Physical Apparatus, Chemicals for 
Technical purposes and Research, Laboratory Fittings and 
Furniture, &c., &c., post free on application. 


Leeds. 


14 Commercial Street, 


The latest Recording 
Rain Gauge is the 


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which embodies 
several new 
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features. Entirely 
automatic, it 1s 
the result of 
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NEGRETTI & ZAMBRA 


?38 Holborn Viaduct, London, E.C. Write for 
City Branch: 45 Cornhill, E.C. pamphlet! 
West End: 122 Regent St., W. 


Xii 


THE DAVY-FARADAY 
RESEARCH LABORATORY 


ROYAL INSTITUTION, 


No. 20 ALBEMARLE STREET, LONDON, W. 


DIRECTOR 
Professor Sir JAMES DEWAR, M.A: LDDs 
D:Se;, F.R.S. 


This Laboratory was founded by the late Dr. Ludwig Mond, D.Sc. 
F.R.S., as a Memorial of Davy and Faraday, for the purpose of enabling 
properly qualified persons to conduct Chemical and Physical Research. 

Workers admitted are entitled to the use of the extensive chemical and 
physical apparatus belonging to the Laboratory. 

The Director may, subject to the approval of the Laboratory Committee, 
supply special chemicals, or authorise the Mechanician to construct special 
apparatus for individual investigators. 

MICHAELMAS TERM.—Monday, 
December 20. 


LENT TERM.—Monday, January 12, to Saturday, April 4. 
EASTER TERM.—Monday, April 27, to Saturday, July 2s. 


Applications for admission to the Davy Faraday Research Laboratory to 
be addressed to the AssisTANT Secretary, Royal Institution, No. 21 
Albemarle Street, London, W. 


October 6, to Saturday, 


UNIVERSITY OF LONDON, 


KING’S COLLEGE. 


DIVISION OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 


In this Division a Course of Study in Science is provided suitable for 
general education or for the Examinations of the London and other 
Universities, 

Students are admitted into the 
Matriculated Students. 
offered in this Division. 

The Laboratories of the College are open to post-Graduates and Research 
Students by special arrangement with the Heads of Departments. 

The following are the Departments under the charge of the various 
Professors, assisted by the Junior Staff :— 


Division either as Matriculated or non- 
Several valuable Scholarships and Prizes are 


: Prof. S. A. F. Wuits, M.A. 
Mathematics ay (Bror J. W. Nicuotson, M.A. 
Physics xn pee C. G. Barkra, D.Sc., F.R.S. 

- rof. Joun M. Tuomson, LL.D., F.R.S. 
Chemistry {Prof H. Jackson, F.I.C., F.C.S. 
Botany 4 Prof. W. B. Borromiey, Ph.D., F.L.S. 
Zoology ... Ay + Prof. ArrHuR Denny, D.Sc., F.R.S. 
Geology and Mineralogy T. Frankuin SiBty, D.Sc. 

Physiology See D. Hatiisurton, M.D., B.Sc., 
Psychology Dr. W. Brown. 


The next TERM commences WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER I, 1913. 


For further particulars apply to the SecrETARY, King’s College, Strand, 
London, W.C. 


SESSION OPENS 29th SEPTEMBER, 1913. 


EAST LONDON COLLEGE 


(UNIVERSITY OF LONDON). 


FACULTIES OF ARTS, SCIENCE, AND 
ENGINEERING. 


FEES: TEN GUINEAS PER ANNUM. 
NO ENTRY FEE AND NO REGISTRATION CHARGES. 


Special fees and facilities for Post Graduate 
and Research Students in all Faculties. 


M.A. CLASSES FOR MATHEMATICS. 


Calendar, with lists of Graduates, University and College 
Scholarships, Academic and other distinctions, post free on 
application to the Registrar, or the Principal, 


J. L. S. HATTON, M.A. 
Telephone No.: East 3384. 


___ee 
THE NORTH of SCOTLAND COLLEGE 
OF AGRICULTURE. 

SESSION 1913-14. 


Applications for the Calendar for Session 1913-14, showing complete 
Courses in Agriculture, suitable for Farmers, Land Agents, Managers and 
Teachers of Agricultural Science, should be made to the SECRETARY. 


The WINTER SESSION opens on Thursday, OCTOBER 9. 


GEO. HENDRY, Secretary, 
414 Union Street, Aberdeen, 
September 5, rgr3. 


NATURE 


| 


[SEPTEMBER II, 1913 


NEW SESSION BEGINS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29. 


BIRKBECK COLLEGE, 


BREAMS BUILDINGS, (™\NCERY LANE, E.C. 
Principal : G. Armitage-Smith, M.A., D.Lit. 


COURSES OF STUDY (Day and Evenin ) for the Degrees of the — 
e 


UNIVERSITY OF LONDON in th 


FACULTIES OF SCIENCE & ARTS 
(PASS AND HONOURS) 
under RECOGNISED TEACHERS of the University. 
SCIENCE.—Chemistry, Physies, Mathematics (Pure and 
Applied), Botany, Zoology, Geology and Mineralogy. 


ARTS.—Latin, Greek, English, French, German, Italian, 
History, Geography, Logie, Economies, Mathematies (Pure 
and Applied). 


Evening Courses for the Degrees in Economics and Law. 


Day: Science, £17 10s.; Arts, £10 10s. 
SESSIONAL FEES arcaaee Science, Arts, or Economics, £5 5s, 


POST-GRADUATE AND RESEARCH WORK. 
Particulars on application to the Secretary. 


IMPERIAL ¢ 


COLLEGE 


OF SCIENCE AND TECHNCLOGY 


The Governors of the Imperial College are prepared to AWARD SIX 
ENTRANCE SCHOLARSHIPS in SCIENCE for SESSION 1913-14, 
tenable at the Royal College of Science. 


The Scholarships are of the value of £40 per annum (exclusive of tuition), 
are tenable for one year, but renewable for a second or third year on the 
recommendation of the Board of Studies of the College. Date of Scholar- 
ship Examination Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, September 23, 25 and 26, 
1913, from 10 to 5. For particulars and forms apply to the SECRETARY OF 
THE CoL.EGeE, South Kensington, London, S.W. 


_—_——_——_—___—_——_- xr 


SOUTH-WESTERN POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, CHELSEA, — 


SPECIAL EVENING COURSES. 


Bacteriology and Fungus Culture—HuGH MacLean. D.Sc, Ch.B., 
M.D. ; Biochemistry—HvuGcu MacLean, D.Sc., Ch.B., M.D. ; Crystallo- 
graphy and Mineralogy—*A. J. Masten, F.L.S., F.G.S. ; Electricity and 
Magnetism—*L. Lownps, B.Sc., Ph.D. ; Foods and Drugs Analysis— 
H. B. Stevens, F.1.C., Ph.C., F.C.S.; Heredity and Evolution—*J. T. 
Cunnincuam, ‘M.A. ; Human Physiology—F. O'B. ELuison, B.A., M.D. 3 
Metallography & Pyrometry—W. A. Natsu, A.R.S.M., A I.M.M. : Optics 
—*F. W. Jorpan, B.Sc., A.R.C.S. ; Organic Chemistry—*J. C. Crocker, 
M.A., D.Sc. ; Physical Chemistry—*J. C. Crocker, M.A.. D.Sc. ; Plant 
Ecology—F. Cavers, D.Sc., F.L.S. ; Pure Mathematics, subsidiary sub- 
ject for B.Sc. Honours—*T. G. Srratn, M.A.; Recent Researches in 
Biochemistry—Hucu MacLean, D.Sc., Ch.B., M.D.; Stratigraphical 
Geology with special reference to foreign areas—T. C. Nicnoras, B.A. 
(Camb.); Vector Analysis. Complex Quantities with applications to 
Physics—*J. Lister, A.R.C.S. 

* Recognised Teachers of London University. 

Evening Courses commence for the Session 1913-14 on Monday, Septem- 
ber 22, 1913, and the Day Courses on Monday, September 29, 1913. The 
Examination for Day Studentships commences Monday, September 22, at 
toa.m. Further particulars on application to the SECRETARY. 


Telephone: 899 Western. SID NEY SKINNER, M.A., Principal. 


CITY OF LONDON COLLEGE. 


AOTING IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE LONDON GHAMBER OF COMMERCE. 
WHITE S8T., and ROPEMAKER ST., MOORFIELDS, E.G. 


(Near Moorgate and Liverpool Street Stations). = 


PRINCIPAL: SIDNEY HUMPHRIES, B.A., LL.B. (Cantab.) 


Michaelnas Term begins Monday, September 29th. 


EVENING CLASSES in SCIENCE. Well-equipped 
LABORATORIES for Practical Work in CHEMISTRY, 
BOTANY, GEOLOGY. 


Special Courses for Pharmaceutical and other examinations. Classes 
are also held in all Commercial Subjects, in Languages, and Literature, 
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DAY SCHOOL OF COMMERCE. Preparation fora COMMERCIAL 
or BUSINESS career. 


Prospectuses, and all other information, gratis on application. 


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a .£o 


NATURE 


27 


COLONIES. 

Handbook of Fungus Diseases of the Potato in 
Australia and their Treatment. By) 1: 
McAlpine, Department of Agriculture, Victoria. 
Pp. iii+215+1 map. (Melbourne: J. Kemp, 
Government Printer, 1912.) 

HIS handbook records matters of scientific 
interest to economic mycologists in all 
countries, while, at the same time, it is written with 
the aim (which is certainly achieved) of giving valu- 
able information and assistance in practical matters 
to the Australian farmer. In the latter direction 

Dr. McAlpine has performed, indeed, a public 

service. 

The book deals in detail with Phytophthora 
infestans, Alternaria solani, Rhizoctonia, “scab,” 
Fusarium solani, and Bacillus solanacearum, and 
is illustrated with 158 excellent photographs. In 
a very instructive appendix are given the various 
legislative “orders” relating to potato diseases 
which have been put into force under the “ Vege- 
tation Diseases Acts” and “Quarantine Act” of 
Australia. 

The author states that in Australia the annual 
value of the crop is more than one-and-a-half 
million pounds sterling. He rightly insists on the 
economic importance of all steps being taken by 
the State, and by the individual, to safeguard the 
health of the crop, and remarks :—‘‘ Some of the 
worst diseases with which the [potato] grower has 
to contend in Britain and elsewhere are not known 
here, simply because the fungi causing them have 
not been introduced, and with a Quarantine Act 
in existence they are not likely to be.” 

The educational value of the legislation against 
plant-diseases is shown by the following observa- 
tion :— 

“There is a widespread desire on the part of 


growers to know more about the diseases of 
the potato, for the ignorance of the past can no 


_ longer be tolerated, since there is a rigid system 


of inspection to prevent diseased tubers. passing 
from one State to another.” 

With regard to all the diseases mentioned, a 
number of highly interesting experiments and 
observations are recorded. In the case of Phyto- 
phthora infestans it is shown that sporangia can 
infect the unbroken skin of healthy tubers; and 
that the mycelium can remain living in a dried-up 
tuber (“as dead as a mummy,” to quote the 
author’s words) for more than four months. Inter- 
esting facts are given as to the different character- 
istics the disease shows in Australia, as compared 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


with Great Britain and particularly Ireland; while 
the tubers are attacked in Australia, there is, 
generally speaking—owing to the prevailing hotter 
weather—no sudden blackening and decay of the 
tops. This difference not unnaturally led potato- 
growers in Australia, particularly those who had 
had experience of the ‘“‘blight”’ in Ireland, to the 
error of supposing that the two diseases were 
distinct. (The speculation naturally suggests it- 
self whether a distinct form of P. infestans may 
not arise in Australia, specialised to these new 
conditions of temperature and humidity.) It is 
found that the “kangaroo apple” (Solanum 
aviculare) serves as a host-plant; while it is stated 
that S. nigrum, a common weed in Australia, 
appears to be immune. Another very interesting 
fact which has been ascertained is the undoubted 
connection of the severity of the disease with the 
rainfall in different districts. 

A full discussion is given of the life-history of 
P. infestans. Here, as with so many common 
fungous diseases, there are important gaps in 
our knowledge waiting to be filled; it is necessary 
to take every opportunity to point out that in 
no department of botany is research needed more 
than in economic mycology. The author remarks: 
“probably the mycelium remains dormant in the 
{potato} stalks ”; such statements are to be depre- 
cated—it is better to admit the absence of definite 
knowledge. 

A series of experiments showed that the 
Fusarium of the potato and tomato are transfer- 
able; excellent photomicrographs are given of 
the life-history and stages of development of this 
fungus. EB. S2Ss 


PHYSICAL TRAINING. 
Ma Lecon-Type d’entrainement complet et utili- 
taire. By Lieut. G. Hébert. Pp. 208. (Paris: 

Librairie Vuibert, 1913.) Price 1.75 francs. 

\,N reading this book most people interested 
() in physical training will agree that although 
the training it describes may be utilitaire, it is 
certainly not complet. The training aims at the 
acquirement of strength and endurance, as do 
all forms of physical training and many forms 
of sport. But M. Hébert’s system lacks the com- 
pleteness and variety of the Swedish system, which 
is the system now used in our Army and Navy 
and in an increasing number of schools in this 
country. There is nothing M. Hébert claims for 
his method which is not equally true of the 
Swedish method. 

M. Hébert divides exercises into seven classes : 
(1) marching; (2) running; (3) jumping; (4) 
climbing; (5) lifting; (6) throwing; (7) exercises 

Cc 


28 


of defence—boxing and wrestling. What are 
called balance movements in the Swedish system, 
as well as abdominal movements, are included 
in a truly “utilitarian” manner in climbing exer- 
cises. So far as abdominal movements are con- 
cerned, this does not allow graduation of resist- 
ance, which is a matter of importance. There is 
little variety of limb exercises, and the group of 
back exercises, so valuable for their corrective 
effect in regard to the faulty positions assumed 
in most occupations, are entirely omitted. Head 
and neck exercises are also omitted, while lateral 
trunk movements are only used as applied move- 
ments, and are therefore not graduated. 

The more definite grouping of movements in 
the Swedish system allows of a more graduated 
and equal training for each part of the muscular 
system, each group of muscles, and, therefore, of 
the body as a whole. Free trunk movements, 
lateral and otherwise, are obviously of value in 
acquiring strength, flexibility, ard complete 
coordination. Free arm movements are of 
greater value for the normal development of the 
arms and chest than movements of lifting and 
throwing. 

In a Swedish gymnastic lesson the hardest work 
is performed in the middle of the lesson, the 
amount of exertion being graduated throughout. 
M. Hébert also graduates the amount of work, 
but leaves the hardest work to be performed to- 
wards the end of the lesson. The effect of the 
former method on circulation and respiration, and 
on the distribution of blood in the body, is more 
desirable physiologically. 

M. Hébert lays due stress on the importance 
of deep breathing, and of complete expiration as 
well as inspiration. On the other hand, he recom- 
mends as an exercise slow matching, breathing in 
during four to six steps, breathing out during four 
to six steps, either with or without an intermediate 
respiratory pause with expanded chest for one 
or two steps. This method of breathing would 
undoubtedly tend to produce over-expansion of the 
chest, with loss of elasticity and accompanying 
emphysema. Marching with the hands crossed 
behind the back (Fig. 18) also tends to fix the 
chest and hinder complete expiration, besides pro- 
ducing a bad position of the shoulders and often 
hollow back. Sun and air baths and gymnastics 
in the open air are recommended, the body being 
uncovered except for a short pair of drawers, un- 
less the weather is specially inclement, or the sun 
very hot, when a protective covering for the head 
and back of the neck is added. 

The illustrations as a whole are excellent, 
although some of those which illustrate jumping 
appear to show that the height of the jump is 

NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER II, 1913 


considered more than the correctness of the 
attitude in jumping (Fig. 94). 

The book is arranged clearly, and is much more 
readable than the more severe and “complete” 
gymnastic treatises. Mina L. Dossir. 


OUR BOOKSHELF, 

L’Aviation. By Prof. P. Painlevé, Prof. E. Borel, 
and Ch. Maurain. Sixiéme edition. Pp. viii+ 
298. (Paris: Librairie Felix Alcan, 1913.) Price 
3 francs 50 centimes. 

Written by well-known members of the French 
aeronautical professions, the book provides a 
simple and interesting account of the position of 
aviation at the present time. The text rarely deals 
quantitatively with the problems connected with 
the construction or motion of an aeroplane, cal- 
culations being left to notes at the end of the 
book; the notes occupy about one-third of the 
whole, and refer to investigations many of which 
are the original work of the authors. 

Only a very short historical portion is provided 
as introduction, but it is interesting to find that 
the work of Sir George Cayley, as a pioneer in 
the development of the theory of the aeroplane, is 
prominently referred to. The ‘coming of the 
aeroplane” is dated from the autumn of 1908, 
when the flights of Farman, Delagrange, Blériot, 
and the striking achievements of the Wright 
Brothers began to attract attention; the sub- 
sequent rapid development of aviation and its 
causes are referred to and illustrated by means of 
a record of the best results obtained at successive 
stages. 

A discussion of the flight of birds in winds, on 
the lines of Langley’s “Internal work of the 
Wind,” is used to illustrate the possibility of 
extracting energy from the wind, and so flying 
without the use “of an engine. 

Aeroplanes of various types, made in the period 
1908-10, are illustrated, and the organs described 
in some detail. The use of the elevator and rudder 
in manceuvring is referred to under gliders, but 
stability, longitudinal and lateral, is referred to 
power-driven machines. Lateral stability is sub- 
divided into “stability of gyration,” that is, 


stability of direction relative to the wind and . 
in the limited sense of keeping ~ 


“lateral stability ” 
an even keel. Bryan has shown that the subdivi- 
sion may be misleading as the two are not inde- 
pendent, and should be treated together. 

The book has the advantage of a very complete 
index, which makes reference a simple matter. 


Household Bacteriology: For Students in Domestic 
Science. By Estelle D. Buchanan and Prof. 
R. E. Buchanan. Pp. xv+536. (New York: 
The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price ros. net. 

“DomESTIC science ” is rightly coming to the fore, 

and in any course of instruction devoted to this 

subject, some amount of bacteriology, or ‘“ micro- 
biology,” as it may preferably be termed, must 
be included. The present volume practically 
covers the ground of such knowledge of micro- 


ee 


SEPTEMBER II, 1913] 


NAIURE 


29 


organisms as is desirable for the domestic science 
student. It is divided into five sections, dealing 
respectively with (a) morphology and classifica- 
tion; (b) cultivation and methods of investigation ; 
{c) physiology; (d) fermentation; and (e) micro- 
organisms in relation to health and disease. The 
bacteria, yeasts, and moulds are considered at 
some length, and a chapter on parasitic Protozoa 
is included. . 

The chapters on general morphology and classi- 
fication are particularly good, and a clear account 
is furnished of the distinguishing features of the 
various groups. In an appendix an illustrated key 
is given of the families and genera of the common 
moulds; this will be found most useful in the 
laboratory by other than domestic science students. 

The brief description of the optics of the im- 
mersion system of lenses is correct, so far as it 
goes, but a paragraph should have been inserted 
pointing out that the great advantage of this 
system is the increased resoluion obtained thereby. 

The chapter on food preservation is a useful 
summary of the subject, but might have been 
extended with advantage. 

The chapters on the nitrogen cycle in nature, 
alcoholic and other fermentations, enzyme action, 
and the ripening of certain foods are all satisfac- 
tory and convey a considerable amount of coordin- 
ated information on these important aspects of 
microbiology. 

Much space (140 pages) is devoted to a con- 
sideration of disease and disease-producing micro- 
organisms, vegetable and protozoal. We think 
this section could have been somewhat curtailed 
with advantage, having regard to the avowed 
limitation of the book; and the space so gained 
might then have been devoted to a fuller con- 
sideration of certain aspects of household micro- 
biology. Such criticisms as have been offered are 
those of detail, but the book as a whole is an 
excellent one. It is profusely and well illustrated, 
and can be strongly recommended not only to the 
domestic science student, but to a wider public. 

R. T. Hew err. 


Aus Siid-Brasilien. Erinnerungen und Auf- 
seichnungen. By Dr. W. Breitenbach. Pp. 
XVi+-251. (Brackwede i. W.: Dr. W. Breiten- 
bach, 1913.) Price 3 marks. 

THE author has lived in southern Brazil for 

several years in order to observe the land and the 

people, especially the German colonies, and be- 
ginning in the year 1884, he has since described 
his observations in more than thirty newspaper 
articles, essays, and separate pamphlets. Con- 
sidering the changes which have come about in 
Brazil within the last thirty years, this book does 
not pretend to deal with present-day questions of 
commerce, industry, and general development, 
or with the colonisation scheme, which, of course, 
has undergone complete modifications. His per- 
sonal experiences, narratives of various journeys, 
are also omitted, having been described elsewhere. 

It is, therefore, not very obvious why these 

“reminiscences and notes” should be published 

now. 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


The fragmentary chapters on minerals, fauna, 
and flora are poor. Others, written in the easy, 
fluent style of feuilletons or causeries, deal with the 
life in towns, chiefly Porto Alegre, the capital of 
South Brazilian Germans, whose customs, modes 
of assimilation, ideals, and successes are compared 
with those of the Brazilians. 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


[Tke Editor does not hold himseif responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


Branch Product in Actinium C. 

Ir is now well established that the atoms of 
radium C and thorium C can break up in two distinct 
ways, 7.e., with the expulsion of either an a or a B 
particle. It is to be expected from the close analogy 
between the C products of the various radio-active 
families that actinium C should also show abnormal 
disintegration, and, further, it might be anticipated 
that one of the branch products would emit an « 
particle with great velocity and corresponding long 
range. We have made experiments to test this point. 
A source of actinium active deposit was covered with 
a sheet of mica equivalent to about 5 cm. air in 
stopping power of a particles, and the whole placed 
in an exhausted chamber with a zinc sulphide screen 
about 2 cm. from the source. The numbers of 
scintillations appearing on the screen per minute 
for different pressures of the air inside the 
apparatus were counted, and thus the falling off of 
the a particles with ‘“range’’ determined. The 
results showed that in addition to the « particles of 
actinium C with range 5.4 cm., a small number, 
about 1 in 600, can penetrate as far as about 6-45 cm. 
Special experiments showed that the long-range a 
particles could not be due to radium or thorium 
impurity, and they must therefore be attributed to 
the expected new branch product. 

In connection with this question, it should be 
noticed that Mme. Blanquies, in 1910, inferred the 
existence of two a-ray products in the active deposit 
of actinium from the shape of the Bragg ionisation 
curve. The small fraction of long-range « particles 
found in our experiments, viz., 1 in 600, is, however, 
quite insufficient to be reconciled with her results. 
We are therefore repeating her experiments. 

E. Marspen. 
R. H. Witson. 
University of Manchester, September 3. 


The Terrestrial Distribution of the Radio-elements 

and the Origin of the Earth. 

In Nature of June 19 and August 7, 1913, Mr. 
Holmes, in two interesting letters, shows on the basis 
of the planetesimal hypothesis how a concentration 
of the radio-elements might possibly take place in the 
earth’s crust with their absence at depth to satis- 
factorily account for the observed temperature gradient 
of the earth; and in his latest communication he 
indicates how the inhibition of radio-activity by pres- 
sure might bring about the same result. But the 
terrestrial distribution of these elements seems to be 
of further importance in that it may enable us to 
determine whether our earth had a stellar or a 
planetesimal origin. 

On the stellar hypothesis, the earth would be partly 
developed by a process of oxidation—practically the 
i same as that by which we manufacture steel from 


30 


impure cast-iron at the present day—and whereby all 
the impurities would be removed to the surface to 
form the primal crust. The first of this primal crust 
would be the most acidic, and the last the most basic; 
and in the metallic core left, even the oxygen which 
had been the means of removing all the impurities 
would itself be undetectable. Thorium is but a higher 
member of the silicon (carbon) family as uranium is 
of the oxygen family, and the conditions which remove 
the lower members should be effective in removing 
the higher ones also. So, too, it seems only natural 
that the most acidic rocks—that is, the rocks con- 
taining the greatest proportions of silicon and of 
oxygen—should at the same time be associated with 
the greatest proportions of thorium and of uranium, 
which are but the highest members of the silicon and 
oxygen families. 

On the planetesimal hypothesis a similar distribu- 
tion of the radio-elements can hardly be imagined. 
To get a metallic core that shall be free from thorium 
and uranium, we have to imagine the planetesimals 
undergoing individually the oxidation process which 
has just been sketched, unless the planetesimals hap- 
pened to be fragments of a preformed stellar mass. 
Provided all went well, when these planetesimals were 
piling themselves together to form the earth, the 
result would be a metallic core free from thorium and 
uranium, but surrounded by a crust in which these 
elements would be uniformly distributed. As the 
acidic rocks differ only in degree from the basic rocks, 
it would be impossible for the former to rise up 
through miles of a mixture of both to form an acidic 
layer, as happens in the case of a stellar earth. Sub- 
sequent aqueous action is relatively negligible in both 
cases. 

It is probably the exigencies, of the planetesimal 
hypothesis that constrain Mr. Holmes to state that 
there is ‘clearly a marked antipathy between the 
radio-elements and native iron, for in all the terrestrial 
examples which have been examined uranium and 
thorium are barely detectable.” As a matter of fact, 
these elements alloy with iron and nickel, which are 
the constituents of native iron; and their marked 
absence is a proof that native iron had undergone an 
oxidation process at one time in its history, and so 
had its thorium and uranium removed. 

95 Bath Street, Glasgow. GEORGE CRAIG. 


THE INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR SOLAR 
RESEARCH. 
HE fifth conference of the International Union 
for Cooperation in Solar Research was held 
at Bonn, by invitation of Prof. Kayser, from 
July 31 to August 5. The attendance was about 
100, including delegates from nearly every country 
in Europe, and a large contingent from America. 
In the absence of Prof. Hale and Dr. Schuster, 
through sickness, the executive committee was 
ably represented by Prof. Turner. As on former 
oceasions, the chief business at the general meet- 
ings was to receive and discuss the reports of the 
various committees appointed for the organisation 
of observations and methods of reduction. 

An important part of the work of the union has 
been that relating to standards of wave-length. 
At the last meeting, held at Mount Wilson, Cali- 
fornia, in-rgro, it was believed that a final set of 
standards was well within sight, but further in- 
vestigations liave revealed unexpected difficulties. 
It has, in fact, been found by Goos and others that 
the wave-lengths of many of the iron lines vary 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


| 


[SEPTEMBER 11, 1913 


slightly with the length of the arc and the portion 
of the are observed. Fortunately, most of the 
lines already adopted as secondary standards, 
from interferometer determinations, preserve their 
positions under a variety of circumstances, but 
they are not sufficient in number. Hence, it has 
become necessary to attempt the definition of a 
standard iron arc for determinations of further 
standards, and for the production of reference 
spectra to be used in the determination of wave- 
lengths by interpolation. The committee recom- 
mended the following specification for the iron 
arc: (1) Length of arc, 6 mm. (2) For lines of 
wave-length greater than 4000, current to be 
6 amperes, and for lines of shorter wave-length 
4 amperes, or possibly less. (3) Direct current, 
positive pole above negative, P.D. of 220 volts, 
electrodes being iron rods of 7 mm. diameter. 


(4) An axial portion of the arc, at its middle, about - 


2 mm. in length, to be used as the source of light. 
Cooperation in the determination of tertiary 
standards is desired from all who possess concave 
gratings, plane gratings, or prisms of sufficient 
dispersion and resolving power, and to this end 
it is recommended that additional secondary 
standards be determined with the interformeter, 
so that the interpolation method may be used with 
greater exactness. : 

At the Mount Wilson meeting a committee on 
the determination of the solar rotation by means 
of the displacements of lines was formally organ- 
ised, and a programme of research agreed upon. 
Each cooperating observer undertook observa- 
tions, at specified latitudes, in a definite region 
of the spectrum, in addition to a control region 
common to all the observers, and lines were to be 
selected so as to include elements of widely dif- 
ferent atomic weights. It now appears that dif- 
ferent observers may obtain results differing sys- 
tematically by as much as 10 per cent. from one 
another, and that serious discrepancies have also 
been found in the results obtained by different 
observers from measurements of the same photo- 
graphs. The committee accordingly recommended 
that, before proceeding further, investigations of 
these sources of error should be made by deter- 
minations of velocity at the solar equator by as 
many different methods as possible. 

Satisfactory progress in work with the spectro- 
heliograph was reported, but the Committee hoped 
that additional observatories would install instru- 
ments of high dispersion, in order that filaments 
and alignments in the upper atmosphere might be 
more completely recorded. As the result of répre- 
sentations made by Prof. Ricco and by the Royal 
Astronomical Society, the title of the spectrohelio- 
graph committee was changed to “Committee on 
Solar Atmosphere,” so as to include and unify all 
the observations on the solar atmosphere, visual 
and photographic, except those associated with 
eclipses. The organisation directed by Prof. 
Ricco, and other observers of prominences, were 
thus given the opportunity of closer connection 
with the union. After some discussion, a. sub- 
committee for visual observations of prominences 
and related phenomena was appointed, with Prof. 


‘SEPTEMBER II, 1913] 


Ricco as chairman and Father Cortie as secretary. 
The chief recommendations subsequently made by 
the sub-committee were that the limiting height 
of prominences for general statistical purposes 
should be 30”, and that results should be ex- 
pressed as profile areas, the conventional “ promin- 
ence unit” being defined as the area covered by 
an arc of 1 degree along the sun’s limb and 
1 second of arc of the celestial sphere in height. It 
is hoped that by this means it may be possible to 
combine more successfully the records made at 
different observatories. 

I‘rom the report presented by the committee 
on the spectra of sun spots, it appears that spots 
observed during the recent minimum did not differ 
appreciably from those observed at maximum, so 
far as could be determined with instruments of 
moderate dispersion. It is, however, considered 
desirable that the systematic visual observations 
initiated by the committee should be continued at 
least until 1916, so as to include a complete cycle 
of eleven years, The organisation of photo- 
graphic investigations of spot spectra has been 
undertaken, and several observers have already 
agreed to cooperate in preparing a much-needed 
catalogue of lines affected in spots, and also in 
other investigations. 

An important outcome of the Mount Wilson 
meeting was the extension of the scope of the 
union so as to include astrophysics in general. 
The committee then appointed to consider the 
possibility of securing uniformity in the classifica- 
tion of stellar spectra has collected opinions from 
a great number of workers, and reports that a 
provisional preference for the Draper classification 
is nearly unanimous. At the same time, the 
general feeling is opposed to immediate committal 
to any system, and an effort will be made to 
secure the material necessary for the establishment 
of a classification that can’ be recommended for 
permanent and universal adoption. 

The formal proceedings were varied by ad- 
dresses and papers on subjects coming within the 
scope of the union, and by several interesting 
social gatherings. The receptions by the munici- 
palities of Bonn and Cologne, and by Prof. and 
Frau Kistner at the Bonn Observatory, will long 
remain a pleasant memory to those who were 
privileged to be present, as will also the excursion 
on the Rhine generously provided by Prof. 
Kayser. The success of the conference as a whole 
was largely due to the admirable arrangements 
made by Profs. Kayser and Pfliger. 

The next conference will be held at Rome in 
1916. A. Fow ter. 


THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 
ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE BIRMINGHAM MEETING. 


“THE meeting, which began on September 10 

in Birmingham under the presidency of Sir 

_ Oliver Lodge, F.R.S., promises to be a large and 

important one. The number, both of local and of 

_ visiting members and associates, amounts at the 
time of writing to about 2600. 

Among the corresponding and foreign repre- 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 31 


sentatives are:—Sir H. Angst (Consul-General, 
Zurich); Prof. Svante Arrhenius (Stockholm) ; 
Prof. Bemmelen (Groningen); Prof. H. Braus 
(Heidelberg); Prof. Capitan (Paris); Prof. Chodat 
(Geneva); Madame Curie (Paris); Dr. Dollo 
(Brussels); Prof. Lorentz (Leiden); Prof. Reinke 
(Kiel); Prof. Keibel (Freiburg); Dr. Versluys 
(Giessen) ; Dr. Gregory (New York); Prof. Prings- 
heim (Breslau); Prof. Sorensen (Copenhagen) ; and 
Prof. R. W. Wood (Baltimore). It is hoped that 
others may be able to attend the meeting. 

A new procedure has been adopted this year 
with a view to reducing the pressure on the recep- 
tion room during the first day or two of the 
meeting. To each intending visitor a “Selection 
Circular” has been addressed, giving a list of the 
various functions (addresses, discourses, entertain- 
ments, and excursions), which have been ar- 
ranged, with a request that the functions selected 
should be indicated on the returned half of the 
circular. The response to this appeal has been 
very gratifying, as over fifteen hundred replies 
have already been received. Nevertheless, the 
work of the reception room officials has been very 
heavy. 

The usual business meetings were held on Wed- 
nesday last. At the general committee a deputa- 
tion from the Corporation and University of Man- 
chester invited the Association to visit that city 
in 1915. The representatives present were: the 
Deputy Lord Mayor of Manchester, the Town 
Clerk, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Horace Lamb, 
PRS.) erot.. He By Dixon; F.R:S., and: Mr: 
Maxwell Garnett. In the evening the President 
delivered his long-expected address, the contents 
of which will now have become known. 

On Thursday evening (September 11) the Lord 
Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Birmingham are 
holding a reception in the Council House Build- 
ings, in which the new art gallery and natural 
history museum are lodged. Special loan collec- 
tions have been deposited in the museum during 
the association week. 

The University Degree Congregation takes 
place on the afternoon of September 11, and 
a fuller account will be given in our next 
issue. The list of graduands has been limited to 
a few distinguished men of science from abroad, 
representative mainly of the chief European 
nations. The following is the list of recipients of 
honorary degrees:—Madame Curie (Sorbonne. 
Paris), Prof. H. A. Lorentz (Leyden), Prof. Keibel 
(Freiburg), Prof. R. W. Wood (Baltimore), Prof. 
Svante Arrhenius (Stockholm). In the unavoid- 
able absence of the chancellor, Mr. Joseph Cham- 
berlain, Vice-Chancellor Barling conferred the 
honorary degree of LL.D. on the graduands, the 
ceremony in each case being prefaced by a pre- 
sentation and speech made by the principal (Sir 
Oliver Lodge). After the ceremony the various 
departments of the New University Buildings were 
visited. 

Entertainments and Excursions. 

With regard to the entertainments: at the 
garden party given by Messrs. Cadbury Brothers 
at Bourneville on Friday, September 12, there 


32 | NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER II, 1913 


will be a masque, folk-dancing, and choral sing- 
ing by village children and workpeople. On 
Saturday a long list of excursions fills the bill, 
and an ‘“‘ Excursion Guide ” giving full information 
of the route followed in each case, together with 
a full description of the several places to be visited, 
has been compiled by the chairman and secretary 
of the Excursions sub-committee (Mr. John Hum- 
phreys and Mr. F. B. Andrews), and is obtainable 
at the reception room; Stratford-on-Avon and 
Warwick, Coventry and Kenilworth, Worcester ; 
Malvern; Banbury and Compton Wynyates; Lich- 
field and Wall; Droitwich and Hartlebury Castle, 
and the Arden villages aré some of the chief 
points. In addition to the general excursions, 
some of the sections are arranging special visits 
for their members, particulars of which can be 
obtained in the reception room. On Saturday 
evening there will be a military concert and torch- 
light tattoo in the Botanical Gardens, Edgbaston. 

On Sunday (September 14) there will be special 
services at the principal places of worship in the 
city. The Bishop of Birmingham is to preach in 
the Pro-Cathedral. 

On Monday evening there will be three enter- 
tainments given by the local committee. The 
Prince of Wales Theatre will present the opera 
Orpheus, under the management of Herr Denhof. 
The Repertory Theatre will give St. John Hankin’s 
Return of the Prodigal, and the New Street 
Picture House will exhibit films of historical and 
scientific interest. 

Lectures.’ 

The evening discourses take place on Septem- 
ber 12 and September 16. The first will be given 
by Sir Henry Cunynghame, of the Home Office, 
and will deal experimentally with ‘Coal Dust 
Explosions and the Means of Preventing Them.” 
The second—by Dr. Smith Woodward, Ties 
of the British Museum (Natural History} —will be 
an illustrated exposition of “Missing Links 
among Extinct Animals.’’ Both of these lectures 
will be delivered in the new Central Hall. 

This year five ‘Citizens’ Lectures” are to be 
given to (mainly) working-class audiences at the 
Digbeth Institute, Birmingham. They are not 
intended for members, but form an altogether 
independent scheme, provided partly by the 
association and partly by the local commit- 
tee, with a view of interesting those members 
of the community who cannot join the asso- 
ciation. The first lecture will be given by Dr. 
A. C. Haddon, F.R.S., on the decorative art 
of “Savages. The other lectures are ‘The 
Panama Canal,” by Dr. Vaughan Cornish, 
F.R.G.S.; “Recent Work on Heredity, and its 
Application to Man,” by Dr. Leonard Doncaster; 
““Metals under the Microscope,” by Dr. Walter 
Rosenhain, F.R.S.; and “The Evolution of 
Matter,” by Mr. F. Soddy, F.R.S. The arrange- 
ments for these lectures have been entrusted to a 
committee, on which the Workers’ Educational 
Association, the Birmingham Trades Council, the 
City Council, and other kindred bodies are repre- 
sented. The demand for tickets has been very 
encouraging. 

NO. 2289, VOL. 92| 


Sectional Proceedings. 

A general statement of the addresses and of the 
chief papers to be delivered during the meeting 
has already been made public, and it is now only 
necessary to mention a few of the main topics of 
interest. 

Section A (Physics and Mathematics) is naturally 
very strong this year, both from the fact that the 
president is a leading physicist, and also from the 
support which has been given to the sectional 
president, Dr. Baker, by the presence of distin- 
guished colleagues, both from this country and 
from abroad. Among these may be mentioned 
Lord Rayleigh, Sir j. J. Thomson, Sir Joseph 
Larmor, Prof. Rutherford, and Prof. Bragg. At- 
tention will be devoted especially to the subjects 
of radiation, radio-active emanations, and the 
structure of the atom, Prof. H. H. Turner will 
demonstrate a seismograph (which was one of the 
late Dr. Milne’s instruments) to be erected in the 
basement of the University (Mason College). 
There will be a joint meeting with the Geographi- 
cal Section on geodetic problems to be held on 
Tuesday morning , September 16. 

The Chemical Section (B) meets in the Tech- 
nical School. In addition to the usual programme, 
there will be a discussion on coal and coal-fuels on 
Monday morning (September 15), and another on 
radio-active elements and the periodic law o 
Tuesday, September 16; whilst on Friday Horne 
(September 12) the two divisions of the section 
will discuss respectively the significance of optical 
properties of substances and certain problems in 
metallurgy. 

The Geological Section (C) has a full pro- 
gramme, both of papers and excursions dealing 
with local problems in coal-mining, and in strati- 
graphical and paleontological geology. Special 
interest is exhibited in the address by Prof. Lap- 
worth on the geology of the country round 
Birmingham. 

The Zoological Section (Section D) is devoting 
Friday morning to a discussion on mimicry, the 
inheritance of melanism, and other problems of 
especial interest 
Monday morning the subject of “Convergence in 
the Mammalia ” will be attractive to geologists, as 
well as to those distinguished zoologists who are 
to take a foremost part in the discussion. Many 
other papers of interest are promised, and on 
Monday afternoon at 3 p.m. Prof. Minchin is to 
give a special address on some aspects of sleep- 
ing sickness. We may here mention what pro- 
mises to be one of the most important demonstra- 
tions and papers, namely, Prof. Benjamin Moore’s 
“Synthesis of Organic Matter by Inorganic Col- 
loids.””. This subject will be given jointly to 
Section D, Section K (Botany), and Section I 
(Physiology) on Tuesday morning at 10.45. Prof. 
Braus (of Heidelberg) will give a kinematograph 
exhibition that morning in the Picture House, New 
Street, of the development of the heart, and on 
Thursday afternoon there will be a joint excursion 
by a limited number (twenty-five) of members of 
each of the sections of Zoology, Botany, and Agri- 
culture, respectively, to the Burbage Experimental 


to entomologists, whilst on. 


a a 


ee ee eee 


4 
< 


=a 


* 


SEPTEMBER II, 1913] 


NATURE 


22 
rere) 


Station, when Major Hurst will demonstrate his 
Mendelian experiments. 

The Economic Section has a well-organised 
discussion on inland waterways, to be opened by 
Lord Shuttleworth on Friday, September 12, and 
another on prices and the cost of living, on the 
Monday following. The subject of the “Panama 
Canal” will be discussed from many points of 
view, both by this section in the Queen’s College, 
Paradise Street, and by the Engineering Section 
in the Technical School. 

A large number of photographs of the Canal 
will be shown in the latter meeting room. 

The Engineering Section has a full programme. 
In the Mechanical Sub-section Prof. Burstall has 
a paper on fuels that should attract attention; in 
the Electrical one there are contributions to the 
study of wireless telegraphy, and a paper on 
electric cooking. The transport and settlement 
of sand and sand-bars, and the re-construction of 
Snow Hill Station, Birmingham, are among the 
topics for discussion by the Mechanical Engineers. 
A gyroscope will be exhibited by Mr. J. W. 
Gordon. 

Anthropology (Section H) has a long and in- 
teresting programme for each day, including 
Wednesday, September 17. The subject-matter, 
indeed, is so large and varied that in addition to 
the large meeting room in the Temperance Hall, 
Temple Street, a sub-section has been arranged to 
meet in the University (Mason College), Edmund 
Street. For details of the work of this section the 
daily programme must be consulted, and mention 
here can only be made of the joint discussion with 
the Education Section on the value of museums, 
to the report by Dr. Fleure and Mr. T. C. Jones 
on the ethnology of Wales; the papers by Dr. 
Flinders Petrie on Egyptian exploration; and to 
the paper on Paleolithic cave-paintings by Dr. 
Capitan, of Paris. 

Section I (Physiology) suffers to some extent 
from the meeting during the past week of the 
International Congress of Physiologists at Gronin- 
gen; but though many prominent men will thereby 
be prevented from attending the Birmingham 
meeting, an interesting debate on the physiology 
of reproduction is assured, and the psychologists 
have such a strong programme that their work is 
to form the basis for an independent sub-section, 
the problems of which are so closely allied to those 
of education that the meeting room of the sub- 
section is placed close to that of Education 
in the University (Mason College). A joint meet- 
ing of their two bodies will discuss “Research in 
Education” on Monday morning, September 15. 

In the Botanical Section there will be, in addi- 
tion to the usual programme of single papers 
(which include such interesting topics as ‘‘The 
Preservation of the British Flora” and ‘The 
Colours and Pigments of Flowers”), one or more 


joint discussions. On Friday morning, September 


12, there will be a conference with the Agricultural 
Section on barley production, and probably a 
second on the fruit industry. The agriculturists 
are offering a paper on German forestry methods, 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


by Prof. Fraser Storey, that is sure to appeal 
equally strongly to the Botanical Section. 

Meetings devoted to topics of general interest 
form a distinctive feature of the Education Sec- 
tion. “The Educational Use of Museums” is the 
title of a discussion, which is strongly supported 
by the leading directors of our museums, whilst 
“The Function of the Modern University ” is the 
subject for Friday’s discussion. As this is intro- 
duced by Sir Alfred Hopkinson, and supported by 
such speakers as Lord Kenyon, Sir H. Reichel, Sir 
George Kenrick, Sir James Yoxall, and Miss 
Burstall, there is sure to be a large attendance. 

Lastly, Agriculture (Section M) has a paper of 
outstanding interest, “The Partial Sterilisation of 
Soil by means of Caustic Lime,” by Dr. Hutchin- 
son and Mr. M. MacLennan, and gives the results 
of some striking experiments recently carried out 
at the Rothamsted Laboratory, Harpenden. Con- 
tributions from the same laboratory are: “The 
Relations between Protozoa and Soil-Problems,” 
by Mr. T. Goodey (protozoologist to the University 
of Birmingham), and “The Weeds of Arable 
Land,” by Dr. Brenchley. Prof. Sédrensen will 
give an account of his recent investigations on 
cereals, whilst the economic side of agriculture 
will be represented by Sir Richard Paget’s 
address on the possibilities of partnership between 
landlord and tenant. 


InauGuRAL ADDRESS BY SIR OLivER J. Lopce, D.Sc., 
LL.D., F.R.S., PRESIDENT. 


Continuity. 
Natura non vincitur nisi parendo. 

First let me lament the catastrophe which has led 
to my occupying the chair here in this city. Sir 
William White was a personal friend of many here 
present, and I would that the citizens of Birming- 
ham could have become acquainted with his attrac- 
tive personality, and heard at first hand of the 
strenuous work which he accomplished in carrying 
out the behests of the Empire in the construction of its 
first line of defence. 

Although a British Association address is hardly 
an annual stocktaking, it would be improper to begin 
this year of office without referring to three more of 
our losses: one that cultured gentleman, amateur of 
science in the best sense, who was chosen to preside 
over our jubilee meeting at York thirty-two years 
ago. Sir John Lubbock, first Baron Avebury, culti- 
vated science in a spirit of pure enjoyment, treating 
it almost as one of the arts; and he devoted social 
and political energy to the welfare of the multitude 
of his fellows less fortunately situated than himself. 

Through the untimely death of Sir George Darwin 
the world has lost a mathematical astronomer whose 
work on the tides and allied phenomena is a monu- 
ment of power and achievement. So recently as our 
visit to South Africa he occupied the presidential chair. 

By the third of our major losses, I mean the death 
of that brilliant mathematician of a neighbouring 
nation who took so comprehensive and philosophic a 
grasp of the intricacies of physics, and whose eloquent 
though sceptical exposition of our laws and processes, 
and of the modifications entailed in them by recent 
advances, will be sure to attract still more widespread 
attention among all to whom the rather abstruse 
subject-matter is sufficiently familiar. I cannot say 
that I find myself in agreement with all that Henri 
Poincaré wrote or spoke in the domain of physics, 


34 


but no physicist can help being interested in his 
mode of presentation, and I may have occasion to 
refer, in passing, to some of the topics with which 
he dealt. 


And now, eliminating from our purview, as is 
always necessary, a great mass of human activity, 
and limiting ourselves to a scrutiny on the side of 
pure science alone, let us ask what, in the main, is 
the characteristic of the promising though perturbing 
period in which we live. Different persons would give 
different answers, but the answer I venture to give 
is—rapid progress, combined with fundamental 
scepticism. 

Rapid progress was not characteristic of the latter 
half of the nineteenth century—at least, not in 
physics. Fine solid dynamical foundations were laid, 
and the edifice of knowledge was consolidated; but 
wholly fresh ground was not being opened up, and 
totally new buildings were not expected. 

‘“In many cases the student was led to believe that 
the main facts of nature were all known, that the 
chances of any great discovery being made by experi- 
ment were vanishingly small, and that therefore the 
experimentalist’s work consisted in deciding between 
rival theories, or in finding some small residual effect, 
which might add a more or less important detail to 
the theory.’’-—Schuster. 

With the realisation of predicted ether waves in 
1888, the discovery of X-rays in 1895, spontaneous 
radio-activity in 1896, and the isolation of the electron 
in 1898, expectation of further achievement became 
vivid; and novelties, experimental, theoretical, and 
speculative, have been showered upon us ever since 
this century began. That is why I speak of rapid 
progress. 

Of the progress I shall say little; there must always 
be some uncertainty as to which particular achieve- 
ment permanently contributes to it; but I will speak 
about the fundamental scepticism. 

Let me hasten to explain that I do not mean the 
well-worn and almost antique theme of theological 
scepticism: that controversy is practically in abey- 
ance just now. At any rate, the major conflict is 
suspended; the forts behind which the enemy has 
retreated do not invite attack; the territory now 
occupied by him is little more than his legitimate 
province. It is the scientific allies, now, who are 
waging a more or less invigorating conflict among 
themselves, with philosophers joining in. Meanwhile 
the ancient foe is biding his time and hoping that from 
the struggle something will emerge of benefit to him- 
self. Some positions, he feels, were too hastily 
abandoned and may perhaps be retrieved; or, to put 
it without metaphor, it seems possible that a few of 
the things prematurely denied, because asserted on 
inconclusive evidence, may after all, in some form or 
vther, have really happened. Thus the old theological 
bitterness is mitigated, and a temporising policy is 
either advocated or instinctively adopted. 

To illustrate the nature of the fundamental scientific 
or philosophic controversies to which I do refer, would 
require almost as many addresses as there are sections 
of the British Association, or, at any rate. as many 
as there are chief cities in Australia; and perhaps my 
successor in the chair will continue the theme; but, 
to exhibit my meaning very briefly, I may cite the 
kind of dominating controversies now extant, employ- 
ing as far as possible only a single word in each case 
so as to emphasise the necessary brevity and in- 
sufficiency of the reference. 

In physiology the conflict ranges round Vitalism. 
(My immediate predecessor dealt with the subject 
at Dundee.) 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER I1, 1913 


| In chemistry the debate concerns Alomic structure. 
(My penultimate predecessor is well aware of 
pugnacity in that region.) e 

In biology the dispute is on the laws of Inherit- 
ance. (My nominated successor is likely to deal with 
this ainieiey probably in a way not deficient in live- 
liness. 

And besides these major controversies, debate is 
active in other sections :— 

In education, Curricula generally are being over- 
hauled or fundamentally criticised, and revolutionary 
ideas are promulgated concerning the advantages of 
freedom for infants. 

In economic and political science, or sociology, what 
is there that is not under discussion? Not property 
alone, nor land alone, but everything—back to the 
garden of Eden and the inter-relations of men and 
women. 

Lastly, in the vast group of mathematical and 
physical sciences, ‘slurred over rather than summed 
up as Section A,” present-day scepticism concerns 
what, if I had to express it in one word, I should 
call Continuity. The full meaning of this term will 
hardly be intelligible without explanation, and I shall 
discuss it presently. 

Still more fundamental and deep-rooted than any 
of these sectional debates, however, a critical examina- 
tion of scientific foundations generally is going on; 
and a kind of philosophic scepticism is in the 
ascendant, resulting in a mistrust of purely intel- 
lectual processes and in a recognition of the limited 
scope of science. 

For science is undoubtedly an affair of the intellect, 
it examines everything in the cold light of reason; 
and that is its strength. It is a commonplace to say 
that science must have no likes or dislikes, must 
aim only at truth; or as Bertrand Russell well puts 
it -— 

“The kernel of the scientific outlook is the refusal 
to regard our own desires, tastes, and interests as 
affording a key to the understanding of the world.” 

This exclusive, single-eyed attitude of science is its 
strength; but, if pressed beyond the positive region 
of usefulness into a field of dogmatic negation and 
philosophising, it becomes also its weakness. For the 
nature of man is a large thing, and intellect is only a 
part of it: a recent part, too, which therefore neces- 
sarily, though not consciously, suffers from some of 
the defects of newness and crudity, and should refrain 
from imagining itself the whole—perhaps it is not 
even the best part—of human nature. 

The fact is that some of the best things are, by 
abstraction, excluded from science, though not from 
literature and poetry; hence perhaps an ancient mis- 
trust or dislike of science, typified by the Promethean 
legend. Science is systematised and metrical know- 
ledge, and in regions where measurement cannot be 
applied it has small scope; or, as Mr. Balfour said 
the other day at the opening of a new wing of the 
National Physical Laboratory :-— 

“Science depends on measurement, and things not 
measurable are therefore excluded, or tend to be 
excluded, from its attention. But life and beauty and 
happiness are not measurable.’ And then charac- 
teristically he added: ‘“‘If there could be a unit of 
happiness, politics might begin to be scientific.” 

Emotion and intuition and instinct are immensely 
older than science, and in a comprehensive survey of 
existence they cannot be ignored. Scientific men may 
rightly neglect them in order to do their proper work, 
but philosophers cannot. 

So philosophers have begun to question some of the 
larger generalisations of science, and to ask whether 
in the effort to be universal and comprehensive we 


————eE 


Se — 


SEPTEMBER I1, 1913] 


have not extended our laboratory inductions too far. 
The conservation of energy, for instance: is it always 
and everywhere valid; or may it under some condi- 
tions be disobeyed? It would seem as if the second 
law of thermodynamics must be somewhere disobeyed 
—at least, if the age of the universe is both ways 
infinite—else the final consummation would have 
already arrived. 

Not by philosophers only, but by scientific men also, 
ancient postulates are being pulled up by the roots. 
Physicists and mathematicians are beginning to con- 
sider whether the long known and well established 
laws of mechanics hold true everywhere and always, 
or whether the Newtonian scheme must be replaced 
by something more modern, something to which 
Newton's laws of motion are but an approximation. 

Indeed, a whole system of non-Newtonian mechanics 
has been devised, having as its foundation the recently 
discovered changes which must occur in bodies moving 
at speeds nearly comparable with that of light. It 
turns out, in tact, that both shape and mass are 
functions of velocity. As the speed increases the mass 
increases and the shape is distorted, though under 
ordinary conditions only to an infinitesimal extent. 

So far | agree; I agree with the statement of fact; 
but I do not consider it so revolutionary as to over- 
turn Newtonian mechanics. After all, a variation of 
mass is familiar enough, and it would be a great 
mistake to say that Newton’s second law breaks down 
merely because mass is not constant. A raindrop is 
an example of variable mass; or the earth may be, by 
reason of meteoric dust; or the sun, by reason of 
radio-activity; or a locomotive, by reason of the 
emission of steam. In fact, variable masses are the 
commonest, for friction may abrade any moving body 
to a microscopic extent. 

That mass is constant is only an approximation. 
That mass is equal to ratio of force and acceleration 
is a definition, and can be absolutely accurate. It 
holds perfectly even for an electron with a speed near 
that of light; and it is by means of Newton’s second 
law that the variation of mass with velocity has been 
experimentally observed and compared with theory. 

I urge that we remain with, or go back to, Newton. 
I see no reason against retaining all Newton’s laws, 
discarding nothing, but supplementing them in the 
light of further knowledge. 

Even the laws of geometry have been overhauled, 
and Euclidean geometry is seen to be but a special 
case of more fundamental generalisations. How far 
they apply to existing space, and how far time is a 
reality or an illusion, and whether it can in any sense 
depend on the motion or the position of an observer : 
all these things in some form or other are discussed. 

The conservation of matter also, that main-mast of 
nineteenth-century chemistry, and the existence of the 
zther of space, that sheet-anchor of nineteenth-century 
physics—do they not sometimes seem to be going by 
the board? } 

Prof. Schuster, in his American lectures, commented 
on the modern receptive attitude as follows :— 

“The state of plasticity and flux—a healthy state, 
in my opinion—in which scientific thought of the 
present day adapts itself to almost any novelty, is 
illustrated by the complacency with which the most 
cherished tenets of our fathers are being abandoned. 
Though it was never an article of orthodox faith that 
chemical. elements were immutable and would not 
some day be resolved into simpler constituents, yet the 
conservation of mass seemed to lie at the very founda- 
tion of creation. But nowadays the student finds 


little to disturb him, perhaps too little, in the idea 


that mass changes with velocity; and he does not 
always realise the full meaning of the consequences 
which are involved.” 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


ao 


This readiness to accept and incorporate new facts 
into the scheme of physics may have led to perhaps 
an undue amount of scientific scepticism, in order to 
right the balance. 

But a_ still deeper variety of comprehensive 
scepticism exists, and it is argued that all our laws 
of nature, so laboriously ascertained and carefully 
formulated, are but conventions after all, not truths; 
that we have no faculty for ascertaining real truth; 
that our intelligence was not evolved for any such 
academic purpose; that all we can do is to express 
things in a form convenient for present purposes and 
employ that mode of expression as a tentative and 
pragmatically useful explanation. 

Even explanation, however, has been discarded as 
too ambitious by some men of science, who claim only 
the power to describe. They not only emphasise the 
how rather than the why—as is in some sort inevitable, 
since explanations are never ultimate—but are satisfied 
with very abstract propositions, and regard mathe- 
matical equations as preferable to, because safer than, 
mechanical analogies or models. 

“To use an acute and familiar expression of Gustav 
Kirchhoff, it is the object of science to describe natural 
phenomena, not to explain them. When we have ex- 
pressed by an equation the correct relationship be- 
tween different natural phenomena we have gone as 
far as we safely can, and if we go beyond we are 
entering on purely speculative ground.”’ 

But the modes of statement preferred by those who 
distrust our power of going directly into detail are 
far from satisfactory. Prof. Schuster describes and 
comments on them thus :— 

““Vagueness, which used to be recognised as our 
great enemy, is now being enshrined as an idol to be 
worshipped. We may never know what constitutes 
atoms, or what is the real structure of the zther; why 
trouble, therefore, it is said, to find out more about 
them. Is it not safer, on the contrary, to confine our- 
selves to a general tallk on entropy, luminiferous 
vectors, and undefined symbols expressing vaguely 
certain physical relationships? What really lies at 
the bottom of the great fascination which these new 
doctrines exert on the present generation is sheer 
cowardice; the fear of having its errors brought home 
EGH EUs ae ok's 

““T believe this doctrine to be fatal to a healthy 
development of science. Granting the impossibility 
of penetrating beyond the most superficial layers of 
observed phenomena, I would put the distinction 
between the two attitudes of mind in this way: One 
glorifies our ignorance, while the other accepts it as a 
regrettable necessity.” 

In further illustration of the modern sceptical atti- 
tude, I quote from Poincaré :— 

“Principles are conventions and definitions in dis- 
guise. They are, however, deduced from experi- 
mental laws, and these laws have, so to speak, been 
erected into principles to which our mind attributes 
an absolute value... .« 

‘‘The fundamental propositions of geometry, for 
instance Euclid’s postulate, are only conventions; and 
it is quite as unreasonable to ask if they are true or 
false as to ask if the metric system is, true or false. 
Only, these conventions are convenient... . 

“Whether the zther exists or not matters little—let 
us leave that to the metaphysicians; what is essential 
for us is that everything happens as if it existed, 
and that this hypothesis is found to be suitable for the 
explanation of phenomena. After all, have we any 
other reason for believing in the existence of material 
objects? That, too, is only a convenient hypothesis.” 

As an antidote against overpressing these utter- 
ances, I quote from Sir J. Larmor’s preface:— 

“There has been of late a growing trend of opinion, 


30 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER II, 1913 


prompted in part by general philosophical views, in 
the direction that the theoretical constructions of 
physical science are largely factitious, that instead of 
presenting a valid image of the relations of things on 
which further progress can be based, they are still 
little better than a mirage... . 

“The best method of abating this scepticism is to 
become acquainted with the real scope and modes of 
application of conceptions which, in the popular 
language of superficial exposition—and even in the 
unguarded and playful paradox of their authors, 
intended only for the instructed eye—often look 
bizarre enough.” 

One thing is very notable, that it is closer and 
more exact knowledge that has led to the kind of 
scientific scepticism now referred to; and that the 
simple laws on which we used to be working were thus 
simple and discoverable because the full complexity of 
existence was tempered to our ken by the roughness 
of our means of observation. 

Kepler’s laws are not accurately true, and if he 

had had before him all the data now available he 
could hardly have discovered them. A planet does 
not really move in an ellipse but in a kind of hypo- 
cycloid, and not accurately in that either. 
. So it is also with Boyle’s law, and the other simple 
laws in physical chemistry. Even Van der Waals’ 
generalisation of Boyle’s law is only a further 
approximation. 

In most parts of physics simplicity has sooner or 
later to give place to complexity; though certainly 
I urge that the simple laws were true, and are still 
true, as far as they go, their inaccuracy being only 
detected by further real discovery. The reason they 
are departed from becomes known to us; the law is 
not really disobeyed, but is modified through the action 
of a known additional cause. Hence it is all in the 
direction of progress. ‘ 

It is only fair to quote Poincaré again, now that I 
am able in the main to agree with him :— 

“Take, for instance, the laws of reflection. Fres- 
nel established them by a simple and attractive theory 
which experiment seemed to confirm. Subsequently, 
more accurate researches have shown that this veri- 
fication was but approximate; traces of elliptic 
polarisation were detected everywhere. But it is 
owing to the first approximation that the cause of 
these anomalies was found, in the existence of a 
transition layer; and all the essentials of Fresnel’s 
theory have remained. We cannot help reflecting 
that all these relations would never have been noted 
if there had been doubt in the first place as to the 
complexity of the objects they connect. Long ago it 
was said: If Tycho had had instruments ten times 
as precise, we would never have had a Kepler, or a 
Newton, or astronomy. It is a misfortune for a 
science to be born too late, when the means of 
observation have become too perfect. That is what 
is happening at this moment with respect to physical 
chemistry ; the founders are hampered in their general 
grasp by third and fourth decimal places; happily 
they are men of robust faith. As we get to know 
the properties of matter better we see that continuity 
reigns. . . . It would be difficult to justify [the belief 
in continuity] by apodeictic reasoning, but without 
[it] all science would be impossible.” 

Here he touches on my own theme, Continuity; for 
if we had to summarise the main trend of physical 
controversy at present, I feel inclined to urge that it 
largely turns on the question as to which way ultimate 
victory lies in the fight between continuity and dis- 
continuity. - 

On the surface of nature at first we see discon- 
tinuity; objects detached and countable. Then we 
realise the air and other media, and so emphasise con- 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


tinuity and flowing quantities. Then we detect atoms 
and numerical properties, and discontinuity once more 
makes its appearance. Then we invent the zther and 
are impressed with continuity again. But this is not 
likely to be the end; and what the ultimate end will 
be, or whether there is an ultimate end, is a question 
difficult to answer. 

The modern tendency is to emphasise the dis- 
continuous or atomic character of everything. Matter 
has long been atomic, in the same sense as anthropo- 
logy is atomic; the unit of matter is the atom, as the 
unit of humanity is the individual." Whether men or 
women or children—they can be counted as so many 
“souls.” And atoms of matter can be counted too. 

Certainly, however, there is an illusion of continuity. 
We recognise it in the case of water. It appears to 
be a continuous medium, and yet it is certainly mole- 
cular. It is made continuous again, in a sense, by 
the zther postulated in its pores; for the ther is 
essentially continuous. Though Osborne Reynolds, it 
is true, invented a discontinuous or granular zther, 
on. the analogy of the sea-shore. The sands of the 
sea, the hairs of the head, the descendants of a 
patriarch, are typical instances of numerable, or rather 
of innumerable things. The difficulty of enumerating 
them is not that there is nothing to count, but merely 
that the things to be counted are very numerous. So 
are the atoms in a drop of water—they outnumber 
the drops in an Atlantic Ocean—and, during the 
briefest time of stating their number, fifty millions or 
so may have evaporated; but they are as easy to 
count as the grains of sand on a shore. 

The process of counting is evidently a process 
applicable to discontinuities, i.e, to things with 
natural units; you can count apples and coins, and 
days and years, and people and atoms. To apply 
number to a continuum you must first cut it up into 
artificial units; and you are always left with incom- 
mensurable fractions. Thus only is it that you can 
deal numerically with such continuous phenomena as 
the warmth of a room, the speed of a bird, the pull 
of a rope, or the strength of a current. 

But how, it may be asked, does discontinuity apply 
to number? The natural numbers, 1, 2, 3, &c., are 
discontinuous enough, but there are fractions to fill 
up the interstices; how do we know that they are not 
really connected by these fractions, and so made con- 
tinuous again? 

(By number I always mean commensurable number ; 
incommensurables are not numbers: they are just 
what cannot be expressed in numbers. The square 
root of 2 is not a number, though it can be readily 
indicated by a length. Incommensurables are usual 
in physics and are frequent in geometry; the concep- 
tions of geometry are essentially continuous. It is 
clear, as Poincaré says, that ‘‘if the points whose 
coordinates are commensurable were alone regarded 
as real, the in-circle of a square and the diagonal of 
the square would not intersect, since the coordinates 
of the points of intersection are incommensurable.’’) 

I want to explain how commensurable fractions do 
not connect up numbers, nor remove their discon- 
tinuity in the least. The divisions on a foot rule, 
divided as closely as you please, represent commensur- 
able fractions, but they represent none of the length. 
No matter how numerous they are, all the length lies 
between them; the divisions are mere partitions and 


| have consumed none of it; nor do they connect up 


with each other, they are essentially discontinuous. 
The interspaces are infinitely mare extensive than the 
barriers which partition them off from one another; 
they are like a row of compartments with infinitely 
thin walls. All the incommensurables lie in the inter- 

1 In his recent Canadian address, Lord Haldane emphasised the fact that 


though humanity is individually discontinuous it possesses a social and 
national continuity. 


ee ape 


SEPTEMBER II, 1913] 


spaces; the compartments are full of them, and they 
are thus infinitely more numerous than the numeric- 
ally expressible magnitudes. Take any point of the 
scale at random, that point will certainly lie in an 
interspace: it will not lie on a division, for the 
chances are infinity to 1 against it. 

Accordingly incommensurable quantities are the rule 
in physics. Decimals do not in practice terminate or 
circulate; in other words, vulgar fractions do not 
accidentally occur in any measurements, for this would 
mean infinite accuracy. We proceed to as many 
places of decimals as correspond to the order of accu- 
racy aimed at. 

Whenever, then, a commensurable number is really 
associated with any natural phenomenon, there is 
necessarily a noteworthy circumstance involved in the 
fact, and it means something quite definite and ulti- 
mately ascertainable. Every discontinuity that can be 
detected and counted is an addition to knowledge. It 
not only means the discovery of natural units instead 
of being dependent on artificial ones, but it throws 
light also on the nature of phenomena themselves. 

For instance :— 

The ratio between the velocity of light and the 
inverted square root of the product of the electric and 
magnetic constants was discovered by Clerk Maxwell 
to be 1; and a new volume of physics was by that 
discovery opened, 

Dalton found that chemical combination occurred 
between quantities of different substances specified by 
certain whole or fractional numbers; and the atomic 
theory of matter sprang into substantial though at 
first infantile existence. 

The hypothesis of Prout, which in some modified 
form seems likely to be substantiated, is that all 
atomic weights are commensurable numbers ; in which 
case there must be a natural fundamental unit under- 
lying, and in definite groups composing, the atoms 
of every form of matter. 

The small number of degrees of freedom of a mole- 
cule, and the subdivision of its total energy into equal 
parts corresponding thereto, is a theme not indeed 
without difficulty but full of importance. It is re- 
sponsible for the suggestion that energy too may be 
atomic ! ; 

Mendelejefi’s series again, or the detection of a 
natural grouping of atomic weights in families of 
seven, is another example of the significance of 
number. 

Electricity was found by Faraday to be numerically 
connected with quantity of matter; and the atom of 
electricity began its hesitating but now brilliant career. 

Electricity itself—i.e., electric charge—strangely 
enough has proved itself to be atomic. There is a 
natural unit of electric charge, as suspected by Fara- 
day and Maxwell and named by Johnstone Stoney. 
Some of the electron’s visible effects were studied by 
Crookes in a vacuum; and its weighing and measur- 
ing by J. J. Thomson were announced to the British 
Association meeting at Dover in 1899—a fitting pre- 
lude to the twentieth century. 

An electron is the natural unit of negative elec- 
tricity, and it may not be long before the natural unit 
of positive electricity is found too. But concerning 
the nature of the positive unit there is at present some 
division into opposite camps. One school prefers to 
regard the unit of positive electricity as a homo- 
geneous sphere, the size of an atom, in which elec- 
trons revolve in simple harmonic orbits and constitute 
nearly the whole effective mass. Another school, 
while appreciative of the simplicity and ingenuity and 
beauty of the details of this conception, and the skill 
with which it has been worked out, yet thinks the 
evidence more in favour of a minute central positive 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


37 


nucleus, or nucleus-group, of practically atomic mass; 
with electrons, larger—i.e. less concentrated—and 
therefore less massive than itself, revolving round it 
in astronomical orbits. While from yet another point 
of view it is insisted that positive and negative elec- 
trons can only differ skew-symmetrically, one being 
like the image of the other in a mirror, and that the 
mode in which they are grouped to form an atom 
remains for future discovery. But no one doubts that 
electricity is ultimately atomic. 

Even magnetism has been suspected of being 
atomic, and its hypothetical unit has been named in 
advance the magneton; but I confess that here I have 
not been shaken out of the conservative view. 

We may express all this as an invasion of number 
into unsuspected regions. 

Biology may be said to be becoming atomic. It 
has long had natural units in the shape of cells and 
nuclei, and some discontinuity represented by body- 
boundaries and cell-walls; but now, in its laws of 
heredity as studied by Mendel, number and discon- 
tinuity are strikingly apparent among the reproductive 
cells, and the varieties of offspring admit of numeri- 
cal specification and prediction to a surprising extent; 
while modification by continuous variation, which 
seemed to be of the essence of Darwinism, gives place 
to, or at least is accompanied by, mutation, with 
finite and considerable and in appearance discon- 
tinuous change. 

So far from Nature not making jumps, it becomes 
doubtful if she does anything else. Her hitherto 
placid course, more closely examined, is beginning to 
look like a kind of steeplechase. 

Yet undoubtedly continuity is the backbone of 
evolution, as taught by all biologists—no artificial 
boundaries or demarcations between species—a con- 
tinuous chain of heredity from far below the amceba 
up to mag. Actual continuity of undying germ- 
plasm, running through all generations, is taught 
likewise; though a strange discontinuity between this 
persistent element and its successive accessory body- 
plasms—a discontinuity which would convert indi- 
vidual organisms into mere temporary accretions or 
excretions, with no power of influencing or conveying 
experience to their generating cells—is advocated by 
one school. 

Discontinuity does not fail to exercise fascination 
even in pure mathematics. Curves are invented which 
have no tangent or differential coefficient, curves 
which consist of a succession of dots or of twists; 
and the theory of commensurable numbers seems to 


| be exerting a dominance over philosophic mathe- 


matical thought as well as over physical problems. 

And not only ‘these fairly accepted results are 
prominent, but some more difficult and unexpected 
theses in the same direction are being propounded, 
and the atomic character of energy is advocated. We 
had hoped to be honoured by the presence of Prof. 
Planck, whose theory of the quantum, or indivisible 
unit or atom of energy, excites the greatest interest, 
and by some is thought to hold the field. 

Then again radiation is showing signs of becoming 
atomic or discontinuous. The corpuscular theory of 
radiation is by no means so dead as in my youth 
we thought it was. Some radiation is certainly 
corpuscular, and even the ethereal kind shows indica- 
tions, which may be misleading, that it is spotty, or 
locally concentrated into points, as if the wave-front 
consisted of detached specks or patches; or as J. J. 
Thomson says, ‘the wave-front must be more 
analogous to bright specks on a dark ground than 
to a uniformly illuminated surface,” thus suggesting 
that the ather may be fibrous in structure, and that 
a wave runs along lines of electric force; as the 


38 


NATURE 


genius of Faraday surmised might be possible, in his 
“Thoughts on Ray Vibrations.’’ Indeed, Newton 
guessed something of the same kind, I fancy, when 
he superposed ether-pulses on his corpuscles. 

Whatever be the truth in this matter, a discussion 
on radiation, of extreme weight and interest, though 
likewise of great profundity and technicality, is 
expected on Friday in Section A. We welcome Prof. 
Lorentz, Dr. Arrhenius, Prof. Langevin, Prof. Prings- 
heim, Prof. R. W. Wood, and others, some of whom 
have been specially invited to England because of the 
important contributions which they have made to the 
subject-matter of this discussion. 

Why is so much importance attached to radiation? 
Because it is the best-known and_longest-studied 
link between matter and zther, and the only property 
we are acquainted with that affects the unmodified 
great mass of ether alone. Electricity and magnet- 
ism are associated with the modifications or singu- 
larities called electrons; most phenomena are 
connected still more directly with matter. Radiation, 
however, though excited by an accelerated electron, 
is subsequently let loose in the ether of space, 
and travels as a definite thing at a measurable and 
constant pace—a pace independent of everything so 
long as the zther is free, unmodified and unloaded by 
matter. Hence radiation has much to teach us, and 
we have much to learn concerning its nature. 

How far can the analogy of granular, corpuscular, 
countable, atomic, or discontinuous things be pressed ? 
There are those who think it can be pressed very 
far. But to avoid misunderstanding, let me state, 
for what it may be worth, that I myself am an up- 
holder of ultimate Continuity, and a fervent believer 
in the zther of space. 

We have already learnt something about the zther ; 
and although there may be almost as many varieties 
of opinion as there are people qualified to form one, 
in my view we have learnt as follows: 

The zther is the universal connecting medium which 
binds the universe together, and makes it a coherent 
whole instead of a chaotic collection of independent 
isolated fragments. It is the vehicle of transmission 
of all manner of force, from gravitation down to 
cohesion and chemical affinity; it is therefore the 
storehouse of potential energy. 

Matter moves, but zther is strained. 

What we call elasticity of matter is only the result 
of an alteration of configuration due to movement and 
readjustment of particles, but all the strain and stress 
are in the zther. The zther itself does not move, 
that is to say it does not move in the sense of loco- 
motion, though it is probably in a violent state of 
rotational or turbulent motion in its smallest parts; 
and to that motion its exceeding rigidity is due. 

As to its density, it must be far greater than that 
of any form of matter, millions of times denser than 
lead or platinum. Yet matter moves through it with 
perfect freedom, without any friction or viscosity. 
There is nothing paradoxical in this: viscosity is not 
a function of density; the two are not necessarily 
connected. When a solid moves through an alien 
fluid it is true that it acquires a spurious or apparent 
extra inertia from the fluid it displaces; but, in the 
case of matter and zther, not only is even the densest 
matter excessively porous and discontinuous, with vast 
interspaces in and among the atoms, but the con- 
stitution of matter is such that there appears to be 
no displacement in the ordinary sense at all; the 
zther is itself so modified as to constitute the matter 
in some way. Of course, that portion moves, its 
inertia is what we observe, and its amount depends 
on the potential energy in its associated electric field, 
but the motion is not like that of a foreign body, it 
is that of some inherent and merely individualised 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


[SEPTEMBER II, 1913 


portion of the stuff itself. Certain it is that the ether 
exhibits no trace of viscosity.” 

Matter in motion, zther under strain, constitute the 
fundamental concrete things weshave to do with in 
physics. The first pair represent kinetic energy, the 
second potential energy; and all the activities of the 
material universe are represented by alternations from 
one of these forms to the other. : 

Whenever this transference and transformation of 
energy occur, work is done, and some effect is pro- 
duced, but the energy is never diminished in quan- 
tity : it is merely passed on from one body to another, 
always from ether to matter, or vice versd—except 
in the case of radiation, which simulates matter—and 
from one form to another. 

The forms of energy can be classified as either a 
translation, a rotation, or a vibration of pieces of 
matter of different sizes, from stars and planets down 
to atoms and electrons; or else an ethereal strain 
which in various different ways is manifested by the 
behaviour of such masses of matter as appeal to our 
senses.® 

Some of the facts responsible for the suggestion 
that energy is atomic seem to me to depend on the 
discontinuous nature of the structure of a material 
atom, and on the high velocity of ifs constituent 
particles. The apparently discontinuous emission of 
radiation is, I believe, due to features in the real 
discontinuity of matter. Disturbances inside an atom 
appear to be essentially catastrophic; a portion is 
liable to be ejected with violence. There appears to 
be a critical velocity below which ejection does not 
take place; and, when it does, there also occurs a 
sudden rearrangement of parts which is presumably 
responsible for some perceptible athereal radiation. 
Hence it is, I suppose, that radiation comes off in 
gushes or bursts; and hence it appears to consist 
of indivisible units. The occasional phenomenon of 
new stars, as compared with the steady orbital motion 
of the millions of recognised bodies, may be sug- 
gested as an astronomical analogue. 

The hypothesis of quanta was devised to reconcile 
the law that the energy of a group of colliding mole- 
cules must in the long run be equally shared among 
all their degrees of freedom, with the observed fact 
that the energy is really shared into only a small 
number of equal parts. For if vibration-possibilities 
have to be taken into account, the number of degrees 
of molecular freedom must be very large, and energy 
shared among them ought soon to be all frittered 
away; whereas it is not. Hence the idea is suggested 
that minor degrees of freedom are initially excluded 
from sharing the energy, because they cannot be sup- 
plied with less than one atom of it. 

I should prefer to express the fact by saying that 
the ordinary encounters of molecules are not of a 
kind able to excite atomic vibrations, or in any way 
to disturb the zther. Spectroscopic or luminous vibra- 
tions of an atom are excited only by an exceptionally 
violent kind of collision, which may be spoken of as 
chemical clash; the ordinary molecular orbital en- 
counters, always going on at the rate of millions a 
second, are ineffective in that respect, except in the 
case of phosphorescent or luminescent substances. 
That common molecular deflections are ineffective is 
certain, else all the energy would be dissipated or 
transferred from matter into the zther; and the 
reasonableness of their radiative inefficiency is not far 
to seek, when we consider the comparatively leisurely 
character of molecular movements, at speeds com- 
parable with the velocity of sound. Admittedly, how- 

2 For details of my experiment on this subject see Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc* 
for 1893 and 1897; or a very abbreviated reference to it, and to the other 
matters above-mentioned, in my small book ** The Ether of Space.” 


_3 See, in the Philosophical Magazine for 1879, my article on a classifica- 
tion of the forms of energy. 


SEPTEMBER II, 1913] 


NATURE 39 


ever, the effective rigidity of molecules must be com- 
plete, otherwise the sharing of energy must ultimately 
occur. They do not seem able to be set vibrating by 
anything less than a certain minimum stimulus; and 
that is the basis for the theory of quanta. 

Quantitative applications of Plamck’s theory, to 
elucidate the otherwise shaky stability of the astro- 
nomically constituted atom, have been made; and the 
agreement between results so calculated and_ those 
observed, including a determination of series of 
spectrum lines, is very remarkable. One of the latest 
contributions to this subject is a paper by Dr. Bohr 
in The Philosophical Magazine for July this year. 

To show that I am not exaggerating the modern 
tendency towards discontinuity, I quote, from M. 
Poincaré’s ‘‘Derniéres Pensées,”’ a proposition which 
he announces in italics as representing a form of 
Prof. Planck’s view of which he apparently approves :— 

‘A physical system is susceptible of a finite number 
only of distinct conditions; it jumps from one of these 
conditions to another without passing through a con- 
tinuous series of intermediate conditions.” 

Also this from Sir Joseph Larmor’s preface to 
Poincaré’s ‘‘ Science and Hypothesis ’’ :— 

“Still more recently it has been found that the 
good Bishop Berkeley’s logical jibes against the New- 
tonian ideas of fluxions and limiting ratios cannot be 
adequately appeased in the rigorous mathematical 
conscience, until our apparent continuities are resolved 
mentally into discreet aggregates which we only 
partially apprehend. The irresistible impulse to 
atomise everything thus proves to be not merely a 
disease of the physicist : a deeper origin, in the nature 
of knowledge itself, is suggested.”’ 

One very valid excuse for the prevalent attitude 
is the astonishing progress that has been made in 
actually seeing or almost seeing the molecules, and 
studying their arrangement and distribution. 

The laws of. gases have been found to apply to 
emulsions and to fine powders in suspension, of 
which the Brownian movement has long been known. 
This movement is caused by the orthodox molecular 
bombardment, and its average amplitude exactly 
represents the theoretical mean free path calculated 
from the ‘‘molecular weight’’ of the relatively 
gigantic particles. The behaviour of these micro- 
scopically visible masses corresponds closely and 
quantitatively with what could be predicted for them 
as fearfully heavy atoms, on the kinetic theory of 
gases; they may indeed be said to constitute a gas 
with a gram-molecule as high as 200,000 tons; and, 
what is rather important as well as interesting, they 
tend visibly to verify the law of equipartition of 
energy even in so extreme a case, when that law is 
properly stated and applied. 

_Still more remarkable—the application of X-rays to 
display the arrangement of molecules in crystals, and 
ultimately the arrangement of atoms in molecules, 
as initiated by Prof. Laue with Drs. Friedrich and 
Knipping, and continued by Prof. Bragg and jis 
son and by Dr. Tutton, constitute a series of re- 
searches of high interest and promise. By this means 
many of the theoretical anticipations of our country- 
man, Mr. William Barlow, and—working with him 
—Prof. Pope, as well as of those distinguished 
crystallographers von Groth and von Fedorow, have 
been confirmed in a striking way. These brilliant 
researches, which seem likely to constitute a branch 
of physics in themselves, and which are being con- 
tinued by Messrs. Moseley and C. G. Darwin,- and 
‘by Mr. Keene and others, may be called an apotheosis 
of the atomic theory of matter. 


_ One other controversial topic I shall touch upon 
in the domain of physics, though I shall touch upon 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


it lightly, for it is not a matter for easy reference 
as yet. If the Principle of Relativity in an extreme 
sense establishes itself, it seems as if even time would 
become discontinuous and be supplied in atoms, as 
money is doled out in pence or centimes instead of 
continuously; in which case our customary existence 
will turn out to be no more really continuous than 
the events on a kinematograph screen, while that 
great agent of continuity, the ether of space, will 
be relegated to the museum of historical curiosities. 

In that case differential equations will cease to 
represent the facts of nature, they will have to be 
replaced by finite differences, and the most funda- 
mental revolution since Newton will be inaugurated. 

Now in all the debateable matters of which I have 
indicated possibilities I want to urge a conservative 
attitude. I accept the new experimental results on 
which some of these theories—such as the principle 
of relativity—are based, and am profoundly interested 
in them, but I do not feel that they are so revolu- 
tionary as their propounders think. I see a way to 
retain the old and yet embrace. the new, and I 
urge moderation in the uprooting and removal of 
landmarks. 

And of these the chief is Continuity. I cannot 
imagine the exertion of mechanical force across empty 
space, no matter how minute; a continuous medium 
seems to me essential. I cannot admit discontinuity 
in either space or time, nor can I imagine any sort 
of experiment which would justify such a hypothesis. 
For surely we must realise that we know nothing 
experimental of either space or time, we cannot 
modify them in any way. We make experiments on 
bodies, and only on bodies, using ‘‘body"’ as an 
exceedingly general term. 

We have no reason to postulate anything but con- 
tinuity for space and time. We cut them up into 
conventional units for convenience’ sake, and those 
units we can count; but there is really nothing atomic 
or countable about the things themselves. We can 
count the rotations of the earth, or the revolutions of 
an electron, or the vibrations of a pendulum, or the 
waves of light. All these are concrete and tractable 
physical entities; but space and time are ultimate 
data, abstractions based on experience. We know 
them through motion, and through motion only, and 
motion is essentially continuous. We ought clearly to 
discriminate between things themselves and our mode 
of measuring them. Our measures and perceptions 
may be affected by all manner of incidental and trivial 
causes, and we may get confused or hampered by our 
own movement; but there need be no such complica- 
tion in things themselves, any more than a landscape 
is distorted by looking at it through an irregular 
window-pane or from a travelling coach. It is an 
ancient and discarded fable that complications intro- 
duced by the motion of an observer are real com- 
plications belonging to the outer universe. 

Very well, then, what about the ether, is that in 
the same predicament? Is that an abstraction, or 
a mere convention, or is it a concrete physical entity 
on which we can experiment? 

Now it has to be freely admitted that it is exceed- 
ingly difficult to make experiments on the ether. It 
does not appeal to sense, and we know no means 
of getting hold of it. The one thing we know 
metrical about it is the velocity with which it can 
transmit transverse waves. That is clear and definite, 
and thereby to my judgment it proves itself a 
physical agent; not, indeed, tangible or sensible, but 
yet concretely real. 

But it does elude our laboratory grasp. If we 
rapidly move matter through it, hoping to grip it 
and move it too, we fail; there is no mechanical 
connection. And even if we experiment on light, 


40 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER II, 1913 


we fail too. So long as transparent matter is moving 
relatively to us, light can be affected inside that 
matter; but when matter is relatively stationary to 
matter nothing observable takes place, however fast 
things may be moving, so long as they move together. 

Hence arises the idea that motion with respect 
to gwther is meaningless; and the fact that only 
relative motion of pieces of matter with respect to 
each other has so far been observed is the foundation 
of the principle of relativity. It sounds simple 
enough as thus stated, but in its developments it is 
an ingenious and complicated doctrine embodying 
surprising consequences which have been worked 
out by Prof. Einstein and his disciples with con- 
summate ingenuity. 

What have I to urge against it? Well, in the first 
place, it is only in accordance with common sense 
that no effect of the first order can be observed with- 
out relative motion of matter. An zther-stream 
through our laboratories is optically and electrically un- 
detectable, at least as regards first-order observation ; 
this is clearly explained for general readers in my 
book, ‘‘The Ether of Space,” chapter iv. But the 
principle of relativity says more than that; it says 
that no effect of any order of magnitude can ever be 
observed without the relative motion of matter. 

The truth underlying this doctrine is that absolute 
motion without reference to anything is unmeaning. 
But the narrowing down of ‘‘anything”’ to mean any 
piece of matter is illegitimate. The nearest approach 
to absolute motion that we can physically imagine is 
motion through or with respect to the ather of space. 
It is natural to assume that the zther is on the whole 
stationary, and to use it as a standard of rest; in 
that sense motion with reference to it may be called 
- absolute, but in no other sense. 

The principle of relativity claims that we can never 
ascertain such motion: in other words it practically 
or pragmatically denies the existence of the ether. 
Every one of our scientifically observed motions, it 
says, are of the same nature as our popularly observed 
ones, viz. motion of pieces of matter relatively to 
each other; and that is all that we can ever know. 
Everything goes on—says the principle of relativity— 
as if the ether did not exist. 

Now the facts are that no motion with reference to 
the zther alone has ever yet been observed: there 
are always curious compensating effects which just 
cancel out the movement-terms and destroy or effec- 
tively mask any phenomenon that might otherwise 
be expected. When matter moves past matter 
observation can be made; but, even so, no consequent 
locomotion of zther, outside the actually moving par- 
ticles, can be detected. 

(It is sometimes urged that rotation is a kind of 
absolute motion that can be detected, even in isola- 
tion. It can so be detected, as Newton pointed out; 
but in cases of rotation matter on one side the axis is 
moving in the opposite direction to matter on the 
other side of the axis; hence rotation involves relative 
material motion, and therefore can be observed.) 

To detect motion through ather we must use an 
zthereal process. We may use radiation, and try 
to compare the speeds of light along or across the 
motion, or we might try to measure the speed, first 
with the motion and then against it. But how are 
we to make the comparison? If the time of emis- 
sion from a distant source is given by a distant clock, 
that clock must be observed through a telescope, that 
is by a beam of light; which is plainly a compensating 
process. Or the light from a neighbouring source 
can be sent back to us by a distant mirror; when 
again there will be compensation. Or the starting 
of light from a distant terrestrial source may be 
telegraphed to us, either with a wire or without; 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92| 


but it is the ether that conveys the message in either 
case, so again there will be compensation. Elec- 
tricity, magnetism, and light, are all effects of the 
zether. . i 

Use cohesion, then; have a rod stretching from 
one place to another, and measure that. But cohesion 
is transmitted by the zther too, if, as believed, it is 
the universal binding medium. Compensation is 
likely; compensation can, on the electrical theory of 
matter, be predicted. 

Use some action not dependent on ether, then. 
Very well, where shall we find it? 

To illustrate the difficulty I will quote a sentence 
from Sir Joseph Larmor’s paper before the Inter- 
national Congress of Mathematicians at Cambridge 
last year :— 

“Tf it is correct to say with Maxwell that all radia- 
tion is an electrodynamic phenomenon, it is equally 
correct to say with him that all electrodynamic rela- 
tions between material bodies are established by the 
operation, on the molecules of those bodies, of fields 
of force which are propagated in free space as radia- 
tion and in accordance with the laws of radiation, 
from one body to the other.” é 

The fact is, we are living in an epoch of some 
very comprehensive generalisations. The physical 
discovery of the twentieth century, so far, is the 
electrical theory of matter. This is the great new 
theory of our time; it was referred to, in its philo- 
sophical aspect, by Mr. Balfour in his presidential 
address at Cambridge in 1904. We are too near it 
to be able to contemplate it properly; it has still to 
establish itself and to develop in detail, but I antici- 
pate that in some form or other it will prove true.* 

Here is a briefest possible summary of the first 
chapter (so to speak) of the electrical theory of 
matter :-— 


(1) Atoms of matter are composed of electrons—of — 


positive and negative electric charges. : 

(2) Atoms are bound together into molecules by 
chemical affinity which is intense electrical attraction 
at ultra-minute distances. 

(3) Molecules are held together by cohesion, which 
I for one regard as residual or differential chemical 
affinity over molecular distances. 

(4) Magnetism is due to the locomotion of elec- 
trons. There is no magnetism without an electric 
current, atomic or otherwise. There is no electric 
current without a moving electron. 

(5) Radiation is generated by every accelerated 
electron, in amount proportional to the square of its 
acceleration; and there is no other kind of radiation, 
except indeed a corpuscular kind; but this depends 
on the velocity of electrons and therefore again can 
only be generated by their acceleration. 

The theory is bound to have curious consequences ; 
and already it has contributed to some of the up- 
rooting and uncertainty that I speak of. For, if it 
be true, every material interaction will be electrical, 
i.e. ethereal; and hence arises our difficulty. Every 
kind of force is transmitted by the ether, and hence, 
so long as all our apparatus is travelling together at 
one and the same pace, we have no chance of detect- 
ing the motion. That is the strength of the principle 
of relativity. The changes are not zero, but they 
cancel each other out of observation (NATURE, 
vol. xlvi., p. 165, 1892). 

Many forms of statement of the famous Michelson- 
Morley experiment are misleading. It is said to 
prove that the time taken by light to go with the 
zether stream is the same as that taken to go against 
or across it. It does not show that. What it shows 
is that the time taken by light to travel to and fro 


4 Fora general introductory account of the electrical theory of matter my 
Romanes lecture for 1903 (Clarendon Press) may be referred to. 


SEPTEMBER II, 1913] 


on a measured interval fixed on a rigid block of 
matter is independent of the aspect of that block with 
respect to any motion of the earth through space. 
A definite and most interesting result : but it may be, 
and often is, interpreted loosely and too widely. — 
It is interpreted too widely, as I think, when Prof. 
_.Einstein goes on to assume that no_ non-relative 
motion of matter can be ever observed even when 
light is brought into consideration. The relation of 
light to matter is very curious. The wave front of a 
progressive wave simulates many of the properties 
of matter. It has energy, it has momentum, it exerts 
force, it sustains reaction. It has been described as 
a portion of the mass of a radiating body—which gives 
it a curiously and unexpectedly corpuscular “ feel.” 
But it has a definite velocity. Its velocity in space 
relative to the zther is an absolute constant indepen- 
dent of the motion of the source. This would not be 
true for corpuscular light. 

Hence I hold that here is something with which 
our own motion may theoretically be compared; and 
I predict that our motion through the zther will some 
day be detected by help of this very fact—by com- 
paring our speed with that of light: though the old 
astronomical aberration, which seemed to make the 
comparison easy, failed to do so quite simply, because 
it is complicated by the necessity of observing the 
position of a distant source, in relation to which the 
earth is moving. If the source and observer are 
moving together there is no possibility of observing 
aberration. Nevertheless, I maintain that when 
matter is moving near a beam of light we may be able 
to detect the motion. For the velocity of light in 
space is no function of the velocity of the source, nor 
of matter near it; it is quite unaffected by source or 
receiver. Once launched it travels in its own way. 
If we are travelling to meet it, it will be arriving at 
us more quickly; if we travel away from it, it will 
reach us with some lag. And observation of the 
acceleration or retardation is made by aid of Jupiter’s 
satellites. We have there the dial of a clock, to or 
from which we advance or recede periodically. It 
gains while we approach it, it loses while we recede 
from it, it keeps right time when we are stationary 
or only moving across the line of sight. 

But then, of course, it does not matter whether 
Jupiter is standing still and we are moving, or vice 
versa: it is a case of relative motion of matter again. 
So it is if we observe a Doppler effect from the right- 
and left-hand limbs of the rotating sun. True, and 
if we are to permit no relative motion of matter we 


must use a terrestrial source, clamped to the 
earth as our receiver is. And now we shall observe 
nothing. 


But not because there is nothing to observe. Lag 
must really occur if we are running away from the 
light, even though the source is running after us at 
the same pace; unless we make the assumption—true 
only for corpuscular light—that the velocity of light 
is not an absolute thing, but is dependent on the speed 
of the source. With corpuscular light there is nothing 
to observe; with wave light there is something, but 
we cannot observe it. 

But if the whole solar system is moving through 
the zther I see no reason why the relative zther drift 
should not be observed by a differential residual effect 
in connection with Jupiter’s satellites or the right and 
left limbs of the sun. The effect must be too small 

_to observe without extreme precision, but theoretically 
it ought to be there. Inasmuch, however, as relative 
' motion of matter with respect to the observer is in- 
volved in these effects, it may be held that the detection 
of a uniform drift of the solar system in this way is 
_ not contrary to the principle of relativity. It is con- 
trary to some statements of that principle; and the 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 4! 


cogency of those statements breaks down, I think, 
whenever they include the velocity of light; because 
there we really have something absolute (in the only 
sense in which the term can have a physical mean- 
ing) with which we can compare our own motions, 
when we have learnt how. 

But in ordinary astronomical translation—trans- 
lation as of the earth in its  orbit—all our 
instruments, all our standards, the whole contents of 
our laboratory, are moving at the same rate in the 
same direction; under those conditions we cannot 
expect to observe anything. Clerk Maxwell went so 
far as to say that if every particle of matter simul- 
taneously received a graduated blow so as to produce 
a given constant acceleration all in the same direc- 
tion, we should be unaware of the fact. He did not 
then know all that we know about radiation. But 
apart from that, and limiting ourselves to compara- 
tively slow changes of velocity, our standards will 
inevitably share whatever change occurs. So far as 
observation goes, everything will be practically as if 
no change had occurred at all; though that may not 
be the truth. All that experiment establishes is that 
there have so far always been compensations; so that 
the attempt to observe motion through the ether is 
being given up as hopeless. 

Surely, however, the minute and curious compensa- 
tions cannot be accidental, they must be necessary? 
Yes, they are necessary; and I want to say why. 
Suppose the case were one of measuring thermal 
expansion; and suppose everything had the same 
temperature and the same expansibility ; our standards 
would contract or expand with everything else, and 
we could observe nothing; but expansion would occur 
nevertheless. That is obvious, but the following 
assertion is not so obvious. If everything in the 
Universe had the same temperature, no matter what 
that temperature was, nothing would be visible at all; 
the external world, so far as vision went, would not 
appear to exist. Visibility depends on radiation, on 
differential radiation. We must have differences to 
appeal to our senses, they are not constructed for 
uniformity. 

It is the extreme omnipresence and uniformity and 
universal agency of the zther of space that makes 
it so difficult to observe. To observe anything you 
must have differences. If all actions at a distance 
are conducted at the same rate through the ether, 
the travel of none of them can be observed. Find 
something not conveyed by the ether, and there is 
a chance. But then every physical action is trans- 
mitted by the wther, and in every case by means 
of its transverse or radiation-like activity. 

Except perhaps Gravitation. That may give us 4 
clue some day, but at present we have not been 
able to detect its speed of transmission at all. No 
plan has been devised for measuring it. Nothing 
short of the creation or destruction of matter seems 
likely to serve: creation or destruction of the gravita- 
tional unit, whether it be an atom or an electron, 
or whatever it is. Most likely the unit of weight 
is an electron, just as the unit of mass is. 

The so-called non-Newtonian Mechanics, with mass 
and shape a function of velocity, is an immediate 
consequence of the electrical theory of matter. The 
dependence of inertia and shape on speed is a genuine 
discovery, and, I believe, a physical fact. The Prin- 
ciple of Relativity would reduce it to a conventional 
fiction. It would seek to replace this real change in 
matter by imaginary changes in time. But surely 
we must admit that Space and Time are essentially 
unchangeable: they are not at the disposal even of 
mathematicians; though it is true that Pope Gregory, 
or a Daylight-saving Bill, can play with our units, 
can turn the 3rd of October in any one year into the 


a . NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER II, I913 


14th, or can make the sun South sometimes at eleven 
o’clock sometimes at twelve.* 

But the changes of dimension and mass due to 
velocity are not conventions but realities; so I urge, 
on the basis of the electrical theory of matter. The 
Fitzgerald-Lorentz hypothesis I have an affection for. 
I was present at its birth. Indeed, I assisted at its 
birth; for it was in my study at 21 Waverley Road, 
Liverpool, with Fitzgerald in an armchair, and while 
I was enlarging on the difficulty of reconciling the 
then new Michelson experiment with the theory of 
astronomical aberration and with other known facts, 
that he made his brilliant surmise :—‘‘ Perhaps the 
stone slab was affected by the motion.’’ I rejoined 
that it was a 45° shear that was needed. To which 
he replied, ‘‘ Well, that’s all right—a simple distor- 
tion.” And very soon he said, ‘‘And I believe it 
oceurs, and that the Michelson experiment demon- 
strates it.’’ A shortening long-ways, or a lengthen- 
ing cross-ways would do what was wanted. 

And is such a hypothesis gratuitous? Not at all: 
in the light of the electrical theory of matter such an 
effect ought to occur. The amount required by the 
experiment, and given by the theory, is equivalent to 
a shrinkage of the earth’s diameter by rather less 
than three inches, in the line of its orbital motion 
through the zther of space. An oblate spheroid with 
the proper eccentricity has all the simple geometrical 
properties of a stationary sphere; the eccentricity de- 
pends in a definite way on speed, and becomes con- 
siderable as the velocity of light is approached. 

All this Profs. Lorentz and Larmor very soon after, 
and quite independently, perceived; though this is 
only one of the minor achievements in the electrical 
theory of matter which we owe to our distinguished 
visitor Prof. H. A. Lorentz. 

The key of the position, to my mind, is the nature 
of cohesion. I regard cohesion as residual chemical 
affinity, a balance of electrical attraction over repul- 
sion between groups of alternately charged molecules. 
Lateral electrical attraction is diminished by motion; 
so is lateral electric repulsion. In cohesion both are 
active, and they nearly balance. At anything but 
molecular distance they quite balance, but at molecular 
distance attraction predominates. It is the diminu- 
tion of the predominant partner that will be felt. 
Hence while longitudinal cohesion, or cohesion in the 
direction of motion, remains unchanged, lateral 
cohesion is less; so there will be distortion, and a 
unit cube x, y, 2 moving along x with velocity u 
becomes a parallelopiped with sides 1/k?, k, k; where 
1/k®=1—u?/v?.® 

The electrical theory of matter is a positive achieve- 
ment, and has positive results. By its aid we make 
experiments which throw light upon the relation 
between matter and the zther of space. The prin- 
ciple of relativity, which seeks to replace it, is a 
principle of negation, a negative proposition, a state- 
ment that observation of certain facts can never be 
made, a denial of any relation between matter and 
zether, a virtual denial that the zther exists. Whereas 
if we admit the real changes that go on by reason 
of rapid motion, a whole field is open for discovery ; 
it is even possible to investigate the changes in shape 
of an electron—appallingly minute though it is—as it 
approaches the speed of light; and properties belong- 


5 In the historical case of governmental interference with the calendar, no 
wonder the populace rebelled. Surely someone might have explained to the 
authorities that dropping leap year for the greater part of a century would 
do all that was wanted, and that the borrible inconvenience of upsetting all 
engagements and shortening a single year by eleven days could he avoided, 

6 Different modes of estimating the change give slightly different results ; 
some involve a compression as well as a distortion—in fact the strain asso- 
ciated with the name of Thomas Young ; the details are rather complicated 
and this is not the place to discuss them pure shear, of magnitude 
specified in the text, is simplest, it is in accord with all the experimental 
facts—including some careful measurements by Bucherer—and I rather 
expect it to survive. | 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


ing to the zther of space, evasive though it be, can- 
not lag far behind. 

Speaking as a physicist, I must claim the zther as 
peculiarly our own domain. The study of molecules 
we share with the chemist, and matter in its various 
forms is investigated by all men of science, but a 
study of the zther of space belongs to physics only. 
I am not alone in feeling the fascination of this por- 
tentous entity. Its curiously elusive and intangible 
character, combined with its universal and unifying 
permeance, its apparently infinite extent, its definite 
and perfect properties, make the zther the most 
interesting, as it is by far the largest and most funda- 
mental, ingredient in the material cosmos. 

As Sir J. J. Thomson said at Winnipeg— 

“The zether is not a fantastic creation of the specu- 
lative philosopher; it is as essential to us as the air 
we breathe. . . . The study of this all-pervading sub- 
stance is perhaps the most fascinating and important 
duty of the physicist.” 

Matter it is not, but material it is; it belongs to 
the material universe, and is to be investigated by 
ordinary methods, But to say this is by no means 
to deny that it may have mental and spiritual func- 


. tions to subserve in some other order of existence, as 
. matter has in this. 


The zther of space is at least the great engine of 
continuity. It may be much more, for without it 
there could hardly be a material universe at all. 
Certainly, however, it is essential to continuity; it is 
the one all-permeating substance that binds the whole 
of the particles of matter together. It is the uniting 
and binding medium without which, if matter could 
exist at all, it could exist only as chaotic and isolated 
fragments: and it is the universal medium of com- 
munication between worlds and particles. And yet it 
is possible for people to deny its existence, because it 
is unrelated to any of our senses, except sight—and 
to that only in an indirect and not easily recognised 
fashion. 

To illustrate the thorough way in which we may be 
unable to detect what is around us unless it has some 
link or bond which enables it to make appeal, let me 
make another quotation from Sir J. J. Thomson’s 
address at Winnipeg in 1909. He is leading up to 
the fact that even single atoms, provided they are 
fully electrified with the proper atomic charge, can be 
detected by certain delicate instruments—their field of 
force bringing them within our ken—whereas a whole _ 
crowd of unelectrified ones would escape observation. - 

“The smallest quantity of unelectrified matter ever 
detected is probably that of neon, one of the inert 
gases of the atmosphere. Prof. Strutt has shown that 
the amount of neon in 1/20 of a cubic centimetre of 
the air at ordinary pressures can be detected by the 
spectroscope; Sir William Ramsay estimates that the 
neon in the air only amounts to one part of neon in 
100,000 parts of air, so that the neon in 1/20 of a 
cubic centimetre of air would only occupy at atmo- 
spheric pressure a volume of half a millionth of a 
cubic centimetre. When stated in this form the quan- 
tity seems exceedingly small, but in this small volume 
there are about ten million million molecules. Now 
the population of the earth is estimated at about 
fifteen hundred millions, so that the smallest number 
of molecules of neon we can identify is about 7000 
times the population of the earth. In other words, 
if we had no better test for the existence of a man 
than we have for that of an unelectrified molecule we. 
should come to the conclusion that the earth is un- 
inhabited.” 

The parable is a striking one, for on these lines it 
might legitimately be contended that we have no 
right to say positively that even space is uninhabited. 
All we can safely say is that we have no means of 


SEPTEMBER II, 1913] 


detecting the existence of non-planetary immaterial 
dwellers, and that unless they have some link or bond 
with the material they must always be physically 
beyond our ken. We may therefore for practical 
purposes legitimately treat them as non-existent until 
such link is discovered, but we should not dogmatise 
about them. True agnosticism is legitimate, but not 
the dogmatic and positive and gnostic variety. 

But I hold that science is incompetent to make com- 
prehensive denials, even about the ether, and that it 
goes wrong when it makes the attempt. Science 
should not deal in negations: it is strong in affirma- 
tions, but nothing based on abstraction ought to pre- 
sume to deny outside its own region. It often 
happens that things abstracted from and ignored by 
one branch of science may be taken into consideration 
by another :— 

Thus, chemists ignore the ether. 

Mathematicians may ignore experimental difficul- 
ties. 

Physicists ignore and exclude live things. 

Biologists exclude mind and design. 

Psychologists may ignore human origin and human 
destiny. 

Folk-lore students and comparative mythologists 
need not trouble about what modicum of truth there 
may be in the legends which they are collecting and 
systematising. 

And microscopists may ignore the stars. 

Yet none of these ignored things should be denied. 

Denial is no more infallible than assertion. There 
are cheap and easy kinds of scepticism, just as there 
are cheap and easy kinds of dogmatism; in fact, 
scepticism can become viciously dogmatic, and science 
has to be as much on its guard against personal pre- 
dilection in the negative as in the positive direction. 
An attitude of universal denial may be very superficial. 

“To doubt everything or to believe everything are 
two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with 
the necessity of reflection.” 

All intellectual processes are based on abstraction. 
For instance, history must ignore a great multitude 
of facts in order to treat any intelligently: it selects. 
So does art; and that is why a drawing is clearer 
than reality. Science makes a diagram of reality, 
displaying the works, like a _ skeleton clock. 
Anatomists dissect out the nervous system, the blood 
vessels, and the muscles, and depict them separately 
—there must be discrimination for intellectual grasp 
—but in life they are all-merged and co-operating 
together; they do not really work separately, though 
they may be studied separately. A scalpel dis- 
criminates: a dagger or a bullet crashes through 
everything. That is life—or rather death. The laws 
of nature are a diagrammatic framework, analysed or 
abstracted out of the full comprehensiveness of 
reality. “ 

Hence it is that science has no authority in denials. 
To deny effectively needs much more comprehensive 
knowledge than to assert. And abstraction is essenti- 
ally not comprehensive: one cannot have it both 
ways. Science employs the methods of abstraction, 
and thereby makes its discoveries. 

The reason why some physiologists insist so strenu- 
ously on the validity and self-sufficiency of the laws 
of physics and chemistry, and resist the temptation 
to appeal to unknown causes—even though. the 
guiding influence and spontaneity of living things 
are occasionally conspicuous as well as inexplicable— 
is that they are keen to do their proper work; and 
their proper work is to pursue the laws of ordinary 
physical énergy into the intricacies of ‘colloidal 
electrolytic structures of great chemical complexity” 
and to study its behaviour there. 

What we have clearly to grasp, on their testimony, 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


may be looked for and discovered with patience. 


43 


is that for all the terrestrial manifestations of life 
the ordinary physical and chemical processes have to 
serve. There are not new laws for living matter, 
and old laws for non-living, the laws are the same; 
or if ever they differ, the burden of proof rests on 
him who sustains the difference. The conservation of 
energy, the laws of chemical combination, the laws 
of electric currents, of radiation, &c., &c.—all the 
laws of chemistry and physics—may be applied with- 
out hesitation in the organic domain. Whether they 
are sufficient is open to question, but as far as they 
go they are necessary; and it is the business of the 
physiologist to seek out and demonstrate the action 
of those laws in every vital action. 

This is clearly recognised by the leaders, and in 
the definition of physiology by Burdon Sanderson he 
definitely limited it to the study of ‘ascertainable 
characters of a chemical and physical type.” In his 
address to the Subsection of Anatomy and Physiology 
at York in 1881 he spoke as follows :— 

“Tt would give you a true idea of the nature of the 
great advance which took place about the middle of 
this century if I were to define it as the epoch of the 
death of ‘vitalism.’ Before that time, even the 
greatest biologists—e.g. J. Miiller—recognised that 
the knowledge biologists possessed both of vital and 
physical phenomena was insufficient to refer both to 
a common measure. The method, therefore, was to 
study the processes of life in relation to each other 
only. Since that time it has become fundamental in 
our science not to regard any vital process as under- 
stood at all unless it can be brought into relation 
with physical standards, and the methods of physio- 
logy have been based exclusively on this principle. 
The most efficient cause [conducing to the change] 
was the progress which had been made in physics and 
chemistry, and particularly those investigations which 
led to the establishment of the doctrine of the con- 
servation of energy. ... 

“Investigators who are now working with such 
earnestness in all parts of the world for the advance 
of physiology, have before them a definite and well- 
understood purpose, that purpose being to acquire an 
exact knowledge of the chemical and physical pro- 
cesses of animal life and of the self-acting machinery 
by which they are regulated for the general good of 
the organism. The more singly and straightforwardly 
we direct our efforts to these ends, the sooner we 
shall attain to the still higher purpose—the effectual 
application of our knowledge for the increase of 
human happiness.” 

Prof. Gotch, whose recent loss we have to deplore, 
puts it more strongly :— 

“Tt is essentially unscientific,’ he says, “to say that 
any physiological phenomenon is caused by vital 
force.” 

I observe that by some critics I have been called 
a vitalist, and in a sense I am; but I am not a vitalist 
if vitalism means an appeal to an undefined “vital 
force ’’ (an objectionable term I have never thought of 
using) as against the laws of chemistry and physics. 
Those laws must be supplemented, but need by no 
means be superseded. The business of science is to 
trace out their mode of action everywhere, as far and 
as fully as possible; and it is a true instinct which 
resents the medizval practice of freely introducing 
spiritual and unknown causes into working science. 
In science an appeal to occult qualities must be illegi- 
timate, and be a barrier to experiment and research 
generally; as, when anything is called an act of God 
—and when no more is said. The occurrence is left 
unexplained. As an ultimate statement such a phrase 
may be not only true but universal in its application. 
But there are always proximate explanations which 
So, 


44 


NATURE 


lightning, earthquakes, and other potents are reduced 
to natural causes. No ultimate explanation is ever 
attained by science: proximate explanations only. 
They are what it exists for; and it is the business of 
scientific men to seek them. 

To attribute the rise of sap to vital force would be 
absurd, it would be giving up the problem and stating 
nothing at all. The way in which osmosis acts to 
produce the remarkable and surprising effect is dis- 
coverable and has been discovered. 

So it is always in science, and its progress began 
when unknown causes were eliminated and treated 
as non-existent. Those causes, so far as they exist, 
must establish their footing by direct investigation 
and research; carried on in the first instance apart 
from the long-recognised branches of science, until 
the time when they too have become sufficiently 
definite to be entitled to be called scientific. Out- 
landish territories may in time be incorporated as 
states, but they must make their claim good and 
become civilised first. 

It is well for people to understand this definite 
limitation of scope quite clearly, else they wrest the 
splendid work of biologists to their own confusion— 
helped it is true by a few of the more robust or less 
responsible theorisers, among those who should be 
better informed and more carefully critical in their 
philosophising utterances. 

But, as is well known, there are more than a few 
biologists who, when taking a broad survey of their 
subject, clearly perceive and teach that, before all the 
actions of live things are fully explained, some hitherto 
excluded causes must be postulated. Ever since the 
time of J. R. Mayer it has been becoming more and 
more certain that, as regards performance of work, 
a living thing obeys the laws of physics, like every- 
thing else; but undoubtedly it initiates processes and 
produces results that without it could not have oc- 
curred—from a bird’s nest to a' honeycomb, from a 
deal box to a warship. The behaviour of a ship firing 
shot and shell is explicable in terms of energy, but 
the discrimination which it exercises between friend 
and foe is not so explicable. There is plenty of 
physics‘ and chemistry and mechanics about every 
vital action, but for a complete understanding of it 
something beyond physics and chemistry is needed. 

And life introduces an incalculable element.. The 
vagaries of a fire or a cyclone could all be predicted 
by Laplace’s calculator, given the initial positions, 
velocities, and the law of acceleration of the mole- 
cules; but no mathematician could calculate the orbit 
of a common house-fly. A physicist into whose 
galvanometer a spider had crept would be liable to 
get phenomena of a kind quite inexplicable, until he 
discovered the supernatural, 7.e., literally super- 
physical, cause. I will risk the assertion that life 
introduces something incalculable and purposeful amid 
the laws of physics; it thus distinctly supplements 
those laws, though it leaves them otherwise precisely 
as they were and obeys them all. 

We see only its effect, we do not see life itself. 
Conversion of inorganic into organic is effected always 
by living organisms. The conversion under those con- 
ditions certainly occurs, and the process may be 
studied. Life appears necessary to the conversion; 
which clearly takes place under the guidance of life, 
though in itself it is a physical and chemical process. 
Many laboratory conversions take place under the 
guidance of life, and, but for the experimenter, would 
not have occurred. 

Again, putrefaction, and fermentation, and purifica- 
tion of rivers, and disease, are not purely and solely 
chemical processes. Chemical processes they are, but 
they are initiated and conducted by living organisms. 
Just when medicine is becoming biological, and when 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


[SEPTEMBER II, 1913 


the hope of making the tropical belt of the earth 
healthily habitable by energetic races is attracting the 
attention of people of power, philosophising biologists 
should not attempt to give their science away to 
chemistry and physics. Sections D and H and 1 
and K are not really subservient to A and B. Biology 
is an independent science, and it is served, not domin- 
ated, by chemistry and physics. 

Scientific men are hostile to superstition, and rightly 
so, for a great many popular superstitions are both 
annoying and contemptible; yet occasionally the term 
may be wrongly applied to practices of which the 
theory is unknown. ‘To a superficial observer some 
of the practices of biologists themselves must appear 
grossly superstitious. To*combat malaria Sir Ronald 
Ross does not indeed erect an altar; no, he oils a 
pond—making libation to its presiding genii. What 
can be more ludicrous than the curious and evidently 
savage ritual, insisted on by United States officers, 
at that hygienically splendid achievement, the Panama 
Canal—the ritual of punching a hole in every dis- 
carded tin, with the object of keeping off disease! 
What more absurd, again—in superficial appearance 
—than the practice of burning or poisoning a soil to 
make it extra fertile! 

Biologists in their proper field are splendid, and 
their work arouses keen interest and enthusiasm in 
all whom they guideinto their domain. Most of them 
do their work by intense concentration, by narrow- 
ing down their scope, not by taking a wide survey 
or a comprehensive grasp. Suggestions of broader 
views and outlying fields of knowledge seem foreign 
to the intense worker, and he resents them. For his 
own purpose he wishes to ignore them, and practically 
he may be quite right. The folly of negation is not 
his, but belongs to those who misinterpret or mis- 
apply his utterances, and take him as a guide in a 
region where, for the time at least, he is a stranger. 
Not by such aid is the universe in its broader aspects 
to be apprehended. If people in general were better 
acquainted with science they would not make these 
mistakes. They would realise both the learning and 
the limitations, make use of the one and allow for 
the other, and not take the recipe of a practical 
worker for a formula wherewith to interpret the 
universe. 

What appears to be quite certain is that there can 
be no terrestrial manifestation of life without matter. 
Hence naturally they say, or they approve such sayings 
as, ‘‘I discern in matter the promise and potency of 
all forms of life.’ Of all terrestrial manifestations of 
life, certainly. How else could it manifest -itself save 
through matter? ‘I detect nothing in the organism 
but the laws of chemistry and physics,” it is said. 
Very well: naturally enough. That is what they are 
after; they are studying the physical and chemical 
aspects or manifestations of life. But life itself—life 
and mind and consciousness—they are not studying, 
and they exclude them from their purview. Matter 
is what appeals to our senses here and now; material- 
ism is appropriate to the material world; not as a 
philosophy but as a working creed, as a proximate 
and immediate formula for guiding research. Every- 
thing beyond that belongs to another region, and must 
be reached by other methods. To explain the psychical 
in terms of physics and chemistry is simply impos- 
sible; hence there is a tendency to deny its existence, 
save as an epiphenomenon. But all such philosophis- 
ing is unjustified, and is really bad metaphysics. 

So if ever in their enthusiasm scientific workers go 
too far and say that the things they exclude from 
study have no existence in the universe, we must 
appeal against them to direct experience. We our- 
selves are alive, we possess life and mind and con- 
' sciousness, we have first-hand experience of these 


things, 


SEPTEMBER II, 1913] 


NATURE 


45 


quite apart from laboratory experiments. 
They belong to the common knowledge of the race. 
Births, deaths, and marriages are not affairs of the 
biologist, but of humanity; they went on before a 
single one of them was understood, before a vestige 
of science existed. We ourselves are the laboratory 
in which men of science, psychologists, and others 
make experiments. They can formulate our processes 
of digestion, and the material concomitants of will- 
ing, of sensation, of thinking; but the hidden guiding 
entities they do not touch. 

So also if any philosopher tells you that you do not 
exist, or that the external world does not exist, or 
that you are an automaton without free will, that all 
your actions are determined by outside causes, and 
that you are not responsible—or that a body cannot 
move out of its place, or that Achilles cannot catch a 
tortoise; then in all those cases appeal must be made 
to twelve average men, unsophisticated by special 
studies. There is always a danger of error in inter- 
preting experience, or in drawing inferences from it; 
but in a matter of bare fact, based on our own first- 
hand experience, we are able to give a verdict. We 
may be mistaken as to the nature of what we see. 


Stars may look to us like bright specks in a dome,: 


but the fact that we see them admits of no doubt. 
So also consciousness and will are realities of which 
we are directly aware, just as directly as we are of 
motion and force, just as clearly as we apprehend 
the philosophising utterances of an Agnostic. The 
process of seeing, the plain man does not understand ; 
he does not recognise that it is a method of ethereal 
telegraphy; he knows nothing of the zther and its 
ripples, nor of the retina and its rods and cones, nor 
of nerve and brain processes; but he sees and he hears 
and he touches, and he wills and he thinks and is 
conscious. This is not an appeal to the mob as 
against the philosopher, it is appeal to the experience 
of untold ages as against the studies of a generation. 

How consciousness became associated with matter, 
how life exerts guidance over chemical and physical 
forces, how mechanical motions are translated into 
sensations—all these things are puzzling and demand 
long study. But the fact that these things are so 
admits of no doubt; and difficulty of explanation is 
no argument against them. The blind man restored 
to sight had no opinion as to how he was healed, nor 
could he vouch for the moral character of the Healer, 
but he plainly knew that whereas he was blind now 
he saw. About that fact he was the best possible 
judge. So it is also with ‘‘this main miracle that 
thou art thou, With power on thine own act and on 
the world.” 

But although life and mind may be excluded from 
physiology, they are not excluded from science. Of 
course not. It is not reasonable to sav that things 
necessarily elude investigation merely because we do 
not knock against them. Yet the mistake is some- 
times made. The zther makes no appeal to sense, 
therefore some are beginning to say that it does not 
exist. Mind is occasionally put into the same predica- 
ment. Life is not detected in the laboratory, save 
in its physical and chemical manifestations; but we 
may have to admit that it guides processes neverthe- 
less. It may be called a catalytic agent. 

To understand the action of life itself, the simplest 
plan is not to think of a microscopic organism, or 
any unfamiliar animal, but to make use of our own 
experience as living beings. Any positive instance 
serves to stem a comprehensive denial; and if the 
reality of mind and guidance and plan is denied be- 
cause they make no appeal to sense, then think how 
the world would appear to an observer to whom the 
existence of men was unknown and undiscoverable, 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


the current). 


while yet all the laws and activities of nature went on 
as they do now. 

Suppose, then, that man made no appeal to the 
senses of an observer of this planet. Suppose an out- 
side observer could see all the events occurring in 
the world, save only that he could not see animals 
or men. He would describe what he saw much as 
we have to describe the activities initiated by life. 

If he looked at the Firth of Forth, for instance, he 
would see piers arising in the water, beginning to 
sprout, reaching across in strange manner till they 
actually join or are joined by pieces attracted up from 
below to complete the circuit (a solid circuit round 
He would see a sort of bridge or fila- 
ment thus constructed, from one shore to the other, 
and across this bridge insect-like things crawling and 
returning for no very obvious reason. 

Or let him look at the Nile, and recognise the 
meritorious character of that river in promoting the 
growth of vegetation in the desert. Then let him see 
a kind of untoward crystallisation growing across 
and beginning to dam the beneficent stream. Blocks 
fly to their places by some kind of polar forces; “we 
cannot doubt” that it is by helio- or other tropism. 
There is no need to go outside the laws of mechanics 
and physics, there is no difficulty about supply of 
energy—none whatever—materials in tin cans are con- 
sumed which amply account for all the energy; and 
all the laws of physics are obeyed. The absence of 
any design, too, is manifest; for the effect of the 
structure is to flood an area up-stream which might 
have been useful, and to submerge a structure of 
some beauty; while down stream its effect is likely 
to be worse, for it would block the course of the river 
and waste it on the desert, were it not that fortu- 
nately some leaks develop and a sufficient supply still 
goes down—goes down, in fact, more equably than 
before: so that the ultimate result is beneficial to 
vegetation, and simulates intention. 

If told concerning either of these structures that an 
engineer, a designer in London, called Benjamin 
Baker, had anything to do with it, the idea would be 
preposterous. One conclusive argument is final 
against such a superstitious hypothesis—he is not 
there, and a thing plainly cannot act where it is not. 
But although we, with our greater advantages, per- 
ceive that the right solution for such an observer 
would be the recognition of some unknown agency 
or agent, it must be admitted that an explanation in 
terms of a vague entity called vital force would be 
useless, and might be so worded as to be misleading ; 
whereas a statement in terms of mechanics and physics 
could be clear and definite and true as far as it went, 
though it must necessarily be incomplete. 

And note that what we observe, in such understood 
cases, is an interaction of mind and matter; not 
parallelism nor epiphenomenalism nor anything 
strained or difficult, but a straightforward utilisation 
of the properties of matter and energy for purposes 
conceived in the mind, and executed by muscles guided 
by acts of will. 

But, it will be said, this is unfair, for we know 
that there is design in the Forth Bridge or the Nile 
Dam, we have seen the plans and understand the 
agencies at work: we know that it was conceived 
and guided by life and mind, it is unfair. to 
quote this as though it could simulate an automatic 
process. 

Not at all, say the extreme school of biologists 
whom I am criticising, or ought to say if they were 
consistent, there is nothing but chemistry and physics 
at work anywhere; and the mental activity apparently 
demonstrated by those structures is only an illusion, 
an epiphenomenon; the laws of chemistry and physics 


46 


are supreme, and they are sufficient to account for 
everything ! 

Well, they account for things up to a point; they 
account in part for the colour of a sunset, for the 
majesty of a mountain peak, for the glory of animate 
existence. But do they account for everything com- 
pletely? Do they account for our own feeling of joy 
and exaltation, for our sense of beauty, for the mani- 
fest beauty existing throughout nature? Do not 
these things suggest something higher and nobler 
and more joyous, something for the sake of which 
all the struggle for existence goes on? 

Surely there must be a deeper meaning involved 
in natural objects. Orthodox explanations are only 
partial, though true as far as they go. When we 
examine each parti-coloured pinnule in a peacock’s 
tail, or hair in a zebra’s hide, and realise that the 
varying shades on each are so placed as to contribute 
to the general design and pattern, it becomes exceed- 
ingly difficult to explain how this organised co-opera- 
tion of parts, this harmonious distribution of pigment 
cells, has come about on merely mechanical prin- 
ciples. It would be as easy to explain the sprouting 
of the cantilevers of the Forth Bridge from its piers, 
or the flocking of the stones of the Nile Dam by 
chemiotaxis. Flowers attract insects for fertilisation ; 
and fruit tempts animals to eat it in order to carry 
seeds. But these explanations cannot be final. We 
have still to explain the insects. So much beauty 
cannot be necessary merely to attract their attention. 
We have further to explain this competitive striving 
towards life. Why do things struggle to exist? 
Surely the effort must have some significance, the 
development some aim. We thus reach the problem 
of existence itself, and the meaning of evolution. 

The mechanism whereby existence entrenches itself 
is manifest, or at least has been to a large extent 
discovered. Natural selection is a vera causa, so far 
as it goes; but if so much beauty is necessary for 
insects, what about the beauty of a landscape or of 
clouds? What utilitarian object do those subserve? 
Beauty in general is not taken into account by science. 
Very well, that may be all right, but it exists never- 
theless. It is not my function to discuss it. No; 
but it is my function to remind you and myself that 
that our studies do not exhaust the universe, and 
that if we dogmatise in a negative direction, and say 
that we can reduce everything to physics and 
chemistry, we gibbet ourselves as ludicrously narrow 
pedants, and are falling far short of the richness and 
fullness of our human birthright. How far preferable 
is the reverent attitude of the Eastern poet :— 

“The world with eyes bent upon thy feet stands in 
awe with all its silent stars.” 

Superficially and physically we are very limited. 
Our sense organs are adapted to the observation of 
matter; and nothing else directly appeals to us. Our 
nerve-muscle-system is adapted to the production of 
motion in matter, in desired ways; and nothing else 
in the material world can we accomplish. Our brain 
and nerve systems connect us with the rest of the 
physical world. Our senses give us information about 
the movements and arrangements of matter. Our 
muscles enable us to produce changes in those dis- 
tributions. That is our equipment for human life; 
and human history is a record of what we have done 
with these parsimonious privileges. 

Our brain, which by some means yet to be dis- 
covered connects us with the rest of the material 
world, has been thought partially to disconnect us 
from the mental and spiritual realm, to which we 
really belong, but from which for a time and for 
practical purposes we are isolated. Our common or 
social association with matter gives us certain oppor- 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER I1, 1913, 


tunities and facilities, combined with obstacles and 
difficulties which are themselves opportunities for 
struggle and effort. 

Through matter we become aware of each other, 
and can communicate with those of our fellows who 
have ideas sufficiently like our own for them to be 
stimulated into activity by a merely physical process 
set in action by ourselves. By a time succession of 
vibratory movements (as in speech and music), or by 
a static distribution of materials (as in writing, paint- 
ing, and sculpture), we can carry on intelligent inter- 
course with our fellows; and we get so used to these 
ingenious and roundabout methods, that we are apt 
to think of them and their like as not only the natural 
but as the only possible modes of communication, and 
that anything more direct would disarrange the whole 
fabric of science. 

It is clearly true that our bodies constitute the 
normal means of manifesting ourselves to each other 
while on the planet; and that if the physiological 
mechanism whereby we accomplish material acts is 
injured, the conveyance of our meaning and the dis- 
play of our personality inevitably and correspondingly 
suffer. 

So conspicuously is this the case that it has been 
possible to suppose that the communicating mechan- 
ism, formed and worked by us, is the whole of our 
existence : and that we are essentially nothing but the 
machinery by which we are known. We find the 
machinery utilising nothing but well-known forms of 
energy, and subject to all the laws of chemistry and 
physics—it would be strange if it were not so—and 
from that fact we try to draw valid deductions as to © 
our nature, and as to the impossibility of our existing 
apart from and independent of these temporary modes 
of material activity and manifestation. We so 
uniformly employ them, in our present circumstances, 
that we should be on our guard against deception due 
to this very uniformity. Material bodies are all that 
we have any control over, are all that we are experi- 
mentally aware of; anything that we can do with 
these is open to us; any conclusions we can draw 
about them may be legitimate and true. But to step 
outside their province and to deny the existence of any 
other region because we have no sense organ for its 
appreciation, or because (like the ether) it is too 
uniformly omnipresent for our ken, is to wrest our 
advantages and privileges from their proper use and 
apply them to our own misdirection. 

But if we have learnt from science that evolution 
is real, we have learnt a great deal. I must not 
venture to philosophise, but certainly from the point 
of view of science evolution is a great reality. Surely 
evolution is not an illusion; surely the universe pro- 
gresses in time. Time and space and matter are 
abstractions, but are none the less real: they are 
data given by experience; and time is the keystone 
of evolution. ‘Thy centuries follow each other, per- 
fecting a small wild flower.” 

We abstract from living, moving reality a certain 
static aspect, and we call it matter; we abstract the 
element of progressiveness, and we call it time. 
When these two abstractions combine, co-operate, 
interact, we get reality again. It is like Poynting’s 
theorem. 

The only way to refute or confuse the theory of 
evolution is to introduce the subjectivity of time. 
That theory involves the reality of time, and it is 
in this sense that Prof. Bergson uses the great phrase 
“creative evolution.” 

I see the whole of material existence as a steady 
passage from past to future, only the single instant 
which we call the present being actual. The past is 
not non-existent, however, it is stored in our 


eS se 


SEPTEMBER II, 1913] 


memories, there is a record of it in matter, and the 

present is based upon it; the future is the outcome of 

the present, and is the product of evolution. 
Existence is like the output from a loom. The 


pattern, the design for the weaving, is in some sort 


“there” already; but whereas our looms are mere 
machines, once the guiding cards have been fed into 
them, the loom of time is complicated by a multitude 
of free agents who can modify the web, making 
the product more beautiful or more ugly according 
as they are in harmony or disharmony with the 
general scheme. I venture to maintain that mani- 
fest imperfections are thus accounted for, and that 
freedom could be given on no other terms, nor at 
any less cost. 

The ability thus to work for weal or woe is no 
illusion, it is a reality, a responsible power which 
conscious agents possess; wherefore the resulting 
fabric is not something preordained and inexorable, 
though by wide knowledge of character it may be 
inferred. Nothing is inexorable except the uniform 
progress of time; the cloth must be woven, but the pat- 
tern is not wholly fixed and mechanically calculable. 

Where inorganic matter alone is concerned, there 
everything is determined. Wherever full conscious- 
ness has entered, new powers arise, and the faculties 
and desires of the conscious parts of the scheme have 
an effect upon the whole. It is not guided from out- 
side, but from within; and the guiding power is 
immanent at every instant. Of this guiding power 
we are a small but not wholly insignificant portion. 

That evolutionary progress is real is a doctrine of 
profound significance, and our efforts at social better- 
ment are justified because we are a part of the 
scheme, a part that has become conscious, a part 
that realises, however dimly, what it is doing and 
what it is aiming at. Planning and aiming are there- 
fore not absent from the whole, for we are a part 
of the whole, and are conscious of them in ourselves. 

Either we are immortal beings or we are not. 
We may not know our destiny, but we must have a 
destiny of some sort. Those who make denials are 
just as likely to be wrong as those who make asser- 
tions: in fact, denials are assertions thrown into 
negative form. Scientific men are looked up to as 
authorities, and should be careful not to mislead. 
Science may not be able to reveal human destiny, but 
it certainly should not obscure it. Things are as 
they are, whether we find them out or not; and if 
we make rash and false statements, posterity will 
detect us—if posterity ever troubles its head about us. 
I am one of those who think that the methods of 
science are not so limited in their scope as has been 
thought : that they can be applied much more widely, 
and that the psychic region can be studied and 
brought under law too. Allow us anyhow to make 
the attempt. Give us a fair field. Let those who 
prefer the materialistic hypothesis by all means 
develop their thesis as far as they can; but let us try 
what we can do in the psychical region, and see 
which wins. Our methods are really the same as 
theirs—the subject-matter differs. Neither should 
abuse the other for making the attempt. 

Whether such things as intuition and revelation 
ever occur is an open question. There are some 
who have reason to say that they do. They are at 
any rate not to be denied off-hand. In fact, it is 
always extremely difficult to deny anything of a 
general character, since evidence in its favour may 
be only hidden and not forthcoming, especially not 
forthcoming at any particular age of thé world’s 
history, or at any particular stage of individual mental 
development. Mysticism must have its place, though 
its relation to science has so far not been found. 
They have appeared disparate and disconnected, but 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


47 


there need be no hostility between them, Every kind 
of reality must be ascertained and dealt with by 
proper methods. If the voices of Socrates and of Joan 
of Arc represent real psychical experiences, they must 
belong to the intelligible universe. 

Although 1 am speaking ex cathedra, as one of 
the representatives of orthodox science, I will not 
shrink from a personal note summarising the result 
on my own mind of thirty years’ experience of 
psychical research, begun without predilection— 
indeed, with the usual hostile prejudice. This is not 
the place to enter into details or to discuss facts 
scorned by orthodox science, but I cannot help re- 
membering that an utterance from this chair is no 
ephemeral production, for it remains to be criticised 
by generations yet unborn, whose knowledge must 
inevitably be fuller and wider than our own. Your 
President, therefore, should not be completely bound 
by the shackles of present-day orthodoxy, nor limited 
to beliefs fashionable at the time. In justice to 
myself and my co-workers, I must risk annoying my 
present hearers, not only by leaving on record our 
conviction that occurrences now regarded as occult 
can be examined and reduced to order by the methods 
of science carefully and persistently applied, but by 
going further and saying, with the utmost brevity, 
that already the facts so examined have convinced me 
that memory and affection are not limited to that 
association with matter by which alone they can 
manifest themselves here and now, and that per- 
sonality persists beyond bodily death. The evidence, 
to my mind, goes to prove that discarnate intelli- 
gence, under certain conditions, may interact with us 
on the material side, thus indirectly coming within 
our scientific ken; and that gradually we may hope 
to attain some understanding of the nature of a 
larger, perhaps zetherial, existence, and of the con- 
ditions regulating intercourse across the chasm. A 
body of responsible investigators has even now landed 
on the treacherous but promising shores of a new 
continent. 

Yes, and there is more to say than that. The 
methods of science are not the only way, though they 
are our way, of being piloted to truth. ‘‘ Uno itinere 
non potest perveniri ad tam grande secretum.” 

Many scientific men still feel in pugnacious mood 
towards theology, because of the exaggerated 
dogmatism which our predecessors encountered and 
overcame in the past. They had to struggle for 
freedom to find truth in their own way; but the 
struggle was a miserable necessity, and has left some 
evil effects. And one of them is this lack of sympa- 
thy, this occasional hostility, to other more spiritual 
forms of truth. We cannot really and seriously sup- 
pose that truth began to arrive on this planet a few 
centuries ago. The pre-scientific insight of genius 
—of poets and prophets and saints—was of supreme 
value, and the access of those inspired seers to the 
heart of the universe was profound. But the camp 
followers, the scribes and pharisees, by whatever 
name they may be called, had no such insight, only 
a vicious or a foolish obstinacy; and the prophets of 
a new era were stoned. 

Now at last we of the new era have been victorious, 
and the stones are in our hands; but for us to imitate 
the old ecclesiastical attitude would be folly. Let us 
not fall into the old mistake of thinking that ours is 
the only way of exploring the multifarious depths of 
the universe, and that all others are worthless and 
mistaken. The universe is a larger thing than we 
have any conception of, and no one method of search 
will exhaust its treasures. 

Men and brethren, we are trustees of the truth of 
the physical universe as scientifically explored: let 


: us be faithful to our trust. 


‘ 


48 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER II, 1913 


Genuine religion has its roots deep down in the 
heart of humanity and in the reality of things. It 
is not surprising that by our methods we fail to grasp 
it: the actions of the Deity make no appeal to any 
special sense, only a universal appeal; and our 
methods are, as we know, incompetent to detect com- 
plete uniformity. There is a principle of relativity 
here, and unless we encounter flaw or jar or change, 
nothing in us responds; we are deaf and blind, there- 
fore, to the Immanent Grandeur unless we have 
insight enough to recognise in the woven fabric of 
existence, flowing steadily from the loom in an infinite 
progress towards perfection, the ever-growing gar- 
ment of a transcendant God. 


SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT. 

A marked feature of the present scientific era is the 
discovery of, and interest in, various kinds of 
atomism; so that continuity seems in danger of being 
lost sight of. 

Another tendency is toward comprehensive negative 
generalisations from a limited point of view. 

Another is to take refuge in rather vague forms of 
statement, and to shrink from closer examination of 
the puzzling and the obscure. 

Another is to deny the existence of anything which 
makes no appeal to organs of sense, and no ready 
response to laboratory experiment. 

Against these tendencies the author contends. He 
urges a belief in ultimate continuity as essential to 
science; he regards scientific concentration as an in- 
adequate basis for philosophic generalisation; he 
believes that obscure phenomena may be expressed 
simply if properly faced; and he points out that the 
non-appearance of anything perfectly uniform and 
omnipresent is only what should be expected, and is 
no argument against its real substantial existence. 


NOTES. 


In view of the meeting of the British Association, a 
“ Handbook for Birmingham and the Neighbourhood ” 
has been issued (under the editorshiv of Dr. G. A. 
Auden) at the price of 3s. 6d. net by Messrs. Cornish 
Bros., Ltd., Birmingham. The volume is of an en- 
cyclopeedic character, and should be of great service 
not only to members of the British Association, but 
to all who are interested in things pertaining to Bir- 
mingham. The work is divided into five main divi- 
sions—historical, municipal, educational, industrial, 
and scientific. In the latter, which of course appeals 
more especially to our readers, botany is dealt with 
by Prof. West and Messrs. Grove, Humphreys, 
Cleminshaw, and Duncan; Midland reafforesting by 
P. E, Martineau; the ornithology of the district by 
R. W. Chase; insects by H. W. Ellis; mammalia, 
amphibia, reptilia, and pisces by H. E. Forrest; micro- 
scopic aquatic fauna by H. W. H. Darlaston; meteoro- 
logy by A. Cresswell; and the geology and physiography 
of the Birmingham country by Prof C. Lapworth, 
F.R.S. The last-named contribution is  supple- 
mented by very clear geological and topographical 
maps executed by Messrs. John Bartholomew and Co., 
of Edinburgh. Besides these maps, there are a number 
of illustrations in the text. Altogether the volume is 
an admirable production, and worthy of the occasion 
for which it has been prepared. 


Apropos of the British Association meeting, a recent 
number of The Westminster Gazette contains an article 


NO, 2289, VOL. 92] 


on the Lunar Society, the members of which used to 
meet monthly in Birmingham in the eighteenth cen- 
tury, as nearly as possible at the time of full moon 
that they might have the benefit of its light in return- 
ing home—hence the name of the society. Each 
member was permitted to bring a friend, and some 
very distinguished men from time to time enjoyed the 
society’s hospitality. Thus we find that among such 
guests were Sir Joseph Banks, Sir William Herschel, 
John Smeaton, of lighthouse fame, Josiah Wedgwood, 


Prof. Hugh Blair, Afzelius, the Swedish botanist, » 


Daniel Solander, the naturalist, and Andre de Lue, the 
geologist. Among the members of the society or club 
were James Watt, Joseph Priestley, and Erasmus 
Darwin. The Priestley riots dealt a blow to the little 
society from which it never recovered, and it is there- 
fore now no more than a memory. 


Pror. Mitne bequeathed to the British Asso- 
ciation his books, albums, and scientific instruments 
relating to seismology, and, subject to his wife’s in- 


terest, the sum of 1oool. to the chairman of the seis- 
mology committee of the British Association for the 


furtherance of the study of terrestrial physics and its 
attendant subjects. 


A FURTHER grant of ‘s000l., making 10,000l. in all, 


has been made by the Federal Government of the 
| Commonwealth of Australia towards completing the — 


work of the Mawson Antarctic Expedition and bring- 
ing the explorers back. 


THE sum of 90,000 francs has been bequeathed to 
the Pasteur Institute at Paris for the founding of a 


prize for the best original work in the treatment of — 


meningitis. 
WE record, with regret, the death on Saturday last 


of Dr. Hugh Marshall, F.R.S., professor of chemistry 
in University College, Dundee. 


Tue death occurred on September 2, at Abo, Fin- 
land, at the age of sixty-three years, of Dr. O. M. 
Reuter, emeritus professor of zoology in the Univer- 
sity of Helsingfors. 


A BRONZE statue of the late Dr. Ludwig Mond, 
erected by Messrs. Brunner, Mond and Co., Ltd., on 
the lawn opposite Winnington Hall, near Northwich, 
Dr. Mond’s residence, is to be unveiled on Saturday 
next by Sir John Brunner. 


A MEMORIAL of the Russian explorer, Baron E. von 
Toll, in the form of a bronze portrait tablet, is to be 
set up on Kotelnyi Island, in the New Siberia group, 
by the leader of the German Taimyrland Expedition. 


Papers dealing with various problems of heating 
and lighting are to be read by Prof. Bone, F-.R.S., 
Prof. Vivian B. Lewes, Mr. L. Gaster, and Mr. T. 
Thorne Baker at a conference which is to take place 
on October 29 in connection with the National Gas 
Congress and Exhibition. 

Tue plumage prohibition clause in the United 
States Tariff Bill having been sanctioned by the 
Senate the importation into the United States of the 
plumage of wild birds, either raw or manufactured, 
for purposes other than scientific or educational, is 
prohibited. 


| 
J 
: 


’ done. 


SEPTEMBER II, 1913] 


Tue first installation of wireless telephony in a coal 
mine in Great Britain has just been fitted up at 
Dinnington Main Colliery, South Yorkshire, with, it 
is said, satisfactory results. The system is the in- 
vention of Mr. J. H. Reinecke, of Bochum, West- 
phalia, and is in use in German collieries. According 
to The Times each instrument is connected by two 
wires with a piece of metal buried in the ground. 
The wires can also be attached to ordinary tramway 
rails, water-pipes, &c. At Dinnington instruments 
have been placed at two points—one in the trans- 
former house near the pit bottom and the other 1000 
yards ‘‘in-bye,’’ and conversation has been carried on 
between these points just as through an ordinary 
telephone with the use of only about 20 yards of wire. 
The system also admits of the use of portable instru- 
ments weighing about 20 Ib. each by means of which 
it is possible to communicate with the fixed stations 
from any part of the mine. All that is necessary is 
for the operator to attach the two wires of the instru- 
ment to any metallic substance at hand. Thus in the 
event of a disaster in a pit miners entombed by falls 
would be able to open up communication with other 
parts of the colliery. In ordinary working the port- 
able instruments should be very useful in the case of a 
breakdown of the signalling apparatus, and coal turn- 
ing could be carried on while the repairs were being 
The portable instrument can also be used in 
the cage while ascending or descending the shaft. 


Tue Italian archzological mission to Crete, under 
the leadership of Prof. Halbherr, announces the dis- 
covery at Cortina of a temple dedicated to Egyptian 
deities, bearing a dedication by Flavia Philyra, the 
foundress. In the inner cella were found images of 
Jupiter, Serapis, Isis, and Mercury, with fragments 
of a colossal statue, supposed to be that of the 
foundress. A little flight of steps leads down to a 
subterranean chamber in which ceremonies of purifi- 
cation were performed. 


Tue excavation of the numerous prehistoric sites 
in the island of Malta is being actively prosecuted 
under the direction of Prof. T. Zammit. The most 
important discovery is that of a series of well tombs 
of the Punic type at the Kallilia plateau, north-west 
of Rabat. A large number of skeletons, with pottery, 
lamps, spindle-whorls, and a circular bronze mirror, 
has been unearthed. A partial exploration of the 
Ghar Dalam cave, conducted by Prof. Tagliaferro and 
Mr. C. Rizzo, produced bones of a hippopotamus and 
a deer, above which lay a quantity of prehistoric 
sherds. The museum, by the bequest of the late Mr. 
Parnis, has received a large collection of books about 
Malta and numerous antique objects. The Malta 
Herald, in recording the progress of excavation, very 
reasonably urges that means should be taken to pro- 
tect the sites partially examined from spoliation by the 
villagers. 


Less than 300 miles to the north of Rio de Janeiro, 
on the coast range of Minas Geraes, live the Uti-krag, 
a tribe of Botocudos still retaining some of their old 
customs, but rapidly succumbing to the fostering care 
of the recently established Board of Protection of the 
Native Indians. Mr. W. Knocke paid them a very 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


49 


short visit in the month of October, 1912, and he 
describes his observations in a pamphlet entitled 
“Algunas Indicaciones sobre los Uti-krag del Rio 
Doce,”’ issued separately from the Revista de Historia 
y Geografia (vol. v., 1913). The name of Botocudos, 
given them by the Portuguese, refers to the plugs 
with which the men distend their ear lobes, the women 
also the lower lip; this is now becoming unfashion- 
able. When in their wilds the women are stark 
naked. They are the ugly and less intelligent sex, 
with a considerably darker colour than the decidedly 
intelligent men. Their household goods seem to be 
restricted to bows and arrows, plaited bags, and bam- 
boo water-vessels; consequently they cannot cook, but 
only roast their food. They are clay-eaters. The 
nasal flute is disappearing. They are able to count 
up to five, have three kinds of dances, and bury their 
dead. There is the following curious parallelism be- 
tween these Uti-krag, which in their idiom means 
Tortoise-Sierra, and the Mimba of New Guinea (cf. 
Pilhofer, Petermann’s Mittheil., September, 1912) :— 
They construct stockades by putting numbers of 
sharpened sticks, 4 to 5 in. in length, into the ground, 
covered with leaves. As the enemy, when treading 
on these spikes, is sure to stumble, he falls upon a 
second line of larger sharpened sticks, also concealed. 
The author thinks that this little tribe is not so much 
a sample of the vigorous primitive savage as rather 
ethically impoverished through life in the forest. 
There are eight photographs of the people, their arms, 
and the stockade spikes. 


Tue excellence of the work being done by French 
physical anthropologists is exemplified by the elaborate 
descriptive memoir by Prof. M. R. Anthony on the 
fossil skull of La Quina, contributed to Bulletins et 
Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie (No. 2, for 
1913). The writer identifies it with the Neanderthal 
group, including the Spy, La Chapelle, and Gibraltar 
skulls. This comprehensive, well-illustrated memoir 
is an important contribution to our knowledge of 
palzolithic man. 


Tue seventh annual report on the results of the 
chemical and bacteriological examination of London 
waters for the twelve months ending March 31, 1913, 
by Dr. Houston, has been issued by the Metropolitan 
Water Board. After a summary of the condition of 
the raw water and the effects of storage and filtration, 
Dr. Houston’s final conclusion is that the ‘‘ quality 
policy” of the Metropolitan Water Board should be 
directed towards securing an _ ‘‘epidemiologically 
sterile’ water (i.e., a water containing none of the 
microbes associated with water-borne disease) ante- 
cedent to filtration, by means of storage (sedimenta- 
tion, devitalisation, and equalisation), aided, if need 
be, by the occasional employment of supplementary 
processes of water purification. 


Tue final report of the Luangwa Sleeping Sickness 
Commission, by Dr. Kinghorn, Dr. Yorke, and Mr. 
Lloyd, published in a recent number of the Annals of 
Tropical Medicine and Parasitology (vol. vii., No. 2) 
with many illustrations, is a very important contribu- 
tion to the study of trypanosomiasis in man and 
animals. Especially valuable are the observations on 


50 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER II, 1913 


the human trypanosome, T. rhodesiense, its wide dis- 
tribution in south Central Africa, its occurrence in 
wild game and domestic stock, and its transmission by 
Glossina morsitans. The authors affirm emphatically 
that the fly does not become infective until the try- 
panosome has invaded its salivary glands, an event 
which is the second and final act of a developmental 
cycle that begins in the gut of the fly. [t was found 
that the first portion of this cycle could proceed at 
lower temperatures (60°—7o° F.), but that for its com- 
pletion higher temperatures (75°—85° F.) are essential. 
The parasites can, however, persist in the fly at an 
incomplete stage of their development for at least sixty 
days under unfavourable climatic conditions. Several 
species of trypanosomes, some old, some new, are 
described from wild game or domestic stock; remark- 
able among the new species is a large form of the 
ingens-type, to which the name T. tragelaphi is 
given, found in the blood of the sitatunga, Limno- 
tragus spekei. 


Tue problems connected with tsetse-flies and the 
parasites of man and animals which they unwittingly 
transmit are perhaps the most important questions 
with which European administrators of African terri- 
tories have to deal at the present time, and these 
troublesome insects continue to receive an amount of 
attention which their purely scientific interest would 
never have aroused. In the Annals of Tropical Medi- 
cine and Parasitology (vol. vii., Part 2), Prof. New- 
stead describes a new species of tsetse-fly from the 
Congo Free State under the name Glossina severini; 
and in the same number Mr. Llewellyn Lloyd publishes 
records and photographs of' the breeding-places of 
G. morsitans at Ngoa, on the Congo-Zambesi water- 
shed. The pupz of G. morsitans were always found 
either in association with trees or in holes in the 
ground; in the former case the trees were always 
abnormal or injured. The pupz were never found at 
the base of normal trees or under bushes, and they 
are always deposited in such positions that they are 
not likely to be scratched up by game-birds. In the 
Bulletin of Entomological Research (vol. iv., Part 1), 
Dr. Scott Macfie discusses, with the aid of many photo- 
graphs, the distribution of tsetse-flies in the Ilorin 
province of northern Nigeria, and describes a new 
variety of G. palpalis, with an excellent coloured 
illustration. In the same journal Dr. J. O. Shircore 
describes two new varieties of G. morsitans from 
Nyasaland. 


Tue proceedings of the Orchid Conference held by 
the Royal Horticultural Society in November last are 
reported at length in the Society’s Journal (vol. 
xxxviii., Part 3). They include four papers read at the 
Conference, in the first of which Prof. F. Keeble dis- 
cussed the physiology of fertilisation, with special 
reference to recent investigations by Lutz, Fitting, 
and others, and pointed out that pollination may bring 
about three types of events: (1) fertilisation, (2) 
changes due to contact of pollen with the stigmatic 
surface, and (3) results which may be described as 
intoxications or responses to chemical stimulation. 
In a paper on the application of genetics to orchid 

©, Hurst recapitulated the first 


breeding, Major C. C. 
NO. 2289, VOL. 92| 


| principles of genetics, and pointed out that as regards 
any one heritable character represented by a factor, 
there are three distinct kinds of individual plants— 
homozygous or pure, heterozygous or impure, and 


identification of individual ‘‘stud”’ plants, colour and 
albinism, self-sterility in orchids, &e. 


Ir requires an altogether special equipment, not only 
of exact zoological and historical knowledge but also 
of sympathetic insight into the conditions which pre- 
vailed in the past, to compose such a delightful lecture 
as that which Prof. F. J. Cole, of Reading, has pub- 
lished in the Transactions of the Liverpool Biological 
Society (February 14, 1913). In his crisp and epi- 
grammatic treatment of a series of well-chosen inci- 
dents he has admirably brought before us “the early 
days of comparative anatomy,” and the feeling of 
most readers, and especially those who from their 
personal experience realise how difficult such know- 
ledge is to acquire, will be to emulate Oliver Twist’s 
example and ask for more. It is quite impossible to 
summarise a report so crowded with curious informa- 
tion, witty comment, and historical insight, illumina- 
ting the whole development of the science of compara- 
tive anatomy. From the knowledge acquired as a 
collector of old ‘‘anatomies,’’ Dr. Cole has been able 


seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which opened 
the way for those glaring instances of unscrupulous 
plagiarism that have ever been a source of amazement 
to us who live in such vastly different circum- 
stances. But no part of the discourse excels in 
piquancy and common sense the opening ‘apology ” 
for the study of the history of biology. 


A RECENT number of the Centralblatt fiir Bakterio- 
logie, Parasitenkunde, &c. (Zweite Abt., Band 38) 
contains a detailed account by O. Schneider-Orelli of 
investigations on the life-history and habits of Xyle- 
borus dispar, one of the bark-beetles (Scolytidz). 
This species, notorious for the injuries it inflicts on 
fruit-trees, is remarkable for its symbiosis with a 
fungus, Monilia candida, Hartig. The female beetles, 
fertilised in the autumn, hibernate in their burrows 
through the winter and swarm out in the following 
April and May. Each female then becomes the 
foundress of a new colony; she bores into a tree and 
makes a system of burrows, the walls of which be- 
come lined with a growth of the fungus, forming a 
dense white mass, the so-called “‘ambrosia.”” The 
mother-beetle lays her eggs in the burrows and the 
larvae feed on the ambrosia-fungus, not on the wood 
of the tree. Living cells or spores of the fungus are 
not to be found in the digestive tract of the larva, 
pupa, or newly hatched adult beetle, but the female 
beetles appear to take up the fungus from the walls 
of the burrow in which they have been bred, and the 
stomachs of the mother-beetles always contain a store 
of the fungus, capable of germinating. The culture 
is started in the new burrows by regurgitation of the 
fungus from the stomach, and is continued by the 
beetle plucking off clumps of the young culture and 
planting them further along in the burrow. If dis- 
turbed in her agricultural operations, the mother- 


zerozygous or wanting. He also dealt with the- 


to explain the loose methods of publication in the | 


— ae 


SEPTEMBER I1, 1913]| 


NATURE 


51 


beetle hastily swallows as much as she can of the 
fungus. 


In a paper on the psychology of insects, read before 
the General Malarial Committee at Madras in Novem- 
ber, 1912, Prof. Howlett, after giving an account of 
experiments carried out by him on the response of 
insects to stimuli, comes to the conclusion that insects 
are to be regarded “not as intelligent beings con- 
sciously shaping a path through life, but as being in 
a sort of active hypnotic trance.” It is claimed that 
this view of insect-psychology opens up great possi- 
bilities in the study of insect carriers of disease, since 
“it is no intelligent foe we have to fight, but a mere 
battalion of somnambulists.” If we discover the 
stimuli or particular conditions which determine the 
actions of an insect, we can apply them to its undoing. 
It was found, for example, that the females of the 
fruit-fly, a serious pest in some parts of India, 
emitted an odour resembling ordinary citronella, and 
that the males could be caught in very large numbers 
by baiting traps with citronella, since they came to 
the traps and remained there apparently under a blind 
impulse to follow the scent of the female. In this way 
they had succeeded in checking largely the incidence 
of the fruit-fly pest. 


In reference to a recent paragraph in our notes 
columns on a large dinosaurian limb-bone from 
Bushman’s River, S. Africa, we have received a letter 
from Dr. R. Broom pointing out that Owen was 
incorrect in stating that Anthodon came from that 
locality, and that (as mentioned in Brit. Mus. Cat. 
Foss. Reptilia) its real place of origin was Stylkrantz. 
It is added that Anthodon is not a dinosaur, but a 
pariasaurian, and is thus rightly classified in the 
work just quoted. Dr. Broom appears to forget that 
in 1895 (Rec. Albany Mus., vol. i., p. 277) he himself 
stated in reference to Anthodon that there ‘‘seems a 
strong probability that the three original specimens 
were got by Bain at Bushman’s River.” Later on he 
observed that ‘‘by Owen Anthodon was believed to be 
a dinosaur; by Lydekker and others it has been be- 
lieved to be allied to Pareiasaurus. . . . The teeth are 
unlike those of Pareiasaurus, and strikingly like 
those of dinosaurs, and it seems possible that Owen 
may ultimately prove to be right.” Basing our re- 
marks on these statements, our one error was the 
assertion that Anthodon is known to be a dinosaur. 
As the Stylkrantz beds are Permian, and those of 
Bushman’s River Cretaceous, there can, of course, be 
no community between their faunas. 


Tue September number of The Selborne Magazine 
contains a list of lectures delivered before the Selborne 
Society during the past few years, and the names of 
the lecturers. Any of these discourses, which cover 
a great range of subjects, and are profusely illustrated 
with lantern-slides, the respective lecturers are pre- 
pared to repeat, either singly or in series, to local 
natural history societies or schools in return for their 
expenses, or moderate fees. 


To the August number of The Irish Naturalist Dr. 
R. F. Scharff contributes a note on the Belmullet 
whaling station, based on a paper by Mr, Burfield in 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


the British Association report for 1912. The number 
of whales taken by the Blacksod Whaling Company 
in 1g11 was sixty-three, against fifty-five the previous 


year. The catch of the other company is not given. 


An interesting article by Mr. C. H. Eshleman on 
the ‘‘Climatic Effect of the Great Lakes as Typified 
at Grand Haven, Mich.,” on the east of the lake, is 
published in the meteorological chart for September 
issued by the U.S. Weather Bureau. Few stations 
are more favourably placed for this purpose; it has 
a broad expanse of eighty-five miles of water to the 
westward, and the shore is comparatively regular and 
almost straight to the north and south. Its tempera- 
ture is compared with that of Milwaukee on the west 
shore, and with several inland stations lying to the 
westward in the same latitude. The tables show, 
inter alia, that the annual means are practically the 
same; the monthly maxima along the lake are 
strikingly modified in spring and summer, but only 
slightly in the other seasons; the minima are greatly 
modified in autumn and winter. The lake acts as a 
barrier against the extreme cold from the far north- 
west; the temperature at Grand Haven is often 20° 
higher than at Milwaukee, but with easterly winds it 
is almost as cold at Grand Haven as away from the 
lake. AIl the other climatic features are modified, 
but the effect on yearly or monthly precipitation is not 
striking. We notice with regret that the publication 
of these valuable meteorological charts, including 
those of the great oceans, has now ceased. 


Tue after-shocks of the Messina earthquake of 
December 28, 1908, have been referred to in several 
of our Notes. On the last occasion (vol. xci., p. 93) 
a summary was given of observations made at Mes- 
sina during the year, 1909. From these it appeared 
that the distribution in time of the after-shocks did not 
follow Omori’s law, y=h/(k+x), where h and k are 
constants and y the number of after-shocks during a 
given interval at time x from the earthquake. These 
observations, however, referred to all the shocks felt 
at Messina, and not only to the true after-shocks of the 
great earthquake. The latter are distinguished in 
the valuable notices of earthquakes observed in Italy 
during 1909, of which we have received the last three 
numbers for the year. From these it is seen that the 
decline in frequency of the true after-shocks, though 
exhibiting the usual fluctuations, does not depart 
widely from Omori’s well-known law. 


Part 14 of the Verhandlungen of the German 
Physical Society contains further details of the method 
used and the results obtained by Drs. A. Eucken and 
F. Schwers, of the University of Berlin, in their 
measurements of specific heats of substances at very 
low temperatures. A cylindrical block of the material 
to be investigated had a constantan heating wire of 
2 mm. diameter and 200 ohms resistance wound round 
it, electrical insulation and adequate thermal contact 
being secured by varnish. The temperature attained 
was determined from the resistance of a lead wire 
wound round the cylinder in the same way. The elec- 
trical heating was carried out in a vacuum vessel at 
temperatures between 16° and 92° on the absolute 


52 


scale. Over this range the specific heats of fluorspar 
and iron pyrites crystals vary as the third power of 
the absolute temperature in agreement with the theory 
put forward by Debye in the first instance for 
monatomic substances, 


“THe Coal Resources of the World,” to which 
allusion was made in NatupeE of September 4, is being 
brought out in this country by the American Book 
Supply Co., Ltd., 149 Strand. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


A_New Comer.—A telegram from the Centralstelle 
at Kiel, dated September 3, announced the discovery 
of a comet of magnitude 10-0 by Dr. Metcalf, of Win- 
chester, Massachusetts, on September 1, at 8h. 42-0m. 
M.T. Winchester. Its position was given as RA 
6h. 50m., and declination 57° o’ N., and was stated to 
have a slow motion to the north. It was suggested 
that it possibly might be Westphal’s comet. A second 
telegram, dated September 4, stated that Prof. 
Antoniazzi had seen the same object on September 3 
at.1sh. 394m. M.T. Padua. The position he gave 
was RA 6h. 48m. 12s., and declination 570 Shan aINe 
the daily motion in RA being —1m. 16s., and in 
declination +34’. According to a writer in The Times 
(September 6), Prof. Antoniazzi’s observation indicates 
that the comet cannot be that of Westphal, as the 
daily motion is diminishing instead of increasing. 

The new comet is in the constellation of the Lynx, 
and therefore to be observed any time during the 
night, but best visible after midnight. 

The following elements and ephemeris of comet 6 
(Metcalf) have been communicated from Kiel, based 
on the observations of September 2, 3, and 4 :— 


T=1913 July 20.1129 Berlin. 
w= 51° 31°47’): 
2 =136° 035 bons, 
Z =142° 49°23’ 
log g =0'20954 


12h. M.T. Berlin. 
R.A. Dec, 
hom. os ° , 
Sept. 11 6 32 54 +62 21°6 
13 27 1 63 44°7 
15 6 19 53 65 105 
The magnitude is given as Io-5 on September 5 and 


Io-3 on September 15. 


ANOTHER Cometr.—Another telegram from Kiel, 
dated September 7, states that Dr. K. Graff discovered 
on September 6, at 15h, gum. M.T. Bergedorf, a 
comet of the 11th magnitude. Its position is given as 
R.A. 23h. 48m. 1-8s., and declination 0° 27! Aal Ss 
It is thus situated in the constellation of Pisces, and 
should be best seen about midnight. 


Tue Prorecrion oF SILVERED Mirrors FROM Tar- 
NISHING.—Everyone who uses mirrors for astronomical] 
purposes would welcome a satisfactory method of 
coating them with some material for preventing 
tarnishing. M. Perot some years ago published an 
account of a process he employed successfully for 
treating mirrors at the Meudon Observatory. It con- 
sisted of a thin coating of collodion being applied to 
the surface of the mirror, the film being obtained by 
pouring over the mirror a solution of collodion in amyl 
acetate. The mirrors used at the Helwan Observa- 
tory are subject to becoming spotted a few weeks 
after silvering, and attempts have been made to pro- 
tect them. Mr. S. H. Trimen, of the Survey Depart- 
ment Laboratories, made the various trials (Khedivial 
Observatory, Helwan, Bulletin No. ro), but after 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


‘number of this journal (June 17, 


[SEPTEMBER 11, 1913 


repeated attempts with solutions of varying  per- 
centages he had at length to abandon the process, 
Blurred images of the stars and curious flares on the 
photographs of the bright stars were always the result 
of the application of the fil. It is suggested that 
the problem may possibly be solved by using a solution, 
possessing a lower viscosity, and it is to be hoped 
that such an attempt will be made. 

RESEARCHES ON THE SuN.—The last two numbers of 


the Astrophysical Journal (June and July) have con- . 


tained several important researches relating to solar 
physics. Prof. George E. Hale, in the July number, 
publishes his most valuable paper on the * Prelimi 
Results of an Attempt to Detect the General Magnetic 
Field of the Sun,’ a summary of which, based on an 
advanced proof, having been given in a previous 
p- 505). In con- 
nection with this research, Mr. Frederick H. Seares 
gives in the same number a paper entitled, “‘ The 
Displacement-curve of the Sun’s General Magnetic 
Field.” The spectrum lines observed with the 75-ft. 
Spectrographs and the polarising apparatus of the 
150-ft. tower telescope showed displacements that 
apparently could not be attributed to any other cause 
than a general magnetic field of the sun, and the 
object of his research was to provide a more rigorous 
control of the results and their interpretation. Thus 
in the paper he compares the observed displacements 
with the theoretical displacement-curve derived on the 
assumption that the sun is a magnetised sphere, and 
further he provides formula for determining the posi- 
tion of the magnetic axis relative to the axis of rotation. 

In the June number Mr. Charles E. St. John deals 
with the remarkable discovery by Mr. Evershed of 
the displacement of the Fraunhofer lines in the 
penumbrz of sunspots. The paper is entitled, ‘The 
Distribution of Velocities in the Solar Vortex,” and 
the observations recorded in this research are in entire 
accord with Mr. Evershed’s hypothesis that the dis- 
placements considered are due to a movement of the 
solar vapours tangential to the solar surface and 
radial to the axis of the spot vortex. Previous refer- 
ence has already been made of Prof. Slocum’s second 
paper on the circulation in the solar atmosphere as 
indicated by prominences. 


THE INSTITUTE OF METALS. 


THE autumn meeting of the Institute of Metals 

took place at Ghent on August 28 and 29 last. 
This was the first occasion on which this institute 
has held a meeting abroad, and the gathering may be 
described as a complete success. The attendance of 
members (about seventy-five) was particularly satis- 
factory on account of the representative character of 
those present, the foreign members of the institute, 
including members from Russia, Germany, Belgium, 
and America, being particularly well represented. The 
mornings of August 28 and 29 were devoted to the 
discussion of a long and interesting list of papers, 
while the afternoons were utilised for visits to works, 
the inspection of the exhibition, and the antiquities 
of the city. The social functions included a reception 
by the Burgomestre of Ghent in the ancient and 
beautiful Hotel de Ville. 

The foremost place in the work of the meeting was 
taken by the reading and discussion of the second 
report to the Corrosion Committee, presented by Dr. 
G. Bengough and R. M. Jones. This report deals 
with the examination of a considerable number of 
examples of corroded tubes from service, of the inves- 
tigation of the mechanism of corrosion in sea-water, 
both at the ordinary temperature and at higher tem- 
peratures by means of small laboratory experiments, 


Ee 


SEPTEMBER II, 1913| 


and the systematic study of corrosion in condenser 
tubes of various composition under conditions as 
nearly like those of practical service as possible in an 
experimental condenser plant set up by the committee 
at Liverpool University. The results as stated in the 
report are remarkable, and diverge widely from the 
views generally accepted hitherto. The examination 
of material from service did not lead to any conclu- 
sive results, but the data furnished by the experi- 
mental plant—so far as they yet go—confirm the 
results of the small laboratory experiments. The 
report deals entirely with the process of corrosion by 
dezincification, which the authors have found to be 
the most common form of corrosion, although it 
appeared in the discussion that they admitted that 
pitting does occur in the absence of dezincification. 
They find, however, that none of the alloys tested by 
them undergo selective corrosion or dezincification 
when exposed to sea-water at the ordinary tempera- 
ture, but they are all subject to it at higher tempera- 
tures, the process becoming vigorous towards 40° C. 
The action of dezincification is connected by the 
authors with the formation of a basic zinc chloride, 
or of zinc hydroxide, which is found attached to the 
surface of the tube, and under these patches the metal 
is dezincified. The action of this basic salt is described 
as regenerative and dependent upon the presence of 
dissolved oxygen in the water. The experiments of 
the authors dealt with four alloys, viz. brass, contain- 
ing copper 7o per cent., zine 30 per cent.; Muntz 
metal, containing copper 61 per cent., zinc 39 per 
cent.; ‘‘Admiralty’’ brass, containing copper 70 per 
cent., zinc 29 per cent., and tin 1 per cent.; and a 
special alloy, containing copper 7o per cent., zinc 28 
per cent., and lead 2 per cent. As regards resistance 
to dezincification at 4o° and 50° C. the last-named 
proved superior to the others, the Muntz metal and 
70/30 brass being the least resistant. Another in- 
teresting and surprising result obtained by the authors 
is that dezincification does not appear to be due to 
electrolytic action; they find—contrary to what has 
been generally believed—that the presence of particles 
of carbon, or similar materials, even including a plug 
of pure copper screwed into the tube, does not give 
rise to local action of this kind. The report contains 
a detailed account of the experiments upon which 
these conclusions are based, and thus constitutes a 
record of work which must be of fundamental import- 
ance in the future study of the whole question of 
corrosion in copper alloys. 

Of considerable general interest also 
paper on the intercrystalline cohesion of metals 
by Dr. W. Rosenhain, F.R.S., and Mr. D. 
Ewen, of the National Physical Laboratory. The 
authors of this paper elaborate their theory that the 
crystals of a metal, forming a crystalline aggregate, 
are held together by a thin layer of the same metal 
in the amorphous or undercooled liquid condition. The 
experimental evidence offered in their first paper they 
now supplement by evidence obtained from an entirely 
different direction. In the present paper the relative 
mechanical properties of the crystals and of the 
amorphous cement are discussed, and the authors 
indicate that while at ordinary temperatures the 
cement would be much harder and stronger than the 
crystals, at temperatures near the melting point this 
relation must be reversed, since the undercooled liquid 
cement must pass into the ordinary fluid condition in 
a gradual and continuous manner while the crystals 
will soften suddenly on melting. Just below the melt- 
ing point, therefore, the theory indicates that the 
crystals could be pulled apart from one another with- 
out undergoing any distortion, thus giving a perfectly 
brittle fracture—the brittleness being entirely jinter- 
crystalline. The authors show such brittle inter- 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


was the 


NATURE 


53 


crystalline fractures in the case of the purest lead, tin, 
aluminium, and bismuth, the lead fractures being par- 
ticularly striking in appearance. At the meeting these 
data were supplemented by a similar brittle fracture 
obtained in a bar of the purest gold which had been 
prepared for the authors by Dr. T. K. Rose, of the 
Royal Mint. The discussion showed that the theory 
of an amorphous cement is still ‘received with some 
reserve, but it was admitted that the accumulation of 
experimental evidence has considerably strengthened 
the position of the theory. 

The list of papers dealt with at the meeting in- 
cluded nine others, among which those of Dr. T. K. 
Rose on the annealing of gold, of Dr. W. M. Guertler 
on the specific volume and constitution of alloys, of 
Prof. S..L. Hoyt on the constitution of the copper- 
rich kalchoids, or alloys of copper, zinc, and tin, of 
Mr. J. H. Chamberlain on volume changes in alloys, 
and of H. Garland on the metallographic study of 
some Egyptian antiquities, were of considerable in- 
terest. The discussions were in all cases vigorous and 
full of ‘interest, and the meeting marks a decided 
advance in the development of the Institute of Metals. 


THE PAST SUMMER. 


BRO4aDLY speaking, the past summer was essen- 
tially dry, generally cool, and particularly sun- 
less considering the small amount of rain. 

The reports issued by the Meteorological Office 
show that for the whole period of thirteen weeks 
which comprise the summer the mean temperature 
was below the average in all parts of the United 
Kingdom except in the north of Scotland, the 
deficiency being greatest over the east and south-east 
of England. The mean temperature was higher than 
in Ig12 over the entire kingdom with the exception 
of the east of England, but it was everywhere much 
cooler than in the abnormally hot summer of 1911, 
the difference being greatest in the midland, southern, 
and eastern districts of England. 

The sunshine was deficient over the eastern portion 
of the kingdom, but generally in excess in the western 
districts. The hours of bright sunshine were every- 
where more numerous than in 1912, but far fewer 
than in 1911. Taking the British Isles as a whole 
the total hours of sunshine were 492 in 1913, 373 in 
1912, and 679 in 1911. 

The average rainfall for the whole of the British 
Isles for the three summer months—June, July, and 
August—was 447 in. this year, 12-92 in. last year, 
and 627 in. in 1911; the average number of rainy 
days are thirty-five this summer, sixty-one last year, 
and thirty-seven in 1911. The rainfall this summer 
was less in all districts of the United Kingdom than 
in the dry summer of 1911. In the south-west of 
England the aggregate summer rainfall was only 
39 per cent. of the average, in the north-east of Eng- 
land 44 per cent., and in the midland counties and 
the south-east of England 45 per cent. The wettest 
districts were the north of Ireland, 68 per cent. of 
the normal, north-west of England, 67 per cent., and 
north of Scotland, 66 per cent. 

At Greenwich, which fairly represents England, the 
weather at the end of May was persistently hotter 
than at any time during the summer. On six con- 
secutive days the sheltered thermometer rose to 80° 
or above. Throughout the summer, from June to 
August, there were only four days with 80° or above, 
the average number of such warm days for the 
summer is fourteen, and in rg1r there were thirty- 
seven days as warm. 

The following are the chief meteorological results 
at Greenwich :— 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER II, 1913 


54 
| 

Temperature Rainfall Sunshine 

—— : ————awv\>—anaa | 
1913 lee le || ie /$. S ime Eo 
geleejgctes) gifgieeie| @ jee) § |) ee 
r si. & 2 bil eee 14 ri 
adleteges 2 egies 2) & ef] e jes 
218 | sR ENG pe la" ae 

. ° = Fea ot In. |. In. | 
June pera o|«o] o 61r| o | 12 8 | o'6r | -2°33] 204 || +22 
July -| 68 |-6 | 52 |=1 | 60 |-4!} 1 | x2] 2’%0r +0'12| 95 -9g1 
August ...) 71 |—2 | 52 |—1 | 62 |~1 | g | ax | 2°07 |-0'27| 143 | —34 
Summer...| 70 |-3 | sx |-1 | 6x |-2 | 22 | 31 ) 4°60 |- 1°45] 442 |- 103, 
It is seen that June was very dry, but in other 


respects fairly normal. July had a fairly normal 
rainfall, but only about one-half of the average sun- 
shine, whilst the temperature was exceptionally low. 
August was very dry until quite the close of the 
month, when exceptionally heavy rains fell over the 
south-eastern portion of England; at Greenwich the 
total for the last three days of the month was 1-22 in. ; 
both sunshine and temperature were deficient. 
Cuas. Harp1nc. 


A MEMOIR ON THE ARTHROPOD EYE.) 


eee progress has been made of late 
towards the elucidation of the structure of the 
arthropod eye. Prof. G. H. Parker, of Harvard, 
was the first seriously to attack the more intricate 
problems of its structure, and his insight was such 
that most of his work stands unchanged even after 
the more recent elaborate researches of Hesse, 
Schneider, and others. In the present paper Dr. 
‘lrojan has, in addition to his own researches, verified 
or corrected the observations of these later investiga- 
tors, whose work had summarised and illuminated the 
results of earlier writers. 

It will be of profit to mention briefly the interesting 
points that Dr. Trojan has been able to add to our 
knowledge. The corneal cells are not ‘ tile-shaped,” 
but they are broader distally than proximally, so that 
they appear triangular in transverse section. The 
author is unable to support Schneider’s observation 
that they are four in number, but agrees with Parker 
and Hesse that there are only two. The structure of 
the crystalline cells (cone cells) differs in one respect 
from that described by other writers; the upper part, 
the “‘ Zapfen,”’ is abruptly cone-shaped distally, and 
passes between the corneal cells to the facet. The 
general structure of the retinular cells and rhabdome 
is as Parker and later writers have described, but Dr. 
Trojan supports Hesse’s opinion (and differs from 
Parker and Schneider) that there is no ‘‘zwischen- 
substanz”’ (matrix) between the ‘‘ stiftchen "’ (fine rods) 
composing each half-plate of the rhabdome. The in- 
nervation of the rhabdome is effected as Hesse 
described, the nerve fibrilla passing up the outer side 
of the retinular cell, round the nucleus, and terminat- 
ing on ‘‘knépfchen”’ as the base of the “ stiftchen”’ 
composing the lamella of the rhabdome. Three optic 
ganglia are described. 

The most important part of the paper is devoted 
to a study of the pigment of the eye in darkness and 
light; this, however, is best consulted in the original. 
There are only two pigment-bearing cells which form 
a continuous tubular sheath enclosing the whole 
ommatidium from the crystalline cones to the bundles 
of nerve fibrilla under the basement membrane. The 
author’s observations on the movements of the pig- 
ments of these cells, and also of the non-pigmented 
tapetum cells are of considerable interest. 

In the course of the paper Dr. Trojan deals suc- 
cessively, under separate headings, with the different 

1 “Das Auge von Palaemon Squilla." By Dr. E. Trojan. Denk. d. 
Kais. Akad. d. Wiss. math-naturw. Klasse. Bd. 88. Wien, 1912. 54 pp. +6 pl. 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


elements of the eye, giving an exhaustive anatomical 
and historical account of each, an arrangement which 
is lucid and very easy to follow. The plates illustrat- 
ing the paper are very fine—we wish we could believe 
they could have been as exqtisitely reproduced in 
this country—though we should have preferred to have 
had more of the author’s own drawings in place of 
the photographs, beautiful as they are. 

Dr. Trojan’s paper is an important contribution to 
the literature of the arthropod eye, not only for the 
original matter it contains, but also as a critical 
review of the work of previous observers. 


H. (Ga 


BIOLOGY OF AQUATIC PLANTS: 


R. W. H. BROWN has contributed an important 
paper on the biology of aquatic flowering plants 
to The Philippine Journal of Science (vol. viii., 
pp. 1-20), under the title, ‘‘ The Relation of the Sub- 
stratum to the Growth of Elodea.”” He confirms the 
statements ot previous observers that in this and in ~ 
other submerged plants there is a ‘‘ transpiration cur- 
rent’’ of water up the vessels of the stem, but his 
experiments lead to the conclusions that this current 
is simply a necessary consequence of the physical con- 
struction of the plant, and that the passage of water 
through a submerged plant does not show that the 
movement is of advantage to the plant by causing 
condensation of nutrient salts or that the roots are 
of advantage as absorbing organs. 

Dr. Brown gives tables showing the relative growth 
of Elodea with and without addition of carbon dioxide 
to the water, in tap water, and in Knop’s solution, with 
and without soil, rooted in and simply anchored over | 
soilor sand, &c., and summarises the results as follows. 
Sufficient carbon dioxide to keep Elodea growing or 
even alive does not diffuse from the air into the water 
during winter and spring; the substratum probably 
serves as an important source of this gas. Elodea 
is not dependent on its roots for absorption of mineral 
salts, the chief function of the roots being to anchor 
the plant to the soil, which is advantageous when 
the soil contains organic matter and gives off carbon 
dioxide; plants rooted in good soil grow better than 
those anchored over the same soil. When carbon 
dioxide was supplied by a generator instead of by the 
soil, rooted and anchored plants grew about equally 
well; with similar soils, and no external supply of 
carbon dioxide, floating plants grew better than rooted 
ones, the air being in this case the source of carbon 
dioxide. 

The author’s work is of great interest with refer- 
ence to the relation between the growth and abund- 
ance of plankton organisms (which form a large pro- 
portion of the food of fishes) and of larger water 
plants, and has obvious economic bearings; for in- 
stance, his experiments would seem to show that the 
larger submerged plants compete with the plankton 
algz for both carbon dioxide and mineral salts, and 
must therefore be detrimental to their growth. 


. 


UNIVERSITY AND. EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


Lonpon.—A course of twelve post-graduate lectures 
on “Conductors for the Electrical Transmission of 
Energy” will be delivered at University College by 
Prof. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S., beginning on October 29. 
The course, which is intended for post-graduate 
students and for telegraphic and electrical engineers, 
engaged in practical work, will be divided into two 
parts, which may be attended separately. Part i. will 


oe 


SEPTEMBER II, 1913] 


NATURE 


Bh) 


be devoted to “Telegraph and Telephone Conductors, 
and part ii. to ‘‘ Electric Light and Power Conductors.” 


Tue Maharaja of Jaipur has made a contribution of 
three lakhs towards the establishment of a Women’s 
Medical College at Delhi. 


AMONG recent appointments at American universi- 


_ ties we notice the following :—Dr. A. H. Ryan to the 
chair of physiology in the medical department of the 


. are 


= 


University of Alabama; Dr. J. A. Bullitt to the chair 
of pathology in the University of North Carolina. 


Mr. D. C. MartHEson, at present on the veterinary 
staff of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and 
formerly connected with the veterinary school of the 
University of Liverpool, has been appointed to the 
chair of pathology and bacteriology in the Royal 
(Dick) Veterinary College, Edinburgh. 


Ir is stated in The Lancet that of the scholarships 
to be founded at Aberdeen University by the bequest 
of Mr. W. Robbie (briefly referred to in our issue of 
August 21) one is to be for chemistry. The principal 
of the sum left to the University by Mr. Robbie is to 
be kept intact, and the interest used in providing 
perpetual scholarships. 


An alarming outbreak of fire took place on Friday 
morning last at Dulwich College, damage being done 
to the extent of about 300]. The fire appears to have 
been the work of Suffragettes. The scene of the 
outrage was one of the chemical laboratories on the 
first floor of a block of buildings devoted partly to the 
engineering section of the college and partly to chem- 
istry. Before the fire could be extinguished a lecture 
platform was destroyed, the floor of the room badly 
damaged, and the windows broken by the heat. 


Tue recently published reports for 1911-12 from 
those universities and university colleges in Great 
Britain. which are in receipt of grants from the Board 
of Education show that, in the twenty-five institu- 
tions of higher education concerned, there were 22,895 
students, excluding 238 who were preparing for 
matriculation. In English colleges there were 7827 
full-time students, 3370 part-time day students, and 
7295 part-time evening students. Of this number it 
appears that 1596 were engaged upon post-graduate 
work. In Wales there were 1377 full-time students 
and 343 part-time students, none of them attending 
in the evening. Of the total number of full-time 
students admitted during the session 1911-12 to Eng- 
lish colleges, 4-6 per cent. were under seventeen years 
of age, 11-9 per cent. between seventeen and eighteen 


_ years of age, 27-6 between eighteen and nineteen years 


_ technic diploma. 


of age, and 55-9 per cent. more than nineteen years 
old. In Wales, 33-7 per cent. of the students were 
between eighteen and nineteen, and 54-1 per cent. 
more than nineteen years of age. 


A copy of the calendar of the day and evening 
classes to be held at the Battersea Polytechnic during 
the session which begins on September 16 has been 
received. Courses have been arranged both during 
the day and in the evening in preparation for degrees 
in science, engineering, and music at the University 
of London. In the day technical college, full-time 
courses are arranged in mechanical, civil, electrical, 
and motor engineering, architecture, and building, 
and chemical engineering, each covering a period of 
three years, at the end of which time students pass- 
ing the necessary examinations are awarded the poly- 
There are also courses in mathe- 
matics, physics, chemistry, and botany. The training 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


department of domestic science offers two, three, or 
four year courses in preparation for the teachers’ 
diplomas in domestic subjects. In the evening, classes 
have been arranged to meet the needs of every class 
of student. Science, technology, commerce, art, and 
literature are all to be taught in a thoroughly prac- 
tical manner, and the social and physical education 
of the students is not neglected. 


THE new session of the Sir John Cass Technical 
Institute, Aldgate, E.C., will commence on September 
22. The syllabus of classes, which has reached us, 
shows that the educational needs of the district are 
being cared for admirably. In connection with the 
higher technological work, several new departures are 
being made for the coming session. The curriculum 
in connection with the fermentation industries has 
been much developed, and now includes courses of 
instruction on brewing and malting, bottling and 
cellar management, brewery plant, and on the micro- 
biology of the fermentation industries. A connected 
series of lectures dealing with the supply and control 
of power has also been arranged to meet the require- 
ments of those engaged in works connected with 
chemical, electrical, and the fermentation industries. 
These will comprise a course of lectures on the supply 
and control of liquid, gaseous, and solid fuel, a course 
on electrical supply and control, and a course on the 
transmission of power. The courses in the metall- 
urgical and other departments will be of the same 
character as in previous years, and the object will be 
to meet the needs of the industries in the districts 
served by the institute. 


Tue ninth annual report of the Education Com- 
mittee of the County Council of the West Riding of 
Yorkshire is an excellent account of a good year’s 
educational work. From the section dealing with 
higher technical education we learn that in considera- 
tion of the grants received from the County Council 
the Universities of Leeds and Sheffield have been 
engaged in the organisation and supervision of classes 
in coal mining, the Leeds University in the area of 
the West Yorkshire Coalfield, the Sheffield University 
in the area of the South Yorkshire Coalfield; and 
each University has made provision for the training in 
mine gas testing, of persons selected by the Education 
Committee as prospective teachers of this subject. 
The Joint Agricultural Council of the three Ridings 
of Yorkshire have continued the work connected with 
education and instruction in agricultural subjects, 
acting through the agricultural department of Leeds 
University, on the same lines as before. The two 
outstanding features of the year’s work in the tech- 
nical and evening schools which call for special men- 
tion have been, first, a successful summer meeting of 
teachers in evening schools, and secondly, a consider- 
able development in regard to the provision of evening 
classes for adults in non-vocational subjects. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, August 25.—M. A. Chauveau 
in the chair.—Kr. Birkeland : Remarks on the attempts 
made by Hale to determine the general magnetism 
of the sun. The results recently published by Hale 
are at variance with the author’s views, if the general 
magnetism of the sun is similar to that of the earth. 
The objection made by Hale to the theory of local 
vortices is discussed. According to the author’s re- 
searches, the magnetic moment of the sun is of the 
order of 10** C.G.S. units, and the magnetisation is 
directed in a sense contrary to that of the earth.— 


56 NATURE 


Georges Claude: The maintenance of temperatures | 


about —211° C. by the use of liquid nitrogen. An 
admission of priority to Sir James Dewar.—R. 
Swyngedauw : The integration of the equation giving 
the distribution of the density of an alternating cur- 
rent in cylindrical conductors.—P. Th. Muller and R. 
Romann: The dissociation of good electrolytes and the 
law of mass action.—J. Bougault: The isomerisation 
of the a-hydroxy #y-unsaturated acids into y-ketonic 
acids. The views of Fittig, Thiele, and Erlenmeyer 
on this well-known isomeric chatge are discussed. 
The author puts forward experimental evidence in 
favour of the following simplified scheme :— 


R.CH=CH.CH(OH).CO,H—> 
R.CH(OH).CH=CH.CO,H—> 
R.CO.CH,.CH..CO,H. 


—Em. Bourquelot and M. Bridel: The biochemical 
synthesis of glucosides of polyvalent alcohols; the 
a-glucosides of glycerol and glycol.—Stanislas Meunier : 
An unrecognised point in the fossilisation of organic 
débris. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Research in China. (In three volumes and Atlas.) 
Vol. iii. : The Cambrian Faunas of China, by C. D. 
Walcott. A Report on Ordovician Fossils collected 
in Eastern Asia in 1903-04, by S. Weller. A Report 
on Upper Paleozoic Fossils collected in China in 1903— 
o4, by G. H. Girty. Pp. vii+375. (Washington, 
U.S.A.: Carnegie Institution.) 

The Infinitive in Anglo-Saxon. By Prof. M. 
Callaway, Jr. Pp. xiii+339. (Washington, U.S.A.: 
Carnegie Institution.) 

Botanical Features of the Algerian 
W. A. Cannon. Pp. vi+81+36 plates. 
U.S.A.: Carnegie Institution.) 

The Diffusion of Gases through Liquids and Allied 
Experiments. By Prof. C. Barus. Pp. vii+88. 
(Washington, U.S.A.: Carnegie Institution.) 

The Fermentation of Cacao. Edited by H. H. 
Smith. Pp. lvi+318. (London: J. Bale, Sons, and 
Danielsson, Ltd.) tos. net. 

The Poisonous Terrestrial Snakes of our British 
Indian Dominions (including Ceylon), and How to 
Recognise Them, with Symptoms of Snake Poisoning 
and Treatment. By Major F. Wall. Pp. xiv+149+ 


(Washington, 


iv. Third edition. (Bombay: Bombay Natural 
History Society; London: Dulau and Co., Ltd.) 
3 rupees. 


A Handbook for Birmingham and the Neighbour- 
hood. Prepared for the eighty-third Annual Meeting 
of the British Association for the Advancement of 
Science. Edited by Dr. G. A. Auden. Pp. vii+637. 
(Birmingham: Cornish Bros., Ltd.) 3s. 6d. net. 

Gruppenweise-Artbildung unter spezieller Bertich- 
sichtigung der Gattung Oenothera. By Prof. Hugo 
de_ Vries. Pp. viii+365+22 plates. (Berlin: 
Gebriider Borntraeger.) 22 marks. 

Chemical Technology and Analysis of Oils, Fats, 
and Waxes. By Dr. J. Lewkowitsch. Fifth edition, 
entirely rewritten and enlarged. Vol. i. Pp. xxiii+ 


668. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 25s. net. 

Vectorial Mechanics. By Dr. L. Silberstein. Pp. 
vilit+197. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 
7s. 6d. net. 


Principles of Thermodynamics. By Prof. G. A. 
Goodenough. Second edition, revised. Pp. xiv+ 327. 
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd.) 14s. net. 


NO. 2289, VOL. 92] 


Sahara. By | 


[SEPTEMBER II, I913 


Sinopsis de los Ascaldfidos (Ins. Neur). 
Longinos Navas, S.J. Pp. 99+2 plates. 
Institut d’Estudis Catalans.) ; 


Abhandlungen der K.K- Geglogischen Reichsanstalt. : 
Band 16. Heft 4. Beitrage zur Kenntnis der 
Schichten von Heiligenkreuz (Abteital, Siidtirol). By _ 
Dr. E. Koken. Pp. 43+6 Taf. (Vienna.) 12 kronen. 

Handbuch der Morphologie der Wirbellosen Tiere. 
Edited by A. Lang. Erster Band. Protozoa. Lief, 2. 
Pp. 161-320. (Jena: G, Fischer.) 5 marks. 

Minds in Distress. By Dr. A. E. Bridger. Pp. 
xii+181. (London: Methuen and Co., Ltd.) 2s. 6d. 
net. 


Pheasants and Covert Shooting. By Capt. A. Max- 
well. Pp. ix+332+16 plates. (London: A. and C. 


By R P- 
(Barcelona : 


Black.) 7s. 6d. net. 

Annals of the Astrophysical Observatory of the 
Smithsonian Institution. Vol. iii. Pp. xi+2qr1. 
(Washington.) 

CONTENTS. PAGE 


The State Mycologist in the Colonies. By E. S. S. 27 
Physical Training. By Dr. MinaL., Dobbie... . 27 
Our Bookshelf . 
Letters to the Editor :— 

Branch Product in Actinium C.—E. Marsden; R. H, 


Wilson... .. . See mite 29 
The Terrestrial Distribution of the Radio-elements and 
the Origin of the Earth. George Craig. ... . 29 


The International Union for Solar Research, By 
Prof. A. Fowler, F.R.S. 
The British Association :— 
Arrsngements for the Birmingham Meeting ..... 31 
Inaugural Address by Sir Oliver J. Lodge, D.Sc., 


LE. D.,:F.R.S.,, President) =: 7.45) ae ov too 
INotes®.. . . . 2. a 2 2 48 
Our Astronomical Column :— 

A New Comet ....4, 4) sate ole ceie nee 52 
‘Another'Comet . ... .). + e+) | o)shanienene 52 
The Protection of Silvered Mirrors from Tarnishing . . 52 
Researches on the,San ..)) 4-4). Gee A ibe 
Thesinstitute of ‘Metals. .5) Viti wa.) ieee 5S 
The Past Summer, By Chas, Harding ...... 53 
A Memoir on the Arthropod Eye. By H.G. J... 54 
Biology of Aquatic Plants. By F.C........ 54 
University and Educational Intelligence ..... » 54 
Societies and Academies. ........ = 2 aed 
Books Received. ..... @isife & 2 ele - 56 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN & CO., Lrtp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. ‘ 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 
Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


———  s 


SEPTEMBER II, 1913] 


NATURE 


XXlil 


MINERALOGY —CRYSTALLOGRAPHY— 
PETROGRAPHY - GEOLOGY, 


Ask for our new 


GENERAL CATALOGUE XVIII. 
(2nd Edition) 
for the use of Middle and High Schools and Universities. 
Part I, 260 pages, r1o Illustrations. 


This catalogue has been prepired with the view of making an exhaustive 
compilation of all educational appliances for the teaching 
of Mineralogy and Geology from a scientific as well as froin 
a practical pvint of view. All the subjects are treated typically, and 
instructive specimens have been selected with the greatest care. A close 
examination of the catalogue will show that owing to its careful compo- 
sition it gives the opportunity of procuring the most complete outfit for the 
various schools for instruction in and the study of the subjects named, 

Catalogue No. 18, Part I, will be sent free on application. 
Part II will appear within the course of the year. 


(Collections and single specimens of Minerals and Fossils. 
Meteorites bought and exchanged.) 


Dr. F. KRANTZ, 


RHENISH MINERAL OFFICE, BONN-ON-RHINE, GERMANY, 
Established 1833. Established 1833. 


METEORITES 


Meteorie Iron and Stones in all sizes and prices. 
Apply stating requirements, &c., to 


JAMES R. GREGORY & CO., 


MINERALOGISTS, &c., 
189 FULHAM ROAD, SOUTH KENSINGTON, S.W. 


Telegrams: ‘‘ Meteorites,” London. 


LIVING SPECIMENS FOR 
THE MICROSCOPE. 


Volvox, Spirogyra, Desmids, Diatoms, Amceba, Arcella, Actinosphzrium, 
Vorticella, Stentor, Hydra, Floscularia, Stephanoceros, Melicerta, and many 
other specimens of Pond Life. Price rs, per Tube, Post Free. Helix 
pomatia, Astacus, Amphioxus, Rana, Anodon, &c., for Dissection purposes. 


THOMAS BOLTON, 
25 BALSALL HEATH ROAD, BIRMINGHAM. 


MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 
OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 
THE LABORATORY, PLYMOUTH. 

The following animals can always be supplied, either living 
or preserved by the best methods :— 

Sycon; Clava, Obelia, Sertularia; Actinia, Tealia, Caryopbyllia, Alcy- 
onium; Hormiphora (preserved); Leptoplana; Lineus, Amphiporus, 
Nereis, Aphrodite, Arenicola, Lanice, Terebella; Lepas, Balanus, 
Gammarus, Ligia Mysis, Nebalia, Carcinus; Patella, Buccinum, Eledone, 
Pectens Bugula, Crisia, Pedicellina, Holothuria, Asterias, Echinus, 
Salpa (preserved), Scyllium, Raia, &c., &c. 

‘or prices and more detailed lists apply to 

Biological Laboratory, Plymouth. 


Telephone: 2841 Western. 


THE DIRECTOR. 


WATKINS & DONGASTER, 


CABINETS AND APPARATUS 


FOR COLLECTORS OF INSECTS, BIRDS' EGGS AND SKINS, 
MINERALS, PLANTS, &c. 
N.B.—For Excellence and Superiority of Cabinets and Apparatus 
references are permitted to distinguished patrons, Museums, Colleges, &c. 
A LARGE STOCK OF! INSECTS, BIRDS’ EGGS AND SKINS. 


SPECIALITY.—Objects for Nature Study, 
Drawing Classes, &c. 


Birds, Mammals, &c., Preserved and Mounted by First-class 
Workmen true to Nature. 


All Books and Publications (New and Second-hand) on Insects, 
Birds’ Eggs, &c., supplied. 


36 STRAND, LONDON, W.C. 


(Five Doors from Charing Cross.) 
FULL OATALOGUE POST FREE. 


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A Sale by Auction is held EVERY FRIDAY 


at 12.30, which affords first-class opportunities for the disposal on 
purchase of SCIENTIFIC AND ELECTRICAL APPARATUS, 
Microscopes and Accessories, Surveying Inst:uments, Photographic 
Cameras and Lenses, Lathes and Tools, Cinematographs and Film:, 
and Miscellaneous Property. 

Catalogues and terms for selling will be forwarded on application ‘o 

Mr. J. C. STEVENS, 

38 KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON, W.C. 


GLASS BLOWING 


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NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 


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NATURE 


57 


THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 10913. 


THE STRUCTURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE 
: IN CLEAR WEATHER. 
The Structure of the Atmosphere in Clear 
Weather: a Study of Soundings with Pilot 
_ Balloons. By C. J. P. Cave, M.A. Pp. xii+144. 
(Cambridge : The University Press, 1912.) Price 
Ios. 6d. net. 
R. CAVE’S book is a welcome addition to 
4 the valuable contributions of amateurs to 
the common stock of scientific knowledge, and is 
“the more welcome as the first book on this special 
_ Subject. The investigation of the upper air is of 
“Such interest and the incidental problems which it 
_ presents are so numerous, so attractive, and, in 
hese days of flying, so practical, that it is a matter 
of some surprise that there are not found more men 
of leisure to follow the notable examples of Prof. 
_ Lawrence Rotch and M. Teisserenc de Bort in the 
_ investigation of the free atmosphere. Mr. Cave in 
his introduction refers to the circumstances in 
which he began the study of the subject. As a 
matter of history, they can be traced to a letter 
_by the present writer in The Times asking for the 
cooperation of yachtsmen in the exploration of the 
air over the sea by means of kites. Since that 
letter appeared we have had to chronicle the divi- 
sion of the atmosphere into two distinct layers, an 
upper layer,.the stratosphere, in which there is 
little or no variation of temperature in the vertical, 
but sensible variation from day to day, or along 
the horizontal, and a lower layer, the troposphere, 
in which the variation of temperature is greatest 
in the vertical and relatively small along the hori- 
zontal. At the boundary between the two layers 
which is found at different heights in different 
regions, and on different occasions according to the 
barometric pressure, there is generally a slight 
‘inversion in the fall of temperature with 
height. Ten kilometres may be taken as a rough 
and ready estimate of the average thickness of the 
troposphere with the understanding that there is a 
latitude of three or more kilometres to be allowed 
in either direction according to circumstances. 
With the progress of the general investigation 


of the upper air attention has been directed especi- 
ally to the observation of air-currents at different 
levels by means of pilot balloons watched through 
theodolite-telescopes of special construction, intro- 
‘duced by M. de Quervain. Mr. Cave’s book gives 
a comprehensive account of the methods and re- 
‘sults of work of this character based upon his own 
€xperience at Ditcham Park and elsewhere. The 
apparatus is simple and less expensive than that 
required for the determination of temperatures :— 
NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


a balloon which need not be large enough to 
carry recording instruments, some hydrogen, and 
accessories, two theodolites to be used simultane- 
ously from two ends of a base for the observation 
of the altitude and azimuth of the rising balloon 
at the end of each minute or half minute from the 
start. One of the theodolites may be dispensed 


‘with if the observer knows with reasonable accu- 


racy the rate of ascent of the balloon, and, as 
appears from one of Mr. Cave’s chapters, this 
condition may be assumed without fear of losing 
the characteristic features of the ascent. In fact, 
observations of pilot balloons with one theodolite 
have been asked for as part of an international 
enterprise. The reduction of the observations is 
laborious, as each sounding entails the solution of 
many triangles, but with the judicious use of a 
slide rule and tables as described on p. 12, the 
labour is apparently not intolerable. The results 
of two hundred soundings in 1907, 1908, and 
1909, with one in 1910 involving the solution of 
8000 triangles, are given in the book. They are 
classified according to certain types of structure. 
For each sounding the velocity and direction of 
the horizontal motion of the air at each half kilo- 
metre are given in tables on pp. 84—107, and they 
are illustrated by a number of diagrams showing 
the variation of direction and velocity with height, 
accompanied by the weather maps which represent 
the distribution of surface pressure on the occa- 
sions of the ascents. A word of praise must here 
be given for the excellence of the arrangement 
and printing of the tables and of the diagrams 
and maps. 

The order of the book also deserves remark. 
Mr, Cave has departed from the usual course in 
not taking the mean values of all the fish that 
have come into his net. He has sorted out his 
catch before submitting it to digestion. In fact, 
there are, if we recollect rightly, no mean values 
anywhere in the book. In the present state of our 
knowledge this decision is a wise one, for until 
the variations are reduced to those of observation 
alone, a mean value often conceals more truth 
than it reveals, and is sometimes actually mis- 
leading. 

The first step in the discussion is to form a 
selection of types of structure. These are excel- 
lently illustrated by photographs of cardboard 
models. 

The use of pilot balloons is subject to some 
obvious limitations. There is no little difficulty in 
pursuing a balloon with a theodolite for great 
distances. On one favourable occasion Mr. Cave 
kept a balloon in view until it was forty miles 
away, but ordinarily a sounding comes to an end 
by losing sight of the small speck in the field of 


D 


58 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 


view of the theodolite either by a trick of eyesight 
or by the accident of clouds, long before any such 
distance has been reached. Consequently, the in- 
vestigation is limited to clear weather, and for 
the most part to the lower layers of the atmo- 
sphere. The lower half of the troposphere, say, 
up to five kilometres from the surface, is the 
region specially under observation, but when the 
sky happens to be clear the investigation can be 
extended to much greater heights. Mr. Cave 
gives twelve examples of series of observations 
beyond 11 kilometres, and one up to 18 kilo- 
metres. He is therefore able to devote a chapter 
to the winds of the upper layer, the stratosphere, 
and he supports the general conclusion that the 
wind falls off rapidly as the boundary of the 
stratosphere is approached and passed, though we 
must wait to learn whether this result is charac- 
teristic of the stratosphere or merely character- 
istic of the weather when the stratosphere comes 
under observation. 

Useful chapters will be found devoted to 
methods of observing and their accuracy, and to 
the rate of ascent of balloons, with an examination 
of the effect thereupon of the orographical fea- 
tures of the neighbourhood. The author then 
takes up the meteorological applications of his 
results. This section takes the form, for the most 
part, of a study of the relation of the strength and 
direction of currents aloft to the distribution of 
pressure and temperature at the surface, and leads 
up to an important diagram on p. 75 showing the 
upper winds in relation to a hypothetical distribu- 
tion of high and low pressure at the surface. The 
diagram represents increased velocity aloft in the 
westerly currents of a “low,” and in the south- 
westerly and north-westerly currents of a “high,” 
but a diminished velocity in the easterly wind of 
a “high.” To judge by the text, an unchanging 
current might have been represented in the more 
central area where there is little pressure 
gradient, and certainly a reversal of the north- 
easterly current on the south-eastern side of a 
high-pressure area. But the most striking feature 
of the diagram is a strong north-westerly upper 
current increasing with height (across the surface 
isobars and the south-westerly surface winds) 
from the central region of a “low” to the eastern 
region of the neighbouring “high.” This note- 
worthy current which must be closely associated 
with the dynamical structure of the atmosphere is 
rightly selected as one of the types of structure to 
which attention is specially called. It is in line 
with observations of cirrus cloud in front of a low- 
pressure area. 

1 The falling off of wind with height in the stratosphere can be showa to 


be a logical consequence of the higher temperature of the region of lower 
pressure. 


NO. 2290, VOL, 92 | 


formula, to which that used by Mr. Cave approxi- 


The relations to the sequence of weather on 
many occasions are set Out in detail, but the 
results are not easily generalised except in the_ 
special case of the reversal of the current over 


a north-easterly wind, which is shown in many | 


instances to be the precursor of rain and thunder- 
storms. : 

Some attention is given to the relation of the 
direction and strength of the wind in the upper 
air to the pressure gradient at the surface, 
assuming that the gradient wind is tangential to 
the isobars. As regards direction, there are useful 
diagrams showing the relation of the gradient 
directions to the surface winds for the three types 
of structure, viz. : (1) “solid current,” (2) increase 
of velocity aloft, and (3) decrease of velocity aloft ; 
the last shows the decreasing winds to be limited 
to cases of surface wind between north and south- 
east. As regards strength, gradient velocities are 
calculated from the usual formula : 


V =y/(2up sina), 


and the increase of velocity with height for some 
situations is attributed to an increase of gradient 
deduced from the distribution of temperatures in 
the lowest layers indicated in the published 
weather-charts. 

The increase of gradient is calculated from the 
surface temperature by a rough and ready formula 
which, considering the local influences upon tem- 
perature and other circumstances, is sufficiently 
accurate for Mr. Cave’s immediate purpose; but 
it may be useful to give here a more accurate 


mates. Neglecting the effect of humidity, which 
is certainly small and usually unknown, the 
increase of pressure difference in millibars for h 
metres of height measured from any level is given 
by the formula : 
sn-spmorsa (2090), 

where p is the pressure at one place, p+Ap that 
at another on the same level, @ and A@ are the 
temperature and temperature difference, and Ap) 
is the pressure difference at h metres above the 
given level. 3 

Near the surface p/@ is approximately equal 
to 3, so that for the first k kilometres from the 
surface the formula would become approximately : 


Ap. — Aps= r00k( 48 = *f). 

The approximate formula used by Mr. Cave is 
practically identical with this, except that the 
term Ap/p is omitted. The omitted term may 
be sufficiently small to be neglected for the surface 
layers when Ap is not large, because p is 


SEPTEMBER 18, 1913] 


‘NATURE 


59 


numerically of the order of 1000 in that region, 
but Ap/p cannot be neglected in calculations re- 
quiring greater accuracy, or in the upper reaches 
‘of the atmosphere, where p has a much smaller 
value because @ does not fall proportionally to the 
fractional fall of p. 
In considering any physical explanation of the 
structure of the atmosphere, the difference 
“Ap/p—Aé/6@ is an important quantity. In fact, 
as a rule, it appears that, somewhere or other 
in a vertical section of the troposphere (where A@ 
and Ap are of the same sign), in consequence of 
the variations in the magnitudes involved, the 
quantity Ap/p—Aé@/@ becomes sero and changes 
_ sign. To that curious circumstance is due the 
dominance of the influence of the stratosphere 
“upon the dynamics of the surface layers, although 
it only represents about a quarter of the whole 
“mass of the atmosphere. In the stratosphere Ap 
d A@ are of opposite signs, and their influences 
in the production of pressure difference reinforce 
each other. Hence in the stratosphere, pressure 
‘differences are rapidly built up, while in the 
troposphere changes are capricious and contra- 
-dictory. 
_ But fortunately these considerations are, so far 
_as can be judged, of little importance in the cases 
_to which Mr. Cave has applied his rough and 
ready formula, and do not affect the general 
accuracy of his conclusions. 
_ For the practical study of the dynamics of the 
atmosphere we are largely dependent upon 
observations with pilot balloons. They may be 
taken as supplementing observations of clouds, 
and, in due time, both must be brought into 
relation with the observations of pressure and 
temperature obtained from registering balloons. 
It is in many ways unfortunate that the track 
of a registering balloon cannot always be followed 
by a theodolite or otherwise determined. As it 
is, we often get our kinematical conditions from 
One occasion, and our baric and thermic conditions 
from a different one. 

Something may be done to bring the two 
together by means of observations of cloud- 
sequence, which can be observed on either occa- 
sion. At present these have hardly come within 
the range of meteorological work. Few observers 
are effectively conscious of the rapidity of the 
changes which are indicated by clouds, and which 
“must be the results of the distribution of pressure, 
temperature, and wind. 

In the book before us little is said of the 
association of cloud-forms and cloud-changes with 
the variations of the structure of the atmosphere 

isclosed by pilot balloons, but that part of the 
“subject has great possibilities, and this leads us 
NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


a 


: like. 


to express the hope that in a subsequent edition 
of this interesting work Mr. Cave may be able 
to give us the benefit of his experience in that 
direction also. W. N. SHaw. 


SOCIOLOGY AND MEDICINE. 

(1) The Task of Social Hygiene. By Havelock 
Ellis. Pp. xv+41q4. (London: Constable and 
Co., Ltd. 1912.) Price 8s. 6d. net. 

(2) The People’s Medical Guide: Points for the 
Patient, Notes for the Nurse, Matter for the 
Medical Adviser, Succour for the Sufferer, Pre- 
cepts for the Public. By Dr. John Grimshaw. 
Pp. xx+839. (London: J. & A. Churchill. 
1912.) Price 8s. 6d. net. 

(2) "ee title of this book somewhat masks 

the nature of its contents, for by “social 
hygiene” the author means to convey the study 
of those things which concern the welfare of human 
beings living in societies. The various chapters, 
or essays as they practically are, include such 
varied subjects as the changing status of woman 
and the woman’s movement, eugenics and love, 
religion and the child, the falling birth-rate, 
sexual hygiene, war against war, international 
language, and others. The author generally pre- 
sents the two points of view, supporting them by 
quotations and summaries from many sources. 

The essays are interesting reading, but at the end 

leave us somewhat in doubt as to what would be 

for the best, or what the writer considers would 
be best. 

(2) This book covers almost the whole range 
of subjects comprised within the scope of the 
practice of medicine and surgery, including the 
specialities such as diseases of the throat and eye. 
The information given seems generally to be 
accurate, is imparted in simple language, and im- 
portant points are frequently driven home by some 
terse sentence, e.g. “a tooth in the head is worth 
two on the plate” (p. 57). Some capital sections 
are given on the management of children, diets 
and cooking, and physical exercises. The matter 
does not always seem to come quite in the right 
place, and simple domestic remedies and treatment 
may be omitted; for example, that common com- 
plaint of children, “child crowing,” or “spas- 
modic croup,” is scarcely noticed under children’s 
ailments, but is relegated to the chapter on 
diseases of the throat, and it is certainly by ne 
means “invariably” associated with rickets. 

We think that the compass of the work is some- 
what beyond that necessary or desirable for the 
general public, but the volume would serve as an 
excellent book of reference for the district nurse, 
health visitor, missionary, ship’s captain, and the 
REE 


60 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


British Rainfall, 1912. On the Distribution of 
Rain in Space and Time over the British Isles 
during the Year 1912, as recorded by more than 
5000 Observers in Great Britain and Ireland, 
and discussed with Articles upon various 
Branches of Rainfall Work. By Dr. H. R. Mill, 
assisted by C. Salter. Fifty-second annual 
volume. Pp. 96+ 372. (London: E. Stanford, 
Ltd., 1913.) Price 10s. 

Tue plan of this valuable annual volume remains 

almost exactly as before; it is well known to many 

of our readers, and is welcomed by meteorologists 
and others for its comprehensiveness and the 
scrupulous care exercised in dealing with matters 
of detail. Part i. is devoted mainly (1) to the 
unprecedented rainstorm of August 25—26 in East 

Anglia, the area being now extended to the whole 

ox England and Wales. The rainfall exceeded 

7°5 in. over about sixty-seven square miles, with 

a small patch where more than 8 in. fell, between 

Norwich and Brundall. The weight of precipita- 

tion over England and Wales is estimated at 

4473 million tons. (2) the wettest summer in 

England and Wales. The rainfall was not ex- 

ceeded during the last fifty years; in August the 

amount in south England was more than three 
times the average over large areas. The general 
rainfall for June-August was 78 per cent. above 
the normal. Part ii. deals with the rainfall for the 
year, and includes the observers’ remarks on the 
weather, with heavy falls and monthly and 
seasonal rainfall, illustrated by maps. The year 
was a wet one; expressed in percentages the totals 

were: England, 123; Wales, 119; Scotland, 111; 

Ireland, 108; British Isles, 115. Part iii. contains 

the general tables of total rainfall at 5272 

stations; maps of the river-divisions are now 

given, with the tables for each of the twenty-three 
large divisions of the country. We notice with 
regret that this useful and unique organisation is 
not yet self-supporting, and that the deficit has 
to be met by the director; further, that owing to 
the continual strain of the work, Dr. Mill has to 
take a complete temporary rest, during which time 

Mr. Mossman, of the Argentine Meteorological 

Office, will undertake the editorship of the publi- 

cations. 


(1) Die Siisswasser-Flora Deutschlands, Oster- 
veichs und der Schweiz. Herausgegeben von 
Prof. A. Pascher. Hefts. 2, 3, 9, and 10. Price 
5, 1.80, 1.50, 4 marks. 

(2) Die Siisswasserfauna Deutschlands eine Ex- 
kursions-fauna, Herausgegeben von Prof. Dr. 
Brauer. Heft.’ 14. (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 
1912-13.) Price 7 marks. 

TuEsE little monographs on the fresh-water flora 

and fauna of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland 

are issued under the general editorship of Prof. 

Pascher and Prof. Brauer respectively. The series 

on the fauna is issued in nineteen parts, extending 

from the Mammalia to the Hydrozoa; that on the 
flora in sixteen parts, of which the first twelve 
and part of the thirteenth deal mostly with micro- 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 18, I9QI 3 


scopic forms, the remainder with fungi, mosses, 
lichens, &c.; a volume on the Protozoa does not 
seem to be included. The volumes range in price 
from 1.50 marks to 7 marks, are purchasable 
separately, and are written by well-known authori- 
ties on the subjects of which they treat. Ea 
volume commences with a general description of } 
the particular group dealt with, methods of in- 
vestigating and preserving the organisms, and a 
brief list of the principal works and papers on 
the subject, after which follows a_ systemati 

description of species, diagnoses of genera, &c. _ 

(1) These volumes deal with several groups of 
flagellated micro-organisms (Heft. 2 and 3), in 
cluding Euglena, diatoms (Heft. 10), and the 
Zygnemales (Heft. 9), i.e., chlorophyl-green, 
cylindrical-celled alge, such as Spirogyra. Al 
the volumes seem very complete, and that on the 
diatoms should serve as a very useful handbook 
on this interesting group of micro-organisms. 

(2) This volume deals with the Rotatoria and 
Gastrotricha. A good account is given of rotifer 
structure, and the diagnostic tables and descrip- 
tions of species are excellent. ’ 

All the volumes are profusely illustrated, e.g., 
no fewer than 379 illustrations are allotted to the 
diatoms and 474 to the rotifers, many comprising 
two or more figures. 

We believe that these series will be of the 
greatest service to the field-naturalist and others. 

RTE 


LETTERS £O THE EDITORS 


[The Editor does not hold himseif responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


The Nature and Treatment of Cancer and Malaria. 

May I ask your courtesy for a brief reference to the 
article by Dr. C, W. Saleeby on the International 
Medical Congress (NaTuRE, August 14, pp. 608-9)? 
Dr. Saleeby notes, that recent research is tending in 
the direction of the views advanced by me some few 
years ago. How long will yet elapse before these 
views as to the germinal origin, trophoblastic (asexual) 
nature, and enzyme or pancreatic treatment of cancer 
are ‘“‘ generally accepted’ cannot be said. But when- 
ever that time does arrive, mankind in general and 
medical mankind in particular will have no other 
refuge against the ravages of cancer than its treat- 
ment with genuine strong injections of trypsin and 
amylopsin. Scientifically, what evidences are there of 
this? In the first place, among others, three success- 
ful cases treated by Major Lamballe were described © 
in my book on cancer, published two years ago. It is 
quite four years since the patients were treated. Two 
of them are certainly alive and well, and I believe 
that this is also so with the third. More recently, I 
have pointed out, in a paper on the occuYrence of 
dextro-rotatory albumins in organic nature, noticed 
not long ago in your columns, that the asexual gene- 
rations, such as the malaria parasite, &c., which 
induce disease, are the same in nature as cancer-cells, 
and have foretold their total destruction by the fer- 
ments, trypsin and amylopsin. In a memoir, which 
is about to be published, Major F. W. Lamballe, 


SEPTEMBER 18, 1913] 


NATURE 


61 


R.A.M.C., has demonstrated the scientific truth of 
this. He has shown in a way which must carry com- 
plete conviction, that cases of benign and malignant 
tertian malaria, even very grave cases with cerebral 
symptoms, in all of which, as his results show, 
quinine had proved quite useless to stem the disease 
and to prevent relapses, from one to three injections 
of pancreatic enzymes sufficed not merely to kill all 
the parasites, but to cure the patient. Relapses in the 
‘patients—which had been the rule in very nearly all 
the cases—did not occur after this brief treatment, and 
the men (British soldiers) were able to return to duty 
at once, even in some instances on the day of the 
second or third injection. That is to say—and it is a 
a for great scientific satisfaction—the original 

work, which I began in 1888, has now resulted inthe 
easy and complete -conquest of malaria. What this 
‘means can be understood from the facts concerning 
_ the treatment of malignant malaria, which at present 
'is the rule in the Army. This entails a course of 
treatment by quinine lasting at least four months, 
and very often, if not always, even then the patient 
is not cured. But I understand that during this time 
_ the soldier is regarded as unfit for active service, and 
_ sometimes 25 per cent. of a regiment stationed in the 
_ tropics may be in this condition. In contrast to this 
the pancreatic treatment of malignant malaria in 
the hands of Major Lamballe entails not more than 
three injections, costing at the outside three shillings, 
it need not last two weeks, and the patient can return 
to duty at once, and so far as we know is then free 
from all danger of relapse, but not immune to a new 
infection. The facts here outlined indicate that, 
properly applied, that which cures malignant malaria 
must cure cancer. J. Brearp. 
8 Barnton Terrace, Edinburgh, August 30. 


{I am delighted that my brief reference to Dr. 
Beard’s work should have elicited this interesting 
letter. He might also have referred to the astonish- 
ingly successful treatment of surgical tuberculosis by the 
eg ferments, which was reported upon by 

aetzner in the special tuberculosis number of The 
Practitioner recently. (Being abroad, I cannot give 
the reference.) When Dr. Beard refers to the malaria 
parasite as an asexual generation, he must, of course, 
be thinking of only one-half of its complete reproduc- 
tive cycle. It: would be interesting to make clinical 
observations as to the action of trypsin and amylopsin 
upon the sexual and asexual stages of these parasites 
respectively. As for cancer, I shall never be able to 
believe that the good results I saw under Dr. Beard’s 
method of treatment six years ago were not causally 
connected with it. And if it be true, as is now 
asserted, that the leucocytes, our defenders against 
morbid cells, normally produce trypsin, perhaps the 
last has not been heard, after all, of this daring and 
original theory of Dr. Beard.—C. W. Satrepy.] 


Note on the Dicynodont Vomer. 

IN a paper on Dicynodon now being printed by 
the Royal Society we have already described the bone 
which Dr, Broom now regards as the “ typically 
“mammalian median vomer.” It is the bone which he 

has described previously as the anterior continuation 
of the basisphenoid, but without recognising the 
groove on the dorsal surface. No trace of a suture 
exists between it and the basisphenoid. To us it 
seemed, as stated in our paper, that the form of this 
bone, so far from confirming Dr. Broom’s views, 
rendered his interpretation of the grooved bone in 
Diademodon even more doubtful than before. 

__ That the bone generally recognised as the vomer in 
Dicynodon had a paired origin we readily admit, and 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


| 


we had already set forth reasons for this view in a 
paper now in MSS. on the structure of the skull in a 
small unnamed Dicynodont genus; as we have pointed 
out in our paper on Dicynodon, the vomer is paired 
in the guinea-pig, and had probably a paired origin 
in mammals. IGERNA B. J. Soxtas. 
W. J. Sorras. 
Oxford, September 6. 


An Aural Illusion. 

I am not aware that the following curious particular 
has been noticed. 

If a sounding body has a velocity greater than that 
of sound in air, it will outstrip its previous sounds as 
it goes, and leave them to follow in its wake. Let it 
be supposed that such a body ceases sounding directly 
it passes an observer. In this case the sound waves 
of the greatest intensity will be the first to 
act, and those of the least intensity, the last. 
Hence the modulation of the sound will be 
reversed, and will have the character of a 
diminuendo, which we associate with sound that 
comes from a receding body. In such circumstances, 
therefore, it would seem to the observer that the 
source of sound had been travelling away from, instead 
of towards, him; an illusion touching the swell of the 
sound, and so the apparent direction of the sounder, 
quite distinct from those pitch effects which are duly 
taken cognisance of by Doppler’s principle. 

Norman ALLISTON. 


NINTH INTERNATIONAL PHYSIO- 
LOGICAL CONGRESS. 

‘THE triennial International Physiological Con- 

gress, which was held at Groningen on 
September 2 to 6, was unanimously voted by 
those who attended it to be one of the most 
successful scientific congresses held during the 
present year. The number of workers engaged 
in physiological investigation being not very large, 
the congress, although larger than might have 
been anticipated, was of manageable size, and 
since physiologists on the whole are not a fluc- 
tuating body, everyone felt at ease and en famille. 

It would be impossible to speak too highly of 
the admirable manner in which the president, 
Prof. Hamburger, with his characteristic precision, 
provided for the welfare and convenience of all 
those who attended the congress and who gave 
demonstrations in the laboratories; these latter 
are beautifully equipped, and leave nothing to be 
desired. 

To English physiologists this particular physio- 
logical congress is of especial interest, since it is 
now twenty-five years since the congress was 
founded at the suggestion of the Physiological 
Society; the late Sir Michael Foster, its first 
president, was one of those who was most directly 
connected with its foundation, and it was as a 
fitting tribute to his labours that his portrait was 
chosen as the frontispiece for the special Fest- 
schrift, edited by Prof. Hamburger and Dr. 
Laquer. In this volume an excellent résumé, 
arranged according to subject, is given of the work 
of the congress during the past twenty-five years ; 

| this is preceded by the opening address of the pre- 
| sident, Prof. Hamburger, at the present congress. 
| The congress numbered about 400 members, 
' of whom about sixty were British, and the social 


THE 


62 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 


events were numerous. On September 1 the 
visitors received in De Harmonie a warm welcome 
from the Dutch physiologists and the Medical 
Association of Groningen. The following even- 
ing there was a reception in the large hall of the 
University buildings by the Queen’s representative 
and the Dutch Government. On Wednesday, at 
the “Sterrebosch”’ Park, the guests enjoyed the 
hospitality of the municipality of the town, and 
on the next day, at the Paterswolder Lake, that 
of the Ex-Senator M. J. KE. Scholten. On Thurs- 
day evening there was also an excellent entertain- 
ment at the theatre and in De Harmonie. On 
the last evening a banquet terminated the congress. 
But the hospitality was not confined to the above- 
mentioned events; many members enjoyed private 
hospitality during their stay, and, as stated by 
Prof. Starling, all the people in the town were so 
cordial that “we felt that we were not merely 
the guests of the physiologists, but of every 
bargee and every tram conductor in the town.” 
There was a special ladies’ committee, and several 
excursions were arranged for the ladies who 
attended the congress. 

To commemorate the occasion of the congress, 
the Dutch medical journal, Nederlandsch Tijd- 
schrift voor Geneeskunde, issued a special number, 
largely devoted to physiological communications, 
and to the history of the development of physio- 
logy in Holland. The same journal also had a 
special medal struck, and duplicates were presented 
to all members of the congress. The medal bore 
the portrait of the famoys Dutch physiologist, 
Donders, executed by the well-known sculptor 
Pier Pander; on the back were the words, “Aan 
de leden van het IX® Intern. Physiologen Congres. 
te Groningen, aangeboden door het Nederlandsche 
Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde September 
MCMXIII.” 

(“Offered to the members of the IXth Inter- 
national Physiological Congress in Groningen, by 
the Nederlandsch Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde 
September 1913.”) 

The demonstrations and communications were 
very numerous, and it was not possible for one 
person to see and hear much more than one-third 
of the whole programme, which occupied most of 
the mornings and afternoons. The English physio- 
logists contributed largely to the demonstrations, 
which, as in the meetings of our Physiological 
Society, had precedence over merely oral com- 
munications. The demonstrations of Profs. 
Starling (heart-lung preparation) and Sherrington 
(rhythmic reflex produced by antagonising reflex 
excitation by reflex inhibition) are familiar to 
English physiologists. A demonstration which 
attracted much interest was that of Prof. Abel 
and Dr. Rowntree, of Baltimore; this consisted 
in an apparatus for what may be termed “vivi- 
diffusion,”’ and must be accounted one of the most 
distinct improvements in physiological technique 
which have been seen in recent years. The 
apparatus is called the “artificial glomerulus,” and 
consists of a series of collodion tubes arranged in 
parallel, and surrounded by warm Ringer’s solu- 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92: 


tion; there may be from sixteen to forty-eight 
tubes in the apparatus, and through this system 
blood from a chloralosed sand hirudinised animal 
is led. The blood flows ‘out from. an artery or 
vein (e.g. from the carotid artery, or from one’ 
of the tributaries of the portal vein) through the 
apparatus, and returns again to the circulation 
of the animal by a vein (e.g. the external jugular 
vein or the femoral vein). Such a circulation can 
be carried out under sterile conditions, and may 
be continued for sixteen hours with ease, and in 
favourable circumstances for much longer. At 
intervals the fluid surrounding the collodion 
“glomerulus” is run off and replaced by fresh 
Ringer’s solution. The solution thus run off will 
contain all the diffusible substances of the blood 
other than the saline constituents of Ringer’s 
solution, and on evaporation these may be re- 
covered. In this manner it is possible to detect 
the presence of substances which are only present 
in minute traces in the circulating blood; thyps, 
at the end of sixteen hours considerable amounts 
of amino-acids and of urea can be recovered from 
the dialysate; sugars and a polypeptide substance 
are also present. -It is worthy of note that, as 
regards efficiency, the artificial kidney thus made 
compares very favourably with the animals’ own 
kidneys; thus, when salicylates are given, the 
artificial glomerulus may excrete as much or more 
than the kidneys in a given time. It is hoped that 
a surgical application of this principle will prove 
of value. The applications of the method to the 
study of intermediary metabolism are obvious, and 
interesting results have already been obtained in 
this direction. 

Another interesting demonstration was that of 
Prof. Benjamin Moore and Dr. Webster, who 
showed that when carbon dioxide was passed 
through solutions of such inorganic colloids as 
uranic oxide or ferric oxide in high dilution, in 
presence of sunlight or of light from the mercury 
arc, formaldehyde is formed, and may be detected 
by Schryver’s test. They discussed the relation 
of this phenomenon to the question of the first 
appearance of organic matter on the globe. 

Dr, Carlson, of Chicago, showed that it is easy 
to demonstrate on man the presence of rhythmic 
and of so-called “tetanic” contractions of the 
walls of the stomach during fasting. For this 
purpose two long indiarubber tubes are swallowed 
until their lower ends reach the stomach. One of 
the tubes serves for the introduction of substances 
into the stomach, and the other ends in a thin 
rubber sound which is inflated, and which, when 
connected with a water manometer, serves to 
record the contractions of the stomach. Dr.:Carl- 
son maintains that these contractions give rise to 
the sensation of hunger by stimulation of the 
afferent nerves of the stomach wall, that they are 
initiated by local automatic mechanisms, and that 
they are inhibited by various substances which 
stimulate the nerve endings in the gastric mucosa 
(gastric juice, acids, alcohol, &c.). Prof. Asher, 
of Berne, claimed to have demonstrated the pres- 
ence in the vagus of secretory fibres to the kidneys, 


SEPTEMBER 18, 1913] 


and Prof. Noyons, of Liége, showed curves which 
be believed indicated that there is an antagonism 
between the internal secretion of the pancreas and 
adrenalin. The demonstration by Prof. Magnus, 
of Utrecht, on the influence of the position of the 
head on the posture in decerebrate rigidity and in 
‘normal rabbits was very interesting. The effects 
are in part due to reflexes from the neck and partly 
to labyrinthine reflexes. 
A novelty of great interest to those interested 
painting was the demonstration by Mr. A. H. 
unsell, of Boston. This was a quantitative 
classification of pigment colours based upon 
easurements by a daylight photometer, Maxwell 
discs, and the trained discrimination of the painter. 
The photometer uses the daylight adapted eye, and 
reads in terms of the Weber-Fechner law. 
__A somewhat surprising communication came 
from Prof. Hiirthle, of Breslau, who has made a 
careful study of the variations in pressure and 
velocity in various arteries during the pulse wave 
in living animals, and in dead animals perfused by 
means of an “artificial heart.” From these ex- 
periments the conclusion is drawn that the arteries 
are rhythmically contractile, and that their con- 
traction aids the circulation of the blood. It would 
be interesting to see these experiments repeated 
with a dead animal perfused from a living heart 
prepared according to Starling’s method. 
Many interesting apparatus were shown; among 
_ these may be mentioned the now well-known appa- 
ratus of Prof. Krogh, of Copenhagen, for the 
_ investigation of various respiratory problems; that 
of Dr. Franz Miiller, of Berlin, for the determina- 
tion of the minute-volume output of the heart in 
man by a simple application of the nitrous oxide 
method; the ‘‘Kurvenkino” devised by Prof. 
Straub, of Freiburg, by means of which tracings 
made on smoked glass in the laboratory may be 
_ projected on a screen with realistic effect (appara- 
tus made by Jaquet, of Basel); and the apparatus 
of Dr. Rohde, of Heidelberg, for the measurement 
of the oxygen usage of the frog’s heart under 
Various conditions of contraction. Dr. Laqueur 
also showed a projection method for exhibiting the 
movements of the intestines to a large audience. 
The great event of the congress so far as com- 
munications are concerned was the closing lecture, 
which was given by Prof. Pawlow, of St. Peters- 
burg, on “Die Erforschung der héheren Nerven- 
tatigkeit,” in which he dealt with the subject of 
conditional reflexes, to which he has devoted the 
latter third of his active scientific career. Prof. 
Pawlow is of the opinion that psychology in its 


é 


physiologist. The physiologist must remain a 
Physiologist, and must investigate his problems 
by the recognised methods which have been so 
“fruitful in other fields—he must study the brain 
. an integrated working organ, and must build 
up his knowledge independently of the psycholo- 
gist. The study of reflex action as a purely 
physiological topic has already yielded valuable 
results on treatment by the methods of experi- 
mental physiology. 
work of the Pawlow school that we must extend 


@ NO. 2290, vot. 92 | 
ie 


present condition can be of little service to the | 


NATURE 


| are 
It is rendered clear by the | 


63 
our ideas of reflex action and recognise that 
besides the elementary function of carrying out 
ready-formed reflexes, the nervous system has 
another equally important and fundamental func- 
tion—that of the formation of new reflexes. It is 
a generally recognised property of living organ- 
isms to adapt themselves to their surroundings, or, 
in other words, to respond in suitable manner to 
what were previously indifferent agencies. So far, 
the reflexes which have been most studied by 
Pawlow have been those concerned with the secre- 
tion of saliva in dogs. Various stimuli can be 
given so as to affect different sense-organs in 
different cases, and at the same time the animal is 
fed, or acid introduced into its mouth; after a short 
period of such treatment a new reflex has been 
introduced, for now on application of the accom- 
panying (“conditional”) stimulus alone, without 
the introduction of the food or acid (“unconditional 
stimulus’’), a reflex secretion of saliva occurs. 
Such reactions have all the characters of the true 
reflexes, and are equally simple in character, and 
not, as might seem at first sight, complicated 
processes grafted on to an unconditional reflex. 
The intricacy of the conditional reflex is due not 
to the complex nature of the neural processes 
involved in the reflex, but to the ease with which 
it can be inhibited; innumerable conditions in the 
nervous system itself and in the outer world 
modify it in this way, and thus investigation of 
the phenomena is not easy. In close relation to 
the formation of a conditional reflex is the func- 
tion of the analysis of the sensations which reach 
the organism from the outer world, and from 
which some components are selected by the 
process of analysis; it is only these selected com- 
ponents which are really utilised in the construc- 
tion of the new reflex. It seems, then, that by 
careful study of these reflexes we have the means 
for acquiring an accurate knowledge of the func- 
tional activity of the analysing mechanism. The 
chief problems which have been investigated are 
those concerned, firstly, with the origin of the 
conditional reflexes, and secondly with the mech- 
anism of analysis of sensations. These reflexes 
can be formed in relation to strong as well as to 
indifferent stimuli; thus powerful electric stimuli 
applied to the skin, when the reflex has been 
trained, do not lead to movements of defence or 
aggression as is at first the case, but merely to 
the feeding reflexes of which the flow of saliva is 
the easiest to follow. This is to be explained as due 
to the formation of new nerve paths, determined 
by different excitability of the various nerve centres. 
Thus the stimulation of bone cannot be made to 
yield the conditional reflex, since the centres con- 
nected with painful stimulation of bone are more 
powerful than those connected with alimentation. 

An important condition for the upbuilding of a 
conditional reflex is that the particular conditional 
stimulus used must precede, or accompany, not 
follow, the unconditional stimulus (food or acid). 
If it follows the unconditional stimulus, inhibitions 
set up, and this inhibition has also been 
studied. It is also of great importance that the 
stimulus employed be strictly isolated from inci- 


64 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 


dental ones; in some of the earlier investigations 
it appeared that the real conditional stimusus was 
given by the operator himself, by some peculiarity 
of odour or movements, and not at all by the 
stimulus which he believed he was employing. For 
this reason the animals are now <lways isolated in 
special rooms, which no person enters during the 
course of an experiment, all the conditions and 
observations being controlled from without by 
means of electrical or pneumatic arrangements. 
With regard to the inhibitory processes to which 
the reflexes are so subject, there may be distin- 


guished three kinds of inhibition. Firstly, we 
have the inhibition during sleep. Secondly, the 


inhibition by means of the arrival of other stimuli 
which have an inhibitory effect (external inhibi- 
tion), Thirdly, there is a variety which is called 
“internal inhibition.”” This is developed as a result 
of special relations between the conditional and un- 
conditional stimuli by means of which the parti- 
cular reflex has been prepared. When, for in- 
stance, the conditional 
stimulus is not followed 
by the customary uncon- 
ditional one for some 
time, it becomes con- 
verted into an inhibition. 

When in the developed 
reflex the conditional 
stimulus is not followed 
(or “confirmed ”’) by the 
unconditional one, the 
type of inhibition is called 
“extinction”’?; when in 
working out the reflex 
the unconditional stimu- 
lus only follows some 
minutes after the con- 
ditional, the inhibition 
which intervenes is called 
“retardation.”’ ‘“‘Condi- 
tional inhibition” is 
seen when the conditional 
stimulus, when ‘accom- 
panied by an_ indifferent 
stimulus, is not fol- 
lowed by the uncon- 
ditional stimulus; lastly, 
“differential inhibition ” in the fact that 
stimuli approaching closely to the conditional 
stimulus, and which at the commencement are 
effective, become eventually inactive. That all 
these phenomena are really due to inhibition can 
be shown by the fact that under appropriate con- 
ditions the inhibition may be removed, and the 


is seen 


effect manifested (‘‘ Loshemmung ”’). 

The powers of discrimination of the analysors 
are greatly increased during the development of 
the reflex, and the conditional stimulus becomes 


more and more limited and specialised until finally 
it corresponds to a very small part of the analysing 
mechanism. Experiments in which definite parts 
of the cerebral hemispheres have been removed 
have taught that the cerebrum is the organ which 
is responsible for the upbuilding of these new re- 
flexes. Want of space renders it impossible to 
NO. 2200, VOL. a2| 


Fru. t.—Mudspate-track opposite Veshab in the Zarafshan Valley. 


give an account of these experiments on the results 
of partial extirpation of the cerebrum, since these 
were given in such brief outline in the lecture that 
further abstraction is not possible. It is to be- 
hoped, however, that Prof. Pawlow will soon give 
to the world a book on the subject similar to his 
famous work on the ‘‘Work of the Digestive 
Glands,” since practically all the abundant litera- 


| ture on this new subject is only to be obtained in 


the Russian language at the present time. 

The next International Physiological Congress 
will be held in Paris in 1916, with Prof. Tigerstedt, 
of Helsingfors, as President. 

C. Lovatr Evans. 


THE DUAB OF TURKESTAN.* 


Eo its opening sentence this book raises an 

important question, of the propriety of appro- 
priating a word belonging to a language foreign 
to us and using it, 


in a sense equally foreign to 


From “ The Duab of Turkestan.” 


its native country, 
at variance with its original sense. 


in order to express a concept 
The word 


doab, signifying originally the confluence of two 
streams, and secondarily the tongue of land be- 


tween them, has been introduced by Prof. W. M. 
Davis for a portion of a coastal plain lying between 
two rivers which never unite, but flow independ- 
ently to the sea; in the form “‘duab” it is used 
by Mr. Rickmers for the country lying between 
two rivers, the Oxus and Jaxartes, which flow 
independently into the Sea of Aral, and includes 
not only the area of plain, which would come under” 
Prof. Davis’s use of the word doab, but the whole 
of the mountain region bounded on either side 
by the main streams of the two rivers. q 


1 “The Duab of | urkestan: 
some ‘l'ravels."" By W. Rickmer Rickmers. Pp. xv+564+plates+maps. 
(Cambridge: University Press, 1913.) Price 30s. net. 


A Physiographic Sketch and Account of § 


Ft tin 


© SEPTEMBER 18, 1913] 


NATURE 


65 


i 


a For the purpose of a title there is comparatively 
little objection to this use of the word, but when 
Mr. Rickmers goes on to coin the adjective 
: duabic ” for the type of scenery developed in this 
region, a protest must be entered against the 
needless introduction of a term that conveys no 
: impression of the thing which it represents. The 
region dealt with presents the results of con- 
ditions which are widely spread, and repeated 
_wherever mountains rise high enough, out of what 
would otherwise be a desert plain, to catch and 
condense rain from the upper layers of the atmos- 
phere. In such a region the effects of erosion and 
deposition caused by running water are much more 
conspicuous than in a moister climate, for the 
simple reason that they are uncomplicated by the 
action of other agencies of denudation, with the 


r 


fFic. 2.—Turrets and Bastions of Conglomerate (Yakhsu). 


exception of wind and rapid changes of tempera- 
ture. 

Something, also, must be said in protest against 
the extremes to which Mr. Rickmers carries the 
use of metaphor and illustration, too commonly 
adopted by geographical writers. The use of an 
illustration by analogy is often illuminating, and 
may serve to render the result of a complicated 
Series of observations and deductions intelligible 
to those who have neither need nor leisure to 
follow the whole course of the research, but quite 
as often it may merely produce a misleading 
‘appearance of understanding where no true ex- 
planation is forthcoming, and it is especially 
dangerous when used, as Mr. Rickmers appears 
‘to use it, as a method of research. The descrip- 
tion of a range of hills as a “squashed and warty 
reptile” may recall its appearance to the writer, 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


but does not help the reader; and to talk of the 
“solid octopus of the Mustagh Pamirs sending 
out its long, spare tentacles towards the east, 
gripping the expanses of Tibet, Lop, and Mon- 
golia,” is likely to mislead the uninitiated. 
Having said this, we must acknowledge the 
interest of the work as a description of a type of 
scenery, race, and civilisation absolutely different 
from anything which the dweller in western Europe 
or North America will meet with, and would especi- 
ally commend the description of what the author 
terms the pamirian type of scenery, which charac- 
terises the mountains of central Asia, and his study 
of the features which distinguish it from the alpine 
type, met with in the mountains of Europe and 
western Asia. Something, too, must be said in 
praise not merely of the number and excellence 


From ‘*The Duab of Turkestan. 


of the illustrations, but, what is unfortunately more 
rare, of the judgment with which they have been 
selected to serve as real illustrations and elucida- 


| tions of the text. 


BRITISH ASSOCIATION BIRMINGHAM 


MEETING. 
Ne anticipated, this year’s meeting of the 
d British Association has been the largest 


since 1904. In that year, Cambridge mustered 
2789 members, and the Birmingham figure of 
2635 does not fall far short of that. 

Besides the amplitude of Birmingham’s resources 
in the matter of public institutions, hotel accom- 
modation, and private hospitality, the glorious 
weather which illumined the proceedings must he 
given its due share of credit for the success of 


66 


the gathering. The somewhat unusual combina- 
tion of the Presidency of the Association and the 
Principalship of the local University in one person 
seems, on this occasion, to have been attended 
with the happiest results. It certainly had a 
great effect in stimulating local interest, besides 
attracting a number of the foremost foreign 
exponents of the exact sciences. The ovation 
accorded to Madame Curie, more especially by 
her own sex, was as remarkable as the extra- 
ordinary popularity achieved by Prof. Lorentz, 
who succeeded in making even so formidable a 
subject as entropy attractive and entertaining to 
the generality of members. 

The fact that the old Mason College, the Mid- 
land Institute, and the Technical College are 
within a stone’s throw of each other accounts for 
the ease with which members could pass from 
one section to the other. The Geography Section, 
it is true, was inconvenienced by the noise of the 
traffic outside the Midland Institute, which is 
greatest in the morning, but the other sections 
were admirably housed. Section A had, on the 
whole, the best lecture theatre, although the 
applause in the Zoology Section overhead occa- 
sionally disconcerted (pleasantly, perhaps) the 
lecturing physicist below, who sometimes failed 
to locate the sound. 

The arrangements in the reception room met 
with high commendation on all sides. The 
spacious Town Hall was an ideal place for the 
purpose. The ground floor was fitted with 
luxurious carpets and easy chairs, and a specially 
built staircase ascended to the gallery, which was 
laid out in some forty writing compartments. 
Even at times of the greatest activity, it was 
reasonably easy to find one’s way about, and the 
local secretaries deserve much credit for the 
completeness and adequacy of the accommodation 
afforded. 

A still greater triumph of organisation was the 
Lord Mayor’s reception at the Council House, 
where 3500 visitors had to be marshalled and 
entertained. Large as was the assemblage, it 
was quickly distributed over a large space, the 
new Art Gallery and the Natural History Museum 
being thrown open for the occasion, so that the 
sense of crowding conveyed by the hour’s pro- 
cession into the reception chamber was quickly 
dispelled. The visitors had an agreeable choice 
between band music; exhibits of British birds, 
nests, and eggs; dancing; and Dr. Collisson’s 
musical and humorous entertainment in the Coun- 
cil Chamber. 

Friday’s afternoon reception at Messrs. Cad- 
bury’s factory at Bournville gave visitors an 
interesting though short glimpse of the well-known 
model village and its various institutions. The 
spacious recreation ground was the scene of a 
pretty masqiie and some maypole dances by the 
village children which were set off very attrac- 
tively by the brilliant sunshine, though provision 
had been made for the event of rain by the 
erection of three spacious marquees capable of 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 


accommodating the whole of the visitors, number- 
ing, as they did, several thousand. The guests 
were taken back to Birmingham by special trains 
running by two routes, so that. both platforms 
could be utilised—a fortunate detail which avoided 
much inconvenience. 

Saturday’s excursions were a welcome change, 
both to the visitors who had conscientiously spent 
their time every morning at the sections, and the 
secretarial officials, who gained some time to make 
up arrears of work. It was notable that the 
foreign visitors preferred the roads that led to 
Stratford-on-Avon, though Malvern, Kenilworth, 
Worcester, Coventry, Lichfield, and the Forest 
of Arden put forth their strongest magnetism, 
aided by the hospitable efforts of their resident 
aristocracy. The geological excursions to 
Nuneaton and Hartshill, the Lickey and Clent 
Hills, the Wrekin, and the Lutley Valley, the 
botanical excursion to Sutton, and the excursi.. 
to the Burbage experimental farm were of absorb- 
ing interest to those specially concerned. 

The ecclesiastical services on Sunday were well 
attended, and the various preachers took pains to 
emphasise the points in which they agreed with 
the declarations of prominent speakers from 
Association chairs. They seemed to find these 
points unusually numerous. The afternoon saw 
a large social gathering of physicists and mathe- 
maticians at “Mariemont,” Sir Oliver Lodge’s 
residence, at which Friday’s radiation discussion 
was informally continued, though not by any 
means concluded. 

The entertainments provided by the local com- 
mittee for the Monday evening gave members a 
choice of three. There was St. John Hankin’s 
“Return of the Prodigal” at the Repertory 
Theatre, Gliick’s “Orpheus” at the Prince of 
Wales’s Theatre, and a special series of animated 
pictures dealing with scientific and historical sub- 
jects at the Picture House, New Street. The 
opera was patronised by a brilliant gathering 
which filled the theatre to overflowing, and Herr 
Denhof’s company gave a new life to the 
eighteenth century work by symbolic dances and 
movements which brought out all the tenderness 
and pathos of the music and the otherwise rather 
formal acting. 

Of the scientific proceedings of the meeting it 
is difficult. to speak with discrimination until a 
few days have elapsed after its conclusion. The 
twelve main sections each had their devoted band 
of special followers, and each had some special 
occasion on which its proceedings commanded a 
larger general interest. Thus it was with the 
radiation discussion in Section A, the fuel and 
radioactivity discussions in Section B, the joint 
discussions of Sections D, I, and K on the 
synthesis of organic matter by inorganic colloids 
in the presence of sunlight (in which, by the way, 
Prof. Moore did not by any means succeed in 
carrying the majority of his colleagues with him, 
though his exposition was of masterly clearness) ; 
the waterways debate in Section F (a matter of 


: 


SEPTEMBER 18, 1913]- 


vital interest to Birmingham); the anesthetics 
report in Section I; and the modern university 
discussion in Section L. 

The great popularity of these discussions has 
again emphasised the fact that the average 
member does not come to hear isolated papers of 
miscellaneous interest. It more than ever throws 
upon the recorder of each section the responsibility 
of grouping its papers according to their natural 
affinities. This seems to be the only chance 
which the isolated paper has of surviving at the 
British Association meetings. The numerous 
facilities now available for publication render it 
less and less necessary to look to the British 
Association for a platform from which to announce 
discoveries, and the practice, so common in the 
earlier days, is now largely in abeyance. But for 
bringing like-minded people together to discuss 
matters of scientific interest, for gauging the 
trend of opinion on matters of controversy, and 
for focussing public opinion on matters of impor- 
tance to the commonweal, the British Association 
is pre-eminently useful, and the Birmingham 
gathering has shown that it is not likely to 
abandon that function for many years to come. 

Bm: E., EF. 


At an Honorary Degree Congregation of the Uni- 
versity of Birmingham, on Thursday, September 11, 
some distinguished foreigners received honorary 


degrees, and the following speeches were made by the 


Principal in presenting them to the Vice-Chancellor :— 


Dr. Arrhenius. 


Director of the Nobel Institute for Physics and 
Chemistry, at Stockholm, fellow of the Swedish 
Academy of Sciences, and foreign member of our own 
Royal Society. The courageous way in which Dr. 
Arrhenius applied the theory of electrolytic dissocia- 
tion to a quantitative study of chemical reactions has 
profoundly modified the trend of chemical science 
during the past thirty years, enlarging the scope of 
chemical investigation, harmonising previously dis- 
connected facts, and bringing an_ ever-increasing 
number of chemical phenomena within the range of 
quantitative and mathematical treatment. He is thus 
one of the most prominent of the founders of modern 
physical chemistry, the principles of which he has even 
applied, with singular success, to some of the most 
subtle phenomena of organic life. Recently his writ- 
ings on cosmogony have aroused wide interest; terres- 
trial electricity and the aurora have yielded to him 
some of their secrets; and his speculations on worlds 
in the making are more than interesting and sugges- 
tive. A man of genius, and one of the founders of 
physical chemistry, I present for the honorary degree 
of doctor of laws, Svante August Arrhenius. 


Madame Curie. 


The discoverer of radium, director of the Physical 
Laboratory at the Sorbonne, and member of the Im- 
perial Academy of Sciences at Cracow. All the world 
knows how Madame Curie (coming from Warsaw as 
Marie Sklodowska to work in Paris), inspired by the 
spontaneous radio-activity newly discovered by Bec- 
querel, began in 1896 a metrical examination of the 
radio-activity of minerals of all kinds; and how, when 
a uranium residue showed a value larger than could 
have been expected from its uranium content, she, 
with exemplary skill and perseverance, worked down 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 67 


some tons of this material (given her by the Austrian 
Government on the instigation of Prof. Suess), chemic- 
ally dividing it and retaining always the more radio- 
active portion, until she obtained evidence first of a 
new element which she christened polonium, in 
memory of her own country, and then after months 
of labour succeeded in isolating a few grains of the 
other and more permanent substance now so famous— 
a substance which not only exhibits physical energy in 
a new form, but is likely to be of service to suffering 
humanity. Of the metallic base of this substance she 
determined the atomic weight, finding a place for it 
in Mendeléeff’s series; and with the aid of her hus- 
band, whose lamentable death was so great a blow 
to science, she proceeded to discover many of its 
singular properties, some of them so extraordinary as 
to rivet the attention of the world. Subsequent 
workers engaged in the determination of numbers 
belonging to either of her special elements, radium 
and polonium, have sought her advice, and it has 
proved of the utmost value. I have now the honour 
of presenting for our ‘honorary degree the greatest 
woman of science of all time, Marie Sklodowska 
Curie. 
Prof. Dr. Keibel. 


The professor of anatomy in the University of Frei- 
burg is the leading authority on the development of 
man and the embryology of vertebrates. He originated 
the international standards used in estimating embryo- 
logical data, and through his classical work on com- 
parative development he has reformed anatomical 
teaching by the infusion of developmental ideas. His 
important contributions to anatomical knowledge and 
method are widely known and highly esteemed, but 
nowhere more heartily and. cordially than in the 
anatomical department of this University. Held in 
affectionate esteem by his colleagues, and directing 
one of the largest schools of anatomy in Germany, 
this eminent embryologist has been invited to receive 
our honorary degree, and I present to you Franz Karl 
Julius Keibel. 


Prof. H. A. Lorentz. 


To the great school of mathematical physicists of 
the last and present centuries we in England have 
proudly contributed even more than our share; but 
we recognise in the professor of physics in the Univer- 
sity of Leyden a contemporary worker worthy to rank 
with our greatest. Prof. Lorentz has extended the 
work of Clerk Maxwell into the recently explored 
region of electrons, and has developed in the mole- 
cular direction the Maxwellian theory of electro- 
dynamics. He is a chief authority on the behaviour 
of material bodies moving through the zther of space, 
and he has adopted and reduced to order many of the 
progeny resulting from the fertile marriage of elec- 
tricity and light. A specially interesting magneto- 
optic phenomenon, experimentally discovered by his 
countryman, Zeeman, of Amsterdam, received at his 
hands its brilliant and satisfying interpretation; an 
interpretation clinched by predictions of what, on the 
electric theory of radiation, ought additionally to be 
observed—predictions which were speedily verified. 
The Zeeman phenomenon thus interpreted not only 
gives information as to the intimate structure of vari- 
ous elemental atoms, but, in the hands of the great 
American astronomers, has shown that sun-spots are 
electric cyclones of high magnetic power, and is likely 
further to contribute to our knowledge of solar and 
stellar constitution. As a great authority on electron 
theory, and one whose name will for ever be asso- 
ciated with the now nascent electrical theory of matter, 
I present to you the distinguished mathematical 
physicist, Hendrik Antoon Lorentz. 


68 


Prof, R. W. Wood. 


The professor of experimental physics in the Johns 
Hopkins University of Baltimore is a prolific experi- 
mentalist, and one to whose researches in physical 
optics modern science is greatly indebted. By in- 
genious use of little-known properties of light, he has 
explored the structure of molecules, applying the 
principle of resonance to determine their natural 
electronic period of vibration. He has, in fact, dis- 
covered a new type of spectra in the fluorescent reson- 
ance of metallic vapours. What more he has done, in 
connection with the anomalous absorption of sodium 
vapour, with specially designed diffraction gratings, 
and with the application of monochromatic photo- 
graphy to the geology of the moon, it were long to 
tell; among other things, he anticipated and realised 
the attainment of regular reflection from a sufficiently 
dense absorbing vapour; while to the public in 
America he is known as the inventor of a practical 
method of thawing frozen pipes by an electric current. 
The idea of a gigantic telescope in the form of a sunk 
well, with a revolving pool of mercury at its base to 
constitute a truly parabolic mirror, may not be a new 
one, but Prof. Wood has taken it out of the region of 
the chimerical and shown that it is possible, even if 
not practically useful. We in this country have reason 
to envy the splendid resources which the munificence 
of citizens in America, and of Governments elsewhere, 
places at the disposal of scientific explorers, and we 
honour and admire the use which is being made of 
those resources in every branch of science. As one of 
the most brilliant experimental physicists of the world, 
I present for our honorary degree Robert Williams 
Wood. 


Synopsis of grants of money appropriated for scien- 
tific purposes by the general committee at the Birming- 
ham meeting September, 1913 :— 


Section A—Mathematical and Physical Science. 
Prof. H. H. Turner, seismo- 


logical observations -- £60 0 0 
Dr. W. N. Shaw, upper atmo- 

sphere aie & Een “O/etC 
Sir W. Ramsay, constants and 

numerical data ods eet 40) 10!5-0 
Prof. M. J. M. Hill, calcula- 

tion of mathematical tables 20 0 o 
Lieut.-Col. A. Cunningham, 

copies of the ‘Binary 

Canon” for presentation... 5 0 o 


£150 0 O 
Section B—Chemistry. 
Dr. W. H. Perkin, study of 
hydro-aromatic substances 15 0 o 


Prof. H. EE. Armstrong, 

dynamic isomerism aes. 0) <0 
Prof. F. S. Kipping, trans- 
formation of aromatic nitro- 

amines be oe Bier eS Ww Or 60 
A. D. Hall, plant enzymes ... 25 0 o 
Prof. W. J. Pope, correlation 

of crystalline form with 
molecular structure Reena Sic (O) 4:0 
Prof. H. E. Armstrong, solu- 

bility phenomena tae 425.0: 0 


4120 0 oO 
Section C—Geology, 


R. H. Tiddeman, erratic 
blocks ac 7: -eree 5 e100 
Prof. P. F. Kendall, list of 
characteristic fossils Re Se: 30 
Dr. A. Strahan, Ramsay 


Island, Pembroke ... 
NO. 2290, VOL. 92 


TOTO n 10 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 


Prof. Grenville Cole, Old 
Red Sandstone of Kiltor- 
CAN Mee oe ae wae 

G. Barrow, trias of western © 


midlands Be fi: =on to). 6 
Prof. W. W. Watts, sections 
in Lower Paleozoic rocks 15 0 


Section D—Zoology. 


Dr. A. E. Shipley, Belmullet 


Whaling Station... coc ZOE LO 
Dr. Chalmers Mitchell, 

nomenclator animalium 50 oO 
S. F. Harmer, Antarctic 

whaling industry go oO 


Section E—Geography. 


Prof. J. L. Myres, maps for 


school and university use... 40 0 
Prof. H. N. Dickson, tidal 
currents in Moray and 
adjacent firths sen POO 


Section G—Engineering. 


Sir W. H. Preece, gaseous 
explosions Ec ox ESO ONO 
Prof. J. Perry, stress distri- 
butions é. us 50 0 0 
Section H—Anthropology. 
Dr. R. Munro, Glastonbury 
Lake Village ae ne OO? 
Sir C. H. Read, age of stone 
circles ae “Se +34) 20 OURO: 
Dr. R. Munro, artificial 
islands in Highland lochs 5 o o 
Prof. G. Elliot Smith, physical 
character of ancient 
Egyptians... as sae SQA ENS 
Prof. J. L. Myres, anthropo- 
metric investigations in 
Cyprus or te 238, 50) 40) 10 
Prof. W. Ridgeway, Roman 
sites in Britain 5 eemlole Keys) (© 
Dr. R. R. Marett, Paleolithic 
site in Jersey 330 “416 SOpeO) 1G 


Section I—Physiology. 


Prof. E. A. Schafer, the duct- 


less glands... a Boe ig inpthnra| 
Prof. A. D. Waller, anzs- 

thetics oe Ge aay tye) 
Prof. J. S. Macdonald, calori- 

metric observations By oe topeeie) 
Prof. C. S. Sherrington, 

mammalian heart ... Ap Stcaatte) 


Section K—Botany. 

Prof. F. J. Oliver, structure 
of fossil plants hs Ait 
Prof. A. C. Seward, Jurassic 
flora of Yorkshire ... 50 


is 0 


Prof. F. Keeble, flora of peat 
of Kennet Valley ... Sry So) 
A. G. Tansley, vegetation of 
Ditcham Park S 20 0 


Prof. F. F. Blackman, physio- 


lovv of heredity Se Siohute) 
Prof. F. O. Bower, renting of 

Cinchona Botanic Station 

in Jamaica .. ae ees (0 
Prof. W. Bateson, breeding 

experiments with GEnotheras 20 0 


£55 0 0 


£160 0 oO 


#100 0 oO 


#199 16 6 


4130 0 O 


SEPTEMBER 18, 1913] 


NATURE 69 


: Section L—Education. 
Prof. J. J. Findlay, mental 

and physical factors ee 215) Melee) 
Dr. G. A. Auden, influence 

of school books on eye- 

sight ... Seo Pie oa 
Sir H. Miers, Number, &c., 

of scholarships, &c., held 

by university students ... 5 0 0 


Myers, Dr. S., binocular 
combination of kinemato- 
eraph pictures 3 ae LOM OO 
Prof. J. A. Green,  char- 
acter and maintenance of 
museums nee 10 0 0 


Ne 
Corresponding Societies Committee. 
W. Whitaker, for preparation 


of report oA ; 25 0 0 


Total ... ares) IL 


SECTION A. 
MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS. 


Openinc Appress By H. F. Baker, Sc.D., F.R.S., 
PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. 


The Place of Pure Mathematics. 


Ir is not a very usual thing for the opening address 
of this section to be entrusted to one whose main 
energies have been devoted to what is called pure 
mathematics; but I value the opportunity in order to 
try to explain what, as I conceive it, the justification 
of the pure mathematician is. You will understand 
that in saying this I am putting myself in a position 
which belongs to me as little by vocation as by 
achievement, since it was my duty through many years 
to give instruction in all the subjects usually regarded 
as mathematical physics, and it is still my duty to be 
concerned with students in these subjects. But my 
experience is that the pure mathematician is apt to be 
regarded by his friends as a trifler and a visionary, 
and the consciousness of this becomes in time a 
paralysing dead-weight. I think that view is founded 
on want of knowledge. 

Of course, it must be admitted that the mathe- 
matician, as such, has no part in those public en- 
deavours that arise from the position of our Empire 
in the world, nor in the efforts that must constantly 
be made for social adjustment at home. I wish to 
make this obvious remark. For surely the scientific 
man must give his time and his work in the faith of 
at least an intellectual harmony in things; and he 
must wish to know what to think of all that seems out 
of gear in the working of human relations. His own 
cup of contemplation is often golden; he marks that 
around him there is fierce fighting for cups that are 
earthen, and largely broken; and many there are that 
go thirsting. And, again, the mathematician is as 
sensitive as others to the marvel of each recurring 
springtime, when, year by year, our common mother 
seems to call us so loudly to consider how wonderful 
she is, and how dependent we are, and he is as curious 
as to the mysteries of the development of living things. 
He can draw inspiration for his own work, as he 
views the spectacle of a starry night, and sees 


How the floor of heaven 

Ts thick inlaid with patines of bright gold. 

Each orb, the smallest, in his motion, sings, 
but the song, once so full of dread, how much it owes 
to the highest refinements of his craft, from at least 
the time of the Greek devotion to the theory of conic 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


sections; how much, that is, to the harmony that is 
in the human soul. Yet the mathematician bears to 
the natural observer something of the relation which 
the laboratory botanist has come to bear to the field 
naturalist. Moreover, he is shut off from inquiries 
which stir the public imagination; when he looks back 
the ages over the history of his own subject, the 
confidence of his friends who study heredity and teach 
eugenics arouses odd feelings in his mind; if he feels 
the fascination which comes of the importance of such 
inquiries, he is also prepared to hear that the subtlety 
of Nature grows with our knowledge of her. Doubt- 
less, too, he wishes he had some participation in the 
discovery of the laws of wireless telegraphy, or had 
something to say in regard to the improvement of 
internal-combustion engines or the stability of aéro- 
planes; it is little compensation to remember, though 
the mathematical physicist is his most tormenting 
critic, what those of his friends who have the physical 
instinct used to say on the probable development of 
these things, however well he may recall it. 

But it is not logical to believe that they who are 
called visionary because of their devotion to creatures 
of the imagination can be unmoved by these things. 
Nor is it at all just to assume that they are less 
conscious than others of the practical importance of 
them, or less anxious that they should be vigorously 
prosecuted. 

Why is it, then, that their systematic study is given 
to other things, and not of necessity, and in the first 
instance, to the theory of any of these concrete pheno- 
mena? This is the question I try to answer. I can 
only give my own impression, and doubtless the 
validity of an answer varies as the accumulation of 
data, made by experimenters and observers, which 
remains unutilised at any time. 

The reason, then, is very much the same as that 
which may lead a man to abstain from piecemeal 
indiscriminate charity in order to devote his attention 
and money to some well-thought-out scheme of reform 
which seems to have promise of real amelioration. 
One turns away from details and examples, because 
one thinks that there is promise of fundamental im- 
provement of methods and principles. This is the 
argumentum ad hominem. But there is more than 
that. The improvement of general principles is 
arduous, and if undertaken only with a view to results 
may be ill-timed and disappointing. But as soon as 
we consciously give ourselves to the study of universal 
methods for their own sake another phenomenon 
appears. The mind responds, the whole outlook is 
enlarged, infinite possibilities of intellectual compre- 
hension, of mastery of the relations of things, hitherto 
unsuspected, begin to appear on the mental horizon. 
I am well enough aware of the retort to which such a 
statement is open. But, I say, interpret the fact as 
you will, our intellectual pleasure in life cometh not 
by might nor by power—arises, that is, most com- 
monly, not of set purpose—but lies at the mercy of the 
response which the mind may make to the oppor- 
tunities of its experience. When the response proves 
to be of permanent interest—and for how many 
centuries have mathematical questions been a fascina- 
tion?—we do well to regard it. Let us compare 
another case which is, I think, essentially the same. 
It may be that early forms of what now is specifically 
called art arose with a view to applications; I do not 
know. But no one will deny that art, when once it 
has been conceived by us, is a worthy object of 
pursuit; we know by a long trial that we do wisely 
to vield ourselves to a love of beautiful things, and 
to the joy of making them. Well, pure mathematics, 
as such, is an art, a creative art. If its past triumphs 
of achievement fill us with wonder, its future scope for 


7O 


invention is exhaustless and open to all. It is also a 
science. For the mind of man is one; to scale the 
peaks it spreads before the explorer is to open ever 
new prospects of possibility for the formulation of laws 
of nature. It resources have been tested by the 
experience of generations; to-day it lives and thrives 
and expands and wins the life-service of more workers 
than ever before. 

This, at least, is what I wanted to say, and I have 
said it with the greatest brevity I could command. 
But may I dare attempt to carry you further? If 
this seems fanciful, what will you say to the setting 
in which I would wish to place this point of view? 
And yet I feel bound to try to indicate something 
more, which may be of wider appeal. I said a word 
at starting as to the relations of science to those many 
to whom the message of our advanced civilisation is 
the necessity, above all things, of getting bread. 
Leaving this aside, I would make another reference. 
In our time old outlooks have very greatly changed; 
old hopes, disregarded perhaps because undoubted, 
have very largely lost their sanction, and given place 
to earnest questionings. Can anyone who watches 
doubt that the courage to live is in some danger of 
being swallowed up in the anxiety to acquire? May 
it not be, then, that it is good for us to realise, and to 
confess, that the pursuit of things that are beautiful, 
and the achievement of intellectual things that bring 
the joy of overcoming, is at least as demonstrably 
justifiable as the many other things that fill the lives 
of men? May it not be that a wider recognition of 
this would be of some general advantage at present ? 
Is it not even possible that to bear witness to this 
is one of the uses of the scientific spirit? Moreover, 
though the pursuit of truth be a noble aim, is it so 
new a profession; are we so sure that the ardour to 
set down all the facts without extenuation is, un- 
assisted, so continuing a purpose? May science itself 
not be wise to confess to what is its own sustaining 
force? 

Such, ladies and gentlemen, in crude, imperfect 
phrase, is the apologia. If it does not differ much 
from that which workers in other ways would make, 
it does, at least, try to represent truly one point of 
view, and it seems to me specially applicable to the 
case of pure mathematics. But you may ask: What, 
then, is this subject? What can it be about if it is 
not primarily directed to the discussion of the laws of 
natural phenomena? What kind of things are they 
that can occupy alone the thoughts of a lifetime? 
I propose now to attempt to answer this, most in- 
adequately, by a bare recital of some of the broader 
issues of present interest—though this has difficulties, 
because the nineteenth century was of unexampled 
fertility in results and suggestions, and I must be 
as little technical as possible. 


Precision of Definitions. 


First, in regard to two matters which illustrate how 
we are forced by physical problems into abstract in- 
quiries. It is a constantly recurring need of science 
to reconsider the exact implication of the terms 
employed; and as numbers and functions are inevit- 
able in all measurement, the precise meaning of 
number, of continuity, of infinity, of limit, and so 
on, are fundamental questions; those who will receive 
the evidence can easily convince themselves that these 
notions have many pitfalls. Such an imperishable 
monument as Euclid’s theory of ratio is a familiar 
sign that this has always been felt. The last century 
has witnessed a vigorous inquiry into these matters, 
and many of the results brought forward appear to 
be new; nor is the interest of the matter by any means 
exhausted. I may cite, as intelligible to all, such a 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 


fact as the construction of a function which is con- 
tinuous at all points of a range, yet possesses no 
definite differential coefficient at any point. Are we 
sure that human nature is e only continuous 
variable in the concrete world, assuming it be con- 
tinuous, which can possess such a vacillating char- 
acter? Or I may refer to the more elementary fact 
that all the rational fractions, infinite in number, 
which lie in any given range, can be enclosed in 
intervals the aggregate length of which is arbitrarily 
small. Thus we could take out of our life all the 
moments at which we can say that our age is a 
certain number of years, and days, and fractions of 
a day, and still have appreciably as long to live; this 
would be true, however often, to whatever exactness, 
we named our age, provided we were quick enough 
in naming it. Though the recurrence of these in- 
quiries is part of a wider consideration of functions 
of complex variables, it has been associated also with 
the theory of those series which Fourier used so 
boldly, and so wickedly, for the conduction of heat. 
Like all discoverers, he took much for granted. Pre- 
cisely how much is the problem. This problem has 
led to the precision of what is meant by a function of | 
real variables, to the question of the uniform con- 
vergence of an infinite series, as you may see in early 
papers of Stokes, to new formulation of the conditions 
of integration and of the properties of multiple 
integrals, and so on. And it remains still incom- 
pletely solved. 


Calculus of Variations. 


Another case in which the suggestions of physics 
have caused grave disquiet to the mathematicians is 
the problem of the variation of a definite integral. 
No one is likely to underrate the grandeur of the aim 
of those who would deduce the whole physical history 
of the world from the single principle of least action. 
Everyone must be interested in the theorem that a 
potential function, with a given value at the boundary 
of a volume, is such as to render a certain integral, 
representing, say, the energy, a minimum. But in 
that proportion one desires to be sure that the logical 
processes employed are free from objection. And, 
alas! to deal only with one of the earliest problems 
of the subject, though the finally sufficient conditions 
for a minimum of a simple integral seemed settled 
long ago, and could be applied, for example, to New- 
ton’s celebrated problem of the solid of least resist- 
ance, it has since been shown to be a general fact 
that such a problem cannot have any definite solution 
at all. And, although the principle of Thomson and 
Dirichlet, which relates to the potential problem re- 
ferred to, was expounded by Gauss, and accepted by 
Riemann, and remains to-day in our standard treatise 
on natural philosophy, there can be no doubt that, 
in the form in which it was originally stated, it 
proves just nothing. Thus a new investigation has 
been necessary into the foundations of the principle. 
There is another problem, closely connected with this 
subject, to which I would allude: the stability of the 
solar system. For those who can make pronounce- 
ments in regard to this I have a feeling of envy; for 
their methods, as yet, I have a quite other feeling. 
The interest of this problem alone is sufficient to 
justify the craving of the pure mathematician for 
powerful methods and unexceptionable rigour. 


Non-Euclidean Geometry. 


But I turn to another matter. It is an old view, I 
suppose, that geometry deals with facts about which 
there can be no two opinions. You are familiar with 
the axiom that, given a straight line and a point, one 
and only one straight line can be drawn through the 


point parallel to the given straight line. According to 


SEPTEMBER 18, 1913] 


the old view the natural man would say that this is 
either true or false. And, indeed, many and long 
were the attempts made to justify it. At length there 
came a step which to many probably will still seem 
unintelligible. A system of geometry was built up 
in which it is assumed that, given a straight line and 
a point, an infinite number of straight lines can be 
drawn through the point, in the plane of the given 
line, no one of which meets the given line. Can 
there, then, one asks at first, be two systems of 
geometry, both of which are true, though they differ 
in such an important particular? Almost as soon 
believe that there can be two systems of laws of 
nature, essentially differing in character, both reduc- 
ing the phenomena we observe to order and system 
—a monstrous heresy, of course! I will gnly say 
that, after a century of discussion we are quite sure 
that many systems of geometry are possible, and true ; 
though not all may be expedient. And if you reply 
that a geometry is useful for life only in proportion as 
it fits the properties of concrete things, I will answer, 
first, are the heavens not then concrete? And have 
Wwe as yet any geometry that enables us to form a 
consistent logical idea of furthermost space? And, 
secondly, that the justification of such speculations is 
the interest they evoke, and that the investigations 
already undertaken have yielded results of the most 
surprising interest. 


The Theory of Groups. 


To-day we characterise a geometry by the help of 
another general notion, also, for the most part, 
elaborated in the last hundred years, by means of its 
group. A group is a set of operations which is closed, 
in the sense that the performance of any two 
of these operations in succession is equivalent to 
another operation of the set, just as the result of two 
successive movements of a rigid body can be achieved 
by a single movement. One of the earliest conscious 
applications of the notion was in the problem ot 
solving algebraic equations by means of equations of 
lower order. An equation of the fourth order can be 
solved by means of a cubic equation, because there 
exists a rational function of the four roots which takes 
only three values when the roots are exchanged in afl 
possible ways. Following out this suggestion for an 
equation of any order, we are led to consider, taking 
any particular rational function of its roots, what is 
the group of interchanges among them which leaves 
this function unaltered in value. This group char- 
acterises the function, all other rational functions 
unaltered by the same group of interchanges being 
expressible rationally in terms of this function. On 
these lines a complete theory of equations which are 
soluble algebraically can be given. Anyone who 
wishes to form some idea of the richness of the land- 
scape offered by pure mathematics might do worse 
than make een acquainted with this comparatively 
small district of it. But the theory of groups has 
other applications. It may be interesting to refer to 
the circumstance that the group of interchanges 
among four quantities which leave unaltered the pro- 
duct of their six differences is exactly similar to the 
group of rotations of a regular tetrahedron the centre 
of which is fixed, when its corners are interchanged 
among themselves. Then I mention the historical 
fact that the problem of ascertaining when that well- 
known linear differential equation called the hyper- 
geometric equation has all its solutions expressible 
in finite terms as algebraic functions, was first solved 
in connection with a group of similar kind. For any 
linear differential equation it is of primary importance 
to consider the group of interchanges of its solutions 
when the independent variable, starting from an arbi- 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 71 


trary point, makes all possible excursions, returning 
to its initial value. And it is in connection with this 
consideration that one justification arises for the view 
that the equation can be solved by expressing both 
the independent and dependent variables as single- 
valued functions of another variable. There is, how- 
ever, a theory of groups different from those so far 
referred to, in which the variables can change con- 
tinuously; this alone is most extensive, as may be 
judged from one of its lesser applications, the familiar 
theory of the invariants of quantics. Moreover, per- 
haps the most masterly of the analytical discussions 
of the theory of geometry has been carried through 
as a particular application of the theory of such 
groups. 
The Theory of Algebraic Functions. 


If the theory of groups illustrates how a unifying 
plan works in mathematics beneath bewildering detail, 
the next matter I refer to well shows what a wealth, 
what a grandeur, of thought may spring from what 
seem slight beginnings. Our ordinary integral cal- 
culus is well-nigh powerless when the result of 
integration is not expressible by algebraic or log- 
arithmic functions. The attempt to extend the pos- 
sibilities of integration to the case when the function 
to be integrated involves the square root of a poly- 
nomial of the fourth order, led first, after many 
efforts, among which Legendre’s devotion of forty 
years was part, to the theory of doubly-periodic 
functions. To-day this is much simpler than ordinary 
trigonometry, and, even apart from its applications, 
it is quite incredible that it should ever again pass 
from being among the treasures of civilised man. 
Then, at first in uncouth form, but now clothed with 
delicate beauty, came the theory of general algebraical 
integrals, of which the influence is spread far and 
wide; and with it all that is systematic in the theory 
of plane curves, and all that is associated with the 
conception of a Riemann surface. After this came 
the theory of multiple-periodic functions of any number 
of variables, which, though still very far indeed from 
being complete, has, I have always felt, a majesty of 
conception which is unique. Quite recently the ideas 
evolved in the previous history have prompted a vast 
general theory of the classification of algebraical sur- 
faces according to their essential properties, which 
is opening endless new vistas of thought. 


Theory of Functions of Complex Variables: 
Differential Equations. 


But the theory has also been prolific in general 
principles for functions of complex variables. Of 
greater theories, the problem of automorphic functions 
alone is a vast continent still largely undeveloped, 
and there is the incidental problem of the possibilities 
of geometry of position in any number of dimensions, 
so important in so many ways. But, in fact, a large 
proportion of the more familiar general principles, 
taught to-day as theory of functions, have been 
elaborated under the stimulus of the foregoing theory. 
Besides this, however, all that precision of logical 
statement of which I spoke at the beginning is of 
paramount necessity here. What exactly is meant by 
a curve of integration, what character can the limit- 
ing points of a region of existence of a function 
possess, how even best to define a function of a com- 
plex variable, these are but some obvious cases of 
difficulties which are very real and pressing to-day. 
And then there are the problems of the theory of 
differential equations. About these I am at a loss 
what to say. We give a name to the subject, as if it 
were one subject, and I deal with it in the fewest 
words. But our whole physical outlook is based on 
the belief that the problems of nature are expressible 


if f3 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 


by differential equations; and our knowledge of even 
the possibilities of the solutions of differential 
equations consists largely, save for some special types, 
of that kind of ignorance which, in the nature of the 
case, can form no idea of its own extent. There are 
subjects the whole content of which is an excuse 
for a desired solution of a differential equation; there 
are infinitely laborious methods of arithmetical com- 
putation held in high repute of which the same must 
be said. And yet I stand here to-day to plead with 
you for tolerance of those who feel that the prosecu- 
tion of the theoretic studies, which alone can alter 
this, is a justifiable aim in life! Our hope and belief 
is that over this vast domain of differential equations 
the theory of functions shall one day rule, as already 
it largely does, for example, over linear differential 
equations. 
Theory of Numbers. 


In concluding this table of contents, I would also 
refer, with becoming brevity, to the modern develop- 
ments of theory of numbers. Wonderful is the fas- 
cination and the difficulty of these familiar objects of 
thought—ordinary numbers. We know how the great 
Gauss, whose lynx eye was laboriously turned upon 
all the physical science of his time, has left it on 
record that in order to settle the law of a plus or 
minus sign in one of the formule of his theory of 
numbers he took up the pen every week for four 
years. In these islands perhaps our imperial necessi- 
ties forbid the hope of much development of such a 
theoretical subject. But in the land of Kummer and 
Gauss and Dirichlet the subject to-day claims the 
allegiance of many eager minds. And we can reflect 
that one of the latest triumphs has been with a 
problem known by the name of our English senior 
wrangler, Waring—the problem of the representation 
of a number by sums of powers. 


Ladies and gentlemen, I have touched only a few 
of the matters with which pure mathematics is con- 
cerned. Each of those I have named is large enough 
for one man’s thought; but they are interwoven and 
interlaced in indissoluble fashion and form one mighty 
whole, so that to be ignorant of one is to be weaker 
in all. I am not concerned to depreciate other pur- 
suits, which seem at first sight more practical; I 
wish only, indeed, as we all do, it were possible for 
one man to cover the whole field of scientific research; 
and I vigorously resent the suggestion that those who 
follow these studies are less careful than others of 
the urgent needs of our national life. But pure mathe- 
matics is not the rival, even less is it the handmaid, 
of other branches of science. Properly pursued, it is 
the essence and soul of them all. It is not for them; 
they are for it; and its results are for all time. No 
man who has felt its fascination can be content to be 
ignorant of any manifestation of regularity and law, 
or can fail to be stirred by all the need of adjustment 
of our actual world. 

And if life is short, if the greatest magician, join- 
ing with the practical man, reminds us that, like 
this vision, 

The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, 

The solemn temples, the great globe itself, 

Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve 

And... leave not a rack behind, 
we must still believe that it is best for us to try to 
reach the brightest light. And all here must believe 
it; for else—no fact is more firmly established—we 
shall not study science to any purpose. 

But that is not all I want to say, or at least to | 
indicate. I.have dealt so far only with proximate 


motives; to me it seems demonstrable that a physical | 
science that is Gonscientious requires the cultivation | 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


of pure mathematics; and the most mundane of 
reasons seem to me to prompt the recognition of the 
zsthetic outlook as a practical necessity, not merely 
a luxury, in a successful society Nor do I want to 
take a transcendental ground. Every schoolboy, I 
suppose, knows the story of the child born, so small, 
if I remember aright, that he could be put into a 
quart pot, in a farmhouse on the borders of Lincoln- 
shire—it was the merest everyday chance. By the 
most incalculable of luck his  brain-stuff was so 
arranged, his parts so proportionately tempered, that 
he became Newton, and taught us the laws of the 
planets. It was the blindest concurrence of physical 
circumstances; and so is all our life. Matter in cer- 
tain relations to itself, working by laws we can 
examine in the chemical laboratory, produces all 
these effects, produces even that state of brain which 
accompanies the desire to speak of the wonder of it 
all. And the same laws will inevitably hurl all into 
confusion and darkness again; and where will all our 
joys and fears, and all our scientific satisfaction, be 
then? 

As students of science, we have no right to shrink 
from this point of view; we are pledged to set aside 
prepossession and dogma, and examine what seems 
possible, wherever it may lead. Even life itself may 
be mechanical, even the greatest of all things, even 
personality, may some day be resoluble into the pro- 
perties of dead matter, whatever that is. We can all 
see that its coherence rises and falls with illness and 
health, with age and physical conditions. Nor, as 
it seems to me, can anything but confusion of thought 
arise from attempts to people our material world 
with those who have ceased to be material. 

An argument could perhaps be based on the diverg- 
ence, as the mathematician would say, of our com- 
prehension of the properties of matter. For though 
we seem able to summarise our past experiences with 
ever-increasing approximation by means of fixed laws, 
our consciousness of ignorance of the future is only 
increased thereby. Do we feel more, or less, com- 
petent to grasp the future possibilities of things, when 
we can send a wireless message 4000 miles, from 
Hanover to New Jersey? 

Our life is begirt with wonder, and with terror. 
Reduce it by all means to ruthless mechanism, if you 
can; it will be a great achievement. But it can make 
no sort of difference to the fact that the things for 
which we live are spiritual. The rose is no less sweet 
because its growth is conditioned by the food we 
supply to its roots. It is an obvious fact, and I 
ought to apologise for remarking it, were it not that 
so much of our popular science is understood by the 
hasty to imply an opposite conclusion. If a chemical 
analysis of the constituents of sea-water could take 
away from the glory of a mighty wave breaking in 
the sunlight, it would still be true that it was the 
mind of the chemist which delighted in finding the 
analysis. Whatever be its history, whatever its 
physical correlations, it is an undeniable fact that the 
mind of man has been evolved; I believe that is the 
scientific word. You may speak of a continuous_up- 
holding of our material framework from without; you 
may ascribe fixed qualities to something you call 
matter; or you may refuse to be drawn into any state- 


| ment. But anyway, the fact remains that the precious 


things of life are those we call the treasures of the 
mind. Dogmas and philosophies, it would seem, rise 
and fall. But gradually accumulating throughout the 
ages, from the earliest dawn of history, there is a body 
of doctrine, a reasoned insight into the relations of 
exact ideas, painfully won and often tested. And this 
remains the main heritage of man; his little beacon 
of light amidst the solitudes and darknesses of infinite 
space; or, if you prefer, like the shout of children at 


SEPTEMBER 18, 1913] 


NATURE i3 


play together in the cultivated valleys, which con- 
tinues from generation to generation. 

Yes, and continues for ever! A universe which has 
the potentiality of becoming thus conscious of itself 
is not without something of which that which we call 
memory is but an image. Somewhere, somehow, in 
ways we dream not of, when you and I have merged 
again into the illimitable whole, when all that is 
material has ceased, the faculty in which we now have 


now dimly struggle to grasp, the joy we have in 
the effort, these are but part of a greater whole. 
Some may fear, ana sume may hope, that they and 
theirs shall not endure for ever. But he must have 
studied nature in vain who does not see that our 
spiritual activities are inherent in the mighty process 
of which we are part; who can doubt of their per- 
sistence. 

And, on the intellectual side, of all that is best ascer- 
tained, and surest, and most definite, of these; of all 
that is oldest and most universal; of all that is most 
fundamental and far-reaching, of these activities, pure 
mathematics is the symbol and the sum. 


SECTION B. 
CHEMISTRY. 


OPENING ADDRESS BY Pror. W. P. Wynne, D.Sc., 
F.R.S., PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. 


WHEN the present position of education in Birming- 
ham is considered, the transformation effected since 
the ’seventies is little short of marvellous. Five-and- 
thirty years ago, when I became an evening student, 
classes conducted by the Midland Institute met the 
demand for arts and science subjects; now a Univer- 
sity—venerable in comparison with all civic universi- 
ties save the Victoria University of Manchester—exists 
to provide instruction in every branch of learning. 
The spacious building in which we meet—already too 
small for the demands made on it—is the lineal 
descendant of that part of the Midland Institute which 
formerly was used for evening class instruction in 
science, organised in connection with the science and 
art department, and financed largely by the system 
of payment on results; this large lecture theatre re- 
places the small and inconvenient class-room in which 
the teaching of chemistry and physics under Mr. 
Woodward was carried on. Payment on results is 
obsolete, and the ‘‘May"’ examinations on which it 
was based have almost disappeared, assessment by 
inspection now replacing both; nevertheless, it is more 
than doubtful whether any other system—in the cir- 
cumstances of the time—could have spread so widely 
a knowledge of science among the people, or prepared 
the way for the Technical Instruction Act, and that 
appreciation of the value of scientific training for 
industrial pursuits, which is exemplified by the pro- 
vision through municipal agencies of technical schools 
in the industrial centres of this country. I sometimes 
think the Science and Art Department, and those great 
men, Sir John Donnelly and Prof. Huxley, who did 
much to shape its attitude towards science instruction 
in evening classes and in the science schools at South 
Kensington,! have received something less than their 
share of credit for pioneering work which finds its 
fruition in well-equipped institutions like this, and in 
the enhanced position which science holds to-day in 
the estimation of our countrymen. In those far-off 
times, before the foundation-stone of Mason College 
was laid, such evening classes in Birmingham pro- 
vided the only means by which instruction in science, 
or scholarships to South Kensington, could be 


1 These schools in 1881 became the Normal School of Science, and in 
1g0c the Royal College of Science, now incorporated in the Imperial College 
of Science and Technology. 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


obtained. It is not unfitting, therefore, that I—a pro- 
duct of the system—should acknowledge here the 
obligation under which I stand both to the Midland 
Institute and to the Science and Art Department for 
providing the ladder by which I have risen, however 
undeservedly, to the honourable position of president 
of this section. 

The historian of our times will not fail to note 


: ; some of the consequences which have followed the 
some share, shall surely endure; the conceptions we | 


application of science to industry, possibly also some 
of the educational results which have followed the 
development of science teaching in schools of all 
grades. Except from one point of view these need not 
concern us now as they fall, the one in so far as 
chemistry is concerned, into the province of the Society 
of Chemical Industry, the other mainly within the 
purview of Section L. This bringing of chemistry 
to the people has aroused a widespread interest in 
some aspects of the subject, of which the Press has 
not been slow to take note. Not even the heuristic 
method can hide from the schoolboy the fact that 
certain fundamental conceptions are accepted which do 
not admit of proof, such as the indivisible atom, the 
non-decomposable element, the indestructibility of 
matter. When, therefore, as one of the first-fruits 
of his discovery that positive rays furnish the most 
delicate method of chemical analysis, Sir J. J. Thom- 
son has obtained from the most diverse solids a new 
gas, X,; and by a different procedure, Prof. Collie 
with Mr. Patterson have discovered that hydrogen, under 
the influence of electric discharges at low pressure, 
becomes replaced by neon, helium, and a third gas 
which is possibly identical with X,,? it is not surprising 
that we should hear much about it in the newspapers, 
just as was the case when the disintegration of 
radium was in process of being established. Further 
investigation may fail to substantiate some of the 
views which have been expressed about this unex- 
plained disappearance of hydrogen; the origin of the 
neon and helium which make their appearance in the 


| tube as the experiments proceed; the source of the 


gas X,. Fortunately, X,, unlike neon and helium, has 
some chemical properties—it disappears, for example, 
when violently exploded with a mixture of oxygen and 
hydrogen *—but we do not yet know whether it is a 
new element with an atomic weight of about 3, or a 
compound of hydrogen with an element yet to be 
discovered. This much at least seems certain: it is 
not the gas which, according to Mendeleef, should 
precede fluorine in the halogen series, but whether its 
discovery, like that of argon, will necessitate a revision 
of the periodic table of the elements we cannot know 
until the mystery which at present surrounds it has 
been dispelled. 

It was in 1886, at the last meeting of this associa- 
tion in Birmingham, that Sir William Crookes— 
whose continued activities are a source of pride and 
gratification to his brother chemists—gave that 
famous address in which, clothing his ideas in 
language which has something of the magic of word- 
painting, he traced the evolution of the elements, as 
we know them, from the hypothetical protyle or 
Urstoff. The common origin of all elementary sub- 
stances is now an accepted theory, although the ques- 
tion whether the idea underlying the term ‘“trans- 
mutation" is verifiable under available conditions is 
answered differently according to the view we take 
of the disintegration of radium and kindred pheno- 
mena. But no one could have imagined that before 
another Birmingham meeting, the periodic table to 
which Sir William Crooks devoted much attention 
would have been enriched not only by a series of 


2 J. N. Collie and H. S. Patterson, Trans. Chem. Soc., 1913, ciii., 419 ; 
Proc. Chem. Soc., 1913, xxix, 217. 
% Sir J. J. Thomson, Proc. Roy. Soc., 1913, Ixxxixa. 20, 


74 NATURE 


elements devoid of chemical properties, but by a 
second series, known only in minute quantities, and 
displaying those extraordinary properties of radio- 
activity which have revolutionised our ideas in more 
than one direction. 

It is not necessary for me to chronicle even the 
more striking achievements in chemistry since 1886; 
a few examples will show how great the progress 
has been. It is on record that Arrhenius was present 
at that meeting, but his advocacy of that theory of 
solutions with which his name will always be asso- 
ciated came a little later; phenylhydrazine, which was 
to play so important a part in Emil Fischer’s investi- 
gation of the sugars, had been discovered by him 
only two years previously; the Grignard reagent, 
which in other directions has played a no less impor- 
tant part in synthetical organic chemistry, did not 
become available until some fourteen years later. 
Theories then emerging, such as that of geometrical 
isomerism, have either been discarded or modified by 
the discovery of new facts, and who shall say that 
the ionic theory of dissociation stands where it did, 
now that ions in solution have incurred the suspicion 
of associating with the solvent, and to that extent 
have come into line with molecules, for the orthodox 
behaviour of which Prof. Armstrong himself would 
no doubt be prepared to vouch. 


Residual Valency. 


Among the many doctrines which have suffered 
under the stress of long-sustained investigation, that 
of valency is a prominent example. Valency is that 
property by which an atom attracts to itself other 
atoms or radicals, and its numerical value is deduced 
from the structural formule of compounds in which 
that atom occurs. Claus seems to have been the first 
to recognise that this attraction between two atoms 
is not a constant, but depends on the nature of the 
other atoms or radicals in the molecule,+ and it is 
of interest to note in connection with what follows 
that he used methane and its chloro-derivatives to 
illustrate his point of view. Valency may vary, there- 
fore, from compound to compound; it is known to 
alter under the influence of change in temperature, 
as, for example, when carbon dioxide or phosphorus 
pentachloride undergoes thermal dissociation. But 
Claus’s view did not meet with ready acceptance; 
hence at the Birmingham meeting few chemists, if 
any, would have questioned the quadrivalency of 
carbon, despite the difficulty caused by the existence 
of carbon monoxide. Now, carbon is believed to be 
bivalent in the carbamines, fulminic acid and other 
compounds, as well as in carbon monoxide, and its 
tervalency is coming to be accepted in the light of 
the latest investigations on triphenylmethyl and its 
congeners. What is true of carbon is equally true of 
all other elements, except argon and its companions. 
Hence the doctrine of constant valency for which 
Kekulé contended, or that of variable valency in 
which the uncombined units varied by even numbers 
has necessarily given place to one of less rigid type, 
although the final form has yet to be determined. 

For the purpose of this address it will be sufficient 
to refer only to one of these later theories: that in 
which Werner, as the outcome of his exhaustive study 
of inorganic molecular compounds, and especially of 
the ammines, supposes that an atom may have both 
principal and auxiliary or residual valency. There 

4 A. Claus, Ber, 1881, xiv, 435. It may be noted that Claus concludes 
his paper with the statement, “. . . die Annahme von Valenzen, als in 
den mehrwerthigen Atomen priiexistirender ihrer Wirkungsgrisse nach 
bestimmter Anzichungseinheiten eine ebenso unbegriindete, wie unnatiirliche 
Hypothese ist.” 

5 A, Werner, “‘ Neuere Anschauungen auf dem Gebiete der anorganischen 


Chemie" (Friedr. Vieweg u. Sohn, Braunschweig, 1908): English edition. 
““ New Ideas on Inorganic.Chemistry.” E. P. Hedley. (Longmans, rorr.) 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


[SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 


| are difficulties in its application to certain problems 
| of organic chemistry—for example, the structure of 
| the benzene molecule—but the conspicuous success 
which has attended Werner’s ifivestigation of the 
complicated isomerism of the cobalt and chromium 
ammines is evidence of its value as a guide in stimu- 
lating research in the most unpromising directions.® 
Werner’s view that valency is an attractive force 
acting from the centre of the atom, being of equal 
value at all points on the surface and independent of 
units of affinity, has the merit of meeting the objec- 
tion long urged to the idea that affinity has fixed 
direction in space, but otherwise leaves untouched 
Van’t Hoff’s brilliant conception of asymmetry which 
plays so great a part in the chemistry of to-day. 

What light does this conception of residual valency, 
dating back to 1885, if not earlier,? and now em- 
bodied in many theories besides Werner’s, throw on 
some of the problems with which the organic chemist 
is faced? Much every way. The question of the dis- 
tribution of valency in the molecules of carbon com- 
pounds is discussed probably more than any other; 
it arises in connection with the structure of un. 
saturated compounds, the properties of fluorescence 
or colour which many of them exhibit, and the rela- 
tion between chemical constitution and physical pro- 
perties, to the elucidation of which an increasing 
amount of research is being directed. The double 
linkings in our formule no longer represent two 
units of valency in terms of hydrogen, nor are they 
now used to indicate polarity of the central atom or 
distribution of the valency in space; Werner’s con- 
ception of valency accounts, as the phrase goes, for 
the concentration of re-activity at that part of the 
molecule where unsaturation exists, and it is of ser- 
vice when different degrees of unsaturatedness are 
displayed by compounds which, on the older view, 
would be expected to show similarity in chemical 
behaviour. With your permission I propose briefly 
to review our knowledge of that type of chemical 
change known as substitution from the point of view 
of residual valency. 


Substitution in the Paraffin Series. 


So far back as 1839 the fact was discovered that 
replacement of hydrogen by chlorine in the acetic 
acid molecule does not lead to any essential modifica- 
tion in the properties of the acid. It is not a little 
remarkable, therefore, that although much of the pro- 
gress in organic chemistry has been achieved by sub- 
stitutions of the most diverse types, we are still 
unable to say that agreement has been reached with 
regard to the nature of the processes by which this 
replacement of one radical by another in a molecule 
is brought about. Never has attention been concen- 
trated more closely than now on the study of what, 
for want of a better phrase, is termed the “mechan- 
ism of chemical reactions"—the processes which are 
covered and hidden by the sign of equality used, 
inaptly, in chemical equations—but the integratin 
mind, to the need for which Professor Franklan 
alluded on a recent occasion,® has not yet been evolved 
to reconcile the uncertain or contradictory answers 
vouchsafed to much patient experimenting. Organic 

6 A. Werner, Fer, 1011, xliv, 2445, 3231. 

7S._U. Pickering, Proc. Chem. Soc., 1885, i, 122; H. E. Armstrong, 
Proc. Roy. Soc., 1886, x], 285. 

As an example of the unsatisfactory character of the doubly-linked 
formula to which the older meaning was attached, the following may be 
quoted : unsym.-Diphenyldichloroethylene, like ethylene, combines mole- 
cularly with bromine, but tetraphenylethylene does not : 
ros {Colas C(CgH5)2 

CH2 C Cle C(CgH5)o 
yet asimilar structure has been assigned to each (Biltz, Annalen, 1897 
ccxcvi, 219). 
* P. F. Frankland, Proc. Chem. Soe., 1913, XXiX, TOL. 


SEPTEMBER 18, 1913] 


chemistry is not singular in this respect: as much 
might be said about controversies not yet settled 
which concern themselves with such every-day pheno- 
mena as the chemistry of the candle-flame or of the 
rusting of iron. 

It is a commonplace that Kekulé, to whom theo- 
retical chemistry owes so many fruitful suggestions, 
was of the opinion that substitution is not a process 
in which what may be called a direct exchange of 
radicals occurs, but is preceded by the temporary 
union of the molecules of carbon compound and 
addendum, followed by disruption into two new 
molecules, the substituted carbon compound being 
one of them. It is clear, then, from the point of view 
of Kekulé’s hypothesis, that some degree of unsatura- 
tion is to be looked for in all carbon compounds and 
in all addenda. Hence, the paraffin hydrocarbons 
which furnish derivatives only by substitution, and, 
under the older, more rigid view of valency pro- 
pounded by Kekulé himself, are typically saturated 
compounds, supply the exceptions to prove the general 
validity of the hypothesis that addition precedes sub- 
stitution. 

Before examining the case of these hydrocarbons, 
however, some advantage may be gained ii the be- 
haviour of other groups of compounds be examined in 
the light of the idea underlying Kekulé’s view. By 
reference to the literature, it is evident that since 
the beginning of this century attention has been con- 
centrated on the phenomena of substitution in the 
important group of carbonyl compounds, particularly 
the ketones and acids, which in many cases yield 
halogen substitution derivatives of one type. Thus 
methyl ethyl ketone when brominated in sunlight 
yields two bromoketobutanes of the constitution shown 
in the following formulz, and propionic acid with 
bromine and red phosphorus under Volhard’s condi- 
tions '° gives a-bromopropionic acid, 


CH,Br.CO.CH,.CH, and CH,.CO.CHBr.CH, » 
CH,.CHBr.CO.OH 


the halogen occupying what is termed the «-position 
with reference to the carbonyl radical. Why is sub- 
stitution easier in the methyl group when it is present 
in the ketone or acid than when it occurs in methane, 
is one question that may be asked. A second will 
inquire whether the carbonyl group has a directing 
influence, and, if so, by what means is it exercised. 

It has been supposed by Werner that the distribu- 
tion of valency is disturbed by the introduction of the 
oxygen atom of the carbonyl group into the molecule 
of the hydrocarbon; that this oxygen atom absorbs 
much of the valency of the carbon atom of the 
carbonyl group, leaving less to bind its neighbour or 
neighbours, which results in their having free valency, 
and thereby attaching substituents to themselves. This 
explanation, if accepted for the bromination of ketones 
and acids, also for the chlorination of ketones, does 
not account for the results recorded by Michael and 
by Montemartini in the case of carboxylic acids. 
Michael has found that the 6-chloro-, not the a-chloro- 
acid is the chief product (60-65 per cent.) when homo- 
logues of acetic acid are chlorinated?2; and Monte- 
martini states that if the radical CH occur in any 
part of the carbon chain the exchange of hydrogen 
for chlorine takes place in that position, however 
distant it may be from the carbonyl group of the 
acid.!* 

10 J. Volhard, Ay ‘ , cexlil, 4 . i 

i L. Van 7 slalantalg ‘Bull, nced. on meen aoe For the 
chloroketobutanes, cf. idem; Kling, Compt. rend. rgos, cxl, 312; Bull. Soc. 
chim., 1905 [iii], xxxiii, 322. 

12 A. Michael, Ber., 1901, xxxiv, 4035, 4045. 
fil, 260 Montemartini, Gazz. chim, ital., 1897, xxvii [ii], 368 ; 1898, xxviii 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


NATURE Tone 


CH,.CH,.CHCI.CH,.CO.OH 


(Michael) 
CHy 
PEO. CH2,CH2.CO.OH 
H; ; 
(Montemaitini) 
At present there seems to be no clue to the reason 
why chlorine and bromine in these reactions behave 
alike towards ketones and not towards acids. 

An alternative explanation of this reaction, which 
has come to be widely accepted, is based on the re- 
markable property called desmotropy or dynamic iso- 
merism, which certain of these carbonyl compounds 
exhibit. A desmotropic compound may exist in two 
or more forms, and its peculiar isomerism is known 
to depend on the mobility of a hydrogen atom in the 
complex .CH,.CO. whereby an equilibrium is set up 
of the type: 

CH, COn—, CH C(O): 

Ketonic torm Enolic form 
Of these two forms, the enolic is the more un- 
saturated, and presumably the more reactive.** Lap- 
worth, making use of this desmotropic relationship, 
supposes that when the ketone reacts with halogen 
in dilute aqueous solution three changes occur which, 
for the case of acetone, may be represented by the 
following expressions :— 

CH CO:.CH. —> CH,.C(OH):CH, 

CH;.C(OH):CH,+Br, —~- CH,.C(OH)Br.CH.Br 

CH;.C(OH)Br.CH,Br —> CH,.CO.CH,Br+ HBr 


the first being one of slow enolisation, accelerated 
catalytically by halogen acid, leading to the produc- 
tion of an unsaturated compound, which then by rapid 
addition of bromine and subsequent elimination of 
hydrogen bromide conforms with Kekulé’s hypothesis. 
The intermediate compounds, it is true, have not been 
isolated, but a study of the dynamics of the reaction 
by Lapworth, and later by Dawson with his collabora- 
tors (using iodine instead of bromine), shows that this 
explanation is in harmony with the data obtained.'* 
When the reaction is applied to carboxylic acids under 
similar conditions, the view that it takes a similar 
course finds support from an investigation of the 
dynamics of the bromination of malonic acid in 
aqueous solution.'® 

Whether evidence drawn from reactions found to 
take place in aqueous solution is relevant when 
bromination is effected by heating a carboxylic acid 
with bromine and red phosphorus may be doubted. 
Certainly it seems to afford no assistance in account- 
ing for the course of chlorination in the acids 
examined by Michael and by Montemartini. Never- 
theless, Aschan employs the keto-enolic hypothesis 17 
to elucidate the results of a recent inquiry into the 
‘““mechanism"’ of the Volhard reaction 8; and it may 
be added that racemisation has been found to occur 
when laevo-valeric acid is brominated by Volhard’s 
method !*—a result which must follow if enolisation 

14 It may be of interest to note that the long controversy respecting the 
composition of ordinary ethyl acetoacetate CHy.CO.CH».CO.OEt, the first 
of these desmotropic compounds to be discovered, has been brought to an 
end by the isolation of each desmotropic form at temperatures sufficiently 
low to inhibit the desmotropic change. From re{ractometric observations 
with mixtures of the pure isomerides, Knorr concludes that this ester at the 
ordinary temperature contains about two per cent. of the enolic form, 
whereas from bromination experiments with the ester itself, which may pos- 
sibly be accompanied by a disturbance of the equilibrium, K. H. Meyer 
infers that the amount may be as much as seven percent. (L. Knorr, O. 


Rothe, and H. Averbeck, Ber., 1911, xliv, 1138; K. H. Meyer, Annalen, 
rgtr, ceclxxx, 222; K. H. Meyer and P. Kappelmeier Ser., 1o1r, xliv, 
2718.) 

15 A, Lapworth, Trans. Chem. Soc., 1904, Ixxxv, 31; H. M. Dawson 
with May S. Leslie, z7d., 1909, xcv, 1860; with R, Wheatley, 7é7¢., 1910, 
xvii, 2048 ; with F. Powis, /ézd., 1912, ci, 1593. 

16 K, H. Meyer, Ber., 1912, xlv, 2867. 

W7 OQ. Aschan, Ber., 1912, xlv, 1913 ; 1913, xlvi, 2162; K. H. Meyer, Ber., 
1912, xlv, 2868. 

8 J. Volhard, /oc. crt. 

19 ©, Schiiiz and W. Marckwald, Bev ., 1896, xxix, 58. 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 


take place, although susceptible of another explana- | Finally, he draws the conclusion that ‘excluding 


tion, 

So far as I can form a judgment, no case has been 
made out for the view that substitution of halogen 
for hydrogen under Volhard’s conditions differs in its 
“mechanism ” from substitution in the paraffins. This 
opinion finds support in the discovery just announced 
by Leuchs*® that, while the chief product of the 
bromination of dextro-8-carboxybenzyl-a-hydrindone 


Vaal 
CoH we DCH.CH,. CoH, CO,H > 


ye Ha 
Chie >CBr.CH5.C,H,:COse 
SEO” 
is the racemic compound, no less than 10 per cent. is 
the dextro-bromo-derivative; therefore, the inference 
is clear that in the formation of the latter compound, 
if not of both, substitution was effected by a process in 
which migration of the hydrogen atom did not occur. 

Attention may now be directed to the question of 
“direct substitution,” which, in its simplest form, is 
encountered in the paraffin series. As will be gathered 
from the following selection from among the various 
theories propounded to account for the mechanism of 
substitution, alternative explanations of the inter- 
mediate reactions leading up to substitution in these 
cases involve either elimination of the hydrogen atom 
before introduction of the halogen, or addition of the 
halogen in virtue of the supposed residual valency of 
both molecules, followed by disruption of the complex 
thus formed into the known products of the change. 

Dealing with these alternatives in the order given, 
Arrhenius adopts a view.of the process of substitution 
which, including as it does his explanation of optical 
inversion and racemisation, should perhaps be given 
in his own words :— 

“Every valency linking can be broken; this is true 
in all cases, since it is a necessary condition for every 
chemical reaction. An atom or an atomic complex 
is thereby removed from the molecule, and its place 
taken by another atom or atomic complex. One must 
therefore assume, as was first pointed out by William- 
son, that the atoms or complexes separate themselves 
from the molecule from time to time, even when they 
do not react with other molecules. Consider now a 
molecule in which four different atoms, A, B, C, and 
D, are bound to one carbon atom. The atoms A and 
B, which may possess equal charges, e.g. positive, 
are therefore separated at times from the molecule, 
and it may happen that they are both separated at one 
and the same time. It is therefore possible for them 
to change places on combining with the carbon atom 
again. This is synonymous with a transformation of 
the original molecules into its optical isomer.” *! 

Nef, making use of ‘‘the conception of dissociation 
in its broadest sense,”’ is of opinion that the decom- 
position of ethane into hydrogen and ethylene at 800° 
“proves that an extremely small per cent. of [its] 
molecules must exist at ordinary temperature in an 
active or dissociated condition, 

CH,CH; — CH;.CH,+H-” 
consequently, when “chlorine reacts with ethane to 
give the monochloro-substitution product, we have this 
reagent in the active molecular condition simply unit- 
ing by addition with the dissociated ethane particles, 

Cl=C€l 
Oe -GH, 1 


20 H. Leuchs, Ber., 1913, xlvi, 2435. 

*1 S, Arrhenius, ‘‘ Theories of Chemistry,” 
(Longmans, 1907), p. 76. 

22 J. U. Nef, “The Fundamental Conceptions underlying the Chemistry 
of the Carbon Atom,” J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 1904, xxvi, 1566. 


NO. 2290; VOL. 92] 


[> HCI+C,H,Cl.]” 


oll, 


edited by T. Slater Price 


reactions called ionic, a chemical reaction between 
two substances always first takes place by their union 
to form an additive compound.» 

Michael,?* in many published papers, has emphasised 
the view that in the substitution. of halogen for 
hydrogen in a saturated hydrocarbon or saturated acid 
the principal factors to be taken into account are the 
mutual chemical attraction of the two elements, on 
one hand, and that of the halogen and carbon, on 
the other. By applying his ‘ positive-negative "’ hypo- 
thesis to the directing influence of ‘‘relatively- 
positive’ methyl, and ‘relatively-negative ’’ carboxyl, 
he draws conclusions about the degree of firmness or 
looseness with which particular hydrogen atoms are 
bound to carbon in the molecule, and is thereby able 
to forecast with some success the position or positions 
in which replacement of hydrogen by halogen will 
occur. Fliirscheim, in the discussion of the relation 
between the strength of acids and bases, and the 
quantitative distribution of affinity in the molecule, 
also makes use of the idea that the relative degree 
of firmness or looseness with which a hydrogen atom 
is held depends on the nature of the other atoms or 
radicals associated with the same carbon atom.** The 
hydrogen atoms therefore are not to be regarded as 
retained in the molecule with the same degree of 
firmness; in other words, valency is not a constant 
to be measured in units. 

It will be gathered therefore that Arrhenius and 
Nef, from different points of view, support the idea 
that separation of hydrogen from the hydrocarbon 
precedes entry of the substituent into the molecule; 
Michael and Fliirscheim are concerned chiefly with 
the distribution of valency in the molecule, which 
determines whether a particular hydrogen atom shall 
be displaced by hydrogen or not; Kekulé’s hypothesis 
requires addition to precede substitution. Is there 
any experimental evidence to indicate where the 
balance of probability lies? I think it can be argued 
that the phenomena of substitution observed with 
optically active substances do: not lend support to the 
views of Arrhenius or of Nef, which imply actual or 
virtual dissociation, but that they point to the inter- 
mediate formation of an additive product, which 
undergoes scission as Kekulé supposed. 
additive product can be formed only if residual valen- 
cies be present in both carbon compound and adden- 
dum. 

The argument runs thus: Unless valency has fixed 
direction in space, a conception now abandoned if 
modern theories of valency be accepted, the conclu- 
sion seems to be inevitable that dissociation of the 
optically active compound :— 


CWXYZ into CWXY+Z, 


must lead to racemisation, the radicals W, X, Y, dis- 
tributing themselves in two-dimensional space, thus 
destroying the asymmetry; whence it follows that 
introduction of the substituent, V, into the molecule 
in place of Z can give rise only to an optically inactive 
product. Now, it is a well-established fact that a 
radical attached directly to the asymmetric carbon 
atom may be replaced by another without racemisa- 
tion following.?® Therefore, preliminary dissociation 
being excluded, Kekulé’s additive hypothesis remains. 
But the prolonged study of that remarkable reaction 
known as the ‘‘ Walden inversion”? by Emil Fischer, 


McKenzie, and other investigators, has led to results” 


23 A. Michael, Ber., 1901, xxxiv, 4028, covering reference to earlier 
papers. 

24 B. Fliirscheim, Trans. Chem. Scc., 1909, xcv, 721. 

=5 P. Walden, Fer., 1895, xxviii, 1297; W. Tilden and B. M. C. 
Marshall, Trans. Chem. Soc., 1895, Ixvii, 494. 


Such an- 


SEPTEMBER 18, 1913]| 


NATURE Th 


which, if the views formed independently by Fischer,*° 
Werner,”’ and Pfeiffer?® may be accepted, are in- 


_ explicable unless a preliminary addition, effected as 


it is supposed by means of residual valencies, precedes 
this replacement of the eliminated radical by the sub- 
stituent. 

The Walden inversion may be illustrated by a brief 
statement of some of the facts discovered in connec- 
tion with the conversion of optically active chloro- 
succinic acid into malic acid 


R.CH(OH).CO,H—>R.CHCI.CO,H—> 
R.CH(OH).CO.H. 


Walden found that laevo-chlorosuccinic acid, obtained 
from dextro-malic acid, furnished either dextro- or 
laevo-malic acid, according to the reagent used to 
effect of the replacement of the Cl by the OH radical. 


Le ., ¢(+ Ag,O)—>/-malic acid 
Lchlorosuccinic acid t (4 KOH) malic acteh 


And as the corresponding inversion was found to 
occur with dextro-chlorosuccinic acid under similar 
conditions, a complete cycle of changes can be brought 
about.” That preservation of optical activity, and 
not racemisation, should accompany the replacement 
of a radical, attached to the asymmetric carbon atom, 
by another is a fact of much theoretical interest, as 
has already been indicated; that a change in the 
sign of rotation should occur when an exchange of 
the same radicals is achieved by one reagent and not 
by another is a mystery, that deepens rather than 
diminishes with each addition to the list of inversions, 
already long, in which it has been observed.*’ In all 
probability the discovery of the Walden inversion, as 
Prof. Frankland has said, ** may mark an epoch in our 
views with regard to the mechanism of the process 
of substitution in general.’’*? 


The Structure of the Benzene Molecule. 


The abandonment of the theory of the fixed valency 
unit in favour of the view that the carbon atom has 
both principal and residual valencies has raised afresh 
that perennial topic of controversy—the structure of 
the benezene molecule. Probably few will contest the 
statement that for practical purposes only three 
formule have emerged from the long discussion of 
the problem, viz. Kekulé’s oscillation formula with 
fixed valency units, for which much physical evidence 
has been pleaded: Thiele’s formula, in which his 
theory of “conjugated double linkings” is applied to 
the Kekulé formula, with the consequence that the 
three double linkings disappear owing to self- neutral- 
isation of the partial valencies, the benzene molecule 
thus containing six inactive double linkings;*? and 
Armstrong’s “centric ’’ formula, in which by its resi- 
dual valency ‘‘each individual carbon atom exercises 
an influence upon each and every other carbon 
atom.’"’** The dotted lines indicate the residual 
valencies. 


°6 E. Fischer, Annalen, ror1, ccclxxxi, 123. 

27 A. Werner, Ber., 1911, xliv, 873. 

28 P. Pfeiffer, Annalen, 1911, ccclxxxiii, 123. 

29 P. Walden, Ber., 1896, xxix, 133; 1897, xxx, 3145; 1899, xxxii, 1833, 


1855- 

80 Without the aid of a model it is not possible to show that the pro- 
duction of the dextyo- or devo acid may he accounted for by the hypothesis 
that an intermediate additive compound is formed, which undergoes scission 
in one or other of two ways. Diagrams of models will be found in Fischer's 
paper (doc. cit. cf. “‘ Annual Reports on the Progress of Chemistry” (Gurney 
and Jackson, 1911, viii, 67), and to illustrate Werner's hypothesis, which is 
more explicit than Fischer's, ina paper by W. F. Garner (Proc. Chem. Soc., 
1913, XXIx, 200) 

3t Pp. F. Frankland, ‘‘ The Walden Inversion,” Presidential Address to 
the Chemical Society (Trans. Chem. Soc., 1913, ciii, 713). 

#2 J. Theile, Annalen, 1899. cccvi, 126. 

43H. E. Armstrong, ‘I'rans. Chem, Soc., 1897, li, 264 (footnote), 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


Kekule. Thiele. Armstrong, 


The discovery of cyclooctatetraene has brought a 
new interest into the discussion,** for the structural 
formula assigned to this hydrocarbon shows alternate 
single and double linkings as in Kekulé’s symbol, 
and the optical behaviour (refractivity) corresponds 
with that of benzene. 


cH—cH 
a \ 
CH CH 
I I 
CH CH 
CH=CH 


But its chemical properties are entirely different from 
those of benzene; it forms compounds not by substi- 
tution but by addition, and it has the reactivities of a 
highly unsaturated compound. If these experimental 
results be accepted, then—as Willstatter shows—the 
peculiar properties of benzene are not to be explained 
by Kekulé’s or Thiele’s formula, and the verdict is 
given in favour of the ‘‘centric’”” symbol—that earliest 
embodiment of the conception of residual valency, 
which Armstrong later turned to such good account 
in the quinonoid theory of colour identified with his 
name. 

The reference to the optical behaviour of cyclo- 
octatetraene may perhaps suggest the inquiry: Do not 
the physical properties of the carbon compounds throw 
light on the questions that have been raised? AA little 
consideration will show that, on the contrary, the 
answer must be: It is only by chemical evidence that 
physical data can be interpreted or corroborated, and 
in the absence of such evidence the “ additive”’ results 
which accrue from physical observations have no 
bearing on questions involving the determination of 


structure or the structural transformations which 
accompany a chemical change. For example, the 
anomalous results obtained by Briihl and by Sir 


William Perkin** in the investigation of the refrac- 
tivity and the magnetic rotation of certain unsaturated 
compounds, remained without explanation until Thiele 
in 1899, by his hypothesis of partial valency, accounted 
for the comparative inactivity of the central pair of 
carbon atoms in compounds of this type—compounds 
which are characterised by containing alternate single 
and double linkings in their formulz :— 


{GM CH.CH<CH. +. CHBr. CH: CH CHEE: 


This conception of Thiele’s has both focussed atten- 
tion on the distribution of valency within the mole- 
cule, contributing largely to the wide acceptance of 
theories of valency such as Werner’s, and given to 
the study of physical properties—especially those ‘* con- 
stitutive’’ properties of refraction, dispersion, and 
magentic rotation—an impetus which has by no 
means spent its force. Further, the occurrence of this 
anomaly, ‘‘exaltation’’ as it is called, is now relied 
on as evidence of the presence of this particular dis- 
tribution of valency, with results which in Auwers’s 

34 R. Willstatter and E. Waser, Ser., rorr, xliv, 3423. 


35 Cf J. W. Briibl, Ber., 1907, xl, 878; Sir W. H. Perkin, Trans. Chem. 
Soc., 1907, xci, 806, for references to earlier papers. 


78 


hands have turnished important clues to the structural 
formule of terpenes and other compounds. 

As additive properties become constitutive, so the 
value of a knowledge of the physical properties of a 
substance will tend to increase, but there is little 
ground for hope that the problem of the constitution 
of benzene will be solved from the physical side. The 
controversy which has arisen between Hantzsch and 
Auwers regarding the physical properties of cyclo- 
tatetraene in relation to its chemical structure is a 
case in point;*® the absence of optical exaltation in 
this hydrocarbon is wholly unexpected, but, on the 
other hand, the type of compound is entirely new. 
With benzene also the distribution of valency within 
the molecule differs from that in any known com- 
pound; our knowledge of it, admittedly far from 
complete, has been gained from the chemical side, and 
is summarised in the various structural formule; but 
the limitations of the physical method of attack can 
be traced from Thomsen’s endeavour to determine its 
structure from thermochemical data** to the more 
recent invention of isorropesis. And, despite the 
evidence obtained from refractivities, we may not un- 
reasonably demur to the suggestion that derivatives 
of benzene, which by their behaviour towards sub- 
stituting agents show themselves to be wide apart in 
chemical properties, such as nitrobenzene and aniline 
on one hand or chlorobenzene and phenol on the other, 
should respectively be classified together.**. Un- 
doubtedly, most useful information is obtained from 
a comparison of the physical properties of two related 
substances, the exact constitution of one of which is 
uncertain, but that of the other known. Therefore, 
bearing in mind the great development that has taken 
place recently in the correlation of physical properties 
with chemical constitution by methods based on re- 
fraction and absorption, every chemist will welcome 
the entry of Dr. Lowry into that field of research on 
the relation between magnetic rotation and structure, 
which for all time will be associated with Sir William 
Perkin’s name. 


Substitution in the Benzene Series. 


Turning now to a discussion of the problem of 
substitution in cyclic compounds, one important factor 
must not be overlooked; the even distribution of the 
residual affinity of the benzene molecule is disturbed 
by the introduction of a substituent. The study of 
substitution in benzene derivatives indicates that, as 
a consequence of this disturbance, a directing influ- 
ence comes into play which, when the substituent is 
changed, may vary in the effect it exercises on the 
course of substitution. 

Arising probably from this even distribution of 
valency, it is characteristic of benzene to furnish addi- 
tive compounds in which six atoms of hydrogen or a 
halogen, but not two or four, become attached sym- 
metrically to the molecule; substitution, however, 
occurs when a catalyser is present, such as the 
aluminium-mercury couple for halogenation, or sul- 
phuric acid for nitration or sulphonation, leading 
initially to the production of mono-substituted deriva- 
tives. Whether the catalyser by association with the 
benzene molecule*® limits this additive capacity, or 
whether its function is to promote the elimination of 
the halogen acid or water respectively,*® is still a 
subject of discussion, but in the absence of a reaction 


36 A. Hantzsch, Ber., 19:2, xlv, 563; K. Auwers, zd/d., 971. 

37 Cf H. E. Armstrong, Phil. Mag., 1887 [v.] xxiii, 73; J. W. Brithl, 
J. pract. Chem., 1887 [ii], xxxv, 181, 209. 

38 Cf J. W. Rriihl, Zeit. Physikal. Chem., 1804, xvi, 220; Smiles, ‘‘ Re- 
lations between Chemical Constitution and Physical Properties” (Longmans, 
1910), p. 299. . te 

39°B, N. Menschutkin, Abstr. Chem. Soe , 1912, cil, i, 98-100. 

40 Cf H. E. Armstrong, Trans. Chem. Soc., 1887, li, 263. 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


NATURE . 


[SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 


of additive type it is not easy to account for facts 
such as the production of a certain amount of tri- 
nitrophenol when benzene is nitrated in the absence | 
of sulphuric acid. 


wa 


Ne 


—H,O 


H.OH —HNO, 
= 28 28 


a é OH# 


| | NO H.NO Ap f 
ace NU \Z 
(in presence of 
sulphuric acid) 


(in absence of 


sulphuric acid) . 


The much-debated questions still remain: Why and 
by what mechanism, when a second or third substi- 
tuent is introduced into the molecule, is the orientation 
of the isomeric products determined by the radical or 
radicals already present? For disubstitution, the 
ortho-para- and the meta-laws have been deduced, and 
the radicals which respectively promote mainly ortho- 
para-substitution on one hand, and meta-substitution 
on the other, have been catalogued.*! But these laws 
take account only of the orientation of the chief pro- 
duct or products, whereas all three derivatives, ortho, 
meta, and para, have been detected in most of the 
reactions studied, and their relative proportion in 
many cases is known to depend on the conditions, 
being affected by such influences as variation in tem- 
perature or in the medium employed.*? Nitration of 
acetanilide, for example, furnishes a mixture of ortho- 
and para-nitracetanilide, but of aniline in the presence 
of much sulphuric acid yields chiefly meta- 
nitraniline.*® And, to illustrate the inadequacy of the 
meta-law, the fact that sulphonation of benzene- 
sulphonic acid with concentrated sulphuric acid at 
230°-240° furnishes an equilibrium mixture of the 
meta~ and para-disulphonic acids in the proportion of 
2:1 may be quoted.** 3 

In the exploration of this field many workers have 
participated, but the results, recorded almost as often 
in patent specifications as in journals, are seldom 
quantitative, so great is the difficulty at times in 
isolating the minor product or products of the change. 
Recently, however, by a most ingenious use of melt- 
ing-point curves and density determinations, Holleman 
and his collaborators have carried out an exhaustive 
series of substitutions with small quantities of mate- 
rial and under known conditions;*® yet after a 
survey of the whole field the conclusions reached 
are :— 


(1) That uncertainty cannot be removed until some 
basis exists for different reactions to be carried out 
under comparable conditions.*® 

(2) That even if the relative amounts of the iso- 
merides formed when a radical C is introduced into 
each of the mono-substitution derivatives C,H,;.A and 
C.H;.B be known, it is not possible to calculate the 
proportion in which the isomerides C,H,.ABC will be 
produced when the radical C is substituted in the 
compound C,H,.AB. 

Although the validity of the ortho-para and of the 
meta-laws may be impeached, they serve as a first 
approximation, and many theories have been pro- 
pounded to account for them. Armstrong has sug- 
gested that in ortho-para-substitution the additive com- 
pound is formed by association of the addendum with 
the carbon atom carrying the radical already substi- 

4. The phenol by nitration forming the trinitro- derivative (picric acid), 
Armstrong and Rossiter, also Groves. Proc. Chem. Soc., 1891, vii, 89. 

42 Cf. Noelting, Ber., 1876, ix, 1797: Armstrong, Trans. Chem. Soc., 
1887, li, 258 ; Crum Brown and Gibson, 7éd., 1892, Ixi, 367. 

43 Hiibner, Anmaden, 1881, ccviii, 2¢9. 

4 J. J. Polak, Rec. trav. chim, 1910, [ii.] xiv, 416; R. Behrend and M. 
Mertelsmann, Amalen, 1911, ccclxxviii, 352. 

4 A. F. Holleman, ‘‘ Die direkte Einfithrung von Substituenten in den 
Benzolkern” (Leipzig, Viet and Co., I9I0), P- 215- 

46 For example, nitration is effected chiefly at low temperatures, but sul- 


phonation of mono- substituted benzenes at temperatures higher than the 
ordinary, which if employed in nitration would lead to mixed products. 


SEPTEMBER 18, 1913] 


NA1 URE 


79 


tuted in the molecule,*? whereas in meta-substitution 
it arises by union of the addendum with this radical,** 
transformation to the respective disubstitution deriva- 
tives being effected possibly in step-by-step progres- 
sion, as conjectured by Lapworth.*® Holleman, who 
also adopts the additive hypothesis, is of the opinion 
that the radical already present in the molecule may 
promote or retard the association of the addendum 
with the pair of carbon atoms, to one of which it is 
itself attached. By the operation of the first of the 
alternatives an ortho- and by conjugation a para- 
derivative will arise; from the second a meta-deriva- 
tive will result, when scission of the additive com- 
pound ensues. Holleman’s is the only hypothesis 
which has been submitted to the test of quantitative 
investigation, and although, as already mentioned, the 
results do not suggest that finality has been reached, 
it marks an advance in the study of this obscure 
problem.*° 

No discussion of substitution in the benzene series 
would be adequate without reference te the remark- 
able behaviour of amines and phenols. Unlike other 
mono-substitution derivatives, which do not differ 
markedly from benzene in reactivity, these furnish 
mono-, di-, and tri-derivatives very readily. With 
aniline or acetanilide, substitution occurs first of all 
in the side chain, being followed under appropriate 
conditions by removal of the substituent from the 
amino-group and entry into positions relatively ortho-, 
para-, or both ortho- and para- to it. The earliest of 
these changes to be studied was the transformation 
of methylaniline into para-toluidine; many of them 
have been discovered by Chattaway and his collabora- 
tors, and until a critical study of the chlorination of 
acetanilide was undertaken by Orton and Jones,*? it 
was held that the changes, which occur only in the 
presence of hydrochloric acid, were of the type :— 


NHAc CINHAc NClAc NHAc 
\ 
ace | | 


AX Hae 
ee | | 
ny wes tes 
From the dynamics of the reaction, it is now known 
that intra-molecular transformation from the side 
chain to the ring does not occur, the agent promoting 
the substitution being chlorine arising from the fol- 
lowing series of reactions :— 


—HCl 
-> 


NClAc NHAc NHAc 
ee Are oN 
| ) +HCl = | | + Cl,——> | | + HCl 
ara eA Se 
Cl 


As bromination has been shown to follow the same 
course, it is evident that no secure foundation now 
exists for the view, formerly widely held, that the 
reactivity of amines is intimately connected with the 
variable valency of nitrogen leading to initial sub- 
stitution in the side chain. 


47 Kinetic studies of the chlorination and bromination of toluene, 
CgH5'CHs, however, gave no indication of the production of an intermediate 
additive compound of ihe hydrocarbon and addendum (cf Holleman, Polak, 
van der Laan, and Euwes, Rec, trav. chim., 1908, xxvii, 435; Bruner and 
Dluska,_ Bull. Acad. Sci., Cracow, 1907, 693; Bancroft, J. Physical Chem., 
1908, xii, 417 3 Cohen, Dawson, Blockey, and Woodmansey, Trans. Chem. 
Soc., 1910, xcvii, 1623. 

H. E. Armstrong, Trans. Chem. Soc., 1887, li, 258. 

4 A. Lapworth, Trans. Chem. Soc., 1898, Ixxiii, 454 } 1901. Ixxix, 1265. 

50 It should be mentioned that other views, based on the loosening or 
strengthening of the affinity of the hydrogen atoms situated in ortho- para- 
or in mefa- positions, brought about by the disturbing influence of the 
radical already present in the molecule on the valency of the carbon atom to 
skates is srmched, ae neaetne al that of the other five carbon atoms. 

ave been advanced by Fliirscheim (J. prakt. Chem., 1902 [ii]. Ixvi, 321), 
‘Tschitschibabin (ibid., 1912 [ii], lxxxvi, be and others. oe a 

fl K. J. P. Orton and W. J. Jones, British Association Report, ‘1910, p. 

96; Trans. Chem. Soc., 1g09, Xcv, 1456. 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


Even were this view, now discredited, still applic- 
able to the amines, it could not be extended with the 
same certainty to the phenols. Hence, in explanation 
of the rigid adherence to the ortho-para-law observed 
among the mono-substitution derivatives of these two 
groups of compounds, it is noteworthy that Thiele,® 
for the phenols, suggests that the reactivity may be 
due to these substances being stable enolic forms of 
ketodihydrobenzenes, and that Orton,** for the 
amines, conjectures that it may arise from the forma- 
tion of dynamic isomerides of quinonoid structure :— 


O NAc 
OH “s NHAc . 
(ee a (\:3 
P= = = ig oe 
\F \4 Vi 


How far these suggestions may open up a new 
field of inquiry into the “mechanism” of substitution 
remains to be seen; it is at least interesting that their 
extension to the naphthalene series shows that not 
only does the reactivity of the naphthols and of 
a-naphthylamine recall that of pheno! and aniline, but 
the orientation of their mono-substitution derivatives ** 
in almost every case is the same as that of one or 
other of the six naphthaquinones, the existence of 
which has been predicted by Willstatter.°° 


Symmetric and Asymmetric Syntheses. 


It must not be supposed that the ‘‘mechanism”’ of 
substitution can be explained by reference only to the 
examples of this type of reaction which have been 
mentioned, or that the summary attempted in the 
restricted field of the replacement of hydrogen by 
halogen is a complete picture of all the different views 
advanced to account for this chemical change. Rather, 
the effort has been made to indicate in broad outline 
the difficulties that beset any exploration of that debat- 
able region which lies between the two sides of a 
chemical equation. But, as the wonderful story of 
carbon chemistry shows, the failure to comprehend 
the processes operative in substitution does not impede 
rapid progress in other directions. The study of the 
mobility of radicals, desmotropy being only one of 
many examples of this phenomenon, continues to 
present fresh problems, of which that raised by 
Thorpe*® in connection with the mobile hydrogen 
atom of glutaconic and aconitic acids may be men- 
tioned, as it revives a question of old standing: Do 
free units of valency exist in carbon compounds? 
The syntheses of caffeine and certain alkaloids, of 
sugars and peptone-like polypeptides, of natural ter- 
penes and camphor, of indigo and rubber, are well- 
known achievements, while natural processes, in 
which enzyme action plays a part, are yielding their 
closely guarded secrets to the persistent inquiry of 
Armstrong and his collaborators, who are probing the 
relationship between enzyme and substrate which Emil 
Fischer pictured as that of lock and key. Further, 
there is that large field of work which includes not 
only the Walden inversion but new problems of asym- 
metry, with which the names of Frankland, Pope, 
Werner, and others are associated; while Barlow and 
Pope’s conception of the relation of valency to atomic 
volume, by correlating crystalline structure with the 
composition, constitution, and configuration of carbon 
compounds, has given a new interest to the study of 
crystallography. 

Nor is progress less rapid in that other important 
branch of chemistry—the unravelling of the structure 


52 J. Thiele, Ansalen, 1890, cccvi, 129. 

58 British Association Report, 1910, p. 96. 

54 Cf W.P. Wynne, art. ‘' Naphthalene,” Thorpe’s “ Dictionary of 
Applied Chemistry,” second edition, vol. 3 (Longmans, 1912). 

© R, Willstatter and J. Parnas, Se7., 1907, xl, 1406. ' 

56 N. Bland and J. F. Thorpe, Trans. Chem. Soc., ror2, ci, 871, 1490. 


80 NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 


— SSS a ee 


of natural products. The constitution of rubber is 
approximately known; most of the alkaloids have 
been explored with a greater or less degree of com- 
pleteness; and now the study of starch,*? chlorophyll, 
and hematin (the non-proteid constituent of haemo- 
globin) °* has been taken up afresh during the last 
three years, with results which, in the case of the two 
latter, eclipse in importance and interest all that was 
previously known. In whatever direction we may 
look, there is the same evidence that we can take 
to pieces the most complicated structure which nature 
has devised, and by the aid of valency conceptions can 
fit the pieces into a formula which is an epitome of 
the chemical activities of the molecule. Again, in 
many cases the resources of our laboratories enable 
us to build up the structure thus displayed, and to 
establish the identity of nature’s product and our own, 
Nevertheless, the fact remains that all these syntheses 
leave untouched and unexplained the profound differ- 
ence between the conditions we find necessary to 
achieve our purpose and those by which the plant or 
animal carries on its work in presence of water and 
at a temperature differing only slightly from the 
normal. It is, of course, a well-known fact that an 
enzyme under the appropriate conditions can bring 
about the same chemical transformation of a substrate 
as is effected by the living cell from which it can be 
Separated; but our knowledge of these complex, ill- 
defined, nitrogenous organic compounds is relatively 
very meagre; they are difficult to purify, and their 
composition—apart from any question of structure— 
is largely unknown. Yet because Wahler chanced to 
discover that urea can be produced synthetically from 
an inorganic source the conclusion is not infrequently 
drawn that all chemical changes in living substance 
are brought about by ordinary chemical forces.*? 
Probably everyone present will concur in that view, 
but the assent, if given, can scarcely arise from a 
consideration of the facts, of which there is no great 
store. Where so little is known accurately, chemistry 
1s not on very safe ground if she infer the rest. 
What common basis of comparison exists between 
Wohler’s process and the metabolic changes by which 
urea is produced in the living body? What evidence 
have we that because an enzyme and an inorganic 
agent under different conditions give rise to the same 
end product, the driving force is the same, although 
the lines along which it is exercised are very different ? 
I think it is not the least of the many services which 
Prof. Meldola has rendered to chemistry, that he has 
given us this warning: “If we have gone so far 
beyond nature as to make it appear unimportant 
whether an organic compound is producible by vital 
chemistry or not, we are running the risk of blockad- 
ing whole regions of undiscovered modes of chemical 
action by falling into the belief that known laboratory 
methods are the equivalents of unknown vital 
methods.”’ °° 

I turn now to a no less interesting question than 
that involved in enzyme reactions, namely the wide 
distribution in plants and animals of single asymmetric 


°7 H. Pringsheim and H. Langshans, Ber. 1912, xlv, 2533, 

58 For summaries of Willstitter's and Marchlewski’s researches on chloro- 
phyll. and of Piloty's on hematin, of “Annual Reports on the Progress of 
Chemistry (Gurney and Jackson) rgrr, vili, 144-152; tora, ix, 165-172. 

59 “* Quite similar changes can be produced outside the body (#2 zx) by 
the emp!oyment of methods of a purely physical and chemical nature. It 
is true that we are not yet familiar with all the intermediate stages of trans- 
formation of the materials which are taken in by the living body into the 
Materials which are given out from it. But since the initial processes and 
the final results are the same as they would be on the assumption that the 
changes are brought about in conformity with the known laws of chemistry 
and physics, we may fairly conclude that all changes in living substance are 
brought about by ordinary chemical and physical forces."—Sir Edward 
Schafer, President's Address at the Dundee Meeting, British Association 
Keport, 1912. p. 9. 

60 R. Meldola, ‘The Chemical Synthesis of Vital Products ” (Arnold, 
1904), Pp. 7. 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


substances which if synthesised in the laboratory 
would be produced as inactive mixtures of both asym- 
metric forms. It has been argued that the occurrence 
of racemic compounds in nature, although infrequent, 
is a proof that in the organism, as in vitro, they are in 
all cases the initial products from which, when 
separated into antipodes, one of the asymmetric com- 
pounds is utilised in the life processes and the other 
left. But whether this be the case, or whether only 
the one asymmetric form result from the synthesis, 
Pasteur firmly held the view that the production of 
single asymmetric compounds or their isolation from 
the inactive mixture of the two forms is the preroga- 
tive of life. Three methods were devised by Pasteur 
to effect this isolation, and in only one of them are 
living organisms—yeasts or moulds—employed; but 
Prof. Japp, in his address to this Section at Bristol 
in 1898, emphasised the fact, hitherto overlooked, that 
in the two others, nevertheless, ‘‘a guiding power [is 
exercised by the operator] which is akin in its results 
to that of the living organism, and is entirely beyond 
the reach of the symmetric forces of inorganic 
nature.’’ Hence, to quote again from his address, 
“Only the living organism with its asymmetric 
tissues, or the asymmetric products of the living 
organism, or the living  intelligence—with its 
conception of asymmetry, can [bring about the 
isolation of the single asymmetric compound.] 
Only asymmetry can beget asymmetry.” After 
an exhaustive review of the subject, Japp came 
to the conclusion that the failure to synthesise single 
asymmetric compounds without the intervention, either 
direct or indirect, of life is due to a permanent dis- 
ability, and although—as was to be expected—this 
conclusion was challenged,®’ the only ‘‘asymmetric 


| syntheses”’ effected since that time have been opera- 


tions controlled by the chemical association of an 
optically active substance with the compound under- 
going the synthetical change.** 

Recently the problem has assumed a more hopetul 
character. Ostromisslensky ** in 1908 made the re- 
markable discovery that inactive asparagine, which is 
not racemic but a mixture of the dextro- and laevo- 
forms in molecular proportion, gave a separation of 
one or other isomeride when its saturated solution was 
inoculated by a crystal of glycine—a substance devoid 
of asymmetry. Now Erlenmeyer claims to have 
achieved a true asymmetric synthesis by boiling an 
aqueous solution of inactive asparagine for sixteen 
hours, when by crystallisation part of the dextro-form 
separated in an almost pure state.° The theoretical 
conclusions which led to this investigation are of 
much interest because they raise afresh the question 
whether without displacement of the individual 
radicals, and apart from antipodes, more than one 
compound can exist, in the molecule of which two 
carbon atoms are united by a single linking.®° As an 
illustration, reference may be made to the malic-acid 
series, in which three optically active compounds are 
known, the dextro-acid, the laevo-acid, and Aberson’s 
acid.** In the laevo-series the three isomerides ob- 
tainable by rotation of one of the carbon atoms with 
its attached radicals relatively to the other would be 


61 F.R. Japp, ‘‘ Sterenche nistry and Vitalism. Presidental Address to 
Section B (Bristol), British Association Report, 189°, p. 826; cf. K. Pearson, 
Nature, 1808, lviii, 495; G. Errara; F. R. Japp. #rd., 616 ; Ulpiani and 
Condelli, Gasz. chim. ital. 1900, xxx [i], 344; Byk, Ber., 1904. XXXVil, 
4696 ; Heule and Haakh. Ber., 1908, xli. 4261 ; Byk, Ber., 1909, xlii, 141. 

® Cf inter alia, McKenzie, Trans. Chem. Soc., 1905, Ixxxvii, 1373. 

83 1. von Ostromisslensky, Ber., 1908, xli, 3035. 

64 E. Erlenmeyer, Biochem Zeitsch , 1913, lil, 439. 

8 Cf J. Wislicenus, ‘*Ueber die riumliche Anordnung der Atome 
in organischen Molekulen” (Leipzig bei S. Hirkel, 1889), 28; K. Auwers 
and V. Meyer, Ber., 1888, xxi, 791. 

66 J. H. Aberson, Ber., 1898, xxxi, 1432; P. Walden, Ber, r£99, 32, 
2720. 


a 


dine 


a 


j 
: 


SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 | 


H H H 
OH. ClGO.H OH.C. Gogt) OH.C.CO,H 
| 
CO. Con H. 


| 
Clic  H.c. a 
H H CO,H 
laevo-acid, (not (Aberson’s acid, 
[a]o — 5-8° isolated) [a]p>+9.8° 


With the inactive asparagine it is supposed by Erlen- 
meyer that prolonged heating in aqueous solution 
produces a rotation of this type, possibly to an un- 
equal extent or in opposite directions in the dextro- 
and laevo-forms, whereby the products being no longer 
antipodes become separable by ordinary laboratory 
methods. It is too early yet to say whether, by ex- 
clusion of all asymmetric influences, the riddle has 
been solved, but it is easy to understand with what 
interest confirmation of Erlenmeyer’s results is 
awaited. 


Honours Students and Post-Graduate Scholarships. 


In bringing this address to a conclusion, it will not 
be an innovation if I refer—it shall be only briefly— 
to the training of those who will carry on and amplify 
the work which we in this generation have attempted 
to do. This section stands for the advancement of 
chemistry which includes, so closely are pure and 
applied chemistry intertwined, the advancement of 
chemistry as applied to industry. Once again the cry 
has been raised in the Press*’ that chemists trained 
in our universities are of little value in industrial 
pursuits; they are too academic; they are not worth 
their wage—little as that often is, whether judged by 
a labourer’s hire or the cost of a university training. 
It may be so. On the other hand, it is possible the 
employer obtains all that he pays for, and by paying 
more would receive in return much more by the 
inducement offered to more highly trained men to 
enter the field. Three years’ training for the ordinary 
degree cannot carry a student very far in chemistry, 
and this preliminary training—for it is little more— 
is insufficient to equip the young graduate for more 
than routine work. With the honours student it is 
otherwise. He must either enter on his three years’ 
residence at a university with a knowledge which does 
not fall below the requirements of the intermediate 
examination, and devote the greater part of his time 
to his honours subject, or he must be pre- 
pared to spend a fourth year to reach the 
necessary standard. More highly equipped in the 
academic sense than a man who has worked only for 
the ordinary degree, he undoubtedly is, yet there is 
seldom time to begin his training in research methods 
or in methods of commercial analysis where rapidity 
rather than extreme accuracy is the object in view. 

Two reforms, I venture to think, are needed: the 
first would avoid early specialisation, which is apt to 
be disastrous, the second would encourage post- 
graduate training in directions where the student’s 
inclinations or aptitude may be stimulated and de- 
veloped. If the civic universities, established in virtue 
of charters drafted mainly on similar lines and inspired 
by similar aims, could come to some agreement re- 
quiring three years’ residence, subsequent to the 
intermediate, for an honours degree in chemistry, the 
first reform would be effected—it is a measure for 
which a strong case can be made out. If, further, 
they could see their way to standardise their ordinances 
and regulations for the M.Sc. degree, cease to confer 
it on honours graduates of one or more years’ 
seniority in return for payment of a fee, and confine 
4 Cf. The Times, Engineering Suppl., 1913, May 7, 21, 28, June 4, tr, 
16. 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


NATURE SL. 


it to graduates—not necessarily honours graduates— 


| who have carried out an approved piece of research 


during not less than one academic year, selection 
committees, boards of directors, or individual em- 


| ployers would have some clue to the type of man 


before them. I would go further and suggest that the 


| interchange of honours graduates between the civic 
' universities, or between them and other universities 


or colleges, if it could be arranged, would be of much 
benefit to the student himself. No university in this 
country is wealthy enough to attract to its service 
teachers who are pre-eminent in each branch of chem- 
istry. How great, then, would be the gain to an 
honours graduate working for the M.Sc. degree, if, 
instead of being associated with the same _ teacher 
during the whole of his academic career, he could 
migrate from the place which had trained him to 
spend part, or the whole, of his time in the laboratory 
of an Armstrong, a Donnan, a Perkin, or a Ramsay, 
during that most critical period when he is sorting out 
his own ideas and learning how to use his fingers and 
his wits. But whether enforcement of the longer 
training for the honours degree be possible; whether 
a research degree as a step to the doctorate be desir- 
able or practicable, there can be no doubt that the 
urgent need of the present time is the provision of 
scholarships and exhibitions, sufficient in value to 
secure at least a bare livelihood, for post-graduate 
work. He who is able to convert education com- 
mittees and private donors to the view that a far 
better return for the money could be assured if part 
of the large expenditure on scholarships for matricu- 
lated or non-matriculated students were diverted to 
post-graduate purposes, will have done a service to 
science and the State the value of which, in my 
opinion, cannot be overestimated. 


NOTES. 

WE announce, with deep regret, the death, on 
Thursday last, of Sir Walter Noel Hartley, F.R.S., 
formerly professor of chemistry at the Royal College 
of Science, Dublin. He was in the sixty-eighth year 
of his age. 

Pror. Arminius Vampéry, the Oriental scholar, 
died at Budapest on September 14, in his eighty- 
second year. The obituary article on him in The 
Times states that in 1861 the sum of rooo florins was 
voted to him by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences 
on condition that he went into the interior of Asia to 
investigate the affinities of the Magyar tongue. In 
the following year he left for Persia, joining a caravan 
of Tartar pilgrims returning from Mecca. In no 
way intimidated by predictions of privations and 
dangers or by the melancholy fate of Conolly, Stod- 
dart, Moorcroft, and others, he decided to maintain 
throughout the journey a strict disguise as a dervish. 
Leaving Teheran on March 28, 1863, Vambéry reached 
Khiva at the end of May, after intense sufferings 
from thirst in the trackless desert. In 1864 he visited 
London, gave an account of his travels at a meeting 
of the Royal Geographical Society, and did his best 
to convince public men in England of the necessity 
for the creation of a neutral zone or a geographical 
buffer State in Central Asia. 


Tue death is announced at Chatham, Ontario, of 
Dr. Alex. MacFarlane, in his sixty-third year. <A 
native of Blairgowrie, he graduated at Edinburgh in 


82 


» 


1875, after a brilliant University career. The thesis 
by which he obtained the doctorate in 1878 was a 
remarkable experimental research into the conditions 
governing the electric spark. This brought him under 
the notice of Clerk Maxwell. In the same year he 
was elected F.R.S. Edinb. In 1885 Dr. MacFarlane 
Was appointed to the chair of physics in the Univer- 
sitv of Texas. About fifteen years ago he took up his 
residence in Canada, where he continued to be actively 
engaged in physical and mathematical research. The 
latest of his many publications was a ‘‘ Bibliography 
of Quaternions,” issued in 1904. 


One of the passengers killed in the disastrous New 
Haven Railway collision, which occurred on the same 
day as that at Aisgill, was Dr. Joseph Benson Mar- 
vin, professor of medicine and neurology at the Uni- 
versity of Louisville. Dr. Marvin was born in Florida 
in 1852. At the age of eighteen he was appointed 
assistant professor of chemistry and physics at the 
Virginia Medical Institute. He then took a medical 
course, and afterwards held professorial posts at the 
Louisville Hospital College of Medicine, the Kentucky 
School of Medicine, and Kentucky University succes- 
sively. Dr. Marvin’s wife and daughter, who had 
been with him on a holiday in Maine, were also victims 
of the disaster. 

CHANGEs in the staff of the Central Research Insti- 
tute at Kasauli are announced. Major W. F. Harvey, 
I.M.S., is taking the place of Sir David Semple as 
head of the institute, and Capt. J. W. McCoy, I.M.S., 
is to join the bacteriological department. 


A BoarD for the study of tropical diseases has been 
established at Ponce, Porto Rico, by the Medical De- 
partment of the United States Army. The first presi- 
dent of the board is to be Major B. K. Ashford. 


AccorpinG to The Times, arrangements are being 
made for an expedition to King Edward the Seventh’s 
Land, in the south polar region, to start in August 
next. The leader is to be Mr. J. Foster Stackhouse, 
who was associated with Capt. Scott in organising 
the voyage of the Terra Nova. The present arrange- 
ments are that the members of the expedition shall 
sail from the Thames about the middle of August in 
the steam yacht Polaris, a ship especially built for ice 
navigation in accordance with designs approved by an 
international committee of explorers, including Char- 
cot, de Gerlache, and Nansen. It is contemplated that 
the expedition will be absent for twenty months or 
more. 


ParTIcULARS of the plans of the Italian expedition 
to the Himalayas, which is to be led by Dr. Filippi 
are given in The Pioneer Mail. According to our 
contemporary the explorers will work in Karakoram 
throughout the summer of 1914, spend the autumn in 
Chinese Turkestan, and leave for Europe by about 
Christmas. It is the object of the leader to carry out 
observations across Chinese Turkestan into Russian 
Turkistan, to winter in Scardo in Baltistan, and early 
in the spring of 1914 to travel by the inner Indus 
valley to Leh. From the latter place the expedition 
will leave for the’ Karakoram district to survey and 
map the unknown portion of the Karakoram range 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


| SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 


which lies between the Karakoram pass and the 


Siachen glacier. The Government of India, which 
has subscribed roool. towards the funds, has appointed 
Major Woods, of the Trigonometrical Survey, to 
accompany the expedition. 


AMONG the communications to be made at the forth- 
coming meeting of German Naturalists and Medical 
Practitioners, at Vienna (September 21-28), we notice 
the following :—An address by Prof. von Behring on 
the prophylaxis of diphtheria, and papers on the de- 
velopment of the light and colour senses in the animal 
kingdom, vision, and the problem of race crossing in 
man by, respectively, Profs. von Hess, O, Lummer, 
and E. Fischer. 


Tue seventeenth annual fungus foray of the British 
Mycological Society, lasting a week, is to begin at 
Haslemere on September 22. The meeting place of 
the party will be the Hutchinson Museum. On Sep- 
tember 24 the presidential address will be delivered 
by Mr. A. D. Cotton, who will take as his subject, 
*“Some Suggestions as to the Study and Critical 
Revision of Certain Genera of Agaricacee.”’ On the 
following day a paper, entitled ‘‘Recent Work on 
Resupinate Theleshorez,” will be read by Miss E. M. 
Wakefield, and on September 26 Mr. J. Ramsbottom 
will read a paper entitled ‘‘Some Notes on the History 
of the Classification of the Discomycetes.”’ 


THE twenty-fourth annual general meeting of the 
Institution of Mining Engineers is to take place at 
Manchester on September 24-26, when the following 
papers will be read, or taken as read:—*A Method 
of Measuring Goaf Temperatures,” T. F. Winmill; 
“The Absorption of Oxygen by Coal,” T. F. Winmill; 
‘“Dust Problems in Mines and their Solution,’ Her- 
mann Belger and A. Owen Jones; ‘Further Re- 
searches in the Microscopical Examination of Coal, 
especially in Relation to Spontaneous Combustion,” 
James Lomax. In addition to the foregoing, the fol- 
lowing papers, which have already appeared in the 
Transactions, will be open for discussion :—‘t Recent 
Methods of the Application of Stone-dust in Mines,” 
Dr. W. E. Garforth; ‘‘ The Reopening of Norton Col- 
liery with Self-contained Breathing-apparatus after an 
Explosion,” J. R. L. Allott; “‘The Slow Oxidation of 
Coal-dust and its Thermal Value,”’ F. E. E. Lam- 
plough and A. Muriel Hill; ‘‘Insulated and Bare 
Copper and Aluminium Cables for the Transmission 
of Electrical Energy, with Special Reference to Mining 
Work,” B. Welbourn. In connection with the meet- 
ing a lecture on explosion experiments at Eskmeals 
will be given on September 25 by Prof. H. B. Dixon, 
F.R.S. 


WE understand that the title of Prof. W. Ostwald’s 
journal, Annalen der Naturphilosophic, has been 
changed to the more comprehensive one of Annalen 
der Natur- und Kulturphilosophie; also that Prof. R. 
Goldscheid is now associated with Prof. Ostwald in 
editing the periodical. 


THE correspondent of The Times at Rome reports 
an interesting discovery made by Mr. Adolfo Cozza 
in excavating at Pompeii with the object of tracing 
the site of the port where, in his opinion, three- 


a a ee 


SEPTEMBER 18, 1913] 


NATURE 83 


fourths of the population sought escape from the 
eruption of Mount Vesuvius, hoping that the Roman 
fleet would be able to remove them into safety. After 
various try-pits had been sunk he discovered plaster 
and concrete, and finally a road leading to the sea 
showing signs of the passage of wheels. The 
masonry-work of a harbour was then unearthed with 
the marks left by the waves. 
just been discovered is at a distance of about 1309 
yards from the existing seashore and about 7oo yards 
from the ruined city. It is covered with a layer about 
23 ft. deep, consisting of earth, lava, ashes, and lapilli. 
Further excavations will, it is thought, bring to light 
the skeletons of the majority of the population of 
Pompeii as well as treasures of gold and works of art. 


A LarGE Etruscan necropolis, containing several 
skeletons, as well as vases and terra-cottas, dating 
from the seventh century B.c., has been dis- 
covered near Civita Vecchia in Italy, on the coast of 
Latium. 


A curious story comes from Ireland that Mr. E. S. 
Dodgson, of Jesus College, Oxford, has discovered at 
Killult, Falcurragh, Donegal, a stone said to contain 
an Ogham inscription giving a clue to a great treasure 
concealed in the neighbourhood by an ancient Irish 
chieftain. The stone is being examined by Mr. R. 
Macalister. We wish the discoverer success in un- 
earthing the treasure, but until he succeeds, or some 
other interpretation of the supposed inscription is sug- 
gested, it may be well to reserve opinion on the 
matter. 


A RECENT message from San Francisco stated that 
the Falcon and Hope Islands of the Tonga group had 
disappeared. The information was brought by Capt. 
Trask of the steamship Sonoma, from Sydney, who is 
reported to have said :—‘ One of the regular trading 
steamships between Sydney and the Tonga group 
reported the sinking of the islands. The vessel 
steamed to where Falcon Island should have been, but 
it was nowhere in sight. Just before this the instru- 
ments at Sydney naval station showed that several 
violent earthquake shocks had taken place about 2000 
miles north-east of Sydney.’’ With reference to the 
foregoing message, Mr. Basil A. Thomson (who 
acted for a time as Prime Minister of Tonga), wrote 
to The Times on September 14 that the news should 
be received with reserve for the reasons, ‘‘ first, that 
Falcon had already ceased to exist as an island 
fourteen years ago; and, second, that Hope Island, 
better known by its native name of Niuafo’ou (‘ New 
Niua’), is reported to have disappeared whenever a 
serious volcanic disturbance shakes the nerves of the 
white residents of Tongatabu.”’ 


TuHeE Museum Journal of the University of Penn- 
sylvania announces in its March issue the despatch 
of an expedition, under charge of Dr. Farabee, to 
explore the primitive tribes of the Amazon forests. 
The Brazilian Government promises active assistance 
to Dr. Farabee and his staff. From Para they will 
proceed to Manaos, and from thence ascend the Rio 
Negro, the largest tributary of the Amazon from the 
north-west. The examination of this region will 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


The port which has 


occupy the attention of the expedition for six. months 
or perhaps a year. The collections to be made will 
consist of weapons, utensils, and all objects relating 
to the arts of life procurable among the various tribes 
to be visited. They are destined to supply material 
for future research, and especially to enable the 
museum to reproduce the actual life of some of the 
most interesting native tribes, soon destined to dis- 
appear. 


In No. 2, vol. xxiv., of Folk-lore we have the final, 
but unhappily fragmentary, dissertation by the late 
Mr. Andrew Lang, in which he develops his theory of 
the origin of exogamy and totemism. Following Dar- 
win, he assigns the beginnings of exogamy to the 
expulsion by the sires of the group of the younger 
males. He assumes that the establishment of totemic 
groups and practices cannot have been sudden; men 
cannot have, all in a moment, conceived that each 
group possessed a protective and sacred animal or 
other object. But if each group woke to the con- 
sciousness that it bore the name of a plant or animal, 
and did not know how it came to bear that name, no 
more was needed to establish a belief in the essential 
and valuable connection of the group with certain 
animals, birds, or other objects. These names, he 
thinks, originated in sobriquets given by one group 
to another. In this exposition he is in general agree- 
ment with the views of Dr. A. C. Haddon in his 
address delivered before the British Association at the 
Belfast meeting in 1902. 


In Man for September Mr. W. J. Lewis Abbott 
describes a collection of pygmy flint implements made 
by Mr. J. M. Bain from the base of the sand-dunes 
at Fishook, Cape Colony. They closely resemble the 
series presented by Miss Nina Layard to the Ipswich 
Museum. Mr. Abbott believes that this is the result 
of culture-transmission. ‘‘It is obvious,’’ he believes, 
“that the prototypes of these shapes could not have 
arisen in a country where the native material did not 
lend itself to their manufacture; but in one where 
a homogeneous silica, such as flint, was the common 
indigenous material; and in following up the search 
for these interesting little objects, we shall be getting 
together the material to show the migrations of this 
old race over the face of the earth, and perhaps be 
able to trace it to its cradle.” 


In the Philadelphia Museum Journal for June Dr. 
Arno Poebel, of Johns Hopkins University, announces 
an important discovery among the collection of clay 
tablets obtained at Nippur during the years 1888-1900, 
which are now being arranged for exhibition. One 
tablet, unfortunately imperfect, gives a version of the 
Creation story, in which the origin of the first human 
beings is attributed to the gods Enlil and Enki, and 
the goddess Ninharsagga—a question which has led 
to much speculation among Assyrian and _ biblical 
scholars. In the present version, when Enlil, the 
creator of heaven and earth, wished to people the 
world with human beings, the god Enki, the deity of 
wisdom and knowledge, devised the image of man 
after the image of the gods, and the goddess Ninhar- 
sagga moulded it in clay, while the blood of Enlil 


84 - NATURE 


gave it life and intellect. Whether the idea that Enlil 
cut off his head will be corroborated from other cunei- 
form sources we cannot tell at present. Meanwhile 
the present discovery is obviously of the highest im- 
portance, 


In the May number of The Irish Naturalist (vol. 
xxii, No. 5), Mr. N. Colgan gives an interesting 
account of the renascence flora of certain areas on 
Killiney Hill, Co. Dublin, formerly covered with old 
gorse but burnt out in July, 1911. Three months after 
the fire the burnt areas showed thirteen species of 
flowering plants, partly survivals from old root-stocks, 
partly immigrants from adjacent unburnt areas, and 
partly perhaps the product of seeds that had retained 
their vitality throughout the fire. Later observations 
showed that eighteen months after the fire a re- 
nascence flora of sixty-four species, including nine 
cryptogams, had taken possession of the areas burnt 
clear of all vegetation. Of these species, forty-five 
had certainly or very probably entered from adjacent 
unburnt areas, thirteen were survivals, and the re- 
maining six could not with certainty be placed among 
either immigrants or survivals, and are classed as of 
doubtful origin. The cryptogams covered much more 
ground than the flowering plants, the most abundant 
species, dominating above all other plants in the burnt 
ground flora, were the mosses Funaria hygrometrica 
and Barbula fallax; other common bryophytes were 
three species of Polytrichum and the liverwort Mar- 
chantia polymorpha; while two species of the lichen 
genus Parmelia were also frequently found. Among 
the phanerogamic immigrants the grasses were 
strongly predominant, and the immigrant flora as a 
whole consisted largely of plants provided with special 
adaptations for seed dispersal, one of the most pro- 
minent of these plants being Senecio sylvaticus. The 
most interesting fact arising from this new flora is the 
conflict between its higher and lower members, the 
phanerogams and the cryptogams, the latter having 
so far kept in check the much more varied phanero- 
gamic flora. The probable successive changes in the 
vegetation are outlined by the author. 


WE have received a reprint of an interesting paper 
by Dr. C. B. Crampton, ‘‘The Use of Geology to the 
Forester’? (Trans. Argyll Foresters and Gardeners, 
1912), pointing out some of the geological facts that 
have a bearing upon the nature and origin of the 
various types of surface occupied by plants, and 
emphasising the importance to foresters in particular 
of a knowledge of the nature of the ground under his 
charge in so far as it reacts with the vegetation, and 
the reasons for differences in the surface and in these 
reactions. The author indicates the geographical and 
geological factors upon which depends the nature of 
a habitat for trees or other plants, with special refer- 
ence to the action of gravity in screes and landslips, 
the erosive action of wind and streams, coastal erosion, 
glacial erosion and deposition, and the characters of 
soils and subsoils. 


IN a recent number of The Herts Advertiser it is 


stated that, in consequence of Dr. Sambon’s remarks 
on pellagra at a recent meeting of the British Medical 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


[SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 


Association, Dr. Blandy, of the Lunatic Asylum at 
Napsbury, near St, Albans, undertook an examination 
of the patients in that institution, with the result that 
no fewer than eleven were found to be suffering from 
that disease. As the majority of these come from the 
moist, low-lying district of the Colne Valley, support 
is afforded to the opinion that the disease is propa- 
gated by insects. 

As a result of the examination of the large series of 
specimens of mammals and birds collected in East 
Africa by the Roosevelt and other American expedi- 
tions, very considerable additions have been made 
recently to the list of species and races from that 
area, the descriptions having been published for the 
most part in various issues of the Smithsonian Mis- 
cellaneous Collections. The latest of these papers 
include one by Mr. E. Heller (vol. Ixi., No. 7), on 
new races of antelopes, and another, by Mr. E. A. 
Mearns (ibid., No. 9) on new weaver-birds. As re- 
gards the antelopes, it must suffice to mention that 
some of the new races are founded on very slight 
differences from previously known forms, and it is 
thus rendered difficult to see where the modern fashion 
for excessive splitting is to stop. 


In connection with the preceding paragraph, it may 
be mentioned that in the current issue of the Zoological 
Society’s Proceedings three additions are made by 
Messrs. Barrett-Hamilton and Hinton to the British 
mammal-fauna, all three being from the Inner 
Hebrides. The most interesting of these is a shrew- 
mouse (Sorex granti), distinguishable at a glance 
from the common English S. araneus by the contrast 
presented by the light-coloured flanks to the dusky 
upper parts. As it also exhibits certain dental pecu- 
liarities, its right to specific rank seems undoubted. 
The other are field-mice; one (Evotomys alstoni) a 
species from Mull, and the other (Microtus agrestis 
macgillivraii) a race from Islay. 


Tue September number of The Museums Journal 
contains an illustrated account of Mr. J. A. C. Dean’s 
method of *‘showing’’ objects in museums and art 
galleries to blind persons, as explained at the Hull 
meeting of the Museums Association. The method 
appears to have attained considerable success, and to 
have awakened a new interest in the class for which 
it is intended. It may be remarked—as indeed was 
hinted by the president at the close of the discus- 
sion—that if this mode of demonstration is adopted 
in up-to-date zoological museums it will be necessary 
for each to have a separate series of stuffed specimens 
for this purpose. 


In the Verhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesell- 
schaft in Basel (Bd. xxiv.) will be found a paper by 
the late Fr. Burckhardt, entitled ‘‘ Die Stellung des 
Osterfestes im christlichen Kalender.” It is a con- 
tribution to the historical side of the question, and 
contains several original documents of some interest. 
An extract from the writings of Luther is given, in 
which he advocates a fixed date for Easter, not merely 
without regard to the moon’s phases, but also, like 
Christmas, without regard to the days of the week. 
Other documents refer to the adoption of the reformed 


_——— 


ee 


SEPTEMBER 18, 1913] 


calendar by the Protestants in Switzerland. Practical 
convenience forced them to follow the. Gregorian 
calendar in the main, though not until the end of 
the seventeenth century, and even then one difference 
was maintained. This arose from basing the calcula- 
tion of the Easter full moon on the Rudolfine Tables 
instead of the Gregorian Epact. The first discrepancy 
occurred in the year 1724, when the Gregorian full 
moon fell on Sunday, April 9, while the Tables gave 
the day preceding. The question was referred for 
decision to the Protestant Conference at Ratisbon early 
in 1723, and the Basel authorities sought the advice 
of John Bernoulli. The replies are reproduced in full. 
In the result Easter was celebrated by Catholics and 
Protestants on successive Sundays in 1724 and again 
in 1744. Agreement was finally brought about by 
an order of Frederic the Great in 1776 on the basis of 
the Gregorian calendar. The desirability of a fixed 
Easter has been commonly felt from the time of the 
Gregorian reform, and it was the last act of Father 
Denza, late director of the Vatican Observatory, to 
prepare a memorandum on the subject for Pope Leo 
XIII. His proposal was to adopt the third Sunday 
following the vernal equinox, which would limit Easter 
between April 4 and 11. 


Tue Director-General of Observatories (India) has 
issued a memorandum dated August 9 on the monsoon 
conditions prevailing during June and July, with 
anticipations for August and September. From the 
recent data regarding the conditions most likely to be 
of influence, and which are stated in detail, the un- 
favourable factors appear to predominate slightly. But 
the inferences drawn are (a) that the total rainfall of 
the months in question will probably be normal or in 
slight defect, (b) that in north-west India the mon- 
soon is not likely to be affected prejudicially by snow- 
fall. (The fall of temperature and dry north-westerly 
winds that usually follow widespread and heavy snow- 
fall have not been experienced.) The above forecast 
aerees practically with that issued on June 8 (NaturE, 
August 7). 


Dr. Nits Exkuortm has contributed an important 
article on the weather in the North Sea during the 
first half of June, 1911, illustrated by synoptic charts, 
to No. 64 of the Occasional Publications issued under 
the authority of the International Council for the 
Study of the Sea. The period is chosen because the 
council had then six hydrographical expeditions 
stationed in that sea. The author prefaces his inquiry 
by a careful historical summary of the development of 
meteorology and its methods from the invention of 
the barometer to the present time, and with a descrip- 
tion of barometric changes and their relation to wind 
and weather, in which we were pleased to see that the 
valuable pioneer work of Admiral FitzRoy, the first 
chief of the Meteorological Office, is duly recognised. 
Tne author explains that the difficulties with which 
modern conceptions of cyclones and anticyclones have 
to contend led him to supplement the usual isobaric 
charts by plotting the + differences of barometric 
readings since the last observation, and thus con- 
structing “‘isallobars,”’ or lines of equal differences. 
He remarks, inter alia, that a close study of the move- 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


85 


ments of the isallobars shows that pressure changes 
are the primary, and cyclonic and anticyclonic whirls 
the secondary phenomena. The charts for the North 
Sea for the above period and two other cases are 


| discussed upon those principles. 


Dr. H. GEIGER, of the Reichsanstalt, who four 
years ago, in conjunction with Prof. Rutherford, 
devised a method of counting the number of a particles 
emitted by a radio-active body, has now, according to 
a communication from the Reichsanstalt, succeeded 
in perfecting a very simple method which allows both 
the « and 8 particles to be counted. The 
a or 6B rays are allowed to enter a short metal 
cylinder 2 cm. diameter, by a small hole in the base. 
Through an ebonite block which closes the other end 
of the cylinder a sharp pointed rod projects into the 
cylinder to within o-8 cm. of the base. The cylinder 
is raised to about 1200 volts, and the pointed rod is 
connected to a string electrometer provided with a 
high-resistance leak. The entry of either an « or a 
8 particle into the cylinder causes a spark to pass 
between point and cylinder, and the electrometer of 
10 cm, capacity acquires a charge corresponding to 
10-20 volts. The throws of the electrometer are 
recorded photographically, and the results obtained are 
in agreement with those calculated from ionisation 
observations in the case of the polonium preparation 
used in the observations. 


Engineering for September 5 contains an illustrated 
account of the Sulzer-Diesel locomotive built by 
Messrs. Sulzer Brothers at Winterthur, in the early 
part of this year, and supplied to the Prusso-Hessian 
State Railway, Berlin. This is the first locomotive 
fitted with Diesel engines, and is designed for fast 
traffic. The length over-all is 54-5 ft., and the weight 
in working order is 95 tons. The main engines are 
of the reversible two-cycle type, single-acting, having 
two pairs of cylinders inclined at go° to each other. 
The pistons are 15 in. diameter by 21-7 in. stroke. 
Running at 304 revolutions per minute, a speed of 
sixty-two miles per hour is obtained. The auxiliary 
machinery required is of a somewhat complicated 
character. Trials have been made, and show that the 
engine is adaptable to a wide range of work. It is 
reported that the change from air to oil-fuel is accom- 
plished without trouble at a speed of about six miles 
per hour, and that the reversing arrangements were 
equally successful. 


Engineering of the same date has an article dealing 
with problems of the internal-combustion locomotive, 
in which further reference is made to the Sulzer- 
Diesel locomotive. Our contemporary considers that 
any locomotive engineer reading the full description 
of this engine would be somewhat appalled at the 
extraordinary amount of machinery the type involves. 
The main engine requires another engine, of one- 
quarter or one-fifth of its power, to make it start at 
all. The second engine, also of Diesel type, requires 
similar provision in the way of air and circulating- 
water supply, &c., to the main engines, involving 
pumps for the supply of starting air, scavenging air, 
injection air, fuel to each cylinder, jacket water, circu- 
lating water for pistons, and for lubrication of bear- 


86 


ings, &c. A comparison of this collection of 
machinery with that in a modern steam locomotive is 
greatly in favour of the latter. Neither does the 
Diesel locomotive appear to show up any too well as 
a power plant; one horse-power is developed for about 
1go Ib. weight. A modern steam locomotive develops 
one horse-power for about 100 Ib. of engine weight, or 
for every 140 to 150 Ib. of combined engine and tender 
weight. Rapid perfecting of this type of engine is 
not to be expected, but it is to be hoped that the 
efforts instituted on the Continent will be persisted in. 
The greater the initial handicap, the more glorious 
the ultimate victory. 


ATTENTION may be directed to a slight error in the 
date assigned to Messrs. Cartailhac and Breuil’s mono- 
graph on ‘‘La Caverne d’Altamira’’; the frontispiece 
bears the date 1906, but this work was not published 
until 1908. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Tue Roratinc Exiipsoi RU CameLoparDaLis.— 
The elaborate investigations recently carried out by 
Prof. H. N. Russell upon the treatment of photo- 
metric observations of variable stars have been the 
means of bringing to light a new class of these bodies. 
By taking into account the hypothetical, but, of course, 


quite possible ellipticity of the components of a binary | 


system, a method was developed which may be applied 
equally well to the case of an isolated rotating ellip- 
soid—an early stage in the development of a binary 
system. At Princeton during the last two years the 
light changes of three stars—S Antliz, SZ Tauri, and 
RU Camelopardalis—have been explained in the most 


satisfactory way on the hypothesis that they are rota- 


ting ellipsoids. In Bulletin No. 21 of the Laws Ob+ 
servatory Mr. Harlow Shapley discusses 292 photo- 
metric measures of the third of these stars, and comes 
to the conclusion that “the light variations . . . can 
be satisfactorily accounted for on the hypothesis of a 
single, uniformly luminous, ellipsoidal body rotating 
in a period of 44-344 days.’’ With regard to the spec- 
trum of this star the author quotes a letter from Prof. 
E. C. Pickering to the effect that it is peculiar and 
apparently variable, and that Miss Cannon thinks it 
may belong to class N. 

The publication of the curves and results for S Antlize 
and SZ Tauri is promised for the near future. As 
both these stars have spectra of classes much less 
prone to variability of a physical character the realisa- 
tion of this promise will be awaited with great interest. 


THE DIMINUTION OF THE SOLAR RADIATION IN 1912.— 
Further evidence regarding the existence of a wide- 
spread atmospheric opacity during 1912 appears in a 
note by M. Ladislas Gorczynski in the Comptes rendus 
(vol. clvii., No. 1). The pyrheliometer record made at 
Varsovie shows that during the latter half of the year 
there was a marked falling off in the intensity of the 
solar radiation. The detailed measures, we are in- 
formed, show that the depression lasted from about 
the middle of June, 1912, to the middle of January, 
1913, and was most severe in September. Similar 
results were obtained at the Meteorological Observa- 
tory of Olczedaj6w, and it is pointed out that 
analogous records were obtained at Mount Weather. 


Comet 1913b (Metcatr).—A supplement to Astro- 
nomische Nachrichten, No. 4679, contains a continua- 
tion of the ephemeris of this comet which was given 
last week, after the first approximate elements com- 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 


puted by Prof. Kobold. The comet is slowly increas- 
ing in brightness, according to the ephemeris, but on 
September 3 it was observed as of magnitude 9:5, and 
on September 4 as of magnitude jo-o. : 


12h. M.T. Berlin. 


R.A Dec. Mag. 
hm. s. y ' 

Sept. 18 ... 6 6 18 +67 23°5 — 
niyeters (0°. Ov4 rons 68 86 10°3 
20... 5 5443 «- 68 54°0 _ 
Ai... 5.47 58 5. “eageson == 
22 - 5 40 26 7O 24°3 — 
23 Elsevieiiey 71 88 103 
24 Bee Aas 705250) — 


Comet 1913c (NEUJMIN).—This comet when first 
observed (September 3) was thought to be a minor 
planet, but later observation has suggested its 
cometary nature. Herr M. Ebell has computed the 
elements from the observations of September 6, 7, and 
8, and these, with an ephemeris, have been communi- 
cated in a Kiel circular. They are as follows :— 

T=1913 July 22.5755 M. T. Berlin. 
w =320° 56°70" 
2 =347° 19°42’ -1913°0. 


z= 12> (22-978 
log 7 =0°11296 

Ephemeris for 12h. M.T. Berlin, © 

R.A. Dec. Mag. 
hm. s. 5 7 

Sept. 18 22 43 10 -+4 93 =— 
19 22 42 40 4 27°7 _— 
20 22 42 10 4 45'5 11'2 


According to Dr. Graff, at Bergedorf, the comet 
showed a short tail on September 6, but on September 
8, from observations made at Pulkova, the object was 
recorded as stellar. 


New Laporatory Spectroscopic REsuLts.—The 
physicat laboratory of the Imperial College of Science 
and Technology is responsible for four different 
spectroscopic researches recently communicated to the 
Proceedings of the Royal Society (Ser. A., vol. Ixxxix., 
pp. 125-149). Mr. L. C. Martin, a research student, 
writes on a band spectrum attributed to carbon mono- 
sulphide, and has found a new spectrum consisting 
of a number of bands degraded to the less refrangible 
side, the wave-lengths of which he gives in his paper. 
Prof. Fowler records new series of lines in the spark 
spectrum of magnesium incidentally tying up the well- 
known spark line at 44481 in one of the series. In 
conjunction with Mr. W. H. Reynolds, research 
student, Prof. Fowler has another paper on additional 
triplets and other series lines in the spectrum of mag- 
nesium. Eight additional triplets have been measured 
in the spectrum of magnesium are in vacuo, six be- 
longing to the diffuse and two to the sharp series. 


single lines have been photographed, and four strong 
solar lines of unknown origin have been identified with 
lines of the Rydberg series. Two known lines, 5711-31 
and 4730-21, have been coupled up in a series with 
435453, @ previously unrecorded line. Mr. W. E. 
Curtis, the demonstrator of astrophysics, has a paper 
on a new band spectrum associated with helium, but 
the question of its origin is still doubtful, as hydrogen 
was present in all the tubes examined. A list is given 
of the wave-lengths determined. A search in celestial 
spectra was made, owing to its association with 
helium, but the result was negative. 


THe PERTH OpsERVATORY SECTION OF THE ASTRO- 
GRAPHIC CHART.—Vols. ii. and iii. of the Perth Ob- 
servatory (Western Australia) section of the astro- 
graphic chart have just come to hand. These volumes 
are two out of the thirty-six volumes which will be 
| published. The region of the sky assigned to this 


Four additional members of the Rydberg series of — 


SEPTEMBER 18, 1913] 


NATURE 


87 


observatory lies between 31° and 41° S. declination, 
and the photographs have been taken and measured 
under the direction of Mr. W. Ernest Caske, the 
Government Astronomer for Western Australia. 
Vol. ii. contains the measures of rectangular co- 
ordinates and magnitudes of 20,211 star images, R.A. 


6h. to 12h., on plates with centres in declination | 


—32°, and vol. iii, those of 20,988 images, R.A. 12h. 
to 18h., on plates with centres also in declination 
—32°. 

The completed work will be a valuable contribution 
to the great international scheme, initiated so many 
years ago. Incidentally a number of double stars were 
met with during the measurement of the zone plates, 
and these, 242 in number, have been collected and 
published in a separate catalogue, forming Bulletin 
No. 1. The reduction of the measures was undertaken 
by Mr. Nossiter, acting first assistant. 


Tue EXTENSION OF THE ZONE TIME SysTEM.—Brazil 
has now officially fallen into line by adopting standard 
time. The country has been divided into four zones, 
and the legal time for each respectively will be two, 
three, four, and five hours slow on Greenwich. The 
islands of Trinidad and Fernando Noronha fall in the 
first zone. The western side of the second zone is a 
line from Mount Pecuary Grevaux, on the French 
Guiana boundary, by the rivers Pecuary and Javary 
to the Amazon, and by Xinsu to the Matto-Grasso 
boundary. The fourth zone includes the western part 
of Amazonas, the Acre territory, and other territory 
recently ceded by Bolivia. 


Hinp’s Nesuta.—M. Borrelly has communicated to 
the Academie des Sciences (Comptes rendus, vol. clvii., 
No. 7) a brief note stating that the nebula discovered 
by Hind in the year 1845 (No. 6760 in Dreyer’s 
N.G.C.) and suspected of variability of brightness 
seven years later by d’Arrest, now appears to be in a 
period of maximum. For the first time since 1867 
it is easily seen with a comet-seeker of 63 in. aperture. 


Tue Royat OsservatTory, CaPE oF Goop Hope.— 
The annual report of his Majesty’s Astronomer at the 
Cape of Good Hope for the year 1912 has been re- 
ceived. In connection with the reduction of the cir- 
cumpolar observations made in the previous year some 
interesting determinations of personality have been 
made. It appears that, while with the older methods 
of observing, transits of equatorial stars are 
mostly recorded late, transits of slow-moving circum- 
polars are anticipated by o-3s. The astrophysical 
work has been actively advanced, both in the observa- 
tory and laboratory. Provisional spectroscopic deter- 
minations of solar parallax and the constant of aberra- 
tion, based as the measures of 800 plates, yielded 
8-802"+0-004" as the value of the former, and 
20-47"+0-01" for the latter. In the laboratory it has 
been found more convenient to employ the spark 
spectrum obtained from the cores of lead pencils as a 
comparison spectrum in preference to the spectra of 
iron or titanium. 


A CURIOUS METEORIC DISPLAY. 


HE universal disappointment experienced by 
keen meteor observers on the expected return of 

the November Leonid meteor swarm in 1899, the 
swarm which created such a stir of excitement at its 
appearance in the year 1866, is no doubt responsible 
for the apparent lack of interest taken in the an- 
nouncements of probable meteoric displays to-day. 
Many of us thought that this celebrated display, due 
possibly to planetary perturbations, might be 
accelerated, and so were careful to keep a good look- 
out in the appointed month in 1897 and 1808, and 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


| their non-appearance in 1899 suggested that possibly, 
| for a similar reason, the swarm might have been 


belated, and so watched at the correct season for the 
overdue display. The expected event did not take 
place, and faith was lost in the predicted times of 
these space wanderers. 

Our interest is, however, again wakened by what 
is described as ‘‘an extraordinary meteoric display” 
which was seen over a very extensive area in the 
United States of America and Canada on the even- 
ing of February 9g this year. The magnitude of the 
display was such that a very great number of people 
distributed in the path of observation had their atten- 


| tion drawn to it, and its peculiar nature’was so marked 


that nearly every observer remarked similarly of the 
extraordinary feature of the event. 

Fortunately Prof. C. A. Chant, of Toronto, although 
not an eye-witness of the phenomenon, undertook to 
collect all the available information of this very excep- 
tional, if not unique, occurrence. In the May-June 
number of the Journal of the Royal Astronomical 
Society of Canada he presents a very judicious sum- 
mary of the observations made, and accompanies this 
with extracts from letters received from observers. 

The sum total of the discussion of the data is to 
show that the apparition took the following form :— 

As seen from western Ontario there suddenly ap- 
peared in the north-western sky a fiery red or golden- 
yellow body, which quickly grew larger as it 
approached, and had attached to it a long tail; 
observers vary in their descriptions as to whether the 
body was single or composed of three or four parts 
with a tail to each part. 

This body or group of bodies moved forward on 
an apparently perfectly horizontal path ‘‘ with peculiar, 
majestic, dignified deliberation; and continuing its 
course without the least apparent sinking towards the 
earth, it moved on to the south-east, where it simply 
disappeared in the distance.” After this group of 
bodies had vanished, another group emerged from 
precisely the same region. ‘Onward they moved, at 
the same deliberate pace, in twos or threes or fours, 
with tails streaming behind them, though not so long 
or bright as in the first case.” This group dis- 
appeared in the same direction. A third group fol- 
lowed with less luminosity and shorter tails. 

In reading some of the communications from the 
numerous observers, the extraordinary feature of the 
phenomenon seems to have been the regular order 
and movement of the groups. Thus some compared 
them to a fleet of airships with lights on either side 
and fore and aft; others to a number of battleships- 
attended by cruisers and destroyers; others again to 
a brilliantly lighted passenger train travelling in sec- 
tions and seen from a distance of several miles. 

Such descriptions indicate that the display was of 
a very unusual kind, very different from the usual 
quick-moving and scattered bodies. It may be of 
interest to reprint here in full one of the accounts. 
Mr. J. G. MacArthur writes :— 

‘““There were probably thirty or thirty-two bodies, 
and the peculiar thing about them was their moving 
in fours, threes, and twos, abreast of one another. 
and so perfect was the lining-up you would have 
thought it was an aerial fleet manoeuvring after rigid 
drilling. About half of them had passed when an 
unusually large one hove in sight, fully ten times as 
large as the others. Five or six would appear in two 
detachments, probably five seconds apart; then another 
wait of five or ten seconds, and another detachment 
would come into view. We could see each detachment 
for probably twenty or twenty-five seconds. The dis- 
play lasted about three minutes As the last detach- 
ment vanished, the booming as of thunder was heard 
—about five or six very pronounced reports. It 


88 


NAPORE 


[SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 


sounded in the valley as if some of the balls of fire 
had dashed into Humber Bay. The bodies vanished 
in the south-east, but the booming appeared to come 
from the west or north-west, and the time it was 
heard was close to 9.12 p.m.” 

It is fortunate that Prof. Chant lost no time in 
gathering together all the available material concern- 
ing this unusual stream of meteors, and his com- 
munication is a valuable record for future reference, 
containing numerous charts and sketches and one 
coloured drawing. 


THE BRUSSELS MEETING OF THE IRON 
AND STEEL INSTITUTE. 


THE autumn meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute | 


was held in Brussels from September 1 to 4, after 
an interval of nineteen years. It will probably rank 
as one of the most successful of the foreign visits ever 
paid by the institute, and the thanks of members and 
their wives are due to their Belgian hosts, whose fore- 
thought had provided for every contingency, and whose 
charming hospitality could not have been surpassed. 
. The chairman of the reception committee was Mons. 
Adolphe Greiner, the managing director of the famous 
Société ‘* John Cockerill,” Seraing, a works founded 
by an Englishman of that name in 1817, and the 
international character of the Iron and Steel Institute 
is well illustrated by the council’s selection of Mons. 
Greiner as the president-elect. It is customary at 
such foreign meetings for stress to be laid on papers 
dealing with the particular iron and steel industries 
of the district, and the discussions chiefly ranged round 
the contributions of the Belgian members. In an 
interesting historical survey of the metallurgy of iron in 
Belgium, Baron de Laveleye shows that Liége, Charle- 
roi, and the central district are the principal centres 
of production, the first-named being ‘the true cradle 
of the industry.” He gave it as his opinion that at 
the present day the workers in the Charleroi district 
are inferior to none in their aptitude and endurance. 
At the present time Belgium retains only 20 per cent. 
of her iron and steel products for home consumption, 
and exports 80 per cent., a larger proportion than that 
of any other country. This being so, she is compelled 
to accept as an average selling price that which rules 
in the international export market. The cost of pro- 
duction has certainly been brought down to a very 
low figure, and the author claims that it is ‘only 
by never allowing an improvement to be made without 
either adopting or trying it, by relying upon the 
energetic and hardworking labour classes to whom 
free trade supplies cheaply the necessaries of life, and 
by constantly increasing the productive capacity of 
their works that the ironmasters have succeeded in 
maintaining the struggle on an equal footing.” 

It was in Belgium that the first coke ovens were 
constructed which were heated at the side and under- 
neath by the gas evolved from the coal during coking, 
and a paper by Baron Coppée, the son of Evence 
Coppée, the inventor of the oven bearing this name, 
dealing with modern processes of coke manufacture, 
was therefore of unusual interest. In Belgium the 
beehive oven has disappeared, and 97 per cent. of the 
coke is made in by-product ovens. On the other hand, 
in England the by-product oven has made less head- 
way, partly because the first ovens erected were by no 
means as perfect as they are now, and produced a 
coke which was undoubtedly inferior to beehive coke, 
and partly on account of difficulties in connection with 
refractory materials which resulted in defective work- 
ing of the ovens. In spite of the fact that most of 
the English bricks resist high temperatures as well as 
the continental varieties, according to the author they 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


have the disadvantage of contracting at high tempera- 
tures, thereby causing cracks and dislocations in the 
structure of the ovens. The result is that all the lead- 


ing constructors now use Belgian or German firebricks — 


for those parts of their ovens which are in contact 
with the hot gases. By means of an apparatus which 
was on view during the meeting the author has tested 
numerous varieties of firebricks from the point of view 
of their expansion during heating, and has found that 
they vary considerably in this respect. Some of them 
appear to undergo no expansion above 700-800 C., 
and above this range to remain constant. This is the 
best result thus far obtained. In the discussion, how- 
ever, one of the speakers claimed that the life of a good 
English brick is trom seven to eight years. The 
modern trend in Belgium and Germany is to produce 
concurrently metallurgical coke and lighting gas, and 
at the present day the latter country has no less than 
forty-five towns or communes which are wholly or 
partially supplied with lighting gas derived from coke 
ovens. 

Somewhat closely connected with the foregoing was 
a paper by Houbaer on the utilisation of blast-furnace 
and coke-oven gases in metallurgy. The application of 
the former to the development of motive power is a 
problem which has been solved for some time past. 
It is, however, only within the last few years that 
the utilisation of its calorific power for heating indus- 
trial furnaces has been taken into serious consideration, 
and the author passes in review its employment in 
heating metal mixers, open-hearth furnaces, and re- 
heating furnaces. An arrangement has been adopted 
at the Deutscher Kaiser Steelworks for heating the 
three 1200-ton metal mixers with a single burner 
capable of taking either blast-furnace gas, coke-oyen 
gas, or a mixture of both with air from the Cowper 
stoves. 

Again, at the Bethlehem steelworks coke-oven gas 
is being applied as the heating fuel to a battery of 
six 75-ton open-hearth furnaces specially built with this 
object, and to an existing series of thirteen 60-ton 
furnaces. For many years calculations have been 
made as to the saving in fuel and advantages in work- 
ing that may be expected to accrue from an artificial 
enrichment with oxygen of the air blown into a blast 
furnace, But in spite of the claims thus put forward, 
blast-furnace managers have hitherto refused to make 
the experiment, and with some reason, for the break- 
down of such a furnace would be a very expensive 
matter, and the tendency has been to wait for someone 
else to make the test. A paper by Trasenster, presented 
at the meeting, indicates that the step has just been 
taken at the Ougrée-Marihaye works in Belgium. The 
oxygen plant is composed of three similar liquid-air 
units, each yielding 200 cubic metres of oxygen per 
hour. No results of working are given in the paper, 
but during the discussion the author stated that a 
month’s trial had been run, in which the oxygen in the 
blast was raised to about 23 per cent. by volume. 
Moreover, a small blast furnace has been built in 
which the working will be carried out with very high 
percentages of oxygen, and even with pure oxygen. 
There is no doubt that these tests will be watched with 
the deepest interest, and in particular blast-furnace 
managers will desire to be informed as to how the 
difficulties which may be expected to result from in- 
creased temperature at the tuyeres are overcome. This 
is the main reason why they have been so much dis- 
inclined to make the experiments with their own 
plants. ‘ 

Mr. Talbot, the inventor of the Talbot tilting fur- 
nace, presented a paper on modern open-hearth steel 
furnaces, in which he discussed the reasons which have 
militated against their adoption on anything like an 


jie. 


| 


| 


SEPTEMBER 18, 1913] 


extensive scale. The two main criticisms brought 
against them are the initial capital outlay and the 
increased cost of upkeep, and these the author sought 
to combat and to point out some of the principal 
advantages which in his opinion accrued from the 
use of tilting furnaces as compared with those of the 
fixed type. With a view to settling this question in 


a practical fashion, one of the largest continental steel- 


making firms is running in the same shop furnaces 
of both types under exactly similar conditions of shop 
practice, and it was clear from the discussion that until 
the results of this test are known most manufacturers 
prefer to adhere to the fixed furnaces the particular 
advantages of which are well known by this time. 
It is characteristic of the rapid development of elec- 
tric steel processes that scarcely a meeting of the 
institute is held without one or more papers on this 
subject. The paper by Otto Frick on the electric 
refining of steel in an induction furnace of special 


type marks a distinct development in the applicability | 


of this type of furnace the use of which has hitherto 
been confined to the melting of high-class steels in 
which no refining took place. The results are based 
on the data obtained in the Frick furnaces at Krupp’s 
works in Essen, which have been in operation for the 
last five years. With regard to the lining, the induc- 
tion furnace offers certain intrinsic difficulties owing 
to the ring-shaped form of the crucible. On one 


hand greater difficulties arise in making the lining | 


stand high temperatures without cracking, and on 
the other the ring-shaped form makes it impossible 
to give the furnace walls sufficient slope to enable 
repairs to be made in the same manner as in the 
open-hearth furnace. The difficulties with regard to 
cracking are due to the fact that the outer wall is 
ring-shaped, and has its highest temperature on the 
inside, whereas the equally ring-shaped inner wall 
is hottest outside. The only way of overcoming these 
difficulties is to use a material which neither contracts 
nor expands appreciably at very high temperatures. 


The lining used is made of very pure magnesite with- | 


out any binding agent, and treated in a particular 
way. It possesses remarkable compactness, mechan- 
ical strength, and resistance to the action of slags. 
But even the best linings will not stand more than a 
few weeks if they are not further protected against 
the cutting action of ordinary slags. This difficulty 
the author claims to have solved by adding crushed 
magnesite in such a way that the slag can become 
saturated before it is able to attack the lining, an 
action which is much facilitated by the inclination and 
rotation of the bath. In this way it has even proved 
possible to make the inner wall grow by adding too 
much magnesia, and the lining of the furnace now 
has a life of from two to three months, a result which 
represents a considerable 
tice hitherto. The foregoing account does not do 
more than bring out the chief points of importance 
discussed at the meeting. In all nineteen papers were 
Presented, several of them of distinct scientific value 
and interest, but time did not permit of their dis- 
cussion. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 

Dr. M. Barrvzzi, president of the Italian Society 
for the Critical History of the Medical arid Natural 
Sciences, has been appointed to the newly established 
chair of medical history in the University of Siena. 

Dr. Currron F. Hopce, professor of biology at 
Clark University, Massachusetts, since Ig02, has re- 
signed that post, having accepted the offer of a chair 
in the same subject at the University of Oregon. In 


NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


advance on industrial aes 
re Prac | well, London, 


NATURE 


| University of Sheffield 


89 
a 
his new sphere Prof. Hodge will have special respon- 
sibilities in connection with a scheme of university 
extension lectures. 


Str Rickman J. Gopter, Bart., president of the 
Royal College of Surgeons, London, has accepted an 
invitation to confer the fellowships of the American 
College of Surgeons at the first Convocation of that 
institution, which is to be held at Chicago on Novem- 
ber 13 next. About 1400 prominent surgeons of the 
United States and Canada are to be created fellows. 


Dr. W. F. G. Swann has resigned his position as 
assistant-lecturer and demonstrator of physics at the 
in order to take up, on 
October 1, the post of physicist in charge of ex- 
perimental work in the new laboratory at Washington 
of the department of terrestrial magnetism of the 
Carnegie Institution of Washington. 


A course of three lectures dealing with the early 
history of medicine has been arranged for delivery by 
the historical section of the Royal Society of Medicine. 
The first lecture will be given on October 10, by Prof. 
Jastrow, of the University of Pennsylvania, and will 
treat of Babylonian Medicine; the subsequent dis- 
courses will be delivered by Prof. Elliot Smith, F.R.S., 
on Egyptian medicine, and by Prof. R. Caton, on 
Greek medicine. 


THE widow of Principal Caird has bequeathed to 
the University of Glasgow, in memory of her late 
husband’s long connection with the University, the 
sum of goool. for the founding of two scholarships, to 
be known as “The Principal Caird Scholarships,”’ to 
be awarded annually by examination to the student 
in the University who is most distinguished in either 
classics or mental philosophy, or both. The sum of 
Ioool, is also left to the Western Infirmary, Glasgow, 
and soo]. to the professor of moral philosophy of 
Glasgow University for books or prizes. 


WE learn from Science that Dr. H. G. Leach, secre- 
tary of the American-Scandinavian Foundation (en- 
dowed by the late Mr. Niels Poulson with a gift of 
600,000 dollars to maintain an interchange of students, 
teachers, and lecturers, and to promote in other ways 
intellectual relations between the United States and 
Scandinavia), has returned from an official tour in 
Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Fellowships have 
been awarded to two representatives from each of the 
three countries referred to, and those selected will 
enter American universities in the autumn. Plans 
also have been discussed for an exchange of professors 
between the University of Copenhagen, the University 
of Christiania, the University of Upsala, and several 
American institutions. 


Tue Northampton Polytechnic Institute, Clerken- 
E.C., has now issued its ‘‘ Announce- 
ments ’’ for the session 1913-14. The educational aim 


| of the polytechnic is to provide classes in technological 


and trade subjects, special attention being directed to 
the immediate requirements of Clerkenwell. There 
are day and evening courses in mechanical and elec- 
trical engineering, in technical optics, and in horology. 
The engineering courses include sub-sections in auto- 
mobile work, aéronautics, and radio-telegraphy. In 
addition, there are evening courses in electrochemistry, 
metallurey, and domestic economy. We notice that 
during the past year the equipment has been extended. 
Amongst the more important items may be mentioned 
in the mechanical engineering department a Linde 


| refrigerating plant, available for carbonic acid or for 


ammonia, and an outfit for the microphotographic 
examination of engineering materials. In the elec- 
trical engineering department the laboratory equip- 
ment for radio-telegraphy has been increased, and 


90 


additions have been made to the equipment of gene- 
rators, measuring instruments, and photometers. In 
the metallurgical department the equipment of electric 
and gas furnaces and pyrometers has been augmented, 
A new departure is being made in the section of tele- 
graphy and telephony in the arrangement of special 
classes for workmen on the maintenance and con- 
structional staff of the Post Office, and also for boy 
messengers. The latter classes are intended to meet 
the difficulty of the blind-alley occupation into which 
the Post Office plunges these boys, and the experi- 
ment, which is of public interest, will be watched 
sympathetically. 

THE prospectus of university courses in the Muni- 
cipal School of Technology, Manchester, for the 
session 1913-14, is now available. It will be remem- 
bered that university work in Manchester was co- 
ordinated in 1905 by the establishment of a faculty of 
technology in the University of Manchester, with the 
principal of the Municipal School as dean of the 
faculty and with the heads of the mechanical and elec- 
trical engineering, of the applied chemistry, and of 
the architecture departments of the school as pro- 
fessors of the University. The University courses pro- 
vided by the School of Technology lead to the degrees 
of bachelor and master of technical science (B.Sc.Tech. 
and M.Sc.Tech.). These degrees may be taken in 
the following divisions of technology :—Mechanical 
engineering, electrical engineering, sanitary engineer- 
ing, applied chemistry, mining, architecture, and 
textile industries. In addition, the school provides 
courses of post-graduate and specialised study and 
research, in numerous branches of technical science, 
for a fourth year, to students who have completed the 
three years’ course for a degree or certificate success- 
fully, or are otherwise deemed competent to ente- 


upon them. The School of Technology has also pub-. 


lished departmental prospectuses, of the part-time even- 
ing courses, and the apprentices’ day courses to be 
held at the school during the coming session. The 
number of evening students has reached the limit of 
the accommodation provided by the present building, 
but the demand for advanced courses continues to 
increase, and it has been found necessary to abandon 
the more elementary classes, and to raise the fees in 
other cases. A special feature is the large proportion 
which the advanced work bears to the whole. This 
evening work in the case of a number of courses is 
of the same standard as that given to third year 
students reading for an honours degree in a British 
University. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Western Australia. Astrographic Catalogue 1900-0. 
Perth Section, Dec. —31° to —41°. | From Photo- 
graphs Taken and Measured at the Perth Observa- 
tory, under the direction of WE. Cooke. Vol. ii. 
Pp. too. Vol. ii. Pp. 103. (Perth, Western Aus- 
tralia.) 

The Romance of Scientific Discovery. By C. R. 
Gibson. Pp. 318+plates. (London: Seeley, Service 
and Co., Ltd.) 5s. 

Researches in Magneto-optics. By Prof. P. Zee- 
man. Pp. xv+219+viii plates. (London: Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd.) 6s. net. 

Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences. Vol. i., 


Logic. By A. Ruge, W. Windelband, J. Royce, L. 
Couturat, ‘and others. Translated by B. Ethel Meyer. 
Pp. x +269. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 
7s. 6d. net. 

Cotton Spinning. By W. S. Taggart. Vol. i. 
Fourth edition. Pp. xxxvi+262. Vol. ii. Fifth 


edition. Pp. .xiv+245. (London: Macmillan and 
Co., Ltd.) 4s. net each vol. 
NO. 2290, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 


A First Course in Projective Geometry. By E. H- 
Smart. Pp. xxiii+273. (London: Macmillan and 
Goi; Ltd.) 7s. 6d. 


The Catskill Water Supply of New York City. By 
L.. White. Pp. xxxii+755. (New York: J. Wiley 
and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 
25s. 6d. net. 

The Improvement of Rivers. By B. F. Thomas and 
D. A. Watt. Second edition, re-written and enlarged. 
In two parts. Part i., pp. xiv+369+plates 1-45. 
Part ii., pp. ix+ 334-749 + plates 45a-76. (New York: 
J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London : Chapman and Hall, 
Ltd.) 2 vols., 31s. 6d. net. 

A Treatise on Wooden Trestle Bridges and their 
Concrete Substitutes according to the Present Practice 
on American Railroads. By W. C. Foster. Fourth 
edition, revised and enlarged. Pp. xix+440+76 plates. 
(New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: 
Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 21s. net. 

Weltsprache und ‘Wissenschaft. Gedanken liber die 
Einfiihrung der internationalen Hilfsprache in die 
Wissenschaft. By Prof. L. Couturat, Prof. O. Jesper- 
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CONTENTS. PAGE ~ 
The Structure of the Atmosphere in Clear Weather. 
Ry Dr, W..N. Shaw, F.RS. 3) ee 57 
Bactdlory and Medicine. By R. T. S| ae 59 
Gur Bookshelf ==. 2 5:5 eee 3. cotra e 


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Note on the Dicynodont _ Vomer.—Igerna 'B. "gf 


Sollas; Prof. W. J. Sollas,;\F;R:S) ] See 61 
An Aural Tllusion,—Norman Alliston. _ 61 
The Ninth International Physiological Compeell 
By Dr. C. Lovatt Evans.) ).). 3 70) ee 61 
The Duab of Turkestan. (J//ustrated.) ..... 64 
The British Association Birmingham Meeting, By 
At OR ee rc cr 65 
Section A.—Mathematies and Physics.—Opening Ad- 
dress by H. F. Baker, Sc.D., F.R.S,, President 
of the Section ...) ji ene 69 
Section B.—Chemistry.—Opening Address by Prof. 
W. P. Wynne, D.Sc., F.R.S., President of the 
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Wotes 20... | «. 7.0” cueing Se ain gt 81 
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New Laboratory Spectroscopic Results. ... 1 sae 86 
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Chart: .0\. 6.10) ee iaiaeteenie ted a) beste enn 86 
The Extension of the Zone Time System .) .) caus 87 
Hind’s Nebula -:. 2 5 cts eee! > >) apo 
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NATURE 


XXXiii 


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NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 


IMPERIAL 


COLLEGE 


OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 


SOUTH KENSINGTON, LONDON, S.W. 


The following Special Courses of Advanced Lectures will be 
given, commencing in October next, at the 


ROYAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE. 


Subject. Conducted by 
2 Prof. A. R. ForsytTH, Se. D. 
CALCULUS OF VARIATIONS Math.1)., LL.D., ERS. 
FuNcTions OF Two oR ee A. R. ForsyTH, Sc. D., 
COMPLEX VARIABLES Math.D., LL.D, F.R.S. 
THe THEORY OF SErs OF Porn'rs NES: 
AND THR THEORY OF A REAL AR 
VARIABLE = aes ie 


-Prof. RICHARDSON, 
A: R.C.S2Bi 5c: 


Assist.-Prof. FOWLER, 
AJB GS; FR. Acs 
F.R.S. 
Assist. - Prof. 
DiSe., Pb. D; 
(Mx. 'S.°G. PAINE Bison 
ol oA en 
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY, Part B 
* (of 3 Courses) in Economic 
GEOLOGY 3 aos 


SPECTROSCOPY 


SCHRYVER 
B1io-CHEMISTRY ... : 


Soll. BACTERIOLOGY 


Dr. LArpwortH, M.Inst. 


C.E., F.G:S, 


For further particulars of these and other Courses to follow, 
application should be made to THE RuGISTRAR. 


SESSION OPENS 29th SEPTEMBER, 1913. 


EAST LONDON COLLEGE 


(UNIVERSITY OF LONDON). 
FACULTIES OF ARTS, SCIENCE, AND 


ENGINEERING. 


FEES: TEN GUINEAS PER ANNUM. 
NO ENTRY FEE AND NO REGISTRATION CHARGES. 


Special fees and facilities for Post Graduate 
and Research Students in all Faculties. 


M.A. CLASSES FOR MATHEMATICS. 
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application to the Registrar, or the Principal, 


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THE PGLYIECH NIC, 
REGENT ST., W. 


J. E. K. Strupp, Esq. ... 
Doucias M. Hoace, Esq. 
Rosert Miicnet, Esq. 


THE OPENING 


OF A 


SCIENTIFIC & TECHNICAL SCHOOL 
CINEMATOGRAPHY 


will be inaugurated in the Large Hall on 
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER ist, at 8 p.m. 


Admission Free. 


President, 
Vice-President. 
Director of Education. 


Prospectus on application. All interested are invited. 


WEW SESSION BEGINS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29. 


BIRKBECK COLLEGE, 


BREAMS BUILDINGS, CHANCERY LANE, E.C, 
Principal: G. Armitage-Smith, M.A., D.Lit. 


COURSES OF STUDY (Day and Evening) for the Degrees of the 
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON in the 


FACULTIES OF SCIENCE & ARTS 
(PASS AND HONOURS) 
under RECOGNISED TEACHERS of the University. 


SCIENCE.—Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics (Pure and 
Applied), Botany, Zoology, Geology and Mineralogy. 


ARTS.—Latin, Greek, English, Freneh, German, Italian, 
History, Geography, Logie, Economies, Mathematies (Pure 
and Applied). 


Evening Courses for the Degrees in Economics and Law. 


Day: Science, £17 10s.; Arts, £10 10s. 
SESSIONAL FEES { Evening: Science, Arts, or Economics, £5 5s, 


POST-GRADUATE AND RESEARCH WORK. 
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CITY OF LONDON COLLEGE. 


ACTING IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE LONDON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. 
WHITE S8T.,and ROPEMAKER S8T., MOORFIELDS, E.C. 


(Near Moorgate and Liverpool Street Stations). 
PRINCIPAL: SIDNEY HUMPHRIES, B.A., LL.B. (Cantab.) 


Michaelmas Term begins Monday, September 29th. 


EVENING CLASSES in SCIENCE. Well-equipped 
LABORATORIES for Practical Work in CHEMISTRY, 
BOTANY, GEOLOGY. 


Special Courses for Pharmaceutical and other examinations. Classes 
are also held in all Commercial Subjects, in Languages, and Literature. 
Art Studio. All Classes are open to both sexes. 


DAY SCHOOL OFCOMMERCE Preparation fora COMMERCIAL 
or BUSINESS career. 


Prospectuses, and all other information, gratis on application. 


DAVID SAVAGE, Secretary. 


SOUTH-WESTERN POLYTECHNIG INSTITUTE, 
MANRESA ROAD, CHELSEA, S.W. 


.Day Courses under recognised Teachers in Preparation for 


London University Degrees in Mechanical and Electrical 
Suh dat in Chemistry, Physics and Natural Science; 
and Technical Courses arranged to extend over Three Years 
and Prepare for Engineering, Electrical, Chemical and 
Metallurgical Professions. Session Fee, £15. 
Evening Courses in all Departments :— 


Mathematics—*J. Lister, A.R.C.S., *T. G. Strain, M.A.; Physics— 
*S. Skinner, M.A., *L. Lownps, B.Sc., Ph.D., *F. W. JorDAN, B.Sc. ; 
Chemistry—*J. B. Coteman, A,R.C.S., *J. C. Crocker, M.A., D.Sc., 
and *F. H. Lowe, M.Sc.; Botany—*H. B. Lacsy, S. E. CHANDLER, 
D.Sc., and *W. Rusuton, A.R.C.S., D.1.C. ; Geology—*A. J. MASLEN, 
F.G.S., F.L.S.; Human Physiology—E. L. Kennaway, M.A., M.D. ; 
Zoology—*J. T. Cunnincuam, M.A.; Engineering—*W. CAmPpBELL 
Houston, B.Sc., A.M.I.C.E., *V. C. Davies, B.Sc., and H. AUGHTIE ; 
Electrical Engineering—*A, J. Makower, M.A., *B. H. Morpuy, and 
U. A. OscHwatp, B.A, 

*Recognised Teacher of the University of London, 

Prospectus from the SECRETARY, post free, 4d. ; at the Office, 1d. 


‘Velephone : 899 Western. SIDNEY SKINNER, M.A., Princip?l. 


LEITH NAUTICAL COLLEGE, 
(A CENTRAL INSTITUTION.) 


This College is open Day and Evening during the whole year. Instruc- 
tion is given in Higher Nautical Subjects, Naval Architecture (including 
Laying-off), Marine Engineering, Ship Electricity (including Wireless 
Telegraphy), the Physics of the Sea, Maritime Law and Practice, Ship 
Surgery and Medicine, Signalling, and Seamanship. 

Candidates are prepared for the Beard of Trade Examina ions of Extra 
Masters, Masters, Mates, and Fi-hermen. Fishermen's Classes are also 
held in the outports of South-east Scotland. 
hs ata for the instruction of Teachers in Navigation (Art. 55) may be 

eld. 

Classes for instruction in Wireless Telegraphy will be commenced about 
pla of October, when the new Marconi installation (1 KW) will be 
ready. 

The Winter Evening C'asses in most of the above subjects will com- 
mence on October 7. 

Certain Sea Bursaries are tenable at the College. 

‘The staff consists of 13 specialists. 

See College prospectus. Apply Nautical College, Commercial Street, 


Leith. 
HUGH C. SOMERVILLE, Hon. Sec. 
J. BOLAM, Principal. 


THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 10913. 


ELECTRICAL STANDARDS. 
Reports of the Committee on Electrical Standards 
appointed by the British Association. Pp. 

xxiv +783+10 plates. (Cambridge: University 

Press, 1913.) Price 12s. 6d. net. 

HE reissue by the Cambridge University 
Press of the annual Reports of the Com- 
mittee on Electrical Standards, with Mr. F. E. 
Smith as editor, has placed in our hands in a 
convenient form an extremely interesting chapter 
of the history of scientific research in this country. 
The committee was first appointed in 1861, as the 
outcome of a paper on the subject by the late Sir 
Charles Bright and Mr. Latimer Clark. At that 
time no generally recognised system of elec- 
‘trical units existed, and its initial object was to 
decide on the most convenient unit of resistance 
and embody it in a material standard. Its first 
members were Profs. W. Thomson, Williamson, 
Wheatstone, and Miller, Dr. Mattiessen, and Mr. 
Jenkin. Seven other members, including Profs. 
Maxwell, Stewart, and Dr. Joule, were added in 
1863, and four others, including Prof. C. Foster 
and Mr. Hoskin, in 1867. 

During the first eight years of its existence the 
committee displayed great activity, its first six 
annual reports covering 290 pages of the book, 
the contributions of the members named _ being 
especially prominent. Asa result a unit equal to 
10? cm. per second had been adopted, and 
named at first the Ohmad and subsequently the 
Ohm. This had been embodied in wires of several 
_ materials, and in a column of mercury of a square 
millimetre section and 10485 cm. long. 
In its seventh report in 1870 the committee com- 
plained of the difficulty of getting its many 
members together, and of the remissness of its 
subcommittees, and suggested that the further 
problems of selecting units of capacity, difference 
of potential and current, and the construction of 
standards, be dealt with by new committees. 
Neither the old committee nor the suggested new 
committees were appointed, however, until 1880, 
when other measurements had cast doubt on the 
accuracy of the committee’s ohm, and four of its 
original members, and nine others, were consti- 
tuted the re-appointed committee charged with the 
construction of standards of resistance, capacity, 
and electromotive force. 

For the next twenty years the activities of the 
committee centred round the Cavendish Labora- 
tory at Cambridge, where under Lord Rayleigh 
the value of the old ohm was shown to be more 
than 1 per cent. too low, and under Dr. Glaze- 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


NATURE gl 


brook a systematic comparison of the various 
copies of the ohm was kept up for many 
years as° a. test of their relative” per- 
manency. Standard capacities were also con- 
structed, but the middle years of this period were 
chiefly occupied with the Clark cell as the standard 
of electromotive force. The end of the period 
brought the question of the measurement of 
current by the “current balance” to the fore, and 
for the next decade the work of the committee 
was centred in the National Physical Laboratory, 
and fell largely on the shoulders of Mr. F. E. 
Smith. Under the new conditions the order of 
accuracy of the results obtained was rapidly in- 
creased, and at the present time measurements of 
electrical resistance, current, and electromotive 
force can be made in terms of the international 
units with an accuracy of about five parts in 
100,000. 

The work of constructing practical electrical 
standards for which the committee was appointed 
fifty years ago has therefore been achieved, and 
each of the twenty-two members who formed the 
committee last year when it dissolved, may look 
back with satisfaction to his share in an advance 
of national and international importance. 

The book is well printed, the type used is larger 
than that of the British Association Reports, and 
the spacing between the lines is somewhat greater. 
The index covers ten pages, and much facilitates 
the use of the work. A list of the whole of the 
members of the committee, with their years of 
service, is given in the introduction, but the 
familiar headings to the reports with the names of 
the members, and the specification of the chair- 
man and secretary, have been omitted, much to 
the present writer’s regret. Cobia 


TRADE WASTE WATERS. 


A Text-book on Trade. Waste Waters: their 
Nature and Disposal. By Dr. H. Maclean 
Wilson and Dr. H. T. Calvert. Pp.. xii+ 340. 


(London: C. Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 

18s. net. 

ANUFACTURING prosperity implies the 
M increasing production of trade waste 
waters, and the increased pollution of our rivers 
unless the greatest care is taken to utilise or 
minimise such waste, or processes of purification 
more efficient than many of those in general use 
are adopted. 

In north and central England the problems atten- 
dant upon the utilisation or purification of waste 
liquors are numerous and of special importance, 
but there are few districts in this country where 
difficulties do not occasionally arise. The authors 


- of this work, as chief officials of the West Riding 


E 


e NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 25, I913 


of Yorkshire Rivers Board, have had ample oppor- 
tunity of gaining experience, and they have turned 
this to good account, having placed the results 
of their labours and observation at the disposal of 
all who are interested in the subject. The trades 
dealt with are so numerous and so varied in char- 
acter that it has been apparently impossible to 
describe any process of purification of wide applic- 
ability, hence the trades are dealt with separately, 
and in most cases exhaustively. 

The detailed illustrations of different kinds of 
purification plants are numerous, and greatly en- 
hance the utility of the work. Wherever it has 
been found possible to utilise a waste liquor, and 
such cases will become more and more numerous 
as greater care is taken to improve the condition 
of our rivers, the results actually obtained are 
given. Upon occasions it is found that one waste 
liquor may be used for purifying another, in itself 
a process of utilisation, and upon others that by 
modifying a process or improving a plant the 
amount of waste could be markedly decreased. 
The authors’ experience, moreover, is not limited 
to this country, since they have visited Germany 
and France to see processes actually at work, and 
they have availed themselves of the evidence given 
before Royal and other Commissions. 

The book is therefore thoroughly up to date, 
but excellent as it is it does not solve, nor does 
it pretend to solve, all the difficulties with which 
local authorities have to deal. For example, the 
writer is now attempting to deal with the waste 
liquor from a “producer ” gas plant, in which gas 
is made from sawdust and wood-shavings. He 
naturally hoped to obtain assistance by consulting 
this work, but the information available is too 
meagre. An excellent feature of the book is that 
it describes the origin and nature of the polluting 
waste liquors dealt with, and then sets out the 
means which have in actual practice been found 
most successful in dealing therewith. At the end 
of each section is a bibliography, which is par- 
ticularly useful. 

The authors are to be congratulated upon 
having produced a work which was urgently 
required, and will be as useful to the manu- 
facturers as to sanitary authorities and their 
officials. It becomes increasingly obvious as our 
knowledge of trade processes is broadened that a 
great deal of the river pollution which now takes 
place is easily preventible, and it is to be hoped 
that one of the results of making this special 
knowledge more accessible will be to encourage 
both manufacturers and local authorities in their 
endeavours to take such steps as will tend to 


ENGINEERING MANUALS AND 
TEXT-BOOKS. 

(1) A Course of Elementary Workshop Drawing. 
By H. A. Darling. Pp. 172. (London: 
Blackie and Son, Ltd., 1913.) Price 1s. 6d. 

(2) A Text-book on Field Fortification. By 
Colonel G. J. Fiebeger. Third edition. Pp. 
ix+155+xxvii plates. (New York: John Wiley 
and Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 
Torey) Price 8s. 6d. met: 

(3) Machine Construction and Drawing. By A. 
E. Ingham. Pp. xii+143. (London: George 
Routledge and Sons, Ltd., 1913.) Price 1s. 6d. 
net. 


(4) Earthwork Haul and Overhaul, including 
Economic Distribution. By Prof. J.~C. L. 


Fish. Pp. xiv+165. (New York: John Wiley 
and Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 
1913.) Price 6s. 6d. net. 

(5) Continuous Beams in Reinforced Concrete. 
By Burnard Geen. Pp. iv+210. (London: 
Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1913.) Price gs. net. 

(1) HIS work on elementary drawing is well 

arranged and concisely written. It 
takes the student up to (but not including) inter- 

section of solids, and leaves him there with a 

crop of good ideas regarding the use of familiar 

drawing instruments, and the elements of ortho- 
graphic projection and isometric drawing. The 
catechisms in the form of elementary exercises 
throughout the book are a _ useful addition. 

Works on this subject are seldom charged with 

a sufficient supply of such examples. The chapter 

on “full-size drawing ” is a commendable innova- 


tion, for much work is laid out on a floor full 


size in a workshop, and a knowledge of how to 
lay out designs in this manner forms a part of the 
work in a structural iron works or boiler shop, 
while for a moulding loft it is especially necessary. 


It would have been preferable if more space had. 


been devoted to orthographic projection, and less 
to isometric projection. Moreover, the student 
finds it easier to proceed to the latter from the 
former, and too much time cannot be spent in 
assisting the learner to think in three dimensions. 
This little book should commend itself to teachers 
in elementary mechanical drawing. 

(2) This edition is entirely re-written to bring 
it up to date, the more necessary as the science 
of field fortification expands with the experience 
derived from modern wars. The precision and 
penetrating power of the firearm to-day have raised 
the duty of the sapper to an importance now fully 
recognised, and instruction in the rapid construc- 


restore our rivers and streams to something like } tion of shelters for an army is one of the principal 


their pristine condition of purity. 
NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


features of military science and engineering. The 


a 


SEPTEMBER 25, 1913| 


author, who is professor of civil and military 
engineering at the Westpoint Military Academy, 
draws extensively upon the experience gained in 
recent wars, as far back as the American Civil 
War, and up to the Russo-Japanese war. In this 
period much has taken place to modify field works 
and entrenchments, and the art of concealment 
due to the use of smokeless powder becomes one 
of the characteristic features of military field work. 
It would be impossible to follow the author 
through the various types of entrenchments, 
breastworks, embankments, stockades, palisades, 
revetments, blockhouses, and buildings, that he 
describes and illustrates. It is all clearly set 
forth in short, if somewhat disjointed, sentences. 
The chapters on passage of rivers and military 
demolitions contain little that is new, but there is 
quite enough new material in the book without 
expecting something fresh on every page. The 
work should prove to be valuable to the student 
of military science. 

(3) In the preface the author states his intention 
of providing a course of training in machine con- 
struction and drawing, not only to conform to 
the requirements of actual workshop practice, 
but to provide approximately a year’s work in 
the evening technical school. This he has done by 
rendering numerous examples of parts of machines, 
reserving for each general type a separate chapter, 
the first four chapters being devoted to such 
elementary matters as nuts, bolts, screws, and 
riveted joints. The student is supposed to have 
a fair acquaintance with mechanical drawing be- 
fore entering on the subjects in this book. The 
machine details and examples are of the usual 
pattern. 

(4) Perhaps a more descriptive title for this 
book would be one which conveyed the impression 
of economical operations in excavations and fill- 
ings for railways, for such is the matter of which 
it treats. The term “overhaul” is employed to 
describe a distance of hauling excavated materials 
in excess of a specified distance on the basis of 
which the contract is let. Overhaul is the product 
of the number of cubic yards hauled by the 
average overhaul distance. The unit of haul 
used throughout the work is the station-yard, the 
station being a distance of 100 ft., and the volume 
the cubic yard. By taking cross-sections of cuts 
and fills mass curves are drawn, due allowance 
being made for the “swell ratio,” or the increase 
in bulk resulting from moving the material from 
its initial position to a fill. The engineer and con- 
tractor would derive much condensed information 
from the examples that are worked out, showing 
for different cross-sections the most economical 
way of handling the material. Such problems 

NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


| are, however, capable of indefinite variations, but 
the author has covered the ground by illustrative 
types which point the way to solutions in special 
cases. 

(5) In the form of diagrams information is set 
forth for the rapid calculation of the maximum 
possible bending moments, vertical and horizontal 
shearing forces, and stirrups or binding for any 
number of equal continuous spans with any 
possible arrangement of loading of complete spans 
for all types of loading generally met with in 
practice. The work contains sixty-nine diagrams 
besides tables, and the bending moments and shear 
for continuous girders up to five spans are shown. 
It would have added considerably to the value of 
the work if scales had been put to all the diagrams ; 
as it is, some of them are bare, without any 
scales or reference marks. They are very in- 
structive as showing the variation of bending 
moment and shear in continuous beams, and are 
capable of wide application. 


DIET AND HEALTH. 

(1) Health Through Diet: A Practical Guide to 
the Uric-Acid-Free Diet. By Kenneth G. Haig. 
With the Advice and Assistance of Dr. Alex- 
ander Haig. Pp. x+227. (London: Methuen 
and €o;, Etd:, n.d.) Price gs. 6d. net. 

(2) The Elements of Heating and Ventilation. A 
Text-book for Students, Engineers, and Archi- 
tects. By Prof. A. M. Greene, jun. Pp. vi+ 
324. (New York: John Wiley and Sons; 
London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1913.) 
Price ros. 6d. net. 

(3) Chloride of Lime in Sanitation. By A. H. 
Hooker. Pp. v+231. (New York: John 
Wiley and Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, 
Ltd., 1913.) 

(1) HIS little volume is most practical in 

its treatment of problems of diet. The 
author approaches the subject with such whole- 
hearted enthusiasm that he equals, if not excels, 
that of his father, whose work he continues and 
extends. The rules emphasised as to selection 
of food are to secure ample proteid, and a pre- 
ferential position for this in making up a dietary, 
so that digestion shall not be previously weakened 
by any less valuable constituent. 

Four classes of food are given, the above coming 
first, then the cereals, then a mixed group of 
fruits and vegetables with the vegetable and 
animal fats. Lastly foods containing no nourish- 
ment (proteid)—tapioca, arrowroot, and com- 
mercial cornflour. Two meals a day are recom- 
mended, the optima being 11.30 a.m. and 7.30 
p.m., though the author admits practical difficulty 
in the former. 


94 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 


An interesting claim made is that the use of hard 
water causes visceral retention of uric acid. The 
rheumatism of peasants using but little meat in 
certain districts of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland 
he attributes to the abuse of tea, and in a lesser 
degree to exposure to cold. In referring to the 
“frugivorous teeth” of man it is suggested that 
the proneness to decay may be in the nature of a 
penalty for attempting to use these as “carni- 
vorous” organs. No mention is made here of 
the dentists’ opinion that the essentially decay- 
producing foods are those “claggy” with local 
acid fermentation to follow, e.g. the bun and 
glass of milk at night. 

(2) This work will appeal especially to the 
engineer, as the author has endeavoured through- 
out to give the data and laws required in design- 
ing to any specification. Following American 
practice, very low outer temperatures are reckoned 
with, such as 0° F. as lasting some days. 

The temperatures set forth as optima for various 
kinds of room are higher than those in use in this 
country. Thus a hospital ward is taken at 72°F., 
and rooms, offices, and laboratories at 70°F. 
Chimneys—other than furnace-flues—appear to be 
unknown, implicit reliance being placed on a com- 
bination of air warming with induction or exhaus- 
tion methods. 

The section dealing with the flow of air in ducts 
is well considered, and the anemometer is recom- 
mended for velocities not exceeding 1500 ft. per 
minute. After reviewing the Pitot, Venturi, and 
orifice devices the author mentions a novel and 
ingenious method depending on the increased tem- 
perature found after using a known amount of 
electrical energy, and so from this arriving 
at the mass of the air so warmed. 

The criterion adopted for purity of the air is 
the old chemical standard of carbonic acid, where, 
taking 4 per 10,000 as low, 11 as causing oppres- 
sion, 7 is taken for those ill, and 15 permissible in 
a group of healthy persons. An_ estimation 
apparatus in portable form, adapted for accurate 
work with small amounts of air, is illustrated and 
described, and appears likely to give good results 
as the pressure correction is simple and delicate. 

Humidity has to be considered where air is 
artificially warmed, and various forms of apparatus 
are shown, though the hot-air system outlined at 
the commencement appears to have none. Prof. 


Greene points out the objectionable features of | 


both extremes, but does not realise how, to English 
ways of thinking, the dryness is usually overdone. 
He points out a weak point in Mason’s hygro- 
meter, namely, its inaccuracy in still air, but the 
sling instrument shown does not impress one as 
practicable for average observers. 

NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


The discussion of the wet-bulb temperature and 
its cause for exceeding the dew-point is lucid 
and interesting. Carrier’s work showing the 
mode of warming the wet bulb by heat rendered 
sensible is quoted briefly. After alluding to the 
disturbance of the mucous membranes by exposure 
to air itself too dry, no reference is made to the 
well-known feelings of malaise and depression 
brought about by life in a system of manipulated 
air monotonous in character. No matter what 
may be the carbonic-acid content, the normal 
cutaneous stimulus is lost. et 

(3) The author of this monograph is the 
technical director of a large American electro- 
chemical company. The work falls into two por- 
tions: (1) The text—in which is a general descrip- 
tion of the substance and its mode of action. This 
is continued by accounts of six main applications to 
public health work, thus: Water purification, 
sewage disinfection, street flushing, medical and 
surgical uses, agricultural, house-fly campaign 
(68 pp.). (2) A series of summarised references 
and reports dealing very fully with American 
practice, but which also includes many quotations 
from English publications (154 pp.). 

The mode of its action being essentially that of 
oxidation is well stated, and the confusion with 
chlorine preparations pointed out. 

The relative unsuitability of copper sulphate 
additions to polluted water destined for anima 
consumption is well brought out in the account of 
the Chicago stockyard and the sewage-contamin- 
ated waters of Babbly Creek. The animals 
were found to thrive less than when allowed 
to drink city water. The change was made 
to hypochlorite treatment, with the result 
that a purer water organically was obtained than 
from the city mains by some thirty-seven times 
less B. coli frequency. 

Limits to the powers of hypochlorite are given 
on pp. 22 and 23. But though small in quan- 
tity, it should be clearly shown that some increase 
in hardness is inevitable in the water treated by 
it. 

The volume concludes with an admirable index 
arranged separately under subjects and names. 


OUR BOOKSHELF, 


The Under Dog: a Series of Papers by Various 
Authors on the Wrongs Suffered by Animals at 
the Hand of Man. Edited by S. Trist. Pp. 
xv+203+v. (London: Animals’ Guardian 
Office, 1913.) Cloth, 3s. 6d.; paper, Is. 

Apart from the main title, which is much more 

suitable for a novel, and utterly fails to convey the 

faintest inkling as to the nature of its subject, the 
editor and authors of this volume are to be con- 


EEE 


= 


SEPTEMBER 25, 1913] 


NATURE 


gratulated on the fair and temperate manner in 
which they have brought their case before the 
court of public opinion. Pain and suffering are 
unfortunately inseparable from the lot of many 
kinds of domesticated animals, as well as of those 
wild species which are hunted for sport or for their 
spoils; but it is the bounden and paramount duty 
of all civilised nations to see that these are reduced 
to the smallest possible minimum. Those who read 
this book—and it is, for the most part, at any rate, 
very painful reading—will, however, be convinced 
that even in our own country matters too often are 
by no means as they should be in this respect. In 
fact the authors have, unhappily, in many in- 
stances, a very strong, and in almost every in- 
stance a very sad, case; and it is sincerely to be 
hoped that their book may be the means of bring- 
ing to pass a better state of affairs in regard to our 
treatment of the lower animals in such cases as 
amendment and amelioration are most urgent and 
at the same time practicable. Apart from the 
ruthless slaughter of birds for their plumage— 
accompanied too frequently by the lingering 
starvation of their helpless young—one of «the 
worst and most pitiable cases in the whole sad 
story is the treatment meted out to. worn-out 
horses; and it must indeed be a hardened heart 
which is not rent by the illustrations depicting 
these wretched animals on their last journeys. 
Fortunately, several European Governments are 
already awake to the need of stringent measures to 
remedy this crying evil, and we trust the present 
volume may give a further stimulus to their 
efforts. Roos. 


Les Moteurs Thermiques dans leurs Rapports 
avec la Thermodynamique. Moteurs 4 explosion 
et & Combustion. Machines Alternatives a 
Vapeur. Turbines 4 Vapeur. By F. Moritz. 
Pp. vi+297. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1913.) 
Price 13 francs. 

In writing this book on heat engines the author 

has divided very unequally the space given to 

engines operating with external combustion and 
those in which combustion takes place inside the 
cylinder. By far the larger part is given up to 


the steam engine, and particularly the steam | 
et P f _helium. Also, the Ritz series of infra-red hydrogen 


turbine. As is usual in French books, mathemati- 
cal analysis is the natural line of approach to any 


difficult problem, however obscure the relationship | Apart from this, I find it difficult to believe that the 


The book is divided into | 


of theory and practice. 
six chapters, of which the first two relate to the 
laws of thermodynamics—and a very careful and 
complete statement of them is given—to gaseous 


meant by entropy. 

The twenty-five pages of chapter iii. are made 
to suffice for the application of preceding 
theory to the gas engine, and as a natural con- 
sequence of such compression the conclusions 
reached are incomplete. The gaseous mixture 
used in the gas engine is throughout assumed to 
have a specific heat quite independent of all tem- 
perature changes—an assumption which naturally 
removes almost all practical value from any con- 
clusions which may be arrived at on theoretical 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


95 
grounds. The chapter concludes with the follow- 
ing quaint suggestion :—‘‘On peut en tirer des 


conclusions practiques intéressantes, par example, 
sur l’influence de la circulation d’eau autour des 
cylindres. Nous laissons au lecteur le soin de 
faire cette comparison pour tous les cas qui 
peuvent se présenter a lui.” 

Chapters iv., v., and vi. (some two hundred 
pages) are given up to piston steam engines and 
steam turbines. The author shows much skill in 
his analysis of the theory of jets and of turbine 
flow; he treats very fully also of turbine leakage, 
and uses freely the entropy diagram to illustrate 
his meaning. Students of the steam turbine will 
find M. Moritz’ book both interesting and stimu- 
lating. 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


{The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


The Spectra of Helium and Hydrogen. 


Wir regard to Mr. Evans’s communication to 
NaturE, September 4, p. 5, I should like to remark 
that while I have for some time recognised that the 
experimental evidence, on the whole, seems to be in 
favour of helium as the origin of the new lines 4686, 
&c., it should not be too hastily concluded that they are 
not due to hydrogen. Mr. Evans appears to have 
succeeded in eliminating the ordinary spectroscopic 
indications of hydrogen from his helium tubes, but is 
it not possible that, under the special conditions of 
the strongly disruptive discharge, with helium also 
present, residual hydrogen may be represented only 
by the new lines? This would not be the only known 
case in which the presence of helium aids the de- 
velopment of the spectrum of another gas with which 
it is mixed. I have observed this effect in the case 
of the series of bands of carbonic oxide which are 
characteristic of the tails of comets; these bands are 


| of very feeble intensity at the low pressures necessary 


for their approximate isolation in the spectrum of the 
pure gas, but I have seen them greatly intensified 
when carbonic oxide was present as an impurity in 


lines was found by Paschen to be brighter in a mixture 
of hydrogen and helium than in hydrogen alone. 


close agreement of one set of lines with the principal 
series calculated for hydrogen by Rydberg is merely 
accidental. 

Dr. Bohr’s theory (Phil. Mag., July, 1913) does not 


cycles and to a concise explanation of what is | 2t Present seem to me to give much evidence for 
| helium, in preference to hydrogen, as the origin of 


the lines in question. The formula derived from the 
theory gives no better agreement with the observations 
than that of Rydberg, so far as the two are com- 
parable, and apparently requires that the seven ob- 


| served lines, beginning with 4686, should be capable 


of arrangement in a single series. I think, however, 
that the lines cannot be so united within the limits 
of error of observation, though very nearly so, and 
I believe that my separation into two series converg- 
ing to the same limit is correct. The necessity for 
two series is rather more clearly indicated in the case 
of the analogous series of magnesium spark lines 


96 


which I have lately described (Proc. Roy. Soc., 
vol, Ixxxix., p. 133). Moreover, the merging of two 
such series into one formula is open to the objection 
that it involves multiplication by 4 of the series con- 
stant, which would otherwise be universal. It may 
be possible, however, to test this point by observations 
of the Zeeman effects on the lines, and I shall make 
this experiment at the first opportunity. 

I may add that experiments made by Prof. Strutt 
and myself are in harmony with those of Mr. Evans 
in showing that the lines under consideration do not 
occur in mixtures of hydrogen with neon or argon. 

A. FOWLER. 

Imperial College of Science and Technology, 

South Kensington, September 13. 


The Elephant Trench at Dewlish—Was it Dug? 


THE Rev. Osmond Fisher makes the interesting 
suggestion that the curious trough at Dewlish, in 
which numerous remains of Elephas meridionalis were 
found, was an artificial trench, dug as a sort of pit- 
fall to intercept and disable wild animals driven 
across it. Perhaps, as having seen the excavations 
made by Mr. Mansel-Pleydell, I may say a word on 
this point. 

Open trenches in the soft chalk are unknown else- 
where, though they are common enough in the hard 
mountain limestone. I therefore examined this 
trench most carefully, in order to find out how it had 
originated, and whether man had had anything to do 
with it. I am still much puzzled as to its exact mode 
of excavation; but certain peculiarities convinced me 
that it was due to natural agencies, and that it was 
probably cut by the swirl of the fine dust-like quartz- 
sand which, mixed with polished flints, now fills its 
lower part. I could find no implements, and could 
nowhere see traces of pick marks. The sides of the 
trench, where not damaged by the workmen who had 
just cleared it, were curiously smooth; but the flint- 
nodules projected into the cavity from either side, as 
though the softer chalk had been scoured away. The 
abrupt rounded end of the trench was most peculiar, 
and as I cleaned this out myself, dusting away the 
sand from the smoothed face of the chalk, I am sure 
that there were here neither tool-marks nor rubbings 
such as might be made by a man working in the 
trench, or by wild beasts. In short, the smooth, 
rounded contours suggested the eddying of wind, and 
the absence of any crack or joint showed that here 
at any rate the rounding was not likely to be due to 
percolating water. 

Beneath the elephant bones, which occurred in a 
layer a few feet down, the infilling of the trench 
seems to be a fine dust-like, unfossiliferous sand, 
which was not bottomed, as Mr. Mansel-Pleydell’s 
excavations were made primarily to obtain elephant 
remains, and these were in such a soft condition as 
to make removal almost impossible. If this sand- 
filled fissure is found to continue downward, but is 
too narrow for a man to work in, it will show that 
the trench is not artificial. I could only just squeeze 
past in one or two places; but the upper part of the 
trench was passable; I think, however, that it tended 
to narrow downward, but at the time of my visit the 
bones had not been removed, and I could not excavate 
below them. 

Perhaps someone acquainted with plateaus of soft 
limestone under desert conditions can say whether 
there is any tendency for the wind to cut trenches 
with rounded blind ends, such as the Dewlish trench 
has. In this connection, it is worth noting that our 
newer Pliocene Jand-faunas show distinct indications 
of drier and more sunny conditions than we have at 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 


present. A gazelle, an antelope, and several land and 
fresh-water mollusca point in that direction. Under 


_ dry conditions, and before the loose flints were swept 


away during the glacial period, our chalk-downs 


' would probably be stony deserts, quite unlike the 


green hills we now see. CLEMENT REID. 


Milford-on-Sea. 


Red-water Phenomenon due to Euglena. 


THE red-water phenomenon due to a Euglena - 


described by Prof. Dendy in Nature of August 7 has 
been observed by me in Pretoria. In this case, how- 
ever, the Euglena swims freely about in the water, 
and also forms a red gelatinous scum on the surface 
of the damp mud on the side of the pond. In swim- 
ming they seldom show euglenoid. movement. A 
flagellum longer than the body can be easily seen 
under the microscope at the anterior end of the body, 
but it always trails along the body with lashing 
movements. If they become stranded on the mud at 
the edge of the pond, they soon become spherical and 
encysted in a mucilaginous covering much wider than 
the body and showing a layered formation. I have 
not observed any bubbles of gas given off, although | 
have kept large quantities of them under observation 
for long periods. They appear to prefer the encysted 
form, as they always swim to the edge of the vessel 
towards the light and form a deep red line along the 
edge, which gradually becomes dry. If more water 
is added and the vessel turned round, they will leave 
their cysts and again swim towards the light side. 
They are of a fairly large size, and have a cylindrical 
body tapering to a sharp point at the posterior end, 
where the last portion is free from pigment. Chloro- 
phyll is present, and is easily seen amongst the red 
in those that have just come out of the encysted 
stage, but later on it entirely disappears. ‘ 
Horace A. WaGER. 
Transvaal University College, Pretoria. 
August 30. 


Distance of the Visible Horizon. 


Mr. W. Moss’s account in Nature for August 7, 
583, as to how to get the area of a sphere 
theoretically visible at any altitude is interesting; but 
can he, or any of your readers, say what the formula 
is for obtaining the distance actually visible with 
an average amount of refraction? So far as I can 
discover, all ordinary books of tables ignore this, 
although such a table would be very useful. 

A table is given in Chamber’s Mathematical Tables, 
p. 436, for the distance of the visible horizon, but the 
explanation, p.-xl., states that this is theoretical, and 
that a correction for refraction should be made, 
although nowhere is any table or formula given for 
such correction. T. W. BackHOUSE. 

West Hendon House, Sunderland. 

September 6, 1913. 


ATMosPHERIC refraction is such a varying quantity 
that no rule respecting it can be laid down applicable 
in all circumstances; as in cases of mirage, for 
instance, where vessels below the horizon are seen 
standing above it, and turned upside down. The 
refraction of the sea horizon is the great difficulty in 
obtaining correctly the position of vessels at sea. 
This can be eliminated in most cases by taking 
observations of the heavenly bodies to opposite sides 
of the horizon; for latitude in a north as well as 
in a south direction; for longitude in an east as 
well as in a west direction. When only one heavenly 
object is available this is not always practicable, but 
it can be done when the altitude is 60° or upwards. 


i i ee ee i 


a 


SEPTEMBER 25, 1913]| 


NATURE 


97 


_In the appendix to Captain Parry’s *‘ Arctic Voyage, 
1821-3,’’ p. 187, some observations of the sea horizon 
by Mr. Fisher are given. He found a variation of 
18° in the Arctic region, the ice horizon being ele- 
vated in summer and depressed in winter. The 
variation of the place of the apparent horizon, as a 
question of unequal temperature, was discussed 
generally by M. Biot in 1809. But no detailed 
observations on the subject have, so far as 1 am aware, 
been yet made. 

The correction for refraction in obtaining the heights 
of mountains by angles of depression to the water- 
line of points or lighthouses, or by angles of elevation 
from points the height of which has been ascertained, 
is taken empirically, in nautical surveying, as 5th 
the distance of the object observed. The results thus | 
obtained are fairly accurate. For instance, when sur- | 
veying the Gulf of Suez in 1871, the observaticns from 
the summit of Jebel Hooswah gave the results shown | 
in the accompanying table. 


stalled. It may be mentioned that a trial instrument 
was made for the International Seismological Associa- 
tion by the Cambridge Instrument Company, and 
installed on the pier at Newcastle-on-lyne. It did 
its work, but the position is not suitable for the pur- 
poses of correlation. The west coast of Ireland or 
of Norway would have been better. However, prac- 
tical difficulties stood in the way for utilising either 
for the trial instrument. The present instrument, 
made by the same company, has been improved on 
the former, but has as yet no contrivance for regis- 
tering the height or magnitude of the waves, which 
is so very desirable. 

The principle of the instrument is very simple. It 
is based on Boyle’s law, PV =constant. An iron pipe 
—in our case 625 ft. long—is led from the instrument, 
the diaphragm part, to and into the ocean to a depth 
beneath the trough of the assumed highest waves at 
low tide, say 15 ft. The sea-end of the pipe is open. 
The wave passing over it causes the water to rise in 


T. H., Tizarp. the pipe and compress the air beyond, whereby the 
s¢ : | Height of Corrected height 
Pas i iff. aN eat 
Place of observation Object observed ae Henicens res Bese Dist. vol Bt Dip. Pl | Ob 
=F Fea tier. Vv 5 | ace ject 
<9 pet mut ts observed Theod. Serres Wetec 
Summit of Jebel | Water line of Tur point...) — | 1 27 30. +1 21 | 1 28 51| 16°38 |2573, Oo 5 ft. | 237) 2331 ° 
Hooswah ; 50 at Tur ... }—]1 20 0 +1 31 | 1 21 31) 18°24 |2633 ° mr 292, 2336 ° 
=F Marabut point | — | 3 57. 0, +0 27 | 3 57 27| 5°48 |2303 o a 26) 2272 fo) 
ae point this side | 
of Marabut;... eeoeiest| — 4) I 0, +0 26 | 4 1 26) 5°35 |228- fo) 3 24 2258 ° 
Watcr line to the right .... — | 4 49 0, +0 23] 4 49 23) 4°60|2358 0 a 19, 2334 fo) 
ve ofstation point — |16 12 0 +0 6 |16 12 6) 1°30 |2295 ° - 1) 2289 fo) 
ay of another 
point with station —|11 18 0 +0 9g |11 18 9] 1°85 2246, Oo =3 3) 2238 fo) 
Water line of another point, — | 8 54 40) +0 12 | 8 54 52| 2'40|2287, Oo on 5| 2277 fo) 
me by Asses ears. — 1614 0 +017 | 6 14 17| 3°48 |2311 fo) - Il. 2295 ° 
Mean height 2292 ft. Max. height observations 2336. Minimum 2238. Range 98 ft. 
For greater distances and heights the angles from and to Jebel Serbal may be given as follows :— 
Summit of Jebel | Water line of Gharib light- | | 
Serbal Hiouse: ©...! lscsliasaianees | —|2 6 of +2 47/2 8 47 33°48 |7623 0 “ 989 6629 fo) 
| Water line of Zaffarana | 
lighthouse see eve | — | I 28 9, +4 53 | I 32 53) 58°55 9613 sx (3025) 6583 ° 
| Point to south-east of Zaf- | | | 
farana lighthouse — | 225 0} +2 24 | 2 27 23) 28°9 |7533 0 »» | 737) 679% ° 
Abu Zenina point ... —]|158 of +3:07/]2 1 73773317994 Oo >» 1230) 6758 ° 
Water line Tur Spit ...| — | 2 42 ) +2 4] 2 44 4 zqrgoli7225; 0 | ,, 551) 6699 fo) 
Summit of Jebel Hooswah | — | 2 30 0} +1 29 | 2 31 29,17°92 4801 2292 ,, 285) 6803 | 2292 
Mean height 6706 ft. Max. 6803. Min. 6583. Extreme range 220 ft. 


The Undagraph. 

Last week the Dominion Astronomical Observatory 
installed at Chebucto, near Halifax, Nova Scotia, a 
wave-counter, which I have called an ‘undagraph.” | 
The site, a granite cliff 110 ft. high, on which is a | 
lighthouse, faces the broad waters of the Atlantic. 
The coast hereabouts is bold and rocky. 

Modern seismographs record tremors of the earth— 
microseisms—not attributable to earthquakes, and in- 
vestigators have traced them to the action of the 
sea during storms. These microseisms manifest 
themseives particularly markedly in Ottawa and in 
Europe from autumn to spring, ?.c. during the winter 
or stormy season. Their period ranges, say, from 
four to seven seconds, and the greater the storm or 
steeper the gradient of the ‘“‘low”’ on the water along 
the coast, the greater is the amplitude of the micro- 
seisms. : 

In order to correlate the period of the waves of the 
ocean which pound upon the coast with the period of 
the microsiesms, the above instrument has been in- 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


leather diaphragm is raised, and electric contact is 
made. By means of the armature of an electro- 
magnet a toothed wheel is pushed forward, one 
tooth for every wave, and with one revolution, or 
120 waves, the recording pen returns to its zero. 
The record presents a series of finely serrated oblique 
lines, each representing 120 waves. Clockwork with 
pen traces at the edge of the paper a time scale, 
making a break every hour, the linear measure of which 
is 6cm. A fresh roll of paper is put on once a week. 
A small leak is provided in the diaphragm chamber, 
to cut out the effect of the slowly rising and ebbing 
tide, which, however, does not affect the rapid action 


| by the waves. 


The sea-end of the pipe gives the most anxiety, as 
it has to resist the immense force of the waves during 
storms. The greater part of the 625 ft. is of half-inch 
galvanised iron pipe, while the ocean end, about 
too ft., is of four-inch pipe, with reducing pipes be- 
tween the preceding two. The bedding of the sub- 
merged part will be in about four tons of concrete 


98 NATURE 


with iron girders surrounding the pipe. The whole 
subject is so new that we have to feel our way in 
this investigation. Here in Ottawa, three hundred 
miles from the nearest sea-coast, we have in a general 
way correlated microseisms recorded by the seismo- 
graph with the storms along the Atlantic coast from 
Cape Hatteras to St. John’s, Newfoundland, a dis- 
tance of 1500 miles, so that for an exhaustive study 
there should be quite a number of undagraphs in- 
stalled. However, a beginning has been made at 
Chebucto, distant in an air-line about 620 miles from 
Ottawa, and the results will be published as soon as 
available. 
Orro Krorz. 
Dominion Astronomical Observatory, 
Ottawa, September 5. 


Geographical Distribution of Phreatoicus. 


Tue occurrence of the isopod Phreatoicus in a 
fresh-water stream near Cape Town, in South Africa, 
as recorded in your issue of June 12 by Mr. Keppel H. 
Barnard, is of very considerable interest from the 
point of view of the geographical distribution of the 
group. Since I described the first species of the 
genus in 1884 our knowledge of this group has grown 
very rapidly, and there are now known three species 
of Phreatoicus in New Zealand, two subterranean and 
one from surface waters, and several species grouped 
under allied genera from Australia and Tasmania. 
The genus is shown both by its generalised character 
and by its distribution to be an ancient one. I have 
long considered that it is probably a fresh-water form 
that has developed in. subantarctic lands, and its dis- 
covery in South Africa seems to confirm this. In 
New Zealand it appears to be confined to the more 
southerly portion, but it was rot found in the: sub- 
antarctic islands to the south of New Zealand when 
these were visited in 1907. It should, however, be 
looked for in other subantarctic islands, particularly 
St. Paul and Amsterdam Islands in the Indian Ocean, 
and the Falkland Islands and adjoining parts of: South 
America. Cuas. CHILTON. 

Biological Laboratory, Canterbury College, N.Z., 

August 7. 


The Characters of Hybrid Larve obtained by Crossing 
Different Species of the Genus Echinus. 


I WAVE carried out this summer hybridisation ex- 
periments on certain species of echinoids, and, in 
view of the interesting condition in which this inquiry 
was left last year by other workers, I venture to 
think that my results may be worth recording. 

In torr, Shearer, De Morgan, and Fuchs, as the 
result of three seasons’ crossing experiments at Ply- 
mouth, stated (Journal M.B.A., ix., 2) that the 
hybrids between Echinus miliaris, on the one hand, 
and E. esculentus or E. acutus, on the other, showed, in 
respect of certain larval characters, a purely maternal 
inheritance. In 1912 the same workers, in a letter 
to Nature, and later in The Quarterly Journal of 
Microscopical Science, published the result of their 
latest experiments, which was, briefly, that when E. 
miliaris was mother the inheritance was paternal. 
They found one culture which was_ exceptional. 
Debaisieux, working at the same time, and inde- 
pendently, first in London upon Plymouth material, 
and afterwards at Millport, obtained substantially 
identical results. These results he expressed in terms 
of dominant and recessive characters in the larvae. 

This disparity between the results of 1912 and those 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


[SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 


of former years raised a number of interesting ques- 
tions, and made urgent a repetition of the experiments 
—a work that at the suggestiom of Prof. E. W. Mac- 
Bride (whose encouragement and advice | gratefully 
acknowledge) I undertook to perform. 


The species used by me were those mentioned 


above, and the symbols, M and m, E and e, A and a, 
may be used to represent the @ and d gametes 
respectively of each of them, the zygotes being then 
written Mm, me, Em, Ee, &c. The larval characters, 
the inheritance of which was studied, were the green 
pigment masses of Mm plutei, on one hand, and, 
on the other, the posterior pair of ciliated epaulettes 
and the posterior pedicellaria of Ee and Aa plutei. 
Debaisieux found the first of these ‘“recessive,’’ the 
other two ‘‘ dominant.” 

In London I succeeded in raising cultures of Mm, 
Em, and Am plutei only, the reciprocal crosses failing 
for want of ripe males. Plymouth sea-urchins were 
used, and sea-water from Lowestoft. The hybrids, 
without exception, showed maternal characters. But 
in these crosses the dominant characters of Debaisieux 
were also maternal characters. I accordingly made 
further experiments at the Millport Marine Biological 
Station during July and August, using E. miltaris 
and E. esculentus only for my crosses. 

After many failures, four healthy cultures of the 
Me cross were reared, one culture to a stage at which 
the anterior epaulettes were formed, the other three 
to the stage of metamorphosis. In the first culture 
green pigment was absent from all the larve 
examined; in the other three cultures all the indi- 
viduals (132) had posterior epaulettes, eighty-one had 
the posterior pedicellaria, none had green pigment. 
The reciprocal cross 
agreed in its charac- 
ters with the one 
made in London. 

There was a very 
notable difficulty in 
making the Me cross 
—a difficulty which 
would seem to be in- 


trinsic, and uncon- 
nected with any 
defect in the egg, 
because it has  oc- 
curred again ané 


again in experiments . “%. 
in which the Mm i 
and Ee controls have 
poth yielded good 
cultures ot plutei. 
The E£. miliaris used 
as parents were 
small, and the 
ovaries contained a 
large proportion of : 
unripe eggs; but a majority of the apparently ripe 
eggs developed, when fertilised with sperm of their 
own species, while only a small proportion developed 
when E. esculentus sperm was used. 


The mortality in the Me cultures finally examined | 


was unusually low after the blastula stage, and could 
be assessed with considerable accuracy on account of 
the small number of individuals in a culture. Differ- 
ential mortality would seem then to be improbable as 
accounting for the final character of a culture. 

The sketch shows a hybrid pluteus (Em) as seen 
from the left side: a, anterior epaulettes; # posterior 
epaulette; pp, posterior pedicellaria. 

H. G, NEwrTu. 

Zoological Department, Imperial College of 

Science and Technology. 


a ae ee 


a) 


A 
a 
) 


‘of the evening a 


SEPTEMBER 25, 1913]| 


NATURE 


99 


THE “GESELLSCHAFT URANIA” OF | 


BERLIN. 
pa illustrated article on the ‘Gesellschaft 
Urania” of Berlin, by Dr. P. Schwahn, 
appeared in the June issue of Himmel und Erde. 
On April 29 the society celebrated its twenty- 


fifth anniversary, when a distinguished audience | 


gathered in the large theatre of the Urania build- 
ing in the Tauben-strasse. Among those present 
were representatives from the various state de- 
partments of Germany and from the municipality 
of Berlin; members of the professorial staff of the 
University and the Charlottenburg Technical 


Institute ; repre- 
sentatives of the 
various learned 
societies of Ger- 
many and many 
-members of the 
leading __ technical 


and manufacturing 
firms of Germany. 
During the course 


congratulatory tele- 


gram was_ read 
from the Kaiser. 
The proceedings 
were opened by 


Prof. Foerster, who 
gave a brief histori- 
cal survey of the 
origin and work of 
the society during 
the last twenty-five 
years, and a lecture 
was delivered by 
Prof. Donath, the 
director of the 
physics department 
of the institution, 
in the course of 
which some of the 
most recent results 


and _ applications 
which have arisen 
from the classical 


discoveries of Hertz 
and of Réntgen 
were demonstrated. 

The society was 
formed in 1888, at a time when the applica- 
tions of electrical science were beginning to 
excite the interest of the general public. Its 
object was the foundation of 
institution which should foster and stimulate the 
interest of the people in scientific knowledge and 
acquaint them with the more important advances 
and applications of science. Among the origina- 
tors of the scheme were Werner von Siemens and 
Prof. Wilhelm Foerster, the director of the Royal 
Observatory of Berlin. The Minister of Educa- 
tion expressed his sympathy with the scheme and 
through his kindly interest a suitable building site 
was obtained in the Ausstellungs Park, near the 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


an educational | 


Lehrte Bahnhof. By the aid of public subscrip- 
tions the building “Urania” was erected and 
equipped. The building contained a_ lecture 
theatre, galleries for the exhibition of scientific 
apparatus, and an astronomical platform. 

The first director of the institution was Dr. 
Wilhelm Meyer, and the popular lectures on 
astronomical and geological subjects which he 
organised proved a great source of attraction. 


| Urania became a popular scientific theatre and 


was visited by the residents of Berlin with as 
much eagerness as the opera house or the theatre. 
The institution, however, did not limit its activities 


' to the provision of popular lectures; systematic 


The ‘‘ Urania” Observatory, in the Ausstellungs Park. 


evening courses in physics, electrotechnics, chem- 
istry, biology, and astronomy were arranged, and 
from time to time eminent men of science both 
of Germany and other countries were invited to 
lecture on special subjects. , 

The need of more extended premises was soon 
felt, and as the Ausstellungs Park was somewhat 
difficult of access, it was thought desirable to 
obtain a site in the centre of the town. Conse- 
quently, in 1896, the operations of the society 
were transferred to a much larger edifice in the 
Tauben-strasse and designated “Urania.” The 
old building in the Ausstellungs Park, now known 
as the “ Urania Sternwarte,” passed into the hands 


100 


of the Government, and with the removal of the 
Royal Observatory from the Encke Platz in 
Berlin to Neubabelsberg is now being utilised with 
its equipment as an astronomical institute in con- 
nection with the Berlin University. Lectures on 
astronomy are still given at the Observatory by 
the society during the winter months, but only 


The “Urania” building, Tauben-strasse, Berlin. 


a portion of the building is open on special days 
in the week to visitors. The large refracting 
telescope, which has a focal length of five metres 
and an aperture of 314 millimetres, and other 
smaller telescopes and instruments may still be 
inspected by the public, and on the appearance 
of comets and occurrence of eclipses the Observa- 


ND) 


ND. 2291, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 25, I913 


tory is visited by large numbers of the general 
public. 

The new institute in the Tauben-strasse, which 
is under the direction of Dr. Schwahn and Franz 
Goerke, contains a large lecture theatre with seat- 
ing accommodation for 700 people and a smaller 
lecture room to hold 200. It is also provided with 
library and reading-room, 
workshop and_ prepara- 
tion rooms. The scien- 
tific exhibits are placed 
in six galleries, two being 
allotted to physics, two 
to natural science, one 
to chemical technology, 
and one to machinery. 
The apparatus exhibited 
in the physics section has 
been arranged to illus- 
trate an ordinary college 
course in experimental 
physics. It is possible 
for the visitor to perform 
for himself many of the 
experiments he would 
see demonstrated in a 
lecture or carry out in a 
laboratory. Thus, he 
may verify the ordinary 
laws of optics, measure 


ip 
B 
i 
: 
; 


bridge, excite the 
kathode rays and deflect 
them with a magnet, and 
so on. This idea was 
due to Prof. Goldstein, 
who had the arrangement 
of the physics apparatus 
in the smaller building in 
the Ausstellungs- Park. 
A similar plan, wherever 
possible, has been fol- 
lowed in the other depart- 
ments, and no doubt has 
proved extremely bene- 
ficial to many earnest 
students who _ prosecute 
their studies in their 
spare time or lack the 
opportunity of a college 
training. 

During the last sixteen 
years the average annual 
number of visitors to 
Urania has been 200,000, 
and the society has 
arranged on an average 


zoo = lectures __yearly. 
Urania has welcomed the members of the 
various scientific congresses which have held 
their conferences in; Berlin during the past 


few years, and the institution numbers among its 
visitors many of the world’s leading men of science. 
From many of these the society has received gifts 
of various objects of scientific interest. 


a resistance with a metre 


SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 | 


The popular scientific lectures have been given 
in many of the larger German towns, and in 1903 
the society was invited by the Russian Govern- 
ment to conduct.a series in St. Petersburg. Urania 
took part in the organisation of the German edu- 
cational section at the Brussels Exhibition of 
1909, and was granted a premier award by the 
Commissioners of the exhibition. With the advent 
of the kinematograph the popularity of the institu- 
tion is still further ensured, and at the present 
time great interest is being displayed in the ex- 
hibitions in the domain of hygiene and the iaws 


Magnetism and electricity gallery of the Urania Society, Berlin, 


of health. Urania is undoubtedly fulfilling the 
wishes of its founders and has become an estab- 
lished factor in the educational life of Germany. 


THE FAUNA OF THE SANDWICH 
ISLANDS.1 

ey 1890 a Joint Committee of the Royal Society 
and of the British Association was formed 

“to report on the present state of our knowledge 
of the Sandwich Islands,” and it at once entered 
into relationship with the Trustees of the Bernice 
P. Bishop Museum at Honolulu. It wisely decided 
to restrict its investigations to the land fauna, and 
it recently issued the last part of its “Fauna 
Hawaiiensis.” Its chairmen have been Sir W. H. 
Flower, Prof. Alfred Newton, and Dr. F. D. God- 
man, while Dr. D. Sharp and Prof. S. J. Hickson 
have respectively been secretary: and treasurer 
during the twenty-three years of its existence. 
A number of the greatest authorities collaborate 
in the production of the “Fauna,” which through- 
out has the high standard usually associated with 
1 “ Fauna Hawaiiensis; or, the Zoology of the Sandwich (Hawaiian) 
Rareaiiod by the Royal Society of London for Promoting Natural Know- 
ledge and the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and 
carried on with the assistance of those Bodies and of the Trustees of the 


Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum at Honolulu. In three volumes. Edited 
by David Sharp, F.R.S. (Cambridge University Press.) 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


| 


| which to feed. 


IOI 


the name of Dr. Sharp. Dr. R. C. L. Perkins 
was the collector and naturalist, and in both lines 
he is pre-eminent. 

Hawaiia has about the area of Yorkshire, and 
consists of eight main islands, of which the fauna 
of six has been collected. California is their 
nearest continental land, being 2100 miles distant, 
while Samoa and Fiji are 30°—40° S. and Tahiti 
is still further away, intervening islands being 
mostly of coral-reef origin. These groups are not 
sufficiently well-known to make a comparison with 
their fauna of much value, but Fiji is usually 
regarded as continental. 
The islands of Hawaiia 
are of volcanic origin 
and vary up to 14,000 
feet in height. They 
present great diversities 
of climate, some coastal 
parts subtropical, the 
mountain summits snow- 
capped in winter, some 
parts relatively dry, even © 
parched up, and others 
with more than 200 inches 
of rain. Probably all was 
at one time covered with 
forest, relatively tropical 
by the coasts, dense rain- 
forest above, more open 
on the much drier higher 
slopes. Most of the 
lower forest has long 
been cleared away, but 
parts of the rain-forest 
persist as well as great © 
stretches of the higher 
woods. 

The fauna may be said to be a function of the 
flora, and this flora has only 860 known species, 
of which 653 are endemic with 40 endemic genera, 
the rest being introduced weeds or common 
littoral forms. Geographically this flora must take 
precedence, for the first animals must not only 
be able to land, but to find suitable vegetation on 
These animals must flourish or 
carnivorous beasts will never become regular 
components of the fauna. Again, most immi- 
grants to oceanic islands must be supposed to be 
best adapted to the conditions of the low country, 
where later man’s ravages by axe and fire will 
be most felt. In any case most of those that 


| survive the passage will be unproductive, since, 


| many generations. 


even if they do find suitable climate and food, few 
indeed will find mates. 

For a small insect to become widespread round 
the coast of one of these islands would take 
A still longer time would be 


| required to take each step up the mountains, 
| because either each step would mean the adapta- 


tion of the needs of the animal to fresh environ- 


| ments, resulting later in the production of new 


Being Results of the Explorations instituted by the Joint Committee | 


forms, or each step would be taken as the result 
of some yariant of its physical organisation result- 
ing in anew need. Each beast in each step must 
take a mate with him, and the time required for 


LO2 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 


the production of new forms by either physio- 
logical or morphological variation becomes still 
more considerable. 

Dr. Perkins, and apparently all the contributors 
to the “Fauna” agree that Hawaiia is oceanic. 
Dr. Perkins summarises the evidence in his 
“Review of the Land-Fauna,” the last published 
part. He further points out that nineteen- 
twentieths of the endemic species are found in the 
forest belt. This is in accordance with theory, 
for the isolation as varieties leave the coast land 
is to be expected to be helpful to species forma- 
tion, though the largeness of the proportion is 
doubtless helped by the destruction of the low- 
land vegetation. The inconspicuousness of the 
fauna and flowers is noted, but the paucity of 
individuals—some parts are barren to the collector 
owing to the devastation of carnivorous ants— 
is doubted, as is interbreeding as producing 
diminished fertility. 3325 species of insects are 
known, and practically all the endemic species 
are of small size and special habits; many are 
flightless. Their large amount of variability is 
interesting as well as a distinct tendency to 
specialisation in variation in different localities. 

Dr. Perkins clearly considers that the fauna 
arose from a very few immigrants, which have 
varied to form the present large genera and groups 
of allied genera. Some genera are confined to one 
of the six forest-clad islands, and in large genera 
few species from different islands are identical. 
Isolation even without selection is supposed to 
have brought about change, and the extreme 
difficulty that the systematist has in limiting his 
species is ascribed to the absence of agencies 
by which natural selection works. On every 
theoretical point Dr. Perkins has some fertile 
suggestion, but the writer hesitates to quote more 
because such might be misconceived by the reader, 
who had not the altogether unique facts before 
him. J. StanLey GARDINER. 


SIR W. IN; HARTLEY, FR:S. 


Ee the death of Sir Walter Noel Hartley, the 
scientific world has lost a man who un- 
doubtedly has enriched it in very many ways. 
Although perhaps his name is more intimately 
connected with work upon absorption spectra and 
their relation to the constitution of organic com- 
pounds, yet Hartley also carried out most impor- 
tant investigations in many other branches of 


spectroscopy. 
Sir Walter Hartley was born on February 2, 
1846, and was appointed professor of chemistry 


in the Royal College of Science, Dublin, in 1879, 
a position he held until his retirement under Civil 
Service regulations in 1911. One of the founders 
of the Institute of Chemistry, he was a vice- 
president from 1900 to 1903. He was elected a 
Fellow of the Royal Society in 1884, and was 
awarded -the Longstaff medal by the Chemical 
Society in 1906. He received his knighthood on 
the occasion of the opening of the new buildings 
of the Royal College of Science, Dublin, by the 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


King and Queen in rg1r. His death, which 
occurred on September 11, at Braemar, was due 
to heart failure following on bronchitis. 

Hartley’s investigations were almost entirely 
connected with spectroscopy, and his published 
papers deal with three of its principal branches, 
namely, flame spectra, spark spectra, and absorp- 
tion spectra. Perhaps the most striking thing in 
connection with all his work is the, singular 
interest which he instilled into it. To many, 
spectroscopy may appear as a somewhat dry 
statistical study of the wave-lengths of emission 
lines and absorption bands, but no one on reading 
Hartley’s numerous and varied contributions to 
the literature of the subject could lay such an 
accusation against his work. There is to be found 
there no mere dull compilation of accurate 
measurements, but copious evidence of wonderful 
insight and keenness. In all his work, Hartley 
showed himself a pioneer in the application of 
spectroscopic methods to the study of the nature 
and properties of the chemical atom and molecule, 
and it is from this that the great interest of his 
work arises. 

In 1872 Hartley became the possessor of Dr. 
W. A. Miller’s spectroscope, and he not only 
showed that it was possible to obtain the whole 
spectrum in focus upon a flat plate with the use 
of quartz prisms and unachromatised quartz 
lenses, but he was the first to use dry plates in 
the photography of spectra. The original 
apparatus was modified considerably, and amongst 
other improvements it was so devised that a 
number of photographs could be taken on the 
same plate. This in itself marked a great advance 
in technique. Hartley in the early days almost 
entirely restricted himself to the use and study 
of spark spectra. In 1883 he published a series 
of photographs of spark spectra, and in 1884 he 
put forward, in conjunction with Dr. W. E. 
Adeney the wave-lengths of the lines in these 
spectra. This later paper also contained the wave- 
lengths of the lines due to air which are of such 
importance in all spark spectra observations. 
The publication of these wave-lengths marked a 
very important advance in spectroscopy. - 

Later, Hartley turned his attention to the spark 
spectra of solutions of metallic salts, and it is 
to him that we owe almost the whole of our 
knowledge of the nature and character of the 
lines in these spectra. From a study of the effect — 
of concentration it was soon noted that all the 
lines do not disappear at the same dilution. 
Hartley found that there exists a constant relation 
between the dilution and the appearance or dis- 
appearance of certain lines of each metal, and 
based on this he was able to found a system of 
quantitative analysis. The value of this method 
he proved by applying it with perfect success to 
the analysis of an Egyptian coin. Similarly, from 
his knowledge of the relative persistence of 
spectrum lines, he was the first to prove the 
presence of gallium in the sun and many of the 
stars. In the same way he showed the remarkably 
extensive distritution of the rare earth metals, 


SEPTEMBER 25, 1913]| 


NATURE 


103 


and also the great prevalence of lithium in very 
small quantities. He pointed out that the latter 
fact is of considerable interest with reference to 
recent work on radioactivity. 

Again, Hartley was the first to discover the 
relation between the wave-lengths of lines in the 
spectra of analogous elements. He explained the 
fact by saying that analogous elements do not 
consist of different kinds of matter, but of different 
quantities of the same kind of matter. This 
relation possesses a fundamental significance in 
connection with modern views on the electronic 
nature of the atom; and, moreover, the deduction 
Hartley himself made affords support to the 
theories recently put forward as to the evolution 
of the elements. 

In his work on flame spectra, Hartley showed 
the value of the oxy-hydrogen flame. In con- 
junction with Dr. H. Ramage, he discovered the 
existence of the bands in the flame spectra of many 
metals, and from a study of these he was able 
to draw important conclusions about the relation 
between the band and line spectra of the same 
element. Further, both alone and with Ramage, 
he made an exhaustive study of the spectroscopy 
of the Bessemer process, and was able to con- 
tribute largely to the knowledge of the thermo- 
chemistry of that process. 

With Hartley’s work on absorption spectra it 
is not possible adequately to deal in a_ brief 
epitome. In this direction he has undoubtedly 
founded a field of research which is of great 
importance and promise, as Prof. von Baeyer has 
recognised. Hartley was the first to establish a 
scientific method of observation and recording of 
absorption spectra, and was the first to show that 
they may be applied to the problems of chemical 
constitution. In a series of nearly fifty papers 
he dealt with the absorption exerted by both 
inorganic and organic compounds. In the first- 
named, he showed how the spectroscopic evidence 
was antagonistic to the ionic hypothesis in its 
earlier development. In the second, he showed, 
among many other fundamentally important facts, 
that the colour of all dyestuffs and similar com- 
pounds is to be traced to the absorptive power 
of the hydrocarbons from which they are derived. 
In fact, he gave the scientific explanation of the 
chromophore theory. Also may be mentioned his 
investigation of the absorption exerted by the 
alkaloids, and his record of facts that are of great 
importance to the synthetic chemist, and also 
from the medico-legal point of view. The applica- 
tion of the method to the elucidation of the con- 
stitution of carbostyril, o-oxycarbanil, isatin, and 
other compounds is perhaps too well known to 
need emphasis. It is impossible to specify the 
many lines of work Hartley successfully carried 
on in absorption spectra. He has left accurate 
records of the absorption curves of a vast number 
of substances, and he discovered a series of funda- 
mental laws governing the relation between 
absorption and chemical constitution with which 
his name always will be associated. 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


In conclusion, it may well be said of Hartley 
that whatever research he undertook, his results 
were always most valuable, and he conferred 
distinction upon everything to which he put his 
hand. EB. Cl CBs 


DR. ALEXANDER MACFARLANE. 

R. ALEXANDER MACFARLANE, whose 
name is well known to workers in vector 
algebras, died at his home in Chatham, Ontario, 
on August 28. He was born in Blairgowrie on 
April 21, 1851, and was trained as a pupil teacher. 
As-a student in Edinburgh University he soon 
impressed his contemporaries with his mental 
capacity. He gained high distinctions in the class 
of logic and philosophy as well as in mathematics 
and natural philosophy. After graduating with 
first class mathematical honours, he proceeded to 
study for the science degree, gaining his doctorate 
in 1878 with a thesis on the conditions governing 
the sparking of electricity between electrodes in 
air and in paraffin. The experimental work was 
carried out in Prof. Tait’s laboratory, but the idea 
of the research was entirely Dr. Macfarlane’s own. 
Some of these early results are referred to by Clerk 

Maxwell in his “Electricity and Magnetism.” 

Dr. Macfarlane did not, however, pursue experi- 
mental research, but turned his mind to the 
application of mathematical symbols in somewhat 
unusual directions. His “Algebra of Logic” was 
published in the late seventies, and he read 
before the Royal Society of Edinburgh a series 
of papers on the algebra of the relationships of 
consanguinity and affinity. In 1885 he was 
appointed professor of physics in Texas Univer- 
sity, and was of great service in developing that 
institution as a centre of scientific teaching. About 
this time he published a book on physical arith- 
metic, which was the first sustained systematic 
treatment of methods of calculation useful in 
physical reductions. He was also the compiler of 
a compact and well-arranged book of mathe- 
matical tables. 

He retired from active teaching in 1894, and 
some years later settled in Canada on a large 
farm which had been bequeathed to him by an 
uncle. Here and subsequently in the neighbour- 
ing town of Chatham, he turned his attention to 
the study of vector algebras. Already he had 
taken part in the controversy which appeared in 
Nature (1893-4) as to the rival merits of 
quaternionic and non-quaternionic vector analysis. 
Prof. Tait, Prof. Willard Gibbs, and Dr. Heavi- 
side were among the disputants. Dr. Macfarlane 
agreed with none of these, but took a line of his 
own, which he has worked out with ingenuity in 
many later papers. Last year, for example, he 
read a short paper on the subject before the 
Mathematical Congress at Cambridge. It was, 
however, as the devoted secretary of the Associa- 
tion for the Study of Quaternions and Allied 
Systems of Mathematics that he found his chief 
opportunity. This association, which was started 
by Dr. Kimura, of Japan, is now a fairly strong 


104 


body of mathematicians representing all countries 
of the civilised world. Much of the success 
attending its labours must be attributed to the 
zeal and energy of the secretary, whose last letter 
to me, written just a fortnight before his death, 
anticipated a new departure which would increase 
the efficiency of the association. 

Throughout his life Dr. Macfarlane was keenly 
interested in educational methods, and at the time 
of his death was Chairman of the Board of Educa- 
tion in Chatham, Ontario. C. G. Knort: 


DR. JULIUS LEWKOWITSCH. 
We regret to announce that Dr. Julius 

Lewkowitsch, the well-known authority on 
fats and oils, died at Chamonix on September 
16, after. a short illness. He was born 
at Ostrovo, in Prussian Silesia in 1857, and had 
a brilliant university career at Breslau. After 
graduating as doctor of philosophy at Breslau, 
Lewkowitsch devoted himself to an academic 
career; he carried out a considerable quantity of 
original investigation under Prof. Victor von 
Richter at Breslau, and subsequently took a posi- 
tion under Prof. Hans Landolt in the chemical 
laboratory of the Berlin Agricultural High School. 
At a later date he became assistant to Prof. Victor 
von Meyer in the University of Heidelberg. 

Lewkowitch’s first published work consisted in 
the study of the action of nitric acid on fatty 
acids; but he soon applied himself to experimental 
work on stereochemistry, which was at that time 
a new and undeveloped subject, and was far from 
assuming the commanding position which it now 
holds. He was the first to develop the method 
given by Pasteur for the resolution of externally 
compensated substances by the action of living 
organisms, and in 1882 and 1883 prepared the 
optically active modifications of tartaric, lactic, 
glyceric, and mandelic acids from the correspond- 
ing racemic substances by the action of penicillium 
glaucum, aspergillus mucor, yeasts, and a 
schizomycetes. At a later date he attacked the 
problem presented by the optical inactivity of 
benzene derivatives, and made many experimental 
attempts to obtain such substances in optically 
active modifications. 

The brilliance of Lewkowitsch’s early experi- 
mental work indicates that, had he continued to 
devote himself to pure science, he would rapidly 
have achieved a foremost place as a teacher and 
investigator. About twenty-five years ago, how- 
ever, he came to this country, became naturalised, 
and, abandoning his aspirations towards a purely 
scientific career, entered upon what proved to be 
his life-work, the development of the industrial 
technology of fats and oils. At the time of ‘his 
death he was the first living authority on the 
vegetable and animal fats and oils; a large 
number of processes which are widely employed 
in the utilisation and valuation of these important 
raw materials were devised by him. His treatise 
on the ‘Chemical Technology and Analysis of Oils 
and Fats” is now in its fifth English edition, and 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 


has been published also in French and German; 
his “Laboratory Companion*to Fats and Oils 
Industries’”’ has a wide sphere of usefulness 
in English and in its German __ translation. 
Lewkowitsch wrote the article on oils and fats 


in the “Encyclopedia Britannica” and the articles — 


on oils in the last and the current editions of 
Thorpe’s “Dictionary of Applied Chemistry ” ; his 
writings on his own subject have set a standard 
of precise treatment which has been accepted and 
adopted in later works by others upon this great 
branch of chemical industry. 

Dr. Lewkowitsch served in many capacities 
upon the Councils of the Chemical Society, the 
Society of Chemical Industry, the Institute of 
Chemistry, and the Society of Public Analysts; 
at the time of his death he was the honorary 
foreign secretary of the Society of Chemical 
Industry, and had held the chairmanship of the 
London Section of the society. In 1909 he re- 
ceived the Lavoisier medal as conférencier of the 
Société chimique de France; as a Cantor lecturer 
of the Royal Society of Arts he delivered a course 
of lectures on fats and oils which, in their pub- 
lished form, are of considerable value, and exhibit 
the great mastery which he had acquired over our 
language. ; 

Lewkowitsch was a keen mountaineer; few men 
possessed so intimate and complete a knowledge 
as he had gained of the French and Swiss Alps, 
in sight of which he passed away. He married 
in 1902, and his widow, with a son and daughter, 
survives him. W.. Jeeta 


NOTES. 


Dr. Rovux, director of the Paris Pasteur Institute, 
has been made a grand officer of the Legion of 
Honour. 


Tue death occurred on September 15, at the age 
of fifty-nine, of Dr. Louis Merck, senior partner of 
the firm of E. Merck, Darmstadt. 


Ir is stated in The Lancet that Mr. W. F. Fiske 


has been asked by the Tropical Diseases Committee 
of the Royal Society to investigate the life-history of 
the tsetse flies in Uganda. 


THE Chemist and Druggist for September 20 con- 
tains the reproduction of a photograph of the bronze 
statue of Dr. Ludwig Mond, which was unveiled by 
Sir John Brunner, Bart., on September 13, and was 
alluded to in our issue of September 11 (p. 48). _ 


Tue death is reported, in his sixty-eighth year, of 
Prof. Lucien A. Wait. On graduating at Harvard 
in 1870 he was appointed assistant professor of mathe- 
matics at Cornell University. In 1877 he became 
associate professor, and in 1890 full professor. From 


1895 to 1910 he was head of the department of mathe- 
matics. . 


AccoRDING to Science, a national museum is to be 
established in the city of Santo Domingo for the 
purpose of retaining and preserving in the country 
objects and relics of historical character connected 
with the discovery and developmen: of the country. 


—_—s = 


SEPTEMBER 25, 1913] 


The museum is to occupy the old palace known as 
the house of Don Diego Colon. The sum of 20,000 
dollars has been appropriated by the National Con- 
gress for repairing the building. 


TueErE is no doubt as to the efficiency of the radium 
emanations in the cure of certain forms of superficial 
cancer, ulcers, &c. It is now stated that the emana- 
tions of mesothorium, derived from the waste in the 
manufacture of incandescent gas mantles, possess 
similar properties, but in an enhanced degree, and 
efforts are being made to prepare a sufficient supply 
of the material so that a thorough trial of it may be 
made. 


WE notice with regret the death, on September 18, 
at eighty-five years of age, of Mr. Samuel Roberts, 
F.R.S., president of the London Mathematical Society 
from 1880 to’ 1882, and De Morgan medallist in 1896. 
Another well-known mathematician whose death, on 
September 19, is announced is Mr. John Greaves, 
bursar and senior mathematical lecturer at Christ’s 
College, Cambridge, and author of “A Treatise on 
Elementary Statics.”’ 


Tue death is announced, at the age of sixty-seven, 
of the eminent French surgeon, Prof. Antonin Poncet, 
who in 1882 was appointed to the chair of operative 
medicine at Lyons, and in 1895 was elected to the 
Academy of Medicine. He was the author of many 
medical works dealing with diseases of the bones, 
and was well known for his investigations into the 
cause of death of Napoleon, Richelieu, Rousseau, and 
many other famous men. 


Ir was briefly announced in our issue for Septem- 
ber 11, that the importation into the United States of 
the plumage of wild birds, raw or manufactured, save 
for scientific or educational purposes, is by the new 
Tariff Bill prohibited. We now learn from Mr. W. T. 
Hornaday, of the New York Zoological Park, that 
the prohibition movement was inaugurated and 
carried through by the New York Zoological Society 
and the National Association of Audubon Societies. 
It would be well if their example were copied in this 
and other countries. ; 


WE learn from The Pioneer Mail that Sir Aurel 
Stein, K.C.I.E., has been deputed by the Govern- 
ment of India, with the sanction of the Secretary of 
State, to resume his archeological and geographical 
explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China. 
For his journey to the border of Chinese Turkestan 
on the Pamirs Sir Aurel Stein is taking on this 
occasion a route which offers special interest to the 
student of the geography and history of the Hindu 
Kush regions. It leads through the Darel and 
Tangir territories which have not been previously 
visited by a European, and which only recent poli- 
tical developments have brought under British influ- 
ence. The Survey of India Department has deputed 
with Sir Aurel Stein his old travel companion Rai 
Bahadur Lal Singh, and a second surveyor to assist 
him by topographical work. 


As was announced in Nature of September 11, the 
eminent entomologist, Dr. Odo Morannal Reuter, of 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


105 


Abo, Finland, Emeritus professor of zoology at 
Helsingfors University, died on September 2 in his 
sixty-fourth year. As an entomologist Prof. Reuter’s 
name was known throughout the world as a leading 
authority on the Hemiptera-Heteroptera, whilst he 
was also a worker in the more obscure groups, the 
Collembola (spring-tails), Psocidaze and Thysanoptera 
(thrips). About five years ago it was learned from 
| Prof. Sahlberg that his colleague, O. M. Reuter, 
had been sadly stricken with blindness, yet, despite 
this great affliction, he plodded on with the aid 
of a secretary, and shortly before his death a 
work—so written—on the habits and instincts of 
solitary insects saw light at Stockholm. His work 
was characteristically thorough, and though his con- 
tribution to zoological literature numbered about 
480 publications, large and small, and included a 
number of works on animal psychology and practical 
entomology, he was also a writer on literary sub- 
jects and a poet of high attainments and merit. In 
this country he will be missed by many, and it is 
pleasing to know that the highest honour British 
entomologists can bestow—the honorary fellowship 
of the, Entomological Society of London—was con- 
ferred upon him in 1906. 

In vol. iii. of the publications of the Babylonian 
section of the University Museum of Pennsylvania 
Mr. J. A. Montgomery contributes an elaborate 
memoir on a collection of Aramaic incantation texts 
from Nippur. These bowls were found above the 
stratum of the Parthian temple, which was destroyed 
and became covered with sand, and was occupied by 
small ascetic communities of Jews and Mandzans, 
probably attracted to this deserted place by motives: 
of religious community life. They appear to date from 
approximately 600 A.p. The importance of the present 
discovery lies in the fact that this bow! magic is in 
part the lineal descendant of ancient Babylonian 
sorcery, while at the same time the unexpected result 
is arrived at that it takes its place in the great field! 
of Hellenistic magic which pervaded the whole of 
the western world at the beginning of the Christian 
era. The monograph is a scholarly piece of work, 
and will be indispensable to all students of Oriental 
magic. 


THe Reading University College Review for 
August, an attractive volume, includes an article on 
bovine tuberculosis in man, by Dr. Stenhouse 
Williams, which gives a good summary of the sub- 
ject. He concludes that the bovine type of tubercle 
bacillus is the cause of one-third of the cases of 
tuberculous disease other than the pulmonary at ages 
o-16 years, which corresponds to about 4000 deaths 
per annum in this country. 


To the July-August issue of Naturen Mr. P. A. Myen 
contributes an illustrated article on remains of the 
mammoth and the musk-ox in Norway, with a dis- 
cussion as to the horizons in which they respectively 
occur. 


WE have received a copy of a fifth edition of the 
late Mr. T. Southwell’s admirable guide to the 
Norwich Castle Museum, brought up to date by Mr. 
> F. Leney, the curator. Among the illustrations are 


106 


figures of the stuffed skin and egg of the great auk, 
which form two of the chief treasures of the museum. 
To Prof. McIntosh we are indebted for a copy of a 
reprint of his sketch of the Natural History Museum 
of the University of St. Andrew’s, originally published 
in the Museum’s Journal. 


AccorDING to the report of the Madras Museum 
for the past year (issued by the Educational Depart- 
ment), a large collection of marine organisms has 
been obtained from the coral reef at Kilaharai, in the 
Ramanad district, the examination and classification of 
which are expected to occupy a considerable period. The 
superintendent also records the third or fourth speci- 
men (it is not quite clear which) of the great snipe 
(Gallinago major) killed in India; all these appear to 
have been obtained since the publication, in 1898, of 
the fourth volume on birds in the ‘‘ Fauna of British 
India,” as the species is not mentioned in that work. 


In an article on the ancestry of Edentate mammals 
published in a recent issue of the American Museum 
Journal (vol. xii., pp. 300-303), Dr. Matthew, after 
mentioning that armadillos are probably the most 
primitive existing members of the group, and that 
“armadillos without armour” occur in the early N. 
American Tertiary, observes that although the latter 
and the teniodonts of the N. American Eocene cannot 
be regarded as direct ancestors of the typical S. 
American edentates, yet they suggest the possibility 
that the group originally came from N. America, and 
penetrated to S. America about the beginning of the 
Tertiary, where it developed into a host of new forms. 


Great interest attaches to the description by Dr. 
W. D. Matthew in vol. xxxii., art. 17 (pp. 307-314), of 
the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural His- 
tory, the imperfect skull of a new genus and species 
(Palaeoryctes puercensis) of the so-called zalamdodont 
insectivorous mammals from the Puerco, or Basal, 
Eocene of New Mexico. At the present day that 
group is represented by the Solenodontidz of Haiti and 
Cuba, the Potamogalidz of Equatorial (Dr. Matthew, 
judging from his map, seems to be unaware that the 
“‘otter-shrew ”’ occurs in the eastern as well as in the 
western part of the forest-zone) and the Chryso- 
chloridz, or golden moles, of southern, eastern, and 
central Africa, and the Centetidz, or tenrecs, of 
Madagascar. In 1891 the extinct genus Necrolestes, 
more or less nearly related to the Chrysochloride, was 
described from the Patagonian Miocene. At that time 
fossil forms were unknown from the northern hemi- 
sphere, which led to the suggestion that the group 
was essentially southern; but between 1903 and 1907 
five extinct genera were recorded from the N. 
American Tertiary. The new genus now described 
serves to show the great antiquity of the tritubercular 
type of molar characteristic of the zalamdodonts; and 
also, if rightly associated with that family, indicates 
‘that the Centitidz are the oldest existing group of 
»placental mammals. 


Amoncst the familiar sporozoan parasites known as 
-gregarines, one genus, Porospora, has always stood 
apart from all others by reason of the possession of 
ypeculiar and anomalous characteristics. The genus 


NO, 2291, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 


comprises species parasitic in Crustacea, and P. 
gigantea, parasite of the lobster, is the largest gre- 
garine known. Recent researches have shown that 
the peculiar ‘‘gymnospores,”’ so-called, of these gre- 
garines are not true spores at all, but clusters of 
merozoites, and that the apparent sporogony of these 
parasites in their crustacean hosts is really a process 
of non-sexual schizogony, different from that of all 
other gregarines. The question then arose: Where 
and under what circumstances does the true sporogony 
take place? The answer has now been given by the 
distinguished French investigators, Messrs. Léger and 
Duboscq, who have discovered that the sexual cycle 
and sporogony of Porospora takes place in bivalve 
molluscs, and is no other than that of the curious 
parasite described many years ago by Aimé Schneider 
under the generic name Nematopsis, a genus of which 
the systematic position has been hitherto quite uncer- 
tain. Thus Porospora portunidarum, parasitic in 
crabs, has its Nematopsis-phase in Cardium edule, the 
common cockle, in which host the parasite produces a 
single spore, containing a single vermiform sporozoite, 
in the gills of the mollusc. A preliminary account of 
the development of this species, illustrated by nineteen 
text-figures, is published in the Comptes rendus des 
séances de la Société de Biologie (vol. Ixxv., p. 95). 


WE have received the concluding numbers of the 
sixteenth volume (for 1912) of the Bollettino of the 
Italian Seismological Society. The complete volume 
contains eleven papers, the more important of which 
deal with the recent eruption of Etna, the luminous 
phenomena associated with the Valparaiso earthquake 
of 1906 (NATURE, vol. xc., p. 550), and the sea-waves 
of the Calabrian earthquake of 1907 (vol. xci., p. 327). 
The greater part of the volume, however, consists of 
the notices of earthquakes observed in Italy during 
the year 1909, compiled by Dr. G. Martinelli. These 


notices oecupy more than six hundred pages, and their 


value has been increased by several improvements 
recently made. The constants of the seismographs 
used in twenty-nine Italian observatories are given in 
an appendix; the notices relating to different earth- 
quakes are separated by a space (it would be still 
more useful if they were numbered); the earthquakes, 
with the exception of those recorded by a single 
instrument or from one place only, are named accord- 
ing to the districts chiefly affected by them, and of 
these an alphabetical index is added. 


A RECENTLY issued Bulletin (No. 54) of the Bureau 
of American Ethnology, by Messrs. Hewett, Hender- 
son, and Robbins, deals with the Rio Grande valley, 
an arid region in New Mexico. The bulletin con- 
tains three papers; the first two, on the physio- 
graphy and general geology respectively, are more or 
less introductory to the third, which deals with the 
climate and climatic changes. The evidence for the 
latter is (1) archeological, (2) botanical, and (3) geo- 
logical. (1) There are great numbers of ruins in the 
country, many of them far from present known sources 
of water, and even as late as the coming of the Spaniards 
the population seems to have been denser than now. 
| (2) Study of the trees shows that the rock pine and 
| the pifion pine are the most widespread, the latter 


———— 


SEPTEMBER 25, 1913] 


occupying the drier situations. The boundary 
between these two species is shifting towards the 


‘moister regions, indicating that the area which is too 


dry for the rock pine to inhabit is increasing. 
(3) Geologically, the authors have to take a wider 
field. Of chief importance is the evidence that the 
whole of the south-west’ States have suffered a great 
diminution of their mountain glaciers and enclosed 
lakes, commencing several thousand years ago, and 
probably still in progress, as shown by measure- 
ments in the last few decades. No single line of 
evidence is conclusive, but the convergence of so many, 
coupled with the experience of observers in other 
lands, renders dessication in this region in human 
times very probable. In connection with the authors’ 
suggestion for the careful measurement of the fluctua- 
tions of land-locked lakes, it may be noted that such 
records are now being kept in the British colonies in 
tropical Africa. The work is illustrated with a 
number of very clear photographs, but the omission 
of the names of the months and the scales of units 


in the diagrams of monthly rainfall and temperature | 


is unfortunate. 


~WE have received the ** Pilot Chart” of the North 
Atlantic Ocean for September, published by the 
United States Hydrographic Office, containing similar 
useful information relating to winds, currents, &c., 
to that included in the ‘‘ Meteorological Charts’’ for- 
merly published by the Weather Bureau, but now 
‘discontinued (NATuRE, September 11). An interesting 
account is given of observations on ocean tempera- 
tures in the vicinity of icebergs and in other parts of 
the ocean by officers of the U.S. Bureau of Standards, 
with illustrations of the temperature equipment and 
of samples of the records obtained. Practically con- 
tinuous temperature readings were obtained from 
June 4 to July 10, 1912, and these show that the varia- 
tions in parts of the ocean far removed from ice are 
often as great and sudden as in the vicinity of ice- 
bergs. The authors consider that the question is still 
in doubt whether these influence to any considerable 
extent the temperature of sea-water at a mile or so 
distant. 


AN interesting article on evaporation in the great 
plains and intermountain districts as influenced by the 
haze of 1912, by Messrs. L. J. Briggs and J. O. Belz, 
of the Bureau of Plant Industry, appeared in the 
Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences of 
August 19. The haze was presumably due to the 
eruption of Mount Katmai (Aleutian Islands) on June 
6-7 of that year, during which volcanic ashes fell at 
Sitka, 7oo miles distant, and the sun was obscured for 
atime. It gave rise to a marked diminution in the 
intensity of solar radiation, which was particularly 
noticed in subsequent months at the Mount Wilson, 
Mount Weather, and Madison observatories in the 
United States. The authors, who had been engaged 
in evaporation measurements during the last five 
years, deemed it desirable to determine to what extent 
‘this reduction of solar intensity affected the evapora- 
tion (not forgetting that this is also greatly influenced 
‘by other factors). Tables of monthly normal evapora- 
tion for fifteen stations show that during four months 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


107 


1 
following the eruption the average reduction was about 


Io per cent. This reduction in the mean evaporation, 
although somewhat less than the observed reduction 
in solar intensity, appears to afford an approximate 
measure of the reduction of the latter at the earth’s 
surface. 


THE Scientific American (vol. cix., No. 5) contains 
two illustrated articles on the modern developments of 
the electric furnace. In the first (p. 84) an account 
is given of recent patents covering improvements 
in the electric arc as used in the purification of 
steel and iron and in the production of compounds of 
nitrogen from the air; whilst in the second a special 
account is given of the electrical production of steel, 
from the early experiments of Siemens to the thirty- 
ton furnace of to-day. Illustrations are given of the 
Stassano are furnace in use at Turin, of the Kjellin 
and the Réchling-Rodenhausen induction furnaces, and 
of the Heroult 15-ton are furnace in use at the works 
of the U.S. Steel Corporation. 


AERONAUTICAL science in America receives fresh 
recognition in the decision of the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution to reopen the Langley Aérodynamical Labora- 
tory. The first serious contribution from the scien- 
tific side of aéronautics is to be found in the work 


| of Langley, the necessary funds being provided by a 


Governmental grant; had the light petrol motor 
come into existence twenty years ago, it is probable 
that the Langley Laboratory would never have been 
closed, and would now be the leading aéronautical 
laboratory in the world. The Smithsonian Institution 
is a private concern, although closely connected with 
the U.S. Government departments. For the present 
it will be dependent on private donations for its in- 
come for aéronautical research, though in time it is 
hoped to receive a Governmental grant in aid. Appa- 
ratus useful in aéronautics already exists in the U.S. 
Bureau of Standards, and the U.S. Weather Bureau, 
with which the Langley Laboratory will be closely 
connected, and financial support is primarily needed 
for the construction of two wind tunnels and the 
necessary model-making apparatus. In addition to 
experiments on models an aircraft field laboratory is 
proposed, for measurements of stress, moments of 
inertia, &c., and for the adjustment and repair of 
several full-scale land and water aéroplanes. 


In the July number of The Biochemical Journal 
(vol. vii., No. 4) Mr. Egerton C. Grey demonstrates 
the production of acetaldehyde during the anaerobic 
fermentation of glucose by Bacillus coli communis, 
and states that, by artificial selection by means of 
growth on sodium chloracetate, strains of the original 
organism can be obtained which produce either a 
greatly diminished amount of the aldehyde or none at 
all. As this diminution is accompanied by a falling-off 
of the production of alcohol and carbon dioxide, it 
is probable that the aldehyde is a primary, not a 
secondary, product of fermentation, and that the 
process of alcohol formation by B. coli communis is 
analogous to the alcoholic fermentation set up by the 
zymase of yeast. 


In the current number of the Berichte (No. 11, 
p. 2401), Prof. Willstatter and L. Zechmeister publish 


108 


an important communication on the quantitative con- 
version of cellulose into dextrose by means of cold, 
fuming hydrochloric acid of sp. gr. 1204° to 1°212°, 
containing from 4o to 414 per cent. of hydrogen 
chloride. A problem has thus been solved which for 
more than one hundred years has been vainly at- 
tempted by the use of hot mineral acids and other 
means. Although ordinary concentrated hydrochloric 
acid containing 37°6 per cent. of hydrogen chloride 
does not dissolve cellulose but merely disintegrates the 
fibre and causes gelatinisation, the more concentrated 
acid containing 4o per cent. rapidly dissolves it, and 
after twenty-four to forty-eight hours 95 to 96 per cent. 
of the theoretical quantity of dextrose is present in 
the solution. The course of the hydrolysis has been 
followed by observing the specific rotatory power and 
copper-reducing value of the solution in successive 
intervals of time. In this way it was found that the 
cellulose at first dissolves in an optically inactive 
form, thus differing entirely from starch, which gives 
a highly dextro-rotatory modification from the start. 
Only after one hour is a slight dextro-rotation to be 
observed, which progressively increases; in the early 
stages the product, which can be precipitated from 
solution by water or alcohol, is of a dextrin-like 
character, but without either reducing power or 
specific rotation. The solution gradually develops 
reducing properties as the specific rotation increases, 
but during the first six hours the amount of 
““dextrose”’ calculated from the reducing power is 
much less than that calculated ‘from the change of 
rotation. It is thus probable that a complex, optically 
active, but non-reducing sugar is formed first, and 
that this is later further resolved into dextrose. 
One of the most striking observations recorded in 
the paper is the very high specific rotation shown by 
dextrose when dissolved in concentrated hydrochloric 
acid. In 414 per cent. hydrochloric acid [a]*° was 
found to be 106°, which approximates to that of the 
so-called o-form of dextrose (110°), the ordinary value 
observed in aqueous solution for the equilibrium mix- 
ture of a and 8-forms being 52°5°. In 44’5 per cent. 
hydrochloric acid, however, the: extraordinarily high 
value of 164°6° was observed for [a],, at 5° C. 


No. 29 of Scientia contains a number of articles of 
general scientific interest. Dr. E. E. Fournier d’Albe 
writes on interstellar space, Dr. A. Findlay gives a 
short account of the phase rule and its applications, 
and Mr. Léon Fredericq contributes an interesting 
summary of the methods by which animals utilise 
chemical and physical forces as means of defence. 
Mr. E. Rignano discusses the problem of the evolution 
of reason, and G. Cardinali traces the influence of 
Hellenic culture on the development of Roman 


VarRIABLE Neput-2.—M. Borrelly’s recent announce- 
ment in the Comptes rendus that Hind’s nebula ap- 
peared to be passing through a period of maximum is 
now followed (No. 9, Comptes rendus) by a note from 
M. G. Bigourdan incorporating a list of the dates of 
published measures together with the names of the 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 


26, 1861. Attention is directed to the importance of 
confirming M. Borrelly’s observation. 


Comer (1913b) Mercatr.—The following is the 
ephemeris of Metcalf’s comet as taken from the 
Astronomische Nachrichten, No, 4682 :— 


12h. M.T. Berlin. 


R.A. Dec. Mag. 
Der Mts. ‘5 fp 
Sept. 25 3 41 54 +76 44'2 = 
aoe... 3. 0 sObee TF 77 — 
Baas v=) (2 25) Se ewe 77 314 84 
Boe ye. 1 42538 77 16°6 - 
29 I O15 76 40°9 —_— 
BON c=. O21 1304 an 75 33°3 _ 
Oct. I a Fey eee Yess: 74. 10 8:2 


Zee 23-1020 


The above ephemeris has been calculated by Prof. 
Kobold from the observations on September 2, 6, and 
10, which gives quite a new set of parabolic elements 
and makes the places of the comet very different from 
those calculated from his previous elements. 

The present elements are as follows :— 


T=1913 Sept. 13°9168 M.T. Berlin. 


72 6°'0 _ 


or = UL7"" ean 
Q=157° 9! So rons 
; tay epee 


log g =0°133805 


As this comet is getting brighter and higher up in the 
sky, it should be observable with telescopes of small 
aperture. 

Comet 1913c (NEUJMIN).—This comet, discovered by 
Neujmin, is becoming fainter, being now nearly of the 
12th magnitude. For the sake of those who wish 
to follow it further with larger telescopes, the fol- 
lowing ephemeris by Herr M. Ebell, taken from a 
supplement to the Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 
4680, is given :— 

12h. M.T. Berlin. 


Bare (true) * Dec. (true) Mag. 
i. m. on ° ‘ 
Sept. 25 23 39 58 '+6 47 0. aoe 
a 20 23 39 35 6 188 
Eve 23 39 14 6 32°4 
» 28 23 38 54 6 45°4 
1» 29 23 38 36 6 57°9 
a 30. 23 38 19 7 10'0 
Oct. . 1 2335008 SROh ile’ 
” ay) 23°37 49 7 327 12°T 


ANNALS OF THE Bureau or Loncirupes.—Containing 
accounts of the inception, organisation, programmes, 
and transactions of two international conferences 
which have led to results of the highest practical im- 
portance in applied astronomy, the ninth volume of 
the Annals of the Bureau of Longitudes attains the dis- 
tinction of being not only a valuable document in the 
history of that science, but also of marking a stage in 
the growth of international cooperation in scientific 
work. Of the successful issue of the Congrés des 
Ephémérides, let us recall only the sixth of the seven 
general resolutions adopted, namely, that the names 
of stars should be accompanied by designations of 


their spectral type after the notations of Pickering. 
The work last autumn of the Conférence Internationale 
de Il’Heure, of course, chiefly centred around the em- 
ployment of wireless telegraphy not only in the dis- 
tribution of time, but also in the service of meteoro- 
logy. The value of these applications is attested both 
by the rapidly increasing numbers using the time- 
signals, especially on land, and by the fact .that it 
has recently been found necessary to add more than a 
dozen stations to the original six for which the 
' meteorological elements were distributed on the 


observers dating from Schénfield’s observations, July } resolution of the conference. 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


OE a 


SEPTEMBER 25, 1913] 


NATURE 


109 


In addition to the reports just mentioned, the 
volume also contains a detailed account of the deter- 
mination by wireless telegraphy of the difference in 
longitude between Paris and Bizerta. 


SpecTRUM OF Wo r-Rayet Star D.M. +30° 3639.— 
Mr. Paul W. Merrill records in the Lick Bulletin, 
No. 230, the result of the examination of the red end of 
the spectrum of the Wolf-Rayet star D.M. +30° 3639, 
the photographic magnitude of which is too, and 
position for 1900.0 R.A. 19h. 30m. 8s., Dec. +30° 18’. 
The following previously observed bright lines appear : 
—A4652 broad; H8 monochromatic, strong; 5694 
broad; A581 broad, trace; D, doubtful; Ha mono- 
chromatic, strong. In addition to the above, the fol- 


lowing two bright lines appear :—A6548'5 mono- 
chromatic, 04 as strong as Ha; 65834 mono- 
chromatic, slightly stronger than He. The chief 


nebular lines are not seen in the star’s spectrum. It 
is pointed out that these two nebular lines were ob- 
served by Wright in the nebula N.G.C. 7027, but are 
otherwise unidentified. While the two lines appear 
together it does not necessarily follow that their origins 
are identical. 


THE BERLIN MEETING OF THE 
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL 
COMMISSION. 


ee meeting of the International Electrotechnical 

Commission was held in Berlin at the Kunstler- 
haus from September 1 to September 6. It was well 
attended, twenty-four nations being represented by 
seventy delegates. In addition to the voting delegates 
sent by the local committees of the countries repre- 
sented, some of the Governments also nominated their 
official representatives, those representing England 
being Dr. Glazebrook, who was unfortunately not able 
to attend, Dr. Gisbert Kapp, Dr. Silvanus P. Thomp- 
son, and Mr. Duddell, the president of the Institution 
of Electrical Engineers. The German Government 
was represented by Dr. Jaegar, Geheimrat Dr. 
Strecker, and several others. Unfortunately, Dr. E. 
Budde, the president of the International Electro- 
technical Commission, was absent through illness, but 
his place was very efficiently filled by Dr. Warburg, 
the president of the Reichsanstalt. 

The commission was welcomed on behalf of the 
German Government by Dr. Lewald, Director of the 
Ministry of the Interior. Prof. Paul Janet, of the 
Laboratoire Centrale, Paris, replied on behalf of the 
commission. s 

The proceedings were opened by the reading of the 
report of the honorary secretary, Col. Crompton, on 
the work which had been accomplished up to date and 
confirmed by the last plenary meetings held two years 
previously at Brussels; he also briefly described the 
new work which had been prepared during the two 
years’ interval by the various national committees, 
and by the four special committees which had been 
appointed to bring forward the four main subjects 
requiring international treatment; and which required 
confirmation at this the second plenary meeting, to 
ensure final acceptance by all the national committees. 

The first two days were occupied by the final meet- 
ings of the special committees. The first, and cer- 
tainly the most difficult, question to be decided inter- 
nationally, was that of providing a means of inter- 
national rating of electrical machinery. This matter, 
touching closely as it does on industrial questions, was 
naturally very warmly debated, both in the meetings 
of the special committee, which was presided over by 
Huber Stockar, the well-known Swiss engineer, and 


NO, 2291, VOL. 92] 


at the full meeting, but although much valuable 
evidence was brought forward on the test methods 
to be adopted for international rating, the only 
figures that were unanimously agreed to were the 
final temperatures permissible in the hottest 
parts of working generators, motors, and trans- 
formers, but the remaining very necessary factors, 
namely agreement as to temperature-rise and as 
to the standard temperature of the ‘ambient air 
from which the temperature-rise must be calculated, 
were not considered to be sufficiently settled to allow 
of unanimity. 

On the latter point the English and American 
engineers insisted on taking the ambient air tempera- 
ture at a figure of 4o° C., which is very frequently 
obtained at certain times of the year in all tropical and 
in many temperate climates, especially in engine- 
rooms, stokeholds, and similar places. It will be 
noted that the choice of this high temperature is 
greatly to the advantage of a purchaser, as it ensures 
that a machine ordered on standard international rat- 
ing will be a somewhat large machine capable of a 
larger overload in cool weather than was hitherto 
considered necessary by manufacturers. The majority 
of the meeting was apparently in favour of adopting 
this high figure so favourable to the consumer; but 
the German and Swedish engineers thought that the 
matter was too important to be decided off-hand, so 
the filling in of these two figures is left for further 
consideration by the national committees. It is hoped 
that an agreement may be arrived at in the course of 
this year, or at any rate before the next plenary 
meeting, which is to be held at San Francisco two 
years hence. 

The reports and the recommendations of the three 
other special committees, first that on nomenclature, 
second on the international standardisation of 
symbols in use for formule, and third on the 
definitions and terminology for prime-movers used for 
electrical generating plant, were all unanimously 
adopted. It is needless to point out that the 
unification of symbols is of immense benefit to the 
engineering student, and the unanimity arrived at by 
a number of delegates who, in the majority of cases, 
are largely interested in other branches, and particu- 
larly mechanical engineering, makes it probable that 
this unification of symbols will extend to all branches 
of engineering science, and perhaps eventually to all 
branches of physical investigation. 

As regards nomenclature, although the work done 
is undoubtedly good and useful, at first sight it seems 


‘small in amount, as a list of only eighty terms with 


the expressions defining them was adopted. It has 
been found necessary to modify the original arrange- 
ments by which there should be two official languages, 
English and French, to which others should be re- 
ferred, but the inconvenience of having two languages 
of reference was so marked that the English agreed 
to forego their claim that English should con- 
tinue to be one of the official languages, 
French now remains as the one language of refer- 
ence from which all words and expressions must be 
translated, but it was decided that the vocabuiary 
which has now been prepared should contain the 
official corresponding words now agreed to, in four 


| languages—French, English, German, and Spanish. 


The delegates from five countries using the Spanish 
language informed the meeting that this unification 
of terms in the Spanish language would be of great 
service to them, for already misunderstandings had 
arisen, as some of the South American countries 
using the Spanish language had shown a tendency to 
adopt different Spanish words for one and the same 
expression. 


110 NATURE 


Another matter satisfactorily settled was the copper 
standard, which had long been discussed between the 
four National Physical Laboratories of England, 
France, Germany, and America, and the ultimate 
figures were agreed to, so that the tables of copper 
conductors based on this standard will be common to 
all the countries. 

Mr. Maurice Leblanc, of Paris, was unanimously 
elected to succeed Dr. Budde, as president of the 
I.E.C., for a term of two years, and he will therefore 
preside at San Francisco. 

Colonel Crompton was re-elected honorary secre- 
tary for the third time. 

The Spanish delegates invited the special com- 
mittees to hold their next meetings in April next in 
Madrid, and the Russian delegate, Prof. de Chate- 
lain, on behalf of the Russian Committee, invited the 
I.E.C. to hold the plenary meeting of 1917 in St. 
Petersburg. 


BUDGETS OF CERTAIN UNIVERSITIES 
AND UNIVERSITY COLLEGES IN 
ENGLAND AND WALES. 


a HE reports for the year 1911-12 from those univer- 
ties and university colleges in Great Britain 
which are in receipt of grant from the Board of 
Education have been issued in two bulky volumes 
(Cd. 7008 and Cd. 7009). The first volume contains 
reports from the provincial universities and university 
colleges in England, and the second reports from the 
London college, including the medical schools, the 
Welsh colleges, and Dundee University College. 
The tabular matter which precedes the separate 
reports from the various universities contains detailed 
information as to the income and expenditure of the 
places of higher education concerned. The following 
summaries have been compiled from the tables, and 
show at a glance the amount available for education 
and research in the universities and colleges receiv- 
ing Treasury grants and how the income is expended. 


UNIVERSITIES AND UNIVERSITY COLLEGES. 
(1) ENGLAND. 


(a) Income. 
Amount Percentage 
of total 
Fees oe a As STOO; S77 i. eos 
Endowments BY, e Ben wR 435) iss eae 
Donations and Subscriptions 2 ART 3°6 
Annual Grants from Local Autho- 

TULIGS) bree or ah Pee AROS; O7 5 is,- ISA 
Parliamentary Grants Seen Rel G003, rs 405 
Contributions from Hospitals, 

&c., for services rendered... G50 eaten. o'r 
Other Income is: 22,694 ... chy 

Total 622,474 100'0 
(b) Expenditure. 
f Amount Percentage 
of total 
Administration ... “3 PU AIS ZO. wos) 10%: 
Provision and Alteration of 

Buildings GSS. ~ 0: Vi 
Maintenance . be (ic eR gle ae Cole = 
Educational Expenses ... 400,001 ... 66°4 
Superannuation ... 3 ae DSs575. xs 2! 
Scholarships, &e., from sources 

other than Trust Funds O18 7) © on. ry 
Other Expenses ... 44,228 ... 7°4 

Total 602,028 100°0 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


[SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 


(2) WaALEs. 
(a) Income.” 
Amount Percentage 
of total 
Fees ae Ke BS 23) 18,107) ye es 


Endowments... ASIGI Jae 6'5 


Donations and Subscriptions a FOUL ee 370 
Annual Grants from Local 
Authorities ee es 52283" ies 8:2 
Parliamentary Grants ... ws’ (99j}805.. coe 
Other Income ... ayy a 890... 14 
Total FP --- 64,197 100°0 
(b) Expenditure. 
Amoant Percentage 
& of total 


8,104" Se. baa 
4,059 «- = 7°3 
46,399 .. 726 
1,640 ... 2°6 


Administration ... 
Maintenance c A 
Educational Expenses ... 
Superannuation .. ser ae 
Scholarships, &c., from other 


than Trust Funds __... aor SOB) hee 0'6 
Other Expenses ... ; Fy 2690 Gea 4°2 
Total 63,867 100°0 


The total income from endowments in England has 
increased by about 4500l., due chiefly to new endow- 


ments for Reading University College, which bring in 


about 4oool. a year, and the increased income of 
about 1600]. a year available for East London Col- 
lege. On the other hand, the income from Welsh 
endowments has fallen by nearly 3001. The total in- 
come from donations and subscriptions shows some 
falling-off, both in England and Wales, owing in part at 
least to the exclusion of donations specially earmarked 
for scholarship purposes. The net annual grants from 
local education authorities show an increase of about 
10,0001, in England and about 8ool. in Wales. The 
income received from Parliamentary grants increased 
during the year by about 58,oo0ol. F 

The expenditure during 1911-12 out of income upon 
the provision and alteration of buildings in England 
was more than 4qoool. greater than in the previous 


year, owing in the main to heavy expenses at Leeds 


largely due to the provision of a hostel for women and 
to alterations and equipment at University College, 
London. = 


THE PILTDOWN SKULL, 


IX his evening lecture to the British Association at 
Birmingham on September 16, Dr. Smith Wood- 
ward took the opportunity of replying to Prof. Arthur 


Keith’s recent criticisms on his reconstruction of the ~ 


Piltdown skull. It will be remembered that Dr. 
Woodward regarded the mandible as essentially that 
of an ape, and restored it with ape-like front teeth, 
while he determined the brain-capacity of the skull 
to approach closely the lowest human limit. Prof. 


Keith, on the other hand, modified the curves of the 


mandible to accommodate typically human teeth, and 
reconstructed the skull with a brain-capacity exceeding 
that of the average civilised European, 

Fortunately, Mr. Charles Dawson has continued his 
diggings at Piltdown this summer with some success, 
andon August 30, Father P. Teilhard, who was work- 
ing with him, picked up the canine tooth which 
obviously belongs to the half of the mandible origin- 
ally discovered. This tooth corresponds exactly in 


| shape with the lower canine of an ape, and its worn 


face shows that it worked upon the upper canine in 
the true ape fashion. It only differs from the canine 
of Dr. Woodward’s published restoration in being 
slightly smaller, more pointed, and a little more up- 


: 
: 
; 


SEPTEMBER 25, 1913]| 


NATURE ILl 


right in the mouth. Hence, there seems now to be 
definite proof that the front teeth of Eoanthropus 
resembled those of an ape, and its recognition as a 
genus distinct from Homo is apparently justified. 

The association of such a mandible with a skull of 
large brain-capacity is considered by Dr. Woodward 
most improbable, and he has made further studies of 
the brain-case with the help of Mr. W. P. Pycraft, 
who has attempted a careful reconstruction of the 
missing base. Dr. Woodward now concludes that the 
only alteration necessary in his original model is a 
very slight widening of the back of the parietal region 
to remedy a defect which was pointed out to him by 
Prof. Elliot Smith when he first studied the brain- 
cast. The capacity of the brain-case thus remains 
much the same as he originally stated, and he main- 
tains that Prof. Keith has arrived at a different result 
by failing to recognise the mark of the superior longi- 
tudinal sinus on the frontal region and by unduly 
widening that on the parietal region. 

It is understood that Mr. Dawson and Dr. Wood- 
ward will offer an account of the season’s work to the 
Geological Society at an early meeting, and Prof. 
Elliot Smith will include a detailed study of the brain- 
cast of Eoanthropus in-a memoir on primitive human 
brains which he is preparing for the Royal Society. 


THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT 
BIRMINGHAM. 


SECTION C. 
GEOLOGY. 


OpeninG Appress By Pror. E. J. Garwoop, 
PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. 


Ow the last occasion when members of the British 
Association met in Birmingham, in 1886, this section 
was under the able presidency of my friend Prof. 
T. G. Bonney, who at that time occupied the chair 
of geology at University College, London. Fifteen 
years later I succeeded him on his retirement from 
that post, and to-day I succeed him as president of 
this section, at the second meeting of the Association 
at Birmingham; and again I feel the same diffidence 
in following him as I did on the former occasion. 

In his address in 1886 Prof. Bonney discussed the 
‘Application of Microscopic Analysis to Discovering 
the Physical Geography of Bygone Ages.” 

Strangely enough, this title might apply almost 
equally well to the subject of my address to-day; but 
whereas Prof. Bonney employed for his purpose the 
evidence obtained from observations on mechanical 
sediments, I propose to deal with certain organically 
formed deposits with the same object. 


More than twenty. years ago, whilst engaged in the 
study of the lower carboniferous rocks of Westmor- 
land, I noticed the occurrence of certain small con- 
cretionary nodules of very compact texture, in the 
dolomites near the base of the succession in the neigh- 
bourhood of Shap. 

Shortly afterwards, when examining the Bernician 
rocks of Northumberland, I again met with similar 
compact nodular structures. It was obvious, how- 
ever, even at that time, that the Northumberland 
specimens occurred here at a much higher horizon 
than those which I had observed in Westmorland. 

More recently, whilst studying the lithological 
characters of the lower carboniferous rocks of the 
North of England and the Border country, I have 
been still further impressed by the abundance of these 
nodular structures at several horizons, and the large 
tracts of country over which they extend. An 
examination of these nodules in thin sections showed 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


their obvious organic character, and I was at first 
inclined to refer them to the Stromatoporoids. Dr. 
G. J. Hinde, who was kind enough to examine my 
specimens from the Shap district, reported, however, 
that they were probably not Stromatoporoids, but 
calcareous algz, and referred me to the descriptions 
of Solenopora published by the late Prof. Nicholson 
and Dr. Brown. 

Since then I have examined a large number of 
nodules collected from difierent horizons in the lower 
carboniferous rocks of Britain and Belgium; and the 
examination has convinced me that the remains of 
calcareous algz play a very much more important part 
in the formation of these rocks than has hitherto been 
generally realised. 

The majority of geologists in this country have 
been slow to recognise the importance of these 
interesting organisms, and, with the notable excep- 
tion of Sir Archibald Geikie’s text-book, we find but 
scant allusion in English geological works of refer- 
ence to the important part played by calcareous algz 
in the formation of limestone deposits.* 

From the more strictly botanical standpoint, how- 
ever, we are indebted to Prof. Seward for an admir- 
able account of the forms recognised as belonging to 
this group, up to the date of the publication of his 
text-book on fossil plants in 1898; while in an article 
in Science Progress, in 1894, he has also dealt with 
their importance from a geological point of view. 

Since these publications, not only have several new 
and important genera been discovered in this country 
and abroad, but the forms previously known have 
also been found to have a very much wider geological 
and geographical range than was formerly suspected. 
For these reasons I venture to hope that a summary 
of our knowledge of the part they play as rock 
builders, more especially in British deposits, will serve 
to stimulate an interest among geological workers in 
this country in these somewhat neglected organisms. 

Previous to 1894, in which year Dr. Brown first 
referred Solenopora to the Nullipores, with the excep- 
tion of the Jurassic and Tertiary Characez, we meet 
with little, if any, reference to the occurrence of fossil 
calcareous algz in British deposits. 

Indeed, in this country the subject has attracted but 
few workers, and they can almost be counted on the 
fingers of one hand. When we have mentioned the 
late Prof. H. A. Nicholson and Mr. Etheridge, jun., 
Mr. E. Wethered, Dr. Brown, Dr. Hinde, and Prof. 
Seward, we have practically exhausted the list of those 
who have contributed to our knowledge of the sub- 
ject. To these we may add the name of Mrs. Robert 
Gray, whose magnificent collection of fossils from the 
Ordovician rocks of the Girvan district has always 
been freely placed at the disposal of geological 
workers, and has furnished numerous examples of 
these organisms to Prof. Nicholson and the officers 
of the Geological Survey. 

It was Nicholson and Wethered who first recog- 
nised the important part played in the formation of 
limestones by certain organisms, which, though 
referred at the time to the animal kingdom, are now 
generally considered to represent the remains of cal- 
careous algze. 

The presence of these organisms in a fossil state, 
especially in the older geological formations, has only 
been recognised in comparatively recent years; though 
it was suggested as long ago as 1844 by Forch- 
hammer? that fucoids, by abstracting lime from sea- 
water, probably contributed to the formation of 
Palzeozoic deposits. When we remember that it was 


1 Geikie. ‘‘ Text-book of Geology.” 4th ed., ‘vol. i, pp. 605 and 6rr. 
1993. 
2 British Association, 1844, p. 155+ 


LT2 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 


not until the researches of Phillipi were published in 
1837 that certain calcareous deposits were discovered 
to be directly due to the growth of living forms of 
lime-secreting alga, it is not surprising that, only in 
comparatively recent years, has the importance of the 
fossil forms as rock-builders in past geological forma- 
tions been recognised. 

The original genera established by Phillipimnamely, 
Lithothamnion and Lithophyllum—are known now to 
have a wide distribution in the present seas, and it is 
therefore natural that it was members of these groups 
which were the first to be recognised in a fossil state 
in Tertiary and, subsequently, in upper cretaceous 
rocks. 

Thus in 1858, Prof. Unger of Vienna showed the 
important part played by Lithothamnion in the con- 
stitution of the Leithakalk of the Vienna Basin, while 
seven years later Rosanoff contributed further to our 
knowledge of tertiary forms. In 1871 Giimbel pub- 
lished his monograph on the ‘so-called Nullipores 
found in limestone rocks,’’ with special reference to 
the Lithothamnion deposits of the Danian or 
Maestricht beds. Since then Lithothamnion has also 
been reported from Jurassic rocks, and even from 
beds of Triassic age, though in the latter case, at all 
events, the reference to this genus appears to require 
confirmation. In this country the recognition of fossil 
calcareous algz dates from a considerably later 
period. It will be best first to review the chief genera 
which appear to be referable to the calcareous alge, 
and afterwards to show the part they play as rock- 
builders in the different geological formations. 

Two important genera are usually recognised at the 
present day as occurring in the British Palaeozoic and 
Mesozoic rocks—namely, Solenopora and Girvanella 
—and to these I propose to add Wethered’s genus, 
Mitcheldeania, together with certain new forms from 
the Carboniferous rocks of the North of England, 
which appear also to be referable to this group. 


Solenopora. 


This genus was first created by Dybowski in 1877 
for the reception of an obscure organism, from the 
Ordovician rocks of Esthonia, which he described 
under the name Solenopora spongioides, and regarded 
as referable to the Monticuliporoids. ‘ 

Nicholson and Etheridge in 1885 (Geol. Mag.., 
p. 529) showed that the form described by Billings 
in 1861 as Stromatopora compacta, from the Black 
River limestones of North America, was in reality 
Dybowski’s genus Solenopora, and in all probability 
was specifically identical with the form from Esthonia. 
Moreover, they considered that the organism they 
themselves had described under the name of Tetradiwm 
Peachii in 1877, from the Ordovician rocks of Girvan, 
was also referable to Billing’s species, though perhaps 
a varietal form. Thus Solenopora compacta was 
shown to have a very wide distribution in Ordovician 
times. 

Nicholson in 1888 defined the genus as including 
‘“Caleareous organisms which present themselves in 
masses of varying form and irregular shape, com- 
posed wholly of radiating capillary tubes arranged in 
concentric strata. The tubes are in direct contact, 
and no coenenchyma or interstitial tissue is present. 
The tubes are thin-walled, irregular in form, often 
with undulated or wrinkled walls, without mural 
pores, and furnished with more or fewer transverse 
partitions or tabulze.”’ * 

At that time Nicholson still considered Solenopora 
as representing a curious extinct hydrozoon, though 
already, in 1885, Nicholson and Etheridge had dis- 
cussed its possible relationship to the calcareous alge. 


3 “Geol. Mag., 1888, Dee. 3, vol. v, p. 19. 
NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


They did not, however, consider that there was 
sufficient evidence for concluding that the true struc- 
ture of Solenopora was cellular) but added: “If 
evidence can be obtained proving decisively the exist- 


.ence of a cellular structure in Solenopora, then the 


reference of the genus to calcareous algz would 
follow as a matter of course." * 

In 1894 Dr. A. Brown investigated more fully the~ 
material which had been placed in his hands by Prof. 
Nicholson, and gave an account of all the forms 
referable to Solenopora known at that date. 

To those already recorded, he added descriptions of 
four new species from the Ordovician rocks—namely, 
S. lithothamnioides, S. fusiformis, S. nigra, and 
S. dendriformis, the two latter being from the Ordo- 
vician rocks of Esthonia. 

In the same paper also he published for the first 
time a description of a new species of Solenopora from 
the Jurassic rocks of Britain, to which Nicholson, in 
manuscript, had already assigned the name of 
S. jurassica, though, as will be pointed out later, it 
is probable that two distinct forms were included by 
Brown under this name. 

This record of Solenopora from the lower Oolites 
of Britain extended the known range of this genus, . 
for the first time, well into the Jurassic period. In 
this paper Brown first brought forward good evidence 
for removing Solenopora from the animal kingdom, 
and placing it among the coralline alga, and Prof. 
Seward, in Vol. i. of his work on fossil plants, con- 
siders that there are good reasons for accepting this — 
conclusion. 

At the time of the publication of Dr. Brown’s paper, 
and for some years afterwards, the only formations. 
in which Solenopora was known to occur were the 
upper Ordovician and the lower Oolites. The diver- 
sity of forms, however, met with in the Ordovician 
rocks, and their widespread distribution, pointed to 
the probability of the existence of an ancestral form 
in the older rocks, while it also appeared incredible 
that no specimens of intervening forms should have 
been preserved in the rocks representing the great 
time-gap between the Ordovician and Jurassic forma- 
tions. 

In this connection Prof. Seward remarks*: “It is 
reasonable to prophesy that further researches into 
the structure of ancient limestones will considerably 
extend our knowledge of the geological and botanical 
history of the Corallinaceze.” This prophecy has been 
amply fulfilled, especially as regards this particular 
genus, and recent discoveries go far towards filling 
the previously existing gaps in our knowledge of the 
vertical distribution of this interesting genus. 

Thus the recent detection in the lowest Cambrian 
rocks of the Antarctic continent of a form which 
appears to be referable to this genus enables us to 
trace the ancestry of Solenopora back almost to the 
earliest rocks in which fossils have yet been discovered, 
while the gap in the succession which previously 
existed between the Ordovician and Jurassic forms 
was decreased by the description in 1908 by Prof: 
Rothpletz of a new species Solenopora Gothlandica, 
from the Silurian rocks of the Far6e Islands in Got- 
land.¢ A large number of deposits, however, still 
remained, between the Gotlandian and lower Jurassic 
beds, from which no example of Solenopora had so 
far been recorded. 

The identification, therefore, a few years ago, by 
Dr. G. J. Hinde, of examples of this genus from 
among the nodules I had collected from the Shap 
dolomites, is of considerable interest, as the presence 
of Solenopora in the lower Carboniferous rocks of this 


4 ‘Geol. Mag., 1885, Dec. 3, 2, p. 534. 5 Of, cit., p 190. 
_ § “Kungl. Svenska, Vets. akad. Handl." Bd. 42, No. 5, 1908, p. 14, pl. 
iv., PP. 1-5. . 


SEPTEMBER 25, 1913| 


NATURE 113 


country materially decreases the gap in our know- 
ledge of the succession of forms belonging to this 
genus, which had previously existed. 


Girvanella. 


This organism, which is now known to be widely 
distributed in the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic rocks of 
this country, was originally described in 1878 by 
Nicholson and Etheridge, jun., from the Ordovician 
rocks of the Girvan district. The genus was estab- 
lished to include certain small nodular structures 
composed of a felted mass of interlacing tubes, having 
a width of ro and 18 », the cells being typically simple, 
imperforate tubes without visible internal partitions. 
The geno-type, G. problematica, was, however, at that 
time referred to the Rhizopods and regarded as related 
to the arenaceous foraminifera (‘Silurian fossils in 
the Girvan district,’ 1878, p. 23). In 1888 Nicholson, 
in redescribing this genus in the Geological Magazine, 
compares Girvanella with the recent form Syringam- 
mira fragillissima of Brady. 

More recently Mr. Wethered has shown that an 
intimate association frequently exists between Gir- 
vanella tubes and oolitic structure, and he has 
described several new species of Girvanella, from the 
Palzozoic rocks and also from certain Jurassic lime- 
stones. 

The reference of Girvanella to the calcareous alge, 
though not yet supported by incontestable evidence, 
has been advocated by several writers in recent years. 
Even as long ago as 1887, Bornemann, in describing 
examples of Siphonema (Girvanella Nich.), which he 
had discovered in the Cambrian rocks of the Island of 
Sardinia, suggested that this organism might belong 
to the calcareous algz. 

In 1891 Rothpletz noticed that some of the speci- 
mens of Girvanella which he had examined were 
characterised by dichotomous branching of the tubes; 
on this account he removed the genus from the Rhizo- 
pods to the calcareous algz, placing it provisionally 
among the Codiacee. Three years later Dr. A. 
Brown, in summing up the evidence in favour of the 
inclusion of Solenopora among the nullipores, ex- 
pressed the opinion that Girvanella might ultimately 
come to be regarded as referable to the Siphonez 
Verticillatz. 

In 1898, however, this genus was still only doubt- 
fully placed with the calcareous alge, for Seward. in 
his work on fossil plants,’ remarks: ‘‘The nature of 
Girvanella, and still more its exact position in the 
organic world, is quite uncertain. ... We must be 
content for the present to leave its precise nature still 
sub judice, and, while regarding it as probably an 
alga, we may venture to consider it more fittingly 
discussed among the Schizophyta than elsewhere.” 

In 1908, however, Rothpletz, in discussing the rela- 
tionship of Spherocodium and Girvanella, reaffirms 
his opinion that the latter must be referred to the 
Codiacez.*® 

Mitcheldeania. 


This genus was first described by Mr. Edward 
Wethered from the lower Carboniferous beds of the 
Forest of Dean® under the name of Mitcheldeania 
Nicholsoni; it was referred by him to the Hydrac- 
tinidze, and considered to be allied to the Stromato- 
poroids. The figure accompanying this paper unfor- 
tunately fails to show any of the characters of the 
organism, but a better figure of the same species was 
subsequently published in the Proceedings of the 
Cotteswold Naturalists’ Field Club.’? 


7 Vol. i, p. 125. 

8 Rothpletz. *“Ueber Algen und Hydrozoen,” of. cit. 
9 “Geol. Mag.,” Dec. 3, 3, cccccxxxv, 1886. 

10 Vol. ix. p. 77, pl. v., 1886 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


In 1888 Prof. H. A. Nicholson published in the 
Geological Magazine figures and descriptions of a 
new species of this genus (M. gregaria), and redefined 
the genus as having ‘‘the form of small, rounded, or 
oval calcareous masses made up of capillary tubes of an 
oval or circular shape, which radiate from a central 
point or points, and are intermixed with an interstitial 
tissue of very much more minute branching tubuli.” 
He compares the larger tubes to zooidal tubes, and 
states that they ‘‘communicate with one another by 
means of large, irregularly-placed foramina resembling 
“the mural pores” of the Favisitida, and they occa- 
sionally exhibit a few irregular transverse partitions 
or tubule.” 

With regard to the systematic position of this 
genus, Nicholson remarks: ‘In spite of the extreme 
minuteness of its tissues, the genus Mitcheldeania 
may, I think, be referred with tolerable certainty to 
the Coelenterata . . . its closest affinities seem to be 
with the hydrocorallines . . . on the other hand, all 
the known hydrocorallines possess zooidal tubes which 
are enormously larger than those of Mitcheldeania; 
and there are other morphological features in the 
latter genus which would preclude its being actually 
placed, with our present knowledge, in the group of 
the Hydrocoralline.”’ 

Since this description by Prof. Nicholson, no further 
account of this organism, so far as I am aware, has 
been published, and its reference to the Hydrozoa rests 
on Prof. Nicholson’s description. 

During the past few years I have collected a large 
amount of material from both of the type localities 
from which Mr. Wethered and Prof. Nicholson ob- 
tained their specimens, and an examination of this 
material has impressed me strongly with the re- 
semblance of Mitcheldeania to forms such as Soleno- 
pora and Girvanella, now usually classed among the 
calcareous alge. In the rocks in which it occurs 
Mitcheldeania appears as rounded and _lobulate 
nodules, breaking with porcellanous fracture and 
showing concentric structure on weathered surfaces, 
very similar to nodules of Solenopora; while under 
the microscope the branching character of the tubules 
and their comparatively minute size appear to separate 
them from the Monticuliporoids. Prof. Nicholson 
appears to rely on the presence of pores, which he 
thought he observed in the walls of both the larger 
and finer tubes, for the inclusion of this genus with 
the hydrocorallines, though he appeared to be doubt- 
ful about their occurrence in the interstitial tubuli. 
An examination of a large number of slides has failed 
to convince me of the presence of pores, even in the 
larger ‘‘zooidal tubes.’ The large “ oval or circular” 
apertures noticed by Nicholson appear to be either 
elbows in the undulating tubes cut across where these 
bend away from the plane of the section, or 
places where a branch is given off from a tube 
at an angle to the plane of the section. If this view 
be accepted, there appears to be no sufficient reason 
why Mitcheldeania should not be ranged with Soleno- 
pora and other similar forms, and included among the 
calcareous algae—a position which its mode of occur- 
rence and general structure has led me, for some 
time, to assign to this organism. 

In addition to the three chief forms described above 
from British rocks, a study of numerous thin sections 
from the Lower Carboniferous rocks of the north- 
west of England has revealed the presence of several 
distinct organisms, which will, I think, eventually be 
found to be referable to the calcareous alge. 

This meagre list appears to exhaust the genera 
known at the present time from the Lower Car- 
boniferous rocks of Britain, while the only additional 
genus so far recorded from the Mesozoic and Tertiary 


114 


NATURE 


rocks of this country (if we except Rothpietz’s sub- 
genus Solenoporella) is Chara from the Wealden beds 
of Sussex, the uppermost Jurassic of the Isle of Wight 
and Swanage, and the Oligocene of the Isle of Wight. 

Outside of this country the literature on fossil cal- 
careous algz is much more extensive. The interest 
originally aroused on the Continent by the writings of 
Phillipi, of Unger of Vienna, Cohn, Rosanoff, Gimbel, 
Saporta, and Munier-Chalmas has been further main- 
tained in our own time by Bornemann, Steinmann, 
Frith, Solms-Laubach, Rothpletz, Walther, Kiaer, and 
others; while the more favourable conditions which 
obtained for the growth of these organisms, especially 
during Silurian, Triassic, and Tertiary times, has 
afforded a much wider field for their observation. 

Thus, in addition to the forms recorded from this 
country, an important part has been played by mem- 
bers of the family of the Dasycladacez, together with 
such genera as Spherocodium, Lithothamnion, and 
Lithophyllum. 

It is now time to turn to the consideration of the 
_part played by these organisms in the formation of 
the sedimentary rocks through the successive geological 
periods. 

ARCHZEAN. 


In the Archzan rocks no undoubted remains of 
Algze have, so far as I am aware, yet been recorded, 
but Sederholm considers that certain small nodules in 
the Archzean schists of Finland may represent vege- 
table remains. I may also perhaps here refer to some 
curious oolitic structures which I met with in Spits- 
bergen in 1896 when examining the rocks of Hornsund 
Bay. These oolites occur on the south side of the 
bay, and are closely connected with massive siliceous 
rocks which may represent old quartzites. The whole 
series is much altered, and detailed structure cannot 
now be made out. The rocks occur apparently strati- 
graphically below the massif of the Hornsund Tind, 
and may belong either to the Archzean or the base 
of the Heckla Hook series. As, however, similar 
rocks have not been recorded from the type district 
of Heckla Hook, they may be referred provisionally 
to the Algonkian, and may represent the quartzites 
and earthy limestone of the Jotnian series of Scan- 
dinavia. They are mentioned here in connection with 
Mr. Wethered’s view that oolites are essentially asso- 
ciated with the growth of Girvanella. 


CAMBRIAN. 


Passing on to the Palaeozoic rocks, we find in the 
Cambrian deposits very few indications that cal- 
careous algz played any considerable part in their 
formation. 

This is no doubt due, in part, to the conditions 
under which these deposits accumulated in the classical 
localities where true calcareous deposits are typically 
absent. In the Durness limestone, however, where 
considerable masses of dolomites occur, the conditions 
would appear at first sight to have been more suitable 
for the growth of these organisms; but even here the 
slow rate of accumulation and the large amount of 
contemporaneous solution may have militated against 
their preservation. At the same time, it is possible 
that a systematic search in the calcareous facies of 
the Cambrian rocks in the north of Europe and 
America might result in the discovery of the remains 
of some members of this group. That there is ground 
for this suggestion is shown by the recent work in 
the Antarctic continent. 

Prof. Edgworth David and Mr. Priestly have dis- 
covered among the rocks in the north-west side of 
the Beardmore Glacier dark grey and pinkish-grey 
limestone containing the remains of Archzocyathine, 
Trilobites, and sponge spicules, together with abundant 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92| 


[SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 


remains of a small calcareous alga referred provi- 
sionally to Solenopora; from the photographs ex- 
hibited by Prof. David on the oc@asion of his address 
to the Geological Society I have little doubt that this 
reference is correct. 

A further occurrence is also reported from fragments 
of a limestone breccia collected by the Southern party 
from the western lateral moraine of the same glacier. 
Speaking of the fauna discovered in this limestone, 
Prof. David remarks: ‘‘The whole assemblage is 
so closely analogous with that found in the Lower 
Cambrian of South Australia as te leave no doubt as 
to the geological age of the limestones from which 
these fragments are derived."""* This discovery, 
therefore, extends the vertical range of this widely 
spread genus down to the oldest Palzozoic rocks. It 
is interesting to note that the rocks in which the 
Solenopora occurs contain a development of pisolite 
and oolite, and that this is also the case in the 
Australian equivalents. In 1887 and again in 1891 
Bornemann described and figured species of Siphonema 
and Confervites ** from the Archzeocyathus limestones 
of Sardina. As regards the former genus, it was 
shown by Dr. Hinde’* to be congeneric with Gir- 
vanella (Nich and Eth). It is of interest, however, 
to note that Bornemann describes this form as a cal- 
careous alga, and compares it with existing sub-aerial 
algz growing on the surface of limestone rocks in 
Switzerland. The latter is stated by Seward to be 
possibly ‘‘a Cambrian algz, but the figures and 
descriptions do not afford by any means convincing 
evidence.” 

More recently, in 1904, Dr. T. Lorenz has described 
remains of Siphoneze from the Cambrian rocks of 
Tschang-duang in Northern China, for which he 
erects two new genera, Ascosoma and Mitscherlichia, 
placing them in a new family, the Ascosomacez. 
These algz build -important beds of limestone, the 
individuals often attaining a length of 4 cm. and a 
thickness of 13 cm. In 1907 Bailey reported Gir- 
vanella associated with oolites in the lowest Cambrian 
Man-t’o beds in China. It is probable, therefore, 
that as our knowledge of these rocks is extended 
calcareous alge will be found to play an important 
part in the Cambrian limestones of the Asiatic con- 
tinent and Australia. ; 


ORDOVICIAN. 

In the Ordovician rocks, the remains of caleareous 
algze become much more abundant. They are very 
widely distributed, and for the first time they become 
important rock-builders. In Britain, the chief genera 
met with are Girvanella and Solenopora. These two 
organisms occur abundantly in the Scottish Ordo- 
vician rocks of the Girvan area, where they appear to 
have contributed largely to the limestones of the Barr 
series in Llandeilo-Caradoc times. 

As already mentioned, the genotype of Girvanella— 
G. problematica—was originally described by the late 
Prof. Nicholson and Mr. Etheridge, jun., from the 
Craighead limestone, where it occurs in great numbers 
in the Craighead limestone at Tramitchell. The 
officers of the Geological Survey also report it from 
the Stinchar limestone of Benan Hill. 

It occurs in the form of small rounded or irregular 
nodules, varying in diameter from less than a milli- 
metre to more than a centimetre—many of the 
nodules showing marked concentric structure. Dur- 
ing a recent visit to Girvan I was much struck by the 
important part played by this organism in the forma- 
tion of these upper compact limestones In Benan 
Burn, where these beds are admirably exposed, the 

11 Eleventh Inter. Congress Report, 1070, Pp. 775. 


12 “Nova. Acta. Coes. T.eon. Car.,” 1887 and 1891. 
1% Hinde, ‘“‘ Geol. Mag.,” 1887, p. 226. e 


Oe ee 


+ 


a 


SEPTEMBER 25, 1913] 


Girvanella nodules occar conspicuously on the 
weathered surfaces, being so abundant as to con- 
stitute thick layers of limestone. 

Solenopora compacta, var. Peachii, which, likewise, 
forms important masses of limestone, occurs, like 


Girvanella problematica, in the Girvan area, but at a | 


somewhat lower horizon, namely, in the nodular 
limestone and shales forming the lower sub-division of 
the Stinchar limestone. It was originally described 
from pebbles in the Old Red Conglomerate of 
Habbie’s Howe by Nicholson and Etheridge, jun., 
under the name Tetradium Peachii, and was subse- 
quently discovered to occur plentifully in the Ordo- 
vician limestone at Tramitchell and Craighead, and to 
be synonymous with Solenopora compacta (Bill). In 
the shales associated with the nodular limestone of 
Craighead it occurs as spheroidal and _botryoidal 
nodules up to 14 in. in diameter; while in the lime- 
stone itself the nodules may have a diameter of 3 in. 
On freshly fractured surfaces it appears as_ buff- 
coloured on brownish spots, having a compact por- 
cellanous texture, while weathered surfaces often show 
a concentric structure. Under the microscope the 
tubes of this species vary in diameter from 50—8o u. 

In the Geological Survey Memoir it is also recorded, 
under the original name of Tetradium Peachii, from 
the Stinchar limestone of Benan Burn, Millenderdale, 
and Bougang, where it is accompanied by two other 
species, S. filiformis and S. fusiformis,’ which con- 
tributes conspicuously to the deposit, often forming 
large masses of limestone. The horizon of the 
Stinchar limestone is correlated by Prof. Lapworth 
with the Craighead limestone, and considered to repre- 
sent the summit of the Llandeilo or the base of the 
Caradoc of the Shropshire district. It is of interest to 
note that Solenopora is here accompanied at times by 
well-marked oolitic structure, and that the same is 
true of the pebbles with which it is associated in the 
conglomerate at Habbie’s Howe. 

Although the marked development of Solenopora 
found in the Stinchar limestone ceases'with the advent 
of the Benan conglomerate, the genus appears to have 
survived in the district into Upper Caradoc times, for 
Dr. Brown describes a new _ species (S._ litho- 
thamnioides) from Nicholson’s collection from the 
Ordovician (? Silurian) at Shalloch Mill, where it 
occurs in conical masses the size of a walnut. The 
only beds in which we might expect alge to occur 
in this locality are the nodular limestones or Dionide 
beds of the Whitehouse group of Prof. Lapworth’s 
classification, but there is no mention of Tetradium or 
Solenopora from this locality in the fossil lists cited 
from Mrs. Gray’s collection in the survey memoir. 

As this point is of some interest, I have consulted 
Mrs. Gray, who very kindly sent me some small 
nodules which she had collected from the Whitehouse 
beds of Shalloch Mill. On slicing one of these I find 
that it is undoubtedly a Solenopora, and probably the 
species figured by Dr. Brown as S. lithothamnioides. 
A tangential section cut from this specimen shows 
clearly why the original specimen of Solenopora from 
Craighead was mistaken for Tetradium by Nicholson 
and Etheridge, jun. 

South of the Scottish border there is, so far as I 
am aware, only one locality from which calcareous 
algze have been recorded in rocks of Ordovician age, 
namely, Hoar Edge in Shropshire. Here large 
examples of Solenopora compacta were obtained in 
1888 by Prof. Lapworth from the caleareous layers 
near the base of the Hoar Edge sandstone. The 
specimens were handed to Prof. Nicholson, who 
records the circumstance in his description of S. com- 
pacta in the Geological Magazine for 1888. The form 


J4 Brown, of. crt.,pp. 195-197. 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


115 


occurs here at the base of the Caradoc beds, and there- 
fore at a horizon which corresponds closely to that of 
the Craighead limestone of Girvan. 

Prof. Lapworth also informs me that he has ob- 
tained specimens of Solenopora from a limestone in 
south-west Radnorshire. As the upper portion of the 
limestone in which it is found contains a Silurian 
fauna, it is possible that it is here present at a higher 
horizon, though the constancy with which it occurs 
elsewhere, in beds of Llandilo-Caradoc age, would 
seem to point to the possible presence of beds of 
Upper Ordovician age in this area. In any case, its 
occurrence here is of considerable interest. 


Foreign Ordovician. 


Outside of Britain, one of the most interesting de- 
velopments of calcareous algae in rocks of Ordovician 
age occurs in the Baltic provinces. 

As already stated, Solenopora was first recorded 
from Herrkiill in Esthonia, by Dybowski under the 
name of Solenopora spongioides. It occurs here 
in the Upper Caradoc or Borckholm beds of Schmidi’s 
classification—where it makes up thick beds of lime- 
stone—and it is noteworthy that this horizon is prac- 
tically identical with that at which S. lithotham- 
nioides (Brown) occurs at Shalloch Mill. 

Other specimens of Solenopora were collected by 
Prof. Nicholson in Saak, south of Reval, from the 
underlying Jewe beds, an horizon which corresponds 
very closely to that of the Craighead limestone of 
Girvan. Speaking of these beds, Nicholson and 
Etheridge remark: ‘At this locality S. compacta not 
only occurs as detached specimens of all sizes, but it 
also makes up almost entire beds of limestone ; indeed, 
some of the bands of limestone at Saak look like 
amygdaloidal lavas, while others have a_ cellular 
appearance from the dissolution out of them of the 
little pea-like skeletons of this fossil.” 

In Prof. Nicholson’s collection from these beds Dr. 
Brown afterwards distinguished two new species, 
namely, S. nigra and S. dendriformis. Thus in the 
Ordovician rocks of Esthonia, Solenopora plays quite 
as important a part (as a rock-forming organism) as 
it does in the Girvan district in Ayrshire. 

In Norway again, in the Mjosen district to the north 
of Christiania, Solenopora occurs  plentifully in 
Stage 5 of Kiaer's Ordovician series. Here it is 
very abundant and often builds entire beds, while, 
further east, at Furnberg, Kiaer again records the 
occurrence of abundant nodules of Solenopora com- 
pacta, var. Peachii. 

In addition to Solenopora, however, examples of 
another important group of calcareous alge, the 
Siphon, occur in great abundance in the Ordovician 
rocks of the Baltic region, where they play a part 
in the formation of calcareous rocks, scarcely less 


| important than that played by Gyroporella and Diplo- 


pora in the rocks of the Alpine Trias. 

The chief forms belong to the 
Dasycladaceze, represented by the 
Neomeris, and include the genera Paleoporella, 
Dasyporella, Rhabdoporella, Verimporella, Cyclo- 
crinus, and Apidium. These algal limestores repre- 
sent the beds from the Jewe to the Boreckholm beds 
inclusive. They were originally investigated by Dr. 
E. Stolley, who described their occurrence in_ the 
numerous boulders which are strewn over the North 
German plain in Schleswig-Holstein, Pommerania, 
Mecklenburg, and Mark-Brandenberg. Many of these 
boulders can be identified by their lithological char- 
acter and fossil contents as belonging to the Jewe 
beds of the Baltic Ordovician formations. Others 
have been derived from the overlying Wesenberg 
limestones, while yet others occur which resemble the 


family of the 
recent genus 


Tega NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 


succeeding Lyckholm beds of the Baltic succession. 
This assemblage proves that the boulders did not 
originate on the Swedish continent, but from the 
more easterly-lying districts, probably from a part of 
the Baltic between Oeland and Estland, now covered 
by the sea. Similar boulders are also known at 
Lund in Scheenen, on Bornholm, and near Wisby in 
the north of Gotland. 

These facts appear to show that during the deposi- 
tion of the Jewe and the overlying Wesenberg and 
Lyckholm limestones an algal facies obtained which 
extended from Oeland to Estland and as far north 
as the Gulf of Bothnia. 

But even this area does not represent the full extent 
of the algal limestone facies in Upper Ordovician 
times. In Norway, Kiaer has shown by his detailed 
work in the Upper Ordovician rocks, Stage 5 of the 
Christiania district, the important part played by the 
Dasycladacea in this area. Here the Gastropod lime- 
stone in places forms a “ phytozoan limestone,"’ made 
up of Rhabdoporella, Vermiporella, and Apidium 
associated with a considerable development of oolite. 

Again at Kuven and Valle, in the Bergen district, 
Reusch and Kolderup have described knolls of crystal- 
line limestone containing abundant remains of Rhab- 
doporella (formerly described as Syringophyllum) 
associated with a gastropod and coral fauna. This 
horizon they have unhesitatingly referred to zone 5a 
of Kiaer’s sequence, and state that it may be found 
stretching from Geitero in the S.S.W. by Kuven, 
Valle, and Trengereid to Skarfen on Ostero, while 
Reusch has traced it further south to Stordo, near 
Dyviken and Vilkenes. 

We have, therefore, in Upper Ordovician times, in 
the north of Europe, one of the most remarkable 
developments of algal limestones met with through- 
out the geological succession. In North America also 
alge are represented in Ordovician times by Soleno- 
pora compacta, which occurs in the Trenton and 
Black River limestones groups, whence it was 
originally obtained by Billings. It therefore occurs 
here at about the same horizon as in Saak and 
Britain. 

We may also note the occurrence of Girvanella in 
the underlying Chazy limestone originally described 
by the late Prof. H. M. Seeley under the name 
Strephochetus ocellatus; but now generally admitted to 
be a form of Girvanella. 

Other forms referred to this genus have also been 
reported by Schuchert from rocks of undoubted 
Ordovician age on the east coast of the Behring 
Straits.*® 


SILURIAN. 


The rocks of Silurian age in Britain, in which cal- 
careous alge play an important part, appear to be 
limited to the Wenlock limestone, from which Mr. 
Wethered has described the constant occurrence of 
Girvanella tubes, especially in the beds of this age at 
May Hill, at Purley, near Malvern, and Ledbury." 
Of these beds Mr. Wethered remarks: ‘‘The most 
interesting result of the microscopic study of these 
rocks was the discovery of new and interesting forms 
of Girvanella and the fact that this organism has 
taken so important a part in building up the lime- 
stone.” It may here be mentioned that it was whilst 
studying these forms in the Wenlock limestone that 
Mr. Wethered first began to favour the suggestion 
of Rothpletz, published two years previously, in favour 
of Girvanella belonging to the calcareous algz, for he 
remarks: “IT certainly think that the forms which I 
have discovered in the Wenlock limestone seem more 
favourable to the vegetable theory of the origin of 


15 See Hang. 2, 1, 643. 


2, 1, 643 16 Q.1.G.S., xlix, p. 236, 1893. 
NO. 2291, 


VOL. 92] 


| this fossil than those described in my former paper, 


and possibly it may be allied to the calcareous alge.” 

So far as I can ascertain, thisgis all that has been 
published up to the present time with regard to the 
occurrence of calcareous alge in British Silurian 
rocks; but I have every confidence that a more 
thorough microscopic examination of these rocks will 
reveal the presence of many other examples of this 
group. 

Foreign Silurian. 

Outside Britain at this period we find the most 
marked development of an algal facies, once more in 
the Baltic area, where, especially in the island of 
Gotland, algal growths 
several of the limestones and maris. It is an interest- 
ing fact that very shortly after the disappearance of 
the various members of the Dasycladaceze which were 
so much in evidence in Ordovician times, we have the 
marked development of another group of the 
Siphoneez, which quickly reached a maximum, 
building up in their turn abundant calcareous deposits. 


Nodules from these limestones have long been known ~ 


from Gotland under the name of “ Girvanella Rock,” 
and have been recorded by Stolley in boulders scat- 
tered over the North German plain. In 1908, how- 
ever, Prof. Rothpletz showed, in his interesting work 
on these Gotland deposits,’? that the forms hitherto 
alluded to under the term *‘ Girvanella "’ were in reality 
referable to two different genera. One of these he 
showed to be a new species of Solenopora, to which he 
gave the name S. gothlandica (distinguished from 
S. compacta by the comparatively small dimension 
of the tubes, which are only about one quarter of the 
diameter of S. compacta, the genotype); the other he 
referred to his genus Spherocodium, which he had 
created in 1890 for certain forms from the Alpine 
Trias. The survival here of Solenopora into beds of 
undoubted Silurian age is an interesting fact and 
would lead us to expect that it may also some day be 
found in rocks of corresponding age in this country. 

Of the different forms of algze which occur in these 
Gotlandian deposits, perhaps the most interesting is 
Spherocodium. This organism occurs at several 
horizons in the succession. It first makes its appear- 
ance in the marl immediately overlying the Dayi 
flags—approximately of Lower Ludlow age—where 
Spherocodium occurs in considerable masses. Through 
the kindness of Dr. Munthe, who has made a special 
study of these beds in south Gotland, I have been able 
to examine specimens of this interesting form. In 
external appearance they resemble very closely nodules 
of Ortonella from the Lower Carboniferous of the 
north-west of England; some of the nodules appear 
to have reached a diameter of 14 in. The bed is over- 
lain by sandstone and ‘oolite, which are succeeded 
by an argillaceous limestone rich in nodules of Sphero- 
codium gotlandicum and well exposed at Grétlingbo, 
where it is closely associated with oolite. Among the 
fossils of this limestone Spherocodium itself plays a 
most important réle. : 

In the overlying Iliona limestone, Spherocodium-is 
decidedly rare, and its place is taken by nodules of 
Spongiostroma. It is, however, found not infre- 
quently forming a thin crust on some of the nodules 
of Spongiostroma, which have also been described by 
Prof. Rothpletz (op. cit.). In appearance, Spongio- 
stroma resembles very closely the nodules of Sphero- 
codium, showing the same concentric arrangement 
round coral fragments and total absence of the radial 
structure which is so characteristic of Solenopora. 

The actual systematic position of this organism, if 
organism it be, is still undecided. 


17 “ Ueber Algen und Hydrozoen in Silur von Gotland und Oesel” 
Kungl. Sven. Vet. Handl. Band 43. No. 5, 1903. 


contribute enormously to 


In his original. 


SEPTEMBER 25, 1913] 


NATURE 


description of this genus from the Carboniferous rocks 
of Belgium, Giirich refers it provisionally to the Pro- 
tozoa, while Rothpletz in his description of the two 
species S. balticum and S. Holmi from the Gotlandian 
of Gotland, although admitting the difficulties of 
assigning it to any group of the animal kingdom, 
decides in favour ot its hydrozoan affinities. 

As will be pointed out later, there appears to be no 
good reason why Spongiostroma may not be indirectly 
the result of algal growths; but whatever may be the 
final position assigned to it, there can be no doubt as 
to its importance as a rock-building form in the Iliona 
limestone of Gotland. The wide extent of this 
alge horizon in the Upper Silurian of the 
Baltic area is shown by the abundance of boulders 
of these rocks scattered over Schleswig-Holstein, 
and it is probable that a careful examination will 
show the presence of this facies in the Silurian to 
the east of the Baltic provinces. 

We may conclude, therefore, that the development 
of the Spherocodium beds of Gotland probably occupy 
as wide an extension in the Baltic area as that of the 
Rhabdoporella limestones in the Ordovician period. 

With regard to other occurrences in Silurian rocks, 


it will be sufficient to note that of Girvanella in the‘ 


Silurian limestones of Queensland, Australia, recorded 
by Mr. G. W. Card in 1900, and more recently by Mr. 
Chapman from Victoria.*® 

Quite recently Mr. R. Etheridge, jun., of Sydney,’® 
has described ‘‘an organism allied to Mitcheldeania 
from the Upper Silurian rocks of New South Wales ”’; 
the figures given, however, and the description are 
not convincing that his identification can be accepted. 
The size of the tubes, which are from five to six times 
that of the largest tubes of M. gregaria, alone would 
appear to separate this organism from Mr. Wethered’s 
genus, and almost certainly from the calcareous alge. 


DEVONIAN. 


So far as I am aware, there is only one recorded 
occurrence of calcareous alge in the Devonian rocks 
of Britain—namely, in the Hope’s Nose limestone, 
from which Mr. Wethered has described aggregations 
of tubules resembling Girvanella, but in a very poor 
state of preservation. It is hoped that this meagre list 
will be increased in the near future. 


Foreign Devonian. 


On the Continent the records are, so tar, equally 
poor. At the same time, the cursory examination 
which I was able to make of the thin sections of the 
Devonian limestones exhibited in the Brussels Museum 
leads me to expect that a careful investigation of the 
Belgian Devonian limestones will yield other examples 
besides Spongiostroma. 


CARBONIFEROUS. 


We now reach the period in Paleozoic times when 
calcareous algz attained their maximum development 
‘in England, a development rivalling that which ob- 
tained in the Ordovician rocks of Scotland and the 
Gotlandian of Scandinavia. The genera here repre- 
sented include Girvanella, Solenopora, and Mitchel- 
deania. In addition to these, there occur several lime- 
secreting organisms which, though still undescribed, 
will, I think, ultimately come to be included among 
the calcareous algz. The most interesting of these 
organisms I have recently figured from the Lower 
Carboniferous rocks of Westmorland, where it forms 
a definite zonal horizon or ‘‘ band.” *° For this form, 
on account of its stratigraphical importance and for 

18 Rep. Austr. Assn. Adv. Sci.. 1907-8. 


9 Rec. Geol. Surv. N. S. Wales, vol. viii, pt. iv., 1909, p. 308, pl. 47- 
20 Q.J.G.S., 1912, vol. Ixviii. pl. 67, fig. 2. ee 


NO. 229I, VOL. 92] 


117 


| facility of reference, 1 propose the generic name of 
Ortonella.** 

Again, at the same horizon in the North-west Pro- 
vince I have frequently noticed concretionary deposits 
of limestone which occur as finely laminated masses 
often lying parallel to the general direction of the 
bedding planes, which, on microscopic examination, 
show no definite or regular structure, but have every 
appearance of being of organic origin. Many of these 
puzzling forms resemble very closely the somewhat 
obscure structures found in the Visean limestones of 
the Namur basin in Belgium, of which beautiful thin 
sections are displayed in the Natural History Museum 
at Brussels,?*, and which Giirich has described and 
figured under various names—namely, Spongiostroma, 
Malacostroma, &c., and included under a new family 
the Spongiostromidz,** and a new order, the Spongio- 
stromacee. He gives the following definition of the 
family: ‘‘Organismes marins, incrustants, coloniaux, 
A structure stratifiée. La structure de la colonie est 
indiquée, a 1’état fossile, par la disposition de petits 
grains opaques (granulations), entre lesquels il y a 
des interstices, tant6t plus étroits, tantét plus larges 
—canaux du tissu et canaux coloniaux—donnant 
naissance a un tissu spongieux. Dans _ plusieurs 
formes, on a observé des Stercomes,”’ and suggests that 
they may possibly have been encrusting foraminifera. 

I must confess that neither in the original sections 
nor in the beautiful illustrations which accompany 
his work can I see any grounds for referring these 
structures to the protozoa. 

As regards the British specimens, I have long 
regarded them as due, directly or indirectly, to the 
work of calcareous algz, on account of their intimate 
association with well-developed examples of these 
organisms, and, secondly, on account of the entire 
absence of foraminifera and other detrital organisms 
wherever this structure occurs. As, however, I have 
little doubt that they are closely connected in their 
mode of origin with the Belgian specimens, we may 
conveniently speak of them under the general term 
Spongiostroma. 

Some of the best examples known to me occur 
associated with Ortonella in the ‘ Productus globosus 
band” near the summit of the “Athyris glabristria 
zone”’ in the Shap district. They occur here in con- 
siderable masses, often many inches in thickness, and 
form undulating layers parallel to the bedding, and 
somewhat resembling huge ripple-marks. Thin 
sections show little definite structure, but consist of 
what appears to be an irregular flocculent precipitate 
of carbonate of lime, the interstices being filled with 
secondary calcite. Some of the layers resemble almost 
exactly, both in hand specimens and microscopic 
structure, the figures of Malacostroma concentricum 
given by Giirich in plates xvii. and xx. (23). Others 
approach closely to the same author’s figures of 
Spongiostroma, Aphrostroma, &c. In all cases they 
appear to be due to the precipitation of carbonate of 
lime in the neighbourhood of algal growths. I have 
also met with similar deposits, not only at other hori- 
zons in the Lower Carboniferous of the north of Eng- 
land, but also in the Forest of Dean and in the rocks 
of the Avon Gorge; while quite recently Mr. C. H. 
Cunnington has sent me examples from several 
horizons in the Carboniferous limestones of South 
Wales. 


Girvanella. 
This organism appears to play a considerable part 
in the formation of calcareous deposits in the Lower 
Carboniferous rocks of Britain. Its presence in these 


21 From Orton, a village between Shap and Ravenstonedale, where this 


organism occurs in great ahundanc-. 
22 One of these is also exhibited at the Jermyn Street Museum. 
23 “Mem. du Musée Roy. d’Hist. Nat. de Belgique,” ili, 1906. 


118 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 


rocks was first suggested by the late Prof. Nichol- 
son,** in his paper where he remarks: ‘I have found 
some of the Carboniferous limestone of the north of 
England to contain largely an ill-preserved organism 
which will, I think, prove to be referable to Gir- 
vanella.””. This prophecy has turned out to be fully 
justified not only as regards the north of England, 
but also in the case of other Lower Carboniferous 
districts. In 1890 Mr. E. ‘Wethered described ** two 
new forms from the Lower Carboniferous of the Avon 
Gorge and Tortworth, viz., G. incrustans, with tubes 
having a diameter of o'1 mm., and G. Ducii with a 
diameter of o'o2 mm. Mr. Wethered appears to rely 
chiefly on the size of the tubes for the differentiation 
of these species, but as this distinction was made at 
the time when Girvanella was still considered to 
belong to the Rhizopods, and as the size of the tubes 
frequently varies in the same specimen, it is doubtful 
whether these species can be maintained. Mr. 
Wethered’s specimens were obtained from the lime- 
stone near where the Bridge Valley road joins the 
river bank, apparently at the base of Dr. Vaughan’s 
Upper Dibunophyllum zone. The position of this 
limestone is of interest, as it appears to correspond 
very closely with the horizon of the Girvanella nodular 
bed, which forms a well-marked band at the base of 
the Upper Dibunophyllum zone throughout the whole 
of the north and north-west of England. Indeed, I 
have traced this band at intervals from the neigh- 
bourhood of Ford, near the Scottish border, south- 
wards through Northumberland and the Pennine 
area to Penygent, and from the west coast at 
Humphrey Head through Arnside and Shap to the 
east coast, near Dunstanburgh. These organisms 
must, therefore, have flourished over an area of at 
least 3000 square miles. 

The Girvanella tubes found associated with these 
nodules usually occur in two distinct sizes having 
diameters of o'03 and o’or mm. respectively. The 
two forms are closely associated, but the finer tubes 
occur in greater abundance, and. are much more 
closely interlaced. They resemble Mr. Wethered’s 
description of the two species from Gloucestershire, 
and the figures he gives in illustration of these might 
serve very well to represent our northern forms. 

The best exposure showing the important develop- 
ment of these Girvanella nodules is to be found on 
the dip slopes forming the eastern shore of Humphrey 
Head in Morecambe Bay, where the base of the 
Upper Dibunophyllum zone is exposed over a con- 
siderable area. 

Solenopora. 

The discovery of a specimen of this genus in the 
Lower Carboniferous rocks of Westmorland is of 
considerable interest, as its occurrence here gives us 
some insight into the history of its wanderings 
between the time when we last recorded it in the 
Gothlandian rocks of the Baltic area, and its re- 
appearance in the Lower Oolite of Gloucestershire. 
Whether it lived in the Baltic area during the 
Devonian and Carboniferous periods is, however, still 
unknown. The fact of its occurrence in the Caradoc, 
Carboniferous, and Jurassic rocks of the British Isles 
would appear to point to its existence not far off 
during the intervening periods, and I have hopes 
that before long it may be found in the Silurian, and 
possibly also in the Devonian rocks of this country. 

In Westmorland and Lancashire Solenopora occurs 
in considerable abundance near the local base of the 
Lower Carboniferous rocks, and contributes largely 
to the formation of limestone deposits. It is present 
wherever the lowest beds of the succession are ex- 


24 Op. cit. p. 24. 
25 O. J. G. S.; vol. 47, p- 280, pl. 11, figs. rand 2. 1890. 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


posed, as at Shap, Ravenstonedale, and Meathop, 
and must formerly have flourished over a consider- 
able area. 

Though bearing a general resemblance, both in hand 
specimens and microscopic structure to the Ordovician 
and Jurassic forms, it has recently been shown by 
Dr. G. J. Hinde to be specifically distinct.** It occurs 
as small, spheroidal nodules up to an inch in 
diameter, having a markedly lobulate outline em- 
bedded in compact and usually dolomitic limestones, 
and it is occasionally associated with oolitic struc- 
ture. When fractured, it exhibits the compact por- 
cellanous texture and pale brownish tint characteristic 
of specimens of the genus found at other horizons; 
while weathered surfaces frequently show a con- 
centric and occasionally a radially fibrous. structure- 
It is noteworthy that the thallus of this organism 
shows no trace of dolomitisation, even when em- 
bedded in limestone containing over 30 per cent. of 
MgCO,. The profusion of this form in Westmorland 
would lead one to expect its occurrence in other dis- 


tricts where the lowest Carboniferous zones are 
developed; but so far as I am aware, no such 
occurrence has yet been recorded. It may be of 


interest, therefore, to mention here that a few years 
ago my friend, Mr. P. de G. Benson, brought me a 
specimen of rock from near the base of the succes- 
sion in the Avon Gorge, which on cutting I found to 
contain several examples of Solenopora identical with 
the Westmorland form. It is probable, therefore, 
that a careful microscopic examination of the lower 
horizons of the Carboniferous rocks of the scuth-west 
province will lead to the discovery of other examples 
of this interesting genus. 


Mitcheldeania, 
The specimens of Mitcheldeania  Nicholsont 
originally described by Mr. ‘Wethered were ob- 
tained from Wadley’s Quarry, near Drybrook, 


Mitcheldean, from the lower limestone shales at the 
base of the succession. Prof. Sibly, who has recently 
made a careful study of the Lower Carboniferous 
succession in the Forest of Dean,?* has traced this 
algal layer over a considerable area, and considers 
it to represent a horizon near the top of K.I. of the 
Bristol sequence. He has also noted examples of 
Mitcheldeania at a higher level, namely, in the White- 
head limestone, an horizon corresponding probably to 
the base of C2. During a recent visit to the Mitchel- 
dean district I collected specimens from both the 
lower shales, and also from the Whitehead limestone, 
and, thanks to Prof. Sibly’s kind directions, I was 
able to see numerous sections in which he has found 
this algal development. There can be no doubt that 
Mitcheldeania is here an important rock-forming 
organism at least at two horizons in this district, 
and that it occurs over a considerable area. In the 
case of the upper horizon it frequently contributes 
largely to the rock, forming in places almost entire ~ 
layers in the Whitehead limestone. As regards the ~ 
forms met with at these two horizons, the upper form 
found in the Whitehead limestone agrees exactly in 
general characters and mode of occurrence, and also 
in detailed microscopic structure, with Nicholson’s 
species, M. gregaria, from Kershope Foot. The char- 
acter of the two sets of tubes, their size and mode of 
arrangement is identical, and it is impossible to dis- 
tinguish between sections of well-preserved specimens 
from the two localities. Unfortunately, the specimens 
from the lower shales at Mitcheldean are very badly 
preserved, but if Nicholson’s distinction between the 
two species holds, we shall have to speals of the form 


2% Geol. Mag., Dec. 5, x, 289. 1913. 
27 Geol. Mag., Dec. 5, 417- 


SEPTEMBER 25, i913] 


NATURE 


119 


from the lower horizon at Mitcheldean as M. Nichol- 
soni, and that from the Whitehead limestones as 
M. gregaria. Frequently associated with the latter 
is a curious festoon-like growth, while a Spongio- 
stroma-like structure is often found in the matrix of 
the rock between the larger tubes of M. Nicholsont. 
Some years ago Mr. Wethered also recorded a similar 
form of Mitcheldeania from the base of the middle 
limestones of the Avon Gorge, while I have myself 
collected nodules containing specimens apparently 
referable to M. Nicholsoni from the Modiola Shales 
near the base of the succession. Interesting as the 
development of Mitcheldeania in the Forest of Dean 
undoubtedly is, its real home in Britain is in north 
Cumberland and the Scottish border, where it 
flourished to a remarkable extent in the shallow water 
lagoons which spread over so large an area in the 
north of England during early Carboniferous times. 
Over the greater part of north Cumberland and the 
east of Roxburgh we find a remarkable development 
of algal limestones in the formation of which  Mitchel- 
deania plays a very important part. They are met 
with especially at two horizons, an upper one, lying 
immediately below the Fell Sandstone, and a lower 
one in the middle of the underlying series of lime- 
stone and shales. The lower horizon is especially 
interesting on account of the thick masses of lime- 
stone composed almost entirely of algal remains. 
Though Mitcheldeania forms the basis of this reef- 
like development, it is accompanied by other algal 
forms, especially bundes of minute tubules of Gir- 
vanella and coarser tubes reminding one of the 
Spherocodium of Gotland. In places again the 
marked concentric coatings resemble certain 
forms of Spongiostroma. The substance of the reef 
has frequently formed round the remains of Orthocera- 
tites; indeed, the chief layer is usually associated with 
remains of these Cephalopoda. With other layers 
eccur tubes of Serpule, and others again with 
ostracod remains. In addition to the limestone of 
this massive reef, abundant nodules lie scattered 
through the calcareous shales above and below. 

The upper layer, which includes examples from 
Nicholson’s type locality, forms a compact limestone 
several inches thick. It is made up of small spheroidal 
nodules about half an inch in diameter, and occurs a 
short distance below the Fell Sandstone. It can be 
traced over the whole of north Cumberland and north- 
west Northumberland from near Rothbury on the 
east to the Scottish border at Kershope Foot, and 
from the head waters of the Rede in the north, to the 
Shopford district in the south. This layer must there- 
fore have been originally deposited over an area of at 
least 1000 square miles. The horizon of the upper 
band is almost certainly that of the C. zone of the 
Bristol sequence.** It is quite possible, therefore, 
that it is contemporaneous with the Whitehead lime- 
stone of Mitcheldean. This supposition receives sup- 
port from two other pieces of evidence. In the beds 
underlying the Mitcheldeania gregaria band in north 
Cumberland occur calcareous nodules largely made up 
of tubes of Serpula—an organism which is completely 
absent from the Westmorland succession, but which 
is reported by Prof. Sibly from the lower limestone 
shales containing Mitcheldeania in the Forest of Dean 
district. Again, this upper algal layer in Northumber- 
land and Cumberland is almost immediately overlain 
by the Fell Sandstone series, while the Whitehead 
limestone at Mitcheldean passes immediately upwards 
into a sandstone, the Drybrook Sandstone of Prof. 
Sibly, which was originally correlated with the Mill- 
stone Grit, but was shown by Dr. Vaughan in 1905 


Age ““Geology in the Field,” pt. 4, p. 683, and Q. G. S., vol. 73, 1912, 
47- 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


to belong to the Lower Carboniferous series. It would 
be interesting if further researches should prove the 
existence of a former gulf at the end of Tournaisian 
times, running to the east of the North Wales Island, 
from the Forest of Dean through north Cumberland 
to the southern slopes of the Cheviot Isle, with a 
branch given off towards eastward into Westmorland. 

In any case, it is a remarkable fact that we have a 
great development of algal deposits at this period in 
Gloucestershire, Westmorland, Lancashire, north 
Cumberland, and Northumberland. 


Ortonella. 


This form, as already mentioned, occurs in great 
abundance in the algal band in the “Athyris glab- 
ristria zone”’ of the north-west province It is found 
in spherical nodules up to the size of a small orange. 
In microscopic sections it resembles Mitcheldeania in 
so far as it consists of a series of tubes growing out 
radially from a centre. It differs, however, from this 
genus in many important respects. All the tubes are 
approximately of the same size, and there is no 
evidence of alternating coarse and fine turfs arranged 
concentrically, as in the case of Mitcheldeania. 
Further, the tubes are not undulating as in that 
genus, and therefore in thin slices lie for a long 
distance in the plane of the section. They are much 
more widely spaced and show marked dichotomous 
branching, bifurcation making a nearly constant angle 
of about 40°, and there is a strong tendency for the 
branching to take place in several tubes at about the 
same distance from the centre of growth, producing 
a general concentric effect in the nodule. 

The diameter of the tubes is decidedly less than 
those in Mitcheldeania, being usually little more than 
half the size of the tubes of M. gregaria. The nodules 
of this genus occur in great profusion, contributing 
largely to the formation of the shaley dolomite at 
the base of the “P. globosus band” throughout the 
Shap, Ravenstondale, and Arnside districts and West- 
morland and Lancashire. 

In addition to these genera there occur also two 
other encrusting calcareous growths which require 
mention. The first of these appears in thin sections 
in the form of a festoon-like growth, surrounding 
fragments of calcareous alge, especially Mitcheldeania 
and Ortonella. I have met with it abundantly in the 
“Algal band” in the north-west of England, but it 
also occurs: not infrequently associated with Mitchel- 
deania in the Whitehead limestone in the Forest of 
Dean, while a similar structure occurs associated with 
Mitcheldeania gregaria in north Cumberland. 

Although the exact nature of this growth is still 
undecided, I mention it here on account of its in- 
variable association with undoubted calcareous alge. 

The other deposit is the form already alluded to 
under the term Spherocodium. which I have found 
forming considerable masses of rock in many dis- 
tricts where the Lower Carboniferous beds are ex- 
posed; not only in Westmorland and north Cumber- 
land, but also in the Bristol district, the Forest of 
Dean, and South Wales. 


Foreign Carboniferous. 


From its general similarity to the British deposits 
we might expect to find examples of an algal develop- 
ment in some portion of the Belgian Lower Car- 
boniferous succession. As already mentioned, large 
masses of encrusting calcareous deposits have been 
described by Giirich *® from the Visean limestones of 
the Namur basin as Spongiostroma, &c., which, 
though referred by him to the Rhizopoda, may very 


29 “Les Spongiostromides du Viséen de la Province de Namur. Mem. 


du Musée Roy. d’Hist. Nat. de Belgique,” t. iii 1906. 


120 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 


well be calcareous precipitates deposited by algal 
influence. Many of these deposits are similar to those 
mentioned above from British rocks. 

No undoubted remains of calcareous alge have, 
however, yet been recorded from these Belgian rocks. 
It may be of interest, therefore, to mention the recent 
discovery by Prof. Kaisin, of Louvain, of undoubted 
algal remains in the beds overlying the Psammites-de- 
Condroz at Feluy, on the Samme. The form found 
here resembles Ortonella of the Westmorland rocks, 
but the tubes are much finer, and it may turn, out to 
represent a species of Micheldeania. During a recent 
visit to Belgium I had the pleasure of visiting the 
Comblain au Pont beds, in the Feluy section, with 
Prof. Kaisin, and, although these beds have been 
previously classed as Devonian, I agree with him 
that they probably belong to the base of the Car- 
boniferous, and correspond approximately to K of the 
Bristol sequence. In the company of Prof. Dorlodot 
and Dr. Salée, I also visited the chief sections of the 
Visean, and we succeeded in discovering at least three 
horizons at which nodular concretionary structures, 
probably referable to algal growths, occurred. It is 
pretty certain, therefore, that careful microscopic in- 
vestigation of the Belgian rocks will show the 
presence of calcareous algze at more than one horizon. 

One other occurrence of Girvanella may be men- 
tioned from foreign Carboniferous rocks: that is a 
form described by Mr. H. Yabe from the (?) Car- 
boniferous rocks of San-yu-tung and other localities 
in China under the name of G. sinensis.*° 


PERMIAN AND TRIAS. 


In Britain I have met with no reference to the 
occurrence of calcareous algz in rocks of this period, 
but quite recently Mr. Cunnington, of H.M. Geo- 
logical Survey, sent me a few nodules from the base 
of the Permian which resemble very closely frag- 
ments of Spongiostroma from the Carboniferous lime- 
stone, and may be derived from that formation, 

Abroad, masses of limestone, composed almost 
entirely of remains of Diplopora and Gyroporella, 
have long been known from the Muschelkalk and 
lower Keuper beds of the eastern Alps, notably the 
Mendola Dolomite, the Wetten limestone of Bavaria, 
and the Tyrolian Alps—from the Zugspitz to Berchtes- 
gaden. In the Hauptdolomit and from the Fassa 
Dolomite of the north limestone Alps and the stratified 
Schlern dolomite of the southern Tyrol. In the Lom- 
bard Alps the same facies reappears, and Diplopora 
annulata occurs abundantly in the well-known Esino 
limestone above Varenna. 

In 1891 Rothpletz** showed that certain spherical 
bodies in the Triassic beds of St. Cassian, formerly 
regarded as oolitic structures, were in_ reality 
algal growths, and referred them to a new 
genus, Sphcerocodium, on account of their ap- 
parent resemblance to the living form Codium. 
He describes them as encrusting organisms forming 
nodules up to several centimetres in diameter. They 
contribute substantially to the rocks in which they 
occur, and are found especially in the Raiblkalk, the 
Kossenerkalk, and the Plattenkkxalk. 


Jurassic. 


The Mesozoic rocks of Britain contain but few 
examples of marine algal limestones, and important 
occurrence are confined to the Jurassic Rocks. The 
forms met with are limited to two genera, Girvanella 
and Solenopora. 

Tubes of Girvanella occur fairly abundantly in the 


30 H. Yabe, ‘‘ Science Reports of the Tahoku Imp. Univ.,” Japan, 1912. 
31 “ Zeitsch. d. deut. Geol. Ges.,” 189r- 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


British Oolites, especially in the well-known Leck- 
hampton Pisolites, and Mr. Wethered, who has made 
a special study of oolitic structures, appears inclined 
to refer all oolitic structures to organic agency of this 
nature. 

The examples of Solenopora met with in the Great 
Oolite and Coral Rag are of special interest. In both 
cases they attain very much larger dimensions than 
any species yet discovered in the Palzozoic rocks. 

At Chedworth, near Cirencester, I have collected 
masses of Solenopora jurassica, measuring up toa foot 
across, in which the original pink tint is still so con- 
spicuous on freshly fractured surfaces as to give rise 
to the local appellation of ‘* Beetroot Stone,’’ and the 
colour also reminds one of the red algee growing in 
great profusion at the present day in the Gulf of 
Naples. 

It is also recorded from the same horizon by Dr. 
Brown from Malton in Yorkshire, and also, on the 
authority of the late Mr. Fox Strangways, by Prof. 
Rothpletz. (Op. cit.) 

In Yorkshire, however, a form undoubtedly occurs 
at a higher horizon, namely, in the Coral Rag of 


‘the Scarborough district, where it is well known to 


local collectors. Specimens which I have collected 
from this horizon at Yedmandale and Seamer also 
attain a considerable size—up to six inches in their 
longest dimension. : 

The name S. jurassica was given by Prof. Nicholson 
in manuscript to the specimens from Chedworth, and 
was adopted by Dr. Brown in his description of speci- 
mens from both Chedworth and Malton. 

Prof. Rothpletz points out that specimens examined 
by him from Yorkshire differ from the genotype in 
the fact that the cells are typically rounded in cross 
section and by the absence of perforations in the cell- 
walls, and he therefore proposes to separate it as a 
new genus Solenoporella. It seems probable that 
some confusion has arisen between the specimens 
to which Nicholson originally gave the name of 
S. jurassica from the Great Oolite of Chedworth and 
other specimens from a higher horizon—the Coral 
Rag—examined by Dr. Brown and Prof. Rothpletz. 

The former indeed figures a longitudinal section 
from Chedworth (Glos.) and a tangential section from 
Malton (Yorkshire). 

I have collected specimens from both horizons and 
consider that whilst the Chedworth specimen, to which 
the name Solenopora jurassica was originally given, 
represents a species of true Solenopora, showing 
closely packed cells with polygonal outline in tan- 
gential section, the form from the Coral Rag of York- 
shire, with distinct circular outline to the tubes in 
tangential section is specifically, if not generically, 
distinct, and is that described by Rothpletz as Soleno- 
porella. 

If this view be correct we should continue to speak 
of the specimens from the Great Oolite at Chedworth 
as Solenopora jurassica, while those from the Coral 
Rag of Yorkshire must be known as Solenoporella 
sp. Rothpletz. ; = 

Foreign Jurassic. 


It is surprising that records of the occu-rence of 
calcareous algz in foreign Jurassic rocks are at 
present very scarce. 

Quite recently, however, Mr. H. Yabe** has 
described a new species of Solenopora, under the title 
Metasolenopora Rothpletzi, from the Torinosu lime- 
stone Japan. This discovery is of interest, as it 
carries the known occurrence of Solenopora up to the 
base of the Cretaceous, in which formation Litho- 
thamnion appears and thenceforward becomes the 


32 Of. cit, p. 2 


alge. 


CRETACEOUS. 


We here reach the period when Lithothamnion and 
its allies begin to make their appearance. They have 
not yet been recognised in British rocks, but are 
widely distributed in. Continental deposits. They 
occur in the Cenomanian of France, in the Sarthe 
and the Var, but especially in the Danian of Peters- 
burg, near Maestricht. 

Other forms which may be mentioned are Diplopora 
and Triploporella. The former is met with abun- 
_dantly in the lower Schrattenkalk in certain districts, 
especially Wildkirchli, where it plays a considerable 
part in the formation of the deposit.** 


TERTIARY, 

In Britain no important deposits of marine cal- 
careous algz have yet been reported, but considerable 

deposits of limestone, rich in remains of Chara, have 
_ for long been known from the Oligocene of the Isle 
of Wight. 

Foreign Tertiary. 

On the Continent, however, large deposits rich in 
Lithothamnion and Lithophyllum have been known 
for many years, among which I may mention the 
well-known Leithakalk of the Vienna Basin and 
Moravia. It, will be remembered that it was these 
deposits which formed the subject of Unger’s im- 
portant monograph in 1858. 


CONCLUSIONS. 


The facts given above regarding the geological 
distribution and mode of occurrence of these organisms 
lead us to several interesting conclusions. In addi- 
tion to the evidence of the important part they play 
as rock-builders, it is evident that certain forms 
flourished over wide areas at the same geological 
periods, and might well be made use of in many cases 
with considerable reliability as proofs of the general 
contemporaneity of two deposits. Thus, as general 
examples, we may cite the wide distribution of 
Solenopora compacta in the Baltic provinces, Scotland, 
_ England, Wales, and Canada during Llandilo-Caradoc 
times. 

The wonderfully persistent development of the 
_ Rhabdoporella facies over the whole of the Baltic area 
at the close of Ordovician times was of so marked a 
character that by means of boulders scattered over the 
north German plain it can even be made use of for 
tracing the direction of flow of the ice-sheet during 
glacial times. 

Again, to take examples nearer home. The 
Ortonella band found throughout Westmorland and 
north Lancashire near the summit of the Tournaisian 
occurs so constantly at the same horizon as to con- 
stitute one of the most valuable zonal indices in the 
succession of the north-west province, and can be used 
with the greatest confidence not only for correlating 
widely separated exposures, but also affords valuable 
evidence in the case of tectonic movements. Other 
examples are supplied by the ‘“Girvanella nodular 
band” at the base of the Upper Dibunophyllum zone, 
and the Mitcheldeania gregaria beds in the north of 
England and the Forest of Dean. 

_ Again, the presence of these organisms at a par- 
ticular horizon furnish us with interesting evidence 
as to the conditions which obtained during the accu- 
‘mulation of these deposits. 

_ At-the present day calcareous algz flourish best 
_ in clear but shallow water in bays and sheltered 
lagoons. As a good example we may take the algal 
banks in the Bay of Naples, described by Prof. 


33 Lorenz, 1908. 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


chief representative of the rock-building coralline 


NATURE 


L2a 


Walther,** where Lithothamnion and Lithophyllum 
flourish to a depth of from 50-7o metres. There is 
seldom any muddy sediment on these banks, though 
detrital limestone fragments are widely distributed. 
Another interesting point is the constant association 
of fossil calcareous algz with oolitic structure and 
also with dolomite. 

Thus oolites occur in connection with Solenopora 
in the lower Cambrian of the Antarctic, in the Craig- 
head limestone at Tramitchell in the Ordovician rocks 
of Christiania and the Silurian of Gotland and in the 
Lower Carboniferous limestone of Shap; while in the 
Jurassic rocks of Gloucestershire. and Yorkshire it 
occurs in the heart of the most typical oolitic develop- 
ment to be met with in the whole geological succes- 
sion. Though Mr. Wethered has made out a good 
case for the constant association of Girvanella tubes 
with oolitic grains, there are many cases in which 
their association cannot be traced. M. Cayeux,*® in 
writing of a mass of Girvanella from the ferruginous 
oolites of the Silurian rocks of La Ferriére-aux- 
Etangs, expresses his opinion that Girvanella encrusts 
the oolite grains but does not form them, and that it 
is really a perforating alga of a parasitic nature. 

The presence of dolomites in connection with algal 
deposits at different geological horizons appears to 
have taken place under definite physiographical condi- 
tions similar to those which obtain to-day in the 
neighbourhood of coral reef. Such lagoon conditions 
would come into existence either during a period of 
subsidence or elevation, and this is just what we find 
when we examine the periods at which these reefs are 
most persistent. 

Thus the Girvan Ordovician reef occurred during an 
elevation which culminated with the deposition of the 
Benan Conglomerate; the Lower Carboniferous Algal 
band in Westmorland was laid down during the sub- 
sidence which followed the Old Red Sandstone Con- 
tinental period of the Upper Girvanella; modular 
band occurred when the Marine period of the Lower 
Carboniferous was drawing to a close and a general 
elevation was taking place. Similar conclusions could 
be drawn from other periods recorded above did time 
permit. 

In concluding this address, I wish to express the 
hope that however imperfect the account I have given 
of the succession of forms may be, that it will help 
to stimulate an interest in these rock-building algz 
and encourage geological workers in this country to 
turn their attention to a hitherto neglected group of 
forms of great stratigraphical importance, 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


Lreps.—Dr. Charles Crowther, formerly lecturer 
in agricultural chemistry, has been appointed pro- 
fessor in that subject, and will have charge of the 
experiments in animal nutrition, which are being 
supported by a grant from the Development Com- 
missioners. 

The Council of the University has granted six 
months’ leave of absence to Prof. Smithells, who is 
leaving England on September 26 to proceed to 
Lahore, where he is to give a course of lectures and 
to assist the Punjab University in other ways in the 
promotion of scientific education and research. 

The position of research chemist to the Joint Com- 
mittee on Ventilation Research of the Institution of 
Gas Engineers and of the University of Leeds has 


34 “* Zeitsch. d. deut. Geol. Ges.” 1885, p. 230, and, ‘‘Abh. d. Kénigl. 
Preuss. Akad. der Wiss,"’ 1910. 
35 Comptes Rendus Acad. de Sct., 1910, P- 359. 


122 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 


been filled by the appointment of Mr. W. Harrison, 
of the Manchester Municipal School of Technology. 

The medical school of the University of Leeds will 
hold its opening function on October 1, when Prof. 
C. S. Sherrington, F.R.S., will distribute the prizes 
and deliver an address. 

Lonpon.—Prof. E. W. MacBride, F.R.S., has been 
appointed successor to the late Prof. Adam Sedgwick 
in the chair of zoology at the Imperial College of 
Science, South Kensington. 


Tue presidency of Denison University has been 
accepted by Prof. C. W. Chamberlain, who, in con- 
sequence, has resigned the chair of physics at Vassar 
College. 


THE new session of the Charing Cross Hospital 
Medical College will be opened on October 1 by an 
address from the dean, Dr. W. Hunter, on Univer- 
sity medical education. 


Tue first Hunterian Society’s lecture will be 
delivered at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital on October 8 
by Dr. F. J. Wethered, who will take as his subject 
‘“Fever in Pulmonary Tuberculosis: its Significance 
and Therapeutical Indications.”’ 


A cuarr of hydrology and hygiene has been estab- 
lished at the Superior School of Pharmacy in Paris, 
which will take the place of one of mineralogy and 
hydrology. Prof. Délépine, the holder of the last- 
named chair, will occupy the new one. 


Dr. J. E. WopsEpatex, of the zoological depart- 
ment of the University of Wisconsin, has been ap- 
pointed professor of zoology and head of the depart- 
ment of zoology and entomology at the University of 
Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, in succession to Dr. J. M. 
Aldrich. 


An apprenticeship course in animal husbandry has 
been established at the Ohio State University. The 
course covers four years—two in the university and 
two in practical work on a stock farm. Many stock 
men in the United States are interested in the move- 
ment, and are cooperating with the University in 
carrying it out. 


We learn from Science that a bionomic laboratory 
has been established in connection with the Univer- 
sity of Chicago, and that Prof. W. L. Tower, who 
has been appointed its curator, has left for South 
America to obtain material for it. The laboratory is 
to be equipped for the study of genetics and the 
problems of experimental evolution. 


A SCHEME has been completed for the amalgamation 
of Bolton Grammar School and the High School for 
Girls in the town, and Sir William Lever has now 
endowed them as from January next with 50,o00l. 
Lever Brothers 20 per cent. cumulative preferred 
ordinary shares, producing an income of 10,0001. per 
annum. The funds are placed at the discretion of 
the trustees, and it is proposed to use the first five 
years’ income to build a new school with an adminis- 
trative block, 


A scientiFIc and technical school of kinematography 
is to be inaugurated at the Polytechnic, Regent 
Street, W., on Wednesday, October 1. The opening 
meeting (which will be free) is to be followed by a 
course of twenty-four weekly lectures by Mr. R. Bruce 
Foster, who will deal with the subject under the fol- 
lowing heads :—Historical development; modern film 
machines and intermittence mechanisms; films, their 
production and treatment; exhibiting; colour kine- 
matography; the kinematograph combined with 
musical accompaniment; the Kinematograph Act and 
Regulations. 


NO, 2291, VOL. 92] 


Tue following lectures, among others, have bee 
arranged for delivery at University College, Lon. 
don :—‘‘ Early Cylinders and Scarabs,” Prof. Flinder 
Petrie, F.R.S.; “Primitive Religion in Egypt,” Miss 
Margaret A. Murray; ‘‘ The Scope of General Physic . 
logy,’ Prof. Bayliss, F.R.S.; ‘“*The Range of Con- 
sciousness in Organic Nature,’’ Mr. Carveth Read; 
‘““Mental Energy,” Prof. Spearman; ‘‘The Palzo- 
botanist, his Past and Future,’’ Dr. Marie Stopes. 
Particulars, syllabuses, &c., may be obtained from 
the Provost or the Secretary of the College. - 


Ar University College, University of London, a 
course of lectures on the physical applications of the 
principle of relativity will be delivered on Fridays, a 
5 p-m., by Dr. L, Silberstein, lecturer in natural 
philosophy at the University of Rome, beginning 
October 10. The syllabus includes consideration ot 
the fundamental concepts and postulates of the theory 


of relativity, dynamics of radiation, fundamental 
electromagnetic equations, optical problems, the 
problem of gravitation, and Einstein’s recent 


generalisation of the theory of relativity. Another 
course of lectures on the principle of relativity is 
to be given at Battersea Polytechnic by Mr. E. 
Cunningham, fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, 
on Thursdays, at 6 p.m., beginning on October 23. 
The lectures will deal with the development of the 
principle and some consequences of the universal 
admission of the principle. Admission to this course 
is free and no ticket is required. 


Tue next session of Birkbeck College, which is 
the ninety-first, commences on September 29. The 
opening address will be given at 7 p.m. by Sir 
Francis Darwin, F.R.S., and visitors are invited to 
be present. The college is conducted in relation with 
the University of London, and classes are held both 
in the day and evening. We notice that thirty-two 
members of the staff are recognised teachers of the 
University of London. The courses of study provide 
for degrees in the faculties of arts, science, laws, 
and economics. It is again pointed out in the 
calendar, which contains full particulars of the 
numerous courses of study, that the usefulness of the 
college is curtailed by its limited accommodation. Its 
most pressing need is for increased space. More 
spacious college buildings, with additional class-rooms 
and larger laboratories better adapted to modern 
requirements, would give a great stimulus to the 
work of the college and add to its public utility. 


Tue report of the United States Commissioner of 
Education for the year ending June 30, 1912, has 
reached us from Washington. It consists of two 
large volumes, one dealing with educational topics 
in a broad way and the other devoted almost entirely 
to statistics. The section of the report concerned 
with the work of universities and colleges in the 
United States shows that the total amount of gifts 
to these institutions for higher education for the 
year I9II-12 was 4,956,600l., excluding grants by 
Federal, State, and local political bodies. This amount 
represents an increase of 363,989l. over the benefactions 
for 1910-11. Of these gifts 1,274,960l. was for the 
increase of plant in the institutions, 745,9S8ol. for cur- 
rent expenses, and 2,935,660l. for endowment. These 
amounts do not include subscriptions or promises 
received in campaigns for endowment, though they 
do include some property not producing an income at 
the present time. Fifty-four institutions reported 
gifts during the year of more than 20,000l. Five 
universities received more than 200,000l., namely, 
Yale, Chicago, Harvard, Columbia. and Cornel 
Columbia University seems to have been most fc 
tunate with its 378,256. 


t_— 


4 


-dioxide react at 60° C., sulphur trioxide being formed. 


SEPTEMBER 25, 1913] 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, September 1.—Général Bassot 
in the chair—H. Deslandres and L. d’Azambuja: 
Variations of the upper layer of the solar atmosphere 
with the approach of a sunspot minimum. An 
account of work done at the Observatory of Meudon 
from 1911 to 1913; a general account of the rela- 
tions observed between spots and filaments; no 
general conclusions are drawn.—G, Bigourdan: The 
variable nebulz and, in particular, the nebula G.C. 
4473=N.G.C. 6760. The observations of Borrelly on 
the change of luminosity of this nebula require con- 
firmation.—A. Laveran and G. Franchini: Experi- 
mental infection of mice by Herpetomonas cteno- 
cephali. The mice were infected with parasites ob 
tained from fleas, and details are given of the changes 
undergone by the organism after transmission to the 
mouse.—Pierre Duhem: On the velocity of sound. A 
discussion of the formule given by Ariés and J. 
Moutier.—Charles Saint-John: Exploration of the 
solar atmosphere by measurements of the radial 
velocities in the spots. Evershed, in 1909, announced 
the displacement of the Fraunhofer lines in the 
penumbra of spots removed from the centre. The 
author commenced the more complete study of this 
phenomenon at Mount Wilson in 1910, and in the 
present communication summarises his results. The 
phenomenon is a Doppler-Fizeau effect, since the dis- 
placements are proportional to the wave-lengths. The 
relative levels of emission of the different lines can be 
determined by this method.—M. de Séguier ; Quadratic 
and Hermitian groups in a Galois field.—Georges 
Claude; Influence of the diameter on the potential 
difference in luminescent neon tubes. The relation 
between the fall of potential in volts per metre of 
tube and the diameter of the tube was found to be 
hyperbolic.—Paul Godin: Influence of the weight of 
the arms on the respiratory modifications in the course 
of growth.—F. Heckenroth and M. Blanchard: A fixa- 
tion reaction, in presence of a syphilitic antigen, in 
syphilis, yaws, trypanosomiasis, and phagedenic ulcer 
in the French Congo. 

September 8.—M. de Forcrand; Experiments on 
the cupric hydrates and the heat of formation of 
copper nitrate. Comparison with uranyl nitrate. 
Calorimetric determinations on Cu(OH),, CuO, and 
intermediate hydrates.—J. Guillaume: Observations of 
the Metcalf comet (1913b) made at the Observatory of 
Lyons. Positions given for September 3. 5, and 6. 
On the 3rd the comet was of the tenth magnitude.— 
A, Schaumasse: Observations of the Metcalf comet 
(19136) made with the Coude equatorial at the Observa- 
tory of Nice. Positions given for September 3, 4, 5, 
and 6. On the 3rd the comet appeared as a round 
nebulosity of about the tenth magnitude, about 2’ in 
diameter, with a badly defined nucleus.—M. Moulin : 
The terminal curves of balance springs. Influence of 
terms of the second order.—E. Briner and A. Kuhne ; 
The mechanism of the formation of sulphuric acid in 
leaden chambers. The authors have been able to 
prove that pure dry nitrogen peroxide and sulphur 


From the results of this experiment they discuss the 
possibility of the direct oxidation of sulphur dioxide 
to sulphuric acid in the leaden chamber.—-J. A. 
Urbain: Morphological modifications and floral | 
anomalies resulting from the suppression of the 
albumen in some plants. A study of the modifications 
in growth produced by removing the albumen from 
the seeds of various plants. Edm. Bocquier and Marcel 


NATURE 


| geschichte und Pflanzengeographie. 
| Engler. 


Baudouin: The discovery and exploration of a pre- 
historic submarine station at the mouth of the Vie, in 
Vendée.—Paul Jodot and Paul Lemoine: The existence | 
of a fault on the right bank of the Loire near Cosne. 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


123 


September 15.—Général Bassot in the chair.—E. L. 
Bouvier; New observations on the larval development 
of the spiny lobster (Palinurus vulgaris). (See 
Nature, August 21, p. 633.)—Jules Andrade: The re- 
gulation of a marine chronometer with four spirals.— 
Georges Claude: The drying of air to be liquefied by 
cooling. The difficulty of removing water by cooling 
in the ordinary heat exchanger is discussed. “This can 
be surmounted by making the expanded gas circulate 
through the tubes of the exchanger instead of round 
them, whilst the compressed air circulates round the 
tubes, the path of the compressed air being composed 
of horizontal elements. The liquid water can be re- 
moved from the bottom without difficulty, and it is 
only at the end of fifteen to twenty-four hours that 
stoppages are produced by the hoar frost; a second 
exchanger is then substituted. The cost is very small 
compared with chemical methods of drying, and the 
apparatus has already been used in apparatus for the 
production of pure nitrogen on the large scale.—MM. 
Taffanel and Le Floch: The combination of gaseous 
mixtures and temperatures of inflammation. The 
combustible mixture is introduced suddenly into a 
vessel, the walls of which are at a known tempera- 
ture, the combustion being recorded by a self-recording 
manometer. Results are given for mixtures of air 
with methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, acetylene, 
ethylene, pentane, and finely divided oil.—Maurice 
Durandard: The amylase of Rhizopus nigricans. 


Care Town. 

Royal Society of South Africa, August 20,—Dr. - 
J. K. E. Halm in the chair.—E. J. Goddard: The 
significance of the position of the genital apertures in 
Hirudinea. The number of somites entering into the 
constitution of the Leech body is, according to one 
school, thirty-three, according to another thirty-four. 
This constitution holds good except in the doubtful 
exceptions of Acanthobdella peledina (Grube) and 
Semilageneta (Goddard). The ancestral stock from 
which the Hirudinea arose must have been Oligo- 
cheetan and aquatic in nature, and having a body of 
33 Or 34 somites. This ancestor must have been pro- 
vided with sete, as indicated by Acanthobdella, 
similar to those found in aquatic Oligochzeta such as 
Lumbriculide, Phreodrilidz, &c. Further investiga- 
tion may reveal a close association between the dis- 
tribution of certain archaic Oligochztan families and 
the origin of the Hirudinea——E. J. Goddard: A 
Phreodrilid from Sneeuw Kop, Wellington, South 
Africa. A new form has been discovered on the Wel- 
lington mountains. The ventral sete are typically 
Phreodrilid in nature, but both are simple. Hence in 
Africa, which is apparently rich in Phreodrilids, all 
the varieties of setz noted in the family are to be 
found in -the African representatives.—G. C. Scully 
and A. R. E. Walker: Note on Spodumene from 
Namaqualand. The lithia-bearing mineral described 
in this paper was collected by the authors near 
Jackals Water, Steinkopf. An examination of its 
optical and other physical characters enables them, 
with confidence, to refer it to the species Spodumene. 
Quantitative chemical analyses of the mineral will 
be made, the results of which the authors hope to 
publish in a later paper along with a detailed account 
of the associated minerals. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Botanische Jahrbiicher fur Systematik, Pflanzen- 
Edited by A. 
(Leipzig and Ber- 


Band 50. Heft 2 and 3. 
lin: W. Engelmann). 14 marks. 
Zeitschrift fur Wissenschaftliche Zoologie. 
by Prof. E. Ehlers. Band 106. Heft 3. 
and Berlin: W. Engelmann.) 11 marks 


Edited 
(Leipzig 


124 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 


Problem Papers. Supplementary to Algebra for 
Secondary Schools. By Dr. C. Davison. Pp. 32. 
(Cambridge: University Press.) 8d. 

Canada. Department of Mines. Mines Branch. 
The Nickel Industry, with Special Reference to the 
Sunbury Region, Ontario. By Dr. A. P. Coleman. 
Pp. viiit+206+plates. (Ottawa: Government Printing 
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Biology. .By Dr. W. D. Henderson. Pp. g2. 
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Sir Williams Huggins and Spectroscopic Astronomy. 
By E. W. Maunder. Pp. 94. (The People’s Books 
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Spiritualism and Psychical Research. By J. A. Hill. 
Pp. 94. (The People’s Books series.) (London and 
Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack.) 6d. net. 

Entstehung der Welt und der Erde nach Sage und 
Wissenschaft. By Prof. D. M. B. Weinstein. Zweite 
Auflage. Pp. vi+116. (Leipzig and Berlin: B. G. 
Teubner.) 1.25 marks. 

Die Dampfmaschine. By Prof. R. Vater. II., Ihre 
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Memoirs of the Geological Survey. England and 
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Ussher. Pp. vit+148+iii plates. (London: H. M. 
Stationery Office; E. Stanford, Ltd.) 3s. 

Visvakarma: Examples of Indian Architecture, 
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Coomaraswamy. Part v. 12 plates. (London: 
Luzac and Co., Ltd.) 2s. 6d. 

Die Kultur der Gegenwart ihre Entwicklung und 


ihre ziele. Edited by Prof. P. Hinneberg. Teil iii. 
and Teil iv. Pp. 84. (Leipzig and Berlin: B. G. 
Teubner.) 


Drapers’ Company Research Memoirs. Biometric 
Series ix. A Monograph on Albinism in Man. By 
Karl Pearson, E. Nettleship, and C. H. Usher. 
Part iv. Text. Appendices. Pp. iv+136+xxiii. 
Part iv. Atlas. Pp. iv+lix plates. (London: Dulau 
and Co., Ltd.) Text and Atlas, ‘21s. net. 

Department of Marine and Fisheries. Report of 
the Meteorological Service of Canada, Central Office, 
Toronto, for the year ended December 31, 1909. Pp. 
xxi+565+4 plates. (Ottawa.) 

Handworterbuch der Naturwissenschaften. Edited 
by E. Korschelt and others. Lief. 54 and Lief. 55. 
(Jena: G. Fischer.) 2.50 marks each part. 

Probleme der Entwicklung des Geistes. Die 
Geistesformen. By S. Meyer. Pp. v+429. (Leipzig: 


J. A. Barth.) 13 marks. 

Quantitative Analysis in Practice. By Dr. J. 
Waddell. Pp. vii+162. (London: J. and A. 
Churchill.) 4s. 6d. net. 

Practical Chemistry. By the late Prof. J. C. 
Brown. Sixth edition edited by Dr. G. D. Bengough. 


Pp. 78. (London: J. and A. Churchill.) 2s. 6d. net. 

Report of the Commissioner of Education for the 
Year ended June 30, 1912. Vol. i. Pp. xxvi+647. 
Vol. ii. Pp. xviiit+669. (Washington: Government 
Printing Office.) 

Fire Tests with Glass. Three Window Openings 
filled in with ‘‘ Luxfer’’ Electro-glazing by the British 
Luxfer Prism Syndicate, Ltd., London. The Com- 
mittee’s Report. Pp. 16. (“Red Books” of the 
British Fire Prevention Committee, No. 182.) (Lon- 
don: British Fire Prevention Committee.) 2s. 6d. 

Practical Mathematics. By N. W. M’Lachlan. Pp. 
viii+184. (London: Longmans, Green and Co.) 


2s. 6d. net. 
A Medley of Weather Lore. Collected by M. E. S. 


NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 


Wright. Pp. 144. (Bournemouth: H. G. Commin.) 
2s. 6d. net. 


The Modern Geometry of the Triangle. By W. 
Gallatly. Second edition. Pp. vii+126. (London : 
F. Hodgson.) 2s. 6d. net. 


Medizinische Physik. By Prof. Dr. O. Fischer. Pp. 
xx+1120. (Leipzig: S. Hirzel.) 36 marks. 

The Upper Thames Country and the Severn-Avon 
Plain. By N. E. MacNunn. Pp. 124. (The Oxford 
Geographies.) (Oxford: Clarendon Press.) 1s, 8d. 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


WEDNESDAY, Ocroser i. 
Enromotocica Society, at 8.—The Urticating Properties of Porthesta 
similis, Fuess.: H, Eltringham. 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
Electrical Standards. ByC.H.L...... < ae 
‘Trade’ Waste. Waters . 2.05) 0 50h) ow ee 91 
Engineering Manuals and Text-books ...... 92 
Diettand Health .. . ss 4). Su) steels, on ee 93 
Ourviookshelf. .£ .)).. 0: Ge) sae aie «iat tee 


Letters to the Editor :— : 
The Spectra of Helium and Hydrogen.—Prof. A, 


Fowler; F.R.S. «s/o yest poet 95 
The Elephant Trench at Dewlish—Was it Dug?— 
Clement Reid, F_RiS 2 f..). -) 21 ae 96 
Red-water Phenomenon due to Euglena.—Horace A. 
MCS PMI PAR Sn. | 96 
Distance of the Visible Horizon.—T. W. Backhouse; 
Capt, T. H. ‘Tizard, CB.) FURS 5) eee 96 
The Undagraph.—Dr. Otto Klotz ........ 97 
Geographical Distribution of Phreatoicus.—Dr, Chas, 
Shilton)... .”s) wsis, pene glee eee 98 


The Characters of Hybrid Larve obtained by Crossing 
Different Species of the Genus Echinus. (Z//us- 
tated. )—H. G.:-Newth' 50.5, 6. sous ee 98 

The ‘Gesellschaft Urania” of Berlin. (Z//ustrated.) 99 
The Fauna of the Sandwich Islands, By Prof. | 
Jastaniey. Gardiner, FIRS, 2) eal IOI 
Sir W. N. Hartley, F.R.S. By E. C.C.B. .... oz 
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Annals of the Bureau of Longitudes. . .- .. 2... 108 
Spectrum of Wolf-Rayet Star D.M.+30° 3639. . . 109 
The Berlin Meeting of the International Electro- 
fechnical Commission’. ~ focp. sii tae eee 109 
Budgets of Certain Universities and University 
Colleges in England and Wales ....... » I20 
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The British Association at Birmingham. —Section C. 
— Geology.—Opening Address by Prof. E. J. Garwood, 
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SEPTEMBER 25, 1913] 


MINERALOGY—CRYSTALLOGRAPHY— 
PETROGRAPHY—GEOLOGY. 


Ask for our new 


GENERAL CATALOGUE XVIII. 
(2nd Edition) 
for the use of Middle and High Schools and Universities. 
Part I, 260 pages, 110 Illustrations. 


This catalogue has been prepared with the view of making an exhaustive 
compilation of all educational appliances for the teaching 
of Mineralogy and Geology from a scientific as well as from 
a practical point of view. All the subjects are treated typically, and 
instructive specimens have been selected with the greatest care. A close 
examination of the catalogue will show, that owing to its careful compo- 
sition it gives the opportunity of procuring the most complete outfit for the 
various schools for instruction in and the study of the subjects named. 

Catalogue No. 18, Part I, will be sent free on application. 
Part II will appear within the course of the year. 


(Collections and single specimens of Minerals and Fossils, 
Meteorites bought and exchanged.) 


Dr. F. KRANTZ, 


RHENISH MINERAL OFFICE, BONN-ON-RHINE, GERMANY. 
Established 1833. Established 1833. 


FOSSIL COLLECTION. 


JAMES R. GREGORY & CO. having purchased the well-known 

Collection of Silurian and Coal Measure Fossils. formed by 

the late Henry Johnson, of Dudley, are prepared to sell the 
Collection either separately or as a whole. Apply to 


JAMES R. GREGORY & CO., 


Mineralogists, &c., 


139 FULHAM ROAD, SOUTH KENSINGTON, S.W. 


Telephone: 2841 Western. Telegrams : ‘“‘ Meteorites, London.” 


LIVING SPECIMENS FOR 
THE MICROSCOPE. 


Volvox, Spirogyra, Desmids, Diatoms, Amceba, Arcella, Actinospbzrium, 
Vorticella, Stentor, Hydra, Floscularia, Stephanoceros, Melicerta, and many 
other specimens of Pond Life. Price rs. per Tube, Post Free. Helix 
pomatia, Astacus, Amphioxus, Rana, Anodon, &c., for Dissection purposes. 


THOMAS BOLTON, 
z5 BALSALL HEATH ROAD, BIRMINGHAM. 


MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 
OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 
THE LABORATORY, PLYMOUTH. 

The following animals can always be supplied, either living 

or preserved by the best methods :— 

Sycon; Clava, Obelia, Sertularia; Actinia, Tealia, Caryophyllia, Alcy- 
onium; Hormiphora (preserved); Leptoplana; Lineus, Amphiporus, 
Nereis, Aphrodite, Arenicola, Lanice, Terebella; Lepas, Balanus, 
Gammarus, Ligia Mysis, Nebalia, Carcinus; Patella, Buccinum, Eledone, 
Pectens Bugula, Crisia, Pedicellina, Holothuria, Asterias, Echinus, 
Salpa (preserved), Scyllium, Raia, &c., &c. 

For prices and more detailed lists apply to 

Riological Laboratory, Plymouth. 


THE DIRECTOR 


NATURE xliii 


WATKINS & DONCASTER, 


Naturalists and Manufacturers of 


CABINETS AND APPARATUS 


FOR COLLECTORS OF INSECTS, BIRDS' EGGS AND SKINS, 
MINERALS, PLANTS, &c. 


N.B.—For Excellence and Superiority of Cabinets and Apparatus 
references are permitted to distinguished patrons, Museums, Colleges, &c. 


A LARGE STOCK OF INSECTS, BIRDS’ EGGS AND SKINS 


SPECIALITY.—Objects for Nature Study, 
Drawing Classes, &c. 


Birds, Mammals, &e., Preserved and Mounted by First-class 
Workmen true to Nature. 


All Books and Publications (New and Second-hand) on Insects, 
Birds’ Eggs, &c., supplied. 


36 STRAND, LONDON, w.c. 


(Five Doors from Charing Cross.) 
FULL CATALOGUE POST FREE. 


Sales by #uction. 
STEVENS’ AUCTION ROOMS. Estp. 1760. 
A Sale by Auction is held EVERY FRIDAY 


at 12.30, which affords first-class opportunities for the disposal o 
purchase of SCIENTIFIC AND ELECTRICAL APPARATUS, 
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and Miscellaneous Property. 

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Mr. J. C. STEVENS, 
38 KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN. LONDON, W.C. 


GLASS BLOWING 


ALL KINDS OF SCIENTIFIC AND EXPERIMENTAL GLASS 
BLOWING carried out quickly and cor ectly from rough sketch 
at Moderate Charges. 

ANY FORM OF GLASS APPARATUS REPAIRED, 
DEMONSTRATIONS given here. cr at Colleges, &c. 


66 HATTON GARDEN. LONDON, 
H. H ELM, Telephone 2512 Holborn, 
ACTUAL MAKER of 4A/L K/NDS of X Ray, Geissler and other 
Vacuum Tubes, Mercury Pumps, High Frequency Electrodes, &c. 


Lest free. 


WIINERALS. 


Now on view, some choice specimens of 


DATOLITE 


from Pare Bean Cove, Mullion, Cornwall. Probably the last 
lot that will be found in this district. 


A large number of other choice Cornish 
specimens. 
RUSSELL & SHAW , 

38 Gt. James Street, Bedford Row, London, W.C. 


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xliv 


NATURE 


[SEPTEMBER 25, 1913 


Simmance & Abady’s 
MICROMETER 


PRESSURE & VACUUM 
GAUGE 


indicates in thousandths of an inch, 
where other gauges only show tenths. 


Indispensable for accurate 
experiments. 


Made in suitable ranges to requirements. 


SOLE MAKERS :— 


ALEXANDER WRIGHT & CO. 


LTD. 
WESTMINSTER. 


SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 


OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS. 
The *“ HARRIS ” 


SPECTROMETER. 


4 


A cheap and reliable Instrument specially designed for 
Students’ use. 
Very strongly constructed so that it may be used by 
elementary pupils without being put out of order. 


PRICE £2: 10:0 Each Net. 
Descriptive Pamphlet on application. 


PHILIP HARRIS & CO., 


BIRMINGHAM 


(ENGLAND.) 


(1913) 


LTD. 


M'TOWNSON & MERCER] 


LTD. 


(Established 1798), 
Manufacturers of Apparatus tor 


CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS, MECHANICS, 
BACTERIOLOGY, METALLURGY, 


and. all Science Subjects. 


LABORATORIES FURNISHED AND COMPLETELY EQUIPPED. 
Apparatus for Students’ Use. 
Sole Agents in the United Kingdom for 
Becker’s Sons’, Rotterdam, Balances and Weights. 
Agents for the Glassware of Josef Kavalier and Schott & Gen. 
and Sehleicher & Schiill’s Filter Papers. 


Contractors to the Home and Colonial Departments of H.M. Government, 
War Office, India Office, Imperial College of Science and Technology and 
the Universities and Principal Technical Institutions, County Councils, &c. 


34 Camomile Street, London, E.C. 


Students’ Spectroscope 


With 28 mm. dense flint prism on rotating base, prism 
easily removable, circle divided 360° with vernier 
reading to 5 minutes, adjustable slit with comparison 
prism, sliding adjustment allowing of movement in all 
directions to suit position of light. Collimator and 
Telescope can be clamped in any position round the 
divided circle. The whole can be raised or lowered 
by means of sliding rod, fixed to extra heavy tripod 


foot, weighing 4lbs., which is also £3 10 0 


furnished with levelling screws 


Extract from List of Spectroscopes (No. 54), 


a copy of which will be sent on application. 


A. GALLENKAMP & Co., Ltd., 
19-21 Sun St., Finsbury Square, London, E.C. 


“Printed by RicHarp Cay & Sons, Limirep, at Brunswick Street, Stamford Street, S.E., and published by MAcMILLAN anv Co,, LimireEp, at 
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tuto 


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““To the solid ground ational Muse 
' Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.’-—WoRDSWORTH. 
No. 2292, VOL. 92] THURSDAY, OCTOBER: 2, 1913 [Prick SIXPENCE 
~ Registered as a Newspaper at the General Post. Office.) {All Rights Reserved. 


' 
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Microscopes and Accessories 


offered. Microtomes and Accessories 
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Projection Apparatus 
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Prism Binoculars ,*3" Titcire 


ETC. 


Sectional Catalogues post free. 


18 BLOOMSBURY SQUARE, W.C. 


(A few doors from the British Museum). 


BECK’S FOCOSTAT LENS 


(HISCOTT’S PATENT). 


Negretti & Zambra’s Latest 
Autographic Rain Gauge, 


The ‘FERNLEY,’ 


provides frictionless action 
without delicate mechanism, 
very open rain and time 
scales, and a chart with 
uniform spacings, 


For particulars, and explanation 


_ This lens fits on to the handle of a Dissecting Instrument, 
of diagram, write for pamphlet to 


Mapping Pen or Needle, and when once set is always in focus 
(focostat). Those who have hitherto used a watchmaker's eye- 
glass or a lens on a stand will appreciate the advantage of this. 


, Being fixed on the instrument itself, itis always in focus, it 
: moves with the instrument. It is ‘invaliuble to fis Botanist, NEGRETTI & ZAMBRA 
Entomologist, Zoologist, and the Draughtsman. ae 38 Holborn Viaduct LondonsEe 
, , B.C. 


. For Botany and Dissecting, complete with Needle .. i atk 
: ” » idee aA Pe Pea », and two special 
4 , ' Scalpels with fine pointed Blades i aoe Eve ire 
»» Draughtsmen, complete with Mapping Pens... ain 6 


6 
-R. & J. BECK, Ltd, 68 CORNHILL, LONDON, E£.C. 


City Branch: 45 Cornhill, E.C. 
West End: 122 Regent St. W. 


xlvi 


DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
AND TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 
FOR IRELAND. 

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE FOR IRELAND. 


The College is an Institution for supplying Advanced Courses of 
Instruction in Science as applied to Agriculture and Industries, for training 
Teachers for Technical and Intermediate Schools, and for carrying out 
Scientific Research. 

The Diploma of Associateship (A.R.C.Sc.I.) is awarded to students who 
have passed the Entrance Examination and have regularly followed a four 
years’ course in one of the following faculties or sections, and have pa sed 
the College examinations in all subjects in the group in which they are 
seeking a Diploma. 

Faculties.—Agriculture ; Applied Chemistry ; Engineering. 
Sections for Science Teachers.—Experimental Science ; Technology ; 
Natural Science. 

Students who show that they can profit by the courses of instruction can 
attend, as Non-Associate Students, courses selected by them from any 
portion of the curriculum, or may be admitted to the laboratories for the 
pursuit of special lines of scientific study or research. 


Dean—Professor G. A. J. Core. 


Physics ... Professor W. Brown; Dr. F. E. W. Hackerr. 
Chemistry Professor G. F. Morcan; Mr. A. O'FARRELLY. 
Mechanical 


} Professor H. H. Jerrcorr; Mr. J. Taytor. 


Engineering 
Professor J. Witson; Mr. D. Houston; 


Agriculture Mr. G. STEPHENSON. 
Mathematics .... Professor W. McF. Orr. 
Geology ... Professor G. A. J. Coie. 
Botany ... Professor T. JOHNSON. 
Zoology ... Professor G. H. CARPENTER. 


Particulars as to the programme of studies, fees, &c., may be obtained 
from the REGISTRAR. 
The SESSION 1913-14 opens on OCTOBER 7. 


EAST LONDON COLLEGE 


(UNIVERSITY OF LONDON). 


FACULTIES OF ARTS, SCIENCE, AND 
ENGINEERING. 


FEES: TEN GUINEAS PER ANNUM. 
NO ENTRY FEE AND NO REGISTRATION CHARGES. 


Special fees and facilities for Post Graduate 
and Research Students in’ all Faculties. 


M.A. CLASSES FOR MATHEMATICS. 


Calendar, with lists of Graduates, University and College 
Scholarships, Academic and other distinctions, post free on 
application to the Registrar, or the Principal, 


J. L. S. HATTON, M.A. 
Telephave No.: East 3384. 


BOROUGH POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, 
BOROUGH ROAD, LONDON, S.E. 


CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT. 
Under the direction of C. Dorér, M.A., D.Sc. 


The Classes—Elementary, Advanced and Honours, Inorganic and 
Organic Chemistry—commence September 22, 1913. 
The following Special Evening Courses in Applied Chemistry have 
also been arranged :— 
THE CHEMISTRY AND TECHNOLOGY OF THE 
ESSENTIAL OILS. 
Lectures and Practical Work, Wednesday, 7.30. 
B.Sc., F.I.C. 
THE CHEMISTRY AND MANUFACTURE OF 
FOODSTUFFS. 
Lectures, Monday, 7.30. E. Hinks, B.Sc., F.1.C., and T. Macara, 
BEG; 


ELECTROCHEMISTRY. Wednesday and Friday, 7.30. 
THE ANALYSIS AND VALUATION OF LAUNDRY 
TRADE MATERIALS. 
A Practical Course, Monday and Friday, 7.30. C. Dortée, M.A., D.Sc, 
For full particulars apply to the Principal, C. T, Mittis. 


UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH. 


ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT. 

The next SESSION OPENS on OCTOBER 7. The Preliminary or 
Entrance Examination is held in September. The University provides 
complete COURSES in CIVIL, MECHANICAL and ELEC1RICAL 
ENGINEERING, qualifying for the degree of B.Sc. in Engineering, and 
extending over a period of three years. Particulars of the Entrance 
Examination, Schglatships, Fees, and Courses of Instruction. can be 
obtained from the MarricuLation Orricg, The University, Edinburgh. 


C. T. Benner, 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 2, 1913 


THE SIR JOHN CASS TECHNICA 
INSTITUTE, : 
JEWRY STREET, ALDGATE, E.C. 


The following Special Course of Instruction will be given during the 


Autumn Term, 1913 :— 
COLLOIDS. 


The Methods employed in their Investigation 
and their Relation to Technical Problems. 
By E. HATSCHEK. 


A course of ro Lectures and Demonstrations on the nature and 
properties of Colloidal substances, of the methods employed in their 
investigation, and of the bearing of Colloidal phenomena on Chemical 
and allied Industries. 

Tuesday Evenings, 7 to 8.30 p.m. 

The first lecture of the Course will be held on Tuesday, October 7, 
at 7 p.m. 

Detailed Syllabus of the Course may be had at the Office of the 
Institute, or by letter to the Principat. : 


THE SIR JOHN CASS TECHNICAL 
INSTITUTE, 


JEWRY STREET, ALDGATE, EC. 
EVENING CLASSES IN METALLURGY. 
Lecturer in Metallurgy ..C. O. BANNisTER, A.R.S.M., M.I.M.M. 


Lecturer on Metals used in the [ WesLev J. Lampert, Assoc. Inst.C.E., 
Motor Car Industry and late Chief Metallurgist, Royal Gun 
Metallography re ase Factory, Woolwich Arsenal. 


Lecturer on Iron and_ Steel, | 

Mining and Mine Surveying aa (pee Parcuin, A.R.S.M. 

Elementary, Intermediate, and Advanced Metallurgy, forming a graded 
four years’ curriculum. Special Ceurses on Assaying, Metallography, 
including Pyrometry, The Metallurgy of Gold and Silver, The Metallurey 
of Iron and Steel, Metals used in the Motor Car Industry, Mining, Mine 
Surveying, and Mineralogy. 

The Courses are suited to the requirements of those engaged in Metal- 
lurgical Industries, Assay Laboratories, and to those intending to take up 
Metallurgical work in the Colonies. 

The Laboratories are open to students in the afternoon for practical work. 


For details of the Classes apply at the Office of the Institute, or by letter 
to the PRINCIPAL. 


COUNTY OF LONDON. 


The London County Council invites applications for the position of full 
time LABORATORY ASSISTANT (Woman) for the Botanical and 
Chemical Laboratories at the County Secondary School, Putney. Candi- 
dates should be between the ages of 18 and 2r years, and the commencing 
salary will be 18s. to 25s. a weck according to age, rising to 30s. a week. 
The person appointed will be required to take up her duties in January, 
1gt4. Candidates should apply by letter to the Education Officer, London 
County Council Education Offices, Victoria Embankment, W.C., by Wed- 
nesday, October 15, 1913, and should give full particulars of their age, 


qualifications, and experience. 

Every communication must be marked H.4 on the envelope. Canvass- 
ing, either directly or indirectly, will be held to be a disqualification for 
appointment. No candidate who is a relative of a member of the Advisory 
Sub-Committee of the school is eligible for appointment. 

JAMES BIRD, 
Deputy Clerk of the London County Council. 

Education Offices, 

Victoria Embankment, W.C., 
September 24, 1913. 


UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS. 


CHAIR OF CHEMISTRY IN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, 
DUNDEE. 

THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. 
ANDREWS invite applications forthe CHAIR OF CHEMISTRY in 
University College, Dundee, fallen vacant by the death of Professor, Hugh 
Marshall, D.Sc., F.R.S. 

Letters of application, which must be accompanied by thirty printed or 
type-written copies of the letter of application and relative testimonials must 
be in the hands of the undersigned on or before Friday, November 7. 

Further particulais regarding the Chair may be obtained from the 


undersigned. 
ANDREW BENNETT, ~— 
Secretary and Registrar. 


The University, St. Andrews, 
September 30, r9r3. 


UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN 


AND 


NORTH OF SCOTLAND COLLEGE 
OF AGRICULTURE. 


It is proposed to appoint a BIO-CHEMIST for the RESEARCH 
DEPARTMENT in ANIMAL NUIRITION. The salary will depend 
on the qualifications and experience of the person appointed. Applications 
from thoroughly trained and experienced investigators are invited to be 
sent to the SECRETARIES, Joint Committee on Agricultural Research, 
Mociachel College, Aberdeen, from whom further information can be 
obtained, 


vA T O teas 


v5 


THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1913. 


THEORY AND PRACTICE OF CHEMISTRY. 


(1) Service Chemistry: Being a Short Manual of 
Chemistry and Metallurgy, and their Application 
in the Naval and Military Services. By Prof. 
V. B. Lewes and J. S. S. Brame. Fourth 


edition, revised. Pp. xvi+576+vii plates. 
(London: Edward Arnold, 1913.) Price 15s. 
net. 


(2) Handbuch der Arbeitsmethoden in der anorgan- 
ischen Chemie. By Dr. A. Stahler. Erster 
Band. Pp. xii+786. (Leipzig: Veit and Co., 
1913.) Price 25 marks. 

(3) Cours de Chimie Organique. By Prof. F. 
Swarts. 2° édition revue et augmentée. Pp. 
vii+ 751. (Paris: A. Hermann et Fils; Gand: 
Ad. Hoste, 1913.) Price 15 francs. 

(4) Allen’s Commercial Organic Analysis. A 
Treatise on the Properties, Modes of Assaying, 
and Proximate Analytical Examination of the 
Various Organic Chemicals and Products Em- 
ployed in the Arts, Manufactures, Medicine, &c. 
Volume vii. Fourth edition. Edited by W. A. 
Davis and S. S. Sadtler.= Pp. ix+ 563. 
(London: J. and A. Churchill, 1913.) Price 
21S. net. ; 


(1) EACHERS of chemistry in colleges of 
applied science, who nowadays are so 
frequently requested to arrange specialised courses 
in this science suitable to the needs of students 
working chiefly at other subjects, will undoubtedly 
be interested to learn how this problem has been 
solved by the authors of this manual, now in its 
fourth edition, after long experience in the teach- 
ing of chemical science to naval officers. The 
writers very rightly refuse to compile a Service 
technology without first inculcating a knowledge 
of the facts and laws governing the results ob- 
tained in applied chemistry. At the same time, 
they carefully select their illustrations so as to 
arrest immediately the attention of the naval and 
military student, for whom the work is primarily 
intended. ‘ 
Within the first dozen pages the topic of lique- 
fied gases leads to a consideration of the pro- 
duction of “artificial ice and cold storage both 
on land and sea.” The chemistry of galvanic 
batteries includes a description of Leclanché’s cells 
used in firing torpedoes and submarine mines. 
The subject of combustion brings in a reference 
to the spontaneous ignition of coal on shipboard. 
Special prominence is given to explosives. The 
evolution of gunpowder is traced, and a concise 


account is given of the taming of guncotton for | 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


use as a propellant. Special sections are devoted 
to fuel problems, military ballooning, boiler in- 
crustations, corrosion, protective paints, anti- 
fouling compositions, and many other matters 
arising out of Service vicissitudes. 

From the doctrinal point of view, it would 
obviate much confusion if the term “atomicity ” 
were employed exclusively to denote the number 
of atoms in an elementary molecule, and not used 
as a synonym for “valency.” In this connection 
it may be mentioned that sulphur vapour at 
500°C. is stated incorrectly to be hexatomic 
(p. 322). It is doubtful whether the affinity of 
the halogens for oxygen decreases regularly from 
iodine to fluorine. The non-existence of per- 
bromic acid and bromine oxides rather suggests 
that bromine in this respect falls between chlorine 
and fluorine (pp. 333, 345): These points, which 
are open to criticism, are, however, of minor im- 
portance, and the work contains so much new 
material not generally found in chemical text- 
books that the authors are justified in hoping that 
the book may appeal to readers outside the circle 
of Service students. 

(2) This work, which is the first of five volumes 
of a comprehensive text-book on working methods 
in inorganic chemistry, is a noteworthy example 
of the “integrated knowledge ” now placed at the 
disposal of chemists called upon to plan the 
erection and organisation of laboratories for the 
practice of this important branch of chemical 
science. The information is characterised 
throughout by a note of thoroughness, first-hand 
knowledge being ensured by the author’s col- 
laboration with a staff of experts in different 
branches of practical chemistry. In their efforts 
to make every item of equipment purposive, the 
writers take nothing for granted, and discuss in 
detail such matters as the ample provision of 
light and space round the laboratory building, the 
ready accessibility of stairways and exits, the 
storage in cellars of volatile liquids and liquefied 
gases, and even the position of bicycle stands! 
Certain illustrations of various shapes of retort 
stands and specimen bottles might well be left 
to the dealers’ catalogues. 

The varieties of glass suitable for chemical 
purpose are fully discussed, and it may be noted 
that the rare alkali metal rubidium has been 
utilised in the production of a hard glass softening 
only at 1000°C. Shenstone’s pioneering efforts 
in the production of silica ware are mentioned, 
and further developments are suggested by refer- 
ences to the use of zirconia and titania in the 
fabrication of crucibles and refractory apparatus. 
Considerable improvements have been recently 
made in the manufacture of porcelain, and vessels 

F 


126 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 2, 1913 


of this material are now obtainable which with- 
stand rapid fluctuations of temperature. The 
section on the noble metals refers not only to 
vessels of gold and platinum, but also to apparatus 
constructed of rhodium, iridium, and tantalum. 
The chemical and physical properties of the newer 
alloys (duralumin, the ternary steels, &c.) are 
reviewed. Scattered through the work are many 
valuable recipes likely to interest the practical 
chemist, as, for example, the use of aniline-black 
as a stain for woodwork, various lutings and 
cements for joining together chemical apparatus, 
and a composition for filling holes in platinum 
crucibles. 

Special chapters are devoted to electrical fittings 
and to the mechanical operations of pulverisation, 
agitation, filtration, &c. The book affords a 
striking testimony of the pre-eminence of Germany 
in the newer industries which minister to the wants 
of applied chemistry. Some noteworthy products 
of British enterprise have, however, been over- 
looked, and mention may be made in this connec- 
tion of Fletcher’s earthenware combustion furnaces 
and Pilkington’s glass screens with an embedded 
meshwork of invar steel, which form such efficient 
shields in working with explosive materials. 

(3) In this text-book of organic chemistry the 
author has given prominence to the development 
of the theory of the subject,’ descriptive matter 
being restricted to a few substances of industrial 
importance. A chapter on chemical kinetics has 
been added because the fundamental principles 
of this branch of the science have been chiefly 
verified in connection with organic substances. 
From the outset stereochemical considerations are 
introduced, and the facts of isomerism, multiple 
linking, and ring formation are regarded from the 
point of view of the tetrahedral carbon atom. The 
constitution ascribed to double cyanides (pp. 174, 

77) must, however, be regarded as obsolete, in 
view of Werner’s recent researches on coordination 
compounds. The author omits all references to 
original memoirs, and the work can scarcely be 
recommended as a substitute for the larger English 
treatises on organic chemistry. 

(4) This work is the seventh volume of the 
fourth edition of Allen’s well-known treatise on 
organic analysis. The book is divided into seven 
sections, each of which is written by an expert on 
the subject, the entire compilation not only serving 
as a useful guide to the analyst, but forming also 
a comprehensive treatise on the general chemistry 
of the organic materials under review. The 
present volume is largely devoted to nitrogenous 
compounds either formed by the vital activities 
of plants and animals or arising from the decay 
of these organisms. In recent years considerable 

NO, 2292, VOL. 92| 


addition has been made to our knowledge of these 
products, among which may be mentioned the 
alkaloids of ergot, cyanogenetic glucosides, 
ptomaines, amino-acids, and purine derivatives. 
One section is devoted to lactic acid, and another 
to the bitter principles of aloes and hops, whilst 
the concluding chapter is a useful monograph on 
cyanogen and its derivatives. G. TELE 


SOME NEW ELECTRICAL BOOKS. 
(1) Electrical Photometry and Illumination: A 


Treatise on Light and its Distribution, Photo- - 


metric Apparatus, and Illuminating Engineer- 
ing. By Prof. H: Bohle:~  Ppiareeces 
(London: C. Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1912.) 
Price tos. 6d. net. 

(2) The Principles of Applied Electrochemistry. 
By Dr. A. J. Allmand. Pp. xii+547. (Lon- 
don: Edward Arnold, 1912.) Price 18s. net. 

(3) Electroplating: A Treatise on the Electro- 
Deposition of Metals, with a chapter on Metal- 
Colouring and Bronzing. By W. R. Barclay 
and C. H. Hainsworth. Pp. viii+399. (Lon- 
don: Edward Arnold, 1912.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 

(4) The Design of Alternating Current Machinery. 
By J. R. Barr and R. D. Archibald. Pp. xvi+ 
496+ xvi plates. (London: Whittaker and Co., 
1913.) Price 125. 6d net. 

(5) A Laboratory Manual of Alternating Currents. 
By Prof. J. H. Mborecroft. Pp. vili+247. 
(London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1912.) 
Price 7s. 6d. net. 

(6) La Télégraphie et la Téléphonie Simultanées 
et la Téléphonie Multiple. By K. Berger. 
Traduit par P. Le Normand. Pp. 134. (Paris: 
Gauthier-Villars, 1913.) Price 4.50 francs. 

(7) The Baudét Printing Telegraph System. By 
H. W. Pendry. Pp. iii+147+plates. (Lon- 
don: Whittaker and Co., 1913.) Price 2s. 6d. 
net. 

(r) URING comparatively recent years there 

has sprung into existence a new branch 
of science which is known, or knows itself, as illu- 
minating engineering. The writer has a suspicion 
that if the electrical engineer who handled lighting 
problems had not been on the lookout for another 
stick with which to beat his brother gas engineer, 
and had not thought that stick was to be found 
in the greater ease with which scientific measure- 
ments can be applied to electric lamps, no such 
science would ever have sprung into a definite and 
separate existence. Be that as it may, the pro- 
fession appears to be establishing itself with some 
degree of firmness. The illuminating engineer 
of theory is a man of unbiassed mind as regards 
the particular illuminant he employs, provided he 
attains his desired end in the most economical 


OO 


~OcToBER 2, 1913] 


manner: a man who instals electricity in your 
dining-room, gas in your kitchen, acetylene in 
your billiard room, and candles in your bedroom. 
But the illuminating engineer of practice is 
generally either a gas or electrical engineer with 
his own particular axe to grind. So much is this 
the case that he may show a marked preference 
(against all sound illuminating engineering doc- 
trine) for a particular species of illuminant in the 
genus which he represents—as, for example, for 
flame arc lamps against all other electrical 
illuminants. 

We do not know whether Prof. H. Bohle calls 
himself an illuminating engineer, but at least he 
has written a book (1) which claims in its sub- 
title to be a treatise on illuminating engineering, 
almost as if this were a mere appanage of elec- 
trical photometry and illumination; and, as one 
of the latest works on the new science, we turn 
to it naturally in the hope that it will more than 
justify that science’s existence. It is disappoiut- 
ing to find little, if anything, more than used in 
our student days to be regarded as legitimately 
within the sphere of electrical engineering. It is 
disappointing, too, to find much inadequate treat- 
ment and, we are afraid, insufficient knowledge. 
Take, for example, the discussion of radiation 
laws in chapter ii. This is far from clear, and 
the statement on p. 21: ‘Coloured bodies 
absorb different parts of the impinged radiation : 
consequently they will radiate different fractions 
of black body radiations, according to the fre- 
quency, i.e. according to the temperature,” is, if 
we understand the author’s meaning rightly, not 
correct. 

The description of the manufacture of carbon 
filament lamps in the same chapter must have been 
obtained from some out-of-date account. The 
criticism of the flame arc lamp on p. 97 is 
equally behind the times. It is stated that ‘“‘on 
long winter evenings the lamps do not hold out 
until the next morning, but must be recarboned 
during the night.” This is untrue of any flame 
lamps except those specially designed for short- 
hour lighting, and there are many flame lamps 
now on the market, and have been for years, which 
burn without recarboning for 7o-100 hours, so 
that it will be seen that the criticisms of the author, 
who writes from Cape Town, would only be justified 
at the poles. Flame lamps burning vertical car- 
bons are actually commended for steadiness as 
against lamps with inclined carbons, the exact 
reverse being the case. We were not surprised 
after this to find on p. 171 that the yellow flame 
are is described as “suitable for decorative illu- 
mination,” as apparently its only sphere of use- 
fulness. 

NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


127 


We need not, however, labour criticism of details 
such as these: it is only to be regretted that in 
discussing such a progressive subject as the 
manufacture and behaviour of electric lamps the 
author did not take more pains to bring his in- 
formation up to date. 

It is of interest to turn to what may be regarded 
as the more distinctly “illuminating engineering ” 
sections of the book. We are told in the preface 
that this is a combined science of physics and 
physiology, and emphasis is laid on the neglect 
of the physiological side, which led us to expect 
that this would be remedied by the author. The 
physiological discussion in the book is, however, no 
more than is usually to be found in similar works. 
In truth, this plea for physiological investigation 
is, in our opinion, frequently exaggerated. The 
knowledge of a few elementary facts is necessary, 
but beyond this physiological knowledge is not 
needed, and it would be equally true to say that 
it was required as part of the equipment of a good 
tailor. 

The last two chapters, “The Design of Reflectors 
and Shades” and “Illuminating Engineering,” 
show how little the new science really has accom- 
plished. With a few exceptions, which existed 
before the illuminating engineer had arrived, elec- 
tric- lamp shades are still, scientifically, as 
chaotic as ever. The design of shades is, in 
fact, for the most part, an art and should 
continue to be so: if the illuminating engineer 
ever succeeds in making it purely a science, he 
will remove what is one of the recommendations 
of electric lighting—that it lends itself to beauty 
as well as to utility. The chapter on illuminating 
engineering gives a number of directions for 
different classes of lighting which the unbiassed 
would admit are no more than a restatement of 
the common-sense practice of years—almost cen- 
turies. 

We cannot omit reference to a novel procedure 
in the numbering of figures and equations. Thus 
the fifth figure in the fourth chapter is numbered 
Fig. 4.05: this is intended to facilitate reference. 
It has quite the contrary effect and we trust will 
not be imitated. 

(2) Dr. Allmand’s treatise is one of the most 
comprehensive and at the same time one of the 
best treatises on applied electrochemistry that we 
can call to mind in the English language. The 
first part, covering fourteen chapters and 194 
pages, deals with the theoretical side of the sub- 
ject. To write a complete exposition of the 
theoretical side of electrochemistry, it would 
almost be necessary to write a complete chemical 
treatise coupled with a much shorter discussion 
of the fundamental electrical phenomena. It is 


128 


essential, therefore, to assume a certain amount 
of chemical knowledge in the reader, and we are 
inclined to think, on the whole, that Dr. Allmand 
has not assumed too much. 

It must be remembered however, that the 
student who approaches this subject from the 
electrical side is often seriously lacking in chemical 
grounding and, complete though Dr. Allmand’s 
treatment is, we could not help feeling at times 
that the chemical reasoning and illustrations would 
be above the heads of many readers. This argu- 
ment must not be given undue weight, as it is 
open to all who care to study the subject thor- 
oughly to supplement the volume by the reading of 
other chemical and physico-chemical works, a 
matter which is greatly facilitated by the copious 
references to current literature and the biblio- 
graphical references at the end of each chapter. By 
the time the student has thoroughly mastered the 
theoretical discussion in the first part of the book 
he will be in a position to understand properly 
the reactions and phenomena involved in the 
various practical applications to which the second 
part is devoted. 

The “special and technical” part of the work 
opens with two chapters on primary and secondary 
cells respectively. The treatment here is neces- 
sarily brief—whole volumes have been written 
dealing with each of these subjects—but it is 
clear and covers the more important points. An 
interesting discussion of the “fuel cell,” a cell in 
which coal, or some simple derivative from coal 
such as carbon, or CO, is used to generate elec- 
trical energy, concludes the chapter on primary 
cells. There follow chapters on the electro-metal- 
lurgy of the principal metals, and on electrolytic 
bleaching, etc., and in chapters xxiv. to xxvi. the 
more important electro-thermic processes are dis- 
cussed. The last two chapters deal with the 
oxidation of atmospheric nitrogen and the pro- 
duction of ozone. 

Although, owing to natural conditions, this 
country is not to the fore in electrochemical and 
electrothermal development, the field for English 
engineers is not confined to England. There is 
good reason to hope, moreover, that the future, 
and very possibly the near future, will see much 
greater advances in this direction in England than 
one would have anticipated a few years ago. It 
is becoming more evident every year that not only 
is water power not an indispensable adjunct to 
electrochemical enterprises, but that other sources 
of power may possess decided advantages. The 
appearance of so thoroughly sound a treatise as 
Dr. Allmand’s is therefore very much 
welcomed, . 

(3) Messrs. Barclay and Hainsworth have set 

NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


to be | 


[OcToBER 2, 1913 


out to write a thoroughly up-to-date handbook 
for the practical electroplater, and have succeeded 
admirably in realising their aim. Rightly insist- 
ing that even the most practical of practical men 
cannot in these days work without a more or less 
thorough groundwork in the theoretical side of his 


| subject, they have devoted the first six chapters 


of their book to a succinct but thoroughly sound 
exposition of the fundamental chemical and elec- 
trical principles. 
well suited to the scope of the book, the elementary 
knowledge assumed being such as can_ hardly fail 


to be possessed by anyone seriously attempting 


to study the volume. 

After two chapters dealing with plant and ap- 
paratus and preliminary processes such as clean- 
ing, etc., the remaining chapters deal with the 
deposition of the various metals. Each of the 
more important metals is considered separately, 
and in each case the theoretical explanation of the 
various reactions involved is not forgotten. The 
composition of the various depositing baths 
having been considered from this viewpoint, the 
methods of making them up and the details of the 
actual electroplating process are dealt with. The 
book covers the deposition of all the metals of 
importance industrially and also of many the 
deposition of which has a very limited application. 
We can thoroughly recommend the book either 
to the practical electroplater or to the student 
anxious to familiarise himself with the details of 
a process of great commercial importance and 
great historical interest. 

(4) Messrs. Barr and Archibald’s volume on 
alternating current machinery is an advanced 
treatise suitable for the use of senior students and 
those actually engaged in the design of such 
machinery. The whole field is well covered : after 
preliminary chapters on complex wave forms and 
insulation, the subject of transformer design is 
dealt with in three chapters. These are followed 
by eight chapters on alternators and three on 
rotary converters. 

(5) Mr. Morecroft’s book is a collection of 
laboratory experiments designed to elucidate the 
more important current phenomena. We are glad 
to see that a method too frequently followed by 
the writers of such laboratory notes, that of con- 
fining the text to the merest statement of instruc- 
tions, has been avoided and a clear exposition of 
the significance of the experiment has been given 
in each case. Although this may render the book 


less convenient for actual use in the test-room, 


it gives it much higher educational value. 

(6) and (7) These two books deal with specific 
developments in the field of telegraphy and 
telephony, and may be regarded more as mono- 


These are treated in a manner 


| 


: 


i a Th 


OcToBER 2, 1913] 


NATURE 


129 


graphs for the specialist than as treatises for the 
general student. The detailed investigation of the 
more intricate telegraph systems is, in fact, prob- 
ably outside the range of the general electrical 
engineer’s ambitions. M. Berger’s book is the 
more comprehensive of the two, not only because 
it deals with a somewhat wider subject, but also 
on account of the broader method of treatment 
which has been adopted. The subject is handled 
more theoretically, and there is very little purely 
descriptive writing. M. Pendry, on the other 
hand, deals mainly in description, and the book 
lacks something from the absence of the theoreti- 
cal side. The descriptive writing is, however, 
clear, and numerous illustrations help to the 
better understanding of a very complex subject. 
Maurice SoLomon. 


THE TEACHING OF PSYCHOLOGY. 

(1) The Learning Process. By Prof. S. S. Colvin. 
Pp. xxv+336. (New York: The Macmillan 
Co. ; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1911.) 
Price 5s. 6d. net. 

(2) Introduction to Psychology. By Prof. R. M. 
Yerkes. Pp. xii+427. (London: G. Bell and 
Sons; New York: H. Holt and Co., 1911.) 
Price 6s. 6d. net. 

(3) Experiments in Educational Psychology. By 
Dr. D. Starch. Pp. vii+183. (New York: The 
Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., 
Ltd., 1911.) Price 4s. net. 

(1) ROF. COLVIN’S book is written from 

the point of view of “thorough-going 
functionalism and pragmatism.” “All learning,” 
we are told, ‘both expresses itself through ad- 
justment and is acquired through adjustment.” 

Now it is possible to give too narrow a meaning 

to the term adjustment. The solving of a problem, 

however theoretical, is adjustment in the impor- 
tant sense. That movement, on the other hand, 
is not the one thing needful has been made evident 
once for all by Mr. Squeers’ pedagogic system :— 

“W-i-n-d-o-w, window, go and clean it.” In 

short, the essential thing is that every piece of 

school work should be capable of being felt as a 

stage in the working out of a problem. 

Prof. Colvin, it is true, does not definitely 
commit himself to too narrow a use of the term; 
indeed, in places he clearly guards himself against 
it. Yet one cannot but feel that these passages 
come rather as qualifications than as explanations 
of other earlier ones. 

One problem which lends itself particularly well 
to treatment from this functional point of view 
is that of the expression and suppression of deep- 
seated emotional and conative tendencies. An 

NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


interesting account is given of some of Freud’s 
main positions, and sympathy is shown with the 
view that the attempt simply to suppress funda- 
mental instincts is apt to be disastrous rather than 
merely futile. The problem of sex education is 
recognised, and the possibility faced that child- 
hood may not be so completely asexual as has 
been supposed. That the existence of any problem 
has been so completely ignored is certainly 
strange, but, as things are, is perhaps hardly an 
unmixed evil. The child has in this domain at 
least been spared the interference of the many 
well-intentioned, the parents, parsons, and peda- 
gogues, who would otherwise surely have rushed 


in, fearing to tread as little as any bull in a china- 
shop. 

Many other topics are interestingly and instruc- 
tively discussed—the economy and technique of 
learning ; the main results of recent work on testi- 
mony ; the problem of the transfer of training ; the 
comparison of child and adult as to memory and 
reason; “hard” versus “soft” pedagogy, and 
so on. 

The book is clearly written, and gives, without 
ostentation, a large amount of information based 
upon modern experimental work. 

(2) The most original feature of Prof. Yerkes’ 
book is its scope and arrangement. It is intended 
to be an introductory outline as distinguished from 
a manual, that is, to arouse interest and indicate 
the problems with which psychology deals rather 
than to give a systematic account of the main 
facts and theories. It has the defects as well as 
the qualities of this plan. On one hand it con- 
tains much interesting material not commonly to 
be found in elementary books. On the other, its 
treatment is of excessively varying thoroughness. 
Excellent features are the texts which head each 
chapter, consisting of quotations, often of some 
length, from some more advanced book or clever 


piece of research, and the practical exercises, in- 
tended, however, exclusively for class work, with 
which the chapters end. 

Special topics of which the treatment seems less 
satisfactory are: the difficult question of the exact 
theoretical difference between introspection and 
“external perception”; the criticism of the “tri- 
partite division” of consciousness; the use of 
“sentiment ’’ in the sense of ‘“‘an emotion which 
attaches itself to a particular object.” A sentence 
on the final page is apparently incomplete. 

(3) Prof. Starch’s little book aims at providing 
a course of experiments in educational psychology 
for a small class, the work to occupy two hours 


weekly through one semester. For its purpose it 
seems to be excellent, though the verbal material 
| of the experiments, having been selected from an 


130 


American point of view, occasionally requires 
adaptation for English students, e.g., some of the 
test words in the chapter on apperception. This 
would be of little consequence were it not that 
the actual pages of the book are intended to be 
used in the experiments. In spite of this draw- 
back, however, it will be found extremely useful 
by anyone in charge of, or wishing to form, an 
experimental class of the kind indicated. 


AVIATION DYNAMICS. 


(1) La Théorie de l’Aviation, son application a 


l’Aéroplane. By Robert Gaston. Préface de 
Maurice Farman. Librairie des Sciences aéro- 
nautiques. (Paris: F. Louis Vivien.) Price 


1.50 francs. 
(2) Aéroplanes in Gusts. Soaring Flight and the 
Stability of Aéroplanes. By S. L. Walkden. 
Pp. xv+188. (London: E. and F. N. Spon, 


Ltd., 1912.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 


T is remarkable how many books have been 
written in connection with problems on 
aviation in which the principles of elementary 
dynamics have been ignored, misinterpreted, or 
otherwise misunderstood in a way that no candi- 
date for an intermediate B.Sc. examination would 
believe to be possible. These two books afford 
excellent examples of this disregard of elementary 
principles. 

(1) M. Robert Gaston, who has a highly flatter- 
ing preface from Mr. Maurice Farman, finds that 
if a body is allowed to fall and then stopped at 
intervals of one second, its average velocity will 
be 4°9 metres per second (with g=9'81 m/s”). If 
stopped more frequently its average velocity will 
be less, until we come to the case when it is being 
stopped at every instant—i.e. continually sup- 
ported—when its average velocity is nil. Having 
definitely proved this, he contradicts himself by 
saying that to maintain a body in the air an up- 
ward velocity of 4°9 metres per second must be 
imparted, so that if the weight is MW” kilograms, 
the rate of working must be 4'9MV kilogram 
metres per second. If he had adopted a minute, 
instead of a second, as unit of time, he would have 
found that the work required was 4'9IW x 60? 
kilogram metres per minute, or sixty times his 
estimate; similarly, by taking an hour as unit 
he would have found a result 3600 times as great 
as he has estimated. Can anything be more 
absurd? Yet Maurice Farman congratulates him 
on the clearness and simplicity of his book ! 

(2) Mr. Walkden’s main theme is based on a 
complete misunderstanding of the physical signi- 
ficance of the law of composition of accelerations. 


2292, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 2, 1913 
He measures the effect of a gust of wind by the 
accelerations of the air particles relative to the 
aéroplane, and by compounding this acceleration 
reversed with gravity he gets what he calls the 
resultant relative gravity. But the result means 
nothing at all. 

The only effect which a gust of wind can have 
on an aéroplane is due to the pressures of the 
air on the surfaces and other parts of the aéro- 
plane. These are in general functions of the rela- 
tive velocity components of the air rather than 
the accelerations. The best that Mr. Walkden’s 
method |can do is to determine their rates of 
increase, not their actual values. To solve the 
problem of the aéroplane in gusts it is necessary, 
in the first place, to determine the six force and 
couple components of the air pressures as functions 
of the six components of relative linear and angular 
velocity of the aéroplane, and, having done this, 
to investigate the six equations of motion of the 
aéroplane under the action of these forces’ and 
couples. This book does nothing towards solving 
this problem, and, on the other hand, the appear- 
ance of such books is calculated to deter competent 
mathematicians and physicists from attacking such 
problems. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 
Himmelskunde und der AsStro- 
nomischer Geographie. Verfasst von Dr. Alois 
Héfler. Pp. xii+414. (Leipzig and Berlin: 
B. G. Teubner, 1913.) Price 12 marks. 

Tuis is the second volume of a useful series of 
handbooks which is appearing under the general 
title of ‘“‘ Didaktische Handbiicher fiir den Realis- 
tischen Unterricht an Héheren Schulen,” and 
arranged by Professor A. Héfler of Vienna and 
Professor F. Poske of Berlin. This volume fol- 
lows that from the pen of the first named, which 
dealt with mathematical instruction, and its object, 
like its predecessor, is to reform the teaching of 
astronomy and astronomical geography in the 
schools. The volume is essentially for teachers 
and displays a graduated series of courses of in- 
struction for students commencing when eleven 
years old and finishing at eighteen. The book 
is divided into four stages, each stage arranged 
to cover two years of the student’s training. The 
author strives at great length to impress on the 
teacher the importance of leading the students to 
observe for themselves as much as possible, and 
to show them simple experiments whenever the 
opportunity arises. 

No pains seem to have been spared to provide 
the teacher with numerous references to works 
that may be consulted by him, and to draw his 
attention to numerous points which are not often 
sufficiently clearly explained to the youthful 
student. 

While the full course here suggested would be 


Didaktik der 


ee EEO eee 


oo 


OcTOBER 2, 1913] 


difficult to carry out under the conditions of educa- 
tion in this country, our teachers could neverthe- 
less, provided they are sufficiently well conversant 
with the German language, gather a large amount 
of useful hints, even if only from the method 
of treatment of the material. For use in Germany 
we have no doubt that the teachers will hail 
gladly the appearance of this volume, and the 
distinguished list of co-workers with Prof. Héfler 
is sufficient indication to stamp the volume as 
one of a high order. 

Einfiihrung in die Agrikulturmykologie. By Prof. 
Dr. A. Kossowicz. 1. Teil: Bodenbakterio- 
logie. Pp. vii+143. (Berlin: Gebriider Born- 
traeger, 1912.) Price 4 marks. 

Pror. Kossowicz is to be congratulated on 

having condensed into such a small book a review 

of the chief publications on soil mycology. The 
book partakes, in fact, more of the nature of an 
introduction to the literature of the subject than 
to the subject itself. The mere enumeration of 
the various workers for and against a hypothesis, 
without any criticism from the author, is not 
calculated to afford much help to a beginner. The 
subject-matter is divided into sections dealing 
with the part played by bacteria in the cycle of 
the elements carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitro- 
gen, sulphur, phosphorus, and iron; the mycology 
of soil; the mycology of manure; and the influ- 
ence of the manurial treatment on the micro-flora 
of the soil. For such a small book the biblio- 
graphy is very comprehensive, constituting, as it 
does, about one-fourth of the total number of 

pages. The book is well illustrated, and as a 

short work of reference ought to prove of value 

to agricultural chemists and mycologists. 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


The Piltdown Skull. 

Ir had been my intention not to add anything 
further in print to my preliminary note (Quart. Journ. 
Geol. Soc., vol. Ixix., 1913, p. 145) on the cranial cast 
obtained by Dr. Smith Woodward from his recon- 
struction of the Piltdown skull until I was in a posi- 
tion to make a full and comprehensive statement as 
to the precise significance of the information afforded 
by the cranial fragments as to the kind of brain 
possessed by the earliest known human inhabitant of 
Britain. But, although my investigations are now 
sufficiently advanced to permit me to undertake the 
writing of my report, it will be some months before 
it can be published; and in the meantime it is most 
undesirable that the present widespread misunder- 
standings should be allowed to breed further trouble 
and confusion for those who are interested in the 
elucidation of Mr. Charles Dawson’s momentous dis- 
coveries. 

Recent events have made it difficult for those who 
have relied wholly upon what has appeared in print 
to form any accurate conception of the meaning and 
importance of the Piltdown skull-fragments. It is 
quite certain that they afford the first evidence we 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 131 


0 


have obtained of a hitherto unknown group of the 
Hominid, so fundamentally distinct from all the 
early fossil men found in Europe as to be worthy of 
generic distinction—a ‘‘dawn-man" of a very primi- 
tive and generalised type. Certain features are so 
clearly ape-like as definitely to confirm the generally 
admitted kinship to the African anthropoid apes, as 
well as to distinguish Eoanthropus sharply and clearly 
from all other human remains. In other respects, 
however, there is a closer resemblance to the features 
of modern man than is found in the specialised group 
of Neanderthaloid palzolithic men. This curious 
association of features is not paradoxical, as some 
people pretend. /The small and archaic brain and 
thick skull are undoubtedly human in character, but 
the mandible, in spite of the human molars it bears, 
is more simian than human. So far from being an 
impossible combination of characters, this association 
of human brain and simian features is precisely what 
I anticipated in my address to the British Association 
at Dundee (Nature, September 26, 1912, p. 125), 
some months before I knew of the existence of the 
Piltdown skull, when I argued that in the evolution 
of man the development of the brain must have led the 
way. ‘The growth in intelligence and in the powers 
of discrimination no doubt led to a definite cultivation 
of the zesthetic sense, which, operating through sexual 
selection, brought about a gradual refinement of the 
features.’’/ Just as the young child still uses its teeth 
for purposes of attack, so in the dawn of human 
existence teeth suitable for offensive purposes were 
retained long after the brain had attained its dis- 
tinctively human status and had made the hands 
even more serviceable instruments for attack. 

That the ape-like conformation of the chin region 
signifies the inability to speak is surely a patent 
fallacy. Articulate speech must have come while the 
jaws were still simian in character; and the bony 
changes that produced a chin were the result mainly 
of that process of refinement to which I have already 
referred, to the reduction of the teeth, which was 
part of the same process, and, quite in a minor degree, 
to that process of growth and specialisation of the 
genio-glossi muscles which resulted from their use in 
speech. : : ; 

A great source of misunderstanding will be got rid 
of if these obvious facts and the considerations based 
upon them be admitted. ‘ 

In conélusion, I may answer many questioners by 
affirming that I still hold to every word of my pre- 
liminary note published in the Quarterly Journal of 
the Geological Society, as well as of the statements 
made in my lectures delivered before the Royal Dublin 
Society and the Manchester Literary and Philosophical 
Society last winter, and also to the facts demonstrated 
in my exhibit at the Royal Society’s soiree in May. 

G. Ex.iot SMITH. 

University of Manchester, September 23. 


Solar Electrical Phenomena. 

In a lecture last January to the Christiania Academy, 
Prof. Birkeland? gave an interesting summary of his 
recent researches on solar and planetary electrical 
phenomena. He describes how in a study intended 
to elucidate the evolution of celestial bodies he 
examined the nature of the electric discharge taking 
place in vacuo in a large discharge vessel from a 
magnetisable globe serving as kathode. The experi- 
ments, which were made under widely differing condi- 
tions, were on a scale more ambitious than anything 
hitherto attempted. Two vessels of 300 and 1000 
litres’ capacity respectively were employed. In the 
larger of these the globe used was of 36 cm. diameter, 


1 “De Yorigine des mondes,” par K. Birkeland, Arch. Sci. phys. et nat. 
Genéve. Quatrieme Periode, t. xxxv., Juin, 1913. 


Ig2 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 2, 1913 


and discharges up to nearly half an ampere were 
obtained. Some of the published photographs are 
very remarkable. One of them showing the electric 
corona and streamers round the magnetised globe 
might easily be mistaken for a genuine photograph 
of a typical solar eclipse. Many of the phenomena 
of sunspots are also very strikingly imitated in the 
experiments. 

Birkeland proceeds to discuss the cause of the 
general magnetic field of the sun, the fact of the 
existence of which has been established by Hale. 
He attributes it to induced currents circulating in the 
interior of the rotating mass, which, he argues, can 
only have a comparatively feeble electric conductivity. 

He says (loc. cit. p. 540) :— 

‘‘We know that electric currents circulating in large 
globes formed of good electric conductors are of great 
persistence. Lamb found that for a globe of copper 
as large as the earth, ten million years would elapse 
before the currents fell to 1/¢ of their former intensity. 
The induction effects produced by electric rays 
emanating from sunspots may therefore give rise to 
currents of long duration if circumstances permit. It 
is probable that as regards the sun, we shall be 
obliged to suppose a somewhat feeble conductivity of 
the gaseous interior, to the intent that the electric 
currents created and circulating within it are reduced 
with a fairly high rapidity and are transformed into 
heat.”’ 

In a recent communication to the Royal Astro- 
nomical Society,” the writer brought forward some 
evidence deduced from laboratory experiments, which 
led to a contrary conclusion, namely, that the gaseous 
matter composing the sun must be a highly conduct- 
ing medium. The experiments of Kaye* and the 
writer showed that carbon and a number of metals 
emit on heating ionisation currents of a relatively 
very high order of magnitude, and this in absence 
of any external applied potential and at atmospheric 
pressure. The currents are almost certainly carried 
by swarms of negatively charged particles of relatively 
considerable mass, the emissivity of the emitting sur- 
face increasing very rapidly with increase of tem- 
perature. 

In the interior of a carbon-tube resistance-furnace 
heated by alternating current, tne apparent gaseous 
resistance of the order of megohms at 1400° C. fell at 
the highest attainable temperature to a small fraction 
of an ohm, due to the emission from carbon alone. 
In one series of experiments where temperature 
measurements were made, the conductivity increased 
exponentially nearly two hundred-fold for each rise of 
tooo° C. Impurities such as iron and silicon, which 
are generally present in ordinary samples of carbon, 
may further increase the conductivity four or five fold 
during the first heating of a new furnace. Though 
influenced somewhat by the surrounding gas, the 
emissivity appears to be invariably present in neutral 
or reducing media. The experiments of King, briefly 
referred to by Hale in his paper in the current 
number of The Astrophysical Journal, show that 
though the emissivity of carbon falls with increase of 
pressure, it is still apparent at 20 atmospheres. 

Seeing that the temperature of the sun is probably 
between 5600° and 6000° abs. and that of those 
elements shown to possess an appreciable electric 
emissivity, carbon, and iron at any rate are present 
in the solar atmosphere in considerable quantity, it is 
difficult to avoid the conclusion that the degree of 
ionisation, and consequently of electric conductivity, 


® Harker, ‘On the Origin of Solar Electricity.” 
the Royal Astron, Soc., June, 1913. 

% Harker and. Kaye ‘‘On the Emission of Electricity from Carbon at high 
Temperatures." Proc. Roy. Soc. A. vol. Ixxxvi, 1912, pp. 379 to 396. 

“On the Electric Emissivity and Disintegration of Hot Metals.” Proc. 
Roy. Soc. A. vol. Ixxxviii, 1912, pp. 522 to 538. 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


Monthly Notices of 


must be very high; probably at least as good as that 
of the globe of copper considered in Lamb’s computa- 
tion. 

The bearing of these conclusiens on Birkeland’s solar 
theory seemed worthy of some consideration. 

J. A. Harker. © 

Teddington, September 16. ; 

A New Aquatic Annelid. 

Asout the middle of September I received from Dr. 
H. F. Parsons, of Croydon, a fresh-water Annelid 
which had been found in the water supply of Ring- 
wood, Hants, and sent to the Local Government Board 
for identification. It proved to be an immature but 
very beautiful specimen of Rhynchelmis limosella, 
Hoffm., a member of the Lumbriculide. It is of 
peculiar interest, inasmuch as it confirms a suspicion 
expressed by Beddard in 1895. He remarks (‘‘ Mono- 
graph of the Order Oligochzta,” p. 215) that “the 
genus Rhynchelmis is, so far as our present know- 
ledge goes, confined to the fresh waters of Europe. 
...I1 have seen a specimen from some part of 
England, but cannot give any details. I believe this 
specimen to be in the Oxford Museum. There is 
every probability that it is a native of this country.” 

I have collected annelids in almost every part of the 
British Isles, but hitherto have never had the good 
fortune to come across the species here named. It is, 
therefore, very gratifying to be able to record it as 
a new addition to our Annelid fauna. 

HILpERIc FRIEND. 

Pocklington, York, September 20. 


MODERN ELECTROMETERS. 
ECENT research on the electron and radio- 
activity has necessitated so many refined 
electrostatic measurements that much attention 
has been directed to the design of electrometers, 
and several different instruments distinguished by 
their sensitiveness and convenience in working 
have been devised. Two types have served as 
the starting-points for modern improvements, the 
first being the gold-leaf electroscope, and the 
second the quadrant electrometer of Lord Kelvin; 
great progress has been made by bettering the 
insulation, the sensitiveness, and the accuracy and 
ease of observation, and further by important 
modifications of design. Polished amber or 
ambroid, a substance made from compressed frag- 
ments of amber, is now generally used as insula- 
ting substance, and for the first type of instru- 
ment the deflection is now measured with a read- 
ing microscope; for the second the mirror and 
scale is employed. 

The gold-leaf instrument is used in many forms. 
In a modification by Exner a leaf is fastened on 
either side of a narrow, vertical, insulated metal 
plate, while opposite each leaf is a metal plate 
the distance of which from the central plate can 
be adjusted, thus controlling the sensitiveness ; 
for potentials of some hundred volts this is a con- 
venient form. For higher potentials of thousands 
of volts Braun’s pattern, with a light rigid needle 
pivoted a short distance above its centre of mass, 
is much used. For very sensitive measurements 
C.T.R. Wilson has recently modified the gold-leaf 
electroscope in his so-called “tilted electrometer.” 
In this instrument a single hanging gold leaf is 
attracted out of the vertical by an inclined insu- 


———e 


—— ee 


Eee Ee 


OcToBER 2, 1913] 


NATURE 


lated plate, which is kept charged at a constant | 


potential. On varying the inclination of the plate 
by tilting the instrument, a position can be found 
for which the leaf is only just in stable equi- 
librium; slightly increasing the tilt would cause 
the leaf to fly over to the plate. In such a case, 
as is well known, the sensitiveness of an instru- 
ment is very high, a familiar example being the 
suspended magnet galvanometer, in which, by 
adjusting the field magnet, the controlling field is 
so arranged that the magnet is only just in stable 
equilibrium. The capacity of this instrument of 
Wilson’s is very small, and a reading microscope 
attached to the stand enables accurate readings 
to be taken. Fig. 1 shows in section the instru- 
ment as made by the Cambridge Scientific Instru- 
ment Co. 

To avoid difficulties, known to all physicists, 
which occur in working with a gold leaf, Wulf 


Fic. 1.—The tilted gold leaf electrometer. 


has devised a very effective instrument, put on 
the market by the firm of Giinther and Tegetmeyer, 
in which the leaf is replaced by quartz fibres 
rendered conducting by sputtering with a thin film 
of platinum in a kathode-ray tube. Two such fibres 
hang side by side, loaded with a minute weight : 
on being charged the fibres repel one another, and 
the separation is read with a microscope. The 
fibres give a very sharp image, and thus all diff- 
culty connected with reading by one irregular edge 
of a gold leaf is avoided. The capacity is 
smaller than that of the smallest leaf instrument, 
and practically independent of the potential. The 
sensitiveness never approaches that of the tilted 
electrometer, but this instrument is excellent for 
measuring potentials of either a few volts or a 
few hundred volts, according to the fineness of 
the fibres, the size of the weight, and other details 
of construction. It fills the gap between the tilted 
and the Braun electrometer, and is very conveni- 
ent and portable. A somewhat similar design is 
the Einthoven string electrometer, in which a 
silvered quartz fibre is stretched between, and 
parallel to, two metal plates, kept at a constant 
difference of potential. 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


Teo 


Pere) 


The pattern of quadrant electrometer devised 
by Dolazalek is so widely used at present that it 
suffices to mention very briefly the improvements 
introduced, the small dimensions of the needle and 
quadrants, the quartz suspension, the amber 
insulations, and the light needle of silvered paper, 
rendered rigid by its peculiar form. Dolazalek 
has, however, recently devised an instrument 
differing in many important particulars from that 
familiar to English physicists, which he calls the 
binant electrometer, from the fact that the four 


(Q72.) 


Fic. 2,—The binant elecirom ter. 


quadrants are replaced by two semicircular 
“binants ” 1; it is made by Herr Georg Bartels, of 
Gottingen. This instrument has many advantages 
over the quadrant pattern, and is being widely 
used in Germany, although at present it seems to 
be unknown in England. The “needle” is a disc 
formed of two semicircular segments of the thin- 
nest sheet-aluminium, stiffened by means of 
embossed ridges, and insulated from one another 
with amber. The box which encloses them is like- 
wise made up of two semicircular parts supported 
on amber, arranged so that their line of separation 
is perpendicular to 
the line of separation 
of the needle segments. 
Needle and box are 
not plane, but formed 
from shallow concentric 
spherical shells, the 
centre of which coin- 
cides with the point 
of suspension of the 
needle. Owing to this 
simple device an oscil- 
lation of the needle 
does not bring it any nearer to the enclosing walls, 
and the needle is stable at very much higher 
potentials than in the case of the quadrant electro- 
meter; this form also lends increased rigidity to 
the delicate needle. When in use, one of the 
segments of the needle is charged positively, the 
other negatively, by earthing the middle of the 
battery used for charging; contact is made for 
the one segment through the suspension, which is 
an exceedingly fine Wollaston wire, and for the 
other through a still finer coiled wire arranged 


1“ Annalen der Physik,” (iv) 26, 1903. F. Dolazalek, ‘* Binantelektro- 
meter.” Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are from this paper. 


Fic. 3.—The binant electro- 
meter. Plan. 


134 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 2, I913 


in a similar way to the lower connection in a 
moving-coil galvanometer. The binants of the 
box are connected to the potential difference to 
be measured. 

Advantages of the instrument are the wide pro- 
portionality between deflection to one side and 
potential difference, and the large range of poten- 
tial which may be given to the needle with satis- 
factory results; in addition we have the stability 
of the needle already mentioned. The deflections 
to one side are proportional to the applied 
potential difference over a range seven times as 
great as is the case when, with the quadrant 
instrument, readings to both sides are taken. 
This property has led to the construction of a 
portable binant instrument with a pointer, which 
can be used as a voltmeter, measuring directly 
potentials to a fraction of a volt without passage 
of current. If used idiostatically, the deflec- 
tions are, of course, proportional to the square 
of the potential, and, connected in this way, the 
instrument measures alternating potentials very 
effectively. 


0 200 +00 600 800 Volt 


Nadelladung 


Fic. 4.—The sensitiveness of the “‘ binant” 


and quadrant 
electrometer compared. 


The potential of the needle in the binant instru- 
ment can be taken as small or as large as may be 
desired. The variation of the sensitiveness with 
the potential of the needle is shown in the diagram 
(Fig. 4) for a quadrant and a binant instrument 
of similar dimensions throughout. The abscissz 
are the difference of potential of the two halves 
of the needle for the binant, the potential of the 
needle above earth for the quadrant, and the 
ordinates are millimetres deflection per millivolt 
applied potential. With the binant form the 
deflection is proportional to the potential of the 
needle up to about 400 volts, and still continues 
increasing up to 1500 volts (off the diagram); in 
the case of the quadrant instrument the sensitive- 
ness increases slowly with the potential of the 
needle, and reaches a maximum at about 300 volts, 
after which increasing the potential of the needle 
is disadvantageous. Further, for the quadrant 
electrometer the potential of the needle cannot be 
taken very small, as in this case the readings are 
too asymmetrical on reversal, as will be seen from 
the ordinary formula of the text-books. For the 
binant the poténtial of the needle may be taken as 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92| 


small as desired; in fact, by altering the potential 
of the needle alone measurements of potential can 
be made over a region of five powers of ten. 
The cause of the peculiar variations of the 
sensitiveness of the quadrant electrometer with 
the potential of the needle, increasing to a maxi- 
mum and then decreasing again, is to be found in 
the fact that the change of capacity per unit 
angular displacement is not constant, as assumed 
in Maxwell’s accepted treatment, but decreases 
with increasing needle potential and increasing dis- 
placement. This is due to the lines of force from 
the radial edges of the needle, which are to a 
large extent diffused not perpendicularly to the 
top and bottom of the box, but horizontally. The 
connection of such horizontal lines of force with 
one of the quadrants is unaltered by the displace- 
ment of the needle, and this influences the changes 
of capacity. The form of the needle and its 


position avoid these disturbances in the binant 


instrument; the narrow gap between the two 
halves of the needle, and their opposite potentials, 
cause the lines of force from the diametral edges 
to spring from one half to the other, instead of to 
the walls of the box, and the position of the gap 
perpendicularly to the gap in the box further dimin- 
ishes the effect. The wide proportionalities of the 
binant electrometer are largely attributable to, 
this result of its peculiar construction. 
E. N. pa C. ANDRADE. 


THE TECHNICAL PRODUCTION AND 
UTILISATION OF COLD.1 


HE appearance of an English translation of 
the work by Georges Claude (1), the success- 

ful French inventor in the field of the liquefaction 
and rectification of air, affords an occasion for re- 
viewing the progress made in this, which seems 
destined to become one of the leading departments 
of twentieth-century scientific industry. Eighteen 
years have elapsed since the inventions of Linde 
and Hampson solved the problem of the produc- 
tion of liquid air in quantity, and extended the 
range of low temperatures practically attainable to 
as great an extent as the electric furnace did in 
the opposite direction. It is sufficient to recall 
the names of Faraday, Andrews, Dewar, Hamp- 
son, and Ramsay to show that this country has 


not been behindhand in pioneers in this field, both ~ 


in regard to the attainment of low temperatures 
and to their utilisation for scientific investigation. 
But there, as in other cases, progress in this 
country seems to have come to a standstill, and 
the commercial application and utilisation of these 
results has been developed entirely abroad, in this 
case chiefly in Germany and France. 

It is on this side of the subject that the present 
book furnishes much information difficult to 
acquire easily elsewhere. Part i., dealing with 
elementary principles and the history of the 
subject, and part iii., with the properties of liquid 


1 © “ Liquid Air, Oxygen, Nitrogen.” By Georges Claude. Translated 
by H. E. P. Cottrell. “With a Preface by D’Arsonval. Pp, xxv. +418. 
(London : J. and A. Churchill, 19%) Price 18s. net. 

(2) ‘‘Le Froid industriel.” L. Marchis. Pp. xx+328-++104 figs. 
(Paris: Félix Alcan, 1913.) Price 2 .50 francs. 


OcTOBER 2, 1913]| 


air, are popular presentations of a hackneyed 
theme, almost painfully familiar in this country, 
where liquid air long since descended to the level 
of a music-hall turn. But in parts ii. and iv. the 
author deals in an interesting and original way 
with the theory and practice of actual processes 
for the technical liquefaction of air, and its separa- 
tion into oxygen and nitrogen. Naturally an 
author must be allowed to tell his story in his own 
way, and fight his battles over again, when these 
battles have resulted in success, though almost 
everyone may now be supposed to know that 
working at —200° C. does not confer upon liquids 
any peculiar behaviour or render the separation of 
oxygen and nitrogen from the air a problem essen- 
tially different in its scientific principles from that 
of the separation of alcohol and water in one of the 
oldest of chemical operations. 

The English translation certainly retains to the 
full the racy style of the original, but sadly needs 
careful revision, especially in the mathematical 
expressions. As many as six slips have been 
noted, for example, on pp. 132-4. The units 
employed should be defined to render them in- 
telligible to English readers, and misleading con- 
tractions like calorie: for kilogramcalorie, and 
Kgms. for Kilogram-metres, avoided. In more 
than one instance the real meaning of the author, 
just where it is important, is obscured by some 
slip or looseness of expression, as on p. 184, 
where an improvement is stated to increase the 
yield of liquid air in Claude’s process by 0°85 
litre per H.P. hour, when apparently to 0°85 
litre is intended. In a preface by D’Arsonval 
yields of “finally o95 litres per H.P. hour” in 
Claude’s process are referred to, but in the text, 
apart from the above imperfect statement, we are 
left in doubt as to the best that Claude has so far 
been able practically to achieve. 

Dealing first with the problem of air liquefaction 
Claude’s especial contribution is the solution of 
the problem of expansion with external work, 
following the suggestion made by Lord Rayleigh 
so long ago as 1898. As is well known, Linde’s 
and Hampson’s processes depend only on the 
“internal work,” that is, on the relatively minute 
cooling effect—the Joule-Thomson  effect—pro- 
duced on the expansion of an imperfect gas, like 
air, due to the work done by the molecules in 
increasing their distances apart against their own 
feeble attraction. As in the whole of these pro- 
cesses, the Siemens exchanger of temperature, 
fifty-six years old, is employed, and enables this 
cooling to be used regeneratively until ultimately 
the liquefaction temperature is reached. But at the 
expansion jet, or, at least, inside the exchanger, 
just where it is emphatically not wanted, the 
enormous mechanical energy of the escaping gas 
is quantitatively reconverted into heat. The ex- 
pansion is adiabatic, and temperatures, as in 
Cailletet’s apparatus, far below the liquefaction 
temperature are instantaneously attained, but, in 
distinct inferiority to Cailletet’s simple process, 
are not made use of because the work is quantita- 
tively reconverted into heat inside the system. 
At first sight, but at first sight only, it appears 

NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


ee 


135 


that an enormous improvement might be effected 
in this direction, increasing the yield of liquid air 
some ten times, and regaining thereby a substan- 
tial proportion of the work employed in com- 
pression. Lord Rayleigh’s suggestion was that 
the air on expansion should drive a turbine, which, 
however inefficient, could not fail both to increase 
the cooling effect and recover some of the power 
employed. 

Claude has successfully employed the energy of 
expansion to do work in a compressed air motor 
capable of working below —100° C. We read 
that ‘while the makers have troubles, which are 
relatively frequent, with the ever well-known but 
still somewhat barbarous ,and brutal appliances 
which air compressors are, they have, so to speak, 
none at all with the new-born appliances, the ex- 
pansion machines for liquid air.” At first petrol 
and even liquid air itself were employed as lubri- 
cants in the cylinders of the compressed air 
machines. Lubrication troubles seem, however, 
now to have been entirely avoided, owing to a 
discovery (1912) of the unique properties of leather, 
«which, after being suitably treated, preserves all 
its good qualities at low temperatures. In the 
present machines the pistons of the expanders are 
provided with stamped leathers instead of metallic 
rings, and do not require any lubrication. The 
chief advantage of the system is that lower 
pressures—4o atmospheres, the critical pressure of 
air—can be employed, whereas the Linde and 
Hampson processes depend on the use of a 
pressure of 200 atmospheres. But the yield, 
spoken of in the preface as finally o°95 litre per 
H.P. hour, is not very greatly superior. In the 
Linde process a practical yield of o°6 litre per 
H.P. hour is realised in large machines, which is 
some three times better than in the Hampson 
laboratory machine. 

The evolution of Claude’s system has many 
points of interest. Exchangers are employed, and 
the gas arrives at the expander at a temperature 
of about —100° C. Now if this process of ex- 
change is carried too far, for example to 
—140° C, “the air which enters the machine is 
not yet a liquid, but it is almost no longer a gas; 
its expansive properties are, so to speak, done 
away with, and the external work of expansion 
becomes detestable.” Even were air a perfect 
gas, it can readily be seen that the more it is 
cooled before expansion the less energy it has to 
lose when expanded, and the smaller the cooling 
effect obtained. Enormously more of it is re- 
quired to fill the cylinder the lower the tempera- 
ture, whilst all the time the external work it can 
do, and the cooling effect it can produce, are 
steadily vanishing. * But actually, at —140° under 
40 At., the volume is already only one-fourth of 
that of a perfect gas. This, of course, though 
Claude does not'say so, is tantamount to admitting 
that the defect in the “internal work” processes 
in not utilising the energy of expansion is more 
apparent than real, and that the advantages of 
utilising the external work are to a large extent 
illusory. The practical solution was found in ad- 
mitting the compressed gas to the expander at a 


136 


temperature as high as is consistent with the 
attainment of a final temperaure below the critical 
temperature. This is effected by passing the cold 
expanded air at about —140° around tubes sup- 
plied by a T branch from the intake of the 
machine, i.e. with air at go At. and at —100° C. 
It liquefies part of this compressed air, and is 
warmed up thereby to about —130°, at which 
temperature it is admitted to the exchanger. A 
further improvement is obtained, much as in 
multiple expansion steam engines, by expanding 
in stages and warming up the expanded gas in 
between by making it circulate over coils filled 
with air above its critical pressure. 

Thus at the present time liquid air may be pro- 
duced in large machines for an expenditure of 
power perhaps one-fourth to one-fifth of that re- 
quired in the Hampson simple laboratory machine, 
but it must still be regarded as a somewhat ex- 
pensive and troublesome commodity to base a 
process upon. Naturally the question arises how 
it is that such great results may be confidently 
anticipated of its use. It has already displaced 
all other processes for the production of oxygen 
and nitrogen on a large scale, and, in the same 
field, the preparation of pure hydrogen and carbon 
monoxide from water gas offers no insurmount- 
able difficulty. The industry can supply oxygen 
to-day, in plants of 1000 cubic metres per hour, at 
o'2d. per cubic metre, and this means that to 
burn coal in pure oxygen rather than in air would 
increase the cost of the fuel only some four times. 
The saving in certain cases, through not having 
to heat at the same time a mass of nitrogen at 
least two and a half times greater than that of 
the coal and oxygen together, is evident. But 
this to-day’s figure gives no conception of what 
could be done if chemists really set themselves to 
separate the oxygen and nitrogen of the atmo- 
sphere before use, even in such common processes 
as the combustion of fuel. It can be stated con- 
fidently that the cost of the oxygen would not 
exceed that of the coal, without taking into 
account the possible use of the nitrogen produced 
at the same time. When it is considered how all 
industrial chemistry has been based upon the 
necessity of taking oxygen always diluted with 
some five times its volume of nitrogen, the revolu- 
tion in methods that these facts suggest is 
obvious. A blast furnace, for example, consum- 
ing oxygen instead of air, would be very different 
from the present affair. 

The reason why the liquefaction of the atmo- 
sphere and its subsequent rectification holds out 
such great industrial possibilities, in spite of the 
somewhat expensive character of liquid air, is, of 
course, that the cold is used regeneratively. 
There is an apparatus into which air at ordinary 
temperatures passes, and out of which oxygen and 
nitrogen, at a few degrees only from that tem- 
perature, issue. In other words, the losses of 
cold through the issuing gas being at slightly 
lower temperature than the entering gas are so 
small that_in the rectification of thirty litres of 
liquid air into its components some twenty-nine 
litres would be’ recovered. 

NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


) 
\ 


Actually, there is a } 


[OcTOBER 2, 1913 


very slight expenditure of power required, 
amounting theoretically to o'1 H.P. hour per 
cubic metre of oxygen separated. In addition, 


the losses through heat enfering the well-insu-. 


lated apparatus from outside must be considered, 
but these, naturally, are the smaller the larger the 
scale of operations. The yield of pure oxygen, 
the nitrogen being left with 2°4 per cent. of 
oxygen, per H.P. hour is, for a plant of 50 cubic 
metres per hour, about 1 cubic metre; of 100 
cubic metres per hour, 1°2 cubic metres. For 
larger plants 1°5 cubic metres is confidently pre- 
dicted. For the purpose of the industries fixing 
atmospheric nitrogen, naturally, great purity of 
the nitrogen rather than that of the oxygen is 
aimed at, and in these a purity of 99’9 per cent. 
can be realised, the oxygen testing some 80 per 
cent. 

Space does not permit any detailed discussion 
of the factors which have enabled the older Linde 
process to compete successfully, and now to co- 
operate with, the newer processes utilising the 
principle of external work, though, as admirably 
set forth in this book, these are fascinating 
enough. Nothing less than real genius could 
have enabled Linde eighteen years ago to grasp 
and work out the intrinsic possibilities of success 
in the “internal work” method, which appears 
theoretically to be so barbarously wasteful, or to 
have designed the apparatus which, as Claude 
remarks, strikes one at first sight like a coach 
with five wheels. It furnishes a most interesting 
example, in this region of topsy-turvy thermo- 
dynamics, of how thoroughly the theoretical 
aspect of a problem may change the more deeply 
and completely it is examined. 

(2) The volume by Prof. Marchis is comple- 
mentary to the other, and does not deal with the 
production of the extreme temperatures necessary 
for the liquefaction of air. It gives a most read- 


able and useful account of the science of refrigera- 


tion as applied to the preservation of perishable 
commodities. It is packed full of practical in- 


formation about refrigerating machines and in-: 


sulating materials, the construction and manage- 
ment of cold-storage chambers and ice factories, 
and the preservation of the great variety of comes- 
tibles dealt with nowadays, each of which requires 
its special treatment if the best results are to be 
attained. The book can be confidently recom- 
mended as being in itself almost sufficient for an 
engineer without experience to undertake this 
field of work. At the same time, it contains much 
recent information of general utility to all inter- 
ested in the subject. A description of the recent 
high-speed rotary compressors of M. Leblanc, with 
vanes of ramie fibre, agglutinated by the solution 
of acetate of cellulose in acetone, and running in 
a casing with practically no play at a peripheral 
speed of 500 metres per second, ends an abundantly 
illustrated section dealing with the various types 
of refrigerating machines. In the last two 
chapters the special cases of the preservation of 
meat and of fish are treated in detail. The 
author combats the prevalent idea that cold storage 


{ 


; 


OcTOBER 2, 1913] 


NATURE . 


os) 


7 


tends to make food go bad more quickly when it 
is re-exposed to the ordinary temperature. Cold 
does not improve articles already commencing to 
decompose; but, on the other hand, if scientifi- 
cally carried out—that is, if the food is in excel- 
lent condition to begin with, and is preserved with 


all due precautions as regards the correct tem- | 
| to a subject which in former times was presented 


perature, its uniform maintenance, and the proper 
hygrometric condition and frequent re- 
newal of the air in the store-room, and 
if the lowering and raising of the tem- 
perature do not take place too sud- 
denly—no harmful consequences follow 


refrigeration. F. Soppy. 
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF A 


LONDON SUBURB.} 

HE increasing demand for works 

on local natural history, of which 
class of publication the present 
volume is an_ excellent specimen, 
must have been noted by workers in 
science as a healthy sign of popular 
awakening. But while in the eigh- 
teenth century it was possible for 
a Gilbert White to cover the whole 
ground so far as concerned his own 
district, the great development of 
specialised knowledge in modern times 
necessitates the cooperation of many 
workers to produce such a volume as 
that under consideration. Thus, in 
addition to the opening chapter oni 
topography, by Messrs. Maynard and 
Findon (the hon. sec. of the natural 
history section of the society), there 
are ten chapters by different authors 
dealing respectively with the geology, 
climate, plant-life (three chapters), 
bird-life, mammals, &c., insects, mol- 
luscs, and pond-life together with a 
very useful bibliographical appendix. 

A commendable feature of the 
present work is the general introduc- 
tory section heading many of the 
chapters. By this treatment the reader 
is enabled to pass from the general 
to the special—a method which may be 
condemned by some critics as an in- 
version of scientific method but, in a 
local natural history, has the distinct 
advantage of enabling the general 
reader and the would-be student to 
realise that the local and restricted data 
supplied by his own district fit in to the 
larger and more comprehensive generalisations 
which scientific observers have built up from de- 
tailed observations over wider fields. The chapter 
by Mr. A. G. Tansley dealing with the vegetation 
(chap. iv.) is a very good example of the treat- 
ment referred to, as he begins with the ecology, 


1 “* Hampstead Heath: Its Geology and Natural History.’’ Prepared 
under the Auspices of the Hampstead Scientific Society. Pp. 328+xi plates+ 
3 maps. (London; T. Fisher Unwin, n.d.) Price ros. 6d. nt. 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


Badger Earths in Ken Wood. From 


shows the relationship of the vegetation to the 
geological features, and then groups vegetation 
generally under the various types of “associa- 
tions ” before dealing with the particular plant- 
associations of the district. The lists of species 
then come as natural sequences to the various 
“associations.” A living interest is thus imparted 


‘* Hampstead Heath : Its Geology and Natural History.” 


in the uninteresting form of a catalogue of names, 
amounting, in fact, to nothing more than the 
statement of the occurrence of a certain species 
in a particular district, without any relationship to 
its environment or to its associates. The chapter 
on the trees and shrubs (chapter v.), by Mr. Hugh 
Boyd Watt, will surprise many readers as a revela- 
tion of the extreme richness of the district, all 


138 


the native English trees, and also a large number 
of foreign species, finding the conditions suitable 
for their growth. How long these conditions will 
remain favourable is problematical, a remark which 
applies also to Mr. Whitton’s goodly list of some 
300 species of flowering plants given in chapter vi. 

The geology of the district is necessarily 
“tame,” but since Mr. F. W. Rudler is responsible 
for that chapter (chap. ii.), it is perhaps scarcely 
necessary to say that it will be found both interest- 
ing and instructive. The only regret is that the 
author did not “let himself go” more freely in 
discussing some of the generalisations which have 
of late years been based upon the detailed study 
of gravels and superficial deposits generally. In 
connection with the climate of Hampstead (chap. 
iii,, by Mr. E. L. Hawke), it is of interest to 
note that the sunshine record, as compared with 
that of the city, more nearly approaches that of 
Berkhamstead, which is tolerably clear of London 
influence. Thus the total number of hours of 
bright sunshine during 1910 was 1372, as com- 
pared with 1348 at the Hertfordshire station, 
1183 at Camden Square, and 993 at Bunhill Row. 
So much for the effects of atmospheric pollution in 
the City of London! Bird-life (chap. vii.) is dealt 
with by Mr. Herbert Goodchild, who gives a very 
clear account of the particular conditions favour- 
able and unfavourable to an avifauna. One of his 
observations is very significant: ‘Adjoining the 
heath are several private woods, a form of owner- 
ship which tends to the preservation of species 
that might otherwise be lost to the district, since 
in such woods and coppices the birds are safer 
from molestation. As some of these woods adjoin 
the public domain, an observer may see on the 
latter many species of birds that might be driven 
away if all the woods were public.” The writer 
of this notice has long ago come to the conclusion 
that the preservation of open spaces solely from 
the point of view of the “recreation and enjoy- 
ment of the public” is in many cases quite the 
reverse of a boon from the point of view of the 
naturalist. Mr. Goodchild is, of course, an advo- 
cate of the study of bird-life by the modern method 
—i.e. the field-glass and camera, and not by the 
gun. It is fortunate for the district, also, that 
it comprises the Brent reservoir, and that that 
well-known observer Mr. J. E. Harting was a 
former resident, and kept observations of the birds 
for many years. 

The chapter on mammals, fishes, and reptiles, 
by Mr. Hugh Findon, will also surprise many 
readers who are unprepared for the survival of 
such a number of species within sight of the 
metropolis. The existence of badger-earths, still 
apparently tenanted, is certainly remarkable, but 
here, again, the preservation of this notoriously 
shy animal is due to the inclusion of the earths 
(a figure of which we reproduce) in the private 
grounds of Ken Wood, the owner of which estate 
has always been a sympathetic conservator of 
this interesting denizen. Dr. O’Brien Ellison’s 
chapter on insect-life serves to emphasise the com- 
plaint so frequently made by entomologists in this 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 2, 1913 


country that local collectors so generally concen- 
trate their attentions upon the Lepidoptera to 
the neglect of other orders. There are surely more 
than twenty-seven species of Coleoptera in the 
district, to say nothing of Hymenoptera, Diptera, 
and Microlepidoptera. The list of Lepidoptera, by 
the way, is marred by a number of misprints, It 
only remains to add that there are chapters on 


| molluscs and on pond-life by Mr. Hugh Findon 


and Mr. James Burton respectively. 

The Hampstead Scientific Society has certainly 
done good service in publishing this volume, which 
is a typical specimen of the kind of work which 
local societies should undertake. For a district 
such as that dealt with—viz. within the three- 
mile radius from the flagstaff on the summit of 
the heath—a book like that before us is not only 
of immediate utility, but is certain to acquire in- 
creased value as time moves on and the influence 
of urbanisation becomes more and more pro- 
nounced. Already many of the species recorded 
are taken from old publications, and are now 
extinct. The general impression produced by the 
perusal of the volume is one of marvel at the 
persistence of so much that is “natural” in the 
area described. R. M. 


PROF. HUGH MARSHALL, F.R.S. 


4g the untimely death of Prof. Hugh Marshall, 

which took place in London on September 5, 
chemistry has lost, at the early age ot forty-five, 
one of the nowadays comparatively few prominent 
men who devoted their energies to the investigation 
of subjects connected with the inorganic and 
mineralogical branches of the science, and the 
University of St. Andrews an active and useful 
member of the professorial staff of Dundee 
University College. 

It is not a disparagement to say that Dr. 
Marshall’s most brilliant discovery—that of the 
persulphates, in 1891—was due to one of those 
fortunate chances, not infrequent in science, where 
experiments designed to elucidate a certain defi- 
nite question lead to some new discovery of a 
wholly different description and often of much 
greater consequence; for, no sooner was the 
discovery made than its author was quick to 
discern that substances of far-reaching importance 
had fortuitously presented themselves to him and 
to prosecute their examination with exceptional 
vigour and success. The subject under immedi- 
ate investigation was the oxidation of cobalt salts 
by electrolysis in the then comparatively little 
employed “divided ”’ electrolytic cell, and on pass- 
ing a current of electricity through ‘“‘a fairly acid 
solution of cobalt and potassium sulphates,” with 
a view to prepare potassium cobalt alum, small 
crystals slowly separated, which proved on 
analysis to consist of potassium persulphate. The 
discovery of the persulphates at once brought Dr. 
Marshall’s name into prominence, while the 
assiduity and skill with which he continued his 
examination of them speedily marked him as a 


rising inorganic chemist. 


OcToBER 2, 1913] 


Having a distinct leaning towards mineralogy 
and crystallography, he devoted a considerable 
amount of study to these subjects also, and pub- 
lished several useful crystallographical papers; but 
inorganic chemistry claimed most of his attention, 
and his later papers as a rule savoured more or 
less of persulphates in some of their varied inter- 
actions. Thus, either alone or in collaboration 
with others, he published papers describing the 
action of persulphates on iodine, silver salts, thio- 
sulphates, &c. ; and the neat modification of Crum’s 
test for manganese, in which potassium per- 
sulphate is employed as oxidising agent instead of 
lead peroxide, was devised and elaborated into a 
quantitative colorometric method by him. Other 
papers dealt with thallic sulphate; rubidium, 
cesium, and thallium persulphates; quantitative 
analysis by electrolytic methods; succinic acid and 
succinates ; the compound of iodine with thiocarb- 
amide, &c. 

In addition to his chemical investigations he 
found time to examine some technical subjects, 
and his work upon the burning of mixtures of air 
and light hydrocarbon vapour led to the perfecting 
of the ‘ Petrolite” safety incandescent lamp, for 

‘which he was awarded prizes by the Edinburgh 
Association of Science and Art, and the Royal 
Scottish Society of Arts. He also devised a 
simplified form of Bunsen burner which was parti- 
cularly suitable for use by beginners in laboratory 
practice. The Keith prize and gold medal for the 
period 1899-1901 was awarded to him by the 
Council of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for his 
researches on persulphates. He was elected to 
fellowship of the Royal Society in 1904, and to 
the chair of chemistry in Dundee in 1908. With, 
to all appearance, many years for good work 
still before him, Dr. Marshall was a man whom 
inorganic chemistry could ill afford to lose. 

LEONARD DosBIN. 


NOTES. 


Reuter’s Agency is informed that Sir David Bruce 
will leave England on November 1 for the purpose of 
concluding his sleeping sickness investigations in 
Central Africa. He will be accompanied by Lady 
Bruce, who is herself a memper of the Commission. 
Sir David and Lady Bruce will sail in the Edinburgh 
Castle from Southampton, and will proceed to Cape 
Town, whence they will travel by train to Beira. 
From that place they intend to go up the Zambesi 
and Shire rivers to Lake Nyasa. 


The Paris correspondent of The Times reports the 
death of the toxicologist, Dr. Jules Ogier, at sixty 
years of age. Our contemporary gives the following 
particulars of Dr. Ogier’s career :—After some years’ 
work with Berthelot, during which period his writings 
on arsenic and other poisons attracted considerable 
attention, he was appointed director of toxicology at 
the Prefecture of Police, where his work was of the 
greatest value to justice. He planned most of the 
large water systems in France, and his labours in 
connection with the purification of drinking water 
have been of great service to public health. He was 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


139 


in a way the creator of modern toxicological chemistry, 
and his many works include a treatise which has 
become a classic in that branch of science. 


TuE seventeenth annual autumn foray of the British 
Mycological Society was held at Haslemere on Sep- 
tember 22-27, the Haslemere Educational Museum, 
founded by the late Sir Jonathan Hutchinson, serving 
as headquarters during the meeting. A well-arranged 
programme of excursions was planned by Mr. E. W. 
Swanton, and a large number of fungi were col- 
lected, including many rare and interesting forms. 
The mornings were generally devoted to the examina- 
tion and arrangement of specimens, some of the 
most noteworthy of which were :—Rhizopogon 
rubescens, Hydnum melaleucum, H. Queletii, Sparassis 
laminosa, Clavaria formosa, Cortinarius bolaris, 
Mycena crocata, and Sclerotinia baccarum, and also 
the Mycetozoa, Licea pusilla, Hemitrichia clavata, 
Oligonema nitens, and Diderma simplex. On 
Wednesday evening, September 24, Mr. A. D. Cotton 
(president for the year) delivered an address entitled 
“Suggestions as to the Study and Critical Revision 
of Certain Genera of Agaricacez,” pointing out the 
urgent need of critical work, and emphasising the 
diagnostic value of certain microscopic characters. 
Other members contributed papers, namely, Mr. 
F. T. Brooks, on pure cultures of several Basidio- 
mycetes and Ascomycetes; Prof. Buller, on the 
hymenium-structure in Hymenomycetes; and Mr. J. 
Ramsbottom, on the history of the classification of 
Discomycetes. In passing a vote of thanks to the 
trustees of the museum, the hope was expressed that 
the scientific and educational work hitherto carried on 
there would be continued, and that it would be 
possible to establish the museum upon a permanent 
basis. The officers elected for 1914 were :—President, 
Prof. A. H. R. Buller; vice-president, Miss G. Lister ; 
honorary secretary and treasurer, Mr. Carleton Rea; 
the localities for the spring and autumn meetings 
being the Forest of Dean and Doncaster respectively. 


AT a conference held on September 19 in the rooms 
of the Linnean Society, Burlington House, Dr. A. B. 
Rendle, F.R.S., gave an account of the inception and 
activities of the plant protection section of the Sel- 
borne Society, under the auspices of which the meet- 
ing had been called, and outlined the various causes 
at work tending to the diminution or extermination 
of native plants in Britain—the building over of sub- 
urban and rural districts, drainage of marshes and 
bogs, smoke pollution, excessive collecting of rare 
plants by botanists and their agents, the wholesale 
digging up of both rare and common species by 
hawkers, &c. A brisk discussion followed regarding 
the proposed remedial measures for the preservation 
of the British flora; and though this was marked by 
considerable divergences of opinion, it was generally 
agreed that on one hand much remained to be done 
in the way of arousing public interest in the matter, 
while on the other there was much to be said for the 
introduction of legislation which should secure at 
least the same degree of protection and scheduling 
of plants as that afforded to bird-life by the Wild 
Birds Protection Acts. Several speakers pointed out 


140 


that much might be done with the powers now 
possessed by local authorities but rarely exercised by 
them, and that in many cases small areas might be 
secured as nature reserves by public-spirited persons 
interested in the local flora before such areas were 
destroyed as plant habitats. 


Dr. J. Mitcuett Bruce will deliver the Harveian 


oration at the Royal College of Physicians of London 
on Saturday, October 18. 


Unper the auspices of the National Association for 
the Feeble-Minded, a conference of public authorities 
upon the subject dealt with by the association will be 
held at the Guildhall, London, on October 23. 


. Tue first Italian congress of radiology will be held 
at Milan on October 12-13. In connection with the 
congress there will be an exhibition of apparatus con- 
nected with Réntgen rays and investigations in radio- 
activity. 

Tue twenty-first James Forrest lecture of the 
Institution of Civil Engineers will be delivered in the 
lecture theatre of the new building of the institution, 
Great George Street, Westminster, on Thursday, 
October 23, at 9 p.m., by Mr. Alexander Gracie, upon 
the subject of ‘‘ Progress of Marine Construction.” 


Tue death is reported, at the early age of forty-two, 
of Mr. E. L. Morris, the biologist and curator in 
natural science in the museum of the Brooklyn 
Institute of Arts and Sciences. In addition to holding 
this office, Mr. Morris was one of the special plant 
experts of the U.S. Herbarium and the U.S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. 


Mr. W. A. Tookey is to lecture to the Junior In- 
stitution of Engineers to-morrow—October 3—on 
gas-engine testing. On October 20 a paper is to be 
read by Mr. G. S. Cooper on modern coke-ovens. The 
new president of the institution, Sir Boverton Red- 
wood, will deliver his presidential address on 
December 5, taking as his subject ‘‘The Future of 
Oil Fuel.” 


Tue Russian Government, reports The Japan 
Chronicle (September 11), has decided to establish a 
physical observatory at Vladivostok and experimental 
stations on the Pacific coast with the view of co- 
operating with the authorities of meteorological 
stations in China and Japan. Mr. S. D. Griboyedov, 
a prominent meteorologist, has been commissioned to 
investigate suitable sites for the proposed structures 
and to submit a report thereon. 


Ir was announced in The Times of September 22 
that a Malay python (Python reticulatus) in the 
Zoological Society’s Garden had laid a number of eggs 
some days previously, which, after a considerable 
delay, she eventually brooded in the manner distinctive 
of this group of snakes. Unfortunately, there is 
every reason to believe that the eggs were not fer- 
tilised. A similar event took place in the Tower 
Menagerie so long ago as 1828, a second at the Jardin 
des Plantes in 1841, a third in the Society’s Gardens in 
1881, and a fourth in the Colombo Gardens in the 
autumn of 1904. 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 2, 1913. 


In The Times of September 25 it is stated, on the 
authority of a local correspondent, that steps are being 
taken, under the auspices of the Resident-General of 
France and of his Highness the Bey of Tunis, to 
establish in Tunisia a reserve in which the fast 
disappearing fauna of the country may find immunity 
from persecution. For this purpose some 4000 acres 
o: wild mountainous country, with an adjoining marsh 
of 5000 acres, have been secured; and as this area 
already contains representatives of many of the wild 
animals of the country, the work of stocking the 
reserve will be much less heavy than would otherwise 
have been the case. 


Tue first general meeting of the London Wireless 
Club was held on Tuesday of last week at the City 
of Westminster School, Mr. F. Hope Jones in the 
chair. Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, F.R.S., Mr. 
A, A. Campbell Swinton, and Sir John Macpherson- 


Grant, Bart., have consented to become  vice- 
presidents of the club. The honorary secretary 
is Mr. R. H. Klein, 18 Crediton Road, West 


Hampstead, N.W. The objects of the society 
were explained by the chairman to be the guarding 
of the interests of all experimenters in wireless tele- 
graphy and telephony, and the organisation of desul- 
tory and for the most part useless work into co- 
operative scientific research. The committee was 
authorised to negotiate for the acquisition of suitable 
club-rooms, and their equipment with suitable aérial 
and instruments. A letter was read from Sir A. F. 
King, K.C.B., on behalf of the Postmaster-General, 
welcoming the formation of such a society, and 
indicating that certificates of its advisory committee 
would be accepted by him as qualification for the 
granting of licences. There will be two classes of 
members and full membership will be limited to 
persons having scientific qualifications. The subscrip- 
tions are at present tos. 6d. for London members, and 
5s. for members living outside a 25 miles’ radius. 
The entrance fee is fixed at 2s. 6d. 


A NationaL Gas Congress and Exhibition will be 
held at Shepherd’s Bush, London, during the whole of 
October, under the presidency of Sir Corbet Woodall. 
Space will be devoted in the exhibition to special 
exhibits related to hygienic and scientific lighting, 
the raw materials used in gas manufacture, the pre- 
paration and uses of residual products, the application 
of scientific apparatus, and to engineering in relation 
to gas manufacture, gas distribution, and gas measure- 
ment. A comprehensive series of conferences and 
popular lectures has been arranged. Among the sub- 
jects of the conferences are smoke abatement, to dis- 
cuss the use of gas for fuel in relation to the problenr 
of the smoke nuisance; food and cookery, to consider 
means for increasing knowledge of economical and 
correct methods of preparing and cooking food; the 
hygienic aspect of gas for lighting, heating, cook- 
ing, and ventilation; the lighting, heating, and 
ventilation of schools; the physiological and mental 
disadvantages of unscientific illumination; the teach- 
ing of cooking in schools; the economic value of 
adequate illumination; the use of gas as a fuel for 
industrial purposes; the use of gas for power; and 


a 


OcToBER 2, 1913] 


the principles of scientific illumination in their rela- 
tion to the use of gas for lighting. . 


‘Many ways have already been suggested and 
demonstrated for causing each eye to see its appro- 
priate picture of a stereoscopic pair, but we learn 
from The Times of September 26 that Messrs. Fried- 
mann and Reiffenstein are showing yet another at 
the Austro-German Medical Congress now being held 
in Vienna. The new method depends upon the fact 
that a white image is invisible on a white back- 
ground, and a black image is invisible on a black 
background, while both are visible if the backgrounds 
are reversed. The authors therefore bleach the nega- 
tive of one of the pair, make an ordinary trans- 
parency from the other, and superpose the two plates. 
This compound plate will show either the one or the 
other picture according as the background put behind 
it is light or dark, and if the background is arranged 
so that it appears light to one eye and dark to the 
other—that is, light or dark according to the side 
that it is viewed from—then each eye will see its own 
picture without any instrumental means. A_back- 
ground that serves this purpose is a sheet of glass 
that is ‘‘ribbed convexly,” while its back surface is 
“prepared in a special manner’’ that is not described. 
The great advantage of such stereoscopic pictures is 
that they only need looking at as if they were single 
pictures to show the full stereoscopic effect. It is 
stated that the few specimens shown are very satis- 
factory. 


Tue provisional programme of the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society for the coming session has just been 
issued. We learn from it that the following papers 
have been arranged :—‘‘ The Work and Adventures of 
the Northern Party of Capt. Scott’s Antarctic Expedi- 
tion,” R. E. Priestley (November 10); ‘‘ Explorations 
in the Eastern Karakoram,’’ Mrs. Bullock Workman 
and Dr. Hunter Workman (November 24); ‘Is the 
Earth Drying up?’ Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S. 
(December 8); ‘An Expedition to Dutch New 
Guinea,’ A. F. R. Wollaston (December 16). In 
addition to the foregoing, the following papers may 


be expected:—‘‘Famous Maps in the British 
Museum,”’ J. A. J. de Villiers; “Journey through 
Arabia,” Capt. G. E. Leachman; ‘‘ Geographical 


Aspects of Two Sub-Expeditions in the Antarctic,” 
Griffith Taylor; ‘The Federal District and Capital, 
Camberra, of the Commonwealth of Australia,” 
Griffith Taylor; ‘‘Journeys in the Upper Amazon 
Basin,” Dr. Hamilton Rice; ‘‘The Gulf Stream,” 
Commander Campbell Hepworth, C.B.; ‘‘The Red 
Sea and the Jordan,” Sir William Willcocks, 
K.C.M.G.; ‘‘Fresh Discoveries in the Eket District, 
Southern Nigeria,” P. A. Talbot; ‘“'The Panama 
Canal,”’ Dr. Vaughan Cornish; ‘t The Atlantic Ocean,” 
Prof. E. Hull, F.R.S.; ‘‘The Anglo-German Boun- 
dary Survey in West Africa,” Capt. W. V. Nugent. 


In L’Anthropologie, vol. xxiv., Nos. 2 and 3, Pro. | 
G. H. Luquet proposes an explanation of the rock | 


markings at Gavr’inis. Comparing the figures with 
those on the megalithic monuments in Brittany and 
Ireland, he suggests that they are ultimately based on 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


I4I 
an anthropomorphic attempt to represent the human 
figure, particularly of the eyes and eyebrows. This 
contribution is lavishly illustrated by woodcuts, and 
the explanation now offered well deserves respectful 
study by archzologists in this country. 


Mr. ANANDA Coomaraswamy’s useful periodical, 
Visvakarma, devoted to the reproduction of examples 
of Indian architecture, sculpture, painting, and handi- 
crafts, has reached its fifth number. We have a fine 
series of photographs, among which the most notice- 
able are the splendid lion column from Sarnath, the 
Trimurti or sacred triad from the Caves of Elephanta, 
and interesting figures of deer, monkeys, a cat and 
mice from Mamallapuram. The Asokan statue from 
Besnagar is one of the most remarkable sculptural 
remains of the period. 


Tue National Geographic Magazine for September 
is devoted to Egypt, and contains a large collection of 
beautiful photographs. Perhaps the most interesting 
contribution is the account by Mr. C. M. Cobern of 
the sacred ibis cemetery and jackal catacombs at 
Abydos. The ibises are as carefully mummified as 
the royal personages at Deir-el-Bahari, and were it 
not for the ravages by white ants, hundreds of these 
sacred birds could now be examined in as perfect a 
state as when they were buried. The jackals were 
preserved because they were sacred to Anubis, the 
friend of the righteous dead, who guided the soul 
across the trackless desert to the fields of Aalu, the 
land of the dead. 


THE excavation of the Roman city of Corstopitum, 
the modern Corbridge, begun by the Northumberland 
County History Committee and the Corbridge Excava- 
tion Committee in 1906, was actively prosecuted 
during the past season. Among the objects unearthed 
were forty-eight gold coins and a gold ring, probably 
deposited about a.p. 385, several altars, a vast quantity 
of pottery, a bronze pig containing 160 gold coins 
ranging from Nero to Marcus Aurelius, the well- 
known Corbridge lion, a smithy with arrow-heads and 
other articles of iron. Thus a vast amount of 
material for the ‘study of Roman pottery has been 
found, and the buildings include some of the most 
imposing relics in Roman Britain, as well as some of 
the worst walls ever erected by human hands. The 
animal remains are of high scientific value, and some 
addition has been made to our knowledge of Roman 
metallurgy. The museum has been rearranged, and 
now contains a collection of Roman remains un- 
equalled in the north of England, except, perhaps, at 
York. 


WE have to acknowledge the receipt from Messrs. 
Dulau and Co., Ltd., of a copy of a catalogue of 
works and papers on various groups of the lower 
invertebrates. 


In the report of the museums of the Brooklyn 
Institute for 31912, reference is made to the large 
increase in the zoological collections, and the mounting 
of a group of marsh-hawks for the series illustrating 
the fauna of Long Island. Of the fauna and flora of 


: that island a popular account is in course of publica- 


142 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 2, 1913 


tion in vol. ii. of the Science Bulletin of the Institute, 
the first portion of this dealing with the bats, and the 
second with two species of molluscs. 


In the September number of The American 
Naturalist, Prof. H. H. Newman, of Chicago Uni- 
versity, discusses at length the remarkable pheno- 
menon of polyembryonic development exhibited by 
Dasypus novemcinctus and certain other species of 
armadillos, and its bearing on sex-determination. 
The females of these species, when pregnant, invari- 
ably develop four embryos, enclosed in a single 
chorionic envelope, which are always of the same 
sex, the process of development being summarised by 
the author as follows :—‘‘ The ovogenesis is normal; a 
single egg is fertilised by a single spermatozoon; the 
cleavage is apparently normal, and gives rise to a 
blastodermic vesicle similar to that of other mammals, 
especially the rodents; germ-layer-inversion affords an 
easy mechanism for producing several embryos in a 
single chorion, for the quadruplets arise by means of 
dichotomous budding of the inner ectodermic vesicle 
without affecting the enveloping membranes of the 
vesicle, which form the common chorion; the sub- 
sequent embryonic development of the several embryos 
is as independent as it can be under monochorial 
conditions, since each individual has its own separate 
amnion, allantois, umbilicus, and placenta.” 


M. Fujioka contributes an elaborate study of the 
structure of the wood in the Japanese conifers to the 
Journal of the College of Agriculture, University of 
Tokyo, vol. iv., No. 4. The detailed descriptions of 
the wood in the various species examined are followed 
by a key to the Japanese genera of Conifere based 
upon the history of their wood, and the memoir is 
illustrated by seven plates containing eighty-four very 
fine photomicrographs. 


WE have received a copy of the Proceedings and 
Transactions of the Croydon Natural History and 
Scientific Society, 1912-13, which contains various 
items of interest. Among these there is an account 
of the organisation of the Regional Survey of Croy- 
don, which the society have undertaken, and which, 
when completed, will form one of the most elaborate 
records of the natural history of a limited area that 
has been made. The volume also includes reports of 
addresses given by Dr. H. F. Parsons and Mr. A. G. 
Tansley, dealing respectively with ‘‘ Plant Growth and 
Soil Conditions” and with “‘ Practical Study of Vege- 
tation in the Field.” There is an extensive appendix 
containing the records of the Meteorological Com- 
mittee, and giving the daily rainfall throughout the 
year 1912 at various stations in the district. 


Miss M. C. KNOWLES, in a paper on the maritime 
and marine lichens of Howth (Sci. Proc. Royal Dublin 
Soc., August, 1913), gives an interesting account of 
the lichen vegetation of Howth Head, Dublin Bay, 
illustrated by several beautiful photographs by Mr. 
R. Welch. More than half of the memoir is occupied 
by a detailed description of the ecology of the lichens 
which inhabit the siliceous rocks on the coast and 
form more or less sharply defined belts or zones 
dominated, from above downwards, by species of 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92| 


Ramalina, orange-coloured lichens, species of Lichina, 
Verrucaria maura, and marine Verrucarias. Three 
new species are described, and notes are given on 
some remarkable forms of ,Ramalina, while the 
memoir as a whole may be regarded as the most 
important contribution that has yet been made to the 
ecology of the littoral lichen vegetation of this country. 


WE have received a Spanish edition of the “‘ Inter- 
national Codex of Resolutions adopted at Congresses, 
Conferences, and at Meetings of the Permanent Com- 
mittee, 1872-1910," translated by the Central Observa- 
tory of Manila from the second German edition. The 
preparation of this useful work was recommended by 
the International Meteorological Committee at the 
meeting at Southport in 1903, and Drs. Hellmann and 
Hildebrandsson were requested to undertake it. At 
the conference at Innsbruck, in 1905, a manuscript 
copy of the Codex was presented, and its publication 
in English, French, and German was urged as “a 
most valuable means for promoting international 
meteorological work.’’ In view of the extended use 
of Spanish in central and southern America, and also 
in eastern Asia, Sefor J. Algué was thanked for his 
offer to arrange for its publication in that language. 
It should be mentioned that due reference was made 
by Dr. Hellmann to a somewhat similar work pub- 
lished by Dr. Wild (then president of the International 
Meteorological Committee) in the Repertorium fiir 
Meteorologie, vol. xvi., which contained particulars 
for 1872-1891, and was at the time of considerable 
value. 


In a well-known experiment of De la Rive’s, one 
end of an electromagnet projects into an evacuated 
bulb containing two electrodes, one of which takes 
the form of a ring. When a discharge is passed the 
luminous column is seen to rotate round the magnet 
pole. This experiment receives various interesting 
extensions in a paper by Prof. Righi on “ Rotazioni 
Ionomagnetiche (R. Accad. di Bologna, February, 
1913). In a typical experiment the two electrodes, 
which are here cylindrical, are placed in the same 
vertical line, and the lower one is surrounded by a 
suspended metal cylinder. An external magnet pro- 
duces a field parallel to the line joining the elec- 
trodes. When the discharge passes it is found that 
the cylinder rotates. The theory shows that the effect 
is due to the oblique impact, on the cylindrical walls, 
of the ions carrying the discharge. 


WE have received a copy of Dr. P. W. Bridgman’s 
paper on the thermodynamic properties of twelve liquids 
between 20° C. and 80° C. and up to 12,000 kilo- 
grams per sq. cm. The work was carried out at the 
Jefferson Physical Laboratory of Harvard University 
by the aid of the Rumford Fund. The liquids used 
were methyl, ethyl, propyl, isobutyl, and amyl 
alcohols, ethyl ether, acetone, carbon bisulphide, 
phosphorus trichloride, and ethyl bromide, all of which 
were obtained in an approximately pure state. The 
liquid was contained in a cylinder closed by a piston, 
the motion of which determined the change of volume. 
The pressure applied was measured by the change of 
electrical resistance of a standardised manganine wire. 


OcTOBER 2, 1913] 


NATURE 143 


The whole was enclosed in a bath the tempera- 
ture of which could be varied between the limits | 
stated above. Dr. Bridgman finds that the com- 
pressibility and thermal expansion of a liquid may 
decrease with increasing temperature and may increase 
with increase of pressure. He is disposed to attribute 
these remarkable results to deformation of the actual 
molecules when forced into contact at these high 
pressures. 


PropaBLy no branch of the community is more open 
to be defrauded than those who must perforce exclude 
carbohydrates from their diet. The unsuspecting 
patient purchases foods which are not only glaringly 
misrepresented, but also may be positively harmful 
to him. It is to be feared, moreover, that the medical 
adviser is often but little better informed, though in 
default of a source of trustworthy information as to 
the nature of the commercial products he can scarcely 
be held responsible. The Connecticut Agricultural 
Experiment Station has done great service, therefore, 
in issuing a lengthy report dealing with the composi- 
tion and merits of all the so-called diabetic flours, 
breads, biscuits, and other diabetic foods of both 
European and American origin—the list is an exhaus- 
tive one. To all but the few initiated the result of 
the inquiry must be very startling. By far the greater 
number of the foods examined were definitely fraudu- 
lent in that they did not fulfil the claims made for 
them, and many of them indeed contained as much 
starch as is present in ordinary white bread. The 
report also deals with the excessive cost of such foods, 
which has, in the past, rendered their use almost pro- 
hibitive to the poor man. A select list of genuine 
diabetic foods, which return good value, is given, in 
which it is satisfactory to find the products of British 
firms of repute. Our chief purpose in directing atten- 
tion to the report is, however, to urge the necessity 
of some control being exercised over the indiscriminate 
misrepresentation of foodstuffs of which this is a type 
with its attendant menace to the public health. The 
report merits the widest possible publication. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES FOR OCTOBER :— 
Oct. 2. 3h. om. Mars at quadrature to the Sun. 
», 14h. om. Jupiter at quadrature to the Sun. 
6. 6h. 21m. Jupiter in conjunction with the 
Moon (Jupiter 4° 51’ N.). 
8. 3h. 37m. Uranus in conjunction with the 
Moon (Uranus 3° 35’ N.). 
13. 14h. om. Uranus stationary. 
14. gh. om. Venus nearest the Sup. 
1g. gh. 19m. Saturn in conjunction with the 
Moon (Saturn 6° 56’ S.). 
21. 13h. 7m. Mars in conjunction with the 
Moon (Mars 3° 55’ S.). 
» 18h. om. Neptune at quadrature to the 
Sun. 
22. 7h. 54m. Neptune in conjunction with the 
Moon (Neptune 4° 53’ S.). 
27. 5h. om. Uranus at quadrature to the Sun. 
», 8h. 31m. Venus in conjunction with the 
Moon (Venus 3° 17’ N.). 
30. 20h. 17m. Mercury in conjunction with the 
Moon (Mercury 2° 2’ N.). 
31. 13h. om. Neptune stationary. 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92| 


Comets 1913b (MercaLF) aND I913c (NEUJMIN).— 
Prof. H. Kobold’s ephemeris for comet Metcalf during 
the present week is as follows (Astronomische Nach- 
richten, No. 4682) :— : 


M.T. Berlin. 
R.A. (true) Dec. (true) Mag. 
ho m s. . . 
Oct. 2 egyiaras) ~~. +72, Go S2 
zi Perna eeg i.) OG)52°2 
4 223449 +. 67 234 
5 2218 45 «-. 64 42°t So 
6 APG Os” J+ 9) OF 5 ii4 
7 BIER DOS van) 50. 53°3 
8 Bue4g 16) 7.4)" © 555070 
9 2137 9 «+ +52 437 S'o 


This comet is now in Cepheus and rapidly reducing 
its northern declination, moving towards the constella- 
tion of Cygnus. It is well up above the horizon and 
gaining in magnitude. 

On the other hand, comet Neujmin is decreasing 
in magnitude, becoming fainter than magnitude 12. 
This comet seems to be moving in an elliptical orbit, 
and Prof. Cohn finds a period of nine years. Its 
appearance has attracted the attention of numerous 
observers, since while the nucleus has appeared quite 
stellar, the gaseous envelope has been alternating 
between visibility and disappearance. 


ANOTHER ComET.—A Kiel telegram, dated Septem- 
ber 27, distributes the information communicated by 
Prof. Hussey that Mr. Delaren on September 26, 
toh. 292m. M.T. Laplata, discovered a comet of the 
tenth magnitude, its position being given as R.A. 
2th. 54m. 16s. and declination 2° 34’ yj tls bp sel lig 
the issue _of The Times for September jo it is 
suggested that probably this comet may be identical 
with Westphal’s comet, which is now due, and for 
which a search has been continually made. If it be 
Westphal’s, then it will move northward during the 
next month and will increase considerably in bright- 
ness, possibly becoming visible to the naked eye. At 
its appearance in 1852 it was a fairly conspicuous 
naked eye object. 


Tue SpectRuM OF e-Canum VENATICORUM.—In two 
previous notes in this column (June 5 and July 24) 
reference has been made to Prof. Belopolsky’s ob- 
servations of the spectrum of this star, the lines in 
the spectrum showing striking variations of a periodic 
nature. The Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4681, 
contains now the preliminary discussion of a large 
number of spectrograms, sixty-seven in number, which 
he has been able to secure in the interval between 
April 15 and June 23. All the photographs were taken 
with the 30-inch and a three-prism spectrograph, the 
exposures lasting one hour; an iron comparison was 
photographed twice at each exposure. In the present 
communication Prof. Belopolsky first describes in 
detail the appearance of the lines observed. From 
the measures of the intensity of the line 4413'00" he 
finds a period of 5"50 days, and he places several other 
lines in the same category, i.e. they become bright at 
the same time as 413,00. Another group of lines 
behaves in an opposite manner, disappearing when 
the former group become more intense ; the period is 
also very near 5'50 days. Other lines such as 
hydrogen, magnesium, calcium, and iron display little 
if any change. From the line of sight measures he 
finds a certain group of lines, which includes tales 
Mg., and Fe., which indicate no changes dependent 
on the 5°5 day period, while other lines display varia- 
tions of radial velocity equal in period to that of the 
intensity of the lines. Prof. Belopolsky suggests as 
an explanation of the above and other observations 


that a gaseous satellite or a gas ring moves round 


144 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 2, 1913 


a central body, but he finds that there are several 
details that are difficult to explain which will perhaps 
be cleared up when more material has been collected. 


THe WaAvVE-LENGTHS OF CeErRTAIN IRON LinEs.—It 
is important for the accurate determination of wave- 
lengths in a spectrum to have available a large number 
of standard wave-lengths well distributed over the 
whole length of the spectrum. The work which the 
Solar Union initiated in this respect has been most 
valuable, and the task of determining more constants 
and of securing greater accuracy is no light one. By 
the aid of a grant of the Martin Kellogg fellowship 
in the Lick Observatory and of the generosity of MM. 
Buisson and Fabry, who placed the necessary ap- 
paratus and also constant help and advice at his ser- 
vice, Mr. Keivin Burns has been able to make a series 
of interference measures of standards in the iron 
spectrum between the limits 4A45434A and 8824A. The 
results of this research are recorded in Lick Bulletin, 
No. 233, and, in addition to the international standards 
already determined between the above-mentioned 
limits, he has added another one hundred and nineteen 
lines in regions which were lacking in international 
standard lines. Small discrepancies in different 
measures of some standard lines have led to the con- 
sideration of their variability of wave-length. Mr. 
Burns has had access to the manuscript of Dr. Goos, 
in which a special study has been made of the source 
of this variability, and he agrees entirely with the 
view, namely, that ‘‘Dr. Goos insists on the necessity 
of determining exactly what conditions the arc is to 
used.” In this journal for September 11 last, further 
details will be found regarding the specified conditions 
for the determinations of further standards which 
were recommended by the committee of the Soiar 
Union on standard wave-lengths at the recent meeting 
in Bonn. 


THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN IN SOUTH 
AMERICA.} 


Sees problem of the antiquity of man in South 
America has given rise to many papers and 
much discussion in various languages, and it became 
necessary for a trained anthropologist and geologist 
to study on the spot the human remains and the exact 
mode of their occurrence. Dr. A. Hrdliéka was un- 
doubtedly the anthropologist best fitted for the inves- 
tigation, as he has an unequalled knowledge of the 
physical anthropology of the American Indian and 
had ‘already summarised his own investigations on 
the antiquity of man in North America in Bulletin 33 
of the Bureau of American Ethnology (1907), where 
he states his conclusion that ‘“‘no human bones of 
undisputed geological antiquity are known,” and that 
the remains exhibit a ‘close affinity to or identity 
with those of the modern Indian.” 

Mr. Bailey Willis, of the U.S. Geological Survey, 
who had done important work on the loess and 
related formations in North America and China, 
accompanied Dr. Hrdliéka to Argentina in May, 1910, 
The Argentine men of science received them very 
cordially, and facilitated their work. Most of the 
specimens they were to examine had been described 
by Prof. F. Ameghino, to whose energy and enthu- 
siasm South American palzeontology owes so much, 
and it must have saddened his last hours to know— 
if indeed he admitted it—that zeal is a poor substitute 
for knowledge when the details of human anatomy 
are in question. 


1 “ Early Manin South America.” By Ales Hrdlicka, in collaboration with 
W. H. Holmes, Bnilev Willis, Fred E. Wright, and Clarence N. Fenner. 
Pp. xv+ 405+68. (Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, 
Rulletin 52. Washington, 1912.) 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


1 consider the age of the 


Mr. Bailey Willis gives an excellent account of the 
geology of central eastern Argentina, more especially 
of the Pampean terrane, which is a remarkably 


uniform deposit of fine-grained earth, probably an 


eolian formation of desert plateau origin, transported 
by rivers to the lowlands, but during arid episodes the 
alluvium was partially converted into eolian loess. 
There is no evidence at present that man lived during 
Pampean times, but his remains have been found in 
the Upper Pampean and Post Pampean, also mainly 
eolian loess formations, which lie in hollows sculp- 
tured in the surface of the Pampean, also in many 
cases there is a distinct unconformity beneath the 
deposits of the Upper Pampean. <A great deal has 
been written about the tierra cocida, or burnt earth 
which occurs in the Pampean terrane at various 
horizons; many of these may have been due to the 
burning of grasses, but there is nothing to connect 
the burnt earths of the Pampean with man. 

Messrs. F. E. Wright and C. N. Fenner present 
details of their petrographic studies of specimens of 
the loess, tierra cocida, and scoriz. They state that 
many specimens of tierra cocida are so large and com- 
pact that one is forced to assume long-continued and 
confined heating at a fairly high temperature, such 
as would be encountered near the contact of an in- 
trusive igneous or volcanic mass, but not beneath 
an open fire made of grass or small timber. 

Dr. Hrdli¢ka discusses the peculiar stone industries 
of the Argentine coast. Ameghino considered that the 
“split-stone’’ industry “is in certain respects more 
primitive than that of the eoliths of Europe,” referring 
it to the Middle Pliocene, and that it was preceded 
by a “broken-stone”’ industry. Dr. F. F, Outes 
denied the distinctiveness and great antiquity of these 
techniques, and Hrdli¢ka confirms him. Dr. W. H. 
Holmes supplies a valuable critical study of the stone 
implements collected by the expedition, which should 
be read. by European archzologists, as it contains 
information of general interest. 

The greater part of the book consists of a discussion 
by Dr. Hrdli¢ka of the human remains; his system 
is to note the history and earlier reports, then to 
give the result of his own examination, and to conclude 
with critical remarks. He first deals with the dolicho- 
cephalic skulls found in the caves at Lagoa Santa, 
Brazil, and states that there is no evidence that they 
belonged to a race which lived contemporaneously 
with the extinct species of animals found in the same 
caves. Similarly the Carcarafia, Rio Negro, Saladero, 
Fontezuelas, and other remains have no solid claims 
to geological antiquity. The Homo caputinclinatus 
and H. sinemento of Ameghino prove to be skulls of 
ordinary Indian type, with no title to antiquity; the 
same holds good for H. (Prothomo) pampaeus, despite 
Ameghino’s statement that it is the ‘earliest human 
representative—if not even a predecessor of man.” 
Concerning the fragmentary calvarium, Diprothomo 
platensis, of reputed Lower Pliocene origin, Hrdli¢ka 
supports Schwalbe’s statement that ‘“‘all the features 
dwelt upon *by Ameghino are referable to a wholly 
false orientation of the specimen.”’ Bailey Willis cannot 
give his support to the statement that the calvarium 
was really dug out of undisturbed ancient Pampean. 
Finally, the atlas and femur of Tetraprothomo 
argentinus, of supposed Upper Miocene age, have been 
subjected to a searching analysis by Hrdli¢ka, with 
the result that there is nothing to distinguish the 
former from the atlas of a modern Indian, and the 
femur is that of a carnivore, probably of an extinct 
form of one of the Felidw. Bailey Willis ‘‘does not 
so-called Monte Hermoso 
formation [in which the remains were found] definitely 


j established,” nor does he ‘attach any significance to 


wr 


OcTOBER 2, 1913] 


NATURE 


145 


the occurrence of burnt earth as an evidence of man’s 
existence in the Miocene (?) ‘Monte Hermosean.’” 
“The conclusions of the writers with regard to the 
evidence thus far furnished are that it fails to estab- 
lish the claim that in South America there have been 
brought forth thus far tangible traces of either geo- 
logically ancient man himself or of any precursors 
of the human race.” A. C. Happon. 


PAPERS ON INVERTEBRATES. 


2) Susie interest attaches to the description by 
Dr. A. Brinkmann, in the Bergens Museum 
Aarbok for 1912, part 3, of a new genus and species 
of deep-sea nemertine worm—Bathynectes murrayii— 
which differs from all previously known forms in the 
external position of the male genitalia. A single 
example was obtained so long ago as 1895, while 
sixteen others were collected by the Michael Sars in 
igo. The length of females ranges from 43 to 
61 mm., with a breadth of from 7:5 to 10 mm., but 
males are considerably smaller. Although the new 
organism, of which figures are given, represents an 
entirely new type, it forms in some degree a connect- 
ing link between Planktonemertes and Nectonemertes, 

In connection with the above may be noticed a paper 
by Dr. M. v. Gedroyé, in Bull. Ac, Sci. Cracovie for 
February, 1913, on certain new European leeches, 
referred to the genera Trocheta and Hzmentaria, 
special interest from a distributional point of view 
attaching to the second determination, owing to the 
fact that while the genus was originally described 
from South America, it is now known to occur in the 
United States, Canada, Lapland, and Poland. 

The death-feigning instinct (Katalepsie) among 
stick-insects (Phasmidz), as exemplified by-the species 
Cerausius morosus, forms the subject of a very interest- 
ing article by Mr. Peter Schmidt in Biol. Centralblatt 
of April 20. These insects, it appears, are extremely 
prone to assume the cataleptic phase, and may do so 
in almost any pose—sometimes lying flat on one side, 
with the limbs and antennz stretched out parallel with 
the body, sometimes with the legs straddled outwards 
and the head and thorax raised, and at other times 
standing on the head. As these insects are specially 
modified to imitate vegetation, it seems that the cata- 
leptic condition is another adaptation—of the muscular 
and nervous structures—to the same end. 

The beetles, spiders and scorpions, earwigs, and 
flies collected during the Abor Expedition of 1911-12 
form the subject of four articles by specialists in 
part 2 of vol viii. of Records of the Indian Museum, 
a number of new forms being described. In vol. iii., 
part 4, of Annals of the Transvaal Museum, Mr. L. B. 
Prout and Mr. E. A. Meyrick respectively describe 
new local Geometridz and Micro-Lepidoptera. 

We have received a copy of a concise “‘ Synopsis of 
the Classification of Insects,’ drawn up by Prof. Max- 
well Lefroy, and published by Messrs. Lumley, of 
Exhibition Road, at the price of one shilling. The 
arrangement of the orders is the one adopted by 
Messrs. Sharp and Shipley, and a brief, but apparently 
sufficient, definition is given of each order and family. 
The lack of an index is a decided drawback to the 
value of the work. 

To the May number of The Entomologist’s Monthly 
Magazine the Hon. Charles Rothschild contributes a 
note on the extremely rare bugs of the genus Caco- 
demus, which are parasitic on Old World bats. Three 
species are mentioned, one from South Africa, a 
second from India, and a third of which the home 
is at present unknown. Mr. Rothschild, it may be 
added, employs the name Clinocoride for the bugs, 
whereas Prof. Lefroy, in the synopsis just mentioned, 
uses Cimicid@. R 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


that 


THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT 
BIRMINGHAM. 
SECTION D. 
ZOOLOGY. 


OpENING AppreEss BY H. F. Gapow, F.R.S., Presi- 
DENT OF THE SECTION. 
‘“ADDRESS your audience about what you yourself 


‘| happen to be most interested in, speak from the 
; fullness of your heart, and make a clean breast of 


your troubles."” That seemed good advice, and I shall 
endeavour to follow it, taking for my text old and 
new aims and methods of morphology, with special 
reference to resemblances in function and structure on 
the part of organs and their owners in the animal 
kingdom. First, however, allow me to tell you what 
has brought me to such a well-worn theme. Amongst 
the many impressions which it has been my good 
luck to gather during my travels in that enchanting 
country Mexico are the two following :— 

First, the poisonous coral snakes, Elaps, in their 
beautiful black, red, and yellow garb; it varies in 
detail in the various species of Elaps, and this garb, 
with most of the variations too, occurs also in an 
astonishing number of genera and families of semi- 
poisonous and quite harmless Mexican snakes, some 
of which inhabit the same districts. _A somewhat 
exhaustive study of these beauties has shown incon- 
testably that these often astoundingly close resemblances 
are not cases of mimicry, but due to some other 
cooperations. 

Secondly, in the wilds of the State of Michoacan, at 
two places, about twenty and seventy miles from the 
Pacific coast, I myself collected specimens of Typhlops 
which Dr. Boulenger without hesitation has deter- 
mined as Typhlops braminus. Now, whilst this genus 
of wormlike, blind little snakes has a wide circum- 
tropical distribution, T. braminus had hitherto been 
known only from the islands and countries of the 
Indian Ocean basin, never from America, nor from 
any of the Pacific Islands which possess other kinds 
of Typhlops. Accidental introduction is out of the 
question. Although the genus is, to judge from its 
characters, an especially old one, we cannot possibly 
assume that the species braminus, if the little thing 
had made its way from Asia to Mexico by a natural 
mode of spreading, has remained unaltered even to 
the slightest detail since that geological epoch during 
which such a journey could have taken place. There 
remains the assumption that amongst the of course 
countless generations of Typhlops in Mexico some 
have hit off exactly the same kind of permutation and 
combination of those characters which we have hitherto 
considered as specific of braminus, just as a pack of 
cards may in a long series of deals be dealt out more 
than once in the same sequence. 

The two cases are impressive. They reminded me 
vividly that many examples of very discontinuous dis- 
tribution—which anyone who has worked at zoo- 
geography will call to mind—are exhibited by genera, 
families, and even orders, without our knowing 
whether the groups in which we class them are natural 
or artificial. The ultimate appeal lies with anatomy. 

Introduced to zoology when Haeckel and Gegen- 
baur were both at their zenith, I have been long 
enough a worker and teacher to feel elated by its 
progress and depressed by its shortcomings and 
failures. Perhaps we have gone too fast, carried 
along by methods which have yielded so much and 
therefore have made us expect too much from them. 

Gegenbaur founded the modern comparative 
anatomy by basing it upon the theory of descent. 
The leading idea in all his great works is to show 
transformation, ‘‘continuous adjustment” 


146 


(Spencer), has taken place; he stated the problem of 
comparative anatomy as the reduction of the differ- 
ences in the organisation of the various animals to 
a common condition; and as homologous organs he 
defined those which are of such a common, single 
origin, His first work in this new line is his classical 
treatise on the Carpus and Tarsus (1864). 

It followed from this point of view that the degree 
of resemblance in structure between homologous 
organs and the number of such kindred organs pre- 
sent is a measure for the affinity of their owners. 
So was ushered in the era of pedigree of organs, of 
functions, of the animals themselves. The tracing 
of the divergence of homogenous parts became all- 
important, whilst those organs or features which re- 
vealed themselves as of different origin, and therefore 
as analogous only, were discarded as misleading in 
the all-important search for pedigrees. Functional 
correspondence was dismissed as ‘‘ mere analogy,’’ and 
even the systematist has learnt to scorn these so-called 
physiological or adaptive characters as good enough 
only for artificial keys. A curious view of things, 
just as if it was not one and the same process which 
has produced and abolished both sets of characters, 
the so-called fundamental or ‘reliable,’ as well as 
the analogous. : 

As A. Willey has put it happily, there was more 
rejoicing over the discovery of the homology of some 
unimportant little organ than over the finding of the 
most appalling unrelated resemblance. Morphology 
had become somewhat intolerant in the application of 
its canons, especially since it was aided by the pheno- 
menal growth of embryology. You must not com- 
pare ectodermal with endodermal products. You must 
not make a likeness out of another germinal layer or 
anything that appertains to it, because if you do 
that would be a horror, a heresy, a homoplasy. 

Haeckel went so far as to distinguish between a 
true homology, or homophyly, which depends upon 
the same origin, and a false homology, which applies 
to all those organic resemblances which derive from 
an equivalent adaptation to similar developmental 
conditions. And he stated that the whole art of the 
morphologist consists in the successful distinction be- 
tween these two categories. If we were able to draw this 
distinction in every case, possibly some day the grand 
tree of each great phylum, maybe of the whole king- 
dom, might be reconstructed. That would indeed be 
a tree of knowledge, and, paradoxically enough, it 
would be the deathblow to classification, since in this, 
the one and only true natural system, every degree 
of consanguinity and relationship throughout all 
animated nature, past and present, would be accounted 
for; and to that system no classification would be 
applicable, since each horizon would require its own 
grouping. There could be definable neither classes, 
orders, families, nor species, since each of these con- 
ceptions would be boundless in an upward or down- 
ward direction, 

Never mind the ensuing chaos; we should at least 
have the pedigree of all our fellow-creatures, and of 
ourselves among them. Not absolute proof, but the 
nearest possible demonstration that transformation has 
taken place. Empirically we know this already, since, 
wherever sufficient material has been studied, be it 
organs, species, or larger groups, we find first that 
these units had ancestors, and, secondly, that the 


ancestors were at least a little different. Evolu- 
tion is a fact of experience, proved by cir- 
cumstantial evidence. Nevertheless we are not 
satisfied with the conviction that life is  sub- 


ject to an unceasing change, not even with the 
knowledge of the particular adjustments. We now 
want to understand the motive cause. First, What, 
then How, and now Why? 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


ee ee 


[OcTOBER 2, 1913 


| It is the active search for an answer to this ques- 
tion (Why?) which is characteristic of our time. More 
; and more the organisms and ‘their organs are con- 
sidered as living, functional things. The mainspring 
of our science, perhaps of all science, is not its utility, 
not the desire to do good, but, as an eminently 
matter-of-fact man, the father of Frederick the Great, 


asking for monetary help) in the following shockingly 
homely words: ‘‘Der Grund ist derer Leute ihre 
verfluchte Curieusiteit."". This blamed curiosity, the 
beginnings of which can be traced very far back in the 
lower animals, is most acutely centred in our desire 
to find out who we are, whence we have come, and 
whither we shall go. And even if zoology, consider- 
ing the first and last of these three questions as settled, 
should some day solve the problem: Whence have we 
come? there would remain outside zoology the greater 
Why ? 

Generalisations, conclusions, can be arrived at 
only through comparison. Comparison leads no fur- 
ther where the objects are alike. If, for instance, 
we restrict ourselves to the search for true homo- 
logies, dealing with homogenes only, all we find is 
that once upon a time some organism has produced, 
invented, a certain arrangement or Anlage out of 
which that organ arose, the various features of which 
we have compared in the descendants. Result: we 
have arrived at an accomplished fact. These things, 
in spite of all their variety in structure and function, 
being homogenes, tell us nothing, because according 
| to our mode of procedure we cannot compare that 
monophyletic Anlage with anything else, since we 
have reduced all the homogenous modifications to one. 
Logically it is true that there can have been only one, 
but in the living world of nature there are no such 
iron-bound categories and absolute distinctions. For 
instance, if we compare the organs of one and the 
same individual, we at once observe repetition, e.g. 
that of serial homology, which implies many difficul- 
ties, with very different interpretations. Even in such 
an apparently simple case as the relation between 
shoulder girdle and pelvis we are at a loss, since the 
decision depends upon our view as to the origin of 
the paired limbs, whether both are modified visceral 
arches, and in this case serially repeated homogenes, 
or whether they are the derivatives from one lateral 
fin, which is itself a serial compound, from which, 
however, the proximal elements, the girdles, are sup- 
posed to have arisen independently. What is meta- 
merism? Is it the outcome of a process of successive 
repetitions so ‘that the units are homogenes, or did 
the division take place at one time all along the line, 
or is it due to a combination of the two procedures ? 

The same vagueness finds its parallel when dealing 
with the corresponding organs of different animals, 
since these afford the absolute chance that organs of 
the same structure and function may not be reducible 
to one germ, but may be shown to have arisen inde- 
pendently in time as well as with reference to the 
space they occupy in their owners. As heterogenes 
they can be compared as to their causes. In the study 
of the evolution of homogenes the problem is to 
account for their divergencies, whilst the likeness, the 
agreements, so to speak their greatest common 
measure, is eo ipso taken to be due to inheritance. 
When, on the contrary, dealing with heterogenes, we 
are attracted by their resemblances, which since they 
cannot be due to inheritance must have a common 
cause outside themselves. Now, since a_ leading 
feature of the evolution of homogenes is divergence, 
whilst that of heterogenes implies convergence from 
different starting points, it, follows that the more 
distant are these respective starting points (either in 
time or in the material) the better is our chance of 


told his Royal Academicians (who, of course, were ° 


ES 


OcTOBER 2, 1913] 


NATURE 


147 


extracting the greatest common measure out of the 
unknown number of causes which combine in the 
production of even the apparently simplest organ. 

These resemblances are a very promising field, and 
the balance of importance will more and more incline 
towards the investigation of function, a study which, 
however, does not mean mere physiology with its 
" present-day aims in the now tacitly accepted sense, but 
that broad study of life and death which is to yield 
the answer to the question Why? 

Meantime, comparative anatomy will not be 
shelved; it will always retain the casting-vote as to 
the degree of affinity among resemblances, but 
emphatically its whole work is not to be restricted to 
this occupation. It will increasingly have to reckon 
with the functions, indeed never without them. The 
animal refuses to yield its secrets unless it be con- 
sidered as a living individual. It is true that Gegen- 
baur himself was most emphatic in asserting that an 
organ is the result of its function. Often he held up 
to scorn the embryographer’s method of muddling 
cause and effect, or he mercilessly showed that in the 
reconstruction of the evolution of an organ certain 
features cannot have been phases unless they imply 
physiological continuity. And yet how moderately is 
function dealt with in his monumental text-book and 
how little is there in others, even in text-books of 
zoology ! 

Habt alle die Theile in der Hand, 
Fehlt leider nur das geistige Band—Life ! 

We have become accustomed to the fact that like 
begets like with small differences, and from the 
accepted point of view of evolution versus creation 
we no longer wonder that descendants slowly change 
and diverge. But we are rightly impressed when unlike 
comes to produce like, since this phenomenon seems 
to indicate a tendency, a set purpose, a beau idéal, 
which line of thought or rather imperfect way of 
expression leads dangerously near to the crassest 
teleology. 

But, teleology apart, we can postulate a perfect 
agreement in function and structure between creatures 
which have no community of descent. The notion 
that such agreement must.be due to blood-relationship 
involved, among other difficulties, the dangerous con- 
clusion that the hypothetical ancestor of a given 
genuine group possessed in potentiality the Anlagen 
of all the characters exhibited by one or other of the 
component members of the said group. 

The same line of thought explained the majority of 
human abnormalities as atavistic, a procedure which 
would turn the revered ancestor of our species into 
a perfect museum of antiquities, stocked with tools 
for every possible emergency. 

The more elaborate certain resemblances are, the 
more they seem to bear the hall-mark of near affinity 
of their owners. When occurring in far-related groups 
they are taken at least as indications of the homology 
of the organs. There is, for instance, a remarkable 
resemblance between the bulla of the whale’s ear and 
that of the Pythonomorph Plioplatycarpus. If you 
homologise the mammalian tympanic with the 
quadrate the resemblance loses much of its perplexity, 
and certain Chelonians make it easier to understand 
-how the modifications may have been brought about. 
But, although we can arrange the Chelonian, Pythono- 
morph, and Cetacean conditions in a progressive line, 
this need not represent the pedigree of this bulla. Nor 
is it necessarily referable to the same Anlage. Lastly, 
if, as many anatomists believe, the reptilian quadrate 
appears in the mammals as the incus, then all homo- 
logy and homogeny of this bullae is excluded. In 
either case we stand before the problem of the forma- 
tion of a bulla as such. The significant point is’ this, 


that although we dismiss the bulla of whale and reptile ! 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


| as obvious homoplasy, such resemblances, if they occur 
in two orders of reptiles, we take as indicative of rela- 
tionship until positive evidence to the contrary is 
produced. That this is an unsound method is brought 
home to us by an ever-increasing number of cases 
which tend to throw suspicion on many of our recon- 
structions. Not a few zoologists look upon such cases 
as a nuisance and the underlying principle as a bug- 
bear. So far from that being the case, such study 
promises much beyond the pruning of our standard 
trees—by relieving them of what reveal themselves as 
grafts instead of genuine growth—namely, the revela- 
tion of one or other of the many agencies in ‘their 
growth and structure. 

Since there are all sorts and conditions of re- 
semblances, we require technical terms. Of these there 
is abundance, and it is with reluctance that I propose 
adding to them. I do so because unfortunately some 
terms are undefined, perhaps not definable; others 
have not ‘‘caught on,’’ or they suffer from that mis- 
chievous law of priority in nomenclature. 

The terms concerning morphological homologies 
date from Owen; Gegenbaur and Haeckel re- 
arranged them slightly. Lankester, in 1870, intro- 
duced the terms homogenous, meaning alike born, 
and homoplastic, or alike moulded. Mivart rightly 
found fault with the detailed definition and the sub- 
divisions of homoplasy, and very logically invented 
dozens of new terms, few of which, if any, have sur- 
vived. It is not necessary to survey the ensuing 
literature. For expressing the same phenomenon we 
have now the choice between homoplasy, homomorphy, 
isomorphy, heterophyletic convergence, parallelism, 
&c. After various papers by Osborn, who has gone 
very fully into these questions, and Willey’s ‘* Para- 
llelism,’”’ Abel, in his fascinating ‘‘Grundztige der 
Palzobiologie,’’ has striven to show by numerous 
examples that the resemblances or ‘‘adaptive forma- 
tions” are cases of parallelism if they depend upon 
the same function of homologous organs, and con- 
vergences if brought about by the same function of 
non-homologous organs. 

I suggest an elastic terminology for the various 
resemblances indicative of the degree of homology of 
the respective organs, the degree of affinity of their 
owners, and lastly the degree of the structural like- 
ness attained. 

Homogeny.—The structural feature is invented once 
and is transmitted, without a break, to the descen- 
dants, in which it remains unaltered, or it changes by 
mutation or divergence, neither of which changes can 
bring the ultimate results nearer to each other. Nor 
can their owners become more like each other, since 
the respective character made its first appearance 
either in one individual, or, more probably, in many 
of one and the same homogenous community. 

Homoplasy.—The feature or character is invented 
more than once, and independently. This phenomenon 
excludes absolute identity; it implies some unlikeness 
due to some difference in the material, and there is 
further the chance of the two or more inventions, and 
therefore also of their owners, becoming more like 
each other than they were before 


CaTEGORIES OF HOMOPLASY. 


Isotely.\—If the character, feature, or organ has 
been evolved out of homologous parts or material, as 
is most likely the case in closely related groups, and 
if the subsequent modifications proceed by similar 
stages and means, there is a fair probability or chance 
of very close resemblance. Jso-tely: the same mark 
has been hit. 

Homoeotely.—Although the feature has been evolved 


1 Cf “Isotely and Coralsnakes.” By H. Gadow, Zoolog. Jahrbiither, 
Abt. f. Syst., xxxi., rgrt. 


148 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 2, 1913 


from homologous parts or material, the respective 
modifications may proceed by different stages and 
means, and the ultimate resemblance will be less close 
.and deficient in detail. Such cases are most likely to 
happen between groups of less close affinity, whether 
separated by distance or by time. Homoeo-tely: the 
same end has been fairly well attained. The target 
has been hit, but not the mark. 

Parately.—The feature has been evolved from parts 
and material so different that there is scarcely any or 
no relationship. The resulting resemblance will at 
best be more or less superficial; sometimes a sham, 
although appealing to our fancy. Para-tely: the 
neighbouring target has been hit. 


EXAMPLEs. 


Isotely: Bill of the Ardeidz Balzeniceps (Africa) 
and Cancroma (tropical America). 
Zygodactyle foot of cuckoos, parrots, woodpeckers 


23) 
a 


Patterns and coloration of Elaps and other snakes. 

Parachute of Petaurus (marsupial); Pteromys 
(rodent) and Galeopithecus. 

Perissodactylism of Litopterna and Hippoids. 

Bulla auris of Plioplatecarpus (Pythonomorphe) and 
certain whales; if tympanic=quadrate 

Grasping instruments or nippers in Arthropods: 
pedipalps of Phryne; chelz of squill; first pair of 
mantis’ legs. 

General appearance of moles and Notoryctes, if both 
considered as mammals; of gulls and petrels, if con- 
sidered as birds. 

Homoeotely : Heterodactyle foot of Trogons (34). 

Jumping foot of Macropus, Dipus, Tarsius. 

Intertarsal and cruro-tarsal joint. 

Fusion and elongation of the three middle metarsals 
of Dipus and Rhea. 

Paddles of Ichthyosaurs. Turtles, whales, 

“Wings” of Pterosaurs and bats. 

Long flexible bill of Apteryx and snipes. 

Proteroglyph dentition of cobras and Solenoglyph 
dentition of vipers. c 

Loss of the shell of Limax and Aplysia. 

Complex molar pattern of horse and cow. 

Parately: Bivalve shell of Brachiopods and Lamelli- 
branchs. 

Stretcher-sesamoid bone of Pterodactyls (radial 
carpal); of flying squirrels (on pisiform); of Anoma- 
lurus (on olecranon). 

Bulla auris of Pythonomorph (quadrate) and Wale 
(tympanic); if incus=quadrate. 

“Wings” of Pterosaurs, or bats, and birds. 

The distinction between these three categories must 
be vague because that between homology and analogy 
is also arbitrary, depending upon the standpoint of 
comparison. As lateral outgrowths of vertebre all 
ribs are homogenes, but if there are at least hamal 
and pleural ribs, then those organs are not homo- 
logous even within the class of fishes. If we trace a 
common origin far enough back we arrive near bed- 
rock with the germinal layers. So there are specific, 
generic, ordinal, &c., homoplasies. The potentiality 
of resemblance increases with the kinship of the 
material. 1 

Bateson, in his study of Homeeosis, has rightly 
made the solemn quotation: ‘There is the flesh of 
fishes . . . birds . . . beasts, &c.” Their flesh will 
not and cannot react in exactly the same way under 
otherwise precisely the same conditions, since each 
kind of flesh-is already biased, encumbered by in- 
heritances. If a certain resemblance between a rep- 
tile and mammal dates from Permian times, it may 


NO.' 2292, VOL. 92] 


penguins. 


be homogenous, like the pentadactyle limb which as 
such has persisted; but if that resemblance has first 
appeared in the Cretaceous period it is Homoplastie, 
because it was brought about long after the class 
division. To cases within the same order we give 
the benefit of the doubt more readily than if the 
resemblance concerned members of two orders, and 
between the phyla we rightly seek no connection. 
However, so strongly is our mode of thinking in- 
fluenced by the principle of descent that, if the same 
feature happen to crop up in more than two orders, 
we are biased against Homoplasy. 

The readiness with which certain Homoplasies 
appear in related groups seems to be responsible for 
the confounding of the potentiality of convergent 
adaptation with a latent disposition, as if such cases 
of Homoplasy were a kind of temporarily deferred 
repetition, i.e. after all due to inheritance. This 
view instances certain recurring tooth patterns, which, 
developing in the embryonic teeth, are said not to be 
due to active adaptation or acquisition, but to selec- 
tion of accomplished variations, because it is held 
inconceivable that use, food, &c., should act upon a 
finished tooth. It is not so very difficult to approach 
the solution of this apparently contradictory problem. 
Teeth, like feathers, can be influenced long before 
they are ready by the life experiences of their pre- 
decessors. A very potent factor in the evolution of 
Homoplasies is correlation, which is sympathy, just 
as inheritance is reminiscence. The introduction of a 
single new feature may affect the whole organism 
profoundly, and one serious case of Isotely may arouse 
unsuspected correlations and thus bring ever so many 
more homoplasies in its wake. 

Function is always present in living matter; it is 
life. It is function which not only shapes, but creates 
the organ or suppresses it, being indeed at bottom a 
kind of reaction upon some stimulus, which stimuli 
are ultimately all fundamental, elementary forces, 
therefore few in number. That is a reason why 
nature seems to have but few resources for meeting 
given ‘‘ requirements ’’—to use an everyday expression 
which really puts the cart before the horse. This 
paucity of resources shows itself in the repetition of 
the same organs in the most different phyla. The 
eye has been invented dozens of times. Light, a 
part of the environment, has been the first stimulus. 
The principle remains the same in the various eyes; 
where light found a suitably reacting material a par- 
ticular evolution was set going, often round about, or 
topsy-turvy, implying amendments; still, the result 
was an eye. In advanced cases a scientifically con- 
structed dark chamber with lens, screen, shutters, 
and other adjustments. The detail may be unim- 
portant, since in the various eyes different contriv- 
ances are resorted to. 

Provided the material is suitable, plastic, amenable 
to prevailing environmental or constitutional forces, it 
makes no difference what part of an organism is 
utilised to supply the requirements of function. You 
cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, but 
you can make a purse, and that is the important 
point. The first and most obvious cause is function, 
which itself may arise as an incidental action due 
to the nature of the material. The oxydising of the 
blood is such a case, and respiratory organs have 
been made out of whatever parts invite osmotic con- 
tact of the blood with air or water. It does not matter 
whether respiration is carried on by ecto- or by endo- 
dermal epithelium. Thus are developed internal gills, 
or lungs, both of which may be considered as refer- 
able to pharyngeal pouches; but where the outer 
skin has become suitably osmotic, as in the naked 
Amphibia, it may evolve external gills. Nay, the 
whole surface of the body may become so osmotic that 


OcTOBER 2, 1913] 


NATURE 


149° 


both lungs and gills are suppressed, and the creature | of a jackal, and others again are traceable to some 
s g§ PP J g 


breathes in a most pseudo-primitive fashion. This 
arrangement, more or less advanced, occurs in 
many Urodeles, both American and European, belong- 
ing to several sub-families, but not in every species 
of the various genera. It is therefore a case of 
apparently recent Isotely. 

There is no prejudice in the making of a new 
organ except in so far that every organism is con- 
servative, clinging to what it or its ancestors have 
learnt or acquired, which it therefore seeks to re- 
capitulate. Thus in the vertebrata the customary 
place for respiratory organs is the pharyngeal region. 
Every organism, of course, has an enormous back 
history; it may have had to use every part in every 
conceivable way, and it may thereby have been trained 
to such an extent as to yield almost at once, like a 
bridle-wise horse to some new stimulus, and thus 
initiate an organ straight to the point. 

Considering that organs put to the same use are 
so very often the result of analogous adaptation, 
homoplasts with or without affinity of descent, are we 
not justified in accusing morphology of having made 
rather too much of the organs as units, as if they 
were concrete instead of inducted abstract notions? 
An organ which changes its function may become a 
unit so different as to require a new definition. And 
two originally different organs may come to resemble 
each other so much in function and structure that they 
acquire the same definition as one new unit. ‘To avoid 
this dilemma the morphologist has, of course, intro- 
duced the differential of descent, whether homologous 
or analogous, into his diagnoses of organs. 

The same principles must apply to the classification 
of the animals. To group the various representative 
owners of cases of isotely together under one name, 
simply because they have lost those characters which 
distinguished their ancestors, would be subversive of 
phyletic research. It is of the utmost significance that 
such ‘‘convergences”' (rather ‘‘mergers,’’ to use an 
administrative term) do take place, but that is another 
question. If it could be shown that elephants in a 
restricted sense have been evolved independently from 
two stems of family rank, the convergent terminals 
must not be named Elephantinz, nor can the repre- 
sentatives of successive stages or horizons of a mono- 
phyletic family be designated and lumped together 
as subfamilies. And yet something like this prac- 
tice has been adopted from Cope by experienced 
zoologists with a complete disregard of history, which 
is an inalienable and important element in our science. 

This procedure is no sounder than would be the 
sorting of our Cartwrights, Smiths, and Bakers of 
sorts into as many natural families. It would be 
subversive of classification, the aim of which is the 
sorting of a chaos into order. We must not upset the 
well-defined relative meaning of the classificatory terms 
which have become well established conceptions; but 
what such an assembly as the terminal elephants 
should be called is a new question, the urgency of 
which will soon become acute. It applies at least to 
assemblies of specific, generic, and family rank, for 
each of which grades a new term, implying the 
principle of convergence, will have to be invented. 
In some cases geographical terms may be an addi- 
tional criterion. Such terms will be not only most 
convenient, but they will at once act as a warning not 
to use the component species for certain purposes. 
There is, for instance, the case of Typhlops braminus, 
mentioned at the beginning of this address. Another 
case is the dog species, called Canis familiaris, about 
which it is now the opinion of the best authorities 
that the American dogs of sorts are the descendants 
of the coyote, while some Indian dogs are descendants 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


wolt. The ‘dog,’ a definable conception, has been 
invented many times, and in different countries and 
out of different material. It is an association of 
converged heterogeneous units. We have but a 
smile for those who class whales with fishes, or the 
blind-worm with the snakes; not to confound the 
amphibian Ceecilians with reptilian Amphisbzenas re- 
quires some training; but what are we to do with 
creatures who have lost or assimilated all those 
differential characters which we have got used to 
rely upon? 

In a homogeneous crowd of people we are attracted 
by their little differences, taking their really important 
agreements for granted; in a compound crowd we at 
once sort the people according to their really unim- 
portant resemblances. That is human nature. 

The terms ‘‘convergence’’ and “parallelism” are 
convenient if taken with a generous pinch of salt. 
Some authors hold that these terms are but imperfect 
similes, because two originally different organs can 
never converge into one identical point, still less can 
their owners whose acquired resemblance depresses 
the balance of all their other characters. For instance, 
no lizard can become a snake, in spite of ever so many 
additional snake-like acquisitions, each of which finds 
a parallel, an analogy in the snakes. Some zoologists 
therefore prefer contrasting only parallelism and 
divergence. A few examples may illustrate the justi- 
fication of the three terms. If out of ten very similar 
black-haired people only two become white by the 
usual process, whilst the others retain their colour, 
then these two diverge from the rest; but they do 
not, by the acquisition of the same new feature, 
become more alike each other than they were before. 
Only with reference to the rest do they seem to liken 
as they pass from black through grey to white, our 
mental process being biased by the more and more 
emphasised difference from the majority. 


To ANa bx Gx DH E 


9 

8 

7 

6 

5 

4 

3 

2 Ax Bx 

tae be Go DLE FE 


Supposing A and B both acquire the character x and 
this continues through the next ten generations, while 
in the descendants of C the same character is in- 
vented in the tenth generation, and whilst the 
descendants of D, E, F still remain unaltered. Then 
we should be strongly inclined, not only to ‘key 


together CX with A—~ and B x but tak» this case 
10 10 10 


for one of convergence, although it is really one of 
parallelism. If it did not sound so contradictory it 
might be called parallel divergence. The inventors 
diverge from the majority in the same direction : 
Isotely. : 

Third case.—Ten people, contemporaries, are alike 
but for the black or red hair. Black A turns white 
and red E turns white, not through exactly identical 
stages, since E will pass through a reddish-grey tinge. 
But the result is that A and E become actually more 
like each other than they were before. They con- 
verge, although they have gone in for exactly the 
same divergence with reference to the majority. 

In all three cases the variations begin by divergence 
from the majority, but we can well imagine that all 
the members of a homogeneous lot change ortho- 


150 


genetically (this term has been translated into the far 
less expressive ‘‘rectigrade”’) in one direction, and if 
there be no lagging behind, they all reach precisely 
the same end. This would be a case of transmuta- 
tion (true mutations in Waagen’s and Scott’s sense), 
producing new species without thereby increasing their 
number, whilst divergence always implies, at least 
potentially, increase of species, genera, families, &c. 

If for argument’s sake the mutations pass through 
the colours of the spectrum, and if each colour be 
deemed sufficient to designate a species, then, if all 
the tenth generations have changed from green to 
yellow and those of the twentieth generation from 
yellow to red, the final number of species would be 
the same. And even if some lagged behind, or re- 
mained stationary, these epistatic species (Eimer) are 
produced by a process which is not the same as that 
of divergence or variation in the usual sense. 

The two primary factors of evolution are environ- 
ment and heredity. Environment is absolutely insepar- 
able from any existing organism, which therefore must 
react (adaptation) and at least some of these results 
gain enough momentum to be carried into the next 
generation (heredity). 

The life of an organism, with all its experiments 
and doings, is its ontogeny, which may therefore be 
called the subject of evolution, but not a factor. 
Nor is selection a primary and necessary factor, since, 
being destructive, it invents nothing. It accounts, for 
instance, for the composition of the present fauna, but 
has not made its components. A subtle scholastic in- 
sinuation lurks in the plain statement that by ruthless 
elimination a black flock of pigeons can be produced, 
even that thereby the individuals have been made 
black. (But, of course, the breeder has thereby not 
invented the black pigment.) 

There can be no evolution, progress, without re- 
sponse to stimulus, be this environmental or constitu- 
tional, 7.e. depending upon the composition and the 
correlated working of the various parts within the 
organism. Natural selection has but to favour this 
plasticity, by cutting out the non-yielding material, 
and through inheritance the adaptive material will 
be brought to such a state of plasticity that it is 
ready to yield to the spur of the moment, and the 
foundation of the same new organs will thereby be 
laid, whenever the same necessity calls for them. 
Here is a dilemma. On one hand, the organism 
benefits from the ancestral experience; on the other, 
there applies to it de Rosa’s law of the reduction of 
variability, which narrows the chances of change into 
fewer directions. But in these few the changes will 
proceed all the quicker and farther. Thus progress 
is assured, even hypertely, which may be rendered 
by “‘over-doing a good thing.” 

Progress really proceeds by mutations, spoken of 
before, orthogenesis, and it would take place without 
selection and without necessarily benefiting the 
organism. It would be mere presumption that the 
seven-gilled shark is worse off than its six- or five- 
gilled relations; or to imagine that the newt with 
double trunk-veins suffers from this arrangement, 
which morphologically is undoubtedly inferior to the 
unpaired, azygous, &c., modifications. The fact that 
newts exist is proof that they are efficient in their 
way. Such orthogenetic changes are as predictable 
in their results as the river which tends to shorten its 
course to the direct line from its head waters to the 
sea. That is the rivers Entelechy and no. more due 
to purpose or design than is the series of improve- 
ments from the many gill-bearing partitions of a shark 
to the fewer, and more highly finished comb-shaped 
gills of a Teleostean fish. 

The success of adaptation, as measured by the 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 2, 1913 


morphological grade of perfection reached by an 
organ, seems to depend upon the phyletic age of the 
animal when it was first subjected to these “* tempta- 
tions.’’ The younger the group, the higher is likely 
to be the perfection of an organic system, organ, 
or detail. This is not a platitude. Vhe perfection 
attained does not depend merely upon the length of 
time available for the evolution of an organ. A recent 
Teleostean has had an infinitely longer time as a 
fish than a reptile, and this had a longer time than a 
mammal, and yet the same problem is solved in a 


neater, we might say in a more scientifically correct, 


way by a mammal than by a reptile, and the reptile 
in turn shows an advance in every detail in comparison 
with an amphibian, and so forth. 

A few examples will suffice :— 

The claws of reptiles and those of mammals; there 
are none in the amphibians, although some seem to 
want them badly, like the African frog Gampsos- 
teonyx, but its cat-like claws, instead of being horny 
sheaths, are made out of the sharpened phalangeal 
bones which perforate the skin. 

The simple contrivance of the rhinocerotic horn, 
introduced in Oligocene times, compared with the 
antlers of Miocene Cervicornia and these with the 
response made by the latest of Ruminants, the hollow- 
horned antelopes and cattle. The heel-joint; unless 
still generalised, it tends to become. intertarsal (at- 
tempted in some lizards, pronounced in some dino- 
saurs and in the birds) by fusion of the bones of the 
tarsus with those above and below, so that the tarsals 
act like epiphysial pads. Only in mammals epiphyses 
are universal. Tibia and fibula having their own, the 
pronounced joint is cruro-tarsal, and all the tarsals 
could be used for a very compact, yet non-rigid 
arrangement. The advantage of a cap, not merely 
the introduction of a separate pad, is well recognised 
in engineering. 

Why is it that mammalian material can produce 
what is denied to the lower classes? In other words, 
why are there still lower and middle classes? Why 
have they not all by this time reached the same grade 
of perfection? Why not indeed, unless because every 
new group is less hampered by tradition, much of 
which must be discarded with the new departure; and 
some of its energy is set free to follow up this new 
course, straight, with ever-growing results, until in 
its turn this becomes an old rut out of which a new 
iolt leads once more into fresh fields. 


SECTION E. 
GEOGRAPHY. 


Openinc Appress BY Pror. H. N. Dickson, 
PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. 


Since the last meeting of this Section the tragic 
fate of Captain Scott’s party, after its successful 
journey to the South Pole, has become known; and 
our hopes of welcoming a_ great leader, after great 
achievement, have been disappointed. There is no 
need to repeat here the narrative of events, or to 
dwell upon the lessons afforded by the skill, and re- 
source, and heroic persistence, which endured to the 
end. All these have been, or will be, placed upon 
permanent record. But it is right that we should add 
our word of appreciation, and proffer our sympathy 
to those who have suffered loss. It is for us also to. 
take note that this last of the great Antarctic expedi- 
tions has not merely reached the Pole, as another has 
done, but has added, to an extent that few successful 
exploratory undertakings have ever been able to do, 
to the sum of scientific geographical knowledge. As 
the materials secured are worked out it will, I believe, 


: 
‘ 
1 
: 


OcTOBER 2, 1913] 


NATURE 


151 


_ become more and more apparent that few of the physical 

and biological sciences have not received contribu- 
tions, and important contributions, of new facts; and 
also that problems concerning the distribution of the 
different groups of phenomena and their action and 
reaction upon one another—the problems which are 
specially within the domain of the geographer—have 
not merely been extended in their scope but have 
been helped to their solution. 

The reaching of the two poles of the earth brings 
to a close a long and brilliant chapter in the story 
of geographical exploration. There is still before us 
a vista of arduous research in geography, bewildering 
almost in its extent, in such a degree indeed that 
“the scope of geography”’ is in itself a subject of 
perennial interest. But the days of great pioneer 
discoveries in topography are definitely drawn to their 
close. We know the size and shape of the earth, at 
least to a first approximation, and as the map fills 
up we know that there can be no new continents and 
no new oceans to discover, although all are still, in a 
sense, to conquer. Looking back, we find that the 
qualities of human enterprise and endurance have 
shown no change; we need no list of names to prove 
that they were alike in the days of the earliest ex- 
plorations, of the discovery of the New World or of 
the sea route to India, of the “Principall Naviga- 
tions,’ or of this final attainment of the Poles. The 
love of adventure and the gifts of courage and endur- 
ance have remained the same: the order of discovery 
has been determined rather by the play of imagina- 
tion upon accumulated knowledge, suggesting new 
methods and developing appropriate inventions. Men 
have dared to do risky things with inadequate ap- 
pliances, and in doing so have shown how the 
appliances may be improved and how new enter- 
prises may become possible as well as old ones easier 
and safer. As we come to the end of these “ great 
explorations,” and are restricted more and more to 
investigations of a less striking sort, it is well to 
remember that in geography, as in all other sciences, 
research continues to make as great demands as 
ever upon those same qualities, and that the same 
recognition is due to those who continue in patient 
labour. 

When we look into the future of geographical 
study, it appears that for some time to come we shall 
still be largely dependent upon work similar to that 
of the pioneer type to which I have referred, the work 
of perfecting the geographer’s principal weapon, the 
map. There are many parts of the world about which 
we can say little except that we know they exist; 
even the topographical map, or, the material for 
making it, is wanting; and of only a few regions 
are there really adequate distributional maps of any 
kind. These matters have been brought before this 
Section and discussed very fully in recent years, so I 
need say no more about them, except perhaps to 
express the hope and belief that the production of 
topographical maps of difficult regions may soon be 
greatly facilitated and accelerated with the help of 
the new art of flying. 

I wish to-day rather to ask your attention for a 
short time to a phase of pioneer exploration which 
has excited an increasing amount of interest in recent 
years. Civilised man is, or ought to be, beginning 
to realise that in reducing more and more of the 
available surface of the earth to what he considers a 
habitable condition he is making so much progress, 
and making it so rapidly, that the problem of finding 
suitable accommodation for his increasing numbers 
must become urgent in a few generations. We are 
getting into the position of the merchant whose trade 


premises will shortly be too small for him. In our 
case removal to more commodious premises elsewhere 
seems impossible—we are not likely to find a means 
of migrating to another planet—so we are driven to 
consider means of rebuilding on the old site, and so 
making the best of what we have, that our business 
may not suffer. 

In the type of civilisation with which we are most 
familiar there are two fundamental elements-—sup- 
plies of food energy, and supplies of mechanical 
energy. Since at present, partly because of geo- 
graphical conditions, these do not necessarily (or even 
in general) occur together, there is a third essential 
factor, the line of transport. It may be of interest to 
glance, in the cursory manner which is possible upon 
such occasions, at some geographical points concern- 
ing each of these factors, and to hazard some specula- 
tions as to the probable course of events in the 
future. 

In his presidential address to the British Associa- 
tion at its meeting at Bristol in 1898, Sir William 
Crookes gave some valuable estimates of the world’s 
supply of wheat, which, as he pointed out, is “the 
most sustaining food-grain of the great Caucasian 
race.” Founding upon these estimates, he made a 
forecast of the relations between the probable rates of 
increase of supply and demand, and concluded that 
“Should all the wheat-growing countries add to their 
(producing) area to the utmost capacity, on the most 
careful calculation the yield would give us only an 
addition of some 100,000,000 acres, supplying, at the 
average world-yield of 12°7 bushels to the acre, 
1,270,000,000 bushels, just enough to supply the 
increase of population among bread-eaters till the year 
1931." The president then added, “Thirty years is 
but a day in the life of a nation. Those present 
who may attend the meeting of the British Associa- 
tion thirty years hence will judge how far my fore- 
casts are justified.” 

Half the allotted span has now elapsed, and it may 
be useful to inquire how things are going. For- 
tunately this can be easily done, up to a certain point 
at any rate, by reference to a paper published recently 
by Dr. J. F. Unstead (Geographical Journal, August, 
1913), in which comparisons are given for the decades 
1881-90, 1891-1900, and 1901-10. Dr. Unstead shows 
that the total wheat harvest for the world may be 
estimated at 2258 million bushels for the first of these 
periods, 2575 million for the second, and 3233 million 
for the third, increases of 14 per cent. and 25 per 
cent. respectively. He points out that the increases 
were due “mainly to an increased acreage,” the areas 
being 192, 211, and 242 million acres, but also “to 
some extent (about 8 per cent.) to an increased aver- 
age yield per acre, for while in the first two periods 
this was 12 bushels, in the third period it rose to 
13 bushels per acre.” 

If we take the period 1891-1900, as nearly corre- 
sponding to Sir William Crookes’s initial date, we 
find that the succeeding period shows an increase of 
658 million bushels, or about half the estimated 
increase required by 1931, and that attained chiefly by 
“increased acreage.”’ 

But signs are not wanting that increase in this 
way will not go on indefinitely. We note (also from 
Dr. Unstead’s paper) that in the two later periods 
the percentage of total wheat produced which was 
exported from the United States fell from 32 to 109, 
the yield per acre showing an increase meanwhile to 
14 bushels. In the Russian Empire the percentage 
fell from 26 to 23, and only in the youngest of the 
new countries—Canada, Australia, the Argentine—do 
we find large proportional increases. Again, it is 


is constantly expanding and who foresees that his | significant that in the United Kingdom, which is, 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


152 


NATURE 


and always has been, the most sensitive of all wheat- 
producing countries to variations in the floating 
supply, the rate of falling-off of home production 
shows marked if irregular diminution. 

Looking at it in another way, we find (still from 
Dr. Unstead’s figures) that the total amount sent 
out by the great exporting countries averaged, in 1881- 
90, 295 million bushels, 1891-1900, 402 millions, 1901-10, 
532 millions. These quantities represent respectively 
130, 15°6, and 16'r per cent. of the total production, 
and it would appear that the percentage available for 
export from these regions is, for the time at least, 
approaching its limit, i.e. that only about one-sixth 
of the wheat produced is available from surpluses in 
the regions of production for making good deficiencies 
elsewhere. 

There is, on the other hand, abundant evidence 
that improved agriculture is beginning to raise the 
yield per acre over a large part of the producing area. 
Between the periods 1881-go and 1901-10 the average 
in the United States rose from 12 to 14 bushels; in 
Russia from 8 to 10; in Australia from 8 to 10. It 
is likely that, in these last two cases at least, a part 
of the increase is due merely to more active occupa- 
tion of fresh lands as well as to use of more suitable 
varieties of seed, and the effect of improvements in 
methods of cultivation alone is more apparent in the 
older countries. During the same period the average 
yield increased in the United Kingdom from 28 to 
32 bushels, in France from 17 to 20, Holland 27 to 33, 
Belgium 30 to 35, and it is most marked in the 
German Empire, for which the figures are 19 and 29. 

In another important paper (Geographical Journal, 
April and May, 1912) Dr. Unstead has shown that 
the production of wheat in North America may still, 
in all likelihood, be very largely increased by merely 
increasing the area under cultivation, and the reason- 
ing by which he justifies this conclusion certainly holds 
good over large districts elsewhere. It is of course 
impossible, in the present crude state of our know- 
ledge of our own planet, to form any accurate esti- 
mate of the area which may, by the use of suitable 
seeds or otherwise, become available for extensive 
cultivation. But I think it is clear that the available 
proportion of the total supply from ‘‘ extensive” 
sources has reached, or almost reached, its maximum, 
and that we must depend more and more upon inten- 
sive farming, with its greater demands fer labour. 

The average total area under wheat is ex ‘mated by 
Dr. Unstead as 192 million acres for 1881-90, 211 
million acres for 1891-1900, and 242 million acres 
for 1901-10. Making the guess, for we can make 
nothing better, that this area may be increased to 
300 million acres, and that under ordinary agriculture 
the average yield may eventually be increased to 
20 bushels over the whole, we get an average harvest 
of 6000 million bushels of wheat. The average wheat- 
eater consumes, according to Sir William Croolkxes’s 
figures, about four and a half bushels per annum; 
but the amount tends to increase. It is as much 
(according to Dr. Unstead) as six bushels in the 
United Kingdom and eight bushels in France. Let us 
take the British figure, and it appears that on a 
liberal estimate the earth may in the end be able to 
feed permanently tooo million wheat-eaters. If pro- 
phecies based on population statistics are trustworthy, 
the crisis will be upon us before the end of this 
century. After that we must either depend upon some 


substitute to reduce the consumption per head of the | 


staple foodstuff, or we must take to intensive farm- 
ing of the most strenuous sort, absorbing enormous 
quantities of labour and introducing, sooner or later, 
serious difficulties connected with plant-food. We 
leave the possibility of diminishing the rate of increase 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


[OcToBER 2, 1913 


in the number of bread-eaters out of account for the 
moment. 

We gather, then, that the estimates formed in 1898 
are in the main correct, and the wheat problem must 
become one of urgency at no distant date, although 
actual shortage of food is a long way off. What is 
of more immediate significance to the geographer is 
the element of change, of return to earlier conditions, 
which is emerging even at the present time. If we 
admit, as I think we must do, that the days of 
increase of extensive farming on new land are draw- 
ing to a close, then we admit that the assignment of 
special areas for the production of the food-supply of 
other distant areas is also coming to its end. The 
opening up of such areas, in which a_ sparse 
population produces food in quantities largely in 
excess of its own needs, has been the characteristic 
of our time, but it must give place to a more uniform 
distribution of things, tending always to the condi- 
tion of a moderately dense population, more uniformly 
distributed over large areas, capable of providing the 
increased labour necessary for the higher type of 
cultivation, and self-supporting in respect of grain- 
food at least. We observe in passing that the colonial 
system of our time only became possible on the large 
scale with the invention of the steam-locomotive, and 
that the introduction of railway systems in the appro- 
priate regions, and the first tapping of nearly all such 
regions on the globe, has taken less than a century. 

Concentration in special areas of settlement, for- 
merly chiefly effected for military reasons, has in 
modern times been determined more and more by the 
distribution of supplies of energy. The position of 
the manufacturing district is primarily determined by 
the supply of coal. Other forms of energy are, no 
doubt, available, but, as Sir William Ramsay showed 
in his presidential address at the Portsmouth meeting 
in 1911, we must in all probability look to coal as 
being the chief permanent source. 

In the early days of manufacturing industries the 
main difficulties arose from defective land transport. 
The first growth of the industrial system, therefore, 
took place where sea transport was relatively easy; 
raw material produced in a region near a coast was 
carried to a coalfield also near a coast, just as in 
times when military power was chiefly a matter of 
“natural defences,”’ the centre of power and the food- 
producing colony had to be mutually accessible. Hence 
the Atlantic took the place of the Mediterranean, 
Great Britain eventually succeeded Rome, and eastern 
North America became the counterpart of northern 
Africa. It is to this, perhaps more than to anything 
else, that we owe our tremendous start amongst the 
industrial nations, and we observe that we used it to 
provide less favoured nations with the means of 
improving their system of land transport, as well as 
actually to manufacture imported raw material and 
redistribute the products. 

But there is, of course, this difference between the 
supply of foodstuff (or even military power) and 
mechanical energy, that in the case of coal at least 
it is necessary to live entirely upon capital; the storing 
up of energy in new coalfields goes on so slowly in 
comparison with our rate of expenditure that it may 
be altogether neglected. Now in this country we 
began to use coal on a large scale a little more than 
a century ago. Our present yearly consumption is of 
the order of 300 millions of tons, and it is computed 
(General Report of the Royal Commission on Coal 
Supplies, 1906) that at the present rate of increase 
“the whole of our available supply will be exhausted 
in 170 years."" With regard to the rest of the world 
we cannot, from lack. of data, male even the broad 
assumptions that were possible in the case of wheat 


— 


OcrosER 2, 1913] 


NATURE 


153 


supply, and for that and other reasons it is therefore 
impossible even to guess at the time which must 
elapse before a universal dearth of coal becomes im- 
minent; it is perhaps sufficient to observe that to the 
best of our knowledge and belief one of the world’s 
largest groups of coalfields (our own) is not likely 
to last three centuries in all. 

Here again the present interest lies rather in the 
phases of change which are actually with us. During 
the first stages of the manufacturing period energy 
in any form was exceedingly difficult to transport, and 
this led to intense concentration. Coal was taken 
from the most accessible coalfield and used, as far as 
possible, on the spot. It was chiefly converted into 
mechanical energy by means of the steam-engine, an 
extremely wasteful apparatus in small units, and 
hence still further concentration; thus the steam- 
engine is responsible in part for the factory system 
in its worst aspect. The less accessible coalfields were 
neglected. Also, the only other really available source 
of energy—water-power—remained unused, because 
the difficulties in the way of utilising movements of 
large quantities of water through small vertical dis- 
tances (as in tidal movements) are enormous; the only 
easily applied source occurs where comparatively small 
quantities of water fall through considerable vertical 
distances, as in the case of waterfalls. But, arising 
from the geographical conditions, waterfalls (with rare 
exceptions such as Niagara) occur in the “ torrential” 
part of the typical river-course, perhaps far from the 
sea, almost certainly in a region too broken in surface 
to allow of easy communication or even of industrial 
settlement of any kind. 

However accessible a coalfield may be to begin 
with, it sooner or later becomes inaccessible in another 
way, as the coal near the surface is exhausted and the 
workings get deeper. No doubt the evil day is post- 
poned for a time by improvements in methods of 
mining—a sort of intensive cultivation—but as we can 
put nothing back the end must be the same, and 
successful competition with more remote but more 
superficial deposits becomes impossible. And every 
improvement in land transport favours the geo- 
graphically less accessible coalfield. 

From this point of view it is impossible to over- 
estimate the importance of what is to all intents and 
purposes a new departure of the same order of 
magnitude as the discovery of the art of smelting iron 
with coal, or the invention of the steam-engine, or of 
the steam-locomotive. I mean the conversion of 
energy into electricity, and its transmission in that 
form (at small cost and with small loss) through 
great distances. First we have the immediately in- 
creased availability of the great sources of cheap 
power in waterfalls. The energy may be transmitted 
through comparatively small distances and converted 
into heat in the electric furnace, making it possible 
to smelt economically the most refractory ores, as 
those of aluminium, and converting such unlikely 
places as the coast of Norway or the West High- 
lands of Scotland into manufacturing districts. Or it 
may be transmitted through greater distances to 
regions producing quantities of raw materials, dis- 
tributed there widespread to manufacturing centres, 
and reconverted into mechanical energy. The Plain 
of Lombardy produces raw materials in abundance, 
but Italy has no coal supply. The waterfalls of the 
Alps yield much energy, and this transmitted in the 
form of electricity, in some cases for great distances, 
is converting northern Italy into one of the world’s 
great industrial regions. Chisholm gives an estimate 
of a possible supply of power amounting to 3,000,000 
horse-power, and says that of this about one-tenth was 
already being utilised in the year 1900. 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92| 


But assuming again, with Sir William Ramsay, 
that coal must continue to be the chief source of energy, 
it is clear that the question of accessibility now wears 
an entirely different aspect. It is not altogether 
beyond reason to imagine that the necessity for 
mining, as such, might entirely disappear, the coal 
being burnt in situ and energy converted directly into 
electricity. In this way some coalfields might con- 
ceivably be exhausted to their last pound without 
serious increase in the cost of getting. But for the 
present it is enough to note that, however inaccessible 
any coalfield may be from supplies of raw material, it 
is only necessary to establish generating stations at 
the pit’s mouth and transport the energy to where it 
can be used. One may imagine, for example, vast 
manufactures carried on in what are now the im- 
mense agricultural regions of China, worked by 
power supplied from the great coal deposits of 
Shan-si. 

There is, however, another peculiarity of electrical 
power which will exercise increasing influence upon 
the geographical distribution of industries. The small 
electric motor is a much more efficient apparatus than 
the small steam-engine. We are, accordingly, already 
becoming familiar with the great factory in which, 
instead of all tools being huddled together to save 
loss through shafting and belting, and all kept run- 
ning all the time, whether busy or not (because the 
main engine must be run), each tool stands by itself 
and is worked by its own motor, and that only when 
it is wanted. Another of the causes of concentration 
of manufacturing industry is therefore reduced in 
importance. We may expect to see the effects of this 
becoming more and more marked as time goes on, 
and other forces working towards uniform distribu- 
tion make themselves more felt. 

The points to be emphasised so far, then, are, first, 
that the time when the available areas whence food 
supply as represented by wheat is derived are likely 
to be taxed to their full capacity within a period of 
about the same length as that during which the 
modern colonial system has been developing in the 
past; secondly, that cheap supplies of energy may 
continue for a longer time, although eventually they 
must greatly diminish; and, thirdly, there must begin 
in the near future a great equalisation in the distribu- 
tion of population. This equalisation must arise from 
a number of causes. More intensive cultivation will 
increase the amount of labour required in agriculture, 
and there will be less difference in the cost of pro- 
duction and yield due to differences of soil and 
climate. Manufacturing industries will be more 
uniformly distributed, because energy, obtained from 
a larger number of sources in the less accessible 
places, will be distributed over an increased number 
of centres. The distinction between agricultural and 
industrial regions will tend to become less and less 
clearly marked, and will eventually almost disappear 
in many parts of the world. ; 

The effect of this upon the third element is of first- 
rate importance. It is clear that as the process of 
equalisation goes on the relative amount of long- 
distance transport will diminish, for each district will 
tend more and more to produce its own supply of 
staple food and carry on its own principal manufac- 
tures. This result will naturally be most marked in 
what we may call the ‘‘east-and-west”’ transport, for 
as climatic controls primarily follow the parallels of 
latitude, the great quantitative trade, the flow of food- 
stuffs and manufactured articles to and fro between 
peoples of like habits and modes of life, runs primarily 
east and west. Thus the transcontinental functions 
of the great North American and Eurasian railways, 
the east-and-west systems of the inland waterways of 


154 


NATURE 


LOLTOBER 2, 1913 


the two continents, and the connecting links furnished 
by the great ocean ferries, must become of relatively 
less importance. 

The various stages may be represented, perhaps, 
in some such manner as this. If I is the cost of pro- 
ducing a thing locally at a place A by intensive cul- 
tivation or what corresponds to it, if E is the cost of 
producing the same thing at a distant place B, and 
T the cost of transporting it to A, then at A we may 
at some point of time have a more or less close 
approximation to 

1=E+T. 


We have seen that in this country, for example, 
I has been greater than E+T for wheat ever since, 
say, the introduction of railways in North America, 
that the excess tends steadily to diminish, and that 
however much it may be possible to reduce T either 
by devising cheaper modes of transport or by shorten- 
ing the distance through which wheat is transported, 
E+T must become greater than I, and it will pay us 
to grow all or most of our own wheat. Conversely, 
in the ’seventies of last century 1 was greater than 
E+T in North America and Germany for such things 
as steel rails and rolling-stock, which we in this 
country were cultivating ‘‘extensively’’ at the time 
on more accessible coalfields, with more skilled labour 
and better organisation than could be found else: 
where. In many cases the positions are now, as we 
know, reversed, but geographically | must win all 
round in the long run. 

In the case of transport between points in different 
latitudes the conditions are, of course, altogether dis- 
similar, for in this case commodities consist of food- 
stuffs, or raw materials, or manufactured articles, 
which may be termed luxuries, in the sense that their 
use is scarcely known until cheap transport makes 
them easily accessible, when they rapidly become 
“necessaries of life.’ Of these the most familiar 
examples are tea, coffee, cocoa and bananas, india- 
rubber and manufactured cotton goods. There is 
here, of course, always the possibility that wheat as 
a staple might be replaced by a foodstuff produced in 
the tropics, and it would be extremely interesting to 
study the geographical consequences of such an event 
as one-half of the surface of the earth suddenly 
coming to help in feeding the two quarters on either 
side; but for many reasons, which I need not go into 
here, such a consummation is exceedingly unlikely. 
What seems more probable is that the trade between 
different latitudes will continue to be characterised 
specially by its variety, the variety doubtless increas- 
ing, and the quantity increasing in still larger 
measure. The chief modification in the future may 
perhaps be looked for in the occasional transference 
of manufactures of raw materials produced in the 
tropics to places within the tropics, especially when 
the manufactured article is itself largely consumed 
near regions of production. The necessary con- 
dition here is a region, such as (e.g.) the mon- 
soon region, in which there is sufficient variation in 
the seasons to make the native population laborious; 
for then, and apparently only then, is it possible to 
secure sufficient industry and skill by training, and 
therefore to be able to yield to the ever-growing 
pressure in more temperate latitudes due to increased 
cost of labour. The best examples of this to-day are 
probably the familiar ones of cotton and jute manu- 
facture in India. With certain limitations, manu- 
facturing trade of this kind is, however, likely to 
continue between temperate and _ strictly tropical 
regions, where the climate is so uniform throughout 
the year that the native has no incentive to work. 
There the collection of the raw material is as much 
as, or even more than can be looked for—as in the 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


case of mahogany or wild rubber. Where raw 
material has to be cultivated—as cotton, cultivated 
rubber, &c.—the raw material has to be produced in 
regions more of the monsoon ytype, but it will prob- 


ably—perhaps as much for economic as geographical — 


reasons—be manufactured at some centre in the tem- 
perate zones, and the finished product transported 
thence, when necessary, to the point of consumption 
in the tropics. 

We are here, however, specially liable to grave 
disturbances of distribution arising from invention of 
new machinery or new chemical methods; one need 
only mention the production of sugar or indigo. 


Another aspect of this which is not without import- 


ance may perhaps be referred to here, although it 
means the transference of certain industries to more 
accessible regions merely, rather than a definite change 
of such an element as latitude. I have in mind the 
sudden conversion of an industry in which much 
labour is expended on a small amount of raw material 
into one where much raw material is consumed, and 
by the application of power-driven machinery the 
labour required is greatly diminished. One remembers 
when a fifty-shilling Swiss watch, although then still 
by tradition regarded as sufficiently valuable to de- 
serve enclosure in a case constructed of a precious 
metal, was considered a marvel of cheapness. Ameri- 
can machine-made watches, produced by the ton, are 
now encased in the baser metals and sold at some 
five shillings each, and the watch-making industry has 
ceased to be specially suited to mountainous districts. 

In considering the differences which seem likely to 
arise in what we may call the regional pressures of 
one kind and another, pressures which are relieved or 
adjusted by and along certain lines of transport, I 
have made a primary distinction between ‘ east-and- 
west’’ and “north-and-south"’ types, because both in 
matters of food supply and in the modes of life which 
control the nature of the demand for manufactured 
articles climate is eventually the dominant factor; 
and, as I have said, climate varies primarily with 
latitude. This is true specially of atmospheric tem- 
perature; but temperature varies also with alti- 
tude, or height above the level of the sea. To a 
less extent rainfall, the other great element of climate, 


varies with latitude, but the variation is much more _ 


irregular. More important in this case is the influence 
of the distribution of land and sea, and more especially 
the configuration of the land surface, the tendency 
here being sometimes to strengthen the latitude effect 
where a continuous ridge is interposed, as in Asia, 
practically cutting off ‘‘north-and-south”’ communica- 
tion altogether along a certain line, emphasising the 
parallel-strip arrangement running east and west to 
the north of the line, and inducing the quite special 
conditions of the monsoon region to the south of it. 
We may contrast this with the effect of a “‘north-and- 
south’? structure, which (in temperate latitudes 
especially) tends to swing what we may call the 
regional lines round till they cross the parallels of 
latitude obliquely. This is typically illustrated in 
North America, where the angle is locally sometimes 
nearly a right angle. It follows, therefore, that the 
contrast of ‘‘east-and-west’’ and “ north-and-south"’ 
lines, which I have here used for purposes of illus- 
tration, is necessarily extremely crude, and one of the 
most pressing duties of geographers at the present 
moment is to elaborate a more satisfactory method of 


classification. I am very glad that we are to have a 
discussion on ‘Natural Regions” at one of our 
sederunts. Perhaps I may be permitted to express 


the hope that we shall concern ourselves with the types 
of region we want, their structure or ‘“‘ grain,” and 
their relative positions, rather than with the precise 
delimitation of their boundaries, to which I think we 


a 


OcTOBER 2, 1913] 


NATURE 


B55 


have sometimes been inclined, for educational pur- 
poses, to give a little too much attention. 

Before leaving this I should like to add, speaking 
still in terms of “‘east-and-west” and ‘ north-and- 
south,” one word more about the essential east-and- 
west structure of the Old World. I have already 
referred to the great central axis of Asia. This axis is 
prolonged westward through Europe, but it is cut 
through and broken to such an extent that we may 
include the Mediterranean region with the area lying 
further north, to which indeed it geographically 
belongs in any discussion of this sort. But the Medi- 
terranean region is bounded on the other side by the 
Sahara, and none of our modern inventions facilitating 
transport has made any impression upon the dry 
desert; nor does it seem likely that such a desert 
will ever become a less formidable barrier than a great 
mountain mass or range. We may conclude, then, 
that in so far as the Old World is concerned, the 
*north-and-south”” transport can never be carried on 
as freely as it may in the New, but only’ through 
certain weak points, or “round the ends,” i.e. by sea. 
It may be further pointed out that the land areas in 
the southern hemisphere are so narrow that they 
will scarcely enter into the ‘“‘east-and-west’”’ category 
at all—the transcontinental railway as understood in 
the northern hemisphere cannot exist; it is scarcely 
a pioneer system, but rather comes into existence as 
a later by-product of local east-and-west lines, as in 
Africa. 

These geographical facts must exercise a profound 
influence upon the future of the British Isles. Trade 
south of the great dividing line must always be to a 
large extent of the ‘‘north-and-south”’ type, and the 
British Isles stand practically at the western end of the 
great natural barrier. From their position the British 
Isles will always be a centre of immense importance 
in entrepét trade, importing commodities from 
“south”? and distributing “east and west,’’ and 
similarly in the reverse direction. This movement will 
be permanent, and will increase in volume long after 
the present type of purely “ east-and-west’’ trade has 
become relatively less important than it is now, and 
long after the British Isles have ceased to have any of 
the special advantages for manufacturing industries 
which are due to their own resources either in the 
way of energy or of raw material. We can well 
imagine, however, that this permanent advantage of 
position will react favourably, if indirectly, upon cer- 
tain types of our manufactures, at least for a very 
long time to come. 

Reverting briefly to the equalisation of the distribu- 
tion of population in the wheat-producing areas and 
the causes which are now at work in this direction, 
it is interesting to inquire how geographical conditions 
are likely to influence this on the smaller scale. We 
may suppose that the production of staple foodstuffs 
must always be more uniformly distributed than the 
manufacture of raw materials, or the production of 
the raw materials themselves, for the most important 
raw materials of vegetable origin (as cotton, rubber, 
&c.) demand special climatic conditions, and, apart 
from the distribution of energy, manufacturing indus- 
tries are strongly influenced by the distribution of 
mineral deposits, providing metals for machinery, and 
soon. It may, however, be remarked that the useful 
metals, such as iron, are widely distributed in or near 
regions which are not as a rule unfavourable to agri- 
culture. Nevertheless, the fact remains that while a 
more uniform distribution is necessary and inevitable 
in the case of agriculture, many of the conditions of 
industrial and social life are in favour of concentra- 
tion; the electrical transmission of energy removes, 
in whole or in part, only one or two of the centri- 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92| 


petal forces. The general result might be an ap- 
proximation to the conditions occurring in many parts 
of the monsoon areas—a number of fairly large towns 
pretty evenly distributed over a given agricultural 
area, and each drawing its main food supplies from 
the region surrounding it. The positions of such 
towns would be determined much more by industrial 
conditions, and less by military conditions, than in the 
past (military power being in these days mobile, and 
not fixed); but the result would on a larger scale be 
of the same type as was developed in the central 
counties of England, which, as Mackinder has pointed 
out, are of almost equal size and take the name of 
the county town. Concentration within the towns 
would, of course, be less severe than in the early 
days of manufacturing industry. Each town would 
require a very elaborate and highly organised system 
of local transport, touching all points of its agricul- 
tural area, in addition to lines of communication with 
other towns and with the great “north-and-south ” 
lines of world-wide commerce, but these outside lines 
would be relatively of less importance than they are 
now. We note that the more perfect the system of 
local transport, the less the need for points of inter- 
mediate exchange. The village and the local market- 
town will be “‘sleepy”’ or decadent as they are now, 
but for a different reason; the symptoms are at 
present visible mainly because the country round about 
such local centres is overwhelmed by the great lines 
of transport which pass through them; they will sur- 
vive for a time through inertia and the ease of foreign 
investment of capital. The effect of this influence is 
already apparent since the advent of the ‘‘commercial 
motor,’’ but up to the present it has been more in the 
direction of distributing from the towns than collect- 
ing to them, producing a kind of ‘‘suburbanisation ” 
which throws things still further out of balance. The 
importance of the road motor in relation to the future 
development of the food-producing area is incalcul- 
able. It has long been clear that the railway of the 
type required for the great through lines of fast 
transport is ill-adapted for the detailed work of a small 
district, and the ‘‘light’”’ railway solves little and 
introduces many complications. The problem of deter- 
mining the direction and capacity of a system of 
roads adequate to any particular region is at this 
stage one of extraordinary difficulty; experiments 
are exceedingly costly, and we have as yet little ex- 
perience of a satisfactory kind to guide us. The 
geographer, if he will, can here be of considerable 
service to the engineer. 

In the same connection, the development of the 
agricultural area supplying an industrial centre offers 
many difficult problems in relation to what may be 
called accessory products, more especially those of a 
perishable nature, such as meat and milk. In the 
case of meat the present position is that much land 
which may eventually become available for grain crops 
is used for grazing, or cattle are fed on some grain, 
like maize, which is difficult to transport or is not 
satisfactory for bread-making The meat is then 
temporarily deprived of its perishable property by 
refrigeration, and does not suffer in transport. 
Modern refrigerating machinery is elaborate and com- 
plicated, and more suited to use on board ship than 
on any kind of land transport. Hence the most con- 
venient regions for producing meat for export are 
those near the sea-coast, such as occur in the Argen- 
tine or the Canterbury plains of New Zealand. The 
case is similar to that of the ‘‘accessible”’ coalfield. 
Possibly the preserving processes may be simplified 
and cheapened, making overland transport easier, but 
the fact that it usually takes a good deal of land to 
produce a comparatively small quantity of meat will 


15) 


NATURE 


[OcToOBER 2, 1913 


make the difficulty greater as land becomes more 
valuable. Cow’s milk, which in modern times has 
become a ‘‘necessary of life’”’ in most parts of the 
civilised world, is in much the same category as 
meat, except that difficulties of preservation, and 
therefore of transport, are even greater. That the 
problem has not become acute is largely due to the 
growth of the long-transport system available for 
wheat, which has enabled land round the great centres 
of population to be devoted to dairy produce, If we 
are right in supposing that this state of things cannot 
be permanent, the difficulty of milk supply must 
increase, although relieved somewhat by the less 
intense concentration in the towns; unless, as seems 
not unlikely, a wholly successful method of permanent 
preservation is devised. 

In determining the positions of the main centres, 
or rather, in subdividing the larger areas for the dis- 
tribution of towns with their supporting and dependent 
districts, water supply must be one of the chief factors 
in the future, as it has been in the past; and in the 
case of industrial centres the quality as well as the 
quantity of water has to be considered. A funda- 
mental division here would probably be into districts 
having a natural local supply, probably of hard water, 
and districts in which the supply must be obtained 
from a distance. In the latter case engineering works 
of great magnitude must often be involved, and the 
question of total resources available in one district 
for the supply of another must be much more fully 
investigated than it has been. In many cases, as in 
this country, the protection of such resources pending 
investigation is already much needed. It is worth 
noting that the question may often be closely related 
to the development and transmission cf electrical 
energy from waterfalls, and the two problems might 
in such cases be dealt with together. Much may be 
learned about the relation of water supply to dis- 
tribution of population from a study of history, and a 
more active prosecution of combined historical and 
geographical research would, I believe, furnish useful 
material in this connection, besides throwing interest- 
ing light on many historical questions. 

Continued exchange of the ‘ north-and-south” type 
and at least a part of that described as ‘‘east-and- 
west’? gives permanence to a certain number of 
points where, so far as can be seen, there must 
always be a change in the mode of transport. It is 
not likely that we shall have heavy freight-carrying 
monsters in the air for a long time to come, and 
until we have the aérial ‘‘tramp’’ transport must be 
effected on the surfaces of land and sea. However 
much we may improve and cheapen land transport, it 
cannot in the nature of things become as cheap as 
transport by sea. For on land the essential idea is 
always that of a prepared road of some kind, and, as 
Chisholm has pointed out, no road can carry more 
than a certain amount; traffic beyond a certain quantity 
constantly requires the construction of new roads. It 
follows, then, that no device is likely to provide trans- 
port indifferently over land and sea, and the seaport 
has in consequence inherent elements of permanence. 
Improved and cheapened land transport increases the 
economy arising from the employment of large ships 
rather than small ones, for not only does transport 
inland become relatively more important, but dis- 
tribution along a coast from one large seaport becomes 
as easy as from a number of small coastal towns. 
Hence the conditions are in favour of the growth of 
a comparatively small number of immense seaport 
cities like~ London and New York, in which there 
must be great concentration not merely of work 
directly connected with shipping, but_of commercial 
and financial interests of all sorts. The seaport is, 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


in fact, the type of great city which seems likely to 


increase continually in size, and provision for its needs 
cannot in general be made from the region imme- 
diately surrounding it, as in the case of towns of 
other kinds. In special cases there is also, no doubt, 
permanent need of large inland centres of the type 
of the ‘railway creation,” but under severe geographic 
control these must depend very much on the nature 
and efficiency of the systems of land transport. It is 
not too much to say (for we possess some evidence of 
it already) that the number otf distinct geographical 
causes which give rise to the establishment and main- 
tenance of individual great cities is steadily diminish- 
ing, but that the large seaport is a permanent and 
increasing necessity. It follows that aggregations of 
the type of London and Liverpool, Glasgow and Bel- 
fast will always be amongst the chief things to be 
reckoned with in these islands, irrespective of local 
coal supply or accessory manufacturing industries, 
which may decay through exhaustion. 

I have attempted in what precedes to direct atten- 
tion once more to certain matters for which it seems 
strangely difficult to get a hearing. What it amounts 
to is this, that as far as our information goes the 
development of the steamship and the railway, and 
the universal introduction of machinery which has 
arisen from it, have so increased the demand made 
by man upon the earth’s resources that in less than 
a century they will have become fully taxed. When 
colonisation and settlement in a new country pro- 
ceeded slowly and laboriously, extending centrifugally 
from one or two favourable spots on the coast, it 
took a matter of four centuries to open up a region 
the size of England. Now we do as much for a 
continent like North America in about as many 
decades. In the first case it was not worth troubling 
about the exhaustion of resources, for they were 
scarcely more than touched, and even if they were 
exhausted there were other whole continents to con- 
quer. But now, so far as our information goes, we 
are already making serious inroads upon the resources 
of the whole earth. One has no desire to sound an 
unduly alarmist note, or to suggest that we are in 
imminent danger of starvation, but surely it would 
be well, even on the suspicion, to see if our informa- 
tion is adequate and trustworthy and if our conclusions 
are correct; and not merely to drift in a manner which 
was justifiable enough in Saxon times, but which, 
at the rate things are going now, may land us un- 
expectedly in difficulties of appalling magnitude. 

What is wanted is that we should seriously address 
ourselves to a stocktaking of our resources. A be- 
ginning has been made with a great map on the 
scale of one to a million, but that is not sufficient; 
we should vigorously proceed with the collection and 
discussion of geographical data of all kinds, so that 
the major natural distributions shall be adequately 
known, and not merely those parts which commend 
themselves, for one reason or another, to special 
national or private enterprises. The method of 
Government survey, employed in most civilised 
countries for the construction of maps, the examina- 
tion of geological structure or the observation of 
weather and climate, is satisfactory as far as it goes, 
but it should go further, and be made to include such 
things as vegetation, water supply, supplies of energy 
of all kinds, and, what is quite as important, the 
bearings of one element upon others under different 
conditions. Much, if not most, of the work of col- 
lecting data would naturally be done as it is now by 
experts in the special branches of knowledge, but it 
is essential that there should be a definite plan of 
a geographical survey as a whole, in order that the 
regional or distributional aspect should never be lost 


OcTOBER 2, 1913] 


sight of. I may venture to suggest that a committee 
formed jointly by the great national geographical 
societies, or by the International Geographical Con- 
gress, might be entrusted with the work of formu- 
lating some such uniform plan and suggesting prac- 
ticable methods of carrying it out. It should not be 
impossible to secure international cooperation, for 
there is no need to investigate too closely the secrets 
of anyone’s particular private vineyard—it is merely 


a question of doing thoroughly and systematically 


what is already done in some regions, sometimes 
thoroughly, but not systematically. We should thus 
arrive eventually at uniform methods of stock-taking, 
and the actual operations could be carried on as oppor- 
tunity offered and indifference or opposition was over- 
come by the increasing need for information. Eventu- 
ally we shall find that ‘‘country-planning’’ will 
become as important as town-planning, but it will 
be a more complex business, and it will not be pos- 
sible to get the facts together in a hurry. And in 
the meanwhile increased geographical knowledge will 
yield scientific results of much significance about such 
matters as distribution of populations and industries, 
and the degree of adjustment to new conditions which 
occurs or is possible in different regions and amongst 
different peoples. Primary surveys on the large scale 
are specially important in new regions, but the best 
methods of developing such areas and of adjusting dis- 
tributions in old areas to new economic conditions 
are to be discovered by extending the detailed surveys 
of small districts. An example of how this may be 
done has been given by Dr. Mill in his ‘‘ Fragment 
of the Geography of Sussex.’ Dr. Mill’s methods 
have been successfully applied by individual investiga- 
tors to other districts, but a definitely organised 
system, marked out on a carefully matured uniform 
plan, is necessary if the results are to be fully com- 
parable. The schools of geography in this country 
have already done a good deal of local geography of 
this type, and could give much valuable assistance if 
the work were organised beforehand on an adequate 
scale. 

But in whatever way and on whatever scale the 
work is done, it must be clearly understood that no 
partial study from the physical, or biological, or his- 
torical, or economic point of view will ever suffice. 
The urgent matters are questions of distribution upon 
the surface of the earth, and their elucidation is not 
the special business of the physicist, or the biologist, 
or the historian, or the economist, but of the geo- 
grapher. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


Lreeps.—In connection with the work on animal 
nutrition which is being conducted under a grant 
from the Development Commissioners, Dr. H. W. 
Dudley, of the Herter Research Laboratory, New 
York, has been appointed lecturer in biochemistry. 
The experimental station in flax growing, which is 
also supported by the Development Commissioners, has 
been placed under the direction of Mr. F. K. Jackson, 
formerly of the agricultural departments of the Uni- 
versities of Leeds and Cambridge. 


Lonpon.—The following courses of advanced science 
lectures are announced :—‘‘ The Cytology and Affini- 
ties of the Higher Fungi,” by Dr. Gwynne-Vaughan, 
at University College, beginning on October 23; 
“The Physiological Significance of Acidosis,” by Drs. 
Kennaway and Poulton, at Guy’s Hospital, beginning 
on October 9; ‘“‘ The Cerebro-spinal Fluid,” by Profs. 
Halliburton and Dixon, at King’s College, beginning 
on November 3; ‘‘Mechanism and Teleology,’’ by 


NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


157 


Prof. Hans Driesch, at King’s College, beginning on 
October 21; ‘‘The Theory of Heat in Relation to 
Atmospheric Changes,”’ by Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S., 
at the Meteorological Office, beginning on January 23. 
All the lectures are free. 


Tue Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior has contributed 
ae rupees to the Yunani Vedic Medical College at 
elhi. 


Dr. T. FRrankuin Sisty, lecturer in geology at 
King’s College, London, has been appointed professor 
of geology in the University College of South Wales 
and Monmouthshire, Cardiff. 


THE report by cable that Mr. W. Robbie, a pioneer 
gold-digger, who died at Ballarat a short time ago, 
had left a large bequest to the University of Aber- 
deen, has been confirmed by mail. The estimated 
amount of the bequest, however, is 23,o00/.—not 
30,0001. as at first reported—and it is to be applied for 
scholarships in mathematics, natural philosophy, and 
chemistry. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


; NEw SoutH WALEs. 

Linnean Society, July 30.—Mr. W. S. Dun, president, 
in the chair.—T. G. Sloane: Revisional notes on Aus- 
tralian Carabidae. Part iv., The genus Notonomus. 
The number of species recognised is eighty-nine, of 
which fifteen are proposed as new.—J. J. Fletcher: A 
case of natural hybridism in the genus Grevillea (N.O. 
Proteacez. Grevillea laurifolia, Sieb., and G. acanthi- 
folia, A. Cunn., are two common and characteristic 
members of the flora of the higher portion of the Blue 
Mountain area. Certain other rare forms are some- 
times associated with one or both of them, some of 
which have been described under the name of G. 
gaudichaudii, R. Br. The object of this paper is to 
justify the contention, that the rare plants to which 
the name G. gaudichaudii, R. Br., has been applied, 
or is applicable, form one group only of a series of 
transitional forms between G. laurifolia and G. 
acanthifolia, of which another, equally remarkable, 
group has escaped notice; that the entire series is one 
series of naturally related forms; and that the explana- 
tion of their real relationship is, that they are hybrids 
between the two species mentioned. Seven recognis- 
ably different types are described. The two parent- 
species are markedly contrasted in most of their mor- 
phological characters, in their habit of growth, and in 
being members of two different plant-associations and 
consequently in their habitats; but cross-pollination is 
possible, because the racemes of both are of the same 
pattern (elongated and secund). As the two species 
belong to different plant-associations, the conditions 
favouring cross-pollination arise only at or close to 
the boundary between them, while circumstances pre- 
vent the hybrids from spreading laterally. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Papers and Proceedings. Seventh Annual Meeting, 
American Sociological Society held at Boston, Mass., 
December 28, 30, 31, 1912. Vol. vii. Pp. vi+223. 
(Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press; 
Cambridge, England: University Press.) 6s. net. 

Moths of the Limberlost. By Gene S. Porter. Pp. 
xiv+370. (London: Hodder and Stoughton.) ros. 6d. 
net. 

Pedagogical Anthropology. By M. Montessori. 
Translated from the Italian by F. T. Cooper. Pp. 
xi+508. (London: William Heinemann.) 14s. net. 

Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society. New series. 
Vol. xiii. Containing the Papers read before the 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 2, 1913 


158 
Society during the Thirty-fourth Session, 1912-13. 
Pp. 375- (London; Williams and Norgate.) os. 6d. 
net. 


The Golden Bough : a Study in Magic and Religion. 
By Prof. J. G. Frazer. Third edition. Part vi. The 
Scapegoat. Pp. xiv+453. (London: Macmillan and 
Co., Ltd.) ros. net. 

Contributions from the Jefferson Physical Labora- 
tory of Harvard University for the Year 1912. Vol. x. 
(Cambridge, Mass.; U.S.A.) 


Preliminary Statistics of Nebulae and Clusters. 


By C. V. L. Charlier. Pp. 35+11 plates. (Upsala 
and Stockholm: Almqoist and Wiksell; London: 
Wesley and Son.) 

Armstrong College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Calen-~ 
dar. Session 1913-14. Pp. 514. (Newcastle-upon- 
Tyne.) 1s. 

Forty-Third Annual Report of the Entomological 
Society of Ontario, 1912. Pp. 143. (Toronto: 


Department of Agriculture.) 

Fire Tests with Doors, by Chubb and Sons’ Lock 
and Safe Co., Ltd., London. The Committee’s 
Report. Pp. 20. (‘Red Books” of the British Fire 
Prevention Committee, No. 183.) (London: The 
British Fire Prevention Committee.) 2s. 6d. 

Organic Chemistry for Students of Medicine. By 
Prof. J. Walker, F.R.S. Pp. xi+328. (London: 
Gurney and Jackson; Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.) 
6s. net. 


University of Bristol. Calendar, 1913-14. Pp. 304. 


(Bristol.) 

La Catalyse en Chimie Organique. By P. Sabatier. 
Pp. -xiv+255. (Paris and Liege: Libraire Ch. 
Beranger.) 12.50 francs. 


The New Encyclopedia. Edited by H. C. O'Neill. 
Pp. vii+1626. (London and Edinburgh: T. C. and 
E...Cz.Jack.) ) 75. 6d. «net. ; 

A Leisurely Tour in England. By J. J. Hissey. 
Pp. xviiit+396+plates. (London: Macmillan and 
Co., Ltd.) tos. net. 

The National University of Ireland. Calendar for 
the Year 1913. Pp. 480. (Dublin; London: Long- 
mans, Green and Co.) 

Eighth Annual Report of the Meteorological Com- 
mittee to the Lords Commissioners of H.M. Treasury. 
For the year ended March 31, 1913. Pp. 68. (London : 
H.M. Stationery Office; Wyman and Sans, Ltd) aese 

The Realm of Nature: an Outline of Physiography. 
By Dr. H. R. Mill. Second edition. Pp. xii+404+ 
maps. (London: J. Murray.) 5s. 

Materials and Methods in High School Agriculture. 
By Prof. W. G. Hummel and Bertha R. Hummel. 
Pp. xi+385+plates. (New York: The Macmillan 
Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 5s. 6d, net. 

Handworterbuch der Naturwissenschaften. Edited by 
E. Korschelt and others. Liefs 56-59. (Jena: G. 
Fischer.) 2.50 marks each part. 

A History of University Reform from 1800 a.p. to 
the Present Time. With Suggestions towards a 
Complete Scheme for the University of Cambridge. 
By A. I. Tillyard. Pp. xv+392. (Cambridge: W. 
Heffer and Sons, Ltd.) os, net. 

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society of East 


Anglia for 1912-13. Vol. i. Part iii. Pp. 245-382 + 
plates lix-cxvii. (London: H. K. Lewis.) 3s. 6d. 
net. 

Modern Problems in Psychiatry. By Prof. E. 


Translated by Dr. D. Orr and Dr. R. G. 
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NO. 2292, VOL. 92] 


! South Wales. 


Things Seen in Oxford. By N. J. Davidson. Pp. 
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2s. net. ~ i : 
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edition. Pp. xxv+280+iv plates. (London: E. and 
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666. (Leeds.) 


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DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


FRIDAY, OcToserR 3 
Junior Institution OF ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Testing of Gas Engines: 
W. A. Tookey. : 
MONDAY, OcrToser 6. 
Society oF ENGINEERS, at 7.30.—Highways : C. H. Cooper. 
‘ 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 
Theory and Practice of Chemistry. ByG,T.M... 125 
Some New Electrical Books. By Maurice Solomon 126 
The Teaching of Psychology. ..'.,.-. . = oi es 129 
Asfiation, Dynamics. ; |. sf) sis. sb yeas ee ‘of NERO 
Our’ Bookshelf.) . (vt 2! .)0 oh ey 130 


Letters to the Editor :— 
The Piltdown Skull. —Prof. G, Elliot Smith, F.R.S. 131 
Solar Electrical Phenomena.—Dr. J. A. Harker, 
F.R.S Sis) SO 


A New Aquatic Annelid.—Rev. Hilderic Friend . 132 
Modern Electrometers. (J//ustrated.) By Dr. E. N. 

da C. Andrade FO AUG 0 dor (edhe rr 
The Technical Production and Utilisation of Cold. 

By FP, Soddy, .F.RiS..) 7.2 2 5 2 os) 134 
The Natural History of a London Suburb. (Z//us- 

trated.) By R. M... . cis eee © a) ese 137 
Prof. Hugh Marshall, F.R.S. By Dr. Leonard 

Dopp...) .' 0, adhe e eens Sete se (3 
INIQEER) ot es ee ae a Oe oo 139 
Our Astronomical Column :— 

Astronomical Occurrences for October. . . .... 143 
Comets 19136 (Metcalf) and 1913¢ (Neujmin) . . . . 143 
Another Comet .-.).) 05 Sais so At 143 
The Spectrum of a-Canum Venaticorum. .... . 143 
The Wave-lengths of Certain Iron Lines. . . .  . 144 
The Antiquity of Man in South America, By Dr. 

A: CG, Haddon, F.R.S. 5 (2 ee. 144. 
Papers on Invertebrates. ByR.L.. 2... . 2. 145 
The British Association at Birmingham : — 

Section'!D.—Zoology.—Opening Address by Dr, H. F, 

Gadow, F.R.S., President of the Section . . 145 

Section E.—Geography.—Opening Address by Prof, 

H. N. Dickson, President of the Section 150 
University and Educational Intelligence. .... . 157 
Societies and Academies ..... wre sy, 
Books Received >.) (2 )iitatn <b. =) crt ene 157 
Diary of Societies ..../. sagassee ©. =) ae 158 


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OcTOBER 2, 1913]| 


NATURE 


iii 


LANTERN SLIDES. 


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British Birds, Flowers, and Insects. 


GEOLOGICAL PHOTOGRAPHS. 


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METEORITES 


Meteoric Iron and Stones in all sizes and prices. 
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The following animals can always be supplied, either living 

or preserved by the best methods :— 

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Pectens Bugula, Crisia, Pedicellina, Holothuria, Asterias, Echinus, 
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For prices and more detailed lists apply to 

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FUR COLLECTORS OF INSECTS, BIRDS' EGGS AND SKINS, 
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J. H. STEWARD’S 
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PRICE (without knife or ribbon conveyor), £8, Iustrated Catalogue, Part Il, Post Free. 
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Microtome Catalogue post free. 
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lvi 


IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE 
AND TECHNOLOGY, 


SOUTH KENSINGTON, LONDON, S.W. 


The following Special Courses of Advanced Lectures will be given, 
commencing in November next :— 


ROYAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE. 


Subject. Conducted by 

f Sir Witu1AM bE W. Asnry, K.C.B., 
aie VED Sc.) DIG: Lay FR:S: 
Mining Geolopy—Part A (of 3 { Professor Warts, LL.D., Sc.D., M.Sc., 


courses on Economic Geology) | pee Pe eee Prof. 


Colour Vision on 


For further particulars of these and other Courses to follow, application 
should be made to the REGISTRAR. 


GRESHAM LECTURES.—Mr. Arthur R. 


HINKS, M.A., F.R.S., will deliver a Course of Four Lectures on 
“ AsTRONOMY IN Dairy Use” on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 
Friday, October 14, 15, 16 and 17, at the City of London School, 
vee Embankment, commencing at 6 p.m. Admission free to the 
public, 


EAST LONDON COLLEGE 


(UNIVERSITY OF LONDON). 


FACULTIES OF ARTS, SCIENCE, AND 
ENGINEERING. 


FEES: TEN GUINEAS PER ANNUM. 
NO ENTRY FEE AND NO REGISTRATION CHARGES. 


Special fees and facilities for Post Graduate 
and Research Students in all Faculties. 


M.A. CLASSES FOR MATHEMATICS. 


Calendar, with lists of Graduates, University and College 
Scholarships, Academic and other distinctions, post free on 
application to the Registrar, or the Principal, 


J. L. S. HATTON, M.A. 
Telephone No.: East 3384. 


THE SIR JOHN CASS TECHNICAL INSTITUTE, 
JEWRY STREET, ALDGATE, E.C. 
The following Special Courses of Instruction on 


FUEL AND POWER 
will be given during the Autumn and Lent Terms (October, 1913, to 
March, 1914). The Courses will consist of a connected series of lectures 
dealing with the Supply and Control of Power, arranged to meet the 
requirements of those engaged in Works connected with Chemical, Metal- 
lurgical and the Fermentation Industries. 

The Courses may either be taken separately or in suitable conjunction, 
according to the requirements and previous knowledge of the students. 

PART I,—The Supply and Control of Liquid, Gaseous 
and Solid Fuel. By Mr. J.S.S. Brame. A Course of 10 Lectures 
illustrated by experiments and lantern slides. Autumn Term (October to 
Christmas). Monday, 7 to 8 p.m., commencing Monday, October 6, 1913. 

PART II.—Electrical Supply and Control. By Mr. DoucLas 
Betts, A.M.I.E.E. A Course of 5 Lectures. Lent Term. Monday, 7 to 
8 p.m., commencing Monday, January 12, 1orT4. 

PART III.—The Transmission of Power. By Mr. H. B. 
Ransom, M. Inst. C.E., M.Inst. Mech.E. A Course of 5 Lectures. Lent 
Term. Monday, 7 to 8 p.m., commencing Monday, February 16, 1914. 

The first lecture of the Courses will be given on Monday, October 6, 1913. 

For details of the Classes apply at the Office of the Institute, or by 
letter to the PrincIPAL. 


THE SIR JOHN CASS TECHNICAL 
INSTITUTE, 
JEWRY STREET, ALDGATE, E.C. 


The following Special Courses of Instruction on the 
FERMENTATION INDUSTRIES 

will be given during the Session 1913-14 :— 

Brewing and Malting. By Arrtuur R. Line, F.1.C, 

PART I.—Malting. A Course of 10 Lectures with associated 
laboratory work commencing Tuesday, October 7, 1913. 
ART II.—Brewing. A Course of 20 Lectures with associated 
laboratory work commencing Tuesday, January 13, 1914. 

Bottling and Cellar Management. By Huan Appot, M.A. 
A Course of ro Lectures commencing Wednesday, October 8, 1913. 

Brewery Plant. By Hucu Azsot, M.A. A Course of 10 Lectures 
commencing Wednesday, January 13, 1914. 

The Micro-Biology of the Fermentation Industries. 
By Artuur Harpen, D.Sc., Ph.D., F.R.S. A Course of 20 Lectures 
with associated laboratory work commencing Friday, October 10, 1913. 

Chemistry. By Cuarves A. Keane, D.Sc., Ph.D, F.I.C. A Course 
of 20 Lectures with associated laboratory work for those engaged in the 
Fermentation Industries, commencing Friday, October 10, 1913. 

Detailed Syllabus of the Courses may be had upon application at the 

Office of the Institute, or by letter to the PrinciPaL. 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 9, 1913 
BIRKBECK COLLEGE, 


BREAMS BUILDINGS, CHANCERY LANE, E.C. 
Principal: G. Armitage-Smith, M.A., D.Lit. 

COURSES OF STUDY (Day and Evening) for the Degrees of the 
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON in the 
FACULTIES OF SCIENCE & ARTS 
(PASS AND HONOURS) 
under RECOGNISED TEACHERS of the University. 
SCIENCE.—Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics (Pure and 
Applied), Botany, Zoology, Geology and Mineralogy. 
ARTS.—Latin, Greek, English, French, German, Italian, 
History, Geography, Logic, Economies, Mathematies (Pure 
and Applied). 

Evening Courses for the Degrees in Economics and Law. 


Day: Science, £17 10s.; Arts, £10 10s. 
SESSIONAL FEES { zene Science, Arts, or Economics, £5 5s. 


POST-GRADUATE AND RESEARCH WORK. 
Prospectuses post free, Calendar 3d. (by post sd.) from the Secretary. 


SOUTH-WESTERN POLYTECHNIC 


INSTITUTE, 
MANRESA ROAD, CHELSEA. 
GEOLOGY. 
Special Course of Lectures and Practical Work on 
STRATIGRAPHY 
with special reference to foreign areas, 
BY 


T. C. NICHOLAS, BriAl e.Gas: 
(Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge). 
The course is suitable for Hons. B.Sc. and other advanced 
students. 
Wednesday evenings, 7-9. Fee, Ios. 


SIDNEY SKINNER, M.A., Principal. 


CITY OF LONDON GOLLEGE. 


ACTING IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE LONDON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. 
WHITE ST., and ROPEMAKER ST., MOORFIELDS, E.G. 
(Near Moorgate and Liverpool Street Stations). 
PrincipaL: SIDNEY HUMPHRIES, B.A., LL.B. (Cantab.) 


EVENING CLASSES IN SCIENCE. 


Well-equipped LABORATORIES for Practical Work in 
CHEMISTRY, BOTANY, GEOLOGY. 


Special Courses for Pharmaceutical and other examinations. Classes 
are also held in all Commercial Subjects, in Languages, and Literature, 
Art Studio. All Classes are open to both sexes. 


DAY SCHOOL OF COMMERCE Preparation fora COMMERCIAL 
or BUSINESS career. 


Prospectuses, and all other information, gratis on application. 


DAVID SAVAGE, Secretary. 


CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION. 


FORTHCOMING EXAMINATION, 
ASSISTANT in the ROYAL OBSERVATORY, EDINBURGH 


(21-25), November 20. tie ‘ 
The date specified is the latest at which applications can be received. 

They must be made on forms to be obtained, with particulars, from the 

SEcrETARY, Civil Service Commission, Burlington Gardens, London, W. 


UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM. 
ARMSTRONG COLLEGE, 
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. 


The Council invites applications for the ASSISTANT LECTURESHIP 
in AGRICULTURAL and FOREST BOTANY. Salary £150. 

Candidates are requested to send ten copies of their application, and of 
not more than three testimonials, to the undersigned on or before October 


tng F. H. PRUEN, M.A. 
Armstrong College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 


et tie 


——————— ee 


_ tion. 


NATURE 


159 


THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1913. 


HAUSA FOLK-LORE AND CUSTOMS. 
Hausa Folk-Lore, Customs, Proverbs, &c., Col- 
lected and Transliterated with English Transla- 
tion and Notes. By R. Sutherland Rattray. 
With a preface by R. R. Marett. Vol. i., 
pp. xxiv+ 327; vol. ii, pp. 315. . (Oxford: 
Clarendon Press, 1913.) Price, 2 vols., 30s. 

net. . 

HIS book is intended to serve two distinct 
objects: to serve as a chrestomathy of the 
Hausa language, and as a collection of the local 
folk-lore and custom. It contains a series of 


_lithographed Hausa texts, with a transliteration 


in Roman characters and a literal English transla- 
The method employed is to reproduce the 
MSS. written by a learned Hausa Mdlam or 
scribe, who wrote down or translated from Arabic 
sources such information as was required, and this 
was subsequently translated into Hausa. By this 
process the primary intention of the work is satis- 
factorily attained. Mr. Rattray is obviously a 
competent scholar, and in the course of the work 
he has been able to correct or extend the work 
of previous writers on Hausa grammar and 
phonology. 

These admirably printed volumes thus represent 
a substantial contribution to linguistics, but the 
attempt to collect folk-lore and custom is not quite 
so satisfactory. The learned native scribe, like the 


Indian Pundit or Moulvi, is not the best agent 


le ale tl 


for exploring the peasant beliefs and usages. He 
is apt to regard popular tradition and custom as 
of little value when they do not happen to conform 
to his standard of orthodoxy, and to introduce into 
his material something which is of purely literary 
origin and does not smell of the soil. In this 
respect Major Tremearne, in his recently published 
“Hausa Superstition and Custom,” seems to have 
followed a sounder method by recording in his 
own hand the tales and superstitions which he 
heard from the lips of privates in the Nigeria 
Regiment, peasants, women and children. 

Mr. Rattray has arranged his material in five 
divisions: traditionary accounts of the origin of 
the Hausa nation and of their conversion to Islam; 
tales of heroes and heroines; animal tales; customs 
and arts; proverbs. Among the tales we find 
many familiar motifs and incidents—the cannibal 
giant with his ‘‘Fee-fo-fum”; Beauty and the 
Beast, and so on. The animal tales are decidedly 
the best in the collection, and well illustrate the 
naive cunning and wit which characterise the race. 


- The formule introducing and closing the tales are 


interesting. They begin with “This is a story ! appear. 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


about” so and so; “a tale, let it go, let it ‘come,” 
ending with “Off with the rat’s head!” that is, 
“that is the end of him.” 

The accounts of custom are rather disappoint- 
ing, because, unless the Malam is mistaken, Islam 
has crushed down most of the indigenous prac- 
tices. Perhaps the most valuable chapters are 
those describing, from native sources, the cire 
perdue process of brass-casting, as it appears in 
the remarkable figures from Benin, and an account 
of the primitive method of tanning skins. 

The book, as a whole, deserves hearty com- 
mendation. But in his next attempt to add to 
his stores of local folk-lore and usage Mr. Rattray 
might with advantage dispense with the services 
of his Mdlam and depend upon himself for the 
task of collection. 


INDIAN CHRONOGRAPHY. 

Indian Chronography: extension of the 
“Indian Calendar,” with working examples. 
By Robert Sewell. Pp. xii+187. (London: 
George Allen & Co., Ltd., 1912.) Price 31s. 6d. 
net. 

INDU chronology appears extremely com- 

plex at first glance, but this complexity is 

more apparent than real, being largely due to the 
fact that so many different systems of reckoning 
were used in different places and at different times. 

Each single system is comparatively simple, and 

—save for the neglect of the effects due to pre- 

cession—fairly accurate. The standard work on 

the subject is the “Indian Calendar,” by Messrs. 

Sewell and Dikshit (NatuRE, vol. liv., No. 1393), 

to which the present volume forms a supplement. 

We have here a condensed account of those 
systems of chronology usually met with in in- 
scriptions and documents, which are more fully 
treated in the previous work. Some space is 
devoted to the tropical year in view of the fact 
that this unit is occasionally met with, while the 
method of reckoning by Jovian Samivatsaras is 
fully described. 

The volume contains a very large number of 
carefully worked examples and numerous tables, 
numbered to run consecutively with those of the 
previous volume. These include tables for the 
conversion of the moment of Mésha Samkranti 
by the First Arya Siddhanta into the same moment 
of the Present Surya Siddhanta; tables of the 
sixty- and twelve-year cycles of Jupiter, &c. 
Table I. of the “Indian Calendar” is carried for- 
ward to A.D. 1950; while Tables W, Y, Z (now 
XXXIII., XXXIV., XXXV.) of the Additions 
and Corrections to the “Indian Calendar” re- 
In Table XXXIII., “For finding the 

G 


An 


160 


mean place of Jupiter,” the argument is now the 
time interval from the epoch of the Kaliyuga, so 
that the table is available for more than 3000 
years further back; while Table XXXIV. is now 
given for days, hours, and minutes, instead of 
days, ghatikas, and palas. 

The tables are clearly printed and the volume 
is furnished with a comprehensive index. To the 
Indian epigraphist and many others the volume 
should prove a welcome supplement to the 
“Indian Calendar.” 

R. J. Pocock: 


THE ANTIQUITY AND EVOLUTION OF 
MAN. 

(1) Man and His Forerunners. By Prof. H. v. 
Buttel-Reepen. Incorporating Accounts of 
Recent Discoveries in Suffolk and Sussex. 
Authorised Translation by A. G. Thacker. Pp. 


96. (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 
1913.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 

(2) The Origin and Antiquity of Man. By Dr. 
G. Frederick Wright. Pp. xx+547. (London: 


John Murray, 1913.) Price 8s. net. 

(3) L’Uomo Attuale una Specie Collettiva. By 
V. Giuffrida-Ruggeri. Pp. viii+ 192+ xiii plates. 
(Milano: Albrighi, Segati e C., 1913.) Price 
6 lire. 

(4) Die Rehobother Bastards und das Bastardie- 
vungsproblem beim Menschen. Dr. Eugen 
Fischer. Pp. vii+327+19 plates. (Jena: 
Gustav Fischer, 1913.) Price 16 marks. 

(1) TN this excellent translation of Prof. Buttel- 

| Reepen’s little book, with the German title 
altered to ‘‘Man and His Forerunners,” the state- 
ment occurs that ‘‘general treatises on Pleistocene 
man published before 1908 are now almost value- 
less.” Such a statement implies that our know- 
ledge regarding the ancestry and evolution of 
man has been revolutionised in the last five years 

—a statement which no one familiar with the sub- 

ject could support for amoment. Yet in that space 

of time certain events have occurred which do 
materially alter our conception of how and when 
mankind came by its present estate. 

There is, in the first place, the discovery of 
definite types of worked flints beneath the Red 
Crag of East Anglia by Mr. J. Reid Moir. Prof. 
von Buttel-Reepen does not question that the sub- 
Crag flints show human workmanship, but he 
seeks to minimise their antiquity by withdrawing 
the Red Crag from, the Pliocene formations and 
setting it at the commencement of the Pleistocene 
series—a change which we believe geologists will 
not be inclined to countenance. Even if the place 
of the Red Crag be changed to the commencement 

NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 9, 1913 


of the Pleistocene, the sub-Crag flints may stil] 
claim a respectable antiquity, for the author quotes 
with approval Penck’s estimate of 500,000 to 
1,500,000 years as the duration of the Pleistocene 
period, and 25,000 years as the time which has 
elapsed since the Pleistocene closed. 

It is during the last five years that we have 
come to realise fully the significance of Neander- 
thal man. He was formerly regarded as our 
Pleistocene ancestor. The recent discoveries in 
France and a more exact study of prehistoric 
remains have made amply clear that Neanderthal 
man is so sharply differentiated in all his features 
from modern man that we must regard him not 
as an ancestor, but as a totally different and col- 
lateral species, and that in past times there was 
not one species of man—subdivided into varieties 
as at present—but that there existed several, per- 
haps many, different species of man. 


We note that Prof. von Buttel-Reepen gives his — 


adhesion to the theory of multiple human species. 
On the other hand, we also observe that Dr. 
Frederick Wright, in the “Origin and Antiquity 
of Man,” adopts the view, usually held by geo- 
logists, that Neanderthal man is merely a variant 
of modern man, and brings forward the time-worn 


examples of Robert the Bruce and the medizval 


Bishop of Toul as representatives of Neanderthal 
man in modern times.’ The difference between 
the crania of Robert the Bruce and Neanderthal 
man is almost as great as that which separates 
the skulls of the chimpanzee and gorilla. 

The third event which has altered our conception 
of man in the past is the discovery made by Mr. 
Charles Dawson in a pocket of gravel by the side 
of a farm-path, at Piltdown, Sussex. The dis- 
covery is noted by three of the authors whose 
books are here reviewed, and it is interesting to 
see what opinion each of them has formed of 
Eoanthropus dawsoni. Prof. von Buttel-Reepen 
gives us the first surprise; he places this new 
species of humanity with Neanderthal man, be- 
tween the second and third glacial phases of the 
Pleistocene. It is true that Mr. Dawson and Dr. 
Smith Woodward did use the term Chellean— 
which refers to the stage of flint workmanship 
usually supposed to have been reached between the 
second and third of Penck’s glacial phases—but 
they were also careful to explain that they regarded 
the Piltdown gravel as having been deposited 
and the skull imbedded at a period long anterior 
to the Chellean age—namely, at the early part 
of the Pleistocene period—perhaps earlier. 

As to the position of Eoanthropus in the human 


lineage, all our authors show circumspection. — 


Prof. von Buttel-Reepen is “inclined to think that 
the anterior curve of the jaw passed more sharply 


OcToBER 9, 1913| 


NATURE 


161 


upwards than in Woodward’s reconstruction, and 
hat the whole front of the jaw, and consequently 
the front teeth, were somewhat smaller and more 
human than he believes.”” There is no doubt this 
is the case; a close study of the faithful replicas 
of the jaw which are now freely in circulation 
will show that there is neither indication of, nor 
accommodation for, the large canine tooth postu- 
lated by Dr. Smith Woodward. It is true the 
conformation of the chin is purely simian. It is 
a feature never before observed in a human skull, 
but a simian chin does not necessarily indicate 
_ a large canine tooth. 
_ The discovery at Piltdown evidently puzzled 
the author of “1’Uomo Attuale ”’—Prof. Giuffrida- 
Ruggeri, of Naples, one of the most expert 
anthropologists in Europe. He is naturally puzzled 
‘by the statement of the discoverers that they 
‘regard Eoanthropus as a contemporary of the 
Heidelberg: man, and that flints of the Chellean 
type were found with the remains—flints of that 
‘type belonging to a much later date than that 
‘of the Heidelberg jaw. He adds that it was im- 
‘possible for him to make any further statement 
regarding the nature of Eoanthropus until figures, 
or, better still, actual models of the remains were 
at his disposal. By this time such models are 
_ probably at the Neapolitan professor’s disposal, 
and he will have noted, as students of anatomy are 
certain to observe, that owing to the manner in 
which the bones of the skull-case have been put 
together, the brain-size of Eoanthropus has been 
greatly under-estimated. The size of brain is that 
of modern man—somewhere about, or a little 
above, 1500 cubic centimetres. The importance of 
the discovery of Eoanthropus will be thus appa. 
rent. At an early part of the Pleistocene period, 
_ perhaps much earlier, there existed human beings 
with a brain of the modern size, but a chin which 
was purely simian in conformation. 

(2) In discovering the evidence on which the 
long-past history has to be based three classes 
of men are involved—the geologist, the archzo- 
logist (or lithologist), and the anatomist. It is 
unlikely that any one man could attain’ such a 
knowledge as to become an expert in all three 
lines of investigation. The geologist must be our 
time-keeper and time-marker, especially as regards 

the Pleistocene—the geologist who has_ paid 
special attention to the evidence relating to the 
phases of glaciation. For this reason a work on 
the origin and antiquity of man, by Dr. 
Frederick Wright, who has been a life-long 
student of the glacial phenomena of North 
America, is of especial value. There is nothing 
concerning the origin of man in Dr. Wright’s 
book, but much which bears on the length of 
NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


] 
the Pleistocene period and the relation of man 


to that period. Penck, from his studies of 
the glacial deposits in Europe, estimates. that 
the Pleistocene was at least half a million years 
in duration, perhaps a million and a half. Dr. 
Frederick Wright’s investigations in America 
have led him to infer that 80,000 years is an ample 
estimate of the duration of the Ice age from its 
inception to its close. He admits the existence 
of pre-Glacial man. “Large areas,” he writes, 
“in Europe and North America which are now 
principal centres of civilisation were buried under 
glacial ice thousands of feet thick, while the 
civilisation of Babylonia was in its heydey (5000 
B.c.). . . . Both in its inception and in its close 
the Glacial epoch was a catastrophe of the most 
impressive order. No reasoning from present 
‘conditions can apply to the Glacial epoch without 
great reservation.” 

It will thus be seen that Dr. Frederick Wright 
has returned to the manner of thinking which was 
prevalent before the days of Lyell. He is an advo- 
cate of “Paroxysms of Nature.” By a paroxysm 
of human evolution—one is inclined to substitute 
the word “miracle ”—he thinks the early civilisa- 
tion of Babylon and of Egypt may have hurriedly 
arisen and primitive mankind become separated 
into the well-marked varieties which are seen in our 
present-day world. It must also be noted that the 
duration assigned to the last phase of glaciation 
by Dr. Wright is in complete agreement with the 
computations given by the late General Drayson. 
In one matter especially anthropologists are much 
beholden to Dr. Wright. He has no hesitation in 
declaring that the human skeletons found under 
the loess at Lancing on the Missouri and at 
Omaha, Nebraska, lay under undisturbed glacial 
deposits, and the remains were those of men who 
lived in America in the Glacial period. The im- 
portance of the statement lies in the fact that 
these men were of the modern type—in one case 
exactly of the Red Indian type. 

(3) Prof. Giuffrida Ruggeri’s book deals with 
another aspect of the problem of man’s origin. 
Its inception dates from his visit to London two 
years ago, when he attended the Universal Races 
Congress. He was surprised to hear the specula- 
tions of Prof. Klaatsch regarding the independent 
origin of human races—brought forward by those 
who took part in the discussions of the congress— 
as if they were facts accepted by all anthropo- 
logists. It will be remembered that Prof. Klaatsch 
saw fanciful resemblances between certain races of 
mankind and certain anthropoids, and supposed 
such races and anthropoids had sprung together 
from acommonstock. In the process of dismember- 

' ing Prof. Klaatsch’s theory, the Neapolitan pro- 


162 


fessor has done anthropologists a great service by 
bringing together and systematising all recent in- 
vestigations concerning the origin and nature of 
modern races of mankind. He regards the human 
race not as an “ideal” species—one composed of 
a predominant single variety: it would become so 
if one race prevailed and exterminated all the 
others—but as a collective species comprising 
many varieties of equal vaiue in the eye of the 
classifier. His classification of modern races is a 
very practical one. 

(4) We have kept the most important of the four 
books here reviewed to the last—for there can be 
no doubt, from every point of view, that Prof. 
Eugen Fischer’s book merits such commenda- 
tion. What happens when two diverse races of 
mankind interbreed throughout a long series of 
generations? Is a new race of mankind thus pro- 
duced—a race which will continue to reproduce 
characters intermediate to those of the parent 
stocks? At the present time such an opinion is 
tacitly accepted by most anthropologists. It was 
to test the truth of such an opinion that Dr. Eugen 
Fischer, professor of anthropology at Freiburg, 
with financial assistance from the Royal Academy 
of Sciences of Berlin, set out to investigate the 
Bastard people in the Rehoboth district of German 
South-West Africa. The Rehoboth Bastards form 
a community of 2500-3000 souls, and are the 
result of intermarriage between early Boer farmers 
and Hottentot women—an intermixture which 
began more than a century ago. 

This book contains the results of Prof. 
Fischer’s investigations and is a model for those 
who will follow in his footsteps. His observations 
have convinced him that a new and permanent 
human race cannot be formed by the amalgama- 
tion of two diverse forms of man—not from any 
want of fertility—for amongst the Bastards there 
is an average of 7°4 children to each family—but 
because certain characters are recessive, others 
are dominant, and the original types tend to re- 
assert themselves in the course of generations, 
according to Mendel’s law. Although the mean 
head-form of the Bastards is intermediate to those 
of the two parent races—Hottentot and Boer—yet 
in each generation a definite number of the 
Bastards tend to assume the head-form of the 
one or of the other of the parent races. There 
are certain facts relating to head-form known to 
English anthropologists which can be explained 
only on a Mendelian basis and are in harmony with 
Dr. Fischer’s observations. Between three and 
four thousand years ago England was invaded by 
a race-with peculiarly formed, short and high 
heads. During those thousands of years the 
Bronze age invaders have been mingling their 

NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 9, I9I3. 


blood with that of the older and newer residents 
of England. Yet in every gathering of modern 
Englishmen—especially of the middle classes—one 
can see a number of pure examples of the Bronze 
age head-form. On the Mendelian hypothesis the 
persistence of such a head-form is explicable. 

Dr. Eugen Fischer’s study of the Rehoboth 
Bastards will be welcomed by all students of 
heredity. No race has so many peculiar human 
traits as the Hottentots, and hence the laws of 
human inheritance—as Prof. Fischer was the first 
to recognise—can be advantageously studied in 
their hybrid progeny. 


5 rs 


“FLORAS” AND PLANT MONOGRAPHS. ~ 

(1) A Manual Flora of Egypt. By Dr. Reno 
Muschler. With a preface by Prof. Paul 
Ascherson and Prof. Georg Schweinfurth. Two 
volumes. Pp. xii+1312. (Berlin: R. Fried-— 
lander und Sohn, 1912.) 

(2) Bush Days. By Amy E. Mack. With illus- 
trations from photographs by J. Ramsay and 
L. Harrison. Pp. xiit+132. (Sydney: Angus 
and Robertson, Ltd. ; London: Australian Book 
Company, 1911.) Price 3s. 6d. net. } 

(3) The Flora of Bristol: Being an account of all 
the Flowering Plants, Ferns, and their Allies 
that have at any time been found in the district — 
of the Bristol Coal-Fields. By J. W. White. 
Pp. ix+722+3 plates+map. (Bristol: John 
Wright & Sons, Ltd.; London: Simpkin, Mar- 
shall and Co., Ltd., 1912.) Price 13s. 6d. net. 

(4) Pflanzengeographische Monographie des Ber- 
ninagebietes. By Dr. E. Ribel. Pp. x+615+ 
xxxvi plates. (Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 1912.) 
Price 8 marks. ‘ 

(5) Das Pflansenreich: Regni vegetabilis con- 
spectus. Herausgegeben von A. Engler. 53 
Heft. iv. 129. Geraniacee. By R. Knuth. 
Pp. 640. Price 32 marks. 54 Heft. iv. 277 u. 
277a. Goodeniacee und Brunoniacee. By 
K. Krause. Pp. 207+6. (Leipzig: W. Engel- 
mann, 1912.) Price 10.80 marks. 

(1) R. MUSCHLER’S “Flora of Egypt” 

has grown from the work of Ascherson 
and Schweinfurth, whose “Illustration de la flora 
d’Egypte,” published in 1887, was the first 
modern account of the vegetation of the country. 

In this work 1215 species were enumerated, and © 

the number was increased in a supplement, issued 

two years later, to 1316. In the preparation of the 
present work, Dr. Muschler has had the advan- 
tage of the unpublished additional notes by the 
two veteran workers and also the use of their 
extensive herbarium. The number of species (of 
flowering plants and ferns) is brought up to 1505, 


OcTOBER 9, 1913] 


NATURE 


163 


which, however, includes about 180 cultivated 
_ plants. 

The work is in English and comprises adequate 
descriptions of the families, genera, species, and 
varieties; the systematic arrangement is that of 
Engler’s Syllabus. Under each species references 
are given to relevant synonymy, and the distribu- 
tion in the area under consideration is worked out 
in detail. About one-third of the second volume 
is occupied by a series of appendixes, including 
(1) a brief account of botanical work in 
Egypt; (2) a phytogeographical subdivision of the 
area into five districts—Mediterranean, Nile-delta, 
Oases of the Libyan Desert, Desert region, and 
Red Sea region; (3) a tabulated list of all the 
species and their distribution in these districts; 
(4) a similar table showing the distribution of 
Egyptian species in the Mediterranean basin; (5) 
a list of the commoner cultivated and garden 
plants; (6) a glossary; and (7) a list of Arabian 
names. The “Flora” forms a useful working 
handbook to the plants of Lower Egypt, and will 
be much valued by those interested in the botany 
of this ancient land. 

(2) Miss Mack’s “‘Bush Days” is a readable 
little volume consisting of short chapters on the 
plants and birds, and their habitats, which are 
still to be found within easy reach of Sydney. 
The letterpress is illustrated by numerous well- 
executed photographic reproductions, and the 
book, though obviously written for the author’s 
near neighbours, may be read with interest and 
profit by lovers of nature in other parts of the 
world. 

(3) Mr. White’s ‘Flora of Bristol,” described 
as “the outcome of an ideal hobby, cultivated in 
the spare moments of a business career,” is a 
good example of a modern local flora. As no de- 
scriptions of genera and species are given, it must 
be used in association with a general “British 
Flora,” but it is rich in critical notes on the plants 
and their occurrence within the limits of the area 
under consideration. Full details of habitat are 
given—a circumstance which will, it is hoped, not 
lead to the extinction of some of the rarer forms 
by greedy or over-zealous collectors. 1138 flower- 
ing plants are recorded as native or colonists, and 
a number of aliens are also included in smaller 
type. Ferns and Characee bring the total up to 
1178. . The number is likely to decrease, as some 
of the rarer plants are noted as less common than 
formerly and as extinct in former localities. Mr. 
White mentions 193 species as rare or local and 
218 as very rare. Three, formerly native, are 
now extinct, namely, sea-kale (Crambe maritima), 
the rare galingale (Cyperus longus), which, for- 
merly abundant in a single locality, has been 

NO. 2293, VOL. 92| 


exterminated by draining and cultivating, and a 
sedge (Carex Davalliana), found a century ago 
near Bath, but long since destroyed by drainage. 
The last species is of interest as having supplied 
the figured specimen for “English Botany.” 

In addition to the systematic portion, Mr. 
White gives a valuable introduction, including 
notes on the geology of the district and an analysis 
of the flora in relation to the different geological 
areas. There is also an interesting history of 
Bristol botany, with biographical notices of 
botanists, from William Turner, the father of 
English botany, who as Dean of Wells spent some 
years in the district, onwards to recent workers. 

(4) Botanists who have visited the Engadine 
will turn with interest to Dr. Ribel’s exhaustive 
account of the plant-geography of the Bernina 
district. The author is a pupil of Dr. Schréter, 
and his book is a tribute to the well-known zeal 
of his teacher in the ecological study of the botany 
of the Swiss Alps. Factors of climate, soil, and 
position are studied in detail, and a useful account 
is given of the various plant-formations. There 
is also a complete flora of the district, including 
flowering plants and cryptogams, in the elabora- 
tion of which Dr. Ritbel has had. the help of 
specialists in the various groups. A notable 
feature of the book are the beautiful photographic 
reproductions; and there is also an excellent fold- 
ing map. 

(5) Dr. R. Knuth’s contribution to “Das 
Pflanzenreich ”— a monograph of the Geraniacee 
—is one of the most important of this series. It 
is of interest to the horticulturist as well as to 
the botanist, as it includes an elaborate account 
of the hybrids of the genus Pelargonium, the 
source of the so-called geraniums and zonal pelar- 
goniums of our gardens. The plan of the volume 
is similar to that of the other monographs of the 
series—a general account of the vegetative and 
floral morphology and the distribution of the 
family, followed by a detailed systematic descrip- 
tion of the genera, species, and varieties, a fair 
proportion of which are illustrated in the eighty 
plates. Dr. Knuth recognises about 600 species, 
259 of which are included in Geranium (to which 
belong our crane’s-bills), while 232 belong to the 
great South African genus Pelargonium. Ero- 
dium—including our — stork’s-bill—has _ sixty 
species. These three great genera, with two less 
important, form the tribe Geraniez, char- 
acterised by the twisted beak of the fruit—the 
remaining six genera, the fruit of which is not 
beaked, show greater diversity of floral structure, 
and are distributed among four small tribes. 

Dr. Krause has elaborated for the same series 
of monographs the two families Goodeniacee and 


164 


NATURE 


Brunoniacez, members of the sympetalous series 
Campanulate. The former is a small but im- 
portant Australian family with about 300 species; 
the latter is a monotypic group, restricted to a 
single species, Brunonia australis, a small peren- 
nial herb of somewhat daisy-like habit, widely 
distributed in Australia. It is interesting to note 
that the wealth of Australian material preserved 
in the great herbaria at the British Museum and 
Kew have supplied a large proportion of the 
material on which Dr. Krause’s monographs are 
based. A. B. R. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


Le Monde Polaire. By Otto Nordenskjéld. 
Traduit du Suédois par G. Parmentier and 
M. Zimmermann. Préface du Dr. J. Charcot. 
Pp. xi+324+xx plates. (Paris: Librairie 
Armand Colin, 1913.) Price, 5 francs. 

Here is a handbook to the Polar regions, 

dealing, not with the exploration (of such there 

are plenty), but with the physical conditions of 
the regions, for which there was a vacant place. 

It is well for readers outside Scandinavia that it 

has been translated from the original Swedish into 

French: it might well be so into English. In a 

sense it treats the two polar regions as one, for 

it is comparative throughout, and for that reason 
the chapters are not arranged in a topographical 
sequence. Thus we have: successive chapters 
devoted to Greenland, Iceland, and Spitsbergen; 
the next chapter deals with the Antarctic lands. 

The writer ranges widely enough to include among 

“sub-antarctic ” lands Patagonia and Tierra del 

Fuego, the Falkland and other islands, and New 

Zealand, so far as that Dominion can be con- 

sidered to lie under such conditions; correspond- 

ingly we find chapters on Arctic America (including 

Labrador), on Siberia, and on_ north-western 

Europe. Numerous photographs and _ sketch- 

maps accompany the text, and the French trans- 

lation, which is prefaced by an introduction by 

Dr. J. Charcot, appears to have been excellently 

carried out by MM. G. Parmentier and M. 

Zimmermann. Dr. Nordenskidld’s chapters deal 

with the relief of land, ice conditions and effects, 

plant and animal distribution, climatic conditions 
and human life, and, where appropriate, with 
economic products. 


Coast Erosion and _ Protection. By EouRs 
Matthews. Pp. xiv+147+33 plates. (London: 
C. Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price ros. 6d. 
net. 

Tue author of this book writes with a practical 

knowledge of the subject with which he deals. 

He holds the position of Borough Engineer of 

Bridlington, and has constructed sea_ walls, 

promenades, and sea defence works of considerable 

magnitude, which are good examples of what such 
work should be. 
The book follows much the same lines as that 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


[OcToBER 9, 1913 


on the Destruction, Littoral Drift, and Protection 
of the Sea Coast, published by Messrs. Longman 
and Co. in 1902, but it does not treat the question 
of Littoral Drift with the same detail. As that 
book is now out of print, and the author of the 
present book has had the advantage of the large 
body of evidence laid before the Royal Commission 
on Coast Erosion, this work will be a valuable 
aid to engineers called upon to take charge of 
sea defence works. 

The text is very fully illustrated with numerous 
plates showing the effect of waves on sea walls 
and cliffs in course of erosion, and illustrations of 
sea walls, groynes, and other sea defence works. 
As these latter are clearly,drawn, and have the 
dimensions of the several parts marked on, they 
cannot fail to be of great practical use. 

The book is divided into twelve chapters, the 


‘subjects dealt with being: wave action; erosion 


and accretion of the shore; types and designs of 
sea walls; groynes; reinforced concrete; and the 
action of sea water on cement and concrete. 

In his account of the erosion of the Yorkshire 
coast, the author repeats the old fallacy of the 
material eroded from those cliffs being carried 
southward by the tides and being deposited on the 
Lincolnshire shore, and also as being carried up 
the Humber. This subject was fully dealt with 
in a paper on the source of warp in the Humber, 
read before the Geological Section of the Glasgow 
meeting of the British Association in 1go1, in 
which it was shown that it is practically impos- 
sible for this eroded material to be carried so far 
southward; and samples of water taken on several 
occasions of the water entering the Humber on 
the flood tide give no indication of alluvial matter 
being carried into tkat river. 


I Fenomeni Magnetici Nelle Varie Teorie Elettro- 
Magnetiche. Note Storico-Critiche. By Silvio 
Magrini. Pp. 165. (Bologna: Nicola Zani- 
chelli, 1912.) 

TuE scope of this interesting little volume, by 

an Italian author, is novel to English readers; 

at least, the present writer cannot recollect any 
other book devoted entirely to the history of the 
theory of magnetism. Oersted’s fundamental 

discovery that an electric current gives rise to a 

magnetic field in surrounding space was impor- 

tant, not only as the starting point of electro- 
magnetism, but also because, in the hands of 

Ampere, it became the basis of a theory designed _ 

to explain the physical nature of magnetism. 

Beginning at this point, the author passes in 

review the work of Poisson; Faraday’s conception 

of lines of force, with its necessary recognition of 
the part played by the medium; the successful 
development of this idea in mathematical form by 

Maxwell; the theories of Weber and Ewing; the 

experimental work of Curie on diamagnetic and 

feebly magnetic substances; and finally, the 
modern electronic theory of magnetism as extended 
by Langevin, Weiss, Gans, and others. The 
various stages in the historical development: are 


eee 


OcToBER 9, 1913] 


clearly displayed, and, although more elementary 
in its treatment, the book is a worthy companion 
of Whittaker’s well-known “History of the 
Theories of Elasticity and the Ether.” An English 
volume of similar scope would be a very desirable 
addition to current text-books. — RSs, Wi. 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous ‘communications. ] 


The Theory of Radiation. 


Tue natural unit of angular momentum postulated 
by Dr. Wiels Bohr, of Copenhagen, in his researches 
on the theory of spectral lines actually exists. It is 
the angular momentum of the magneton. Rejecting 
entirely the idea of magnetic or electric substance, 
the magneton may be regarded as an inner limiting 
surface of the zther, formed like an anchor-ring. The 
tubes of electric induction which terminate on its 
surface give it an electric charge, the magnetic tubes 
linked through its aperture make it a permanent 
magnet. 

I find that the angular momentum of any such 
system, whatever its shape or dimensions, about its 
axis of symmetry is (877V)-*ex. V is the velocity of 
light, € the electric induction over the surface, and » 
the magnetic induction over the aperture. I shall 


~ consider elsewhere the applications to the theory of 


complete radiation, spectral series, and the asym- 
metrical emission of electrons in ultra-violet light. 
Only this need be mentioned. If an electron (charge «) 
be thrown off from a magneton like a speck of dust 
from a flying wheel, then the angular momentum of 
the magneton changes by the amount —1(27/’)-1z. 
This is therefore the angular momentum of the 
ejected electron about the axis of the magneton. 
Taking the velocity of ejection to be proportional to 
the angular velocity in the magneton, we have 
Ladenburg’s result that the energy of the emitted 
rays varies as the frequency. 

Dr. Bohr, by first insisting on the fact that Planck's 
h is an angular momentum, has done something of 
the greatest importance, whatever the ultimate fate 
of his particular interpretation. Dr. Nicholson has, 
I think, used the same idea. 

G. B. McLaren. 


University College, Reading, September 20. 


Stability of Aéroplanes. 


In his experiments on the resistance of the air to 
spheres, M. Eiffel showed that for a certain critical 
velocity for a given sphere the resistance suddenly 
fails. The critical velocity appears to be very different 
for different spheres; e.g. in his paper (Comptes 
rendus, December 30, 1912) the sudden change is 
shown to begin at velocities of 12, 7, and 4 
metres per second for spheres of diameter 16°2, 24°4 
and 330 cm. respectively. 

Suppose we make a triangular frame with one of 
these spheres at each corner and allow the frame to 
fall from a height. It would appear that if the weights 
of the spheres were so adjusted that the frame would 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


165 


maintain a horizontal position for a part of its flight, 
it must reach some velocity at which the equilibrium 
of the resisting forces would be destroyed, and rota- 
tion would ensue, tending to make the frame take up 
a vertical position. 

If such a law holds for bodies of other shapes than 
spheres, it would appear that an aéroplane would have 
a much better chance of being stable in winds of great 
variety of velocities, if the resisting surfaces were all of 
the same size and shape. 

I do not know whether this case has already been 
dealt with by others, and I make the suggestion for 
what it may be worth. 

G. A. SHAKESPEAR. 

The University, Birmingham. 


The Pancreatic Treatment of Tuberculosis and Malaria. 


THERE are two points in Dr. Saleeby’s remarks upon 
p. 61 of Nature (September 18, 1913) which I should 
like to notice briefly. In my letter to you on the 
same page I did not refer to Baetzner’s brilliantly 
successful results in the treatment of tuberculosis by 
pancreatic enzymes (The Practitioner, January, 1913, 
pp- 203-219), because after his prolonged investigations 
the thing is an accomplished fact, which cannot be 
disputed by any interested in its operative treatment. 
I am neither a medical practitioner nor the apostle 
of a new faith, but merely a scientific investigator. 
| foresaw, and foretold, the complete success of this 
treatment of tuberculosis in 1907; and with the fulfil 
ment of this scientific forecast at the hands of Dr. 
M. A. Cleaves in that year and of Dr. W. Baetzner 
more recently, my concern with the matter has ended. 


! Moreover, I have taught medical students for more 


years than I care to think of, and I know how hope- 
less it is to try to teach something new of a scientific 
nature to the medical profession. : 

As to the sexual phases of the life-cycle in malaria, 
they are of no practical importance at all in the treat- 
ment of malaria by enzymes. A reference to Major 
Lamballe’s original manuscript shows that the presence 
of such sexual phases had been verified in several of 
his cases. Like all the clinical symptoms, such as in 
grave cases, delirium and coma, these sexual phases 
vanished and did not return, when the Fairchild injec- 
tions of trypsin and amylopsin were administered. 
These sexual phases, the so-called “crescents,” have a 
scientific interest, but scarcely a clinical importance, as 
Major Lamballe also recognises. The disease is not 
continued by them any more than cancer is continued 
by the cells, to which Prof. Farmer gave the name of 
‘“oametoid tissue.” Probably they are got tid of by 
the leucocytes, but, in any case, in ordinary cir- 
cumstances the pancreatic ferments would be devoid 
of action upon such sexual phases, as my experiments 
upon various non-pathogenic micro-organisms demon- 
strated (vide Beard, J., on the occurrence of dextro- 
rotatory albumins in organic nature, Biol. Ctrlblatt, 
vol. xxxiii., pp. 150-170, 1913). J. Brarp. 

8 Barnton Terrace, Edinburgh, October 1. 


Relative Productivity of Farm Crops in Different 
Countries. 

In view of the repeated statements that British 
farming is declining and that the world is threatened 
with a shortage of wheat supplies, the following 
extract from the results of an investigation into the 
facts regarding both these questions may be of 
interest. Lack of space precludes reference to the 


166 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 9, 1913 


sources of information, the statement of the results 
for all countries, details as to the method of investiga- 
tion, and so on, but the condensed tabular summary 
which follows is typical of the results as a whole :— 


— | Wheat Oats Barley Potatoes 

| | 
| (a) (4) | (€) || (a) || (2) | (4) | ©) || @| @) © 
, ft | 1'4| 3°4) 2°4]| 4°2] 6'9) 1°6 5'0) 9°4| 1°9]| 5°3| 6°8) 1°3 
United Kingdom) 2. | 1’0! 2°3) 2°4|| 3°9| 6’0, 1'6) 3°9, 7.3) 19) 4°0) 479) 12 
Ns: 0°7| 1°7| 2°4/| 3°4| 5°0| 1°5 aie} 4°7| 1°8)) 574] 4°5| 13 
SS ele SS SS SS 
be g’0/13°2| 1°5|| B'g}10°2) 1°1) -5"0 6’0) 1°2}/13°5]15 6) .x°x 
France =... »..42. | 8°1 118) r’5|| 8°7].8°3! 1’0|/° 3 ‘9. 4°5) °2||117t|1074]-0'9 
\. 167 9°8) 1'5|| 7°6| 7°9| 1’o|| 2°s| 29] 1°2||10°5| 8°6| o°9 

| | 
—||— |— | |, — —|— || | — | — 

{ ! | 
tr. |15'7|t0'7| 0°7|134°3|22°0 0°6) 25°8 1673] 0°6||14°2| 8°3/ 06 
Russia 2. |17°2|21°6) 0°7}|33°0|22"4| 0°7| 30°9 210} 0°7||24°6]16"4| 077 
3 }19°6 14 3 0°7]/32°3|22°8) 0'7| snoian7 0°7||28°0|19 7| 0°7 

| | 

yi ate Kin inenal emit eee | bares) ree ne 
I. |19°3)18°7| x°o||22"6)24°8| r| 6 7/0] 1°3]|"9°2], 5*0) 0'5 
United States ...)2. |20°5/21°6) 1°0||24'0/2°*7) 10] 5°5| 6°8| 1°2!| 8°9] 4°7] 05 
“* (5. |19°6)20°4) 1°0||24*1/2571 all 8*r 10°3) 1°3]| 8'9] 5°5| 06 

| | 

ert ee evil Sack ie | ire TS] eel ee 

| (x) | (2) | (3) |] G) | @) GF) |} @) |G) |) D}@] G@) 
weed ae si 100] 103| 113]] 100 sig | 100 106] 115]| 1co] 108) 114 


Decades—(1)= 1881-1890, (2) =1891-1900. * (3) =1901-1910. 
(a) Percentage of world’s acreage. (4) Percentage ot world’s crop. 
(c) Ratio of (4) to (@)=relative productivity per acre. 


Column (a) gives the average percentage acreage 
for the three last decades, and column (b) the average 
percentage total crop; France is typical of the 
countries which have declined, and Russia of. those 
which have improved under these heads. Column (c) 
measures relative productivity, which has been prac- 
tically constant all the world over for the three 
decades. Information is added to show the increases 
which: have taken place for the world as a whole in 
relative yield per acre. 

The end of the nineteenth century may be con- 
sidered as the close of a commercial revolution due to 
improved communications and transport, &c., and 
therefore the period under review is notably distinct 
from earlier epochs, so that the relative constancy 
of the productivity of these and other crops may be 
held to be a characteristic of this revolutionary period. 
Farming is a world business; improved results are 
common to all countries. The figures are -instruc- 
tive with reference to the threat of a world famine, 
e.g. if Russia only improved to the level of the 
United “States, there would be an increase of 6 per 
cent. in the world’s crop of wheat.’ At the ‘same time 
it becomes obvious that the British farmer. is the 
most ‘successful farmer in the world; he always 
obtains a higher: yield for each acre of land he tills. 
These are but the most important conclusions to 
which these results point; others may suggest them- 
selves to your readers. B. C. WaALLIs. 

Granville Road, North Finchley, N. 


The Elephant Trench at Dewlish—Was it Dug? 


I was not aware that it had occurred to Mr. 
Clement Reid, before it had done so to me, whether the 
Elephant Trench might have been excavated by man. 
He does not refer to this in his survey memoir on 
the Dorchester district; and so far as I can recollect 
he did not.mention it when I described the trench 
with lantern slides at the meeting of the British 
Association at Cambridge in 1904. He now states 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


| (NatuRE, Sept. 25) that he is convinced that the 
trench was due to natural agencies, and suggests that 
it was ‘‘probably wind-cut by the swirl of the fine 
dust-like quartz sand which, ‘mixed with polished 
flints, now fills the lower part.” 

For my part I cannot imagine how such a trench 
could have been formed in that manner. He says 
that he found the sides of the trench ‘curiously 
smooth, and no tool marks nor rubbings such as 
might be made by man working in the trench, or 
by wild beasts,” and also that the flint nodules 
projected into the cavity from either side as though 
the softer chalk had been scoured away. The fine 
sand which partially fills the trench is, I think, to 
all appearances wind-borne; and during the long 
interval which probably elapsed before the trench had 
become filled up -by natural agencies the surface of 
its walls would) have become weathered away, and, 
possibly abraded by the sand, leaving the courses of 
flints projecting, and completely obliterating any tool 
marks. 

Mr. Reid remarks: ‘If this sand-filled fissure is 
found to continue downwards, but is too narrow for 
a’man.to work in, it will show that the trench is not 
artificial." On the other hand, my late lamented 
friend the Rev. R. Ashington Bullen wrote to the 
Geological Magazine (July, 1910, p. 334), describing a 
pitfall to catch antelopes. It was 1o ft. deep, 2 ft. 
wide at the top, narrowing at the bottom to a few 
inches. 

I may, however, say that when I dug at the end 
of the trench on the hill-face I came to the con- 
clusion that the bottom of the trench was a flat chalk 
surface, and near the bottom I found some angular 
coarse gravel, and among it a nearly worn-down 
molar along with the polished flints. If, as Mr. Reid 
suggests, the trench was excavated by wind, which 
appears to me impossible, all the flints corresponding 
to the chalk so removed ought to lie, now, unbroken 
at the bottom, but in my notebook I find the remark 
that the flints in this gravel did not appear to have 
come ‘‘from. the chalk direct.” 

I am extremely glad that Mr. Reid’s interesting 
reply to my letter shows that I have succeeded in 
directing the attention of geologists to this, as I 
believe, important question. 

O. FisHER. 

Graveley, Huntingdon, September 26. 


REFERRING to Mr. Clement Reid’s letter on the 
origin of the Elephant Trench at Dewlish, in NaTuRE 
of September 25, on the Yorkshire wolds holes are 
not infrequently- scooped out of the chalk by what 
are locally termed ‘‘cloudbursts.’’ One such, 13 ft. 
deep, occurred in the parish of South Cave last year. 

: G. W. B. Macrurk. 

15 Bowlalley Lane, Hull, October 4. 


A New Poet of Nature. 


Reapers of The English Review must be inured to 
shocks; but among the revolutionary visions which 
its young men have seen, surely nothing more 
startling has been recorded than this, which I extract 
from a short poem entitled ‘‘ Early One Morning" :— 


‘““ Have you heard what the young moon said to me 
As I walked in the morning early? 


She lay on her back and laughed at me 
As I walked in the morning early.” 
W. D. E. 


OcTOBER 9, 1913] 


NATURE 


167 


TRAVEL IN TIBET. 

(1) |B a third volume Dr. Sven Hedin concludes 

the popular account of his Tibetan expedi- 
tion of 1905-8, of which the main instalment was 
published four years ago. The present volume 
collects “all the material for which there was no 
room” in the previous two tomes. ‘This includes 
a description of the explorer’s journey north- 
wards from the Manasarowar Lake to the source of 
the Indus, which Dr. Hedin 
was the first European 
actually to penetrate, and of 
the well-known route from 
that. lake along ‘he’ Sutlej 
Valley back to, Simla. 
Added .to this are mis- 
cellaneous extracts from the 
books of previous writers 
and travellers on a variety 
of Tibetan topics, also a 
polemical defence of the 
author’s discovery of the 
“Trans-Himalaya,” a claim 
which has been disputed by 
a writer in the Geographical 
Journal, on the ground that 
the existence of that range 
was undoubtedly known in 
a general way over a gener- 
ation ago. The _ breezy, 
rollicking narrative reflects 
the abounding enthusiasm 
of the author, and couched 
largely in dialogue form it 
reads almost like a romance, 
conveying at times the im- 
pression of a holiday romp 
rather than a rigorous jour- 
ney achieved only by the 
painful toil of man and 
beast. 

Of the scientific results, 
“which will shortly be 
issued,” it is mentioned that 
the geological specimens 
(117 in number) have 
enabled Prof. A. Hennig, of 
Lund, to say that the older 
sedimentary rocks of the 
Trans-Himalaya generally 
resemble those found on the 
northern flanks of the Hima- 
layas near Gyantse and 
Lhasa in Central Tibet. 
They consist of Jurassic 
quartzites and _ phyjllitic 
schists, with subordinate beds of © slaty 
crystalline limestone, which is so strongly meta- 
morphosed that if it did originally contain fossil 
remains these are quite destroyed. The series is 
penetrated by an intrusive formation which has 


By 
(London: Macmillan 


1 (1) ‘*Trans-Himalaya: Discoveries and Adventures in Tibet." 
Sven Hedin. Vol. iii. Pp. xv+426+plates+maps. 
and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 15s. net. 

(2) ee The Land of the Blue Poppy: Travels of a Naturalist in Eastern 
Tibet.” By F. Kingdon Ward. Pp. xii+283+xxxix+plates+s5 maps. 
(Cambridge University Press, 1913.) Price res. net. ; 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92| 


suffered metamorphosis by pressure, and therefore 
is older than the other. The eruptive formation 
is obviously part of that found in both the eastern 
and western Himalayas, and ascribed to the 
| ISocene age, and consists in the Trans-Himalaya 
| of intrusive granites, pegmatites, porphyries, &c., 
with vitrified surface lavas, basalts, and sub-aérial 
| volcanic tuffa. It is noteworthy that the Brahma- 
|putra Valley, which separates the Himalayas from 


*Fic.{1.--‘ I dangle between Heaven and the murderous Sutlej.” 


From 


“* Trans-Himalaya.” 


the Trans-Himalaya, must be considered as “a 
deeply excavated erosion-valley, and that faults 
do not play the leading part here which Oswald 
has assigned to them in his article based on Dr. 
Sven Hedin’s preliminary communications.” 
Some mistakes are noticeable in respect to the 
legends and etymologies of the names of the great 
rivers rising in the vicinity of Mount Kailas, the 
Hindu Olympus, and require emendation. They 


168 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 9, 1913 


are perhaps due to the indirect process made use 
of in interrogating the Tibetans, of which the 
author states “I spoke Jagatai Turkish with my 
men, and Rabsang translated for me_ into 
Tibetan.” Thus, we read ‘“ Manasarowar means 
“Minasa the most beautiful of lakes.’ Manasa 
means ‘created by the soul,’ for the lake was 
created by the soul of Buddha.”’ In this equation 
our author has evidently confused Brahma with 
Buddha. For there is no authentic Buddhist 
legend associating Sakya Muni or his “soul” with 
the creation of this lake; indeed, that teacher as 
an elementary part of his doctrine denied the 
existence of a soul altogether. On the other 
hand, Brahma in Hindu myth is often linked with 
this lake, doubtless because ‘“‘ Manasa,” meaning 
in Sanskrit ‘mental or spiritual,” or “ produced 
by the mind,” is an epithet of Brahma, and 
Kailas, the Olympian abode of .the other gods 
created by Brahma, adjoins this lake. To say 
that sarowar means “the most beautiful of lakes ” 
is neither literally correct nor appropriate. 
photograph of that lake is given in the present 
volume, but no one who has seen this desolate 
lake, as the writer of this note has, could think 
of calling it “most beautiful.” The word really 
means “the great lake,” or literally “the best or 
sacred lake,” but with no sense whatever of 
“beautiful.” Similarly, the Brahmaputra, the 
source of which is known to the Tibetans as “the 
river of the horse’s mouth,” is, we are told, “so 
named in honour of Buddha’s steed,’’ though, as 
a fact, neither Buddha nor his steed are denoted 
in this name, nor is there any authentic legend 
of such relationship current amongst Tibetans. 
Again, the statement that ‘‘ Singi-kamba’ 
[=‘the lion’s mouth’] the Indus, refers rather 
to the tiger than the lion,” is a mistake, as 
“Sing ’’ means only “lion,” and not tiger; and 


lions are not even yet extinct in the mid-Indus 


valley, where they are believed to have been 
formerly generally distributed. | The volume is 
enriched by numerous excellent photographs and 
sketches, which are admirably reproduced, and 
add greatly to the attractiveness of the book. 

(2) Under the title of the “Land of the Blue 
Poppy,” Mr. Ward, son of the late Professor of 
Botany at Cambridge, describes his travels on 
the Chinese border of Eastern Tibet, as a col- 
lector of decorative plants for a firm of florists. In 
this work he spent several months in rorr in the 
upper valleys of the Yangtse, Mekong, and 
Salwin, with his headquarters at the missionary 
station of ‘“A-tun-tsi” (the A-tun-tzu of the 
maps), on the north-west frontier of Yunnan. As 
a result he gathered many rare plants, including 
more than twenty new species, amongst which was 
the Meconopsis, named after him, and giving the 
title to his book; also two new voles. Although 
he displays no very intimate acquaintance with 
the writings of previous travellers in those regions, 
his narrative is pleasantly written, and contains 
some observations of general interest. 

The extensive cultivation of opium-poppy, in 
‘solid fields ” and otherwise, which he noticed in 


‘ 


No | 


the present time, when India is depriving herself 
of enormous revenue from opium solely in the 
interests of assisting China to stamp out the 
vice of opium-eating, and on the express con- 
dition that China herself ceased all cultivation of 
that drug. On one of the occasions on which Mr. 
Ward lost his way, and wandered alone for several 
days in the wilds, he ate a quantity of rhododen- 
dron corollas for their nectar, and was surprised 
to find them poisonous—forgetful of the toxic 


| Pontine honey described by Xenophon, and usually 


ascribed to rhododendron or azalea. With the ex- 
ception of R. arboreum the Himalayan species 
are generally regarded as poisonous. 

Of the Tibetan character ‘and hospitality he 


Fic. 2.—The Salween Forests in Summer, Mekong- 
Salween Divide, 8,000 feet. From ‘‘The Land 
of the Blue Poppy.” 


speaks with much enthusiasm. In the dress of 
the Tibetan men he remarks as “very curious a 
section of an elephant’s tusk threaded on to the 


| queue ’’—this doubtless is the thumb-ring of the 


Western Yunnan, is of political importance at ‘ 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


ancient bowmen, whose dress the modern Tibetan 
dandy imitates, and binds the ring on his coiled 
pigtail when not worn on the thumb on ceremonial 
occasions. Other border tribes of much ethno- 
logical interest amongst which he passed were 
Lissu, Lutzu, Minchia, “Lama,” Pe-tzu, Chu-tzu, 
and Mosso. The last-named is of especial in- 
terest as possessing an elementary hieroglyphic 
writing, somewhat like that of the Hittite, the 
origin and development of which is still unsolved, 
though specimens have been published by Captain 
Gill, Prince Henri, and Mr. Forrest. Yet our 
author makes no reference to this matter. He 


| 
i 


OcToBER 9, 1913] 


encountered several hot-springs, but unfortunately 
took no record of the temperature, nor indicated 
their location exactly, as a guide to future 
travellers desirous of making precise scientific 
observations. 

The oft-discussed question of the geological 
causation of that remarkable wrinkling of the sur- 
face of south-east Tibet into a series of parallel 
valleys, through which the great rivers rush 
southwards, is net advanced nearer to a solution 
by the vague theories indulged in in the last 
chapter. These hypotheses, which are not even 
new, are not based on examination of the actual 
rocks, and are uninformed by the many facts col- 
lected by the experts of the Indian Geological 
Survey and others. The great river of Central 


Wien | 


Fic. 3.—The Salween in the arid region, below La- 
Kor-ah. From ‘*The Land of the Blue Poppy.” 


Tibet is not usually spelt “Bramapootra” nowa- 
days. Notwithstanding its scientific deficiencies 
as “the journal of a naturalist,” the book gives a 
lively popular account of adventurous travel off 
the beaten tracks, and the numerous photographs 
convey a good idea of the country traversed. 


THE OCCURRENCE OF OIL SHALE AMONG 
THE JURASSIC ROCKS OF RAASAY AND 
SKYE.1 

HE Geological Survey of Great Britain in the 
course of their investigations in the Isle of 
Skye have discovered an oil-shale which may 
ultimately prove of economic importance, and as 


1 Communicated by the Director of the Geological Survey of Great 
Britain. 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


169 


notices of the discovery have appeared in the 
daily Press, it is desirable that the facts so far as 
they are known to the Geological Survey should 
be placed on record without further delay. The 
discovery was made by Dr. G. W. Lee, who has 
written the following account :— 

The stratigraphical position of the shale is at 


| the very base of the Great Estuarine Series, a 


group which succeeded strata containing a fauna 
of Garantiana age (high in the Inferior Oolite) 


’ 


BASALT LAVA 


Slauconitic Sandstone . 
Calcgreous Serdstons with 
fone “ marine tossils, (? Callovian) 


GREAT ESTUARINE SERIES 
Bituminous Shales, Shelly 
== Limestones and Sandstones. 


THIN SRANOPHYRE SILL 


LOWER 
OOLITE 


SANOSTONES 


Ss UPPER LIAS SHALES 
200. 


==ai IRONSTONE 


MIDDLE LIAS SANDSTONE 


1 SEA LEVEL 


Diagram section illustrating the sequence of the Jurassic 
rocks below Din Caan, Isle of Raasay. 


and is overlain by Kellaways Rock. The shale 
itself yields fossils. They include Entomostraca, 
a flattened lamellibranch, and plant remains. 
Since it rests immediately on the marine Garan- 
tiana clay, it follows that the incoming of estuarine 
conditions must have been a sudden one. 

The shale is brownish in colour, fine in grain, 
gives a wooden sound under the hammer, and has 
a brown streak. It is tough and resists dis- 
integration by weathering, a character which 


170 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 9, 1913 


distinguishes it from the bituminous shales found 
throughout the Estuarine Series, all of which 
crumble into small fragments. It is so far known 
only from natural exposures, where through 
weathering, it assumes a lilac or yellowish 
coating. 

The thickness of the seam at the outcrops may 
be taken té be from seven to ten feet, but its 
passage into the overlying sediments is gradual. 

The samples so far analysed were much 
weathered, so that we are not yet in possession 
of exact data concerning the yield of oil and bye- 
products from the fresh shale. That the fresh 
shale might be expected to yield more than 
weathered portions seems probable, but to what 


FEET 


LOWER PORTION OF 
GREAT 


* | ESTUARINE SERIES 


‘| LOWER 
OOLITE 
| SANDSTONES 


2001" 


ER LIAS SHALES 
| Lilie Bnbag Oolitic Limestone 


MIDDLE LIAS SANDSTONE 
SEA LEVEL 


Diagrammatic section illustrating the sequence of the 
Jurassic rocks in the cliff between Holm and Prince 
Chailes’s Cave, Isle of Skye. 


extent is not known, and it is on that that the 
industrial possibilities of the find depend. 

A sample from the outcrop where the shale was 
first detected in Raasay gave 12 gallons of crude 
oil per ton of shale, with 6'2 Ibs. of sulphate of 
ammonia, which is equivalent to at least 12 lbs. in 
a works retort. 

A compound sample from the Skye coast be- 
tween Holm and Prince Charles’ Cave yielded 
12°8 gallons of crude oil per ton, and 7-4 lbs. of 
sulphate of ammonia. Mr. D. R. Steuart, who 
kindly undertook these tests, states that the 
samples were so weathered that he did not expect 
to get any -oil. Consequently these results in- 
dicate that the shale is worth further investiga- 
tion. 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


Before the period of denudation which removed 
so much of the Scottish Jurassic rocks, the shale 
probably extended over a largé area. Still, the 
portions that escaped denudation are not incon- 
siderable. In Raasay the field occupies an oblong 
area stretching from Dun Caan northwards to the 
boundary fault which throws the Mesozoic rocks 
against the Torridonian. It is three miles long, 
with an average width of seven-eighths of a mile, 
which diminishes southwards. The strata are not 
folded, but have a dip of about 10 degrees to the 
west. 


In the Portree district of Skye there was. once. 


ofOLM 
ISLAND 


Sketch map showing the outcrops of the Oil Shale. 
Oil Shale. 


=—<—== Oil Shale, where burnt by contact action of igneous rocks. 
Faults, 


an extensive field, of which much has been de- 
stroyed by the contact action of intrusive rocks, 
The crop has been traced from Ollach—five miles. 
south of Portree—to the Holm burn—five miles 
north of Portree. The outcrop south of Portree 
shows much alteration from heat, except between 
the Tom cave and the Clach Dubh. North of 
Portree the destructive action of the intrusions is 
felt as far as Prince Charles’ cave, but between 
that point and the Holm burn—one and a half 
miles further north—the shale has escaped the 
action of igneous rocks. There is no inland ex- 
posure of the oil shale horizon, which is every- 
where covered by higher beds; consequently the 


OcToBER 9, 1913] 


probable extent of the field towards the west 
cannot be estimated. But the dip being low the 
shale would be within practicable reach for some 
distance inland. In the cliff section between 
Bearreraig and Upper Tote, that is north of the 
point just considered, the shale facies is replaced 
by a sandstone facies. 


THE ADDRESSES AT THE MEDICAL 
SCHOOLS. 


ap Be first of October is the opening day of the 

winter session of our medical schools; and 
in many of them it_is made the occasion of an 
address, given by some person of high authority. 
The addresses this year include a wide range of 
subjects. Mr. Handley, at the Middlesex Hos- 
pital, gave a very pleasant discourse on the “ rene- 
gades of medicine,” the men who have forsaken 
medicine for some other profession, not without 
advantage to themselves and us—Keats, Gold- 
smith, Bridges, Huxley, Livingstone, and many 
more. It is a new subject, and worth working 
out; but we are not sure that Mr. Handley got 
hold of the right end of the moral. Sir William 
Osler at St. George’s, Dr. Hunter at Charing 
Cross, and Prof. Sherrington at Leeds, spoke 
on certain problems of medical education. Sir 
John McFadyean, at the Royal Veterinary 
College, spoke on the working of the new Tubercu- 
losis Order of the Board of Agriculture. He 
stated that the number of milking or dairy herds 
in England and Scotland free from tuberculosis 
was practically negligible; and he urgently 
advised the owners of valuable pedigree herds, 
as a matter of their own profit, to eradicate the 
disease among their animals. He also advised 
that contagious abortion in cows, and Johnes’s 
disease, should be brought under the Contagious 
Diseases of Animals Act. 

Two of the October addresses this year are of 
especial interest—one, at the London School of 
Medicine for Women, by Sir Charles Lukis, 
Director-General of the Indian Medical Service; 
the other, at St. Mary’s, by Sir John Hewett, 
sometime Lieut.-Governor of the United Pro- 
vinces. These two addresses, by men of profound 
experience and unquestioned authority, should 
be read carefully by all who want to know what 
the medical profession is accomplishing, and what 
it hopes to accomplish, for the peoples of India. 

Sir Charles Lukis, speaking to women students, 
appealed to them for personal service. His 
appeal, full of wisdom and of sympathy, ought 
not to fail: for the work done in India by 
medical women is some of the very best work 
in the world. He spoke, especially, of the im- 
perative need of more teaching and more accept- 
ance of ordinary rules of sanitation, not only for 
the prevention of the spread of malaria, plague, 
and tuberculosis, but for the prevention of food- 
infection, and water-infection. It is our medical 
women who alone can get the women of India 
to help in this good work. “Ladies who have 
spent all their lives in England are apt to regard 
their Indian sisters as being very downtrodden 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


| 


U7 


and oppressed. This is a grave mistake. Out 
of doors the man is lord of creation, but once he 
is inside the house he is absolutely controlled by 
his wife and mother in all matters concerning 
domestic economy and the family life. Indeed, 
I know of no country where the woman is more 
absolutely the mistress of the house than she is 
in India; and I am convinced that we shall never 
make any real headway in promoting the know- 
ledge of domestic and personal hygiene until we 
have convinced the women of India as to its 
necessity, and they have thrown their powerful 
influence into the scale. Here the medical man 
is useless—the purdah bars the way, and it is 
to the medical woman that we must look.” Sir 
Charles Lukis went on to speak of infant mortality 
in India, and of its relation to early marriage, 
and to the native methods of midwifery. Then 
he described fully the improved scheme for a 
women’s medical service for India, and the plan 
for a medical college for women to be established 
in Delhi. Every word of his address is worth 
reading. 

So is every word of Sir John Hewett’s address 
on the work of the medical profession in India. 
He spoke first of the improved health in the 
Army, and in the jail population. “The mortality 
among the wives of soldiers has been reduced to 
one-third of what it formerly was, and that among 
their children to one-half.” The death-rate among 
the native troops has come down from more than 
20 per thousand in 1871-1880 to less than 7 per 
thousand in 1911. The death-rate among the jail 
population has come down from 71 per thousand 
in 1831-1856 to 18 or 19 per thousand in 1911. 
Sir John Hewett then spoke, with strong feeling, 
of the errors of anti-vaccination and anti-vivi- 
section. Truly, in view of the facts of India, 
they are worse than errors. “It is surely calami- 
tous that the opponents of vaccination in England 
should have set themselves to make the people 
of India hostile to a process which has brought 
them so much benefit.” To the anti-vivisectionist, 
we commend Sir John Hewett’s statement of the 
results of the protective treatment against plague, 
typhoid, and hydrophobia in India. These results 
are not only a final verdict against anti-vivisec- 
tion; they are a magnificent record of the saving 
of the lives of men, women, and children. 


SCOTTISH ORNITHOLOGY IN_ 1912.1 

7 report supplies in an epitomised form 

the results of the activities of Scottish 
ornithologists during the past year. It is a com- 
prehensive and well-arranged booklet of ninety- 
six pages, and is both useful and important, since 
it affords much information hitherto unpublished, 
as well as a résumé of all that has appeared in 
serial literature during the period covered. A 
pleasing feature is to be found in the fact that 
these well-known lady ornithologists have them- 
selves contributed materially to the year’s opera- 


1 Report on Scottish Ornithology in 1912, including Migration. By 
Leonora Jeffrey Rintoul and Evelyn V. Baxter, hon. members of the British 
Ornithologists’ Union. (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd; London: Gurney 
and Jackson. Price 1s 6d. net. 


172 


tions by their investigations made during a two 
months’ residence in the lighthouse at the Isle 
of May—a famous bird observatory situated in 
the North Sea off the mouth of the Firth of Forth. 
There are also contributions from nearly one 
hundred observers, posted between the Muckle 
Flugga (the northernmost limit of the British 
Isles) and the shores of the Solway and Tweed. 
This vast amount of material has been arranged 
under the following headings: birds new to Scot- 
land; uncommon visitors and species new to 
faunal areas; extension of breeding range; 


hybrids; summer and nesting; winter; ringing; | 


plumage; food, habits, &c.; and migration. 

Much that is interesting is recorded under 
all these headings, but the special feature of the 
report lies in the wealth of data from the numerous 
islands—the most important, in some respects, of 
all bird stations. 

These insular records relate mainly to the spring 
and autumn passage-movements of those feathered 
voyagers which traverse our shores when en 
voute between their accustomed northern summer 
haunts beyond our isles, and their winter retreats 
lying to the south of them. These birds form 
by far the most numerous class of migrants that 
visit the British area. At such stations, especi- 
ally the northern stations, the comings and going's 
of these travellers are to be observed free from 
the complications that arise on the mainland 
through the presence of birds of the same species 
which are simply local natives or engaged in 
local movements. In addition, the recent atten- 
tion devoted to island stations has resulted in 
the garnering of a remarkable crop of records 
on the occurrence of rare visitors, some of them 
mere waifs, while others formerly considered such 
have unexpectedly proved to be annual in their 
appearances—among others the yellow-browed 
warbler, red-spotted bluethroat, little bunting, 
ortolan bunting, and grey-headed wagtail. : 

The year 1912 was remarkable for the number 
of rare species detected at Scottish stations. 
These included the black chat, northern bullfinch, 
scarlet grosbeaks, little buntings, Richard’s pipit, 
red-breasted flycatchers, Blyth’s reed warblers, 
icterine warblers, barred warblers, snowy owl, 
Tengmalm’s owl, broad-billed sandpiper, Tem- 
minck’s stints, little bustard, &c., the visits of 
which are duly recorded along with the particulars 
relating to their occurrence. 

In conclusion Scottish ornithologists have every 
reason to be satisfied with the results of the 
year’s investigations and may congratulate 
themselves on the able and excellent manner in 
which these results are set forth in the report. 

WEG: 


NOTES. 

A rew days ago (October 2) the daily Press pub- 
lished sensational paragraphs to the effect that Sir 
Frederick Treves had announced, at the Radium 
Institute, ‘“‘a complete revolution in the future of 
radium.”” When analysed, the ‘revolution’? amounts 
to little more than a statement that the Radium Insti- 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[October 9, 1913 


tute has begun to collect radium emanation in sealed 
glass tubes, and to issue the tubes to doctors for the 
treatment of their patients. It was assumed by the 
literary young men who write the leaders and notes 
in the daily papers that radium emanation had just 
been discovered instead of being known and named 
for ten years or more, so they let their enthusiasm 
overstep the bounds of their knowledge. Even the 
method referred to by Sir F. Treves is not new; it 
was published in The Lancet on December 11, 1909, 
p. 1742 (‘On the Use of Radium for Local Applica- 
tion within the Body,” by Dr. Alfred C. Jordan), and 
this paper is quoted and fully abstracted by Dr. 
Dawson Turner in his book on ‘‘ Radium: its Physics 
and Therapeutics”’ (Bailli¢re, Tindall and Cox, 1911), 
pp. 27 and 28. In The Lancet the glass tube con- 
taining the emanation was directed to be enclosed in 
a tube of lead ‘‘compo”’ of 1 mm. thickness, and 
this in its turn in a length of rubber tubing. Of 
course, these tubes must be used at once, for the 
emanation decays to one-half its initial strength in 
three and a half days. A tube of initial strength equal 
to 10 mg. of radium may be placed in contact with 
a tumour, and left to ‘“‘decay”’ there. It will be 
understood that emanation used in this way (in sealed 
tubes surrounded by 1 mm. of lead) depends for its 
action on its y rays and its hardest 8 rays, the glass 
stopping all the a radiation, while the lead absorbs 
most of the 8 rays. Very different is the action of 
free radium emanation, as in radio-active waters. In 
the latter case the « particles are able to bombard the 
tissues at close quarters; the action of the 8 and 
radiation then becomes negligible, possessing no more 
than one-hundredth part of the energy of the « 
radiation. Great care must be used in applying 
a radiation to the tissues, for the destructive action is 
most pronounced. Good results have been obtained 
with radium in many diseases, but the hopes of the 
public as well as the medical profession are centred 
round the treatment of cancer. Even in this dreaded 
disease many favourable results have been reported 
both with radium and with the Roéntgen rays, but 
unfortunately disappointments are far more frequent 
than cures. 


THE year 1914 is the centenary of the birth of Sir 
John Lawes, and 1917 is that of Sir Henry Gilbert; 
and it is proposed by the Society for Extending the 
Rothamsted Experiments to raise the sum of 6o000!. 
by public subscription for the purpose of erecting a 
suitable commemoration laboratory at the Rothamsted 
Experimental Station. It is understood that if 6oool. 
is raised in this way, a further grant of 6o0ol. can 
be obtained, making a total of 12,0001. altogether, 
for which sum an adequate building could be put up. 
The rapid development of agricultural chemistry and 
bacteriology, and particularly of the special branches 
associated with Rothamsted—the composition of crops 
and the study of the soil in relation to the plant— 
has necessitated further increases in the laboratory 
staff, and has attracted a number of voluntary 
workers. For all these more modern accommodation 
is required than can be obtained in the older part of 
the present buildings. The work of Lawes and 


: Gilbert not only laid the foundations of agricultural 


eet Md a isd 


OcToBER 9, 1913] 


NATURE 


173 


Pare) 


chemistry as a science in this country, but did much 
to improve British agriculture and raise it to its 
present high level. It also played a great part in 
developing the artificial fertiliser industry, which has 
remained an essentially British industry and has now 
assumed vast dimensions. The whole country has 
gained enormously through the work of these two 
men. It is therefore felt that the appeal should be 
national, and several committees have been formed 
for the purpose. Men of science have many calls 
on them, but it is hoped, nevertheless, that the sym- 
pathy which everyone feels with the Rothamsted 
work will manifest itself by practical assistance 
towards its development. Subscriptions should be 
sent to the Secretary, Rothamsted Experimental 
Station, Harpenden, Herts. 


Ir is with great regret that we record the dis- 
appearance of Dr. Rudolph Diesel from the G.E.R. 
steamer Dresden on her voyage from Antwerp to 
Harwich on the night of September 29; the circum- 
stances are such as to leave no hope of his being 
alive. Dr. Diesel will be remembered as the inventor 
of the oil engine which bears his name. Born in 
Paris in 1858, of German parentage, his training in- 
cluded courses at the Augsburg technical schools and 
at the Munich Technical College. His first published 
description of the Diesel engine appeared in 1893; 
aided financially by Messrs. Krupp and others, the 
next few years were spent in arduous efforts to realise 
the principle of his engine in a commercially suc- 
cessful machine. The difficulties to be overcome were 
very great. In the earliest attempt, compression of 
the air was effected in the motor cylinder and the 
fuel injected direct. This engine exploded with its 
first charge and nearly killed the inventor. The 
modern Diesel engine compresses the air in the motor 
cylinder to a pressure above 400 lb. per square inch, 
during which process the air becomes hot enough to 
ignite the fuel. At the end of compression, the fuel is 
injected by means of a separate air supply at a pres- 
sure higher than that in the cylinder. Nothing of 
the nature of an explosion occurs in the cylinder; the 
oil burns as it is injected, and, as the piston is moving 
outwards at the same time, the pressure does not 
rise to any extent. The fuel consumption of these 
engines is remarkable, being roughly one-half of any 
other type of oil motor. Engines both of a two- 
stroke cycle and of a four-stroke cycle are now being 
developed by many firms both on the Continent and 
in Britain. In Dr. Diesel’s opinion the two-stroke 
engine would probably be the standard type for marine 
purposes. Marine Diesel engines of very large power 
have not yet been constructed, but many important 
experiments in this direction are being made. Dr. 
Diesel’s loss will be regretted by men of science on 
account of his efforts to interpret practically the Carnot 
ideal cycle, and by engineers on account of the im- 
mense strides which his untiring energy and indomit- 
able pluck have made possible. 


Sir Witiram Curistiz, K.C.B., F.R.S., formerly 
Astronomer-Royal, has been elected Master of the 
Clockmakers’ Company. 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


Tue death is announced, at fifty-four years of age, 
of Dr. W. Carnegie Brown, joint secretary of the 
Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and author 
of papers on malaria and diseases of the tropics. 


Ir is announced in The Athenaeum that in con- 
sequence of the efforts of Dr. C. Holder and others, 
extending over many years, the Legislature of Cali- 
fornia has constituted the island of Santa Catalina a 
fish refuge. In future there will be no netting within 
three miles of the shore of the island. 


THE first ordinary meeting of the Medical Society of 
London for the session 1913-14 will be held on 
Monday next, October 13, when the new president, 
Sir David Ferrier, F.R.S., will deliver his inaugural 
address. The Lettsomian lectures of the society will 
be given on February 2 and 16 and March 2 by Dr. 
F. M. Sandwith, who will treat of the subject of 
dysentery. 


AccorDING to The Electrical Review, a wireless 
receiving installation has been set up in the cathedral 
at Florence by the director of the Florence Observa- 
tory. All the parts of the equipment are within an 
enclosed space, the antennz being within the build- 
ing. Messages have been received from Paris, 
Toulon, and Madrid, the efficiency of the receivers 
being, it is stated, only slightly less than if in the 
open air. 


A PUBLIC meeting in connection with the ninth 
quinquennial festival of the Royal Albert Institution, 
Lancaster, will be held at Lancaster on Tuesday, 
October 21, when the following addresses will be 
given :—‘‘ The Feeble-minded : Historical Retrospect,” 
Sir T. Clifford Allbutt, K.C.B., F.R.S.; ‘‘The Future 
of the Royal Albert Institution,” Sir J. Crichton 
Browne, F.R.S.; ‘‘The After-care of the Feeble- 
minded,” Dr. C. H. Bond. 


Tue fourth exhibition of models, tools, and scientific 
apparatus, organised by the proprietors of The Model 
Engineer, will be held at the Royal Horticultural 
Hall, Westminster, S.W., on October 10-18. Special 
rooms are to be devoted to wireless telegraphy in 
operation, and to aéroplane models of all kinds, while 
a completely equipped workshop will be manned by 
members of the London Society of Model and Experi- 
mental Engineers, who will give demonstrations of 
model-making and workshop operations. 


A CONFERENCE of members of the Museums Associa- 
tion and others interested in similar work is to be 
held at the Warrington Museum on Thursday after- 
noon, October 30, for the purpose of discussing sub- 
jects of common interest to those concerned in the 
work of museums, art galleries, and kindred institu- 
tions. Offers of papers or suggestions of suitable 
subjects for discussion should be sent to Mr. C. 
Madeley, director of the Warrington Municipal 
Museum. 


A DEMONSTRATION of the results of his researches 
into the pathology of rabies will be given on Monday 
next to the Royal Society of Medicine by Dr. Hideyo 
Noguchi, of the Rockefeller Institute. Dr. Noguchi 
proposes to show pure cultures of various pathogenic 


174 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 9, 1913 


and saprophytic spirochetze; to demonstrate the 
presence of treponema pallidum in the brain in cases 
of general ‘paralysis; to show experimental general 
paralysis in rabbits; and to give a demonstration of 
cultural studies of the virus of rabies. 


IN response to numerous requests, it has been 
decided to defer until October 31 the closing of the 
Historical Medical Museum, referred to in our issue 
of July 3 (vol. xci., p. 456). During the month of 
October the exhibition will remain open from Io a.m. 
to 6 p.m. daily, and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Satur- 
days. After this date it will be closed for a few months 
for re-arrangement as a permanent museum. It is 
proposed to reopen the museum in its permanent form 
in the spring of next year. 


A MODERATELY strong earthquake was felt in the 
neighbourhood of the Panama Canal during the night 
of October 1-2, and has evidently caused some concern 
with regard to the safety of the canal from future 
shocks. It would seem, however, that there is little 
need for anxiety. Though other adjoining districts 
are frequently visited by destructive earthquakes, the 
isthmian zone itself is singularly free from such dis- 
turbances. Moreover, as Milne and Omori have 
shown, earthquake vibrations are much less intense 
in excavations than on the surface of the surrounding 
land. 


Ir is announced in Science that the Walker prizes 
in natural history of the Boston Society of Natural 
History for the present year have been awarded as 
follows :—The first prize of 1oo' dollars to Dr. R. A. 
Spaeth for a paper on an experimental study concern- 
ing the chromatophores of fishes, and the second of 
50 dollars to Prof. O. D. von Engeln for a paper on 
the effects of continental glaciation on agriculture. 
Prizes for 1914 and 1915 will be awarded for original 
and unpublished research work in any biological or 
geological subject. Competing essays must reach the 
secretary of the society on or before April 1 next. 


Major Barrett-HamiLton, accompanied by Mr. 
Stammwitz, one of the taxidermists on the staff of 
the British Museum (Nat. Hist.), sailed in a whaler 
on Saturday last for South Georgia, on a mission 
from the Colonial Office, to report on the whaling 
stations leased by the British Government to a Nor- 
wegian firm. The species hunted at the South 
Georgian stations are chiefly rorquals, of which the 
slaughter is reported to be very heavy;, and we under- 
stand that the main object.of the mission is to ascer- 
tain whether the whales stand in danger of extermina- 
tion. The taxidermist will endeavour to obtain speci- 
mens (not, of course, entire whales) for the museum. 


Mr. Atvin Lancpon Cosurn’s exhibition of camera 
pictures, which is to be seen at the Goupil Gallery, 
5 Regent Street, until October 25, is well worth a visit 
from anyone interested in artistic photography. The 
series of pictures of the Grand Canyon exhibit this 
remarkable region in a new light. Mr. Coburn’s 
photographs, all enlargements from quarter-plate 
negatives, are as far apart from Hayden’s well-known 
topographical drawings as could well be imagined; 
the latter faithfully delineate the grandeur of the vast 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


spaces and lofty walls of the great valley by delicacy 
and accuracy of line and by their panoramic outlook. 
Mr. Coburn, limited by his apparatus to a smaller | 
field, conveys the same sensations of vastness by his 
artistic use of atmosphere and the great shadows cast 
by hill and cloud. Clouds indeed are made the most 
of in all these pictures, and No. 44, ‘‘The Cloud- 
burst,” is not only a striking photograph, but a 
valuable record of this phenomenon. 


Ar the recent International Congress of Pharmacy 
held at the Hague, a proposal to form an international — 
pharmacopeeial bureau was discussed, and a commis- 
sion was appointed to consider the question, and to 
submit to the International Pharmaceutical Federa- 
tion at an early date a scheme for the establishment 
of such a bureau. The commission is composed of 
seven members, representing respectively Great 
Britain, the United States, Germany, France, Hol- 
land, Belgium, and Switzerland; most of the members 
are associated with the revision of their national 
pharmacopceias, the English representative being Prof. 
H. G. Greenish, joint editor of the ‘ British Pharma- 
copeeia,’”’ and the American, Prof. J. P. Remington, 
editor of the ‘“‘ United States Pharmacopeeia.” As the 
outcome of the deliberations of such a strong com- 
mittee, a useful plan may be expected. Among the 
duties of such a bureau as that proposed would be the 
collection and examination of all literature relating to 
pharmacopeeial revision and the experimental in- 
vestigation of new drugs and preparations, and no 
doubt the influence of the bureau: would tend to en- 
courage the work already commenced in the direction 
of the unification of pharmacopeeias. 


The South African Journal of Science for Sepeaee 
being. the organ of the South African Association for 
the Advancement of Science, reports the business pro- 
ceedings of the meeting of the association held at 
Lourenco Marques in July last, under the presidency 
of Dr. A. W. Roberts. The following officers were 
elected for 1913-14 :—President, Prof. R. Marloth; 
vice-presidents, Prof. L. Crawford, Mr. S: Evans, Dir. 
W. Johnson, and Mr. A. F. Williams; general secre- 
taries, Dr. C. F. Juritz and Mr. H. E. Wood; general 
treasurer, Mr. A. Walsh. Invitations to hold the next 
annual meeting were received from the mayors and 
councils of both Kimberley and Pretoria; and the 
final decision as to the place was left to the council. 
A resolution was passed ‘‘that the Government of the 
Union be asked to pass legislation declaring that 
meteorites are Government property, and when found 
should be delivered to the nearest magistrate, for 
transmission to the nearest museum under Government 
control.’ The sixth award of the South Africa Medal, 
together with a grant of 50l., was made to Dr. A. W. 
Rogers, assistant director of the Geological Survey of 
the Union, in recognition of his geological work in 
the Cape Province. In connection with the grant of 
tool. made to Dr. A. W. Roberts by the association 
in 1905 for the reduction of his variable star observa- 
tions, Dr. Roberts reported that he has. had . the 
observations, some 60,000 in number, reduced, copied 
in dulplicate, and indexed. The question of printing 
has, however, been a difficulty. 


OcToBER 9, 1913] 


NATURE 


Tue Board of Agriculture and Fisheries has issued 
a ‘Horses (Importation and Transit) Order of 1913” 
in accordance with powers conferred by the Diseases 
of Animals Acts, 1894 to 1911. The Order came into 
force on October 1; it provides for the proper ac- 
commodation of horses, asses, and mules on all 
vessels on which such animals are carried to or from 
any port in Great Britain, and for the proper con- 
struction of railway trucks used for conveying such 
animals in Great Britain. Provision is made for the 
proper feeding and watering at places of unloading 
and during transit. It is made illegal to convey any 
horse, ass, or mule by boat or train if, in the opinion 
of an inspector of the Board and notified by him, the 
animal cannot, owing to infirmity, illness, injury, 
fatigue, or any other cause, be so carried without un- 
necessary suffering. .The above regulations, together 
with instructions as to disinfection, &c., have all been 
provided for by previous Orders, which have been 
revoked and re-enacted in the present Order. The 
principal reason for the present Order is to provide 
the following most necessary amendment, namely, 
that horses, asses, and mules brought to Great Britain 
from abroad are required henceforth to be accom- 
panied by a veterinary certificate of freedom from 
symptoms of glanders (including farcy), epizootic 
lymphangitis, ulcerative lymphangitis, dourine, horse- 
pox, sarcoptic mange, psoroptic mange, influenza, 
ringworm, or strangles, instead of as heretofore from 
symptoms of glanders (including farcy) only. 


WE have to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of 
a pamphlet issued by the Department of Lands and 
Survey, Victoria, on ‘various methods of destroying 
rabbits and other ‘‘ vermin” employed in that colony, 
and also containing the regulations with regard to 
fences of wire-netting. 


Tue National Equine Defence League has issued a 
fourth edition of a pamphlet on docking and nicking 
horses. The fact that Parliament has passed a law, 
to come into operation on January 1, 1915, making 
the practice of ‘docking "’ horses illegal, and that the 
purchase of docked remounts for the army is to be 
discontinued as soon as practicable, seems to render 
the pamphlet somewhat superfluous—at any rate, in 
this country. 


WE have been favoured with an extract from Neue 
Weltanschaung for 1913, Heft 913 (pp. 321-332), in 
which Dr. W. Breitenbuch directs attention to the 
fact that the present year is the jubilee (fiftieth year) 
of Prof. Ernst Haeckel’s work on evolution. The 
article includes a chronological account of the learned 
professor’s studies during that long period, with brief 
notes on the numerous memoirs and works which have 
made his name famous. 


To the series of biographical memoirs issued by the 
National Academy of Sciences, Washington, Prof. 
H. F. Osborn has contributed an exceedingly interest- 
ing account of the life and work of Prof. Joseph 
Leidy, the founder of vertebrate palzontology in 
America, and the last great naturalist of the type 
‘who made the entire subject of zoology their study, 
and published papers and works of permanent value 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92| 


175 


in almost every branch. That such encyclopzdic 
knowledge and broad grasp of the whole field of 
natural history can, as his biographer remarks, never 
reappear, is a matter for regret, as. the specialised 
lines on which zoology is now, from necessity, studied 
cannot fail, in many cases at any rate, to result in 
narrowness of view. Although his study of the 
rhizopods was sufficient of itself to establish a great 
reputation, Leidy will chiefly be remembered as a 
palzontologist, and especially by his descriptions of 
Poébrotherium and the so-called oreodonts, or 
“ruminating hogs,’’ which paved the way for the dis- 
covery of the phylogeny of the camels and other 
artiodactyle ungulates. 


To vol. vii., part 2, of Annotationes Zoologicae Japon- 
enses Mr. B. Aoki contributes a list of Japanese and 
Formosan mammals. The island of Saghalien is also 
stated to come within the scope of the list, but no 
mention is made in the introduction that Korea 
is likewise included, although in the text we 
find (p. 272) a Korean shrew. On the _ other 
hand, Korea is not in the range of the tiger 
(p. 312), although the animal abounds in that country. 
The total number of forms, inclusive of subspecies, is 
197. If trustworthy, the identification of three foxes 
with American, rather than with Asiatic or European, 
races is of considerable interest; but it may be noted 
that one of these races—the black or silver fox (Vulpes 
pennsylvanicus argentatus)—is not recognised as such 
in Mr. G. S. Miller’s list of North American mam- 
mals (1912). In a footnote on p. 317 ‘ Arctocyonide"’ 
should be ‘‘Arctoidea+Cynoidea.’"’ Mammals _col- 
lected in Korea form the subject of an article by 
Messrs. Allen and Andrews in Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. 
Hist., vol. xxxii. (pp. 427-36). In connection with the 
above may be noted a paper by Messrs. Jordan and 
Thompson on fishes from the island of Shikoku, 
Japan, published as No. 2011 of the Proceedings of 
the U.S. National Museum. 


Tue Proceedings of the South London Entomo- 
logical and Natural History Society for the past year 
contain matter of much interest, and give proof of 
continued activity on the part of the members of this 
well-known association of naturalists. Mr, A. E. 
Tonge’s presidential address, delivered at the begin- 
ning of the present year, includes some excellent 
observations on the external characters of British 
lepidopterous ova. Mr. R. Adkin’s communication on 
the subject of varietal names is marked by strong 
common sense, and the same may be said of his paper 
on the labelling of entomological specimens—a matter 
that was often neglected by the naturalists of a former 
generation, to the detriment of many results of their 
labours. Mr. A. E. Gibbs’s paper on the genus 
Ccenonympha gave occasion for some interesting ex- 
hibits of the local variation to which species of that 
genus are subject. A useful account, well illustrated 
by photographs and drawings, of the British species 
of Forficulodea is contributed by Mr. W. J. Lucas. 
Perhaps the most important of the papers printed in 
extenso is Mr. C. J. Gahan’s excellent memoir on 
mimicry in the Coleoptera. The author is a well- 
known authority on this order, and the great extent 


176 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 9, 1913 


of his special knowledge enables him to treat the sub- 
ject in a comprehensive and convincing manner. It is 
noteworthy to find that he considers it ‘‘ hopeless to try 
to explain the facts of mimicry in any other way than 
as the result of natural selection.”’ 
the field excursions and the discussions held at the 
meetings contain some valuable records, and the 
volume as a whole furnishes good evidence of the 
excellent work that may be done by local -societies, 
such as the present, in encouraging an intelligent 
interest in the objects of natural history. 


Petermann’s Mitteilungen for September contains 
a characteristic portrait of the late Prof. H. Credner, 
the well-known geologist of Leipzig. Dr. K. Andrée 
discusses the important question of the correlation 
of sedimentary rocks with conditions of deposition, 
as a guide in the formation of paleogeographic 
maps. 

Mr. C. A. Corron, of Wellington, N.Z., publishes 
a paper on the physiography of the Middle Clarence 
Valley, New Zealand (Geographical Journal, vol. 
xlii., p. 225), in which the influence of Prof. W. M. 
Davis is apparent in the lucid illustrations of local 
earth-structure and surface features. The author 
contests Park’s view that an ice-sheet passed across 
the district, which lies in the north-east of the 
south island. 


Messrs. W. Hanns, A. Ruhl, H. Spethmann, and 
H. Waldbaur, who accompanied Prof. W. M. Davis 
on a European tour in 1912, have published ‘“‘ Eine 
geographische Studienreise durch das _ westliche 
Europa’’ (Leipzig: Teubner, price 2.40 marks), a 
brochure which should well illustrate modern methods 
of investigation. The regions selected include Snow- 
donia, Cornwall, central France, and the famous 
Kirchet of Meiringen. 


Tue Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan 
for May contains, inter alia, a useful article on the 
amount of evaporation of water, by Mr. Y. Horiguti, 
in which he gives some results of his investigation 
of the subject with a circular atmometer 8 in. in 
diameter, 4 in. in depth, and a small layer of water, 
the instrument being freely exposed to wind and sun- 
» shine. The determination of evaporation is a very 
uncertain operation, and in a recent essay (Strachan, 
“Basis of Evaporation’’) it is noted that the methods 
hitherto tried with tanks have been more or less 
failures, although, with the assistance of theory, 
better results ought eventually to be obtained. Many 
formulz by well known men of science already exist, 
and Mr. Horiguti has added another to the number. 
The result of his investigations shows that his for- 
mula, together with others referred to, will fairly 
well represent evaporation in the shade, but that in 
the open air this is not the case. He concludes that 
‘there remains an ample space for further studies.” 


In 1881 a MS. known as the Bakhshdali, from a 
village of that name in the Peshawar district, was 
discovered. If the view of Dr. Hoernle be accepted, 
that it belongs to the third or fourth century a.p., it 
would be of unique value as pushing back the mathe- 
matical knowledge of the Hindus to a date much 
earlier than has hitherto been admitted. The question 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


The reports of | 


of date has been reopened by Mr. G. R. Kaye in © 
vol. viii., No. 9, of the Proceedings Asiatic Society — 
of Bengal for 1912. After 4 careful review of its 
contents he arrives at the conclusion that it is later ; 
than the time of Brahmagupta, or even later than 
Bhaskara. ‘‘The literary form and the mathematical 
form of the manuscript point to a comparatively late 
period; the script is not ancient; the notation used 
and the rules and examples have nothing ancient 
about them, and my general conclusion is that the 
manuscript was not written much before the twelfth 
century a.D. It may have been an adaptation of a 
more ancient work, but it is certainly not a faithful 
copy of any work composed much before the twelfth 
century.” It will be interesting to await Dr. 
Hoernle’s reply to this communication. 


In the Proceedings of the Tokyo Mathematico- 
Physical Society (2), vii., 5, Mr. S. Yokota gives an_ 
analytical solution of the stress distribution in a 
riveted plate due to a simple push applied to a rivet, 
the surfaces being smooth. The lines of principal 
stress are plotted. 


In addition to the usual lists of students and degree 
proceedings, the Johns Hopkins University Circular 
contains interesting mathematical notes edited by 
Prof. Frank Morley. Mr. J. E. Rowe, in a note on 
Fermat’s classical theorem, shows that the sum of 
two powers of integers cannot be the same power of 
another integer (excluding, of course, the case of 
second powers) unless the index is greater than 100 
and the largest integer greater than the twenty-ninth 
power of 10; and further, considering next the two 
types in which the greatest integer is odd or even 
respectively, the author says, ‘Also it is shown that 
one-half of all possible solutions of each of the two 
types just described are impossible” (!). In a note 
on self-dual rational quartics, Mr. L. E. Wear shows 
that the only quartic curves which reciprocate into 
themselves are the limacon and the obvious case of 
two conics. 


Pror. E. B. Witson, writing in the July Bulletin 
of the American Mathematical Society on the unifica- 
tion of vector notations, expresses a doubt whether 
the several steps which have been taken in this direc- 
tion recently have been steps ‘backward or forward, 
sideways or up in the air.” The committee appointed . 
at Rome in 1908 has not yet presented a report, so that 
not much of a step in any direction can be attributed to 
it. There has been great activity in the use of vector 
methods in Italy, which has served to stereotype the 
notations of Burali-Forti and Marcolongo, which 
differ from those in vogue in Germany and America. 
A valuable report by the late Dr. Macfarlane has 
been published in the Bulletin of the International 
Association for Promoting the Study of Quaternions 
and Allied Systems of Mathematics for June, 1912, 
and Prof. Wilson hopes ‘‘that the place of publication 
may not prove a burial ground for the essay.” Lastly, 
Langevin’s article in the French Mathematical 
Encyclopzedia proposes a systemof notations in which 
vectors are distinguished by interlineal superscripts, 
no special founts being used, and this seems likely 
to be widely adopted in France. 


re . 


OcToBER 9, I9I 3] 


te 


NATURE 


177 


fenry, physics master at the Reims Lycée, describes 
how he has applied a well known form of micromano- 
meter to make measurements in a number of direc- 
ions in which a manometer is not often utilised. The 
anometer consists of a U tube with wide limbs 
joined by a horizontal capillary tube. The limbs are 
about half-filled with carbon tetrachloride, and the 
‘capillary contains a small bubble of air Any slight 
difference of pressure at the ends of the capillary 
‘produces a considerable motion of the bubble. The 
instrument is calibrated by tilting the tube support by 
“means of a screw at one end. M. Henry shows how 
the instrument may be used to measure the excess of 
‘pressure in a soap-bubble and the effect of charging 
‘the bubble electrically, a small volume, a mass of a 
few grams, the density of a gas or of a solid, small 
amounts of heat, specific inductive capacity, difference 
of potential, a flow of gas, and the pressure exerted 
_ by a sound-wave. 


Tue determination of sulphur in illuminating gas is 
the subject of Technologic Paper No. 20 of the Bureau 
of Standards, by R. S. McBride and E. R. Weaver, 
issued by the Department of Commerce, Washington. 
Experiments were made with the gas referees’ ap- 
paratus and the apparatus designed by Elliot, Hinman- 
Jenkins, Drehschmidt and Somerville. The results 
of a series of comparisons are given, in which many 
variations were made to determine the best conditions 
of operation and the sources of error. The referees’ 
‘apparatus appears to be most used in America as well 
as here, and possesses the advantages of simplicity 
and convenience; the accuracy obtainable with this, 
as with other forms, has been often over-estimated. 
The concluding portion of the pamphlet deals with the 
estimation of the sulphate in the liquid condensate, 
__and details are given of the gravimetric determination, 
a rapid turbidimetric method, and a volumetric method 
based on that due to Holliger. Although most gas 
companies in this country are now free from any 
restriction as to the amount of sulphur present in 
their gas other than sulphuretted hydrogen, the 
pamphlet will be very useful to any chemists having 
to deal with this problem. 


In the Bulletin de la Société d’Encouragment (No. 
6, p. 805) Prof. Camille Matignon discusses in an 
interesting paper some of the less known recent pro- 
cesses for the industrial fixation of atmospheric 
nitrogen. The well known methods utilising an 
electric flame are only briefly touched upon, but 
especial reference is made to Schloesing’s process of 
absorbing the nitrous gas so obtained with lime at a 
temperature of 300°. The principal processes dealt 
with are those of Haber, in which nitrogen and 
hydrogen are made to combine directly under the 
influence of a catalytic agent, and that of Serpek 
based on the formation of aluminium nitride by 
heating a mixture of alumina and carbon in a current 
of pure nitrogen at a temperature of 1800°. The latter 
method has a particularly bright industrial outlook 
owing to the fact that by decomposing the nitride 
with dilute alkali not only is ammonia obtained, but 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92| 


“In the Journal de Physique for August, M. A. : 


it is possible by means of it to transform bauxite into - 


alumina suitable for the aluminium industry at a 
much reduced cost. The action between the alumina 
and carbon is effected in revolving cylinders, which 
are lined with aluminium nitride itself, as being the 
only sufficiently refractory material which will with- 
stand the high temperatures employed. 


Rep Book No. 182 of the British Fire Prevention 
Committee contains an account of tests on three 
window openings filled in with Luxfer  electro- 
glazing. The record gives the effect of a fire of 
ninety minutes’ duration, the temperature reaching 
1500° F. and not exceeding 1650° F., followed by the 
application of water for two minutes on the fire side. 
This test again indicates that forms of special glazing 
are being produced commercially that can serve most 
efficiently to stop the spread of a fire of considerable 
severity. It is the second occasion upon which 
“lights”? presented for test by the British Luxfer 
Prism Syndicate, Ltd., have met the strain of a ninety 
minutes’ test at temperatures exceeding 1500° F. 
Red Book No. 183 contains records of tests on two 
steel-cased reinforced concrete doors by Messrs. Chubb 
and Sons, one hung on runners and made to slide, 
the other hung on hinges, fixed in a reveal. The 
latter door secured ‘full protection” (Class B). The 
partially successful efforts to produce a single door 
able to do the work of two iron doors required under 
the London Building Act are of considerable technical 
importance. The radiation through the doors was 
very small. Doubtless the problem of making a 
sliding door flame-proof around the edges will be 
overcome. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


A New Comer.—A Reuter message from Perth, 
W.A., dated October 7, reports that a faint new 
comet has been observed in the position R.A. 
gheeagimss Decri3” 4s N- 

Tue RetuRN OF WESTPHAL’s Comet.—The identifica- 
tion of Mr. Delaran’s comet with Westphal’s comet of 
1852 is now complete, its positions being in accord 
with those predicted on the assumption of the object 
being the return of the comet of Westphal. 

The following ephemeris for the current week is 
given by Prof. H. Kobold in a Supplement to the 
Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4684 :— 


12h. M.T. Berlin. 


; R.A. Dec. Mag. 
. m Ss. 3 
OGIO rue se 2h 10/24 ; "Bet Si20) ..cmenee 
oh ESv02 Clara 2) 
Il II 25 9 571 
12 Oz 10° 450" a.) eecay 
13 B4AA,  -c.m PLA te 
14 ASS) ane kana 
Th sce Be sos Ros 
Thm er2zt (024... 13/548) \enemo 


After observations on September 28, the corrections to 
the above ephemeris are as follows:—R.A. —34s., 
Dec. +9/9’. 

As this comet does not reach perihelion until 
November 26, and as it is slowly approaching the 
earth, its brightness will be increased. In appearance 
the nucleus is described as well defined but elongated, 
and surrounded by a nebulosity 20’ in diameter. The 
tail has been observed to be 12° in length, while a 


178 


NATURE 


photograph taken of it at Bothkamp on September 28 
records a tail 3°5° long. 

The comet is in a good position for observation in 
the evening, and its movement northwards will. make 
the conditions more favourable. It is at present 
passing through the constellations of Equuleus and 
Delphinus, but later will reach Vulpecula and Cygnus. 

In The Times of October 2 we read that Westphal’s 
comet is the fourth member of the Neptune group of 
comets that has been observed at a second apparition, 
the others being those of Halley, Olbers, and Pons. 
Two other members of the group appeared in 1846 
and 1847, and are expected back about 1921 and 
1927. Westphal’s comet has much the shortest period 
(61118 years) of any member of the group, its aphelion 
being at almost exactly the same distance from the 
sun as the orbit of Neptune. 


PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDY OF THE SOLAR PHOTOSPHERE.— 
In an abstract from the Annals of the Observatory of 
Zé6-sé (Tome iii., 1912), M. S. Chevalier, S.J., 
describes the results of his research on the solar photo- 
sphere as studied photographically. He first of all 
describes the early observations of the solar, surface 
by Sir W. Herschel, and rapidly surveys those who 
followed him, concluding with the photographic re- 
searches of M. Janssen at Meudon. M. Chevalier 
points out that on these latter photographs the famous 
granules observed by Secchi, Dawes, &c., were 
recorded. _ 

He then directs attention to the possibility of errors 
creeping in when photography is employed. Is the 
image recorded on the photographic plate necessarily 
a faithful representation of the object photographed ? 
M. Chevalier says it is not, and in the present in- 
vestigation he attempts to show that the réseau photo- 
sphérique discovered on Janssen’s clichés is not solar. 
The phenomenon, he says, is chiefly due to deviations 
undergone by the luminous rays refracted in an 
abnormal manner. This abnormal refraction takes 


place in the interior of the telescope, and more 
especially in the neighbourhood of the secondary 
magnifier. M. Chevalier accompanies his memoir 


with a series of fine reproductions from photographs 
of the solar surface which he has taken to demon- 
strate his views, and it is by an examination of these 
that his conclusions must be studied. 


Statistics OF NEBUL2 AND CLusTERS.—In the Arkiv 
for Matematik, Astronomi och Fysik (Band 9, 
No. 15), Prof. C. V. L. Charlier has published a pre- 
liminary paper on the statistics of nebule and 
clusters. This contribution is part of the work of the 
Lund Observatory, which has undertaken a discus- 
sion of the position of the nebulous stars in space, 
and these statistics form a preliminary part of the 
investigation. In this publication Prof. Charlier 
represents both in statistical and graphical form, the 
information collected on card catalogues of the co- 
ordinates, brightness, size, and form of nebula, as 
well as other observations of interest. The base of 
the card catalogues was the three great catalogues 
of Dreyer. In these pages the results are given pur- 
posely without any discussion regarding their bearing 
upon the question of the distribution of the nebulz 
in space. He remarks, however, that while in many 
respects they speak for themselves, in others con- 
clusions must be drawn with great caution. The main 
interest here are the relations between the Milky Way 
and the positions and numbers of the nebulez. 

When it is remembered that distinction is made 
between five different classes of nebulous objects, 
namely, clusters, globular clusters, planetary nebule, 
annular nebula, and nebula, and that the objects 
number 13,223, some idea of the work involved in 
the investigation will be gathered. 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


the varied uses to which gas can be efficiently and — 


[OcToBER 9, 1913 _ 


SPECTROHELIOGRAPHIC RESULTS FROM Meupon. 
memoir by MM. H. Deslandres and L. d’Azambu 
appearing in No. 9 of the*Comptes rendus of t 
Paris Academy of Sciences, contains an interesting 
historical survey of the spectroheliographic work 
carried out at Meudon. The paper is more especially 
concerned with the qualitative results obtained by 
examination of the spectroheliograms secured since 
1g08, when the spectroheliograph of high dispersion 
was erected. Whilst careful to point out that the 
evidence does not permit the formulation of general 
laws, the authors are content to state that during the 
period in question the “filaments” (dark and definite 
stream-like markings seen in hydrogen and calcium 
light) have followed, but with a distinct lag, more 
pronounced in the case of the polar disturbances, 
the sun-spot variations. In this regard the polar dis- 
turbances recall the secondary maximum of high-— 
latitude prominences. On the other hand, the 
“alignments”? (markings somewhat less dark and 
sharp seen only in calcium light) have been without — 
noticeable variations. 7 


AN EXHIBITION OF PROGRESS IN LIGHT- 
ING AND HEATING BY COAL GAS. 

HE National Gas Exhibition at Shepherd’s Bush, — 
which will be open during the whole of October, 
affords the best object lesson in gas lighting that the 
public has ever had the opportunity of studying, and — 
the fascination is greatly increased by the absence of 
competing stalls, the exhibits being shown in model — 
rooms, shops, studios, &c., under all the conditions 
in which they are likely to be used in practice. 
It is something of an achievement to have induced 
the leading gas undertakings, municipal and private, 
and the leading manufacturers of gas appliances in 
the United Kingdom, to sink their individuality and — 
rivalry and to cooperate in a coherent exhibition of 


profitably applied. The result should be of benefit both 
to the industry and to the public generally. 

The exhibition impresses one with the enormous 
strides that have been made during the last few — 
years in the application of gas for manufacturing, — 
domestic, and public: purposes. The introduction of — 
vertical retorts, improved methods of purification, and 
the resulting greater yield of gas, coke, and by- 
products obtained from the coal carbonised, have — 
resulted in its price being kept down in spite of the 
gradual rise in the cost of coal, whilst the enormous 
progress that has been made in the methods em- 
ployed in its combustion has popularised it to an 
extent that could hardly have been foreseen a few 
years ago. 

There is not the least doubt but that the intro- 
duction of the atmospheric burner and the incandes- 
cent mantle has been the real factor which has made 
gas the most important fuel for both heating and 
lighting, and in the present exhibition the progress 
that has been made from the inception of the union 
jet by Nielson in 1820, which gave less than one candle 
per cubic foot of gas consumed, to the modern high- 
pressure incandescent burner, with its sixty candles 
per cubic foot of gas, is demonstrated in a striking 
manner. 

Various apparatus for raising gas to the pressure of 
several pounds per square inch, necessary in high- 
pressure lighting, is to be seen at work in the Indus- 
trial Hall, and the bearing which the high-pressure 
distribution has upon commercial applications is 
shown by the exhibition of a number of furnaces for a 
multiplicity of purposes, such as melting metals and 
hardening steel. In these cases it is necessary to 
concentrate the temperature over a defined area, and 


Ocroser 9, 1913] 


y increasing the pressure at which the gas is supplied 
ery high temperatures under perfect control can be 
tained. Specimens of these different types of fur- 

es are also to be seen in other sections of the 


low the body temperature as to lead to chill; 
the capacity ‘for moisture of the heated air caused a 
degree of discomfort that led to prejudice being raised 
gainst this method of warming living-rooms. 

When, however, 
hygienic must always give a larger amount of radiant 
heat than of convected heat, advance was at once 
made, and the severe competition in which, in the 
last three years, the different makers of gas fires have 
dulged has resulted in the production of gas stoves 
hich give a high radiant efficiency. Further ad- 
vances are being made constantly, and it is anticipated 
that in a short time the percentage of radiant heat 
gi be more than double that which 


ammonia liquor are shown in the shops that serve to 
illustrate the best methods of show-window lighting. 
These are divided into three classes, tar, ammonia, 
and cyanogen products, the first class especially being 
worthy of attention. 4 

Another very suggestive exhibit is a series of com- 
partments illustrating the effect of the colour and 
surface of wall-papers on the amount of illumination 
btained from equal sources of light. Some valuable 
conferences have been arranged to take place during 
the period that the exhibition remains open, and 
especial interest will be felt in the promised discus- 
‘sion on the sanitary influence of gas lighting and 
heating, whilst the influence of gas as a fuel on smoke 
abatement will also receive its due share of attention. 


¥ 


CARNEGIE SCHOLARSHIP MEMOIRS. 


: a /Or- yv. of the Carnegie Scholarship Memoirs has 
e just been issued by the Iron and Steel Institute. 
_ The volume contains six papers which differ very’ 
widely in merit and interest, but on the whole it 
_ represents a considerable amount of important research 
work. It is unfortunate, however, that the practice 
of publishing these papers in a separate volume tends 
to relegate them to oblivion, and at all events robs 
- them of the advantages of discussion even by corre- 
spondence, thus lessening materially the value of the 
work done under the Carnegie scheme. 
__ The preservation of iron is dealt with by Dr. 
- Newton Friend; his results, if confirmed by future 
; sate experience, are of considerable importance. 
e 
paraffin wax to paint lessens very materially corrosion 
in iron and steel merely exposed to the air, but rather 
assists corrosion in the case of plates actually 
immersed in water. Increasing the number of coats 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


finds that the addition of small quantities of | 


| creasing importance, and the older 


179 


of paint beyond two also appears not only to offer 
no increased protection, but actually to promote cor- 
rosion. This result leads one to-inquire whether the 
constant repainting of iron-work often practised on 
ships may not actually do more harm than good; at 
all events, an examination of some of these thickly 
painted surfaces should afford interesting evidence on 
the point. Finally, Dr. Friend finds that painting 
over a slightly rusted surface, from which, however, 
all lumps of scale, dirt, &c., have been removed, is 
actually more effective as against further rusting than 
the same paint applied to a completely cleaned surface 
—the only advantage of thoroughly cleaning the iron 
before painting lying in a better surface finish of the 
painted work. ; 

Another paper of special interest is that by Mr. 
J. A. Pickard dealing with the determination ~ of 
oxygen in steel. This is a question of steadily in- 
methods are known 
to be quite unsatisfactory. Mr. Pickard’s method 
consists in heating the drillings to be analysed in an 
atmosphere of hydrogen which is simultaneously kept 
in contact with phosphorus pentoxide, so that the 
concentration of water-vapour always remains very 
low. His results indicate a very satisfactory degree 
of accuracy, and the further application of his method 


| will be awaited with interest. 


A lengthy paper by Mr. A. Kessner deals with the 


!' development of the drill test for ascertaining the 


machining properties of steel; the author, working at 
Charlottenburg, has developed a form of apparatus 
whereby the rate of cutting under standard conditions 
can be measured with a considerable degree of accu- 
racy, and has used this to study the effect of several 
factors upon the machining properties of metals and 
to compare the ball-hardness and tensile properties 
of materials with their machining properties. That 
ball-hardness is not a guide to machining properties 
is a result which might have been anticipated, but 
whether the author’s form of drill test does not 
depend upon the measurement of a quantity which 
depends upon too large and complicated a system of 
factors yet remains to be proved. 

Of the more theoretical papers, that of Mr. Hum- 
frey, dealing with the influence of the intercrystalline 
cohesion of metals upon their mechanical properties 
is perhaps the most interesting. It is another step 
in the development of our conceptions of the internal 
mechanical constitution of metals, and although to 
some extent speculative, it is certainly suggestive, 
particularly as it offers the first attempt at explaining 
the mechanism of the effects of mechanical over- 
strain, which, while it raises the elastic limit in 
tension, and thus apparently hardens the metal, at 
the same time lowers the elastic limit in compression. 
Humfrey explains this by the development of severe 
internal stresses residing in the amorphous matter 
at the intercrystalline boundaries, these stresses tend- 
ing to resist further deformation in the direction of 
previous strain, but assisting stresses tending to pro- 
duce deformation in the opposite sense. 

The remaining papers, by Messrs. Hailstone and 
Swinden, are less satisfactory. The latter attacks the 
problem of the constitution of molybdenum steels by 
means of numerous cooling-curves and other data, 
but does not make use of the well-known methods 
of discussing and considering the equilibria of a 
ternary system. As a result of this lack of general 
theoretical guidance in the work, the data lead to no 
satisfactory’ conclusion. This want of systematic 
attack is typical of much of the work which has been 
done on steel, and especially on alloy steels, and 
probably accounts for the confusing differences of 
opinion which still exist in regard to their nature and 
constitution. 


180 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 9, 1913 


ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES. 


ACCORDING to a note by Mr. J. J. Walker in 
the September number of The Entomologists’ 
Monthly Magazine, 1913 is to rank as a ‘clouded 
yellow’ year, immigrant specimens of these butter- 
flies (Colias edusa) having reached our southern coun- 
ties in June, and given rise to native broods in 
August. No British specimen of C. hyale had been 
recorded this year up to the date of the note. 

In order to enable planters in Trinidad to cope 
effectually with the native sugar-cane frog-hopper 
(Tomaspis varia), a member of the family Cercopide, 
the Board of Agriculture of Trinidad and Tobago has 
issued a pamphlet (Circular No, 9), drawn up by Mr. 
F. W. Urich, the official entomologist, in which the 
life-histories of this and certain other members of the 
same group are very fully described. Three beauti- 
fully coloured plates illustrate all the stages of the 
species forming the main subject of the pamphlet and 
the adults of its Trinidad relatives. Although re- 
ported to have been originally described from Guiana, 
T. varia cannot be identified elsewhere than in Trini- 
dad, and is accordingly regarded as a native of that 
island. Two charts show that it is most numerous 
in January, when the rainfall is at its lowest. This 
mischievous insect is attacked by two kinds of fungus, 
one of which affords, at present, the best means of 
keeping it in check; and, with this and other agents, 
the author is hopeful that the “plague may be 
stayed” in the near future. 

Although holiday-makers roundly cursed the heavy 
rains of the summer of 1912, they were highly bene- 
ficial, in the opinion of Mr. G. H. Carpenter, as 
expressed in an article on injurious insects observed 
in Ireland during that year (Economic Proceedings 
Royal Dublin Society, August) in reducing the great 
development of insect life due to the abnormally hot 
summer of 1911. 

The editor is indebted to the Rev. R. P. Longinos 
Navas, S.J., for a copy of a synopsis of the Ascale- 
phides, published in the Arxius de l’Institut de Cien- 
cias, Barcelona, vol. i., No. 3. Although these 
Neuroptera, which are related to the lace-wing' flies, 
are generally classed as a subfamily of the Hemero- 
biidz, the author follows MacLachlan in regarding 
them as representing a family by themselves—Ascala- 
phidz. None of these flies are found in the British 
Islands, but they are abundant in many parts of the 
Continent, and enjoy an almost cosmopolitan distri- 
bution. The present synopsis includes diagnoses of 
all the known generic and specific types, several of 
which are named and described for the first time. 

Several important entomological articles have re- 
cently appeared in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia 
Academy, notably one in the May and June issues on 
the grasshoppers of the genus Nemobius. Other papers 
are published in the July issue of Records of the Indian 
Museum, in which Mr. J. J. Kieffer reviews the chiro- 
nomid flies in the collection of the museum, while Mr. 
K. Jordan does the same for the beetles of the family 
Anthribidze. 

In describing a new species (Clomaciella subfusca) 
of the mantispid group of Neuroptera in vol. viii., 
part 2,,of Annotationes Zool. Japon., Mr. W. Naka- 
hara takes the opportunity of reviewing the Japanese 
representatives of the group—eleven in number. 

Copies of two entomological papers from vol. xlvi. 
of the Proceedings U.S. National Museum have been 
received recently, namely one by Mr. F. Knab on 
new species of moth-flies bred from bromelias and 
other plants, and one by Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell on 
new parasitic Hymenoptera of the genus Eiphosoma. 

To the Journal of the College of Agriculture, 
Tohoku Imperial University, Japan, vol. v., parts 4 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


and 5, Mr. Yos’himo Tanaka communicates articles 
illustrated by one plain and one coloured plate, 
Mendelian factors and gametic coupling and repulsi 
in silkworms. : 
RYE 


FORTHCOMING BOOKS OF SCIENCE. 


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Antiquities of India: an Account of the History and 
Culture of Ancient Hindustan, Dr. L. D. Barnett, 
illustrated; Mexican Archeology, T. A. Joyce, illus- 


i, 
J 


OcroBER 9, 1913] 


rated; Prehistoric Greek Archeology, H._R. Hall, 
lustrated. Williams and Norgate.—Prehistoric 
imes, Lord Avebury, new edition, illustrated. 


Bio.oey. 
A. and C. Black.—Wild Life on the Wing, 
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vinciples of Evolution, Dr. S. Herbert, illustrated ; 
Common British Beetles, Rev. C. A. Hall, illus- 
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Ewart, F.R.S. The Cambridge University Press.— 
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The Production and Utilisation of Scots Pine in Great 
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British Plants, arranged according to Engler’s Sylla- 
bus, Der Pflanzenfamilien (seventh edition, 1912), 
with the addition of Characters of the Genera, H. G 
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Rubber and Rubber Planting, Dr. R._H. Lock ; 
Weeds: Simple Lessons for Children, R. L. Praeger, 
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“Cassell and Co., Ltd.—Cassell’s Natural History, 


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into German by A. u. M. Buch, illustrated; Zoo- 
logischer Jahresbericht fiir 1912. Gurney and Jack- 
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G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton, in monthly parts, 
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of British Birds, new edition, edited by W. Eagle 
Clarke, illustrated. Hodder and Stoughton.—Wild 
Life Across the World, Cherry Kearton; The Game 
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H. Holt and Co. (New York).—Outlines of Chordate 
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illustrated; Fruit Insects, M. V. Slingerland and 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


181 


C. R. Crosby, illustrated; A History of Land 
Mammals in the Western Hemisphere, W. B. Scott, 
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day Nature Book, Rev. S. N. Sedgwick, illustrated. 
Methuen and Co., Ltd.—The Diversions of a Natura- 
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The Snakes of Europe, Dr. G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S., 
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trated; Concerning Animals and Other Matters, 
E. H. Aitken, illustrated; The Genus Rosa, E. Will- 
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Butterflies and Moths in Romance and Reality, 
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and Mrs. Willis. T. Fisher Unwin.—Odd 
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Williams and Norgate——The Ocean, Sir J. Murray, 
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CHEMISTRY. 

A. and C. Black.—Chemical Analysis, Qualitative 
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—-An Introduction to Modern Inorganic Chemistry, 
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Triumphs and Wonders of Modern Chemistry, Dr. 
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182 


re 


and Co., Ltd.—The Pigments and Mediums of 
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Third-year Course of Organic Chemistry for Technical 
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GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. 


Edward — Arnold.—Thirty 
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Years in Kashmir, 


G. Fischer | (Jena).—Zoologische “und anthropo- 
logische Ergebnisse einer Forschungsreise, im 
westlichen und zentralen Siidafrika, Prof. L. 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcroBEr 9, 191 


Schultze: Band v., Systematik und  Tiergee 
graphie, Lieferung. 2,  illustrated.—Hodder 

Stoughton.—Across Unknown South America, A. 
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Co.—The Voice of Africa: being an Acco nt 
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Profs. H. Ries and T. L. Watson. 


MATHEMATICAL AND PuysicaL SCIENCE. 


The Cambridge University. Press.—Naturai Sources — 
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of Science and Literature). Cassell and Co., Ltd.— 
Star-Land, Sir R. S. Ball, new edition,. illustrated. 
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McLennan; Mechanics of Particles and Rigid Bodies, 
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Pe 
OcTOBER 9, 1913] 


“as 


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- Higbie. 

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Appleton and Co.—Tuberculin, Hamman and Wol- 
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J. S. Elliott, illustrated; Health Preservation in West 
Africa, J. C. Ryan, with introduction by Sir Ronald 
Ross, K.C.B., F.R.S.; Hints for Residents and 
Travellers in Persia, Dr. A. R. Neligan. G. Bell and 
Sons, Ltd.—Cancer: its Causation, Prevention, and 
its Curability without Operation, Dr. R. Bell. A. and 
C. Black.—Social Pathology, Dr. A. Grotjahn, trans- 
lated by Dr. S. Herbert; Practical Pathology and 
Post-mortem Technique, Dr. J. Miller, illustrated ; 
The Laws of Health for Schools, Dr. A. M. Malcolm- 
son, illustrated. The Cambridge University Press.— 
__ Embolism and Thrombosis of the Mesenteric Vessels, 
L. B. C. Trotter; Trachoma and its Complications in 
Egypt, Dr. A. F. MacCallan; Flies in Relation to 
Disease: Non-bloodsucking Flies, Dr. G. S. Graham- 
Smith (Cambridge Public Health Series). Cassell 
and Co., Ltd.—Common Diseases, Dr. 
Hutchinson. J. and A. Churchill_—Dental 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


Ana- 


NATURE 


Ventilation and Humidity in Textile Mills and Fac- | 


183 
tomy, Human and Comparative, C. S. Tomes, 
F.R.S., new edition, revised by Dr. Marett 


Tims and A. Hopewell-Smith. G. Fischer (Jena).— 
Ergebnisse und Fortschritte des Krankenhauswesens, 
Band ii., edited by Profs. Dietrich and Grober, illus- 
trated; Handbuch der gesamten Therapie, edited by 
Profs. F. Penzoldt and R. Stintzing, new edition. 
J. B. Lippincott Co.—Psychoneuroses and_psycho- 
therapy, Dejerine and Gauckler; Muller's Sero- 
diagnostic Methods, Whiteman; Blood Pressure, P. 
Nicholson; Surgery of the Vascular System, B. M. 
Bernheim. Macmillan and Co., Ltd.—Diseases of the 
Arteries and Angina Pectoris, Sir T. Clifford Allbutt, 
K.C.B., F.R.S., 2 vols. John Murray.—Therapeutics 
of the Circulation, Sir T. Lauder Brunton, Bart., 
F.R.S., new edition illustrated. Oxford University 
Press—The Evolution of Modern Medicine, Sir W. 
Osler, Bart, F.R.S. Williams and Norgate.—Nerves, 
Prof. D. Fraser Harris, illustrated. 


TECHNOLOGY. 


B. T. Batsford.—Handcraft in Wood and Metal, 
J. Hooper and A. J. Shirley, illustrated; Drainage and 
Sanitation, E. H. Blake, illustrated; Plumbing Prac- 
tice, J. W. Clarke: vol. i., edited by W. Scott, 
illustrated; Modern Technical Drawing, G. Ellis. 
The Cambridge University Press.—-Architectural and 
Building Construction Plates: Part i., Thirty Draw- 
ings covering an Elementary Course for Architectural 
and Building Students, W. R. Jaggard (Cambridge 
Technical Series). Cassell and Co., Ltd.—Electricity 
in the Service of Man, Dr. R. M. Walmsley, vol. ii., 
section i., illustrated ; Gramophones and Phonographs ; 
Electric Lighting, illustrated. Constable and_ Co., 
Ltd.—English Industries of the Middle Ages, L. F. 
Salzmann. W. Engelmann (Leipzig).—Technische 
Altertiimer, Feldhaus. W. Heinemann.—Fires and 
Fire Lighting, Chief Kenlon and A. Lethbridge. 
Crosby Lockwood and Son.—Clock Repairing and 
Making, F. J. Garrard, illustrated; The Clerk of 
Works: a Handbook on the Supervision of Building 
Operations, G. Metson; Valuation of Real Property, 
C. A. Webb, new edition by A. Hunnings; The Public 
Works Calculator, new edition; Screw Cutting for 
Engineers, E. Pull, illustrated; Metal Plate Work 
and Processes, E. G. Barrett; Hand Sketching for 
Mining Students, G. A. Lodge. Methuen and Co., 
Ltd.—A Text-book of Elementary Building Construc- 
tion, A. R. Sage and W. E. Fretwell, illustrated. 
G. Routledge and Sons, Ltd.—Flour Milling, P. A. 
Kozmin, translated by M. Falkner, illustrated; 
Broadway Text-books of Technology :—The Science of 
Building and Building Materials, E. Holden; Applied 
Mechanics, C. E. Handy; Mechanics for Textile 
Students, D. Hardman; Electrical Engineering, 
F. Shaw; Drawing for Electrical Engineers, G. W. 
Worrall; Safety-lamps and the Detection of Fire- 
damp in Mines, G. H. Winstanley. Scott, Greenwood 
and Son.—Motor Car Mechanism, W. E. Dommett; 
Elementary Principles of Illumination and Artificial 
Lighting, A. Blok; Cranes and Hoists: their Con- 
struction and Calculation, H. Wilda; Foundry 
Machinery, E. Treiber; Analyses of Woven Fabrics, 
A. F. Barker and E. Midgley, illustrated; The Art 
of Lithography, H. J. Rhodes, illustrated. Univer- 
sity Tutorial Press, Ltd.—Manual Training, A. H. 


Jenkins. Whittaker and Co.—Electric Light Fitting, 
S. C. Batstone; Village Electrical Installations, 
W. T. Wardale; Practical Wireless Telegraphy, 


W. H. Marchant; Exercises in Engineering Work- 
shop Practice, E. Pull; Carpentry and Joinery, 
B. F. Fletcher and H. P. Fletcher. John Wiley and 
Sons (New York).—Architectural Drafting, C. B. 
Howe and A. B. Greenberg; Elementary Electrical 
Testing, V. Karapetoff. 


184 


MISCELLANEOUS, 


G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.—Buddhist Psychology, 
C. A. F. Rhys Davids; Montessori Principles and 
Practice, Prof. E. P. Culverwell, illustrated. A. and 
C. Black.—A First Book of Experimental Science 
for Girls, Mrs. Jessie White. W. Blackwood and 
Sons.—A History of European Thought in the Nine- 
teenth Century, J. T. Merz, vol. iv. Constable and 
Co., Ltd.—Letters and Recollections of Alexander 
Agassiz, edited by G. R. Agassiz. A.C. Fifield.—The 
Discovery of the Future, H. G. Wells, new edition. 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd.—Statistics, by the late Sir R. 
Giffen, K.C.B., F.R.S., written about the years 1898- 
1g00, edited with an introduction by H. Higgs, C.B., 
with the assistance of G. U. Yule; Studies in Water 
Supply, Dr. A. C. Houston, illustrated; Land Survey- 
ing, Prof. H. Adams, illustrated. Methuen and Co:, 
Ltd.—The Book of the Ball: an Account of what it 
Does and Why (cricket, football, golf, baseball, 
tennis, lawn tennis, pelota, polo, fives, pallone, 
rackets, hockey, lacrosse, croquet, bowls, squash, 
badminton, billiards), A. E. Crawley, illustrated. 
John Murray.—History of the Royal Society of Arts, 
Sir H. Trueman Wood, illustrated. T. Fisher Unwin. 
—Surface Waves of Sand and Snow, and the Eddies 
which Produce them, Dr. Vaughan Cornish, illus- 
trated. 


THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT. 
BIRMINGHAM. 


SECTION G. 
ENGINEERING. 


OPENING AppREss By Pror. Gispert Kapp, PRESIDENT 
OF THE SECTION, 


ENGINEERING, the subject with which Section G is 
concerned, covers so wide a field that it has been found 
convenient to introduce a rough subdivision into the 
three branches of civil, mechanical, and _ electrical 
engineering. By applying any such term to a par- 
ticular piece of engineering work we do not neces- 
sarily exclude the others; we merely characterise a 
predominant feature. There is often a considerable 
amount of overlapping between the three branches, 
and that is especially the case with mechanical and 
electrical engineering. Sometimes the boundary-line 
even becomes indistinct, and then it is difficult to say 
which branch of our science is the predominant 
feature. Is the equipment of a works with electric 
power mechanical or electrical engineering? It is 
both, but not necessarily to the same degree. The 
mere replacement of a steam engine by an electric 
motor to drive the main shafting of a works can 
searcely be called a piece of electrical engineering; 
but if special electric appliances are introduced to 
perform duties which cannot be done, or not done as 
well, by purely mechanical machinery, then we have 
electrical engineering in the true sense of the term. 

Electricity has invaded almost every branch of our in- 
dustrial activity, sometimes as a rival to older methods, 
but often also as a helpmate, stimulating progress 
all round. Electricity is a “great source of power 
in nature,’ and the ‘art of directing it for the use 
and convenience of man” belongs to our generation. 
Yet, like all new things, it has had to fight its way 
in the face of strenuous opposition—generally an abso- 
lutely honest opposition, not in any way traceable to 
self-interest, but simply to inability to see things in 
the right perspective. Let me illustrate my meaning 
by an example. Shortly after Charles Brown had 
established the first electric-power transmission be- 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 9, 1913 


tween Kriegstetten and Solothurn I happened to visit 
a well-known mechanical engineer in Ziirich, who had | 
in his time been professionally (not financially) in- 
terested in so-called teledynanfic transmission of power 
by wire-rope, first introduced into Alsatia by the cele- 
bated Prof. Hirn, of thermodynamic fame, about the 
middle of last century, and then also imported into 
Switzerland. To my old friend these transmission’ 
systems appeared to be the acme of perfection; and 
on my pointing out that the range was necessarily 
very limited, he replied that transmission to longer 
distances would be useless, since there would be no _ 
market for the power. My friend was not able tow 
look at the subject in the right perspective; he failed 
completely in appreciating the fundamental conditions 
of the problem, and although it is easy for us now, 
fortified as we are by experience, to appreciate electric 
transmission of power correctly and feel contempt for 
the old gentleman’s narrow-mindedness, yet we should’ 
be careful not to fall into the same error about elec- 
trical developments which are new to us, as the trans- 
mission of power was new to my Swiss friend. a 

It is not so very long ago that mechanical engineers 
thought there was no advantage in electrifying textile 
mills; and I do not feel quite certain whether a good 
many and very capable engineers are not still of the q 
same opinion. A commission has been investigating 
this subject, and its first report was by no means: 
encouraging to the electrical engineer. Yet at the | 
very time when that report was issued hundreds of 
motors were being installed in Continental mills. The 
spinners there had found out that by using a motor 
with very delicate speed regulation they could speed 
up their frames and increase the output considerably. — 
In the long run a good thing must win through, and 
the electrification of English textile mills is no excep- — 
tion to this economic law; but in some cases it would 
almost seem that the way is made longer by the 
narrowness of the mental horizon of opposing experts. 
This process of gradually overcoming the opposing 
expert had to be gone through in all applications of 
electricity, but the opposition being generally honest, 
once it is overcome, the very men who opposed become 
strong friends. There is no question now that elec-_ 
tricity can do some things better than could be done 
formerly. The separation of magnetic from non- 
magnetic material; the lifting of hot pigs, ingots, 
plates, and scrap by electromagnets; the production 
of high-grade steel in the electric furnace; the sinking 
of shafts by electrically-driven pumps; in mines the 
use underground of electromotors instead of steam 
engines, in shipyards the use of magnetically-fixed and 
electrically-driven tools; the electric driving of rolling | 
mills, and the use of electric traction on tube and 
other underground railways are familiar examples of 
the application of electricity in which unanimity as to 
its advantages has been reached between the electrical 
engineer and what, without any intention of being 
disrespectful, we may call the old school of mechanical 
engineers. There are, however, other applications of 
electricity where the old and new school of engineers 
have either not at all, or only partially, reached 
unanimity of opinion, and it is with one of these 
applications—namely the electrification of railways— 
that I propose to deal in this Address. 

As regards urban and suburban lines, not only the pos- 
sibility of electric traction, but its immense superiority 
over steam traction, is fairly generally admitted. 
Where we get on debatable ground is when we begin 
to discuss main-line traffic. Here the process of over- 
coming opposition, of which I spoke a moment ago 
in connection with other applications of electricity now 
generally approved, has only just begun. Will it lead 
| to the same result, or will the electrician have to 


oe 


OcTOBER 9, 1913] 


-eonfess himself beaten by the steam locomotive? The 
answer each one of us would give to this question 
must necessarily be biassed by our early training. 
Most engineers love their profession, and are enthu- 
siasts; being enthusiasts, they are necessarily biassed. 
This applies as well to the electrical engineer as to 
the mechanical engineer—perhaps to the electrical 
engineer most. In many cases he is so biassed that 
he will not admit any virtue in any other but his own 
pet scheme of electric traction. A modern steam loco- 
motive is a beautiful and efficient engine, and one can 
well understand its designer looking at it with the 
pride of a father whose son has turned out a good 
man. One can also understand that this engineer 
will not readily admit the superiority of an electric 
locomotive. The mental horizon of each of us must 
necessarily be narrowed by previous training and pro- 
fessional enthusiasm; let us, then, try to forget for a 
moment that we are engineers, and let us put out of 
our minds all questions of mechanical or electrical 
detail, focussing our thoughts merely on what we see 
going on all around us as regards electrification of 
railways. We see year by year more lines being 
electrified. Some are failures; but the very fact that 
in spite of these failures the process of electrification 
is going on, shows that the failures are remediable. 
In some cases it is easy to understand why a line 
should be electrified. If fuel is dear, if the trains 
must be heavy and frequent, if there are steep grades 
and long tunnels, then obviously steam is at a dis- 
advantage and electricity can beat it easily. But the 
electrification is not limited to cases where there are 
such obvious advantages. We see a military State 
like Prussia electrifying a fairly long line where the 


- traffic is not extremely heavy, where there are very 


gentle grades, and only few and short tunnels. More- 
ever, one of the stock arguments against electrification 
is that in case of war the whole system may be broken 
down by the enemy cutting the wires; yet this con- 
sideration, if it has any weight—a matter on which I 
cannot pronounce an opinion—does not deter a mili- 
tary State from at least experimenting with electric 
traction on a large scale. We see suburban lines 
growing longer and longer, until they might almost 
be classed as short main lines, and we see the Swiss 
Government buying up water-powers with the object 
of utilising these powers in the electrification of its 
most important main lines. We see in America the 
electrification of large systems taking place, not only 
for passenger service, but also for the goods service, 
comprising trains of 2000 and more tons weight, and 
of goods yards, to the complete exclusion of steam. 
One need not be an engineer to appreciate the sig- 
nificance of such a general development. No Govern- 
ment department, and certainly no board of railway 
directors, will spend money merely for the sake of an 
interesting scientific experiment, and, although it is 
conceivable that in an isolated case such an experiment 
may be undertaken under a miscalculation as to its 
possible success, it is not conceivable that such a mis- 
calculation should be the general rule. When we see 
that in all countries a vast amount of labour is devoted 
to, and capital is spent on, the electrification of main 
lines, we cannot but come to the conclusion that this 
new application of electricity is bound to progress, and 
that the persons who tell you that electric traction is 
all right for tramways and urban railways, but will 
never be able to compete against steam traction on 
main lines, are very much in the position of my old 
Swiss friend, whose conception of power transmission 
was entirely limited to the use of ropes and pulleys. 
It is just thirty years since the first electric railway 
was opened for public use. That was’a small line 
in Ireland, known as the Portrush-Bushmills Railway. 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


185 


In those days only the continuous-current motor was 
available, and that only at a very moderate pressure 
and power. These restrictions were from the first felt 
to be a serious drawback, and inventors tried to over- 
come them in various ways. Of these, two may be 
here noted, in passing. Ward Leonard in 1891 made 
the suggestion of carrying on the train a converting 
station. He argued, quite correctly, that for the 
transmission of power to long distances the alternat- 
ing current was eminently suitable, and that, conse- 
quently, the power should be sent to the train in the 
shape of high-pressure alternating current. On the 
other hand, such a current was, in those days, quite 
unsuitable for motors; hence the necessity of its con- 
version into continuous current, with which the then 
available motors could alone deal. Ward Leonard 
suggested to put on the first vehicle of the train a, 
synchronous motor, which drives an exciter and con- 
tinuous-current generator. The current obtained from 
this generator was to be used to drive the train- 
motors, which might be distributed in a number of 
motor coaches. The regulation of speed and tractive 
force was to be effected entirely by suitable adjust- 
ment of excitation, and therefore without rheostatic 
loss. It will be admitted that this proposal has some 
attractive features. It is essentially a long-distance 
system, and at the same time it offers the possibility 
of great and uniform acceleration, a matter of great 
importance in urban traffic, so that it is equally suit- 
able for both kinds of service. Moreover, the current 
can be taken with unity-power factor. Unfortunately 
the extra weight which has to be carried in the shape 
of converting machinery is a serious drawback; and 
for this reason the Ward Leonard system. (excellent 
as it has proved in other applications of electric power) 
has in the domain of traction never got beyond the 
experimental stage. 

The experiment has been made on a fairly large 
scale, but with this difference, that the  traction- 
motors were placed not only into motor coaches, but 
on the first vehicle itself, which thus became an elec- 
tromotive; also, in order to save the weight and cost 
of starting and synchronising gear, the asynchronous 
type of single-phase motor was adopted, thus sacrific- 
ing the advantage of unity-power factor. The electro- 
motive developed at the hour-rating 200 horse-power, 
and weighed 46 tons. This is not a very brilliant 
achievement, and it was beaten by a sister engine ot 
the same power, but using alternating-current motors. 
This electromotive weighed only 40 tons. 

It is probable that a better weight efficiency could 
be obtained nowadays with this system if carried out 
on a larger scale, and if the motor-generator were 
replaced by a converter, in which case the step-down 
transformer would have tappings on its secondary 
side for starting and regulation. It is, however, 
doubtful whether even then it could compete with 
electromotives using the alternating current in the 
motors directly. Motors of this type have recently 
been so much improved that the margin of weight 
that could be saved by the use of continuous-current 
motors is probably less than the excess weight of the 
converting machine. 

The other attempt to combine high trolley-voltage 
with low motor-voltage has shared the same fate. 
This consisted in the application of the three-wire 
principle of continuous-current supply to electric trac- 
tion. It is in successful operation at a moderate 
voltage on a London tube railway, but as far as 
main-line working is concerned it has not got beyond 
an application on two small lines in Bohemia. The 
principle adopted is to make the trolley wire of the 
up-line the positive and that of the down-line the 
negative side of the system, whilst the rails take the 


186 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 9, 1913 


place of the zero wire. Each electromotive is fitted 
with four motors, of which at least two are in series, 
taking 1500 volts. Thus, whilst the voltage of one 
motor is kept within the customary limit of 750 volts, 
the pressure of the whole system is 3000 volts. The 
objection to this arrangement is that its fundamental 
supposition of a fairly close balance between the two 
halves of the three-wire system must in actual railway 
working be rather the exception than the rule, and 
that the obvious remedy of combining both halves of 
the system in one and the same train would involve 
the use of two overhead trolley wires, and thus intro- 
duce the very feature which the advocates of the 
continuous-current system find so objectionable in 
three-phase traction. Moreover, the recent improve- 
ments made in continuous-current motors has reduced 
the importante of the three-wire principle. | Con- 
tinental makers are prepared to build motors for 1200 
volts, and one English maker is actually building 
motors for 1750 volts, so that with two motors in 
series a trolley-pressure of 2400 and 3500 volts respec- 
tively can be used. 

The present tendency in electric traction is in the 
direction of simplicity, in the sense that mixing up 
of different types of current and dependence of one 
train on another isavoided. Only three tvpes of current 
are used—namely continuous, three-phase, and single- 
phase. The two first-named are used direct; the last 
through the intervention of a transformer. In a large 
measure the different systems have already become 
standardised. As regards the C.C. system, up to 
750 volts the process of standardisation has been com- 
pleted long ago. It is almost generally adopted for 
urban and suburban lines of moderate length, unless 
there are local difficulties as regards the third rail, 
or it is desired to work the suburban and the main- 
line service on the same system. The three-phase 
system has also been fairly well standardised, but the 
single-phase system is still in a process of develop- 
ment—a development which, however, takes place on 
a fairly large scale. In France the Compagnie du 
Midi is electrifying on the single-phase system nearly 
400 miles of track; the German Government have 
already electrified the Dessau-Bitterfeld of the Leipzig- 
Magdeburg line, and are electrifying the line Lauban- 
Koenigszelt in Silesia, to say nothing of some smaller 
private lines in the south of Germany, which have been 
in operation for some years. In Switzerland the 
Berne-Loetschberg-Simplon Railway, already in opera- 
tion, and the Rhztian Alp Railway, nearing com- 
pletion, also employ single-phase electromotives. Both 
in France and Germany the type of electromotive to 
be finally adopted has not yet been settled, but half a 
dozen different types, supplied by as many different 
makers, are being tried, and it is in this respect that 
one may look on single-phase traction as still in the 
process of development. As regards the Loetschberg 
the period of trial is over. Three years ago the rail- 
way company ordered a 2000 horse-power electro- 
motive, and have had it at work ever since with such 
satisfactory results that they have decided to adopt 
this type definitely, and have ordered thirteen more 
engines, but of the slightly larger power of 2500 horse- 
power on the 13-hour rating. Of these I shall have 
to say something more presently; but before entering 
into the details of single-phase traction it is expedient 
to glance briefly at the present position of the rival 
system of three-phase traction. 

The first application of this method of working 
dates back to the end of last century, and took place 
on a small Swiss line; then followed the well-known 
Valtellin line, and, later still, when the Italian Govern- 
ment took over the railways, the Government 
engineers decided to extend the application of three- 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


phase traction to some other lines—a decision which © 


practical experience has shown to have been perfectly 
justified. The total power represented by three-phase 
electromotives either at work or on order in Italy 


to-day exceeds 200,000 horse-power (95,000 horse-power 


in service, and 120,000 horse-power building). Ten 
years ago the three-phase system was the only pos- 
sible one for main-line working, but later on there 
came on the scene the single-phase, and, later still, 
the high-pressure continuous-current systems, and I 
need scarcely mention that between the advocates of 
the three systems there has been waged a fierce battle, 
each claiming that his is the best and the others very 
inferior. I am afraid that battle is still raging; but it 
is a futile war, for there is no such thing as a best 
system generally. One system is the best for one 
set of conditions and another for another set. Thus 
the German railway engineers found that the single- 
phase system would serve them best, and they adopted 
it. There is in this matter no question of personal 
feeling or national prejudice. I have no intention 
to enter the lists as an advocate for any one of the 
three possible systems for main-line traction; each has 
its special features and special merits, and all I can 
do is to place before you some of these. As the three- 
phase system is the oldest, it will be convenient to 
take it first. 

It is curious to note that the three most obvious 
objections which have been raised against three-phase 
electromotives by theorists have been found to have 
but little weight in practical work. These objections 
were: the complication of a double overhead wire, 
the danger that the motors would not share the load 
fairly, and the inability to run without rheostatic waste 
at intermediate speeds, or to run at a higher than 
synchronous speed to make up for lost time. 

That an overhead wire is inconvenient must be 
readily admitted, but the inconvenience applies to all 
methods of main-line working, for the so-called third 
rail is not applicable to high pressure, and even if it 
were, the consideration of the safety of the platelayer 
would preclude its use. The question then is: are 
two wires twice as objectionable as one? Possibly, 
but the most objectionable feature is not the wire 
itself, but the posts or gantries on which it is carried, 
and the number of posts is the same, whether we 
use three-phase, single-phase, or continuous current. 
There is a little more complication at the cross-over 
points and at the switches; but this is not a serious 
matter, if one may judge from the perfectly smooth 
working of so extended a yard as that at Busalla, 
where there are five miles of track, connected by 
thirty-seven switches and crossings. The other objec- 
tion—as to the motors not sharing the load equally 
—-is theoretically sound. The torque developed by the 
motor is proportional to the slip, and in order that the 
two motors on an electromotive shall share the load 
equally their slips, and consequently also their speeds, 
must be the same. Now, it is conceivable that, owing 
to a slight difference in the size of the drivers, that 
motor which is geared to the larger drivers will, by 
reason of its lower speed and consequently greater 
slip, take more than its fair share of the load. In 
practice this difficulty does, however, not arise. With 
reasonably good workmanship there should be no 
sensible difference in the size of the wheels; but even 
if we admit the possibility of there being a difference 
of 4 per cent. in the diameter of the wheels, this 
would, with the usual slip of 3 per cent., only mean 
that the motor geared to the larger wheels develops 
8 per cent. more, and the other 8 per cent. less, than 
its normal power. The larger wheels will develop 
16 per cent. more tractive effort than the smaller 
wheels, and having thus a greater wear, the differ- 


acted by the slip-adjustment of the motors. 


motives. 


ee eee a ee le SS 


OcrToBER 9, 1913] 


ence originally existing will diminish in service. For 
the same reason, any tendency to wear unequally, 
say, in consequence of unequal material, is counter- 
This point 
has been tested practically by the makers of the 
Simplon three-phase electromotives. It was found that 
if originally a slight difference in diameter of the 
drivers had been permitted to exist, after a short time 
this had vanished. That is as regards the condition 
on one electromotive; but if we come to the case of 
a train being hauled by two engines, then a sensible 
difference in the size of their wheels may exist. In 
this case it is necessary artificially to adjust the slip 
so as to make each motor take half the load. 

This problem has been solved by Mr. v. Kando in the 
electromotives which he designed for the Italian State 
railways. In these engines only liquid resistances are 
used in the rotor circuit for starting and speed regula- 
tion. The liquid is raised or lowered in the rheostat 
chambers. so as to cover more or less of the contact 
plates, and the level of the liquid is controlled by a 
solenoid under the influence of the working current. 
The working current, and therefore also the tractive 
effort exerted by each motor, is thereby automatically 
kept constant, notwithstanding any difference that may 
exist in the size of the drivers on the two electro- 
Incidentally, it may be mentioned that this 
method of liquid rheostat control has also the advan- 
tage of a perfectly constant acceleration during the 
starting period—a point which makes for comfort of 
travel in a three-phase train. 

The third objection advanced by theorists against 
three-phase traction is against the waste of energy 
consequent on rheostatic speed control and the inability 
to run at more than synchronous speed so as to make 
up for lost time. The obvious remedy for the last- 
named difficulty is to fix the time-table so that the 
synchronous speed should be high enough for making 
up lost time and to employ motors which can run 
economically at less than synchronous speed. As a 
matter of practical experience, three-phase trains are 
not more unpunctual than any other kind, steam not 
excluded. A train pulled by a series motor (C.C. or 
A.C.) runs slower on an up-grade or if abnormally 
heavy; this is one of the characteristics of the series 
motor, and it is valuable, because it limits the excess 
load thrown on to the source of power; but it is 
clearly not a condition making for good time-keeping. 
With a series motor time lost cannot be recovered on 
an up-grade, whilst with a three-phase motor the 
speed on an up-grade may be kept practically the same 
as on the level or on down-grades, so that the process 
of gaining time is not restricted to the easy parts of 
the line. 

The problem of speed control without rheostatic 
waste has been solved in various ways. One of the 
simplest and generally adopted solutions is that of 
cascade and single working. If the two motors are 
put into cascade connection the speed is halved. The 
cascade is used in starting and on heavy grades (unless 
time has to be made up), and on the easy grades or 
on down-grades the motors.work singly—that is to 
say, in simple parallel connections. Intermediate 
sneeds may be obtained by some pole-changing device. 
Ordinarily, such devices have to be applied to stator 
and rotor, but in some of the Simplon electromotives 
only the stator is arranged for pole-changing, the 
rotor being a squirrel cage. In this arrangement the 
advantage of cascade-working has to be given up, 
but the system has the merit of great simplicity. The 
number of poles may be changed from twelve at 
startine to eight, six, and four at top speed. Thus, 
four different speeds, all without rheostatic waste, are 
possible. The single bars in the squirrel cage rotor 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


187 


are connected at their ends by resistance-connectors 
made of an alloy having a high temperature co- 
efficient. At starting the rotor current is large and 
heats up these strips, thus automatically providing 
what is technically termed a_ starting-resistance. 
When the motor is running the current is less, and 
by reason of the fanning action of the connecting- 
strips these get cooled so as to bring their resistance 
down to a permissible amount. Thus the efficiency of 
the motor when running under load is only a few per 
cent. less than that of a motor with a wound rotor. 

A valuable feature of the three-phase system is the 
automatic recuperation of current whenever the speed 
exceeds synchronous speed by a few per cent.: and, 
connected with this property is the further advantage 
that it is impossible for a train to race on a down- 
grade. Obviously recuperation can only take place if 
power is given to the motor. This is provided partly 
by the electromotive itself and partly by the train 
pushing it on a down-grade. This means that the 
train is braked in front only, and railway engineers 
have raised the objections that such a method is con- 
trary to the accepted rules for safe working, which 
require that even on a down-grade all the couplings 
should remain in tension, which means that each coach 
must be independently braked. Here we have again 
a case where the theorists’ objections have been proved 
to be without foundation in actual practice. It is no 
doubt objectionable to brake a train in front only, if 
the braking action is jerky; but with the automatic- 
ally controlled liquid rheostat the braking comes in 
quite gradually, and is throughout so even that it has 
been found possible to permit a higher down-grade 
speed with recuperation than with ordinary braking. 
On the Italian State railways the regulation permits 
on heavy down-grades a speed of thirty kilometres per 
hour for steam trains, but the electric goods trains on 
the Giovi line are permitted to run at forty-five kilo- - 
metres per hour. This concession is not extended to 
passenger trains. Nevertheless the economic effect is 
considerable. Recuperation saves 17 per cent. on the 
coal bill, and this amount is sufficient to provide for 
interest and sinking fund on the electrical plant at 
the generating station. 

One advantage of three-phase traction over steam 
traction is the lessened weight of the locomotive in 
comparison with its tractive force and power. As an 
example, we may take the Giovi line in Italy where 
steam trains, consisting of 310 tons of rolling-stock 
and 202 tons of locomotive (one in front and the other 
at the back), have been replaced by three-phase trains, 
consisting of 380 tons of rolling-stock and two electro- 
motives, each weighing 60 tons (also placed front and 
rear). Thus there has been a saving in total weight 
of 12 tons, and at the same time an increase in useful 
weight hauled of 70 tons. The average grade of this 
line, over which passes the whole traffic between the 
Port of Genoa and the Plain of Lombardy, is 27 per 
mille, and the maximum is 35 per mille This traffic 
is now worked with forty electromotives, each of 
60 tons weight. These engines have five driving- 
wheels connected to two eight-pole motors by gear- 
wheels and rods. The pressure on each driving-axle 
is 12 tons. Each electromotive develops 2000 horse- 
power at the hour-rating; thus 1 horse-power is 
obtained for each 30 kilogramme weight of engine. 

The number of patented designs for single-phase 
traction motors is verv large; but, notwithstanding 
considerable difference in matters of detail, all motors 
which have been successfully applied in practice may 
be ranged under three great groups—namely, the so- 
called repulsion type, the repulsion tvne with addi- 
tional excitation of the rotor, and the straightforward 
series motor. The present tendency is rather in favour 


188 


of the series motor, and the practical results obtained 
with it are certainly very promising. The latest design 
made by Dr. Behn-Eschenburg shows a remarkable 
weight efficiency. His 2500 horse-power electro- 
motives (the power being at a one and a half-hour 
rating) weigh only 108 tons, so that at this rating 
1 horse-power is obtained with a total weight of 
43 kilogrammes. This compares favourably with the 
high-pressure C.C. system, where 50 to 7o kilo- 
grammes per horse-power may be taken as normal 
values. 

The so-called ‘trepulsion motor’? invented by Prof. 
Elihu Thomson has been applied to railway work in 
the slightly modified form due to Mr. Deri, where, 
instead of there being only two brushes per pair of 
poles, double the number is provided, and the adjust- 
ment for speed and torque is made more accurate, 
whilst at the same time the commutation, being split 
up into two steps, becomes easier. In the matter of 
simplicity, an electromotive fitted with Deri motors 
cannot be surpassed by any other arrangement. There 
are no rheostats, contactors, control switches, or other 
gear; all the regulation is effected by mechanical 
transmission of the movement of a hand-wheel placed 
in the driver’s cab to the brushes of the motors. At 
one time it was hoped that this system would win its 
way to a general application; but, unfortunately, the 
motor must run somewhere near synchronous speed, 
and becomes therefore rather heavy with the low 
frequencies alone possible in traction. Moreover, as 
the power-factor obtainable is only about o’8o, that is, 
considerably below the value obtainable with other 
motors, there does not seem to be any great future 
for this system for heavy work, although its great 
simplicity may still turn the balance in its favour on 
lines with a light traffic. For heavy lines the choice 
at present lies between the induction motor, with direct 
rotor excitation, and the straightforward conduction- 
motor, where rotor and stator are traversed in series 
by the same current. The former type of motor— 
also called the Latour-Winter-Eichberg motor— 
depends for its working current in the rotor on electro- 
magnetic induction, which produces the working cur- 
rent in the rotor much in the same way as the current 
in the secondary circuit of a transformer is produced 
by induction. Since the motor has in part the char- 
acter of a transformer its weight would, as is the case 
with any transformer, be unduly augmented by too 
great a reduction in the frequency. Experience has 
shown that a frequency of twenty-five periods per 
second is high enough to render the transformer action 
effective, and at the same time not so high as to 
introduce serious difficulties as regards e.m.f. of self- 
induction and commutation. This frequency has been 
adopted in most cases where electrification of main 
lines has been carried out by motors of this class. 

One valuable feature of this motor is that at a speed 
slightly exceeding synchronism the power-factor may 
be brought up to unity. At this speed the commuta- 
tion takes place under conditions which may be 
described as theoretically perfect. A fair number of 
Continental lines have been electrified by using these 
motors, and they have also been adopted, with very 
satisfactory results, in the electrification of the London, 
Brighton and South Coast lines between Victoria and 
London Bridge and to some distance south of London. 
On this line no locomotives are used, but only motor 
coaches. It is therefore not possible to make a direct 
comparison as to weight efficiency with a locomotive. 
The latter has only to carry the propelling machinery, 
whilst the former has to provide accommodation for 
passengers~ as well. The 600 horse-power motor 
coaches on the Brighton line weigh 50’ tons, or at 
the rate of 83 kilogrammes per horse-power. A 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 9, 1913 


1000 .horse-power C.C. electromotive taking: current 


at 1200 volts weighs 74 tons.‘ By making a suitable 
reduction for the extra weight of the passenger 
accommodation in the A.C. coach, its weight per 
horse-power comes out at something like 60 kilo- 
grammes, against 62 kilogrammes in the C.C. engine. 

Series motors are employed on the electrified lines 
of the Midland Company between Heysham, More- 
cambe, and Lancaster. Also in this case motor 
coaches, and not electromotives, are used. At the 
hour-rating a motor coach develops 420 horse-power, 
and as its total weight is about 35 tons, we have here 
the same weight-efticiency as on the Brighton lines— 


‘namely, 83 kilogrammes per horse-power for the whole 


coach. 

Of high-pressure continuous-current lines there are 
many examples, both in Europe and America. The 
term high-pressure does, of course, not imply the 
same order of magnitude as in single-phase A.C. lines. 
There high-pressure may mean anything up to 15,000 
volts, the pressure which is likely to become a standard 
in future electrifications; but in C.C. work one must 
class anything over tooo volts or 1500 volts as high- 
pressure. The general rule is to employ motor 
coaches, and not electromotives; but there is a private 
line belonging to a steel-works in Lorraine, where two 
electromotives, each of 600 horse-power (four C.C. 
motors of 150 horse-power) are working the mineral 
trains under a pressure of 2000 volts. The Southern 
Pacific Railway also employs C.C. electromotives of 
1000 horse-power each, Each engine weighs 74 tons, 
and hauls a train of 270 tons on grades of 4o per 
mille. This is a remarkable performance, rendered 
possible by the fact that with the even torque exerted 
by the electric motor a much large co-efficient of fric- 
tion than is possible in steam traction may safely be 
permitted. Electrical engineers generally base_their 
calculation of the possible tractive effort on a co-efficient 
of o'17, without sand, and as high as 0'25, or even 
0°28, if sand is used. The voltage in the case of the 
Southern Pacific engines is only 1200° volts, taken 
by two motors in series, and there is provision made 
to change over from the overhead wire to third rail, 
with 600 volts, when the motors are all in parallel. 

On European C.C. lines the voltage is higher— 
generally 2000 volts, as on the Chur-Arosa and some 
other Swiss lines—and the tendency is still in the direc- 
tion of higher pressures. Continental makers are now 
prepared to go as far as 1200 volts per motor, so that 
with the usual system of series-parallel control a line- 
pressure of 2400 volts becomes possible. The greatest 
step in advance in this direction has, however, been 
made in England, where Messrs. Dick Kerr, Ltd., 
have adopted a line-pressure of 3500 volts as their 
standard, involving the use of motors constructed for 
1750 volts. After having experimented with this high- 
pressure system for two years, they have undertaken 
the electrification of a short section of the Lancashire 
and Yorkshire Railway with continuous current at 
3500 volts. JI am indebted to the firm for the following 
particulars: The current is collected by pantograph 
from an overhead wire with catenary suspension. The 
train consists of a motor coach and two trailers. The 
motor coach is equipped with four 300 horse-power 
motors, and weighs 62 tons; the trailers weigh each 
26 tons. From these figures it will be seen that the 
weight of the motor coach per horse-power is only 
52 kilogrammes, and thus considerably below what 
the weight of an equivalent single-phase motor coach 
would be. It is especially the saving in weight and 
the avoidance of any telephonic disturbances which 
renders the C.C. system so attractive that, in spite of 


x See Gratzemueller'’s paper read at the Paris meeting of the I. E. E. and 
S. Intern. des Electr. (Paris, May, 1913). 


| 
q 
’ 


OcrToBER 9, 1913] 


NATURE 


189 


a natural reluctance against the use of high-pressure | 
on a commutator, designers are giving increased atten- 
tion to the use of continuous current for electric trac- 
tion. The difficulties which some engineers anticipate 
with commutator and brushes seem, however, rather 
imaginary than real, if we may judge from the experi- 
ence with the 3500-volt motor coach. The makers 
inform me that they estimate the mileage for a set 
of carbon brushes at 50,000 miles. The motors drive 
the car-axles by single reduction gear, and are con- 
trolled by contactors operated from a master con- 
troller. The current for operating the contactors, 
driving the air-pump motor, and for the general service 
of lighting and heating is obtained from a small 
motor-generator, fed on the primary side at 3500 volts, 
and delivering C.C. at 210 volts. All motors have 
commutating poles—a practice which has become 
universal in C.C. traction work, 

From the figures quoted above it will be seen that 
where motor coaches are employed the C.C. system 
has an advantage in point of weight over the single- 
phase A.C. system. But main-line traction, including 
goods trains, is not going to be done by motor coaches, 
and if we come to large electromotives of some 2000 
to 3000 horse-power, then this advantage is likely to 
vanish. No high-pressure C.C. electromotive has as 
yet been built for so large a power, and it is therefore 
not possible to make a direct comparison; but, if we 
may judge from the largest engines yet built for 
moderate-pressure C.C. there is little probability that 
the C.C. system for high-pressure can beat the single- 
phase system, and none whatever that it can beat the 
three-phase system. 

In the early days of single-phase traction some 
trouble has been experienced in the matter of telephonic 
disturbance. A systematic investigation carried on 
for over a year on the Seebach-Wettingen line, chiefly 
by means of the oscillograph, showed that this trouble 
was due, not as had originally been suspected, to the 
commutator, but to the employment of open slots in 
the rotor, and the trouble nearly ceased when new 
rotors with semi-closed and spiralled slots were used. 
To improve the telephonic service further the usual 
remedy of metallic return and drilling the telephone 
lines was employed. Although by these means it is 
possible to render telephonic speech over a line along- 
side a single-phase railway nearly, and perhaps quite, 


as clear as it is along a C.C. railway, there still 
remains the danger that the telephone lines may, by 
electrostatic induction, acquire a very high potential. 
The remedy against this dangev, first applied on some 
Swedish experimental lines, is to short-circuit thé 
two wires of each circuit by a choking coil of very 
high inductance, the centre of which is earthed. The 
static charge is thus carried off to earth, whilst the 
telephonic currents are only inappreciably weakened. 
One of the advantages possessed by the alternating 
over the continuous current is the simplicity of regula- 
tion. There are no contactors and no rheostats. used, 
the power and speed of the motors being adjusted by 
the use of tapping on the secondary side of the trans- 
formers. As transformers are necessary in any case 


in order to work with a high voltage on the trolley, 
the introduction of tappings does not materially in- 
crease the weight, whilst at the same time it effects a 
great reduction in the primary starting current.” The 
only difficulty that still remains is that of sparkless 
commutation, and inventors have evolved many, and 
sometimes very complicated, arrangements for over- 
coming it. As so often happens with engineering 
problems, the most simple solution is, after all, found 
to be the best in practice; and of all the ingenious 
inventions patented during the last ten years very 
little use is made by the designer of traction motors. 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92| 


Broadly speaking, only two methods are in use; the one 
is the method first made known by Messrs. Winter and 
Eichberg, where the working field is produced by direct 
excitation of the rotor and the transformer e.m.f. in 
the coils short-circuited by the main brushes is balanced 
by an e.m.f. of rotation due to a transverse field; and 
the other method applicable to the straightforward 
series motor, where a non-inductive shunt is connected 
to the terminals of the corapensating or commutating 
winding. The effect of a non-inductive shunt is to 
make the armature field slightly leading over the field 
produced by the compensating winding. The resultant 
of these two fields is in position coincident with the 
brush axis, but has in point of time a phase difference 
of a quarter period over the working current, thus 
balancing the e.m.f. of self-induction, which lags by a 
quarter period. Obviously this balancing effect can 
only take place when the motor is running, since it 
jepends on the balance between an e.m.f. of self- 
induction which is independent of speed and an 
e.m.f. of rotation which is proportional to speed. 
At starting, when there is no speed, there is 
no compensation. Thus there would appear to be. 
a new difficulty in the way of the use of single-phase 
current; but also this has been overcome in quite a 
simple manner. Experience has shown that a potential 
difference of 7 volts between heel and toe of brush, 
and a current density of 15 A. per sq. cm. is permissible. 

If, then, we use narrow brushes, covering ai 
any time not more than three segments, use coils of 
enly one turn to each segment, and work at a reason- 
ably low frequency, and not too high a total flux, it is 
possible to keep the transformer voltage and current 
density well within the above limits. This is not a 
severe limitation, for it enables the designer to use a 
flux out of one pole of 2°4 megalines if the frequency 
is 25, and 36 megalines if it is 15. The number of 
poles has then to be selected in accordance with the 
power desired. Obviously the lower periodicity is to 
be preferred, because the motor may be built with a 
lesser number of poles, and will then occupy less 
room—a matter of considerable importance consider- 
ing the limited space which is available in an electro- 
motive. The frequency of 15 has also some other 
advantages over that of 25. The e.m.f. of self-induc- 
tion is proportionately less, and, in consequence, the 
power-factor is about 5 per cent. better. The skin 
effect in the rails is much reduced, and also disturb- 
ances on neighbouring circuits which may be due to 
inductive or capacity effects. On the other hand, the 
generators become a little more expensive and the 
transformers on the electromotives a little heavier. 
But, notwithstanding these drawbacks, the balance 
of advantage is with the lower frequency, and that is 
the reason why the Commission of Experts called 
together in 1904 by the Swiss Government to establish 
standards for the electrification of the Swiss railways 
has decided that 15 shall be the standard frequency, 
with a tolerance down to 14, and up to 163. Since 
then other States have fallen into line, so that 15 is 
now the standard frequency nearly all over the con- 
tinent of Europe. The standard pressure is likely to 
be 15,000 volts. For three-phase tractions the standard 
pressure is 3000 to 3300 volts. 

The subject of electric main-line traction is so vast 
that in the limited time at my disposal I have only 
been able to mention a few of the important features 
of this interesting problem. A detailed account of 
all that has been done in electrification would take far 
more time than we can spare; but, by way of example, 
I give below two tables referring to the Italian State 
Railways. I am indebted for the information to Mr. 
v. Kando, who may justly be described as the father 
of three-phase traction. 


NATURE 


[OcToOBER 9, 1913 


190 
Italian State Railways Electrified on the Three-phase 
System. 

In service In construction 
| a 
; 2 = 5 
Location of line al gif o8 3 s 
c - 
of] 48.| Fee o | os 
oor $| des 365 || £5 og S29 
Bees] Gea | 24bR | SOS] Bs | ees 
VOoL| Goo | oa S ll a.e oo cao 
30n0|/ Cam} ans | avo, Qe | One 
Lensth, inkilometres| 107 19 58 45 38 28 
Heaviest grade per 
mille ve vee 22 35 30 25) || ore 17 
Numbering of trans- 
forming stations ... 10 4 7 4 4 2 
Transmission voltage | 20,000 | 13,000 | 59,c0o 62,000 | 25,0c0 | 57,000 
Trolley voltage ‘ 3,000 3,000 3,300 3,300 3,300 3,000 
Frequency (cycles per | 
BECONG)! sie cee 15 15 165 168 164 15 
Source of power Water | Steam | Water Water | Water | Water 
(steam | (steam | (steam 
“ode ox reserve) | reserve) | reserve) 
umber © electro- | 
Motives ...0 ws. a. 14 20 15 61 for the three lines 
Number of motor 
‘tape ae Seateedee 10 _ _— — = = 
eight of/minimum 150 190 _ re 
trains (maximum | 370 380 220 J DOD Een 


Three-phase Electromotives on the Italian State 


Railways. 
Type... 034 036 038 050 " 030 
Maker ... Ganz : Ganz Ganz | Westtaw: Wee 
Number in service ... 2 3 4 40 _ 
Number building .. — _— _ 45 16 
Total weight, tons ... | 45 € 62 60 65 
Weight on drivers ... 45 43'5 435 60 48 
Number of driving 
AXTeSic. Suan 1e00,) eas 4 3 3 5 3 
Total number of axles 4 5 5 5 5 
Weightondrivers,tons) = 11°3 14°5 4°5 12 16 
Diam. of drivers, m.m. 1,396 1,600 1,600 1,270 1,630 
Frequency (cycles per . 
Second) cee aces eche 1S 15 15 15 | 16% 
Method oftransmitting Quill and 
torque of motor to flexible } Cranks and connecting rods 
driving axles ... coupling | 
Speed, in kilometres — 
Per DOWNY.) ses, fees 30 32—64 |22—45—63| 22°5—45 |37°5—SO— 
: Rasead 
ascade 
Matos of speed regu}! — |Cascade| Cascade | Cascade fer. pole- 
Beto Asa ecameer|| changing 


The most recent example of single-phase electrifica- 
tion is that of the Loetschberg line establishing direct 
communication between Berne and the Simplon line. 
I am indebted to Dr. Behn-Eschenburg, the designer 
of the electromotives, for the following information. 
The power at the one-and-a-half-hour rating is 2500 
horse-power, and the total weight of the engine is 
108 tons, of which 85 tons is taken by the five driving 
axles. At the normal speed of 50 kilometres per hour 
the tractive effort is 10 tons. This can be increased 
at starting to 18 tons. On the heaviest grade (27 per 
mille) the tractive effort is 13°5 tons, which suffices for 
a train of 310 tons. The maximum speed is 75 kilo- 
metres per hour. There are two 1250 horse-power 
motors on each engine. Each has its own transformer 
and controller, the principle of duplication being carried 
out in all the details, so that in the event of a defect 
to any one part the other remains serviceable. The 
potential difference between fappings is 45 volts, and 
the last step gives with 15,009 volts on the trolley 
520 volts. This is in excess of what is required by the 
motor, and thus provides for the event that the trolley- 
voltage should for some reason fall below the standard 
pressure. The normal voltage of the motors is 420, 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


and the full-load current 2700 A. At starting on the © 
level the line-current is about one-third of the full — 
load-current, and the power 10 per cent. of the full 
power. When starting on an up-grade of 27 per 
mille with a train of 310 tons, the current taken from 


the trolley is 4o per cent. of the normal full-power 


value, and the acceleration o'05 metres per second per 
second, The current is taken from the overhead 
trolley by two pantographs, the pressure being 15,000 
volts, and the frequency 15. 


under the electric control of a master controller, so that — 
the driver is relieved of any physical exertion in at- 
tending to the regulation of the motors. These have 
16 poles, a compensating winding to increase the 
power-factor, and commutating poles shunted by a 
non-inductive resistance to insure sparkless collection. 
The power-factor is about o'95 over a wide range oi 
load. The motor is geared by double helical wheels 
(ratio 1: 2°23) to a blind axle, from which the turning 
moment is transmitted to the drivers by cranks and 
connecting-rods. The weights are as follows: Motor, 
118 tons; gear, 2 tons; transformer, 7°5 tons; and 
controller, 1 ton; total, 22°3 tons; or at the rate of 
178 kilogrammes per horse-power on the one-and-a- 
half-hour rating. The total weight of the electro- 
motive is at the rate of 43 kilogrammes at the same 
rating. This is a remarkably high weight-efficiency, 
which has up to the present not been reached by any 
continuous-current electromotive, and has only been 
surpassed by the three-phase 2000 horse-power electro- 
motives (taken at the one-hour rating) of the Italian 
State railways, which works out at 30 kilogrammes 
per horse-power. 

In conclusion, let us briefly glance at what is being 
done in the electrification of the Gothard line, that main 
link of commerce between Germany and Italy. I am 
indebted for the following notes on the subject to 
Mr. Huber-Stocker, the scientific adviser to the Swiss 
Government in the matter of railway electrification : 
The part to be electrified first is that between Erstfeld 
and Bellinzona, a total length of 110 kilometres, of 
which about 29 per cent. is in tunnel. This part also 
contains the longest and heaviest grades, so that the 
limitations of steam as compared with electric traction 
are here most prominent and a relief most urgent. 
On this section the average daily train movement, 
taking both directions together, was, in 1911, not less 
than 1,680,000 kilometre-tons, and the maximum on 
any day 2,282,000 kilometre-tons. It is estimated that 
in 1918 the average train movement will have in- 
creased by 35 per cent. over 1911, and in 1928 by a 
further 30 per cent. In the 45 kilometres on the north 
side of the tunnel the train climbs 569 metres, and in 
the 65 kilometres on the south it descends to Bellin- 
zona goo metres, with a steepest grade of 27 per mille. 
The section Erstfeld-Airolo is to be opened for elec- 
tric traction in four years from now, and the southern 
section one year later. The present arrangements are 
made with the intention of extending the electric ser- 
vice. on the north to Lucerne (60 kilometres), and on 
the south to Chiasso (55 kilometres) at some future 
date not yet fixed. There will be two large power- 
stations, one at Amsteg, where at first. 32,000 horse- 
power will be available on the turbine shafts, and 
56,000 to 60,000 when the station is completed; and 
the other at Piotta, where at first 40,000, and finally 
50,000 horse-power will be available. The head of 
water in the northern power-house is 267 metres down 
to the Reuss, and an accumulation of one million cubic 
metres is provided for to compensate for diurnal 
variations. In the southern power-house the head of 
water is 900 metres, and there the Ritom Lake offers 
a natural reservoir, with 19 million cubic metres, to 


The controller drums are 
each worked by an electromotor and rocking pawls. — 


shes 


? 


Cepia 


——— 


~—_— 


; 


OctosER 9, 1913] 


pensate for annual variation in the water-supply. 
ne power-current will be sent along the line by two 
dependent cables, each capable of carrying the full 
wer at twice 30,000 volts, with earthed neutral. The 
_urrent will be transformed down to 7500 volts at first, 
nd 15,000 volts later on, if the experience gained with 
he lower pressure should warrant the increase to 
louble pressure. This will not involve any additional 
plant, since the secondary winding of transformers 
oth along the line and on the locomotives can from 
he first be arranged with this alteration in view. It 
s also contemplated to establish sub-stations in Biasca, 
Goeschenen, Lavorgo, and Bellinzona The trolley 
ires will be suspended from gantries, each wire in- 
‘dependently insulated. The section varies according to 
the gradient from 100 to 160 square millimetres, The 
feeders are separate for the up and down line, and 
are 100 square millimetres in section. At all railway 
stations there are change-over switches for trolley wire 
and feeders. In the tunnels the wires are carried by 
brackets fastened to the crown of the tunnel. The 
t ails will be bonded, and, in addition, there will be a 
‘bare return conductor either laid in the ground or 
ae between the trolley wires. A variation in the 

pply of voltage of from plus ro to minus 15 per cent. 
is allowed for. There will be no motor coaches used, 
only electromotives. It is intended to haul express 
trains weighing 420 tons with a speed ot 50 kilometres 
er hour on grades of 26 per mille, for which service 
e electromotive will have to develop 3000 horse- 
ower on the rails. Goods trains weighing up to 670 
tons will run with a speed of from 27 to 28 kilometres 
per hour, and have two electromotives, one in front 
‘and one in the rear, each rated at 2800 horse-power. 
Passenger trains will be heated by steam, the boiler 
being carried in a special heating coach. Except for 
the stipulation that the traction must be single-phase 
at 15 frequency and a voltage of 7500, which may 
eventually be raised to 15,000, no definite type of 
electromotive has as yet been selected, but there can 
be no doubt that several of the already existing 
types of mono-phase electromotive can be adapted to 
‘the special requirements of the Gothard line. 


| 
: 
' 
: 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


BrrmincHaM.—Prof. P. F. Frankland, F.R.S., has 
been elected dean of the faculty of science in succes- 
sion to Prof. S. M. Dixon. 

Dr. F. C. Lee has been nominated to the chair of 
civil engineering vacated by Prof. S. M. Dixon. 


CaMBRIDGE.—The director of the psychological 
laboratory has appointed Mr. Cyril Burt, psychologist 
to the London County Council, to be assistant in 
experimental psychology. 

The professor of zoology and comparative anatomy 
has appointed Mr. T. J. Saunders to be demonstrator 
of comparative anatomy. 

At Emmanuel College, Mr. J. B. Peace, bursar of 
the college, resigned the tutorship in mathematics at 
Michaelmas, and Mr. P. Worsley Wood has been 
appointed his successor. The exhibition of 5ol. offered 
to a research student commencing residence this 
October has been awarded to Mr. J. Conway Davies 
for research in history. An additional exhibition of 
3ol. has been awarded to Mr. H. Ogden for research 
in physics. 

The next combined examination for fifty-six entrance 
scholarships and a large number of exhibitions, at 
Pembroke, Gonville and Caius, Jesus, Christ’s, St. 
John’s, and Emmanuel Colleges, will be held on 
Tuesday, December 2, and following days. Mathe- 


. 


1 


matics, classics, natural sciences, and history will be | further much needed extensions 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


19I 


the subjects of examination at all the above-mentioned 
colleges. Most of the colleges allow candidates who 
intend to study mechanical sciences to compete for 
scholarships and exhibitions by taking the papers set 
in mathematics or natural sciences. A candidate for 
a scholarship or exhibition at any of the six colleges 
must not be more than nineteen years of age on 
October 1. Forms of application for admission to the 
examination at the respective colleges may be ob- 
tained from the masters of the several colleges, from 
any of whom further information respecting the 
scholarships and exhibitions and other matters con- 
nected with the colleges may be obtained. 


Giascow.—Prof. Archibald Barr has resigned the 
Regius chair of civil engineering and mechanics, 
which he has, held since 1889. The magnificent 
James Watt engineering laboratories, in which the 
department is accommodated, were erected and 
equipped under his direction. The Crown has ap- 
pointed Prof. J. D. Cormack, dean of the faculty of 
engineering in University College, London, and a 
governor of the Imperial College of Science and 
Technology, to the vacant chair. Prof. Cormack is 
a graduate of Glasgow, and was formerly a lecturer 
in the engineering department. 


Mr. C. R. Bury has been appointed assistant lec- 
turer and demonstrator in chemistry at the University 
College of Wales, Aberystwyth. 


A Girt of ten lakhs of rupees for the promotion of 
scientific technical knowledge has been made by Dr. 
Rash Bahari Ghosh to the University of Calcutta. 


Tue McCosh professorship of philosophy at Prince- 
ton University has been resigned by Prof. A. T. 
Ormond, who has accepted the presidency of Grove 
City College. 


We learn from Science that by the will of Miss 
Katherine Allen, of Worcester, the Worcester Poly- 
technic Institute has received a bequest amounting to 
about 20,000. 


Mr. L. C. Prant has resigned his position as head 
of the department of mathematics in the University 
of Montana on accepting a similar post in the 
Michigan Agricultural College. He is succeeded by 
Dr. N. J. Lennes, of Columbia University. 


By a trust settlement of Dr. Gavin P. Tennent, of 
Bath Street, Glasgow, the sum of 25,0001. is be 
queathed to the governing body of the University of 
Glasgow, to be applied for such objects or object in 
connection with the faculty of medicine as the trustees 
may determine. 


Tue Gresham lecturer on astronomy, Mr. Arthur R. 
Hinks, F.R.S., will deliver a course of four lectures 
on astronomy in daily use on October 14, 15, 16, and 
17, at 6 p.m., at the City of London School, Victoria 
Embankment. The subjects of the four lectures are 
respectively :—The determination of time; the dis- 
tribution of time; the determination of position; and 
measurement of the size and shape of the earth. The 
lectures are free to the public. 


A STRONG committee, mainly consisting of old 
students of the Royal Agricultural College, Ciren- 
cester, is about to issue a special appeal with the view, 
in the first place, of collecting the balance of 168sI. 
still required to complete the s5oo0ol. necessary to 
secure the advance of a similar sum from the Develop- 
ment Fund for erection of King Edward’s wing 
of the college. When this sum has been subscribed, 
the appeal will still be continued so as to provide for 
The honorary secre- 


192 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 9, 1913 


tary of the committee is Mr. A. Goddard, Surveyors’ 
Institution, 12 Great George Street, Westminster. 


Tue London County Council has arranged for three 
courses of free lectures at the Horniman Museum, 
Forest Hill, S.E., during the autumn, viz. :—On 
Saturday afternoons, at 3.30 p.m., beginning October 
II, a course of ten lectures as follows: Nature study 
in a Croydon garden, E. Lovett; folk-lore of the 
Balkan peoples (IJ.), A. R. Wright; native arts and 
crafts in British New Guinea, Dr. H. S. Harrison; 
weeds and their influence, Dr. E. Marion Delf; the 
origin and nature of teeth, Dr. W. A. Cunnington; 
a folk-lore tour in the southern counties of England, 
E. Lovett; the history of coined money, A. R. Wright; 
the evolution of man in the light of recent discoveries, 
Dr. H. S. Harrison; animal life in the great caves, 
H. N. Milligan; the stone monuments of prehistoric 
times, A. L. Lewis. On Wednesday evenings, begin- 
ning October 29, a course of five lectures by Mr. H. N. 
Milligan on the animal life of the sea-shore. On 
Saturday mornings, beginning October 11, a course 
of ten lectures to teachers by Dr. A. C. Haddon, 
F.R.S., on the ethnology of India. Tickets are re- 
quired only for the Saturday morning lectures, and 
may be obtained from the museu™n. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, September 22.—Général Bassot 
in the chair.—A, Chauveau: Comparison of vigorous 
and feeble organisms from the point of view of their 
aptitude for receiving and cultivating virulent 
organisms. According to the views at present 
generally held, a strong, healthy man is less readily 
attacked: by tuberculosis or other contagious diseases 
than cases where the body has been weakened by 
alcoholism or other causes.. This view is strongly 
controverted by the author, who refers to the experi- 
mental infection in 1868 of sixty healthy animals by 
tubercle; not one escaped the infection. Additional 
experiments on the transmission of scab, to sheep are 
now given. Neither the healthy nor enfeebled sub- 
jects escaped.—T. Levi-Civita: “ Torricelli’s theorem 
and the commencement of flow.—Edouard Heckel and 
Cl. Verne: Cultural bud mutations of Solanum 
immite, S. Jamesii, and S. tuberosum.—R. Lépine and 
Boulud: The intra-renal resorption of chlorides in 
various states of the kidney.—P. Chofardet: Ob- 
servations of the Metcalf comet 1913b, made at the 
observatory of Besancon with the bent equatorial. 
Data given for September 7 and 11. The comet was 
of the ninth magnitude, nucleus badly defined, and 
no tail visible-—P. Chofardet: Observations of the 
Neujmin comet 1914c, made at the observatory of 
Besancon with the coudé equatorial. Data given for 
September to and 11. The comet was of the eleventh 
magnitude, with a small brilliant nucleus and a 
nebulous tail.—D. Mirimanoff: Remarks on a com- 
munication of Eugéne Fabry. Pointing out an error 
in a demionstration of Fermat’s theorem.—Paul 
Lebard: Remarks on the affinities of the principal 
genera of the group of ligulate flowers.—P. Mazé, 
M. Ruot, and M. Lemoigne: Lime chlorosis of green 
plants. Réle of the root excretions in the absorption 
of iron from chalky soils. The presence of excess of 
chalk in the soil may produce chlorosis by rendering 
the iron insoluble. The addition of organic acids 
permitting the solution of small quantities of iron in 
presence of calcium carbonate removes the chlorosis 
at once.—Eugéne Pittard: The comparative analysis 
of some-of the body dimensions in, Tartars of both 
sexes.—Ch. Dhéré and L. Ryncki: The absorption of 
visible and ultra-violet rays by carotinoid pigments. 


NO. 2293, VOL. 92] 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


University of London: University College. Calen- 
dar. Session 1913-14. Pp, 598+clxxxiii. (London: 
Gower Street.) te 

University College, Reading. Twenty-first Anniver- 
sary, Michaelmas Day, 1913. Pp. 88. (Reading.) _ 

A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus. B 
J. H. Maiden. Vol. ii, Part 8. (Sydney: Govern 
ment of the State of New South Wales.) 2s. 6d. 

Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Vol. iii. 
No. 6. Some Current Pushtu Folk Stories. d 
Malyon. 


Inductive versus Deductive Methods of Teachi 
an Experimental Research. By W. H. Winch. ‘7 
146. (Baltimore, Md., U.S.A.: Warwick and York, 
Inc.) 1.25 dollars. 

How I Kept my Baby Well. By Anna G. Noyes. 
Pp. 193. (Baltimore, Md., U.S.A.: Warwick and 
York, Inc.) 1.25 dollars. , 


CONTENTS. 


“Floras” and Plant Monographs. By A.B. R. Fee 


The Theory of Radiation.—Prof. G. B. McLaren . 
Stability of Aéroplanes.—Dr. G. A. Shakespear 
The Pancreatic Treatment of Tuberculosis and Malaria. 


—br. J. Beard ee » te ae 
Relative Productivity of Farm Crops in Different 
Countries. —B. C. Wallis . oi eae 7 
The Elephant Trench at Dewlish—Was it Dug ?— 
Rev. O, Fisher; G. W. B. Macturk ... . . 
A New Poet of Nature.—W. DE, | See 


Mravel in Tibet. (l//ustrated.)) . 1). See 
The Occurrence of Oil Shale Among the Jurassic 

Rocks of Raasay and Skye. (J//ustrated.) ... . 
The Addresses at the Medical Schools ...... 


Scottish Ornithology in 1912. By W.E.C.... , 
Notes... -.. 4) 4 cies) ooly 4 
Our Astronomical Column: 
A New Cometicay serene eae ©. nian ea 
The Return of Westphal’s Comet... ......, 
Photographic Study of the Solar Photosphere. . . . 
Statistics of Nebulz and Clusters ........ F 
Spectroheliographic Results from Meudon ... . . 
An Exhibition of Progress in Lighting and Heating 
by‘Coal.Gas. «5. 0.) Pe 
Carnegie Scholarship Memoirs area vane 
Entomological Notes. ByR.L. ...... at nh 
Forthcoming Books of Science ...... 3: regains 


The British Association at Birmingham : — d 
Section G.—Engineering.— Opening Address by Prof, 
Gisbert Kapp, President of the Section 
University and Educational Intelligence. . . .~ . 
Societies and Academies 
Books Keceived 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 


MACMILLAN & CO., Lrtp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 
Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. | 


OcToBER 9, 1913] 


: MINERALOGY—CRYSTALLOGRAPHY— 
PETROGRAPHY—GEOLOGY. 


Ask for our new 


GENERAL CATALOGUE XVIII. 


(2nd Edition) 
for the use of Middle and High Schools and Universities. 


Part I, 260 pages, 110 Illustrations. 


This catalogue has been prepared with the view of making an exhaustive 
compilation of all educational appliances for the teaching 
of Mineralogy and Geology from a scientific as well as from 
a practical point of view. All the subjects are treated typically, and 
instructive specimens have been selected with the greatest care. A close 
examination of the catalogue will show, that owing to its careful compo- 
sition it gives the opportunity of procuring the most complete outfit for the 
various schools for instruction in and the study of the subjects named, 


Catalogue No. 18, Part I, will be sent free on application. 
Part II will appear within the course of the year. 


(Collections and single specimens of Minerals and Fossils, 
Meteorites bought and exchanged.) 


Dr. F. KRANTZ, 


RHENISH MINERAL OFFICE, BONN-ON-RHINE, GERMANY, 
Established 1833. Established 1833. 


ROCK SECTIONS FOR THE MICROSCOPE 


New List of over 600 well cut Rock and Mineral 
Sections now ready, post free from 


JAMES R. GREGORY & CO., 


Mineralogists, Gc., 
189 FULHAM ROAD, SOUTH KENSINGTON, S.W. 


Telephone: 2841 Western. 


Telegrams: ‘‘ Meteorites, London.” 


LIVING SPECIMENS FOR 
THE MICROSCOPE. 


Volvox, Spirogyra, Desmids, Diatoms, Amceba, Arcella, Actinospherium, 
Vorticella, Stentor, Hydra, Floscularia, Stephanoceros, Melicerta, and many 
other specimens of Pond Life. Price xs. per Tube, Post Free. Helix 
pomatia, Astacus, Amphioxus, Rana, Anodon, &c., for Dissection purposes. 


THOMAS BOLTON, 
25 BALSALL HEATH ROAD, BIRMINGHAM. 


MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 
OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 
THE LABORATORY, PLYMOUTH. 


The following animals can always be supplied, either living 
or preserved by the best methods :— 

Sycon; Clava, Obelia, Sertularia; Actinia, Tealia, Caryophyllia, Alcy- 
onium; Hormiphora (preserved); Leptoplana; Lineus, Amphiporus, 
Nereis, Aphrodite, Arenicola, Lanice, Terebella; Lepas, Balanus, 
Gammarus, Ligia Mysis, Nebalia, Carcinus; Patella, Buccinum, Eledone, 
Pectens Bugula, Crisia, Pedicellina, Holothuria, Asterias, Echinus, 
Salpa (preserved), Scyllium, Raia, &c., &c. 

For prices and more detailed lists apply to 

Biological Laboratory, Plymouth. 


THE DIRECTOR. 


munications to the Editor. 


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Ixiii 


WATKINS & DONCASTER, 


Naturalists and Manufacturers of 


CABINETS AND APPARATUS 


FOR COLLECTORS OF INSECTS, BIRDS' EGGS AND SKINS 
MINERALS, PLANTS, &c. 


N.B.—For Excellence and Superiority of Cabinets and Apparatus, 
references are permitted to distinguished patrons, Museums, Colleges, &c. 


A LARGE STOCK OF INSECTS, BIRDS’ EGGS AND SKINS. 
SPECIALITY.—Objects for Nature Study, 
Drawing Classes, &c. 

Birds, Mammals, &e., Preserved and Mounted by First-class 
Workmen true to Nature. 


All Books and Publications (New and Second-hand) on Insects, 
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36 STRAND, LONDON, wW.C. 


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ea of SCIENTIFIC AND ELECTRICAL APPARATUS, 
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Cameras and Lenses, Lathes and Tools, Cinematographs and Films, 
and Miscellaneous Property. “gt 
Catalogues and terms for selling will be forwarded on application to 
Mer. J. Cc. STEVENS, 
38 KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON, W.C. 


THE x-RAY TUBE, 
Price 15/- 
Sole Maker, 


H. HELM, 


66 Hatton Carden, 
London. 
ACTUAL MAKER 
of all kinds of 


X-Ray and Vacuum 
Tubes, &c. 


LIST FREE. 


*SiRiVUs” 


Collections of British and Foreign 


MINERALS, ROCKS, FOSSILS. 


25 Specimens, 5/6; 50 do., 10/6; 100 do., 21/-; 200 do., 4.2/-. 
20 Coal Measure Rocks and Fossils, 12/6; do., larger, 15/-. 
In Polished Deal Boxes. 


Inspection invited of a large stock of Minerals, Rocks, Fossils, and 
Microscopic Objects. Specimens sent on approval, 


Prospectors’ Sets, Blowpipe Cases, Cabinets, Geologists’ 
Hammers, Card Trays, Glass-Capped Boxes, Models of Crystals, 
and all Apparatus for Mineralogists and Geologists. 


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xiv 


RHEOSTATS 


We now holda 


LARGE STOCK 


of 
Resistances of the Slate 


and Tubular Types, and 


can supply immediately. 


Loading Resistances with 
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specification. 


ISENTHAL & CO. 


(Department 1), 


DENZIL WORKS, NEASDEN, LONDON, N.W. 


Contractors to the Admiralty, War, India, ana 
Colonial Offices, &c. 


SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 


OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS. 


The “HARRIS.” 
SPECTROMETER. 


A cheap and reliable Instrument specially designed for 
Students’ use. 
Very strongly constructed so that it may be used by 
elementary pupils without being put out of order, 


PRICE £2:10:0 Each Net. 
Descriptive Pamphlet on application. 


PHILIP HARRIS & CO., iro. 


BIRMINGHAM 


(ENGLAND.) 


NATURE 


[OcroBER 9, 1913 


MIDGET FURNACE 


FOR USE WITH BUNSEN BURNER. 


eee a a 


The inside lining of this furnace is _ 


hardened by a special process to with- 
stand great heat. 


a es 


With 3%" burner, complete 4/6 
y 2" 7 7) 6/6 as $ 
TOWNSON & MERCER, | 


- 34 Camomile Street, London, E.C. 7 


NEW ELECTRICAL FURNACE © 


FOR TEMPERATURES UP TO 


1000° C. or 1800° F,. 


i 
| 


The consumption of current in this Furnace is far less than 
in the more costly Platinum wound Furnaces. : 


APPLICATIONS OF THE FURNACE. 


Determination of the Critical Points of Steel. Darling's ‘‘ Heat for 
Engineers.” 

Annealing of specimens of Metals for microscopic examination. 

Asa ‘black body” standard for heat radiation or luminosity. 

For demagnetising iron or steel rods, prior to performing tests for — 
saturation, &c. 

As a Combustion Furnace for the Determination of Carbon in Steels. 


NVALUABLE FOR LABORATORY AND LECTURE ROOM USE. 
De” Write for Circular No, 105A, giving full particulars. q 


ELECTRIG HOT PLATES. 


NO EXTERNAL RESISTANCE REQUIRED. 
Specially Recommended for Extractions~ with 
Volatile Liquids and General Laboratory Work. 

SUITABLE FOR DIRECT OR ALTERNATING CURRENT 


Plates can be taken apart in a few seconds and a new 
heating resistance inserted. 


From G/= each. if 
A. GALLENKAMP & CoO., Ltd., 


Manufacturers and Importers of Scientific Apparatus, 
19 & 21 SUN STREET, FINSBURY SQUARE, 
LONDON, E.C. 


se tye 


aa Write for Circular 
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Printed by Richarp Cray & Sons, Limrren, at Brunswick Street, Stamford Street, S.E., and published by MACMILLAN AND Co., LimrTEp, at 
St. Martin's Street, London, W.C., and THE MACMILLAN Co., 66 Fifth Avenue, New York.—THurspay, October 9, 1913. 


SSS—S = 


A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JO 


ust * 


, <—).. 
URNAL OF SCIENGHonal! 


‘To. the solid ground 


Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.’-—WorDSWORTH. 


No. 2294, VOL. 92] 


THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1913 


[Prick SIXPENCE 


Registered as a Newspaper at the General Past Office.) 


[All Rights Reserved. 


ib 


NEWTON & CO.’s 
“ DEMONSTRATOR’S” 


SCIENCE 
LANTERN. 


Illustrated Catalogue 
Post Free on request, 


‘+ 


ere 


Petes OE 


MORE STREET, LONDON, W. 


STUDY 
tue LENS 


It is the Key to Success in Photography. 


Who can expect to excel who does not understand 
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“PHOTOGRAPHIC LENSES : 


A SIMPLE TREATISE.” 


350 pages, 44 plates, numerous diagrams and 
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‘Rg re BECK, Ltd.. 88, CORNHILL, 


* London, E.C. 


GRAND PRIX AWARD, TURIN, 
SOLE AUTHORISED MAKERS OF 
STROUD & RENDELL SCIENCE LANTERNS. 


The ‘* University” Lan- 
tern, with Russian iron 
body, sliding baseboard, two 
superior objectives, plane 
silvered mirror “A,” which 
is moved by a knob causing 
the rays to be reflected 
upwards for the projection of 
objects in a horizontal plane, 
condensers 4} in. ciam., prism 
with silvered back which can 
be used at “C,” or as an 
erecting prism in mount ‘‘ D,” 
lime-light burner, slide carrier. 
Price complete in_ travelling 
case, without reversible adjust- 
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able stage ‘‘ B,” £10 6 
Ditto, ditto, with “ Phoenix” Arc Lamp... es cas eo 0d foe O 
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Construction, 


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Negretti & Zambra’s Latest 
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The ‘FERNLEY,’ 


provides frictionless action 
without delicate mechanism, 
very open rain and time 
scales, and a chart with 
uniform spacings, 
For particulars, and explanation 
of diagram, write for pamphlet to 
| NEGRETTI » ZAMBRA 


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Ixvi 


NOTICE. 


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Office: ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


ES 
IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE 
AND TECHNOLOGY, 

SOUTH KENSINGTON, LONDON, S.W. 


The following Special Courses of Advanced Lectures will be given, 
commencing in November next :— 


ROYAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE. 


Subject. Conducted by 
ae Sir Wittiam pe W. Asnry, K.C.B. 
Col Vv Fe a 
colour Vision { D.Sc, D:C.L., ARS. || ‘ 


ao Professor WatTs, LL.D., Sc.D., M.Sc. 
Mining Geology—Part A (of 3) i Race on ee 4 
courses on Economic Geology) | RES: x-GiS. (and Sasinian Prof. 


For further particulars of these and other Courses to follow, application 
should be made to the REGISTRAR. 


UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. 


The following Advanced Lectures will be delivered :— 

A Course of four Lectures on ‘‘ Mechanism and Teleology” by Professor 
Hans Drisscu, of the University of Heidelberg, in the Zoological Lecture 
Room of King's College, Strand, W.C., on October 21, 22, 23 and 24, 1913, 
at 5 p.m. 

A Course of eight Lectures on ‘‘The Cytology and Affinities of the 
Higher Fungi” by Dr. H.C. 1. Gwynne-VauGHAN at University College, 
Gower Street, W.C., on ‘I hursdays, commencing on October 23, at 5 p.m. 

Admission free, without ticket. 

P. J. HARTOG, Academic Registrar. 


THE SIR JOHN CASS TECHNICAL 
INSTITUTE, 
JEWRY STREET, ALDGATE, E.C. 


The following Special Course of Instruction will be given during the 


Autumn Term, 1913 — 
COLLOIDS. 


The Methods employed in their Investigation 
and their Relation to Technical Problems. 
By E. HATSCHEK. 

A course of 1o Lectures and Demonstrations on the nature and 
properties of Colloidal substances, of the methods employed in their 
investigation, and of the bearing of Colloidal phenomena on Chemical 
and allied Industries. 

Tuesday Evenings, 7 to 8.30 p.m. 

The first lecture of the Course was held on Tuesday, October 7. 

Detailed Syllabus of the Course may be had at the Office of the 
Institute, or by letter to the PRINCIPAL. : 


_ ESSEX EDUCATION COMMITTEE. 
EAST ANGLIAN INSTITUTE OF 


AGRICULTURE, CHELMSFORD. 


ASSISTANT ANALYST AND LECTURER IN AGRICULTURAL 
CHEMISTRY. 

WANTED. An Assistant Analyst and Lecturer in Agricultural Chemis- 
try to assist in the Agricultural Analytical Work of the Institute, and also 
in the lecturing to students. 

Salary £120 per annum, rising toa maximum of £150. 

Applications must be made in accordance with the printed application 
Form, which can be obtained from me, the undersigned, and must be sent 
in, duly filled up as early as possible, but in no case later than October 20, 
1913. The forms must be accompanied by copies of three testimonials. 

fc A. MALINS SMITH, Principal. 
East Anglian Institute of Agriculture, 
Chelmsford, 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 16, 1913 


HARPER-ADAMS AGRICULTURAL 
COLLEGE, NEWPORT, SALOP. 


APPOINTMENT OF LIVE.STOCK OFFICER. 
Applications are invited for the new appointment of LIVE STOCK 
OFFICER for the West Midland Province (Shropshire, Staffordshire, and 
Warwickshire). The appointment is in connection with the scheme for the 
improvement of live stock, and the Officer appointed will be required to 
give his whole time to the duties. 
Applications must be made on or before October 31, 1913 
Further particulars may be obtained on application to 
THE PRINCIPAL, 
Harper Adams Agricultural College, 
Newport, Salop. 


CITY OF BRADFORD EDUCATION 
COMMITTEE. 


TECHNICAL COLLEGE. 


Applications are invited for the post of SENIOR LECTURER IN 
ENGINEERING to work under the direction of the Professor. A Uni- 
versity degree or full academic training is essential, and must be combined 
with works and drawing office experience, Salary £250, with extra pay- 
ment for evening duties. 

Copies of the College Calendar and further particulars may be obtained 
from the Princirat of the College, to whom applications must be for- 
warded not later than October 21. 

By Order, 


Education Dept., 
Town Hall, Bradford, 
October 8, 1913. 


CITY OF BRADFORD EDUCATION 
COMMITTEE. 
TECHNICAL COLLEGE. 


DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING. 

A LECTURER IN MACHINE DESIGN AND DRAWING 
OFFICE PRACTICE is required. 

Salary £110, with additional payment for evening work, 

Further particulars may be obtained from the Principat of the College, 
to whom applications must be forwarded not later than October 24. 

By Order. 
Education Dept., Bradford, 
October 8, 1913. 


NR 
TO SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICAL MASTERS. 
January (1914) Vacancies. 

Graduates in Science and other well-qualified masters seeking posts in 
Public and other Schools should apply at once, giving full details as to 

qualifications, &c., and enclosing copies of testimonials, to :— 
MESSRS, GRIFFITHS, POWELL, SMITH & FAWCETT, 
Tutorial Agents (Estd. 1833), 
34 Bedford Street, Strand, London. 
Immediate notice of all the best vacancies will be sent. 


UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. i 
KING'S COLLEGE. _ 

The Delegacy invite applications for the post of LECTURER in 
GEOLOGY. Applications, three copies (which need not be printed), 
accompanied by three testimonials or by references, must reach the 
SEcRETARY not later than October 30. Further particulars may be obtained 


from the undersigned. 
WALTER SMITH, Secretary. 


UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, READING. 


RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP IN ZOOLOGY. 

Owing to the appointment of Mr. R. W. Palmer as Assistant Superin- 
tendent to the Geological Survey of India, applications are invited for the 
above Fellowship, which is of the value of 4125 per annum for two years. 

Applications should be forwarded to Professor CoLe not later than 
November 15, accompanied by a statement of the candidate’s qualifications. 
A a 


THE ROYAL TECHNICAL COLLEGE, 


GLASGOW. 

Applications are invited for the position of LECTURER and CHIEF 
ASSISTANT in the DEPARTMENT OF METALLURGY. ~ Candi- 
dates must have had sound metallurgical training. 

Further particulars may be obtained from Professor Campion, The 
Royal Technical College, Glasgow, to whom applications must be sent not 
later than October 25. 


COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, 


HOLMES CHAPEL, CHESHIRE. 


Applications are invited for the LECTURESHIP in SURVEYING and 
AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING. Applications, accompanied by 
not more than three recent testimonials, should be addressed to the 
PRINCIPAL, not later than November 4. 


WANTED, PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE FOR 


JUNE, 1905. Either the part or volume containing it, State full 
particulars to ‘‘ Box 144," c/o NATURE Office. 


ee a es ee ee 


NATURE 


193 


16, 


- THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1913. 


; BRITISH FISH PARASITES. 
The British Parasitic Copepoda. By Dr. Thomas 
Scott and Andrew Scott. Vol. i. Pp. x+256. 
Vol. ii. Pp. xii+72 plates. (London: The Ray 
Society; Dulau and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 15s. 
net. 

R. THOMAS SCOTT has long been recog- 

nised as a leading authority on the smaller 
-crustacea of the British seas, and his son, Mr. 
Andrew Scott, has also made important contribu- 
tions to our knowledge of the same subject. It is 
fortunate, therefore, that the Ray Society has 
found these experienced investigators ready to 
undertake the preparation of a monograph on the 
British parasitic Copepoda, of which these two 
volumes, dealing with the species parasitic on 
fishes, form the first instalment. 
The parasitic Copepoda have hitherto been some- 
what neglected from a systematic and faunistic 
point of view. The student wishing to identify 
British specimens of fish-lice has had little to help 
him beyond Baird’s ‘“ British Entomostraca,”’ pub- 
lished by the Ray Society so long ago as 1850. 
The inadequacy of this help is shown by the fact 
that only thirty-four species of fish-parasites are 
described in Baird’s volume, while the authors of 
the present monograph are able to record no fewer 
than one hundred and thirteen. The practical im- 
portance of a knowledge of the parasites of fishes 
in connection with fishery research hardly needs to 
be pointed out, and the careful descriptions and 
abundant illustrations now provided will prove a 
most useful foundation for future work in this 
department. 

_ The authors have not attempted to deal seriously 
with the morphology and classification of the 
animals that they describe. For this course they 
ean plead plenty of precedents, and it will meet 
with little condemnation from those zoologists of 
the younger generation who are so ready to pro- 
_ claim the vanity of morphological research. It is 
likely, however, to cause the student some trouble 
when he finds, for instance, the term “fifth pair of 
_ thoracic feet ” applied, in one family, to the appen- 
dages of the pre-genital somite, and transferred in 
the next family, without explanation or discussion, 
} to those of the genital somite. 
_ There are a number of minor blemishes through- 
out the work that might have been removed by 
more careful editing ; specific names appearing for 
the first time are sometimes followed by the indi- 
- Cation “sp. nov.,” as on p. 202, sometimes not, 
as on p. 135; there is a lack of uniformity in the 
way in which references are made to the list of 
NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


literature at the end of vol. i., and some of the 
references are obviously wrong; and -the generic 
name Phyllothyreus appears on p. g2 and else- 
| where as Phyllothreus. The colouring of some of 
the plates is very diagrammatic, and adds neither 
to their beauty nor their usefulness. 

From a faunistic point of view, however, the 
work is of the highest importance, and it is to be 
hoped that it will attract other students to the 
many complex problems presented by the life- 
histories and bionomics of these strangely-modified 
parasites. 


DISEASE AND ITS PREVENTION. 
(1) Prevention and Control of Disease. By Prof. 
F. Ramaley and Dr. C. E, Giffin. Pp. 386. 
(Boulder, Colo. : The University, 1913.) 


(2) Practical Bacteriology, Microbiology and 
Serum Therapy (Medical and Veterinary). A 
Text-book for Laboratory Use. By Dr. A. 


Besson. Translated and adapted from the fifth 
French edition by Prof. H. J. Hutchens, D.S:O. 
Pp. xxx+8g92. (London: Longmans, Green and 
Go.,, FO1Z.)nbrice 36s: net. 

(3) 4 Monograph on Johne’s Disease (Enteritis 
Chronica Pseudotuberculosa Bovis). By F. W. 
Twort and G. L. Y. Ingram. Pp. xi+179+ix 
plates. (London: Bailliére, Tindall and Cox, 
1913.) Price 6s. net. 

(1) HE authors of this book have undertaken 

the task of describing, in language 
intelligible to the educated man without special 
medical training, the present state of knowledge’ 
and opinion respecting the origin, nature, and 
methods of preventing important diseases. In the 
earlier chapters the principles of bacteriology and 
the meaning of terms employed in describing the 
phenomena of immunity are detailed and ex- 
plained. In later chapters most of the common 
diseases are passed in review and the duty of an 
intelligent citizen in the presence of any such 
disease succinctly stated. 

The vastness of the field attempted to be 
covered and the necessity of avoiding technical 
discussion in a work of this kind must needs 
result in portions of it appearing incomplete to a 
specialist reader. Thus the student of hereditary 
| influences might doubt whether the authors suffi- 
ciently recognise the importance of the soil in the 
genesis of disease, while the statistician will feel 
| that the face value of various sets of figures quoted 
differs from their intrinsic worth. Such criticisms 
as these, however, could be directed against any 
| similar book, and we have no doubt that the 
| present work will satisfactorily achieve the aim 
| its authors had in view. Some suggestions for 
H 


194 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 16, 1913 


the improvement of future editions may not be 
out of place. 

Vital statistics necessarily form the principal 
medium through which the layman acquires a 
knowledge of the prevalence of disease. The re- 
marks on pp. 8-9 might be amplified with ad- 
vantage. In particular the methods by which 
corrections for the age and sex constitutions of 
different populations are made can be readily ex- 
plained to an intelligent reader, and such an 
explanation would enable him to avoid many fal- 
lacies in comparing mortality rates. 

(2) This translation of Besson’s well-known 
treatise forms a notable addition to the list of 
text-books on bacteriology available to the 
English student and laboratory worker, and we 
may say at the outset that Prof. Hutchens has 
admirably performed the undoubtedly difficult 
task of translating and emendating a foreign text- 
book in such a manner as to render it palatable 
to the English reader. The translator, while 
adhering closely to the French text, has wisely 
decided to reproduce the sense rather than the 
letter of the original, with the result that the text 
betrays little or no sign of its foreign origin. The 
present translation has been made from the last 
French edition, which appeared in 1911, and con- 
sequently numerous additions have been made by 
the translator so as to bring the matter up to date. 
The most extensive of these additions are the 
chapters embodying recent work on the relation- 
ships of the Gaertner-Paratyphoid group of 
bacilli, to which subject English writers have 
made important contributions, also on the work 
of the English Royal Commission on Tubercu- 
losis, in which Prof. Hutchens formerly partici- 
pated. The chapter on the microscope has also 
been entirely rewritten and contains a most com- 
plete account of the working of the modern micro- 
scope, including the principle of dark-ground 
illumination and its practical applications. 

Besides these major additions to the French 
original, there is scarcely a page of the text which 
does not bear evidence of the work of the 
emendator. This generally takes the form of 
bracketed paragraphs or footnotes, which the 
translator has interpolated where the views of the 
French author, or the French school generally, 
happen to conflict with current English or German 
opinion. By the advanced laboratory worker 
these interpolations will be readily appreciated, 
but it is possible that the student may become 
bewildered by the multiplicity of these interpola- 
tions, which not infrequently contain opinions at 
variance with those of the French author. Short 
of rewriting the whole book, however, such de- 
fects are, of .course, inevitable, and it is to be 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


hoped that the translator, with the experience he 
has now gained, may see his way to compile an- 


equally comprehensive and purely English text- 
book, in’ which greater scope for the exercise of 
criticism would be available than is possible in 
a work written at second hand. It is doubtful 
whether the French original was really the best 


foundation on which to build an English text-book. — 


The English mind is essentially practical, and 
there is no doubt that many of the methods so 
minutely described by the French author and 
many of the complicated media recommended for 
the isolation of various micro-organisms are either 
antiquated, superfluous, or unworthy of mention. 
The arrangement of the matter in the book may 
justly be considered a model, and the prominent 
headings of the various sections are most helpful 
to the reader. 

The book is well bound and beautifully printed, 
and the illustrations are excellent. The only im- 
portant misprint we have noticed is the curious 
but consistent employment of “an” before such 
words as “homogeneous,” “herd,” and “horse.” 

As a most comprehensive treatise on bacteri- 
ology, we can confidently assert that Dr. Besson’s 
book in its English dress has unique claims on 
English workers in bacteriology. 

(3) The great merit of this monograph rests on 
the important contributions which the authors 
have made during the past four years to our 
knowledge of the etiology of Johne’s disease. 

This disease is one which affects cattle (and 
possibly also sheep and goats) in various countries, 
and it is only recently that serious attention has 
been directed to it in Great Britain. The chief 
pathological lesion in affected cattle is an irregular 
thickening of the bowel, generally in the neigh- 
bourhood of the ileo-cecal valve, and the symp- 
toms to which this lesion gives rise are chiefly 
diarrhoea and extreme emaciation. The disease 
leads to serious economic loss, and the name by 
which it goes in this country is that of Prof. Johne, 
of Dresden, who in 1895, in conjunction with Dr. 
Frothingham, first directed attention to the pres- 
ence of acid-fast bacilli in the thickened intestine. 
For many years all attempts to cultivate these acid- 
fast organisms on artificial media either failed 
entirely or the cultures that were obtained from 
the lesions proved to be incapable of reproducing 
the disease in experimental animals. In 1910 
Dr. Twort and Mr. Ingram started an investiga- 
tion of this question and ultimately succeeded in 
obtaining a growth of the organism on an egg- 
medium in which killed tubercle bacilli were in- 
corporated. Later it was found that the addition 
of killed Timothy grass bacilli, or glycerine ex- 
tracts of these bacilli, gave equally good results. 


al OcToBER 16, 1913]| 


NATURE 


195 


These experiments have been repeated and con- 
firmed by other workers. 

Further, attempts to reproduce the disease by 
‘inoculation of artificial cultures have been suc- 
cessful. The authors have also carried out a 
considerable number of experiments with the view 
of obtaining a preparation of Johne’s bacillus 
suitable for diagnostic purposes on the same lines 
as those on which the tuberculin test is at present 
applied. The results have been distinctly encour- 
aging, and we may express the hope that lack of 
funds may not impede the further effective prose- 
cution of the author’s researches. The book has 
been very carefully written throughout, and con- 
cludes with a valuable bibliography. To all scien- 
tific veterinarians and stockbreeders this mono- 
graph may be heartily recommended. 


MATHEMATICAL TEXT-BOOKS. 
(1) Elementary Algebra. By C. Godfrey and 


A. W. Siddons. Vol. ii. Pp. xi+227-530+ 
xlvi. (Cambridge University Press, 1913.) 
Price 2s. 6d. 

(2) Four-Figure Tables. By C. Godfrey and 


A. W. Siddons. Pp. 40. (Cambridge University 
Press, 1913.) Price od. net. 

(3) Papers Set in the Mathematical Tripos, Part 
I., in the University of Cambridge, 1908-1912. 
Pp. 70. (Cambridge University Press, 1913.) 
Price 2s. 6d. net. 

(4) Elementary Experimental 
Schools. By C. E. Ashford. 


Dynamics for 
Pp. viii+ 246. 


(Cambridge University Press, 1913.) Price 4s. | 


(5) Mathematics, Science, and Drawing for the 
Preliminary Technical Course. By L. J. Castle. 
Pp. vii+149. (London: George Routledge and 
Sons, Ltd., 1913.) Price 15s. net. 

(6) Nomography, or the Graphic Representation 
of Formulae. By Captain R. K. Hezlet. Pp. 
iv+54. (Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institu- 
tion, 1913.) Price 2s. 6d. 

(7) The Principles of Projective Geometry Applied 
to the Straight Line and Conic. By J. L. S. 
Hatton. Pp. x+366. (Cambridge University 
Press, 1913.) Price 1os. 6d. 

(1) HE second volume of this treatise, which 

is intended to include as much as the 
pupil of average ability will assimilate in a full 
school course, opens with a treatment of indices 
and logarithms. The next two chapters deal with 
variation of functions of one or more variables. 

This is followed by harder equations, surds, pro- 

portion, and progressions. The next four chapters 

contain an excellent introduction to the differential 

and integral calculus. Although confining them- 

selves to very simple functions, x®, x3, 1/x, the 
NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


authors have illustrated all the important ideas of 
the subject. The educational value of such work 
as this is very great, and we have little doubt 
that in a few years’ time it will be accepted as 
a regular part of the non-specialist course. This 
and the chapter on progressions are the outstand- 
ing features of a book which is admirable through- 
out. An appendix is added containing such parts 
of the subject as are still required by various con- 
servative examining bodies, but which the authors 
hope further reform will soon render unnecessary. 
There is an excellent set of test papers. 

(2) We welcome the issue of this set of four- 
figure tables chiefly on account of their low price. 
Now that their use has become so general, it is 
important that students should be able to procure 
them in an inexpensive form. There is little to 
note in regard to their contents, which include, in 
addition to squares, square-roots, reciprocals and 
logarithms, the usual trigonometrical tables. In 
our opinion it is unfortunate that the table of 
logarithms is not placed at the beginning. Coming 
as it does at p. 22, some time will always be lost 
in finding it. The arrangement of. the table of 
square-roots is new and distinctly ingenious; for 
instance, opposite to 42, printed one below the 
other are the numbers 2049, 6481, thus making 
it impossible for the pupil to take the square-root 
from the wrong page. 

(3) This collection of papers, set under the new 
regulations for the first part of the mathematical 
tripos, besides being of use to undergraduates at 
Cambridge, is interesting as showing the change 
in character of the work required from candidates 
for honours since the abolition of the order of 
merit. The ten-minute conundrum has now prac- 
tically disappeared, and its place taken by more 
practical and straightforward - questions. With 
the exception of some electricity and optics, there 
is practically nothing that the capable specialist 
would not be able to do on leaving school, and the 
course, therefore, suits not only those who are 
intending to take up research work, but also 
those who will afterwards turn to mechanical 
science, engineering, or physics. 

(4) The use of a trolley and inclined plane has 
done much to smooth away the difficulties from 
the path of those who attempt an experimental 
introduction to dynamics. Most teachers now 
agree that it is unsatisfactory to allow the ordinary 
student to confine himself to a theoretical treat- 
ment. Mr. Ashford quotes from Thomson and 
Tait’s standard treatise a remark that “ Nothing 
can be more fatal to progress than a too confident 
reliance on mathematical symbols, for the student 
is only too apt to consider the formula, and not 
the fact, as the physical reality.” And he has set 


196 


himself the task of devising a course which should 
guard the student against this danger. Illustra- 
tions are drawn from practical engineering, steam- 
ships, aéroplanes, motor-bicycles, turbines, &c., 
which should convince the reader of the real 
utility of mechanics, and arouse and preserve his 
interest. Text-books such as this do much to 
advance the cause of elementary mathematical 
education by enlarging the mental horizon of the 
student, and giving him a sound knowledge of the 
fundamental ideas, such as mass, force, energy, 
momentum, &c., without which any substantial 
progress is impossible. 

(5) This course of practical arithmetic, geo- 
metry, and mechanics is written for first-year 
students taking a technical course, and is intended 
to occupy rather more than a hundred hours. The 
first forty pages deal with fractions, decimals, 
ratio, percentagé, and graphs; the next sixty with 
the mensuration of the triangle, circle, and simple 
solids; and the remainder with the principle of 
the lever, centre of gravity, and the measurement 
of work. The examples are numerous, simple, 
and practical. 

(6) This small pamphlet gives an account of a 
graphical method for facilitating numerical calcu- 
lations required in connection with comparatively 
complicated formule occurring in scientific and 
engineering work. Although disclaiming any 
originality for the methods .he gives, the author 
points out that as yet they have received little or 
no attention from English writers. The theory is 
not difficult, but those whose mathematical know- 
ledge is small will find it easy to master the 
practical procedure if they study the examples 
which are worked out in great detail, although 
they may consider the nomenclature rather alarm- 
ing. : 

(7) There are few subjects which depend so 
much on the personality of the teacher for their 
success, and the interest they arouse in the student, 
as geometry. And this applies even more to its 
higher branches than to the elements. A care- 
fully-chosen course on projection and homography 
not only stimulates the mind of the pupil by the 
power and generality of its root ideas, but also 
induces an enthusiasm which ensures a remark- 
able rapidity of progress. There are two distinct 
methods of procedure open to the teacher. On 
one hand, he may base his work on an analytical 
foundation, thus making use from the start of 
imaginary and ideal elements, and so establish- 
ing the validity of general projection and the 
principle of continuity. Properties of homography 
and involution, and the idea of a one-to-one corre- 
spondence, also admit of valuable illustrations from 
analysis. Or, on the other hand, he may restrict 

NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


| himself to the methods of pure geometry, and 


/of San Diego, South California, has been prepared 
by the local officer of the weather bureau, and © 


[OcTroBER 16, 1913 


exclude imaginary elements until, at an advanced 
stage, they emerge from the consideration of an 
overlapping involution. In*the treatise before us 
the author has adopted the latter method, which — 
we are inclined to think is rather more difficult — 
for the ordinary student. Its contents form a 
very comprehensive account of the projective geo-— 
metry of lines and conics up to the standard of a 
university honours degree. The author writes 
clearly, and has brought together an extremely 
interesting collection of properties; the excellence 
of the diagrams calls for special notice. We do 
not hesitate to say that those who use this book 
will gain a sound knowledge and appreciation of 
the principles of higher pure geometry. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 
The Climate and Weather of San Diego, Cali- 


fornia. By F. A. Carpenter. Pp. xii+118+ 
plates. (San Diego: Chamber of Commerce, 
1913.) 


AN excellent little book on the climate and weather 


published by the local chamber of commerce. The 
book contains twenty-seven short chapters dealing 
partly with San Diego town and bay, partly with 
San Diego county, and partly with general factors 
in weather and climate. _ 

The characteristic feature of the climate is the 
“velo” cloud, to which the place owes its com- 
paratively low summer temperature, in spite of its 
proximity to the tropics. (The latitude and longi- 
tude might with advantage have found a place 
at the beginning of the book.) The “velo” cloud 
is a cloud of a low stratus type, which “veils” the 
sun in the morning, and usually disappears with 
the coming of the sea breeze in the afternoon. 

On the average the sun shines on 356 days of 
the year at San Diego, and the total rainfall is 
under 10 inches; at times, therefore, rain is 
earnestly desired, but we are told in illustration 
of the importance of local signs in weather-fore- 
casting that San Diego’s best-loved priest used 
to refuse to offer prayers for rain unless the wind 
had been in the south for three days. The book 
is eminently readable, and the statistical tables 
have been infused with a human interest. E. G. 


Petrographische Untersuchungen an Gesteinen des 
Polsengebietes in Nord-Béhmen. By Kk. H. 
Scheumann. Pp. vi+607-776. (Leipzig: 
B. G. Teubner, 1913.) Price 8 marks. 

Tue latest number of the Abhandlungen of the 

Koénigl. Sdchsischen Gesellschaft der Waissen- 

schaften contains a memoir by K. H. Scheumann 

on the Tertiary igneous rocks of the Polzen 
district, in northern Bohemia. These rocks are 
of the same age as those of the better-known 

Mittelgebirge, farther west, and have the same 

alkaline affinities, though there is not the same 


q 


— 


_ OcrTosBER 16, 1913] 


great preponderance of basic types. In the neigh- 
-bourhood of Leipa occur numerous volcanic plugs 
and necks, composed of various alkaline basalts 
and trachydolerites, with tuffs of corresponding 
nature. In addition, dykes with a N.E.-S.W. 
direction are met with throughout the whole 
district. These have a wider petrographical 
range, and are discussed at length by the author. 
The most basic rocks of this series contain 50 per 
cent. of olivine, with melilite, biotite, haiiyne, 
nepheline, &c, To this type the author gives the 
name polsenite, but it does not seem to differ 
essentially from alnéite. From this extreme the 
rocks range through melilite- and nepheline- 
basalts, haityne-basalts, and various trachy- 
dolerites to phonolites, the most acid term being 
a trachytoid phonolite very rich in sanidine. The 
silica percentage ranges from less than 30 to 58. 
The whole assemblage of dyke-rocks is regarded as 
a single series, derived from a common magma 
by differentiation along definite lines. This con- 
clusion is enforced by chemical analyses, fourteen 
in number, which yield smooth curves when plotted 
_onadiagram. The author connects the differenti- 
ation with progressive crystallisation in the 
original magma, of trachydoleritic composition; 
and for a series of rock-types so related he pro- 
poses the term pexitropic. 


Elements of Water Bacteriology with Special 
Reference to Sanitary Water Analysis. By 
S. C. Prescott and C, E. A. Winslow. Pp. 
xiv+318. Third edition. (New York: John 
Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and 
Hall, Ltd., 1913.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 

ATTENTION has been directed in these columns to 

the previous editions of this work; to the first on 

July 7, 1904 (vol. Ixx., p. 221), and to the second 

on November 5, 1908 (vol. Ixxix., p. 6). In view 

of the important progress made during the fast 
five years in sanitary bacteriology, the authors 
have thoroughly revised their work. Newer ideas 
on the effect of temperature upon the viability 
of bacteria in water are included; the recent 
recommendations of the committee on standard 
methods are discussed; the description of the 
isolation of specific pathogenes from water has 

been largely rewritten and much extended; and a 

new chapter on the application of bacteriology to 

the sanitary study of shellfish has been introduced. 


Metallography. By Dr. Cecil H. Desch. 
xi+431. Second edition. (London: 
mans, Green and Co., 1913.) Price gs. 


_ Tue first edition of this book was reviewed in the 
issue of Nature for January 5, 191i (vol. Ixxxv., 
p- 301). In the present work the general plan 
and arrangement of the first edition remain un- 
changed, but the text has been revised, and the 
most important results of recent investigations 
have been incorporated. Important changes have 
_ been made in the treatment of the physical pro- 
perties of alloys, and of the metallography of iron 
and steel, 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] ‘ 


Pp. 
Long- 


NATURE 


197 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


| [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 

opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Naturr. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


The Piltdown Skull and Brain Gast. 


Tue discovery of the fragments of the Piltdown 
| skull has given rise to a problem of a new kind. 
| In all former discoveries of the remains of ancient 
man the part of the skull actually found was intact, 
or, if broken, a sufficient number of pieces were 
| recovered to render reconstruction an easy task. In 
| the case of the Piltdown skull, although the greater 
part of the bony walls of the cranial cavity were 
| 


| found, a large area of the forehead and along the 

middle line of the roof of the skull are still missing. 
| The problem that has to be solved is: How much is 
| missing? The solution of the problem, as Dr. Smith 
| Woodward realised when he commenced his work of 


15 9 c 9 2. 


7 


vi 


i 


| 


i 


- 2 
“sé 


s-007 7 


IF 


' 
1 
‘ 


‘(| 
my 


Fic. 1.—Occipital aspect of the brain-cast of the Piltdown skull as recon- 
structed by Dr. Smith Woodward. The parts missing in the skull are 
represented by vertical shading. 


restoration, lies in the hinder or occipital wall of 
the skull. The fragment which Dr. Smith Wood- 
ward himself discovered gives a definite index to the 
width of the right half of the occipital bone, and 
also to the width of the hinder or occipital part of the 
head. 
| It is clear, then, that the first step in the recon- 
| struction of the Piltdown skull must be an accurate 
| adjustment of the parts which enter into the forma- 
| tion of the occipital wall. If a mistake is made in 
| this initial step, then the error may become propor- 
| tionately greater as one proceeds towards the region 
of the forehead. In my opinion, Dr. Smith Wood- 
ward has made a grave mistake in his restoration of 
| the occipital region, and therefore the brain cast 
which he obtained from his reconstruction—the basis 
of Prof. Elliot Smith’s preliminary note to the Geo- 
logical Society—does not give an accurate representa- 
tion of either the size or general form of the brain of 
Piltdown Man. , 
The nature of the problem and the manner of its 
solution will be made clear-by the three accompanying 
figures. Fig. 1 represents the occipital aspect of the 


198 


brain cast obtained in Dr. Smith Woodward’s recon- 
struction; Fig. 2, the same view in a reconstruction 
of the skull made by the writer: Fig. 3, the same 


view of a brain cast from the skull of an Australian | 


native, with a cubic capacity of 1460 cubic centi- 


. 
eee —— 


Sa—- n= 


LA (| 
vr iy 


Fic. 2.—The same aspect from the reconstruction of the skull by the writer. 


ved 


50 


metres—rather a large skull for an Australian native. 
All three brain casts have been arranged on the same 
horizontal plane and drawn to the same scale. To 
facilitate comparison, they have been placed within 
squares of the same size. Three vertical lines are 


1s 50 50 aw 


Fic. 3.—The same aspect of the brain cast from the skull of an Australian 
native—for comparison with figs. r and 2. 


represented—the middle and two lateral lines. 
lateral lines are 50 mm. apart from the middle line. 

The leading principle which guides the task of 
reconstruction is symmetry—the right and left halves 
of the mammalian head and skull are approximately 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


30 


The | 


[OcroseR 16, 1913 


| alike. When the test of symmetry is applied to the 

| occipital region of the brain cast from Dr. Smith — 

| Woodward’s reconstruction of the skull, it is at once 
seen that there is a great degree of discrepancy — 


| between the right and left halves; the amount which 


' has to be added to the right halt to make it ap-— 


proximately equal to the left is shown by the stippled 


line in Fig. 1. The discrepancy between the two 
halves is even more marked when the right and left 
halves of the lambdoid suture—the joint between 


the posterior margin of the two parietal bones and 


the occipital—are investigated. 
The situation of corresponding parts of this suture 
are represented on the right and left halves of the 


* recovered parts of the Piltdown skull; Dr. Smith 
n Woodward has already recognised the presence 
sy of thoce two parts of the lambdoid suture. 
fs They are indicated on the three accompanying 


figures as A, B. Now on the left side of the 
skull the lambdoid suture cuts the lateral line 
50 mm. from the mid-line; on the right side it falls 
20 mm. short of the lateral line; to make the two 


© sides approximately symmetrical, the right lambdoid 


suture has to be moved outwards until it occupies 
the position A’ B/, shown in Fig. 1. That degree 
of error exceeds even the amount found in human 
skulls deformed artificially or deformed by disease, 
and points to an error in reconstruction. It will be 
also seen that the right and left halves of the suture, 
as indicated on the brain cast—the discrepancy is 
even more marked on the reconstruction of the skull 
—have a different inclination to the mid-line of the 
reconstruction. It may be thought that all that is 
necessary to obtain symmetry is to move the parts of 
the right half outwards until the right and left halves 
of the brain cast are approximately equal in size; 
when this is done, it will be found that marked 
asymmetry of another kind is introduced. In 
moving one part, all the other parts of the skull are 
thrown out of place; the task has to be recom- 
menced from the first initial step. 

In Fig. 2 I give a drawing of the brain cast ob- 
tained when the parts of the skull are placed 
together according to their structural markings. 
There can be no doubt as to the middle line of the 
occipital bone; on its outer surface is clearly seen 
the ridge which indicates the division between the 
right and left halves of the neck. We may presume 


so in this primitive man that the neck was symmetrical. 


The next point which has to be fixed definitely is the — 


,, middle line on the roof of the skull. At first I accepted 
the middle line as fixed by Dr. Smith Woodward— 
an elevation on the outer aspect of the left parietal 
bone—near its hinder upper angle—corresponding to a 
wide depression which is to be seen on the inner aspect 
of that part of the bone. I found it impossible to 
obtain even an approximate symmetry of the right and 


© left halves of the skull in all my attempts at recon- 


struction when I proceeded on _this basis. 

On comparing the corresponding regions of the 
Piltdown and Neanderthal brain casts, it became quite 
apparent that the markings of the middle line— 
which I had accepted from Dr. Smith Woodward— 
did not represent the middle line, but a region well to 
the left of that line. The excavation or groove which 
we had regarded as caused by the longitudinal blood 
sinus—a channel passing along the roof of the skull 
under the middle line—was not due to that struc- 
ture, but to the well-marked elevations of the brain 
on each side of the longitudinal sinus. These cerebral 
elevations are clearly marked in the brain casts of 
| Neanderthal man. In the skulls of all the higher 
| primates, the longitudinal sinus, near the hinder end 

of the adjacent margins of the right and left parietal 
bones, is marked by a narrow deep groove with dis- 


OcTOBER 16, 1913] 


tinct edges; on the margin of the upper angle of the 
Piltdown fragment the edge or margin of this groove 
ean be clearly recognised. 

In Dr. Smith Woodward’s reconstruction, therefore, 
it is not only necessary to move the fragments of the 
right side outwards; the left parietal bone has also to 
be moved outwards, or rather tilted upwards and out- 
wards until it assumes a more vertical position, with the 
marking of the sinus in the middle line. When that 
is done, and the other parts correctly adjusted, the 
_ brain cast assumes the form and size represented in 
_ Fig. 2. I made many experiments to test other pos- 
sible suppositions, but only when the fragments were 
placed as in Fig. 2 could I secure symmetry, and at 
the same time obtain all the anatomical markings in 
their normal situations. The brain cast obtained from 
this reconstruction displaces just over 1500 cubic 
centimetres of water. Dr. Smith Woodward esti- 
mated his brain cast provisionally at 1070 c.c.; the 
replicas of the brain cast which were distributed 
displace 1200 c.c. of water; even if the reconstruc- 
tion carried out by Dr. Smith Woodward is accepted, 
and the right half is made approximately symmetrical 
with the left, the brain of Piltdown man will be about 
200 ¢.c. above his original estimate. 

In my reconstruction two other peculiar features of 
the original brain cast have disappeared. One is the 
sharp bending inwards or kinking of the temporal 
lobe of the brain; the other is the position of the 
foramen magnum—the opening in the base of the 
skull for the exit of the spinal cord. In the original 
reconstruction the lower margin of the occipital bone 
was brought forwards so far in the base of the skull 
that when a palate was articulated there was no 
room left for the soft palate and pharynx. The cor- 
responding basal parts of the brain cast are, of course, 
also abbreviated. 

I do not attach any high importance to actual brain 
mass; it is merely a rough indication of mental 
power when applied to human brains. So far as 
concerns the description of the actual markings of 
the Piltdown brain cast given by my friend Prof. 
Elliot Smith, I am in complete agreement, but so 
far as concerns general mass and conformation, it is 
clear, from his letter in Nature, October 2, p. 131, 
that I am at complete variance. How far I am right 
—to what extent I have made an error—remains to 
be seen; but the publication of these drawings and 
observations will show that I have made every 
endeavour to arrive as’near the truth as is possible 
for me. A. Kern. 

Royal College of Surgeons, Lincoln’s Inn 

Fields, W.C., October 4. 


The Theory of Radiation. 


In his letter published in Nature of October 9, Prof. 
Maclaren has referred to my use of the concept of 
a natural unit of angular momentum, and perhaps 
a few explanatory remarks may be useful, as the work 
has not been published in a journal devoted to physics. 
The concept first appeared in my paper on the con- 
stitution of the solar corona, published in the Monthly 
Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society in June of 
last year. It was found that the energy frequency 
ratios of the atomic systems, which were held to be 
the origin of the main lines in the coronal spectrum, 
were always simple multiples of the quantity h/27, 
where h is Planck’s constant. As these ratios were 
nothing more or less than the angular momenta 
of the atoms, the conclusion was forced upon me that 
Planck’s h could only be an angular momentum. 

As was stated at the time, such an interpretation 
removes much of the difficulty otherwise pertaining 
to the quanta theory, when expressed in the usual 


NO. 2294, Vol. 92| 


' NATURE 


199 


Way in terms of energy. It does not, of course, ex- 
plain that theory, but merely renders it more intelli- 
gible as a possibility, for it is not difficult to obtain 
fair mechanical models of atoms the angular momen- 
tum of which can only have a discrete set of values. 
Prof. Maclaren, in his letter has, in fact, indicated 
a very beautiful one by the help of the magneton, 
which has a definite unit of angular momentum. It 
is evidently possible to construct a system containing 
multiples of that unit. ; 

The more recent work of Dr. Bohr (Phil. Mag., 
July and September of this year) applies the same con- 
cept to series spectra, but is different in that it postu- 
iates the angular momentum of an electron in the 
normal state of the atom as exactly h/27. For 
example, the whole angular momentum of a neutral 
atom with five electrons is, on Bohr’s theory, 5h/27. 
But I had found it necessary in the paper cited above 
that the value should be 25h/27. There is in this 
respect a discrepancy between the two theories, which 
is probably not serious, as Dr. Bohr has only calcu- 
lated the series linesin hydrogen and in helium with a 
single electron, and therefore charged. (The number 
of electrons and its square are then identical.) The 
real test of his theory will lie in its capacity to account 
for the usual spectrum of helium—a test which does 
not appear difficult. For’ Dr. Bohr has concluded 
that helium will not take a negative charge. The 
ordinary spectrum must therefore come from the un- 
charged atom in its passage between stationary states, 
which are of a limited number, as there are only two 
electrons. It does not appear that the helium spec- 
trum can be obtained in this way, but perhaps further 
investigation will modify this conclusion. Until this 
is done, the point raised by Prof. Fowler in a recent 
discussion in NATURE, as to the apparent need for 
xeeping the Balmer and Pickering spectra of 
‘““hydrogen”’ as two distinct series, has not been 
answered. 

But as Prof. Maclaren states, whatever be the fate 
of this theory, the natural unit of angular momentum 
seems necessary. It is inevitably suggested by any 
atomic theory which now attempts to rest on a founda- 
tion of electrons and a positive nucleus; for its use 
is not restricted to the applications already mentioned. 
It is apparently the only ready means of explaining 
a type of spectral series which the writer has found 
recently to be of importance—a series in which the 
cube roots of the wave-lengths have constant differ- 
ences. J. W. NicHoLson. 

King’s College, London. 


Science and the Lay Press. 


Many “lay” journalists will have welcomed the 
comments in Nature of October g (p. 172) on the 
“sensational paragraphs to the effect that Sir 
Frederick Treves had announced at the Radium In- 
stitute ‘a complete revolution in the future of 
radium.’’’ For the undue enthusiasm shown, the 
Radium Institute is partly to blame. Sir Fredericl 
claimed credit on behalf of it for the discovery that 
emanation was as valuable as radium in the treat- 
ment of cancer, and when Mr. Pinch was describing 
the good results obtained with emanation water in 
the treatment of arthritis deformans he interpolated 
the remark that this was something new in medicine. 
Undoubtedly, too, the impression was created in the 
minds of many of those present that by utilising 
emanation a gram of radium could be made to do 
the work of several grams. While in the matter of 
comment several newspapers fell into gross errors, 
they did little more than translate into popular 
language the sense of what was said. 

Unfortunately in compressing what he had to say 


200 


Sir Frederick Treves did not find it possible to show 
clearly in what exact respects the institute claimed to 
have made an advance. I imagine his remarks were 
intended to serve a double purpose—to explain the 
part that radium can play in disease and to show 
on what lines the institute had new information to 
publish. 

The conditions of lay journalism are such that the 
reporter is usually forced to estimate the value of 
claims put forward by considering the way in which 
they are presented, coupled with the standing of the 
speaker and of the institution that has given him a 
platform. Several papers have made the experiment 
of employing an expert in such matters, but on the 
whole the results have been disappointing. It is to 
be hoped that the episode, and your comments on it, 
will act as a warning for future occasions, and that 
in communications to the lay Press men of science 
will be more careful to pre- 
serve a proper perspective 
and to differentiate clearly | 
between new and already 
well-known facts. 

ONE OF THE REPORTERS 

PRESENT. 


r naan 


THE GLASGOW 
MEMORIAL TO LORD 
KELVIN. 


1% May, 1908, in re- 
sponse to a widely 
expressed opinion that a 
memorial should _ be 
erected to Lord Kelvin, a 
meeting was called by 
the Lord Provost of 
Glasgow to consider the | 
matter. This gathering, | 
representative of the city | 
and west of Scotland, re- | 
solved to mark in a fit- | 
ting and permanent form 
its sense of the manifold | 
benefits which Lord Kel- | 
vin’s researches and 
discoveries in physical 
science, and his patient 
application of the same 
to the common uses of 
man by sea and land, 
have conferred upon the world, by establishing 
a worthy memorial of him in the city where he 
lived and laboured. 

The desire thus expressed was amply accom- 
plished on Wednesday, October 8, in the presence 
of a large and distinguished assemblage, including 
many veterans of science trained under Lord 
Kelvin, and leaders in other departments of life, 
when the unveiling of the memorial statue was 
performed by the Rt. Hon. Augustine Birrell, 
K.C., M.P., Lord Rector of Glasgow University. 
The statue stands in Kelvingrove Park, at the base 
of the hill on which the University is built, facing 
S.E, towards the river Kelvin and the city. It 
represents Lord Kelvin seated with his familiar 
green book and pencil in hand, in a character- 


NATURE 


— a 


[OcToBER 16, 1913 


| Behind the figure are placed his binnacle and 


mirror galvanometer, with other emblems of his 
services to industry and science. The memorial 
is the work of Mr. A. McFarlane Shannan, 
Glasgow, and, in the words of Prof. Perry, asa 
faithful likeness and, what is more, as a work of 
art, it does all that art could do in awakening the- 
emotions of reverence and love felt by all who 
came closely in touch with the great master. 

At the unveiling ceremony, which took place 
at 11 a.m., a letter from Lady Kelvin was read 
expressing her regret at being unable to attend, 
and after a short introductory speech by the 
Lord Provost, Mr. Birrell began his address. He 
referred to William Thomson’s early life and 
training in Glasgow, and traced his close and 


Clay Model of Statue of Lord Kelvin in Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow. Sculptor, Mr. A. McF, Shannan. 


life-long connection with the University, begin- 
ning as student, and ending its first stage as the 


| author of original memoirs at the age of eighteen. 


Then came the eventful interlude at Cambridge, 
and Mr. Birrell genially recalled how Thomson’s 
originality proved his undoing in the competition 
for the Senior Wranglership, and how “the 
ancient and eternal wrongs of the examination: — 
room” were mitigated later when Parkinson, 
despite his pace, was second Smith’s Prizeman.: 
Cambridge over, he returned to Glasgow to the 
professorship of natural philosophy, “a chair 
which he occupied and illuminated for half a 
century.” In closing the review of Lord Kelvin’s 
work in Glasgow as student, as investigator, and 
teacher, the Lord Rector added that he had said 


istic attitude as when at work on some problem. | enough, and far more than was necessary, to prove 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


OcToBER 16, 1913] 


‘that before all other cities, and above all other 
places, Glasgow is the city and the place for a 
statue of Lord Kelvin. Men like Lord Kelvin 
were seldom solitary voyagers, but rather leaders 
of a great company of thinkers and experimenters 
labouring to lighten the burden of suffering 
humanity. As a practical inventor as well as 
a thinker his claims appealed to all, and would 
_ continue to do so. It was therefore with pride 
and joy and confidence that he asked the City of 
Glasgow, for all time to come, to take good care 
_ of a beautiful memorial of a truly memorable man. 
* Principal Sir Donald MacAlister, in moving a 
‘vote of thanks to Mr. Birrell, said that the Lord 
*Rector had performed the ceremony with his ac- 
customed felicity, and had worthily expressed the 
homage of the city and University to one of its 
_ brightest ornaments. In the name of the sub- 

‘seribers, Prof. S. P. Thompson moved a vote 
of thanks to the sculptor; this was seconded by 
Prof. Perry, and Mr. Shannan replied. 

At the luncheon following on the unveiling of 
the statue to Lord Kelvin the toast, ‘‘The Memory 
of Lord Kelvin,” was proposed by the Rt. Hon. 
Arthur James Balfour, M.P. 

Mr. Balfour dwelt upon Lord Kelvin’s happy 
combination of great gifts, making him at once 
the greatest master of theory and a leading spirit 
in every department of practical affairs. His 
services to mankind, as man of business, inventor, 
‘teacher, investigator of the great problems of 
the universe, in order more and more to raise the 
material condition of mankind, rank him as 
greatest of the great ‘group of physicists 
who have paved the way for the scientific revolu- 
_ tion in the midst of which we. are’ living. Lord 
'Kelvin’s want of sympathy with those latter-day 
«speculations to which his own labours led up was 
not the imperviousness to ideas which comes of 
mental inertia. 
other men depénded at the moment upon the 
intense inner life that he led, which concentrated 
his attention upon certain lines of investigation, 
and made him almost oblivious of what was going 
on outside the current of his own thought. Great 
in knowledge, great in achievement, yet in him- 
self the most modest, the most eager, the most 
childlike—in the good sense of the word—of men, 
his record had never been surpassed in the whole 
annals of physical science. 


THE PREHISTORIC SOCIETY OF EAST 
ANGLIA. 

HE members of the Prehistoric Society of 
East Anglia are to be congratulated on the 
systematic manner in which they are studying the 
properties of flint, with special reference to the 
identification of human workmanship. In _ the 
latest part of their proceedings! Dr. W. Allen 
Sturge discussess the patina of flint implements, 
and concludes that it is produced entirely by ex- 
_ posure on the surface. Permanent burial appears 
not only to retard, but even to prevent, patination. 


1 Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia, 1910-11, 1911-12, 
vol. i., pt. ii. “(fondon: H. K. Lewis, rorz.) 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


But what he would accept from’ 


201 


Mr. J. Reid Moir describes some experiments 
on the chipping of flints, and attempts to show 
that the flaking of a margin by natural causes is 
comparatively irregular, while the blows directed 
by man to produce such flaking are at definite 
angles with much regularity. He also demon- 
strates that flakes produced by natural pressure 
often exhibit a bulb at each end. Mr. F. N. 
Haward follows with additional notes on the 
chipping of flints by natural agencies, and con- 
cludes that much can be accounted for by move- 
ments in the ground. He instances particularly 
the chipping due to the creeping motion of gravel 
at the top of pipes in the chalk. 

Among descriptive papers may be specially 
mentioned that by Mr. J. Reid Moir on the much- 
discussed human skeleton discovered by him in a 
glacial deposit at Ipswich. Though interesting, 
it is by no means convincing in its argument that 
the skeleton lay in undisturbed ground; and the 
difficulty in believing that the human being in 
question lived before the deposition of the boulder 
clay is further enhanced by the report of Prof. 
A. Keith, who finds that there is no essential 
difference between this skeleton and that of a 
modern civilised man. 

There may also be differences of opinion about 
the supposed flint implements, described by Mr. 
W. G. Clarke, from the basement bed of the 
Norwich Crag, in Norfolk; but Dr. Sturge’s 
elaborate paper on Mousterian and other late 
Paleolithic flint implements from _ superficial 
deposits in East Anglia will be accepted without 
hesitation, and is all the more welcome from the 
abundance of French specimens which the author 
is able to select for comparison from his own 
cabinet. All the papers are well illustrated, but 
this one by Dr. Sturge especially so; and the 
only fault we have to find with them is their 
frequent diffuseness. A more concise and system- 
atic mode of expression might be adopted in future 
with advantage. 


NOTES. 


An extra meeting of the Chemical Society will be 
held at Burlington House, Piccadilly, W., on Thurs- 
day, October 23, at 8.30 p.m., when the Ladenburg 
Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Prof. F. Stan- 
ley Kipping, F.R.S. 


A LECTURE will be given under the auspices of the 
Swedenborg Society at the rooms of the Society of 
British Artists, Suffoll Street, on the evening of 
November 19, by Prof. W. B. Bottomley, of King’s 


College, London, on Swedenborg’s doctrine of the 
origin of life. Sir W. F. Barrett, F.R.S., will occupy 
the chair. 


Tue High Commissioner of the Federated Malay 
States has notified that, in consideration of the import- 
ance of the London School of Tropical Medicine to 
the Government, a sum of 5o00o0l. has been voted as a 
contribution to Mr. Austen Chamberlain’s appeal for 
100,000. for the endowment of the school. The grant. 
was made by the Legislative Council on the repre- 


202 


sentation of unofficial members. Mr. Chamberlain’s 


fund now amounts to 70,0001. 


A piscovery of arctic land, which, when further 
investigated, will add an important feature to even a 
small-scale map of the north polar region, is reported 
by The Times correspondent in St. Petersburg. It 
appears that Capt. Wilkitsky, in command of two 
Russian surveying ships off the north Siberian coast, 
has been working northward and westward from 
Vladivostok and Cape Dezhnev, and was brought to 
a stop by ice off Cape Chelyuskin. Proceeding north- 
ward in an attempt to turn the barrier, he came upon 
land—an eastward-facing coast—extending in a direc- 
tion roughly north-north-west from 78° to 81° N., 
over a distance of 200 nautical miles. He was forced 
to return, and has sent his message from Fort St. 
Michael, in Alaska. The existence of land of such 
extent as is indicated at once suggests an interruption 
in the polar circulation, goes far to account for the 
habitually ice-bound condition of the Kara Sea to the 
south-west, and of the waters off Cape Chelyuskin 
itself (which must apparently be separated from the 
new land by a strait only some forty miles wide), 
and may be taken to bear upon the distinct northerly 
trend of the drift of Nansen’s ship, the Fram, which 
appears in the charts between lats. 110° and go° E. 
If the new land really terminates in 81° N., it may 
be added that the Fram easily missed it, being fully 
three degrees more northerly. 


Mr. TrumMAN H. Atpricu, of Birmingham, Alabama, 
has presented his entire collection of recent shells, 
about 20,000 named species, to the museum of the 
Geological Survey of Alabama. The series includes 
not only Mr. Aldrich’s gatherings and the results of 
exchanges during more than fifty years, but several 
large private accumulations which were purchased 
entire, notably the Pile Mauritius series, the Jones 
Bermuda and Nova Scotia shells, and the Parker 
cabinet of about 5500 listed species. The Aldrich 
collection is particularly rich in operculate land shells 
and includes many types. About 1500 books, concho- 
logical and other scientific works, accompanied the 
gift. Mr. Aldrich has already proved himself a 
generous friend of the museum. Three years ago he 
gave all his duplicate shells, some 250,000, fine 
specimens; and the very rich set of Tertiary inverte- 
brate fossils is largely due to him. His cabinet set 
of these fossils, one of the finest in the world, was 
acquired by the Johns Hopkins University of Balti- 
more. ; 

A STRIKING and impressive instance of the benefits 
conferred upon the human race by developments of 
modern science was provided by the occurrences in 
connection with the disastrous fire which destroyed 
the British steamship Volturno in mid-Atlantic last 
week during a heavy gale. The passengers and crew 
numbered 657, and it is known that 521 have been 
saved, All the survivors on board the ship when the 
vessels arrived which responded to the Volturno’s 
wireless telegraphic call for help were saved. The 
Cunard liner Carmania received the first news of the 
fire, and immediately use was made of her wireless 
installation to ‘send the cry for help far and wide, with 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 16, 1915 


the result that ten steamships were able to render aid. 
The 521 survivors thus owe their lives primarily to 
wireless telegraphy. Among the rescuing vessels was 
an oil-tank steamer, the Narragansett, which by dis- 
charging two large streams of oil, moderated the 
troubled waters and assisted in the work of rescue by 
enabling small boats to approach the burning vessel 
with less danger. A passenger on board the Car- 
mania says, in The Daily Mail, that within five 
minutes after the commencement of the discharge of 
the oil, the sea for a hundred yards away from the 
Narragansett and towards the Volturno became abso- 
lutely calm, apart from a slight roll. 


Tue death is announced, in his seventy-eighth year, 
of a distinguished American astronomer, Rear-Admiral 
John R. Eastman. In his boyhood he lived on a farm 
in New Hampshire, and attended only a_ public 
elementary school, afterward supporting himself by 
teaching until he entered Dartmouth College, where 
he graduated in 1862. After serving for a few years 
as an assistant at the U.S. Naval Observatory, he was 
appointed in 1865 professor of mathematics in the 
U.S. Navy. He retired in 1898 with the rank of 
captain, and was promoted in 1g06 to that of rear- 
admiral. He was engaged for many years in astro- 
nomical observation and research, the bulk of his 
published work appearing in the annual volumes of 
the Government Observatory. He prepared and 
edited the Second Washington Star Catalogue, con- 
taining the results of nearly 80,000 observations at 
the Naval Observatory. He was the author of ‘‘ Tran- 
sit Circle Observations of the Sun, Moon, Planets, 
and Comets,” published in 1903. Rear-Admiral East- 
man was the first president of the Washington 
Academy of Sciences. 


Tue death is announced of Sir John Batty Tuke, | 
formerly M.P. for Edinburgh and St. Andrews Uni- 
versities, at seventy-eight years of age. From an 
obituary notice in Tuesday’s Times we learn that Sir 
John Tuke was educated at Edinburgh Academy and 
University. On taking the degree of M.D. he went 
out to New Zealand, where he was civil practitioner 
in medical charge of a wing of the 65th Regiment. 
On returning to Scotland in 1863 he began practice 
in Edinburgh. For some time he was _ assistant 
physician at the Royal Edinburgh Lunatie Asylum, 
and in 1867 was appointed medical superintendent of 
the Fife and Kinross District Lunatic Asylum. He 
returned to Edinburgh in 1873, and was associated 
with the late Dr. Smith and Dr. Lowe in the manage- 
ment of Saughton Hall Asylum, which he continued 
to direct until a few years ago. He was president of 
the Medico-Chirurgical Society and of the Neuro- 
logical Society of the United Kingdom. He held the 
honorary degrees of D.Sc. (Dublin), LL.D. (Edin- 
burgh), and LL.D. (St. Andrews). In 1895 Tuke 
was elected president of the Royal College of 
Physicians, Edinburgh, and in 1898, his last year of 
office, received the honour of knighthood. Two years 
later he succeeded the late Sir William Priestley as 
member of Parliament for Edinburgh and St. Andrews 
Universities. He retired from Parliament in 1910, 
and was succeeded by Sir Robert B. Finlay. Sir 


OcToBER 16, 1913] 


John Batty Tuke will long be remembered as a great 


authority on the care and treatment of the insane. 
He gave himself to work hard at the problems which 
these cases present; and he deserved, and attained, 
a very high place in his profession, not only by his 
practice, but by his writings. 


Tue Ricut Hon. James Stuart, formerly professor 
of mechanism and applied mechanics in the Univer- 
sity of Cambridge, died on Sunday, October 12, in 
his seventy-first year. Mr. Stuart’s early education 
was partly private and partly at the Madras College, 
St. Andrews. Thence he proceeded to the University 
of that city, where he graduated in 1861, and in the 
following year he won a minor scholarship at Trinity 
College, Cambridge. In 1864 he was elected to a 
foundation scholarship at Trinity, where in 1866 he 
graduated as Third Wrangler. He was elected a 
fellow of his college in 1867. The University Exten- 
sion movement sprang from Mr. Stuart’s interest in 
the education of women. He undertook in 1867 to 
deliver a course of lectures on astronomy to women 
teachers. The result was a number of invitations to 
lecture to working-men. By 1871 he had worked out 
a scheme of extension lectures, and the University of 
Cambridge was induced to give definite shape to his pro- 
posals. To-day something like a thousand courses of lec- 
tures are organised annually, and more than a hundred 
thousand persons benefit by the teaching. In 1875 
Stuart was elected the first professor of mechanism 
and applied mechanics at Cambridge, and was chosen 
a member of the University Council. During the 
_ next ten years his energies were largely devoted to 
the founding of the mechanical workshops in which 
his teaching was carried on, and to the establishment 
of the mechanical science tripos in the University. 
Prof. Stuart entered the House of Commons in 1885, 
and was a member of the London County Council 
for many years. In 1889 his absorption in party 
politics in London led him to resign his professorial 
chair at Cambridge, after a successful tenure of 
fourteen years. In 1909 he was sworn a member of 
the Privy Council; and in 1898-1901 he was rector of 
St. Andrews University. 


Mr. PercrvaL MarsHAatt is to be congratulated on 
the success of the fourth biennial Model Engineer 
Exhibition at the Royal Horticultural Hall. Here 
are collected together not only models of all kinds af 
professional make, together with their parts and tools 
suitable for their construction—good and not unduly 
expensive—but the work of a large band of amateur 
workers is exhibited also. No better evidence could 
be afforded of the stimulus which has been given to 
latent talent by The Model Engineer, now issued 
weekly, which Mr. Marshall was enterprising enough 
to found fifteen years ago, and also by the numerous 
societies and clubs which have come into existence, 
with this newspaper as a medium of communication. 
The admirable working drawings of models for 
which The Model Engineer has been so well known 
have had a valuable educational effect; and whether 
the immediate stimulus has been the desire to make a 
kite, a hydroplane, some kind of engine, or a wireless 


set, for the mere enjoyment of the thing or with the }| 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


203 


hope of obtaining one of the prizes for model work 
which the paper or the societies or clubs offer is a 
small matter, the educative process is carried out on 
attractive lines, and more serious study is encouraged. 
It is not possible in the available space to refer to 
individual exhibits of the amateur class, but reference 
may be made to the ‘‘horophone” or wireless receiv- 
ing set designed for receiving the time signals from 
the Eiffel Tower or from Norddeich, mainly with the 
object of commenting on the fact that Greenwich time, 
now the time-basis of practically the whole civilised 
world, is sent out daily by Germany and France to 
Europe and the North Atlantic, while this country sits 
idly by accepting for its shipping the invaluable aid 
given freely by its two neighbours. 

IN connection with the Fourth International 
Botanical Congress to be held in London in i915, a 
preliminary circular has been issued on behalf of the 
organising committee. The previous congress, held 
at Brussels in May, 1910, decided, on the invitation 
of the Royal Society of London, that the next meet- 
ing, in 1915, should be held in London. At a general 
meeting of British botanists, held in London in March, 
Ig12, an organising committee was elected, and sub- 
sequently an executive committee. A number of dis- 
tinguished patrons of botany were also invited to lend 
their support to the congress. The organising com- 
mittee consists of three presidents—Sir David Prain, 
Prof. F. O. Bower, and Prof. A. C. Seward—the 
following vice-presidents: Prof. I. Bayley Balfour, 
Mr. W. Bateson, Dr. F. F. Blackman, Sir Francis 
Darwin, Prof. H. H. Dixon, Mr. G. C. Druce, Prof. 
J. B. Farmer, Mr. A. D. Hall, Dr. W. B. Hemsley, 
Dr. R. Kidston, Prof. F. W. Oliver, Mr. R. L. 
Praeger, Miss E. Sargant, Dr. D. H. Scott, Mr. 
A. G. Tansley, Prof. S. H. Vines, and Mr. H. W. 
Wager; and a list of members which is fully represen- 
tative of British botany. Sir Frank Crisp is treasurer, 
Dr. A. B. Rendle general secretary, and Dr. Otto 
Stapf foreign secretary. The congress will meet 
from May 22 to May 29, 1915, and its work will 
include the various branches of botanical science, 
together with certain matters connected with nomen- 
clature and bibliography left over from the previous 
meeting. The official language of the congress will 
be English, but any language may be used in the 
discussions. Member’s subscription is fifteen shil- 
lings, and ladies accompanying members may attend 
the meeting and excursions on payment of ten 
shillings each. Particulars of meetings, discussions, 
excursions, &c., will be issued later. As it is esti- 
mated that the sum of toool. will be required to 
defray the expenses of the congress, the executive 
committee have decided to raise a fund for the purpose, 
and an appeal has been issued to British botanists 
and those interested in the science in Great Britain. 


Tue Hull Municipal Museum, under its curator, Mr. 
T. Sheppard, continues to increase its collections. 
Recent additions include a fine bronze palstave lately 
found at Kirkella, the outfit of a Yorkshire clog-sole 
maker, a curious ancient wooden nut-cracker repre- 
senting a human head, Saxon bronze brooches dis- 
covered at Hornsea, a fine collection of early jewel- 


204 


lery and old firearms, while a large series of 
ethnographical objects from Nigeria, acquired by Mr. 
M. S. Cockin, has been deposited, The excellent and 
well-illustrated progress reports issued by the curator 
might with advantage be studied by other museum 
authorities as a means of popularising their collections. 


Tue most important contribution to the October 
issue of Man is a paper by Prof. Flinders Petrie 
describing a series of the earliest perfect tombs dis- 
covered at the great cemetery of Tarkhan, forty miles 
south of Cairo. Two of them date from the time of 
King Zet, in the middle of the first dynasty. This 
series of interments was found absolutely undis- 
turbed, and contained burials of the contracted form, 
the head lying north, the face east, on the left side, 
and accompanied by some small pottery and gazelle 
bones. In the tomb walls are two slits, through 
which it was beliéved that the food offerings reached 
the dead. Some 600 skeletons have been unearthed, 
those of the females being homogeneous, while the 
males fall into two groups, indicating that from pre- 
historic times there had been a slow intermixture 
of the dynastic race with the indigenous peoples. 


Since 1911 the Cambrian Archzological Society has 
been engaged on the excavation of a Roman fortress 
in Mid Wales—Castell Collen, ‘‘the fortress of the 
hazel trees,’’ close to Llandrindrod Wells. So far, a 
granary, the principia or headquarters building, and 
the house of the commandant have been unearthed. 
The place, from the evidence of coins and pottery, 
seems to have been occupied from the end of the first 
century to the close of the third, century a.p. Among 
the discoveries are a bronze scabbard-scape of late 
Celtic work, a dolphin-shaped scabbard attachment 
of bronze, a silver ring with the motto ‘‘Amor 
Dvlcis,”” and an intaglio with a Roman horseman 
riding down a barbarian. Much work remains to 
be done, and contributions are invited by Mr. C. 
Venables Llewelyn, Llysdinain Hall, Newbridge-on- 
Wye. 


Tue first report of the Eugenics Record Office of 
Cold Spring Harbour, Long Island, New York, was 
issued in June last by the superintendent, Mr, H. H. 
Laughlin. It contains an interesting account of the 
way in which the work of the office is organised, and 
of the elaborate card system which has been adopted 
for indexing the extensive collection of data in 
process of accumulation. The practical work of the 
office has three aims: (1) to collect and analyse family 
records for the purpose of studying heredity; (2) to 
organise courses for the training of the ‘field 
workers’ to be employed in the collection of data; 
(3) to advise concerning the eugenical fitness of pro- 
posed marriages. For funds the office is principally 
indebted to Mrs. E. H. Harriman, but Mr. J. D. 
Rockefeller has also made generous contributions in 
providing for the salaries of five ‘field workers” and 
for the publication of memoirs and half the cost of 
the training class. 

Major GREIG gives an account of the present 
incidence of enteric or typhoid fever in India in a 
paper contributed to the All-India Sanitary Confer- 

NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 16, 19 13 


ence in Madras, 1912. The disease has greatly 
declined, as the following figures show :—Average 


admission per 1000 in 1895-1904, 22°3, in Ig10, 4°13 


constantly sick per 1000 in 1895-1904, 3°31, in 1910, 


o’91; deaths per 1000 in 1895-1904, 5°62, in 1910, 


0°62. The factors concerned in this decline are 


(a) segregation of the convalescent enteric patient — 
until he is proved to be free from infection, (b) the — 


elimination of the chronic carrier, (c) inoculation, 
(d) general sanitary improvement. 


Tue curator’s report of the Otago University — 


Museum for 1912 records the definite transfer to the 
university of the Hocken library—consisting, it may 
be remembered, of a valuable collection of books, 


pamphlets, manuscripts, plans, and pictures relating — 


to the history of New Zealand and the Maoris. Some 
idea of the size of the library may be gleaned from 
the statement that the printed catalogue of the 
bound books runs to several volumes. 


A piscovEerRY of special importance in connection 
with the problem of the homology of the mammalian 
auditory ossicles is recorded by Mr. R. W. Palmer, 
University College, Reading. In dissecting the 
auditory region of a fcetal Australian bandicoot 
(Perameles) it was found that the ossicles and car- 
tilages lie freely in a hollow of the thin dentary bone 
of the lower jaw, and comparison of their position, 
form, and relations with the corresponding region 
of the skull in certain Triassic anomodont reptiles 
renders it practically certain that the mammalian 
malleus represents the articular bone of the reptilian 
lower jaw, while the incus of the mammal corresponds 
to the quadrate of the reptile and the tympanic to the 
angular element of the jaw. The paper is published 
in the Anatomischer Anzeiger, vol. xliii., p. 512- 


WE have received from the publishers (Herren R. 
Friedlander und Sohn, Berlin) five parts, 34-38, of 
‘*“Das Tierreich,”’ edited by Dr. F. E. Schulze. These 
parts deal respectively with the butterflies of the 
family Amathusiide, the rhabdocelid turbellarian 
worms, the pteropod molluscs, the cecilian am- 
phibians, and the molluscs of the group Soleno- 
gastres; and the mere fact that the second of these 
(No. 35) comprises no fewer than 484 pages of text, 
coupled with the large number of parts already 
issued, gives some indication of the voluminous nature 
of the work. To how many parts it is expected to 
run we have no clue, but it may be mentioned that 
mammals and fishes are not touched in any of those 
already issued. Each part being separately paged, 
the entire work can be arranged in such order as 
may be best suited to the needs of individual students. 
So far as we can judge, the parts before us, which, 
like the rest, are by specialists in their respective 
subjects, maintain the high standard of their pre- 
decessors, As might have been expected in a work 
by different authors, the style of treatment is by no 
means uniform; the diagnoses of the species and 
groups being in some instances models of concise- 
ness, while in others they tend to undue prolixity. 
The attention of ‘zoological recorders’’ may be 
directed to the fact that a new generic name is pro- 


OcToBER 16, 1913] 


NATURE 


205 


posed on p. 17 of the part on Solenogastres, which 
may be an indication that others occur elsewhere in 
this invaluable worl. 


Tue report of the Meteorological Committee for the 
year ended March 31 differs from its predecessors in 
at least one important respect, viz. the omission of 
most of the usual appendices. These interesting 
documents are to be issued subsequently. The detailed 
reports of the work of the several divisions of the 
office, based to some extent upon such appendices, 
appear as heretofore. We are pleased to see that 
H.M. the King has shown his interest in the work 
by commanding that a copy of the useful daily weather 
report be regularly addressed to him. At the request 
of the Treasury, the committee is negotiating with 
the Scottish Meteorological Society with the object, 
inter alia, of securing closer cooperation with this 
body in respect of the supply of meteorological in- 
formation to the public. It is stated that the com- 
mittee has been much interested in a proposal for 
the more general use of the centimetre-gramme- 
second system of units in meteorological publications, 
and, for reasons given, they have decided to use the 
centibar or millibar instead of the inch, as far as pos- 
sible, for all barometric measurements. Specimens 
of the daily and weekly weather reports are given with 
isobars shown for centibars (100=29'52 in.), and tem- 
peratures shown on the absolute temperature scale 
{273° A.=32° F.). Another important change refers 
to the modification of the code of signals hitherto 
used for storm warnings. All classes of weather fore- 
casts issued during the year 1912 were very success- 
ful; many valuable wireless reports were received 
from H.M. ships, and a very large number from 
Atlantic liners, but only about one-twentieth of the 
latter reached the office in time to be included in 
“to-day’s’’ map in the daily weather report, although 
nearly half of them could be utilised in one of the two 
smaller map’ for ‘‘ yesterday’ shown in that report. 


On October 3, Sir Joseph Thomson formally opened 
the new works of Messrs. W. G. Pye and Co. at 
Chesterton, near Cambridge, and in the course of his 
speech gave an account of his own connection with 
the establishment of Cambridge as an instrument- 
making centre. A laboratory in which any consider- 
able amount of physical research is carried out requires 
an instrument maker of its own, and twenty-two years 
ago Sir Joseph appointed Mr. Pye to the post at the 
Cavendish laboratory. Under his management the 
laboratory workshops were greatly improved, and 
many exceedingly effective instruments turned out. In 
the meantime, a small business started by Mr. Pye 
developed and soon demanded his whole attention. 
This led to his resignation of the laboratory post 
eleven years ago. Since that time the business has 
grown so rapidly as to necessitate removal to a site 
admitting of further extensions in the future. 


In the Verhandlungen of the German Physical 
Society for September 15, Drs. Gehlhoff and 
Neumeier, of the Danzig-Langfuhr Technical School, 
give the results of their measurements of the thermal 
and electrical properties of a series of alloys of bis- 
muth and antimony at temperatures between —190° 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


| 

| and 100° C. The principal results relate to the 
thermal and electrical conductivities which were deter- 
mined by a modification of the method used by Lees. 
They show that the quotient of the thermal by the 
electrical conductivity and by the absolute temperature 
is not a constant as it should be according to the 
electronic theories of conduction, by decreases by 
4o to 7o per cent. as the temperature rises from 
—190° to 100° C. The authors point out that this 
behaviour is analogous to that found by Lees for 
steel, nickel, and several alloys, and that it confirms 
the belief that the conduction of heat in many metallic 
conductors cannot be satisfactorily explained by the 
motion of free electrons. 

Hirnerto the laws of thermodynamics haye been 
applied to gases, and also to investigations of the 
radiation pressure in a black body-cavity, but little 
has been done to combine gaseous pressure and radia- 
tion pressure in a single investigation. In the 
Bulletin of the Cracow Academy for May, Mr. T. 
Bialobjeski works out the conditions of equilibrium of a 
self-gravitating spherical mass of gas when radiation 
pressure is taken into account. The solution is 
essentially mathematical, namely, a deduction of con- 
clusions from previously stated hypothesis; thus, to 
simplify matters, the author assumes the ordinary 
formule for a perfect gas and Stefan’s formula for 
radiation pressure. The investigation has an im- 
portant application to astrophysics, as it is shown 
that the equilibrium of the sun and stars may be 
affected by radiation pressure in a marked degree. 


Tue revised London County Council reinforced 
concrete regulations governing the erection of re- 
inforced concrete buildings in the London area have 
been amended by the Local Government Board, and 
have been submitted to the professional societies for 
further revision. These regulations have been the 
subject of much criticism, and additional comment on 
them is made by Mr. E. S. Andrews in The Engineer 
for October 3. Mr. Andrews points out that, to render 
the regulations reasonable and to remove some of the 
absurdities which arise in their application in some 
instances, further amendment is required, especially 
in questions of working stresses and modular ratios. 
The clauses governing these values penalise rich 
mixtures of concrete in the case of all rectangular 
beams, and also in many cases of beams of T section. 
The decrease in modular ratio suggested by the Local 
Government Board is reasonable, but the working 
stresses in the concrete do not increase for the richer 
mixtures in anything like the same ratio as obtains 
in actual experiment. Applied to columns, the regula- 
tions as to working stresses do not lead to obviously 
absurd results, but they do have the effect of dis- 
couraging the use of richer mixtures. 

Messrs. GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND Sons, Ltp., have 
in the press, and will shortly publish, * A Handbook 
of Photomicrography,” by H. Lloyd Hind and W. 


Brough Randles. The new work will contain an 
account of the modern methods employed in photo- 
micrography, with a description of the apparatus and 
processes, treated both from a microscopic and photo- 
graphic point of view. 


206 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


BriLtiant METEOR OF OcTOBER 7.—.A very 
meteor, which illuminated the heavens like a flash of 
lightning, was observed at various places in the west 
of England on October 7 at 10.35 p.m. It was seen 
by Mr. F. T. Naish at Bishopston, Bristol, and he 
recorded the position of the streak, which endured 
for nearly half a minute, as from 337°+8° to 327°—2°. 
As observed by Miss Eleonora Armitage at Swains- 
wick, near Bath, the meteor is described as coming 
rapidly from overhead and disappearing in Aquila. It 
left a luminous trail about 10° long, lasting for a few 
seconds. 

Mr. F. C. Carey, of H.M.S. Illustrious, Devonport, 
noticed a lightning-like flash, and on looking up- 
wards saw in due east, altitude 60°, a luminous train 
which was brighter in the upper portion and remained 
visible for several seconds. 

The meteor was also visible from Keynsham, near 
Bristol, and by several other observers at Bristol. 

From the data collected by Mr. Denning, he finds 
that the meteor had a probable radiant in Gemini, 
and that its height was from about seventy-four to 
fifty-two miles. The position of the flight was from 
over Wiltshire to the English Channel, about ten 
miles east of Paignton, Devonshire. Further observa- 
tions are needed of a more exact character to deter- 
mine its real path accurately. The meteor was a very 
swift one of the Leonid type, and it appeared on a 
very unsettled, showery evening, when, unfortunately, 
the sky was cloudy at many places. 


COMETARY OBSERVATIONS IN 1909 TO 1912.—The 
principal contents of No. 12 of the Mitteilungen der 
Hamburger Sterwarte relate to the observations made 
of comets which appeared in the interval included 
in the years 1909 to 1912. The observations there 
recorded are both visual and photographic, the former 
being made with an equatorial’ of 256 mm. aperture 
and 3:02 m. focal length, and the latter with a 
158 mm. Petzval objective of 760 mm. focal length, 
and a 5-in. Cooke triplet of 600 mm. focal length. 
Dr. K. Graff gives an account of the physical observa- 
tions made with the large equatorial, and accom- 
panies his remarks with an excellent series of draw- 
ings of the detailed structures in the heads of the 
various comets observed. Prof. A. Schwassmann 
limits his account to Brooks’s comet’ (1911c), and 
describes in detail the chief points which are notice- 
able on the fine series of photographs which accom- 
pany the text. This publication also includes the 
observations made for the determinations of the posi- 
tions of the comets and numerous minor planets, all 
made with the large equatorial by the observers, Dr. 
K. F. Bottlinger, Dr. K. Graff, and Herr H. Thiele. 


NORMAL SYSTEM OF WAVE-LENGIHS IN THE SPECTRUM 
OF THE IRON Arc.—In this column for October 2 refer- 
ence was made under the heading ‘‘The Wave- 
lengths of Certain Iron Lines”’ to the work of Dr. F. 
Goos. The current number of The Astrophysical 
Journal (vol. xxxviii., No. 2, p. 141) contains a further 
contribution by him towards ‘“‘the establishment of a 
normal system of wave-lengths in the arc spectrum 
of iron.’’ The main object of the communication is 
to show that it is not sufficient to prescribe a current 
of 5 to 10 amperes for the arc, as was adopted by 
the International Solar Union, but that it is abso- 
lutely necessary to define the manner of burning and 
the part of the arc used. Dr. Goos recommends the 
following procedure, based on many experiments :— 

For the normal spectrum of iron he proposes an 
arc 5 mm._long (separation of the rounded ends from 
each other) between iron rods 6 mm. in diameter and 
with a current .of 4 amperes. It should be used on a 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


fine _ 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 16, 1913 


220-volt circuit; the potential difference at the are | 
then falls to between 45 and 49 volts. It should be 
used with a pole changer, and the arc so projected — 
on the slit of the spectrograph with the condensing 
lens that only a portion of the are at the middle is 
used extending 1-5 mm. vertically at most. In order 
to show the importance of specifying exactly the are 
conditions to be ‘used, he directs attention to the — 
difference in the values of the three observers of the — 
normals of the second order. Thus he compares the — 
wave-lengths of the iron arc as published by Kayser 
and himself with the measurements of St. John and — 
Ware. He also includes measurements of the widths — 
of some selected iron lines. The main cause of all 
the differences is due to pressure changes, and the 
whole investigation shows that the iron arc is far from 
homogeneous. Dr. Goos finally questions whether 
the measurements of the normals of the third order 
form a really homogeneous system, and he proposes 
that an entirely new series of observations should be 
made with more uniform light-sources. 


MICROSCOPICAL EXAMINATION OF SKIN 
AND LEATHER. 


[IN the May number of the Bulletin de la Société — 
d’Encouragement pour l’Industrie Nationale, M. 
Georges Abt, of the Pasteur Institute, contributes an 
interesting and valuable paper on the microscopical 
examination of skin and leather, with special refer- 
ence to salt stains and their effect. 

The author first describes in detail the methods used 
for cutting and staining sections of skin. These are 
the general methods familiar to microscopists, but 
are varied slightly in order to differentiate the im- 
portant histological elements of the skin for the par- 
ticular purpose in view. The author endeavours to 
classify the different changes taking place in the skin 
during the various processes of manufacture into 
leather, and even goes so far as to suggest that the 
microscopical examination of the skin or hide in the 
various stages might be used to control the various 
processes. . 

In connection with his special investigation, the 
effect of salt stains, the author has prepared sections 
of the grain, flesh, and interior of the raw skin, the 
pelt, and of the finished leather, showing the char- 
acteristics of salt stains and their effect. 

The work is supplementary, and supports the hypo- 
thesis deduced by the same writer from a chemical 
investigation of these stains (‘‘Collegium,’’ 1912, 
pp. 388-408). M. Abt differentiates between two types 
of salt stains. Stains of the first class are distin- 
guished by the presence of calcium phosphate in 
places where grains of calcium sulphate have been 
deposited from the salt. In the section through 
these stains the nuclei of the connective tissue 
are very prominent. The author has proved 
them to contain iron and excess of tannin 
in the sections of stained leather. He assumes 
that these nuclei have been protected from the de- 
structive action of micro-organisms in the preliminary 
processes by an envelope of an organic iron salt and 
of iron and calcium phosphate, and he goes on to 
show that as the salt stain progresses the nuclei 
ultimately disappear, the connective tissues being dis- 
integrated, but not completely decomposed, as they 
would be by the action of bacteria, as claimed by 
Becker. 

The second kind of stain investigated only applied 
to horse hides and to leather made therefrom. These 
are characterised by the presence of strongly pig- 
mented epithelial tissues and the complete absence of 
calcium phosphate. The writer assum ss, therefore, 


oe ee ee ee ee 


OcTOBER 16, 1913] 


NATURE 


207 


that these special stains proceed from the brown pig- 
ment in the cells of the Malpighi layer and internal 
epithelial hair sheath in the original skin. This pig- 
ment becomes fixed by mineral matter so that decom- 
position in the limes is resisted. 

The author finds that the common factor in the 
stains examined is the presence of traces of iron. 
The persistence of the connective elements, especially 
the nuclei and epithelial tissues, is proved, and the 
very slight changes that take place in the connective 
tissue lead the writer to conclude that bacteria play 
a very small part in the production of the stains he 
examined. 

In this paper M. Abt, for the stains he has 
examined, takes up practically the opposite view to 
that enunciated by Becker, who claims that many of 
the salt stains are largely caused by bacterial action. 

The experiments carried out by M. Abt have been 
carefully performed, and the hypothesis he draws 
from the results obtained on the stains he has examined 
appear to be conclusive. The paper is extremely well 
illustrated by coloured photographs of prepared sec- 
tions of normal and salt-stained skin and leather which 
are very clear, and are much more defined than the 
illustrations usually given in this type of work; in 
fact, these microphotographs are from magnificent 
sections, and are beautifully reproduced in the article. 
They are the finest reproductions of the structure of 
the hide and skin that have been published in recent 
times. 

M. Abt’s work on this subject is of great importance 
to leather technologists, and, while the author does 
not claim to have solved all the various kinds of salt 
stains, he has certainly solved a portion of the difficult 
problem, and appears to have definitely proved that 
what the tanner and leather-dresser call salt stains 
may originate from more than one cause, and may 
under different conditions vary in appearance and 
effect upon the skin. 

The paper shows’ that M. Abt has carried out a 
very careful and systematic investigation, and it is a 
most valuable contribution to the elucidation of this 
problem, but in spite of this the subject is still by no 
means exhausted, and we venture to hope that M. Abt 
will investigate some other forms of salt stains which 
he has not yet dealt with. Although the author has 
undoubtedly clearly proved the cause, traced the 
history, and shown the effect of certain forms of salt 
stains, he has not yet described any practical method 
of avoiding this economic waste which is so vital to 
the tanners of calf and other similar leathers, but the 


paper brings us one step nearer this goal. 


feeGs, Es 


THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT 
BIRMINGHAM. 


SECTION H. 
ANTHROPOLOGY. 


OPENING ADDRESS BY SiR RicHarD C. Tempte, Bart., 
C.1.E., PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. 


Administrative Value of Anthropology. 


Tue title of the body of which those present at this 
meeting form a section is, as all my hearers will know, 
the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 
and it seems to me therefore that the primary duty of 
a sectional President is to do what in him lies. for the 
time being, to forward the work of his section. This 
may be done in more than one way: by a survey of 


the work done up to date and an appreciation of its | 


existing position and future prospects, by an address 
directly forwarding it in some particular point or 
aspect, by considering its applicability to what is called 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


‘ 


the practical side of human life. The choice of method 
seems to me to depend on the circumstances of each 
meeting, and I am about to choose the last of those 
above mentioned, and to confine my address to a con- 
sideration of the administrative value of anthropology 
because the locality in which we are met together and 
the spirit of the present moment seem to indicate that 
I shall best serve the interests of the anthropological 
section of the British Association by a dissertation on 
the importance of this particular science to those who 
are or may hereafter be called upon to administer the 
public affairs of the lands in which they may reside. 

I have to approach the practical aspect of the general 
subject of anthropology under the difficulty of finding 
myself once more riding an old hobby, and being con- 
sequently confronted with views and remarks already 
expressed in much detail. But I am not greatly dis- 
turbed by this fact, as experience teaches that the most 
effective way of impressing ideas, in which one believes, 
on one’s fellow man is to miss no opportunity of put- 
ting them forward, even at the risk of repeating what 
may not yet have been forgotten. And as I am con- 
vinced that the teachings of anthropologists are of 
practical value to those engaged in guiding the ad- 
ministration of their own or another country, I am 
prepared to take that risk. 

Anthropology is, of course, in its baldest sense the 
study of mankind in all its possible ramifications, a 
subject far too wide for any one science to cover, and 
therefore the real point for consideration on such an 
occasion as this is not so much what the students of 
mankind and its environments might study if they 
chose, but what the scope of their studies now actually 
is, and whither it is tending. I propose, therefore, to 
discuss the subject in this limited sense. 

What, then, is the anthropology of to-day that 
claims to be of practical value to the administrator? 
In what directions has it developed? 

Perhaps the best answer to these questions is to 
be procured from our own volume of ‘Notes and 
Queries on Anthropology," a volume published under 
the arrangements of the Royal Anthropological Insti- 
tute for the British Association. This volume of 
““Notes and Queries” has been before the public for 
about forty years, and is now in the fourth edition, 
which shows a great advance on its predecessors and 
conforms to the stage of development to which the 
science has reached up to the present time. 

The object of the ‘‘ Notes and Queries”’ is stated to 
be ‘‘to promote accurate anthropological observation 
on the part of travellers including all local observers) 
and to enable those who are not anthropologists them- 
selves to supply information which is wanted for the 
scientific study of anthropology at home."’ So, in the 
heads under which the subject is considered in this 
book, we have exhibited to us the entire scope of the 
science as it now exists. These heads are (1) physical 
anthropology, (2) technology, (3) sociology, (4) arts avd 
sciences. It is usual, however, nowadays to divide the 
subject into two main divisions—physical and cultural 
anthropology. 

Physical anthropology aims at obtaining ‘‘as exact 
a record as possible of the structure and functions of 
the human body, with a view to determining how far 
these are dependent on inherited and racial factors, and 
how far they vary with environment.’”’ This record is 
based on two separate classes of physical observation : 
firstly on descriptive characters, such as types of hair, 
colour of the eyes and skin, and so on, and actual 


| measurement; and secondly on attitudes, movements, 


and customary actions. By the combined study of 
observations on these points physical heredity is ascer- 
tained, and a fair attribution of the race or races to 
which individuals or groups belong can be arrived at. 

But anthropology, as now studied, goes very much 


208 


further than inquiry into the physical structure of the 
human races. Man, ‘unlike other animals, habitually 
reinforces and enhances his natural qualities and force 
by artificial means.’’ He does, or gets done for him, 
all sorts of things to his body to improve its capacities 
or appearance, or to protect it. He thus supplies him- 
self with sanitary appliances and surroundings, with 
bodily ornamentation and ornaments, with protective 
clothing, with habitations and furniture, with protec- 
tion against climate and enemies, with works for the 
supply of water and fire, with food and drink, drugs 
and medicine. And for these purposes he hunts, fishes, 
domesticates animals, and tills the soil, and provides 
himself with implements for all these, and also for 
defence and offence, and for the transport of goods, 
involving working in wood, earth, stones, bones, shells, 
metals and other hard materials, and in leather, 
strings, nets, basketry, matting and weaving, leading 
him to what are known as textile industries. Some of 
this work has brought him to mine and quarry, and to 
employ mechanical aids in the shape of machinery, 
-however rude and simple. The transport of himself 
and his belongings by land and water has led him to 
a separate set of industries and habits: to the use of 
paths, roads, bridges, and halting places, of trailers, 
sledges, and wheeled vehicles; to the use of rafts, 
floats, canoes, coracles, boats, and ships, and the 
means of propelling them, poles, paddles, oars, sails, 
and rigging. The whole-of these subjects is grouped 
by anthropologists under the term technology, which 
thus becomes a very wide subject, covering all the 
means by which a people supplies itself with the 
necessaries of its mode of livelihood. 

In order to carry on successfully what may be 
termed the necessary industries or even to be in a 
position to cope with them, bodies of men have to act 
in concert, and this forces mankind to be gregarious, 
a condition of life that involves the creation of social 
relations. To understand, therefore, any group of 
mankind, it is essential to study sociology side by 
side with technology, The subjects for inquiry here 
are the observances at’crucial points in the life-history 
of the individual—birth, puberty, marriage, death, 
daily life, nomenclature, and so on; the social 
organisation and the relationship of individuals. On 
these follow the economics of the social group, pas- 
toral, agricultural, industrial, and commercial, together 
with conceptions as to property and inheritance (in- 
cluding slavery), as to government, law and order, 
politics and morals; and finally the ideas as to war 
and the external relations between communities. 

We are still, however, very far from being able to 
understand in all their fulness of development even 
the crudest of human communities without a further 
inquiry into the products of their purely mental activi- 
ties, which in the ‘‘ Notes and Queries” are grouped 
under the term ‘‘ Arts and Sciences.’’ Under this head 
are to be examined, in the first place, the expression 
of the emotions to the eye by physical movements and 
conditions, and then by gestures, signs and signals, 
before we come to language, which is primarily ex- 
pressed by the voice to the ear, and secondarily to the 
eye in a more elaborate form by the graphic arts— 
pictures, marks and writing. Man further tries to 
express his emotions. by what are known as the fine 
arts; that is by modifying the material articles which 
he contrives for his: livelihood in a manner that makes 
them represent to him something beyond _ their 
economic use—makes them pleasant, representative 
or symbolical—leading him on to draw, paint, enamel, 
engrave, carve and mould. In purely mental efforts 
this striving to satisfy the artistic or esthetic sense 
takes the. form of stories, proverbs, riddles, songs, 
and music. Dancing, drama, games, tricks and 
amusements ate other manifestations of the same 


NO, 2294, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 16, 1913 


effort, combining in these cases the movements of the 
body with those of the mind in expressing the 
emotions. ; 

The mental processes necessary for the expression 


of his emotions have induced man to extend his powers © 


of mind in directions now included in the term 
“abstract reasoning.’’ This has led him to express 


the results of his reasoning by such terms as reckoning | 
and measurement, and to fix standards for comparison — 


but all essential matters as 
enumeration, distance, surface, capacity, 
time, value, and exchange. ‘These last enable him to 
reach the idea of money, which is the measurement 
of value by means of tokens, and represents perhaps 
the highest economic development of the reasoning 
powers common to nearly all mankind. 

The mental capacities of man have so far been con- 
sidered only in relation to the expression of the 
emotions and of the results of abstract reasoning; 
but they have served him also to develop other results 
and expressions equally important, which have arisen 
out of observation of his surroundings, and have given 
birth to the natural sciences: astronomy, meteorology, 
geography, topography, and natural history. And 
further they have enabled him to memorise all these 
things by means of records, which in their highest 
form have brought about what is known to all of us 
as history, the bugbear of impulsive and shallow 
thinkers, but the very backbone of all solid opinion. 

The last and most complex development of the 
mental processes, dependent upon all the others 
according to the degree to which they themselves have 
been developed in any given variety of mankind, is, 
and has always been, present in every race or group on 
record from the remotest to the most recent time in 
some form or other and in a high degree. Groups of 
men observe the phenomena exhibited by themselves 
or their environment, and account for them according 
to their mental capacity as modified by their heredity. 
Man’s bare abstract reasoning, following: on his o 
servation of such phenomena, is his philosophy, but 
his inherited emotions influence his reasoning to an 
almost controlling extent and induce his religion, 
which is thus his philosophy or explanation of natural 
phenomena as effected by his hereditary emotions, 
producing that most wonderful of all human pheno- 
mena, his belief. In the conditions, belief, faith, and 
religion must and do vary with race, ‘period, and 
environment. : 

Consequent on the belief, present or past of any 
given variety of mankind, there follow religious prac- 
tices (customs as they are usually called) based thereon, 
and described commonly in terms that are familiar to 
all, but are nevertheless by no means even yet clearly 
defined: theology, heathenism, fetishism, animism, 
totemism, magic, superstition, with soul, ghost, and 
spirit, and so on, as regards mental concepts; worship, 
ritual, prayer, sanctity, sacrifice, taboo, &c., as regards 
custom and practice. 

Thus have the anthropologists, as I understand 
them, shown that they desire to answer the question 
as to what their science is, and to explain the main 
points in the subject of which they strive to obtain 
and impart accurate knowledge based on scientific 
inquiry: that is, on an inquiry methodically con- 
ducted on lines which experience has shown them will 
lead to the minimum of error in observation and 
record. Y 

I trust I have been clear in my explanation of the 
anthropologists’ case, though in the time at my dis- 
posal I have been unable to do more than indicate the 
subjects they study, and have been obliged to exercise 
restraint and to employ condensation of statement to 
the utmost extent that even a long experience in 
exposition enables one to achieve. Briefly, the science 


in such immaterial 


weight, 


ee m 


gearrae 


of heredity and environment. 


OcTOBER 16, 1913] 


NATURE 


209 


of anthropology aims at such a presentation and ex- 


planation of the physical and mental facts about any 


given species or even group of mankind as may cor- 


‘rectly instruct those to whom the acquisition of such 
knowledge may be of use. 


In this instance, as in 
the case of the other sciences, the man of science en- 
deavours to acquire and pass on abstract knowledge, 
which the man of affairs can confidently apply in the 


daily business of practical life. 


_ It will have been observed that an accurate pre- 
sentation of the physical and mental characteristics of 


any species of mankind which it is desired to study is 


wholly dependent on accurate inquiry and report. Let 
no one suppose that such inquiry is a matter of instinct 
or intuition, or that it can be usefully conducted em- 
Pirically or without due reference to the experiences of 
others; in other words, without sufficient preliminary 
study. So likely indeed are the uneducated in such 
matters to observe and record facts about human 
beings inaccurately, or even wrongly, that about a 
fourth part of the ‘‘Notes and Queries”’ is taken up 
with showing the inquirer how to proceed, and in 
exposing the pitfalls into which he may unconsciously 
fall. The mainspring of error in anthropological 
observation is that the inquirer is himself the product 
This induces him to 
read himself, his own unconscious prejudices and in- 
herited outlook on life, into the statements made to 
him by those who view life from perhaps a totally 
different and incompatible standpoint. To the extent 


that the inquirer does this, to that extent are his 
_ observations and report likely to be inaccurate and 


misleading. To avoid error in this respect, previous 
training and study are essential, and so the ‘‘ Notes 
and Queries on Anthropology,” a guide compiled in 
cooperation by persons long familiar with the subject, 


is as strong and explicit on the point of how to 


inquire as on that of what to inquire about. 
Let me explain that these statements are not in- 
tended to be taken as made ex cathedrd, but rather as 


_ the outcome of actual experience of mistakes made in 


the past. Time does not permit me to go far into 


‘this point, and I must limit myself to the subject 


of sociology for my illustration. If a man under- 
takes to inquire into the social life of a people or tribe 
as a subject apart, he is committing an error, and his 
report will almost certainly be misleading. Such an 
investigator will find that religion and technology are 
inextricably mixed up with the sociology of any given 
tribe, that religion intervenes at every point not only 
of sociology but also of language and technology. In 
fact, just as in the case of all other scientific research, 
the phenomenon observable by the anthropologist are 
not the result of development along any single line 
alone, but of a progression in a main general direc- 
tion, as influenced, and it may be even deflected, by 
contact and environment. 

If again the inquirer neglects the simple but essential 
practice of taking notes, not only fully, but also im- 
mediately or as nearly so as practicable, he will find 
that his memory of facts, even after a short time, 
has become vague, inexact, and incomplete, which 
means that reports made from memory are more likely 
to be useless than to be of any scientific value. If 
voluntary information or indirect and accidental cor- 
robation are ignored, if questions are asked and 
answers accepted without discretion, if exceptions are 
mistaken for rules, then the records of an inquiry may 
well mislead and thus become worse than useless. If 
leading or direct questions are put without due caution, 
and if the answers are recorded without reference to 
the natives’ and not the inquirer’s mode of classifying 
things, crucial errors may easily arise. Thus, in many 
parts of the world, the term ‘‘mother”’ includes all 
female relatives of the past or passing generation, 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


and the term “‘brother"’ the entire brotherhood. Such 
expressions as ‘‘brother’’ and ‘‘sister’’ may and do 
constantly connote relationships which are not recog- 
nised at all amongst us. The word “marriage” may 
include ‘“‘irrevocable betrothal,” and so on; and it is 
very easy to fall into the trap of the mistranslation 
of terms of essential import, especially in the use of 
words expressing religious conceptions. The con- 
| ception of godhead has for so long been our inheritance 
that it may be classed almost as instinctive. It is 
| nevertheless still foreign to the instincts of a large 
portion of mankind. 

If also, when working among the uncultured, the 
inquirer attempts to ascertain abstract ideas, except 
through concrete instances, he will not succeed in his 
purpose for want of representative terms. And lastly, 
| if he fails to project himself sufficiently into the minds 
of the subjects of inquiry, or to respect their prejudices, 
or to regard seriously what they hold to be sacred, or 
to keep his countenance while practices are being 
described which to him may be disgusting or ridiculous 
—if indeed he fails in any way in communicating to 
his informants, who are often super-sensitively sus- 
picious in such matters, the fact that his sympathy is 
not feigned—he will also fail in obtaining the anthropo- 
logical knowledge he is seeking. In the words of the 
“Notes and Queries” on this point, ‘‘ Nothing is easier 
than to do anthropological work of a certain sort, but 
to get to the bottom of native customs and modes of 
thought, and to record the results of inquiry in such 
| a manner that they carry conviction, is work which 
can be only carried out properly by careful attention.” 

The foregoing considerations explain the scope of 
our studies and the requirements of the preliminary 
inquiries necessary to give those studies value. The 
further question is the use to which the results can 
be put. The point that at once arises here for the 
immediate purpose is that of the conditions under 
which the British Empire is administered. We are 
here met together to talk scientifically, that is, as pre- 
cisely as we can: and so it is necessary to give a 
definition to the expression ‘“‘ Imperial Administration,” 
especially as it is constantly used for the government 
of an empire, whereas in reality it is the government 
that directs the administration. In this address I use 
the term ‘‘administration” as the disinterested 
management of the details of public affairs. This ex- 
cludes politics from our purview, defining that term 
as the conduct of the government of a country accord- 
ing to the opinions or in the interests of a particular 
group or party. 

Now in this matter of administration the position of 
the inhabitants of the British Isles is unique. It falls 
to their lot to govern, directly or indirectly, the lives 
of members of nearly every variety of the human race. 
Themselves Europeans by descent and intimate con- 
nection, they have a large direct interest in every other 
general geographical division of the world and its 
inhabitants. It is worth while to pause here for a 
moment to think, and to try and realise, however 
dimly, something of the task before the people of 
this country in the government and control of what are 
known as the subject races. ; 

For this purpose it is necessary to throw our glance 
over the physical extent of the British Empire. In 
the first place, there are the ten self-governing com- 
ponents of the Dominion of Canada and that of New- 
foundland in North America, the six colonial States in 
the Commonwealth of Australia, with the Dominion 
of New Zealand in Australasia, and the four divi- 
sions of the Union of South Africa. All these may be 
looked upon as indirectly administered portions of the 
British Empire. Then there is the mediatised govern- 
ment of Egypt, with its appanage, the directly British 
‘ administered Sudan, which alone covers about a 


210 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 16, 1913 


million square miles of territory in thirteen provinces, 
in northern Africa. These two areas occupy, as it 
were, a position between the self-governing and the 
directly-governed areas. Of these, there are in Europe 
Malta and Gibraltar, Cyprus being officially included 
in Asia.: In Asia itself is the mighty Indian Empire, 
which includes Aden and the Arabian coast on the 
west and Burma on the east, and many islands in the 
intervening seas, with its fifteen provinces and some 
twenty categories of native states “in subordinate 
alliance,” that is, under general Imperial control. To 
these are added Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, and 
the Malay States, federated or other, North Borneo 
and Sarawak, and in the China Seas Hong Kong 
and Wei-hai-wei. In South Africa we find Basuto- 
land, Bechuanaland, and Rhodesia; in British West 
Africa, Gambia, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and 
Nigeria; in eastern and Central Africa, Somaliland, 
the East Africa Protectorate, Uganda, Zanzibar, and 
Nyassaland; while attached to Africa are the Mauri- 
tius, Seychelles, Ascension, and St. Helena. In Cen- 
tral and South America are Honduras and British 
Guiana, and attached to that continent the Falkland 
Islands, and also Bermuda and the six colonies of 
British West Indies. In the Pacific Ocean are Fiji, 
Papua, and many of the Pacific Islands. 

I am afraid that once more during the course of this 
exposition I have been obliged to resort to a concen- 
tration of statement that is almost bewildering. But 
let that be. If one is to grapple successfully with a 
large and complex subject, it is necessary to try and 
keep before the mind, so far as possible, not only its 
magnitude, but the extent of its complexity. This is 
the reason for bringing before you, however briefly 
and generally, the main geographical details of the 
British Empire. The first point to realise on such a 
survey is that the mere extent of such an Empire 
makes the subject of its administration an immensely 
important one for the British people. 

The next point for consideration and realisation is 
that an empire, situated in so many widely separated 
parts of the world, must contain within its boundaries 
groups of every variety of mankind, in such numerical 
strength as to render it necessary to control them as 
individual entities. They do not consist of small 
bodies lost in a general population, and therefore 
negligible from the administrator’s point of view, but 
of whole races and tribes or of large detachments 
thereof. 

These tribes of mankind profess every variety of 
religion known. They are Christians, Jews, Mahom- 
medans, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Animists, and, to 
use a very modern expression, Animatists, adherents 
of main religions followed by an immense variety of 
sects, governed, however loosely, by every species of 
philosophy that is ‘or has been in fashion among 
groups of mankind, and current in every stage of 
development, from the simplest and most primitive to 
the most historical and complex. One has to bear in 
mind that we have within our borders the 
Andamanese, the Papuan, and the Polynesian, as well 
as the highly civilised Hindu and Chinese, and that 
not one of these, nor indeed of many other peoples, 
has any tradition of philosophy or religion in common 
with our own; their very instincts of faith and belief 
following other lines than ours, the prejudices with 
which their minds are saturated being altogether alien 
to those with which we ourselves are deeply imbued. 

The subjects of the British King-Emperor speak 
between them most of the languages of the world, 
and certainly every structural variety of human speech 
has its example somewhere in the British Empire. A 
number of these languages is still only in the process 
of becoming understood by our officials and other 
residents among their speakers, and let there be no 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


mistake as to the magnitude of the -question involved — 
in the point of language alone in British Imperial 
regions. A man may be what is called a linguist. 
He may have a working knowledge of the main 
European languages and of the great Oriental tongues — 
—Arabic, Persian, and Hindustani—which will carry 
him very far indeed among the people—in a sense, 
in fact, from London to Calcutta—and then, without 
leaving that compact portion of the British possessions 
known as the Indian Empire, with all its immense 
variety of often incompatible subordinate languages 
and dialects, he has only to step across the border 
into Burma and the Further East to find himself in a 
totally different atmosphere of speech, where not one 
of the sounds, not one of the forms, not one of the 
methods, with which he has become familiarised is of 
any service to him whatever. The same observation 
will again be forced on him if he transfers himself 
thence to southern Africa or to the Pacific Ocean. 
Let him wander amongst the North American Indians 
and he will find the linguistic climate once more 

altogether changed. 

Greater Britain may be said to exhibit all the many 
varieties of internal social relations that have been 
set up by tribes and groups of mankind—all the 
different forms of family and general social organisa- 
tion, of reckoning kinship, of inheritance and control 
of the possession of property, of dealing with the 
birth of children and their education and training, 
physical, mental, moral, and professional, in many 
cases by methods entirely foreign to British ideas and 
habits. For instance, infanticide as a custom has 
many different sources of origin. 

Our fellow-subjects of the King follow, somewhere 
or other, all the different notions and habits that have 
been formed by mankind as to the relations between 
the sexes, both permanent and temporary, as to mar- 
riage and to what have been aptly termed supple-— 
mentary unions. And finally, their methods of deal- 
ing with death and bringing it about, of disposing 
of the dead and worshipping them, give expression 
to ideas, which it requires study for an inhabitant of — 
Great Britain to appreciate or understand. I may 
quote here, as an example, that of all the forms of 
human head-hunting and other ceremonial murder 
that have come within my cognisance, either as an 
administrator or investigator, not one has originated 
in callousness or cruelty of character. Indeed, from 
the point of view of the perpetrators, they are in- 
variably resorted to for the temporal or spiritual 
benefit of themselves or their tribe. In making this 
remark, I must not be understood as proposing that 
they should not be put down, wherever that is prac- 
ticable. I am merely trying now to give an anthropo- 
logical explanation of human phenomena. 

In very many parts of the British Empire, the 
routine of daily life and the notions that govern it 
often find no counterparts of any kind in those of the 
British Isles, in such matters as personal habits and 
etiquette on occasions of social intercourse. And yet, 
perhaps, nothing estranges the administrator from 
his people more than mistakes on these points. It is 
small matters—such as the mode of salutation, forms 
of address and politaness, as rules of precedence, 
hospitality, and decency, as recognition of super- 
stitions, however apparently unreasonable—which 
largely govern social relations, which no stranger can 
afford to ignore, and which at the same time cannot 
be ae cained and observed correctly without due 
study. 

The considerations so far urged to-day have carried 
us through the points of the nature and scope of the 
science of anthropology, the mental equipment neces- 
sary for the useful pursuit of it, the methods by which 
it can be successfully studied, the extent and nature 


may think I have already trodden bare. 


] 
: 


OcTOBER "6, 1913] 


NATURE 


of the British Empire, the kind of knowledge of the 


alien populations within its boundaries required by 
rsons of British origin who would administer the 
mpire with benefit to the people dwelling in it, and 
the importance to such persons of acquiring that 
knowledge. 
I now turn to the present situation as to this last 


point and its possible improvement, though in doing 


so I have to cover ground that some of those present 
The main 
proposition here is simple enough. The Empire is 
governed from the British Isles, and therefore year 
by year a large number of young men are sent out 
to its various component parts, and to them must 
inevitably be entrusted in due course the administra- 
tive, commercial, and social control over many alien 


_races.. If their relations with the foreign peoples with 


whom they come in contact are to be successful, they 
must acquire a working knowledge of the habits, 


- customs, and ideas that govern the conduct of those 


peoples, and of the conditions in which they pass 
their lives. All those who succeed find these things 


out for themselves, and discern that success in ad- 


ministration and commerce is intimately affected by 
success in social relations, and that that in its turn 
is dependent on the knowledge they may attain of 
those with whom they have to deal. They set about 
learning what they can, but of necessity empirically, 
trusting to keenness of observation, because such self- 
tuition is, as it were, a side issue in the immediate 
and imperative business of their lives. But, as I have 
already said elsewhere, the man who is obliged to 
obtain the requisite knowledge empirically, and 
without any previous training in observation, is 
heavily handicapped indeed in comparison with him 
who has already acquired the habit of right observa- 
tion, and, what is of much more importance, has been 
put in the way of correctly interpreting his observa- 
tions in his youth. 

To put the proposition in its briefest form: in 
order to succeed in administration a man must use 
tact. Tact is the social expression of discernment and 
insight, qualities born of intuitive anthropological 
knowledge, and that is what it is necessary to induce 
in those sent abroad to become eventually the con- 
trollers of other kinds of men. What is required, 
therefore, is that in youth they should have imbibed 
the anthropological habit, so that as a result of having 
been taught how to study mankind, they may learn 
what it is necessary to know of those about them 
correctly, and in the shortest practicable time. The 
years of active life now unavoidably wasted in secur- 
ing this knowledge, often inadequately and incorrectly 
even in the case of the ablest, can thus be saved, to 
the incalculable benefit of both the governors and the 
governed. 

The situation has, for some years past, been appre- 
ciated by those who have occupied themselves with 
the science we are assembled here to promote, and 
several efforts have been made by the Royal Anthropo- 
logical Institute and the Universities of Oxford, Cam- 
bridge, and London, at any rate to bring the public 
benefits accruing from the establishment of anthropo- 
logical schools before the Government and the people 
of this country. 

In 1902 the Royal Anthropological Institute sent a 
deputation to the Government with a view to the 
establishment of an official Anthropometric Survey of 
the United Kingdom, in order to test the foundation 
for fears, then widely expressed, as to the physical 
deterioration of the population. In 1909 the institute 
sent a second deputation to the present Government, 
to urge the need for the official training in anthro- 
pology of candidates for the Consular Service and of 
the Indian and Colonial Civil Services. There is 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


PAL VE 


happily every reason to hope that the Public Services 
Commission may act on the recommendations then 
made. This year (1913) the institute returned to the 
charge and approached the Secretary of State for 
India, with a view to making anthropology an integral 
feature of the studies of the Oriental Research Insti- 
tute, to the establishment of which the Government 
of India had officially proposed to give special atten- 
tion. The institute has also lately arranged to deal 
with all questions of scientific import that may come 
before the newly constituted Bureau of Ethnology at 
the Royal Colonial Institute, in the hope with its 
cooperation of eventually establishing a great desi- 
deratum—an Imperial Bureau of Ethnology. It has 
further had in hand a scheme for the systematic and 
thorough distribution of local correspondents through- 
out the world. 

At Oxford, anthropology as a serious study was 
recognised by the appointment, in 1884, of a reader, 
who was afterwards given the status of a professor. 
In 1885, it was admitted as a special subject in the 
final honours school of natural science. In 1904, a 
memorandum was drawn up by those interested in the 
study at the University, advocating a method of 
systematic training in it, which resulted in the forma- 
tion of the committee of anthropology in the follow- 
ing year. This committee has established a series 
of lectures and examinations for a diploma, which 
can be taken as part of the degree course, but is open 
to all officers of the public services as well. By these 
means a school of anthropology has been created at 
Oxford, which has already registered many students, 
among whom officers engaged in the administration 
of the British Colonies in Africa and members of the 
Indian Civil Service have been included. The whole 
question has been systematically taken up in all its 
aspects, the instruction, formal and informal, compris- 
ing physical anthropology, psychology, geographical 
distribution, prehistoric archeology, technology, 
sociology, and philology. 

At Cambridge, in 1893, there was a recognised lec- 
turer in physical anthropology, an informal office now 
represented by a lecturer in physical anthropology 
and a reader in ethnology, regularly appointed by the 
University. In 1904, as a result of an expedition to 
Torres Straits, a board of anthropological studies was 
formed, and a diploma in anthropology instituted, to 
be granted, not for success in examinations, but in 
recognition of meritorious personal research. At the 
same time, in order to help students, among whom 
were included officials of the African and Indian Civil 
Services, the Board established lectures on the same 
subjects as those taught at Oxford. This year, 1913, 
the University has instituted an anthropological tripos 
for its degrees on lines similar to the others. The 
distinguishing feature of the Cambridge system is the 
prominence given to field work, and this is attracting 
foreign students of all sorts. 

In 1909, joint representations were made by a depu- 
tation from the Universities of Oxford and Cam- 
bridge to both the India and Colonial Offices, advo- 
cating the training of Civil Service candidates and 
probationers in ethnology and primitive religion. 

In 1904, the generosity of a private individual estab- 
lished a lectureship in ethnology in connection with 
the University of London, which has since developed 
into a professorship of ethnology with a lectureship 
in physical anthropology. In the same year the same 
benefactor instituted a chair of sociology. In 1909 
the University established a board of anthropology, 
and the subject is now included in the curricula for 
the degrees of the University. In and after 1914, 
anthropology will be a branch of the science honours 
degree. The degree course of the future covers both 


| physical and cultural anthropology in regard to 


212 
zoology, paleontology, physiology, psychology, 
archeology, technology, socielogy, linguistics, and 
ethnology. There will also be courses in ethnology 


with special attention to field work for officials and 
missionaries, and it is interesting to note that students 
of Egyptology are already taking a course of lectures 
in ethnology and physical anthropology. 

Though the universities have thus been definite 
enough in their action where the authority is vested in 
them, it is needless to say that their representations 
to Governments have met with varying success, and 
so far they have not produced much practical result. 
But it is as well to note here that a precedent for the 
preliminary anthropological training of probationers 
in the Colonial Civil Service has been already set up, 
as the Government of the Sudan has directed that 
every candidate for its services shall go through a 
course of anthropology at Oxford or Cambridge. In 
addition to this, the Sudan Government has given a 
grant to enable a competent anthropologist from Lon- 
don to run a small scientific survey of the peoples 
under its administration. The Assam Government has 
arranged its ethnographical monographs on the lines 
of the British Association’s ‘‘Notes and Queries” 
with much benefit to itself, and it is believed that the 
Burma Government will do likewise. The Colonial 
Office has appointed a lecturer in anthropology for 
East and West Africa, and the Government of India 
is distributing copies of the anthropological articles 
in its Imperial Gazetteer to successful candidates for 
its civil services. 

Speaking in this place to such an audience as that 
before me, and encouraged by what has already been 
done elsewhere, I cannot think that I can be mistaken 
in venturing.to recommend the encouragement of the 
study of anthropology to the University of such a city 
as Birmingham, which has almost unlimited interests 
throughout the British Empire. For it should be re- 
membered that anthropological knowledge is as useful 
to merchants in partibus in dealing with aliens as to 
administrators so situated. Should this suggestion 
bear fruit, and should it be thought advisable some 
day to establish a school of anthropology in Birming- 
ham, I would also venture to point out that there are 
two requirements preliminary to the successful forma- 
tion of almost any school of study. These are a 
library and a museum ad hoc. At Oxford there is a 
well-known and _ well-conducted anthropological 
museum in the Pitt-Rivers collection, and the museum 
of archeology and ethnology at Cambridge contains 
collections of the greatest service to the anthropologist. 
Liverpool is also interesting itself in such matters. 
The Royal Anthropological Institute is forming a 
special library, and both that institute and the Univer- 
sity of London have the benefit of the splendid collec- 
tions of the British Museum and of the Horniman 
Museum readily accessible. The libraries at Oxford 
and Cambridge are, I need scarcely say, of world-wide 
fame. At all these places of learning, then, these 
requisites for this department of knowledge are forth- 
coming. 

It were almost superfluous to state why 
they are requisites. Every student requires, not 
only competent teachers to guide him in_ his 
particular branch of study, but also a_ library 
and a museum close at hand, where he can 
find the information he wants and the illustration 
of it. Where these exist, thither it will be found that 
students will flock. Birmingham possesses peculiar 
facilities for the formation of both, as the city has all 
over the Empire its commercial representatives, who 
can collect the required museum specimens on the 
spot. The financial labours also of those who distri- 
bute these men over Greater Britain, and indeed all 


over the world, produce the means to create the library | gains, the more clearly one sees the truth of this view. 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


4 


[OcToBER 16, 1913 EB 


and the school, and their universal interests provide 
the incentive for securing for those in their employ 
the best method of acquiring a knowledge of men that 
can be turned to useful commercial purpose. Beyond 
these suggestions I will not pursue this point now, 
except to express a hope that this discourse may lead 
to a discussion thereon before this meeting breaks up. 

Before I quit my subject I would like to be some-— 
what insistent on the fact that, though I have been 
dwelling so far exclusively on the business side, as 
it were, of the study of anthropology, it has a personal 
side as well. I would like to impress once more on — 
the student, as I have often had occasion to do already, 
that whether he is studying of his own free will or at 
the behest of circumstances, there is scarcely any 
better hobby in existence than this, or one that can _ 
be ridden with greater pleasure. It cannot, of course, — 
be mastered in a day. At first the lessons will be a 
grind. Then, until they are well learnt, they are 
irksome, but when fullness of knowledge and 
maturity of judgment are attained, there is, perhaps, 
no keener sense of satisfaction which human beings ~ 
can experience than that which is afforded by this 
study. Its range is so wide, its phases so very 
many, the interests involved in it so various, that it 
cannot fail to pleasantly occupy the leisure hours from 
youth to full manhood, and to be a solace, in some 
aspect or other, in advanced life and old age. 

The processes of discovery in the course of this 
study are of such interest in themselves that I should 
wish to give many instances, but I must confine 
myself now to one or two. The student will find on 
investigation, for instance, that however childish the 
reasoning of savages may appear to be on abstract 
subjects, and however silly some of their customs 
may seem, they are neither childish nor silly in reality. 
They are almost always the result of “correct argu- — 
ment from a false premiss’’—a mental process not — 
unknown to civilised races. The. student will also 
surely find that savages are not fools where their — 
concrete interests are concerned, as they conceive 
those interests to be. For example, in commerce, 
beads do not appeal to savages merely because they 
are pretty things, except for purposes of adornment. 
They will only part with articles they value for par- 
ticular sorts of beads which are to them money, in 
that they can procure in exchange for them, in their 
own country, something they much desire. They have 
no other reason for accepting any kind of bead in 
payment for goods. On few anthropological points 
can mistakes be made more readily than on this, and 
when they are made by merchants, financial disaster 
can well follow, so that what I have already said 
elsewhere as to this may bear repetition in part here. 
Savages in their bargains with civilised man never 
make one that does not, for reasons of their own, 
satisfy themselves. Each side, in such a case, views 
the bargain according to its own interest. On his 
side, the trader buys something of great value to him, 
when he has taken it elsewhere, with something of 
little value to him, which he has brought from else- 
where, and then, and only then, can he make what 
is to him a magnificent bargain. On the other-hand, 
the savage is more than satisfied, because with what 
he has got from the trader he can procure from 
among his own people something he very much 
covets, which the article he parted with could not have 
procured for him. Both sides profit by the bargain 
from their respective points of view, and traders 
cannot, as a matter of fact, take undue advantage of 
savages, who, as a body, part with products of little 
or no value to themselves for others of vital import- 
ance, though these last may be of little or none to the 
civilised trader. The more one dives into recorded bar- 


OcToBER 16, 1913] 


NATURE 213 


I have always advocated personal inquiry into the 
native currency and money, even of pre-British days, 
of the people amongst whom a Britisher’s lot is cast, 
for the reason that the study of the mental processes 
that lead up to commercial relations, internal and 
external, the customs concerned with daily buying 
and selling, take one more deeply into aliens’ habits 
of mind and their outlook on practical life than any 
other branch of research. The student will find him- 
self involuntarily acquiring a knowledge of the whole 
_ life of a people, even of superstitions and local politics, 
matters that commercial men, as well as adminis- 
trators, cannot, if they only knew it, ever afford to 
ignore. The study has also a great intellectual in- 
terest, and neither the man of commerce nor the man 
of affairs should disregard this side of it if he would 
attain success in every sense of that term. 

Just let me give one instance from personal experi- 
ence. A few years back a number of ingots of tin, 
in the form of birds and animals and imitations 
thereof, hollow tokens of tin ingots, together with a 
number of rough notes taken on the spot, were 
handed over to me for investigation and report. They 
came from the Federated Malay States, and were 
variously said to have been used as toys and as money 
in some form. A long and careful investigation un- 
earthed the whole story. They turned out to be sur- 

viving specimens of an obsolete and forgotten Malay 
currency. Bit by bit, by researches into travellers’ 
stories and old records, European and vernacular, it 
was ascertained that some of the specimens were cur- 
rency and some money, and that they belonged to two 
separate series. Their relations to each other were 
ascertained, and also to the currencies of the European 
and Oriental nations with whom the Malays of the 
Peninsula had come in contact. The mint profit in 
some instances, and in other instances the actual 
profit European Governments and mercantile authori- 
ties, and even native traders, had made in recorded 
transactions of the past, was found out. The origin 
of the British, Dutch, and Portuguese money, evolved 
for trading with the Malays, was disclosed, and 
several interesting historical discoveries were made; 
as, for instance, the explanation of the coins still 
remaining in museums and issued in 1510 by the 
great Portuguese conqueror, Albuquerque, for the then 
new Malay possessions of his country, and the mean- 
ing of the numismatic plates of the great French 
traveller Tavernier in the next century. Perhaps the 
most interesting, and anthropologically the most im- 
portant, discovery was the relation of the ideas that 
led up to the animal currency of the Malays to similar 
ideas in India, Central Asia, China, and Europe itself 
throughout all historical times. One wonders how 
many people in these isles grasp the fact that our 
_ own monetary scale of 960 farthings to the sovereign, 
_ and the native Malay scale of 1,280 cash to the dollar, 
are representatives of one and the same universal 
scale, with more than probably one and the same 
origin out of a simple method of counting seeds, peas, 
beans, shells, or other small natural constant weights, 
But the point for the present purpose is that not only 
will the student find that long practice in anthropo- 
logical inquiry, and the learning resulting therefrom, 
will enable him to make similar discoveries, but also 
that the process of discovery is intensely interesting. 
Such discoveries, too, are of practical value. In this 
_ instance they have taught us much of native habits 
_ of thought and views of life in newly acquired posses- 
; sions which no administrator there, mercantile or 
r governmental, can set aside with safety. 

§ 
] 


I must not dwell too long on this aspect of my 
subject, and will only add the following remark. If 
any of my hearers will go to the Pitt-Rivers Museum 
at Oxford he will find many small collections record- 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


ing the historical evolution of various common objects. 
Among them is a series showing the history of the 
tobacco pipe, commonly known to literary students 
in this country as the nargileh and to Orientalists as 
the hukka. At one end of the series will be found a 
hollow coconut with an artificial hole in it, and then 
every step in evolution between that and an elaborate 
hukka with its long, flexible, drawing-tube at the 
other end. I give this instance as I contributed the 
series, and I well remember the eagerness of the hunt 
in the Indian bazaars and the satisfaction on proving 
every step in the evolution. 

There is one aspect of life where the anthropological 
instinct would be more than useful, but to which, 
alas, it cannot be extended in practice. Politics, 
government, and administration are so interdependent 
throughout the world that it has always seemed to 
me to be a pity that the value to himself of following 
the principles of anthropology cannot be impressed on 
the average politician of any nationality. I fear it is 
hopeless to expect it. Were it only possible the extent 
of the consequent benefit to mankind is at present 
beyond human forecast, as then the politician could 
approach his work without that arrogance of ignor- 
ance of his fellow-countrymen on all points except 
their credulity that is the bane of the ordinary types 
of his kind wherever found, with which they have 
always poisoned and are still poisoning their minds, 
mistaking the satisfaction of the immediate tem- 
porary interests and prejudices of themselves and 
comrades for the permanent advantage of the whole 
people, whom, in consequence, they incontinently mis- 
govern whenever and for so long as their country is 
so_undiscerning as to place them in power. 

Permit me, in conclusion, to enforce the main argu- 
ment of this address by a personal note. It was my 
fortune to have been partly trained in youth at a 
university college, where the tendency was to produce 
men of affairs rather than men of the schools, and 
only the other day it was my privilege to hear the 
present master of the college, my own contemporary 
and fellow-undergraduate, expound the system of 
training still carried out there. ‘‘In the government 
of young men,’’ he said, ‘intellect is all very well, 
but sympathy counts for very much more.’ Here we 
have the root principle of applied anthropology. Here 
we have in a nutshell the full import of its teaching. 
The sound administration of the affairs of men can 
only be based on cultured sympathy, that sympathy 
on sure knowledge, that knowledge on competent 
study, that study on accurate inquiry, that inquiry on 
right method, and that method on continuous experi- 
ence. 


SECTION I. 
PHYSIOLOGY, 


OPENING Appress By F. Gowranp Hopkins, F.R.S., 
PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. 


The Dynamic Side of Biochemistry. 


In the year 1837 Justus Liebig, whom we may 
rightly name the father of modern animal chemistry, 
presented a report to the Chemical Section of the 
British Association, then assembled at Liverpool. The 
technical side of this report dealt with the products 
of the decomposition of uric acid, with which I am 
not at the moment concerned, but it concluded with 
remarks which, to judge from other contemporary 
writings of Liebig, would have been more emphatic 
had the nature of his brief communication permitted. 
Liebig had a profound belief that in the then new 
science of organic chemistry, biology was to find its 
greatest aid to progress, and his enthusiastic mind 
was fretted by the cooler attitude of others. In the 


214 


report I have mentioned he called upon the chemists 
of this country to take note of what was in the wind, 
and while complimenting British physiologists and 
biologists upon their own work, urged upon them the 
immediate need of combining with the chemists. Ten 
years later, Liebig had still to write with reference 
to chemical studies: ‘‘Der Mann welcher in der 
Thierphysiologie wie Saussure in der Pflanzenphysio- 
logie die ersten und wichtigsten Fragen zur Aufgabe 
eeines Lebens macht, fehlt noch in dieser Wissen- 
schaft” (Ann. Chem. Pharm., Ixii., 257, 1847). Much 
later still, he was still making the same complaint. 
As a matter of fact, the combination of chemistry with 
biology, in the full and abundant sense that Liebig’s 
earlier enthusiasm had pictured as so desirable, never 
happened in any country within the limits of his own 
century, while in this country, up to the end of that 
century, it can scarcely be said to have happened at 
all. But the regrettable divorce between these two 
aspects of science has been so often dwelt upon that 
you will feel no wish to hear it treated historically, 
and perhaps even any emphasis given to it now may 
seem out of place, since on the Continent, and notably 
in America, the subject of biochemistry (with its new 
and not very attractive name) has come with great 
suddenness into its kingdom. Even in this country 
the recent successful formation of a Biochemical 
Society gives sure evidence of a greatly increased 
interest in this borderland of science. Yet I am going 
to ask you to listen to some remarks which are a 
reiteration of Liebig’s appeal, as heard by this asso- 
ciation three-quarters of a century ago. 

For one can, I think, honestly say that it is yet 
a rare thing in this country to meet a_ professed 
biologist, even among those unburdened either with 
years or traditions, who has taken the trouble so to 
equip himself in organic chemistry as to understand 
fully an important fact of metabolism stated in terms 
of structural formule. The newer science of physical 
chemistry has made a more direct appeal to the bio- 
logical mind. Its results are expressed in more 
general terms and the bearing of its applications are 
perhaps more obvious, especially at the present 
moment. This fact increases the danger of a further 
neglect in biology of the organic structural side of 
chemistry, upon which, nevertheless, the whole 
modern science of intermediary metabolism depends. 
On the other hand, I think one may say that there 
are only a few among the present leaders of chemical 
thought in our midst who have set themselves to 
appraise with sympathy the drift of biological pro- 
cesses or the nature of the problems that biologists 
have before them. Anyone wishing to see the number 
of biochemical workers increased might therefore with 
equal justice appeal to the teachers of biology or to 
the teachers of chemistry for greater sympathy with 
the borderland. It is a moot point indeed as to 
which is the better side for that borderland to recruit 
its workers from. 

But on the whole it is easier for the intelligent 
adult mind to grasp new problems than to learn a 
new technique. It is better that youth should be 
spent in acquiring the latter. That is why, though 
I admit that it would have been more obviously to 
the point if made some ten years ago, I feel justified 
in repeating to-day the appeal of Liebig to the leading 
chemists of this country, in the hope that they may 
see their way to direct the steps of more of their able 
students into the path of biochemistry. I have been 
specially tempted to do this, rather than to speak upon 
some of many subjects which would have interested 
this section more, for a very practical reason. I 
have been in a position to review the current demand 
of various institutions, home and Colonial, for the 
services of trained biochemists, and can say, I think 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcroBER 16, 1913 


with authority, that the demand will rapidly prove 
to be in excess of the supply. It will be a pity if the 
generation of trained chemists now growing up in 
this country should not share in the restoration of 
this balance. You certainly have the right to tell 
me that I ought, in the circumstances, to be address- 
ing another section; but it may be long before any 
member of my cloth will have the opportunity of 
appealing to that section from the position of advan 
tage that I occupy here. I believe you will forgive 
the particular trajectory of my remarks, because ] am 
sure you will sympathise with their aim. Moreover, 
I have some hope that the considerations upon which 
I shall chiefly base my appeal will have some interest 
for members of this section as well as for the chemist. 


My main thesis will be that in the study of the 


intermediate processes of metabolism we have to 
deal, not with complex substances which elude 
ordinary chemical methods, but with simple substances 
undergoing comprehensible reactions. By simple sub- 
stances I mean such as are of easily ascertainable 
structure and of a molecular weight within a range 
to which the organic chemist is well accustomed. 
T intend also to emphasise the fact that it is not alone 
with the separation and identification of products 
from the animal that our present studies deal; but 
with their reactions in the body; with the dynamic 
side of biochemical phenomena. 

I have made it my business during the last year 
or two to learn, by means of indirect and most diplo- 
matic inquiries, the views held by a number of our 
leading organic chemists with respect to the claims 
of animal chemistry. I do not find any more the 
rather pitying patronage for an inferior discipline, 
and certainly not that actual antagonism, which 
fretted my own youth; but I do find still very widely 
spread a distrust of the present methods of the bio- 
chemist, a belief that much of the work done by 
him is amateurish and inexact. What is much more 
important, and what one should be much more con- 
cerned to deny (though but a very small modicum 
of truth is, or ever was, in the above indictment), is 
the view that such faults are due to something 
inherent in the subject. 

My desire is to point out that continuous progress, 
yielding facts which, by whomsoever appraised, be- 
long to exact science, has gone on in the domain of 
animal chemistry from the days of Liebig until now, 
and that if this progress was until recently slow, 
it was, in the main, due to a continuance of the 
circumstance which so troubled Liebig himself—the 
shortage of workers. : 

But we must also remember that the small band of 
investigators who concerned themselves with the 
chemistry of the animal in the latter half of the 
nineteenth century suffered very obviously from the 
fact that the channels in which chemistry as a whole 
was fated to progress left high and dry certain regions 
of the utmost importance to their subject. In three 
regions particularly the needs of biochemistry were 
insistent. The colloid state of matter dominates the 
milieu in which vital processes progress, but, not- 
withstanding the stimulating work of Graham, the 
pure chemist of the last century consistently lett colloids 
on one side with a shudder of distaste. Again, we 
have come to recognise that the insidious influence of 
catalysts is responsible for all chemical change as it 
occurs in living matter, but for many years after 
Berzelius the organic chemist gave to the subject of 
catalysis very cursory attention, fundamental though 
it be. Lastly, every physiological chemist has to 
realise that among his basal needs is that of accurate 
methods for the estimation of organic substances 
when they are present in complex mixtures. But the 
organic chemist of the nineteenth century did not 


for extraneous labours. 


OcToBER 16, 1913] 


NATURE 


215 


develop the art of analysis on these lines. Of the 
myriad substances, natural or artificial, known to 

im at the most a few score could be separated quanti- 
tatively from mixtures, or estimated with any accu- 
racy. It was a professional or commercial call rather 
than scientific need which evolved such processes as 
were available, so that this side of chemical activity 
developed only on limited and special lines. 

All these circumstances were, of course, inevitable. 
Organic chemistry in Liebig’s later years was con- 
‘cerned with laying its own foundations as a pure 
science, and for the rest of the century with building 
a giant, self-contained edifice upon them. ‘The great 
business of developing the concepts of molecular 


structure and the wonderful art of synthesis were so 


absorbing as to leave neither leisure nor inclination 
But it is easy to recognise 
that, near the beginning of the present century, a 
sense of satiety had arisen in connection with syn- 
thetic studies carried out for their own sake. Workers 
came to feel that, so far as the fundamental theo- 
retical aspects of chemistry were concerned, that par- 
ticular side of organic work had played its part. In 


numerous centres, instead of only in a few, quite 


other aspects of the science were taken up: in par- 
ticular, the study of the dynamic side of its pheno- 
mena. The historian will come to recognise that a 
considerable revolution in the chemical mind coincided 
roughly with the beginning of this century. Among 


the branches which are fated to benefit by this revolu- 


tion—it is to be hoped in this country as well as 
others—is the chemistry of the animal. 

But I would like to say that I do not find, on read- 
ing the contributions to science of those who, as pro- 
fessed physiological chemists, ploughed lonely furrows 
in the last century, any justification for the belief that 
the work done by them was amateurish or inexact; 
no suggestion that anything inherent in the subject 
is prone to lead to faults of the kind. Truly these 
workers had to share ignorance which was universal, 
and sometimes, compelled by the urgency of certain 
problems, had perforce to do their best in regions 
that were dark. But they knew their limitations here 
as well as their critics did, and relied for their justifi- 
cation upon the application of their results, which was 
often not understood at all by their critics. 

There is little doubt, for instance, that it was the 
earlier attempts of various workers to fractionate 
complex colloid mixtures that led to the cynical state- 
ment that ‘* Thierchemie is Schmierchemie.” But the 
work thus done, even such work as Kiihne’s upon 
the albumoses and peptones, had important bearings, 
and led indirectly to the acquirement of facts of great 
importance to physiology and pathology. 

-In connection with enzyme catalysis the work done 
at this time by physiological chemists was in the main 
of a pioneer character, but it was urgently called for 
and had most useful applications. By the end of the 
century, indeed, it had become of great import- 
ance. I recall an_ incident which _ illustrates 
the need of suspended judgment before work 
done in new regions is assumed to be inexact. 
In 1885 E. Schiitz published a study of the hydrolysis 
of protein by pepsin which showed that the rate of 
action of the ferment is proportionate to the square 
root of its concentration. When this paper was dealt 
with in Maly’s ‘‘Jahresbericht” the abstractor (who 
from internal evidence, I believe, was Richard Maly 
himself) believed so little in such an apparent depar- 
ture from the laws of mass action that he saw fit to 
deal with the paper in a ribald spirit, and to add, as 
a footnote to his abstract, the lines :— 

“* Musst mir meine Erde 


Doch lassen steh'n 
Und meine Hiitte die du nicht gebaut !” 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


Yet it is now known that the relation brought to 
light by Schiitz does hold for certain relative concen- 
trations of ferment and substrate. That it had limita- 
tions was shown by Schiitz himself. The fact, how- 
ever, involves no such shaking of the foundations as 
the abstractor thought. We quite understand now 
how such relations may obtain in enzyme-substrate 
systems. 

As for analytical work involving a separation of 
complex organic mixtures, the biochemist of the last 
century was in this ahead of the pure organic chemist, 
as the development of urinary analysis if considered 
alone will show. 

In countless directions the acquirement of exact 
knowledge concerning animal chemistry has been, 
as I have already claimed, continuous from Liebig’s 
days until now. I would like in a brief way to illus- 
trate this, and if I choose for the purpose one aspect 
of things rather than another, it is because it will 
help me in a later discussion. I propose to remind 
you of certain of the steps by which we acquired 
knowledge concerning the synthetic powers of the 
animal body, apologising for the great familiarity 
of many of the facts which I shall put before you. 

It seems that the well-known Glasgow chemist and 
physician, Andrew Ure, was the first actually to 
prove, from observations made upon a patient, that 
an increased excretion of hippuric acid follows upon 
the administration of benzoic acid. Wohler had 
earlier fed a dog upon the latter substance, and 
decided at the time that it was excreted unchanged; 
but when, later, Liebig had made clear the distinction 
between the two acids, Wohler recalled the properties 
of the substance excreted by his dog, and decided that 
it must have been hippuric acid and not benzoic acid 
itself. Excited by the novel idea that a substance 
thus extraneously introduced might be caught up in 
the machinery of metabolism, Wohler, immediately 
after the publication of Dr. Ure’s statement, initiated 
fresh experiments in his laboratory at Géttingen, 
where Keller, by observations made upon himself, 
showed unequivocally that benzoic acid is, and can 
be on a large scale, converted into hippuric acid in 
the body. Thus was established a fact which is now 
among the most familiar, but which at that time 
stirred the imagination of chemists and physiologists 
not a little. The discovery immediately led to a large 
number of observations dealing with various condi- 
tions which affect the synthesis, but we may pass to 
the acute observations of Bertagnini. This investi- 
gator wished to earmark, as it were, the benzoic 
acid administered to the animal, in order to make 
sure that it was the same molecule which reappeared 
in combination. He so marked it with a nitro-group, 
giving nitro-benzoic acid and observing the excretion 
of nitro-hippuric acid. Later on he continued this 
interesting line of research by giving other substituted 
benzoic acids, and showed that in each case a corre- 
sponding substituted hippuric acid was formed. Even 
so far back as the earlier ‘fifties a clear understand- 
ing was thus established that the body was possessed 
of a special mechanism capable of bringing a par- 
ticular class of substances into contact with the 
amino-acid glycine, and of converting them, by means 
of a synthetical condensation (which had not then 
been induced by any laboratory method), into conju- 
gates which, as later experiments have shown, are 
invariably less noxious for the tissues than the sub- 
stances introduced. Great is the number of com- 
pounds which are now known to suffer this fate. 
To the story begun by Ure and Wohler, chapter after 
chapter has been added continuously up to the present 
day. In 1876 came the classical experiments of Bunge 
and Schmiedeberg. After laborious but successful 
efforts to obtain a good method for the estimation of 


216 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 16, 1913 


hippuric acid in animal fluids, these authors proved, 
by a method of exclusion, that, in the dog at least, 
the kidney is the seat of the hippuric synthesis. When, 
in their carefully controlled experiments, blood con- 
taining benzoic acid and glycine was circulated 
through that organ, after its isolation from the body, 
the production of hippuric acid followed. Schmiede- 
berg, a little later, convinced himself that the reaction 
in the kidney was a balanced one; the organ can not 
only synthesise hippuric acid, it can also hydrolise it. 
As with reactions elsewhere, so in the kidney cell, 
the equilibrium of the reaction depends on the relative 
concentration of the products concerned. Schmiede- 
berg then separated from the tissues of the kidney 
what he believed to be an enzyme capable of inducing 
the hydrolysis. Mutch, with improved methods, has 
recently shown that a preparation from the kidney, 
wholly free from intact cells, can, beyond all doubt, 
hydrolise hippuric acid under rigidly aseptic condi- 
tions, the reaction being one which comes to an 
equilibrium point when some 97 per cent. of the sub- 
stance is broken down. The occurrence of this equili- 
brium, and the form of the reaction-velocity curve as 
obtained by Mutch, suggested that synthesis under 
the influence of the enzyme was to be expected, and, 
on submitting the mixture of benzoic acid and glycine 
to its influence, Mutch obtained a product which, 
though too small in amount for analysis, was almost 
certainly hippuric acid. I have myself obtained 
evidence which shows that the synthesis does certainly 
occur under these conditions. 

The significance of this earliest known synthesis in 
the body is no limited one. The amide linkage estab- 
lished by it is one with which the body deals widely, 
and is, of course, of the type which is dominant in 
tissue complexes, since it is one which unites the 
amino-acids in the protein molecule. 

Seeing, from the nature of the material supplied 
for the synthesis by the body itself, that the foreign 
substances administered must intrude themselves into 
the machinery of protein metabolism, it is not sur- 
prising that many have turned their minds to consider 
how far a detailed study of the phenomena might 
throw light upon this machinery. How far can the 
body extend its supply of glycine when stimulated 
by increasing doses of benzoic acid? What effects 
follow when administration is pushed to its limits? 
How is the fate in metabolism of the whole molecule 
of protein affected when one particular amino-acid is 
inharmoniously removed? Can the amino-acid be 
itself synthesised de novo in response to the call for 
it? These and similar questions clearly arise. I can 
only stop to remind you that there is evidence that, 
in connection with this, particular chemical synthesis, 
the carnivore reacts differently to the herbivore. If 
the body of the former be flooded with benzoic acid, 
only a proportion undergoes condensation. Only so 
much glycine is supplied as would correspond, roughly, 
at any rate, with that rendered available by the normal 
contemporary breakdown of protein, whereas, in the 
herbivorous animal, pushing the administration of 
benzoic acid may lead to the excretion of so much 
conjugated glycine that it may contain more than half 
of the whole nitrogen excreted. This is, of course, 
much more than could come from the protein of the 
body, and it would seem that the amino-acid is pre- 
pared de novo for an express purpose, a significant 
thing. But I must not stop to consider questions 
which are still in course of study. Before the hippuric 
synthesis was first observed synthetic powers were 
thought to be absent from the animal. Since then 
we have been continuously learning of fresh instances 
of synthesis in the body, not only in connection with 
its treatment of foreign substances, with which I am 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


| 


just now concerned, but in connection with all it 
normal processes. ‘ af 

Another most interesting group of syntheses i 
which substances are so dealt with in the body as to 
reappear in conjugation with protein derivatives ar 
those in which the sulphur group plays its part. In 
1876 Baumann first introduced us to the ethereal 
sulphates of the urine, and, from much subsequen 
work, we know how great a group of substances, 
chiefly those of phenolic character, are, after adminis- 
tration, excreted linked to sulphuric acid. We have 
evidence to show that, in all prebability, the original 
condensation is not with sulphuric acid itself, but 
that oxidation of a previously formed sulphur contain- 
ing conjugate has preceded excretion, and we know 
that another group of substances leave the body com- 
bined with unoxidised sulphur. Certain cyanides—_ 
the aliphatic nitriles, for example—reappear as sulpho- 
cyanides; but, above all in interest, is the case de-— 
scribed by Baumann, in which the intact cystein 
complex of protein, after suffering acetylation of its 
amino group, is excreted as a conjugate. The ad- 
ministration of halogen-benzene compounds is followed 
by the appearance of the so-called mercapturic acids 
in which the cystein is linked by its sulphur atom 
to the ring of chlor-, bromo-, or iodi-benzene. That 
large amounts of these conjugates can be formed 
during the twenty-four hours is certain, but it would 
be interesting to know what limit is set to this loss — 
of cystin from the body. 

I will now recall to you syntheses in which the © 
substance supplied by the body is derived, not from 
protein, but from carbohydrate. The study of the 
fate of camphor in the body, carried out by Schmiede- 
berg and Hans Meyer in 1878, if it stood by itself, 
would abundantly illustrate the significance of this 
type of experiment. As you are aware, these workers 
proved that, after the administration of camphor, the 
urine contains a conjugate formed between an oxidation 
product of the camphor and an oxidation product of 


glucose. Both substances were then new to chem- 
istry, and the latter—glycuronic acid—has_ since 
proved itself of great physiological interest. After 


Schmiedeberg’s and Hans Meyer’s experiments it was 
realised for the first time that the sugar molecule 
might play a part in metabolism quite distinct from 
its function as fuel, a fact that has much of cogency 
at the present time. We have good reason to believe 
that though, as a matter of fact, glycuronic acid is a 
normal metabolite, the actual synthesis concerns sugar 
itself, the oxidation of the glucose molecule occurring 
later. The compound formed is of the glucoside 
type, and the analogy with the formation of gluco- 
sides in the plant is unmistakable. Already the 
number of substances known to suffer this particular 
synthesis is legion. Almost every organic group 
yields an example. 

Lastly, in illustration of a quite different type of 
synthesis (I can only deal with a few of the man 
known cases) we may recall the methylation whi 
certain compounds undergo. The mechanism of this 
process, as it occurs in the body, is obscure, and its 
explanation would be of the greatest chemical interest. 
I must mention only one particular instance inves- 
tigated by Ackermann. When nicotinic acid is fed 
to animals, it is excreted as trigonellin, a known 
vegetable base. This conversion involves methyla- 
tion, and is of striking character as an instance of 
the artificially induced production of a plant alkaloid 
in the animal body. ; 

The full significance of all such happenings will not 
be understood unless it be remembered that a nice 
adjustment of molecular structure is in many cases 
necessary to prepare the foreign substance for syn- 


OcTOBER 16, 1913] 


esis. Preliminary regulated oxidations or reduc- 
tions may occur so as to secure, for example, the 
roduction of an alcoholic or phenolic hydroxyl group, 
which then gives the opportunity for condensation 
which was otherwise absent. 
I have touched only on the fringes of this domain. 
The body of knowledge available concerning it has 


tude of other types of organic substances remains for 
investigation. The known facts have, one feels, an 
academic character in the view of the physiologist, 
and even in that of the pharmacologist, to whom we 
owe most of our knowledge about them. But, in my 
opinion, the chemical response of the tissues to the 
chemical stimulus of foreign substances of simple 
constitution is of profound biological significance. 
Apart from its biological bearings as the simplest type 
of immunity reaction, it throws vivid light, and its 
further study must throw fresh light on the poten- 
tialities of the tissue laboratories. 

In a brilliant address delivered before the faculty 
_of medicine of the University of Leeds, Lord Moulton 
likened the process of recovery in the tissues after 
bacterial invasion to the generation of forces which 
establish what is known to the naval architect as the 
“righting couple.’ This grows greater the greater 
the displacement of a ship, and finally may become 
sufficient to overpower the forces tending to make 
her heel over. It is surely striking to realise that 
the establishment of the ‘righting couple’? which 
brings the tissue cell back to equilibrium after the 
_ disturbances due to the intrusion of simple molecules 
calls for such a complex of chemical events, events 
which ultimately result in the modification of the 
disturbing substance and its extrusion from _ the 
_ tissues concerned in a form less noxious to the body 
as a whole. 

Oxidation, reduction, desaturation, alkylation, 
acylation, condensation; any or all of these processes 
may be brought de novo into play as the result of the 
intrusion of a new molecule into reactions which were 
in dynamic equilibrium. It is clear that chemical 
systems capable of so responding to what may be 
termed specific chemical stimuli must not be neglected 
by any student of chemical dynamics. The physio- 
logist has for many years been engaged upon careful 
analyses of the mechanical and electric responses to 
stimulation. In the phenomena before us we find 
“responses’’ which are. equally fundamental. If we 
do not study them exhaustively we shall miss an 
important opportunity for throwing light upon the 
nature of animal tissues as chemical systems. 

One reason which has led the organic chemist to 
avert his mind from the problems of biochemistry is 
the obsession that the really significant happenings 
in the animal body are concerned in the main with 
substances of such high molecular weight and conse- 
quent vagueness of molecular structure as to make 
their reactions impossible of study by his available 
and accurate methods. There remains, I find, pretty 
widely spread, the feeling—due to earlier biological 
teaching—that, apart from substances which are 
obviously excreta, all the simpler products which can 
be found in cells or tissues are as a class mere dejecta, 
already too remote from the fundamental biochemical 
events to have much significance. So far from this 
being the case, recent progress points in the clearest 
way to the fact that the molecules with which a most 
important and_ significant part > of the chemical 
dynamics of living tissues is concerned, are of a 
comparatively simple character. The synthetic re- 
actions which we have already considered surely pre- 
pare us for this view; but it may be felt that, however 
important, they represent abnormal events, while the 


not been won systematically, and the fate of a multi- | 


NATURE 


217 


ing the end-products of change. Let me now turn 
to normal metabolic processes and to intermediary 
reactions. 

We know first of all that the raw material of 
metabolism is so prepared as to secure that it shall 
be in the form of substances of small molecular 
weight; that the chief significance of digestion, in- 
deed, lies in the fact that it protects the body from 
complexes foreign to itself. Abderhalden has ably 
summarised the evidence for this and has shown us 
also that, so far as the known constituents of our 
dietaries are concerned, the body is able to maintain 
itself when these are supplied to it wholly broken 
down into simple bausteine, any one of which could be 
artificially synthesised with the aid of our present 
knowledge. Dealing especially with the proteins, we 
have good reason to believe that the individual con- 
stituent amino-acids, and not elaborate complexes of 
these, leave the digestive tract, while Folin, Van 
Slyke, and Abel have recently supplied us with sug- 
gestive evidence for the fact that the individual amino- 
acids reach the tissues as such and there undergo 


change. 
But still more important, when things are viewed 
from my present point of view, is the fact 


that recent work gives clear promise that we shall 
ultimately be able to follow, on definite chemical lines, 
the fate in metabolism of each amino-acid individu- 
ally; to trace each phase in the series of reactions 
which are concerned in the gradual breakdown and 
oxidation of its molecule. Apart from the success 
to which it has already attained, the mere fact that 
the effort to do this has been made is significant. To 
those at least who are familiar with the average 
physiological thought of thirty years ago, it will 
appear significant enough. So long as there were 
any remains of the instinctive belief that the carbonic 
acid and urea which leave the body originate from 
oxidations occurring wholly in the vague complex of 
protoplasm, or at least that any intermediate products 
between the complex and the final excreta could only 
be looked for in the few substances that accumulate 
in considerable amount in the tissues (for instance, 
the creatin of muscle), the idea of seriously trying 
to trace within the body a series of processes which 
begin with such simple substances as tryosin or 
leucin was as foreign to thought as was any con- 
ception that such processes could be of fundamental 
importance in metabolism. However vaguely held, 
such beliefs lasted long after there was justification 
for them; their belated survival was due, it seems 
to me, to a certain laziness exhibited by physiological 
thought when it trenched on matters chemical; they 
disappeared only when those accustomed to think in 
terms of molecular structure turned their attention to 
the subject. But it should be clearly understood that 
the progress made in these matters could only have 
come through the work and thought of those who 
combined with chemical knowledge trained instinct 
and feeling for biological possibilities. Our present 
knowledge of the fate of amino-acids, as of that of 
other substances in the body, has only been arrived 
at by the combination of many ingenious methods of 
study. 

It is easy in the animal, as in the laboratory, 
to determine the end-products of change; but, when 
the end result is reached in stages, it is by no means 
easy to determine what are the stages, since the 
intermediate products may elude us. And yet the 
whole significance of the processes concerned is to be 
sought in the succession of these stages. In animal 
experiments directed to the end under consideration, 
investigators have relied first of all upon the fact 
that the body, though the seat of a myriad reactions, 


study of them has been largely confined to determin- ! and capable perhaps of learning, to a limited extent 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


218 


and under stress of circumstances, new chemical 
accomplishments, is in general able to deal only with 
what is customary to it. This circumstance has 
yielded two methods of determining the nature of 
intermediate products in metabolism. Considerations of 
molecular structure will, for instance, suggest several 
possible lines along which a given physiological sub- 
stance may be expected to undergo change. We may test 
these possibilities by administering various derivatives 
of the substance in question. Only those which prove 
on- experiment to be fully metabolised, or to yield 
derivatives in the body identical with those yielded by 
the parent substance, can be the normal intermediate 
products of its metabolism. All others may be re- 
jected as not physiological. In a second method 
dependent upon this eclecticism of the body, sub- 
stances are administered which so far differ from the 
normal that, instead of suffering a complete break- 
down, they yield some residual derivative which can 
be identified in the excreta, and the nature of which 
will throw light upon the chemical mechanism which 
has produced it. For instance, a substance with a 
resistant (because abnormal) ring structure, but 
possessing a normal side chain, may be used to 
demonstrate how the side chain breaks down. Again, 
we may sometimes obtain useful information by 
administering a normal substance in excessive 
amounts, when certain intermediate products may 
appear in the excreta. Another most profitable method 
of experiment is that in which the substance to be 
studied is submitted to the influence of isolated organs 
instead of to that of the whole animal. Under these 
conditions, a series of normal reactions may go on, 
but with altered relative velocities, so that inter- 
mediate products accumulate; or again when, as may 
happen, the successive changes wrought upon a sub- 
stance by metabolism occur in different organs of the 
body, this use of isolated organs enables us to dissect, 
as it were, the chain of events. Extraordinarily profit- 
able have been the observations made upon indi- 
viduals suffering from those errors of metabolism 
which Dr. Garrod calls ‘‘metabolic sports, the chem- 
ical analogues of structural malformations.” In these 
individuals, nature has taken the first essential step 
in an experiment by omitting from their chemical 
structure a special catalyst which at one point in the 
procession of metabolic chemical events is essential 
to its continuance. At this point there is arrest, and 
intermediate products come to light. 

As you know, most ingenious use of this ready- 
made experimental material has added greatly to our 
knowledge of intermediate metabolism. | Admirable 
use, too, has been made of the somewhat similar 
conditions presented by diabetes, clinical and experi- 
mental. Every day our knowledge of the dynamics 
of the body grows upon these lines. 

I know that the history of all these efforts is 
familiar to you, but I am concerned to advertise the 
fact that our problems call for ingenuity of a special 
sort, and to point out that an equipment in chemical 
technique alone would not have sufficed for the suc- 
cessful attack which has been made upon them. But 
I am even more concerned to point out that the direct 
method of attack has been too much neglected, or has 
been in the hands of too few; I mean the endeavour 
to separate from the tissues further examples of the 
simpler products of metabolic change, no matter how 
small the amount in which they may be present; an 
endeavour which ought not to stop at the separation 
and identification of such substances, but to continue 
until it has related each one of them to the dynamic 
series of reactions in which each one is surely playing 
a part. The earliest attempts at tracing the inter- 
mediate processes of metabolism looked for informa- 
tion to the products which accumulate in the tissues, 
but it seemed to be always tacitly assumed that only 


NO. 2294, VOL. a2h 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 16, 1913 


those few which are quantitatively prominent could 
be of importance to the main issues of metabolism. 
It is obvious, however, upon consideration, that the 
degree to which a substances accumulates is by itself 
no measure of its metabolic importance; no proof as 
to whether it is on some main line of change, or a 


stage in a quantitatively unimportant chemical by-— 


path. For, if one substance be changing into another 
through a series of intermediate products, then, as 
soon as dynamical equilibrium has been established 
in the series, and to such equilibrium tissue processes 
always tend, the rate of production ot any one inter- 
mediate product must be equal to the rate at which 
it changes into the next, and so throughout the series. 
Else individual intermediate products would accumu- 
late or disappear, and the equilibrium be upset. 
the rate of chemical change in a substance is the 
product of its efficient concentration and the velocity 
constant of the particular reaction it is undergoing. 
Thus the relative concentration of each intermediate 
substance sharing in the dynamic equilibrium, or, in 
other words, the amount in which we shall find it at 
any moment in the tissue, will be inversely propor- 
tional to the velocity of the reaction which alters it. 


But the successive velocity constants in a series of — 


reactions may vary greatly, and the relative accumu- 
lation of the different intermediate products must vary 
in the same degree. It is certain that in the tissues 
very few of such products accumulate in any save 
very small amount, but the amount of a product 
found is only really of significance if we are concerned 
with any function’ which it may possibly possess. 
It is of no significance as a measure of the quantita- 
tive importance of the dynamical events which give 
rise to it. 

To take an instance. 
always asserted itself in our conceptions concerning 
nitrogenous metabolism because of the large amount 
in which it is found in the muscle. It may be of 
importance per se, and abnormalities in its fate are 
certainly important as an indication of abnormalities 
in metabolism, but we must remember that the work 
of Gulewitsch, Krimberg, Kutscher, and others has 
shown us that a great number of nitrogenous basic 
bodies exist in muscle in minute amounts. Maybe 
we shall need to know about each of these all that we 
now know, or are laboriously trying to know, about 
creatin, before the dynamics of basic nitrogen in 
muscle become clear. Fortunately for the experi- 
menter, most of the raw materials required for tissue 
analysis are easily obtainable; there is no reason save 
that of the labour involved why we should not work 
upon a ton of muscle or a ton of gland tissue. 

I am certain that the search for tissue products of 
simple constitution has important rewards awaiting 
it in the future, so long as physiologists are alive to 
the dynamical significance of all of them. Such work 
is laborious and calls for special instincts in the 
choice of analytical method, but, as I mentioned in 
an earlier part of this address, 1 am sure that high 
qualifications as an analyst should be part of the equip- 
ment of a biological chemist. Ee: 

I should like now to say a few words concerning 
the actual results of this modern work upon inter- 
mediate metabolism, and will return to the amino- 
acids. It is clear that what I can say must be very 
brief. 

We know that the first change suffered by an 
a-amino-acid when it enters the metabolic laboratories 
is the loss of its amino group, and, thanks to the 
labours of Knoop, Neubauer, Embden, Dakin, and 
others, we have substantial information concerning 
the mechanism of this change. The process involved 

1 A product of metabolism can only be said to havea “ function’ in a 


cell or in the body when, being the end-product of one reaction, it initiates 
or modifies reactions in another milieu. 


Now 


The substance creatin has — 


OcToBER 16, 1913] 


NATURE 


219 


in the removal of the amino group is not a simple 
reduction, which would yield a fatty acid, or substi- 
tuted fatty acid, nor a hydrolytic removal which would 
leave an a-hydroxy-acid; but the much less to be 
expected process of an oxidative removal, which re- 
sults in the production of a keto-acid.* If the direct 
evidence for this chemically most interesting primary 
change were to be held insufficient (though there is 
no insufficiency about it), its physiological reality is 
strongly supported by the proof given us by Knoop 
and Embden that the liver can  resynthesise the 
original amino-acid from ammonia and the corre- 
sponding keto-acid. This profoundly significant 
‘observation is part of the evidence which is continu- 
ally accumulating to show that all normal chemical 
‘processes of the body can suffer reversal. The next 
‘step in the breakdown involves the oxidation of the 
keto-acid, with the production of a fatty acid contain- 
ing one carbon less than the original amino-acid. 
This in turn is oxidised to its final products along 
the lines of the B-oxidation of Knoop, two carbon 
atoms being removed at each stage of the breakdown. 
‘All this is true of the aliphatic a-amino-acids, and, 
with limitations, of the side chains of their aromatic 
congeners. In the case of certain amino-acids the 
course of breakdown passes through the stage of 
-aceto-acetic acid. This happens to those of which the 
molecule contains the benzene ring, and Dakin has 
enabled us to picture clearly the path of change which 
involves the opening of the ring. This particular 
stage does not seem to occur in the breakdown of the 
aliphatic amino-acids, save in the case of leucin; the 
rule and the exception here being alike easy of ex- 
planation by considerations of molecular structure. 
But direct breakdown on the lines mentioned is far 
from being the only fate of individual amino-acids in 
the body. The work of Lusk, completed by that of 
Dakin, has shown us that of seventeen amino-acids 
derived from protein no less than nine may indi- 
vidually yield glucose in the diabetic organism, and 
there are excellent grounds for believing (indeed, there 
is no doubt) that they do the same to a duly regulated 
extent in the normal organism. The remaining seven 
have been shown not to yield sugar, and there is 
therefore a most interesting contrast in the fate of 
two groups of the protein Bausteine. Those which 
yield sugar do not yield aceto-acetic-acid, and those 
which yield the latter are not glycogenic. One set, 
after undergoing significant preliminary changes, 
seems to join the carbohydrate path of metabolism, 
the other set ultimately joins a penultimate stage in 
the path which is traversed by fats. 
I will here venture to leave for one moment the 
firm ground of facts experimentally ascertained. Un- 
_ explored experimentally, but quite certain so far as 
_ their existence is concerned, are yet other metabolic 
_ paths of prime importance, along which individual 
amino-acids must travel and suffer change. We know 
_ now from the results of prolonged feeding experi- 
_ ments upon young growing animals, which I myself, 
as well as many others, have carried out, that all the 
_ nitrogenous tissue complexes, as well as the tissue 
_ proteins, can be duly constructed when the diet con- 
tains no other source of nitrogen beside the amino- 
acids of protein. The purin and pyrimidin bases, for 
instance, present in the nuclear material of cells cer- 
tainly take origin from particular amino-acids, though 
we have no right to assume that groups derived from 
carbohydrates or fats play no part in the necessary 
_ syntheses. While recent years have given us a 


2 Dakin’s recent work is giving us an insight into the mechanism of the 

_ keto-acid formation. Amino-acids in aqueous solution dissociate into 

_ ammonia and the corresponding keto-aldehyde. The oxidation involved is 
therefore concerned with the conversion of the aldehyde into the acid. 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


wonderfully clear picture as to how the nucleic acids 
and the purin bases contained in them break down 
during metabolism, we have as yet no knowledge of 
stages in their synthesis. But it is clear that to dis- 
cover these is a task fully open to modern experi- 
mental methods, and though a difficult problem, it 
is one ready to hand. Again, in specialised organs 
substances are made which are of great importance, 
not to the structure, but to the dynamics of the body. 
These have become familiar to us under the name of 
Hormones. We know the constitution of one of these 
only, adrenaline. The molecule of this exemplar has 
a simple structure of a kind which makes it almost 
certain to be derived from one of the aromatic amino- 
acids. It is clearly open to us to discover on what 
lines it takes origin. Facts of this kind, we may be 
sure, will form a special chapter of biochemistry in 
the future. I would like to make a point here quite 
important to my main contention that metabolism 
deals with simple molecules. As a pure assumption 
it is often taught, explicitly or implicitly, that although 
the. bowel prepares free amino-acids for metabolism, 
only those which are individually in excess of the 
contemporary needs of the body for protein are directly 
diverted to specialised paths of metabolism, and these 
to the paths of destructive change. All others—ali 
those which are to play a part in the intimacies of 
metabolism—are supposed to be first reconstructed 
into protein, and must therefore again be liberated 
from a complex before entering upon their special 
paths of change. But there is much more reason 
(and some experimental grounds) for the belief that 
the special paths (of which only one leads to the repair 
or formation of tissue protein) may be entered upon 
straightway. Mrs, Stanley Gardiner (then Miss Will- 
cock) carried out some feeding experiments a few 
years ago, and in discussing these I pointed out that 
they offered evidence of the direct employment for 
special purposes of individual amino-acids derived as 
such from the bowel. It seemed at the time that the 
argument was misunderstood or felt to carry little 
weight, but later Prof. Kossel (Johns Hopkins fios- 
pital Bulletin, March, 1912) quoted my remarks with 
approval and expressed agreement with the view. that 
the Bausteine of the food protein must, in certain 
cases, be used individually and directly. 

I wish I had time to illustrate my theme by some 
of the abundant facts available from quite other de- 
partments of metabolism; but I must pass on. 

The chief thing to realise is that as a result of 
modern research the conception of metabolism in 
block is, as Garrod puts it, giving place to that ot 
metabolism in compartments. It is from the be- 
haviour of simple molecules we are learning our most 
significant lessons. 

Now interest in the chemical events such as those 
we have been dealing with may still be damped by 
the feeling that, after all, when we go to the centre 
of things, to the bioplasm, where these processes are 
initiated and controlled, we shall find a milieu so com- 
plex that the happenings there, although they com- 
prise the most significant links in the chain of events, 
must be wholly obscure when seen from the point of 
view of structural organic chemistry. I would like 
you to consider how far this is necessarily the case. 

” The highly complex substances which form the most 
obvious part of the material of the living cell are 
relatively stable. Their special characters, and in 
particular the colloidal condition in which they exist, 
determine, of course, many of the most fundamental 
characteristics of the cell: its definite yet mobile 
structure, its mechanical qualities, including the con- 
tractility of the protoplasm, and those other colloidal 
characters which the modern physical chemist is 


220 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 16, 1913 


studying so closely. For the dynamic chemical events 
which happen within the cell, these colloid complexes 
yield a special milieu, providing, as it were, special 


apparatus, and an organised laboratory. But in the. 


cell itself, I believe, simple molecules undergo re- 
actions of the kind we have been considering. These 
reactions, being catalysed by colloidal enzymes, do 
not occur in a strictly homogeneous medium, but they 
occur, I would argue, in the aqueous fluids of the cell 
under just such conditions of solution as obtain when 
they progress under the influence of enzymes in vitro. 
There is, I know, a view.which, if old, is in one 
modification or another still current in many quarters. 
This conceives of the unit of living matter as a de- 
finite, if very large and very labile molecule, and 
conceives of a mass of living matter as consisting of 
a congregation of such molecules in that definite sense 
in which a mass of, say, sugar is a congregation of 
molecules, all like to one another. In my opinion, 
such a view is as inhibitory to productive thought as 
it is lacking in basis. It matters little whether in 
this connection we speak of a ‘‘molecule”’ or, in order 
to avoid the fairly obvious misuse of a word, we use 
the term ‘‘biogen,”’ or any similar expression with the 
same connotation. Especially, I believe, is such a view 
unfortunate when, as sometimes, it is made to carry 
the corollary that simple molecules, such as those 
provided by foodstuffs, only suffer change after they 
have become in a vague sense a part of such a giant 
molecule or biogen. Such assumptions became un- 
necessary as soon as we learnt that a stable substance 
may exhibit instability after it enters the living cell, 
not because it loses its chemical identity, and the 
chemical properties inherent in its own molecular 
structure, by being built into an unstable complex, 
but because in the cell it meets with agents (the 
intracellular enzymes) which catalyse certain re 
actions of which its molecule is normally capable. 
Exactly what sort of material might, in the cours 
of cosmic evolution, have first come to exhibit the 
elementary characters of living stuff, a question raised 
in the presidential address which so stirred us last 
year, we do not, of course, know. But it is clear that 
the living cell as we now know it is not a mass of 
matter composed of a congregation of like molecules, 
but a highly differentiated system; the ceil, in the 
modern phraseology of physical chemistry, is a system 
of coexisting phases of different constitutions. Cor- 
responding to the difference in their constitution, 
different chemical events may go on contemporaneously 
in the different phases, though every change in any 
phase affects the chemical and physico-chemical equili- 
brium of the whole system. Among these phases are 
to be reckoned not only the differentiated parts of the 
bioplasm strictly defined (if we can define it strictly) 
the macro- and micro-nuclei, nerve fibres, muscle 
fibres, &c., but the material which supports the cell 
structure, and what have been termed the ‘“ meta- 
plasmic’”’ constituents of the cell. These last com- 
prise not only the fat droplets, glycogen, starch grains, 
aleurone grains, and the like, but other deposits not 
to be demonstrated histologically, They must be 
held, too—a point which has not been sufficiently in- 
sisted upon—to comprise the diverse substances of 
smaller molecular weight and greater solubility, which 
are present in the more fluid phases of the system— 
namely, in the cell juices. It is important to remem- 
ber. that change in any one of these constituent 
phases, including the metaplasmic phases, must 
affect the equilibrium of the whole cell system, 
and because of this necessary equilibrium-relation it 
is difficult to say that any one of the constituent 


3 See in this connection the very able exposition of the views developed by. 


Zwaardemaker and others, by Botazzi in Winterstein’s ‘‘ Handbuch,” vol. i, 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


phases, such as we tind permanently present in a_ 
living cell, even a metaplasmic phase, 1s less essential. 
than any other to the “life” of the cell, at least when 
We view it from the point of view of metabolism. It is 
extremely difficult and probably impossible by any 
treatment of the animal completely to deprive the liver — 
of its glycogen deposits, so long as the liver cells” 
remain alive. Even an extreme variation in the 
quantity is in the present connection without signi-— 
hieance because, as we know, the equilibrium of a 
polyphasic system is independent of the mass of any 
one of the phases; but I am inclined to the bold 
statement that the integrity of metabolic life of a 
liver cell is as much dependent on the coexistence of — 
metaplasmic glycogen, however small in amount, as- 
upon the coexistence of the nuclear material itself; 
so in other cells, if not upon glycogen, at least upon 
other metaplasmic constituents. 

Now we should refuse to speak of the membrane 
of a cell, or of its glycogen store, as living material. 
We should not apply the term to the substances dis- 
solved in the cell juice, and, indeed, would scarcely 
apply it to the highly differentiated parts of the bio- 
plasm if we thought of each detail separately. We are 
probably no more justified in applying it, when we 
consider it by itself, to what, as the result of micro- 
scopic studies, we recognise as ‘undifferentiated ’’ 
bioplasm. On ultimate analysis we can scarcely speak 
at all of living matter in the cell; at any rate, we 
cannot, without gross misuse of terms, speak of the 
cell life as being associated with any one particular 
type of molecule. Its life is the expression of a- 
particular dynamic equilibrium which obtains in a 
polyphasic system. Certain of the phases may be 
separated, mechanically or otherwise, as when we 
squeeze out the cell juices, and find that chemical 
processes still go on in them; but “life,” as we 
instinctively define it, is a property of the cell as a 
whole, because it depends upon the organisation of — 
processes, upon the equilibrium displayed by the 
totality of the coexisting phases 

I return to my main point. The view I wish to 
impress upon you is that some of the most important 
phenomena in the cell, those involving simple re- 
actions of the type which we have been discussing, 
occur in ordinary crystalloid solution. We are 
entitled to distinguish fluid (or more fluid) phases in 
the cell. I always think it helpful in this connection 
to think of the least differentiated of animal cells— 
to consider, for instance, the ameceba. In _ this 
creature a fluid phase comes definitely into view with 
the appearance of the food vacuole. In this vacuole 
digestion goes on, and there can be no doubt, from 
the suggestive experimental evidence available, that 
a digestive enzyme, and possibly two _ successive 
enzymes (a pepsin followed by a trypsin) appear in 
it. It is now generally admitted that digestion in 
the amoeba, though intracellular, is metaplasmic. 
The digestion products appear first of all in simple 
aqueous solution. Is it not unjustifiable to assume 
that the next step is a total ‘‘assimilation” of the 
products, a direct building up of all that is produced 
in the vacuole into the complexes of the cell? If 
there be any basis for our views concerning the speci- 
ficity of, say, the tissue proteins, they mus apis S 
the amceba no less than to the higher animal, and 
we must picture the building-up of its specific com- 
plexes as a selective process. The mixture of amino- 
acids derived from the proteins of the bacteria or 
other food eaten by it may be inharmonious with 
their balance in the amceba. Some have to be more 
directly dealt with, by oxidation or otherwise. If 
the digestive hydrolysis occur outside the complexes, 
we may most justifiably assume that other prepara- 


changes. 
the microscope, and the phenomena would be just as 
significant it reactions occur in the water imbibed by 


spaces of the bioplasm. 


actual 


OcToBER 16, 1913] 


tive processes also occur outside them. We need not 
think of a visible vacuole as the only seat of such 
Similar fluid phases in the cell may elude 


the colloids of the cell or present in the intra-micellar 
It is always important to 
remember that 75 per cent. of the cell substance 
consists of water. 

All of these considerations we may apply to the 
tissue cells of the higher animal. To my mind, at 
least, the following considerations appeal. It is note- 
worthy that all the known complexes of the cell— 
the proteins, the phosphorous complexes, the nucleic 
acids, &c.—are susceptible to hydrolysis by catalytic 
agents, which are always present, or potentially 
present. If the available experimental evidence be 
honestly appraised, it points to the conclusion that 
only to hydrolytic processes are the complexes un- 
stable. Under, the conditions of the body they are, 
while intact, resistant to other types of change, their 
hydrolytic products being much more susceptible. 
Since hydroclastic agents are present in the cell we 
must suppose that there is, at any moment, equili- 
brium between the complexes and their water-soluble 
hydrolytic products, though the amount of the latter 
present at any moment may be very small. Now, I 
think we are entitled to look upon assimilation and 
dissimilation, while very strictly defined, as being 
dependent upon changes in this equilibrium alone. 
They are processes of condensation and hydrolysis 
respectively. Substances which are foreign to the 
normal constitution of the complexes—and these com- 
prise not only strictly extraneous substances, but 
material for assimilation not yet ready for direct con- 
densation, or metabolites which are no longer simple 
hydrolytic products—do not enter or re-enter the com- 
plexes. They suffer change within the cell, but not 
as part of the complexes. When, for instance, a 
supply of amino-acids transferred from the gut 
reaches the tissue cell, they may be in excess of the 
contemporary limits of assimilation; or, once more, 
individual acids may not be present in the har- 
monious proportion required to form the specific pro- 
teins in the cell. Are we to suppose that all never- 
theless become an integral part of the complexes 
before the harmony is by some mysterious means 
adjusted? .I think rather that the normality of the 
cell proteins is maintained by processes which precede 
condensation or assimilation. Conversely, 
when the cell balance sets towards dissimilation, the 
amino-acids liberated by hydrolysis suffer further 
changes outside the complexes. So when a foreign 
substance, say benzoic acid, enters the cell, we have 
no evidence, experimental or other, to suggest that 
such a body ever becomes an integral part of the 
complexes. Rather does it suffer its conjugation with 
glycine in the fluids of the cell. So also with cases of 
specific chemical manufacture in organs. When, for 
instance, adrenaline—a simple, definite crystalline 
body—appears in the cells of the gland which prepares 
it, are we to suppose that its molecule emerges in 
some way ready-made from the protein complexes of 
the gland, rather than that a precursor derived from 
a normal hydrolytic product of these proteins or from 


“the food supply is converted into adrenaline by re- 


actions of a comprehensible kind, occurring in aqueous 
solution, and involving simple molecules throughout ? 
While referring to adrenaline, I may comment upon 
the fact that the extraordinarily wide influence now 
attributed to that substance is a striking illustration 
of the importance of simple molecules in the dynamics 
of the body. : 

It should be, of course, understood, though the 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


hea 


consideration does not affect the essential significance 
of the views I am advancing, that the isolation of 
reactions in particular phases of the cell is only rela- 
tive. I have before emphasised the point that the 
equilibrium of the whole system must, to a greater 
or less degree, be affected by a change in any one 
phase. A happening of any kind in the fluid phases 
must affect the chemical equilibrium and, no less, the 
physico-chemical equilibrium, between them and the 
complexes or less fluid phases. A drug may have an 
“action” on a cell, even though it remain in solution, 
and it may have a specific action because its mole- 
cular constitution leads it to intrude into, and modify 
the course of, some one, rather than any other, of the 
numerous simple chemical reactions proceeding in the 
cells of different tissues. 

But I must now turn from consideration of the re- 
actions themselves to that of their direction and con- 
trol. It is clear that a special feature of the living 
cell is the organisation of chemical events within it. 
So long as we are content to conceive of all hap- 
penings as occurring within a biogen or living mole- 
cule all directive power can be attributed in some 
vague sense to its quite special properties. 

But the last fifteen years have seen grow up a 
doctrine of a quite different sort which, while it has 
difficulties of its own, has the supreme merit of pos- 
sessing an experimental basis and of encouraging by 
its very nature further experimental work. I mean 
the conception that each chemical reaction within the 
cell is directed and controlled by a specific catalyst. 
I have already more than once implicitly assumed 
the existence of intracellular enzymes. I must now 
consider them more fully. 

Considering the preparation made for it by the 
early teaching of individual biologists, prominent 
among whom was Moritz Traube, it is remarkable 
that belief in the endo-enzyme as a universal agent 
of the cell was so slow to establish itself, though in 
the absence of abundant experimental proof scepticism 
was doubtless justified. So long as the ferments 
demonstrated as being normally attached to the cell 
were only those with hydroclastic properties, such as 
were already familiar in the case of secreted digestive 
ferments, the imagination was not stirred. Only with 
Buchner’s discovery of zymase and cell-free alcoholic 
fermentation did the faith begin to grow. Yet, a 
quarter of a century before, Hoppe-Seyler had written 
(when discussing the then vexed question of nomen- 
clature, as between organised and unorganised “ fer- 
ments”): ‘The only question to be determined is 
whether that hypothesis is too bold which assumes 
that in the organism of yeasts there is a substance 
[the italics are mine] that decomposes sugar into 
alcohol and CO, ...I hold the hypothesis to be 
necessary because fermentations are chemical events 
and must have chemical causes. .. .”” If in the last 
sentence of this quotation we substitute for the word 
“fermentations” the words ‘tthe molecular reactions 
which occur within the cell,’ Hoppe-Seyler would, I 
think, have been equally justified. 

Remembering, however, the great multiplicity of 
the reactions which occur in the animal body, and 
remembering the narrow specificity in the range of 
action of an individual enzyme, we may be tempted 
to pause on contemplating the myriad nature of the 
army of enzymes that seems called for. But before 
judging upon the matter the mind should be prepared 
by a full perusal of the experimental evidence. We 
must call to ‘mind the phenomena of autolysis and 
all the details into which they have been followed; the 
specificity of the proteolytic ferments concerned, and 
especially: the evidence obtained by Abderhalden and 
others, that tissues contain numerous enzymes, of 


a> 
<2e 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 16, 1913 


which some act upon only one type of polypeptide, and 
some specifically on other polypeptides. We must 
remember the intracellular enzymes that slit the phos- 
phorous complexes of the cell; the lipases, the 
amylases, and the highly specific invert ferments, each 
adjusted to the hydrolysis of a particular sugar. We 
have also to think of a large group of enzymes acting 
specifically upon other substances of simple constitu- 
tion, such as the arginase of Kossel and Dakin, 
the enzyme recently described by Dakin which 
acts with great potency in converting pyruvic 
aldehyde into lactic acid, and many _ others. 
Nothing could produce a firmer belief in the reality 
and importance of the specialised enzymes of the 
tissues than a personal repetition of the experiments 
of Walter Jones, Schittenhelm, Wiechowski, and 
others, upon the agents involved in the breakdown of 
nucleic acids; each step in the elaborate process 
involves a separate catalyst. In this region of meta- 
bolism alone a small army of independent enzymes is 
known to play a part, each individual being of proven 
_ Specificity. The final stages of the process involve 
oxidations which stop short at the stage of uric acid 
in man, but proceed to that of allantoin in most 
animals. It is very instructive to observe the clean, 
complete oxidation of uric acid to allantoin, which can 
be induced in vitro under the influence of Wiechowski’s 
preparations of the uric acid oxidase, especially if 
one recalls at the same time, in proof of its physio- 
logical significance, that this oxidase, though always 
present in the tissues of animals, which excrete allan- 
toin, is absent from those of man, who does not. 

I will not trouble you with further examples. We 
have arrived, indeed, at a stage when, with a huge 
* array of examples before us, it is logical to conclude 
that all metabolic tissue reactions are catalysed by 
enzymes, and, knowing the general properties of these, 
we have every right to conclude that all reactions may 
be so catalysed in the synthetic as well as in the 
opposite sense. If we are astonished at the vast 
array of specific catalysts which must be present in 
the tissues, there are other facts which increase the 
complexity of things. Evidence continues to accu- 
mulate from the biological side to show that, as a 
matter of fact, the living cell can acquire de novo as 
the result of special stimulation new catalytic agents 
previously foreign to its organisation. 

It is certain, from very numerous studies made upon 
the lower organisms, and especially upon bacteria, 
that the cell may acquire new chemical powers when 
made to depend upon an unaccustomed nutritive 
medium. I must be content to quote a single in- 
stance out of many. Twort has shown that certain 
bacteria of the Coli-typhosus group can be trained to 
split sugars and alcohols which originally they could 
not split at all. A strain of B. typhosus which after 
being grown upon a medium containing dulcite had 
acquired the power of splitting this substance, re- 
tained it permanently, even after passage through the 
body of the guinea-pig, and cultivation upon a dulcite- 
free medium. Similar observations have been made 
upon the Continent by Massini and Burri; the latter 
showed by ingenious experiments that all the indi- 
viduals of a race which acquires such a new property 
have the same potency for acquiring it. No one, at 
the present time, will deny that the appearance of a 
new enzyme is involved in this adjustment of the cell 
to a new nutritive medium. 

We have not, it is true, so much evidence for 
similar phenomena in the case of the higher animals. 
The milk-sugar splitting ferment may be absent from 
the gut epithelium before birth, and in some animals 
may disappear again after the period of suckling, but 
here we probably have to do with some simple alterna- 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


‘dress to 


tion of latency and activisation. But among the 
“protective ferments studied by Abderholden we 
have, perhaps, cases in which specific individuals 
appear de novo as the result of injecting foreig 
proteins, &c., into the circulation. Consider, more 
over, the case of the reactions called out by simpler 
substances. We have seen that an enzyme separable 
from the kidney tissue can catalyse the synthesis no 
less than the breakdown of hippuric acid. Now the 
cells of the mammalian kidney have always had to 
deal with benzoic acid or chemical precursors of 
benzoic acid, and the presence of a specific enzyme 
related to it is not surprising. But living cells are 
not likely to have ever been in contact with, say, © 
bromo-benzol, until the substance was administered to 
animals experimentally. Yet a definite reaction at 
once proceeds when that substance is introduced into 
the body. It is linked up, as we have seen, with 
cystein. Now, this reaction is not one which would 
proceed in the body uncatalysed; if it be catalysed by 
an enzyme, all that we know about the specificity 
of such agents would suggest that a new one must 
appear for the purpose. I have allowed myself to go 
beyond ascertained facts in dealing with this last 
point. But once we have granted that specific 
enzymes are real agents in the cell, controlling a 
great number of reactions, I can see no logical reason 
for supposing that a different class of mechanism 
can be concerned with any particular reaction. 

If we are entitled to conceive of so large a part of 
the chemical dynamics of the cell as comprising 
simple metaplasmic reactions catalysed by independent 
specific enzymes, it is certain that our pure chemical — 
studies of the happenings in tissue extracts, expressed — 
cell juices, and the like, gain enormously in meaning 
and significance. We make a real step forward when — 
we escape from the vagueness which attaches to the — 
“‘bioplasmic molecule’? considered as the seat of all 
change. But I am not so foolish as to urge that the — 
step is one towards obvious simplicity in our views — 
concerning the cell. For what indeed are we te 
think of a chemical system in which so great an array 
of distinct catalysing agents is present or potentially 
present; a system, I would add, which when dis- 
turbed by the entry of a foreign substance regains its 
equilibrium through the agency of new-born catalysts 
adjusted to entirely new reactions? Here seems 
justification enough for the. vitalistic view that events 
in the living cell are determined by final as well as 
by proximate causes, that its constitution has refer- 
ence to the future as well as the past. But how can 
we conceive that any event called forth in any system 
by the entry of a simple molecule, an event related 
qualitatively to the structure of that molecule, can be of 
other than a chemical nature? The very complexity, 
therefore, which is apparent in the catalytic pheno- 
mena of the cell to my mind indicates that we must 
have here a case of what Henri Poincaré has called 
la simplicité cachée. Underlying the extreme com- 
plexity we may discover a simplicity which now 
escapes us. If so, I have of course no idea along 
what lines we are to reach the discovery of that sim- 
plicity, but I am sure the subject should attract the 
contemplative chemist, and especially him who is in- — 
terested and versed in the dynamical side of his sub- 
ject. If he can arrive at any hypothesis sufficiently 
general to direct research he will have opened a new 
chapter of organic chemistry—almost will he have 4 


created a new chemistry. 

It must not be supposed that I am blind to the fact 
that the phenomena of the cell present a side to 
which the considerations I have put before you do not 
apply. Paul Ehrlich, in his recent illuminating ad- 
the International Congress of Medicine, 


et Aisa Sen 


rt 


OcTOBER 16, 1913] 


-_ NATURE 


227 
“-9 


remarked that if, in chemistry, it be true that Corpora 
‘non agunt nisi liquida, then, in chemiotherapy, it is 
no less true that Corpora non agunt nisi fixata. 
Whatever precisely may be involved in the important 
principle of “fixation” as applied to drug actions, 
it remains, I think, true that the older adage applies 
to the dynamic reactions which occur in the living 
cell. But there are doubtless dynamic phenomena in 
which the cell complexes play a prominent part. The 
whole of.our doctrine concerning the reaction of the 
body to the toxins of disease is based upon the fact 
that when the cell is invaded by complexes other than 
those normal to it, its own complexes become involved. 
I must not attempt to deal with these phenomena, but 
rather proceed to my closing remarks. I would like, 
however, just to express the hope that the chemist will 
recognise their theoretical importance. He will not, 
indeed, be surprised at the oligo-dynamic aspects of 
the phenomena, startling as they are. When physico- 
chemical factors enter into a phenomenon the in- 
fluence of an infinitely small amount of material may 
always be expected. It is a fact, for instance, as 
Dr. W. H. Mills reminds me, that when a substance 
crystallises in more than one form it may be quite 
impossible to obtain the less stable forms of its 
crystals in any laboratory which has been “‘infected”’ 
with the more stable form, even though this infec- 
tion has been produced by quite ordinary manipulations 
dealing with the latter. Here, certainly, is a case in 
which the influence of the infinitesimal is before 


us. But what I feel should arrest the interest 
of the chemist is the remarkable mingling of 
the general with the particular which pheno- 


mena like those of immunity display. In the 
relations which obtain between toxin and anti-toxin, 
for example, we find that physico-chemical factors 
_ predominate, and yet they are associated to a high 
degree with the character of specificity. The colloid 
state of matter, as such, and the properties of surface 
determine many of the characteristics of such re- 
actions, yet the chemical aspect is always to the front. 
Combinations are observed which do not seem to be 
chemical compounds, but rather associations by adsorp- 
tion; yet the mutual relations between the inter- 
acting complexes are in the highest degree discrimina- 
tive and specific. The chemical factor in adsorption 
phenomena has, of course, been recognised else- 
where; but in biology it is particularly striking. 
Theoretical chemistry must hasten to take account of 
it. The modern developments in the study of valency 
probably constitute a step in this direction. 

It is clear to everyone that the physical chemist 
is playing, and will continue to play, a most important 
part in the investigation of biological phenomena. 
We need, I think, have no doubt that in this country 
he will turn to our problems, for the kind of work 
he has to do seems to suit our national tastes and 
talents, and the biologist just now is much alive 
to the value of his results. But I rather feel that the 
organic chemist needs more wooing and gets less, 
though I am sure that his aid is equally necessary. 
In connection with most biological problems, physical 
and organic chemists have clearly defined tasks. To 
take one instance. In muscle phenomena it is becom- 
ing every day clearer that the mechanico-motor pro- 
perties of the tissue, its changes of tension, its con- 
traction and relaxation, depend upon physico-chemical 
phenomena associated with its colloidal complexes 
and its intimate structure. Changes in hydrogen-ion 
concentration and in the concentration of electrolytes 
~ generally, by acting upon surfaces or by upsetting 
osmotic equilibria, seem to be the determining causes 
of muscular movement. Yet the energy of the muscle 
is continuously supplied by the progress of organic 


NO, 2294, VOL. 92] 


reactions, and for a full understanding of events we 
need to know every detail of their course. Here 
then, as everywhere else, is the need for the organic 
chemist. 

But I would urge upon any young chemist who 
thinks of occupying himself with biological problems. 
the necessity for submitting for a year or two to a 
second discipline. If he merely migrate to a bio- 
logical institute, prepared to determine the constitu- 
tion of new products from the animal and study 
their reactions in vitro, he will be a very useful and 
acceptable person, but he will, not become a_bio- 
chemist. We want to learn how reactions run in the 
organism, and there is abundant evidence to show 
how little a mere knowledge of the constitution of 
substances, and a consideration of laboratory possi- 
bilities, can help on such knowledge. The animal 
body usually does the unexpected. 

But if the organic chemist will get into touch with. 
the animal, it is sure that the possession of his special 
knowledge will serve him well. Difficulties and 
peculiarities in connection with technique may lead. 
the professor of pure chemistry to call his work 
amateurish, and certainly his results, unlike those 
of the physical chemist, will not straightway lend. 
themselves to mathematical treatment. He may him- 
self, too, meet from time to time the spectre of 
Vitalism, and be led quite unjustifiably to wonder 
whether all his work may not be wide of the mark. 
But if he will first obtain for us a further supply of 
valuable qualitative facts concerning the reactions in 
the body, we may then say to him, as Tranio said to 
his master : 


“The mathematics and the metaphysics 
Fall to them ay you find your stomach serves you.” 


All of us who are engaged in applying chemistry 
and physics to the study of living phenomena are apt 
to be posed with questions as to our goal, although 
we have but just set out on our journey. It seems. 
to me that we should be content to believe that we 
shall ultimately be able at least to describe the living 
animal in the sense that the morphologist has 
described the dead; if such descriptions do not amount 
to final explanations, it is not our fault. If in ‘‘life” 
there be some final residuum fated always to elude: 
our methods, there is always the comforting truth 
to which Robert Louis Stevenson gave perhaps the: 
finest expression, when he wrote: 


“ To travel hopefully is better than to arrive, 
And the true success is labour,”’ 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


LreDs.—An anonymous donor has _ generously 
signified, through the Chancellor (the Duke of Devon- 
shire), his intention of presenting to the University 
of Leeds the sum of 10,0001, for the erection of the 
much-needed building for the school of agriculture at 
the University. This gift will enable the University, 
in conjunction with the Yorkshire Council for Agri- 
cultural Education and with the help, it is hoped, of a 
grant from the Government, to provide without further 
delay the headquarters of agricultural education and 
research for the three Ridings of Yorkshire. The 
organisation of agricultural teaching in Yorkshire 
has been taken by the Board of Agriculture as the 
model for all other parts of England, and the rapid 
growth of the agricultural courses and the develop- 
ment of research in animal nutrition and other sub- 
jects have made it necessary to provide new buildings 
and laboratories on an extensive scale for the school! 


224 


of agriculture at the University of Leeds. The 
University Council has provided a site for the new 
building, and much of the experimental work will be 
done at the Manor Farm, Garforth. 


MancuesterR.—Mr. A. R. Wardle, assistant demon- 
strator in zoology in the Royal College of Science, Lon- 
don, has been appointed lecturer in economic zoology in 
succession to Mr. J. Mangan, who resigned at the 
end of last session to take up the position of assistant 
to the professor of biology in the Government Medical 
College, Cairo. 


Mr. W. McBretNney, headmaster of the Storey 
Institute, Lancaster, has been appointed headmaster 
of the new Secondary School and Technical Institute 
at Wallsend. 


Four Gresham Lectures on Harvey, Darwin, and 
Huxley will be delivered on October 28, 29, 30, and 31, 
by Dr. F. M. Sandwith, Gresham professor of physic. 
The lectures, which will be given at the City of Lon- 
don School, Victoria Embankment, E.C., are free to 
the public, and will begin each evening at six o’clock. 


Ir is stated in Science that M. Ernest Solvay, the 
discoverer of the Solvay process for the manufacture 
of sodium carbonate, celebrated the fiftieth anniver- 
sary of that discovery on September 2 last at Brussels 
by giving more than 200,001. to educational and charit- 
able institutions and the employees of his firm. The 
Universities of Paris and Nancy each received 20,000). 


THE new engineering laboratories at University 
College, Dundee, were opened on October 14, by Sir 
Alexander Kennedy, F.R.S. The chair of engineering 
was one of the first to be established at Dundee Uni- 
versity College, and in 1882,, Prof. (now Sir Alfred) 
Ewing, K.C.B., was elected as its first occupant. For 
some few years after the foundation of the college, the 
facilities for the experimental teaching of engineering 
were meagre, and it was not until 1887 that an 
engineering laboratory on an adequate scale was pro- 
vided. In January, 1911, the University authorities 
decided to build and equip a new engineering block, 
utilising for the purpose a grant of 10,o00l. made by 
the Carnegie Trust for the development of the Scottish 
Universities. This department has been erected at 
a cost, including equipment, of about 15,5001. Owing 
to the completion in 1910 of the Peters’s Electrical 
Engineering Laboratory, the college is well equipped 
for the study of this branch of engineering, and the 
present laboratories are devoted to the investigation of 
problems involved in civil and mechanical engineering. 
The heat-engine equipment at present includes an 
experimental steam engine, a gas engine, and a petrol 
motor, while provision is made for the installation of 
a Diesel oil engine and a steam turbine in the near 
future. The heat engine-room also contains all the 
apparatus necessary for the measurement of the heat 
value of solid and gaseous fuels, for the analysis of 
flue, exhaust, and fuel gases, and for the measure- 
ment of the dryness of steam, &c. The equipment of 
the strength of materials laboratory consists of a 
50-ton Buckton single-lever testing machine, fitted 
for tension, compression, and cross-breaking, and with 
autographic recorder, an alternating stress machine, 
and cement testing machine, along with apparatus 
for determining the moduli of elasticity and rigidity, 
and for investigating the strength of struts and 
the elastic vibrations and deformations of structures. 
The hydraulic equipment includes a 24-in. Pelton 
wheel, a o-in. inward flow pressure turbine, an elec- 
trically-driven centrifugal pump, capable of discharg- 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


NATE 


[OcroBER 16, 1913 


ing 450 gallons per minute, an Oddie-Barclay high- $ 
speed differential-ram reciprocating pump, a flume, — 


3 ft. broad and 45 ft. long, for the study of weir and 
channel flow, and apparatus or studying the friction 
of fluids in pipes, the impact of jets, &c. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


Paris. p 


Academy of Sciences, September 29.—M. C. Jordan in 
the chair.—J. Guillaume: Observation of the occulta- 
tion of the Pleiades by the moon, made September 20, 
1913, with the coudé equatorial at Lyons Observatory.— 
Léopold Fejér: Harmonic polynomials.—H: Tietze ; 
Continuous representations of surfaces on themselves. 
—C. Beau: The relations between tuberisation of roots 
and the attack by endophytic fungi in the course of 
development of Spiranthes autwmnalis. 


October 6.—M. P. Appell in the chair.—H. 
Deslandres : Remarks on the general electric and mag- 
netic fields of the sun. A full discussion of the work 
of Hale in comparison with that done at Meudon by 
the author.—A. Chauveau; A comparison of human 
and bovine tuberculosis from the point of view of 
innate or specific aptitude of receiving or cultivating 
the bacillus. A development of views put forward in 
an earlier paper. The author holds that no human 
being, whatever the state of health, is incapable of 
receiving the tubercle infection, and regards this as a 
necessary consequence of his experiments on cattle. 
In the case of human beings exposed to infection and 
escaping, it is not the stronger subjects alone who 
escape. The practical conclusion is drawn that in the 
battle against tuberculosis, it is the bacillus which 
must be attacked, and hence that concentration on 
strengthening the vitality of the possible patient is 
-unscientific.—R, Lépine and M. Boulud: The origin of 
the sugar secreted in phlorizic glycosuria. The results 
of experiments are cited contradicting the hypothesis 
that the sugar eliminated in phlorizic glycosuria arises 
from the renal cells. The point of attack in the 
kidney appears to be especially the vascular endo- 
thelium.—Charles Depéret: The fluvial and glacial 
history of the Rhéne valley in the neighbourhood of 
Lyons. The Rhéne glacier reached the Lyons region 
at a later period than the Quaternary epoch.—J. 
Bosler: The spectrum of the Metcalf comet, 1913). 
Photographs taken at Meudon show a feeble continu- 
ous spectrum with three condensations corresponding to 
hydrocarbons (Swan spectrum) and cyanogen. It is 
nearly identical with the spectrum of the Schaumasse 
comet.—Michel Plancherel : The convergence of series of 
orthogonal functions.—Georges Rémoundos; Families 
of multiform functions admitting exceptional values 
within a domain.—Emile Jouguet ; Some properties of 
waves of shock and combustion.—Léon Guillet and 
Victor Bernard: The variation of the resilience of 
some commercial alloys of copper as a function of 
the temperature. The alloys examined included seven 
bronzes with tin, ranging from 3:5 per cent. to 20 per 
cent., four brasses, and one aluminium bronze. The 
results are given graphically in two diagrams.— 
Charles Nicolle and L. Blaizot: An atoxic antigono- 
coccic vaccine. Its application to the treatment of 
blennorrhagia and its complications. The authors 
have obtained a stable, atoxic antigonococcic serum 
by a method not disclosed, and give details of its 
curative action in a considerable number of cases.— 
Ch. Dhéré and A. Burdel: The absorption of the 
visible rays by the oxyhzmocyanines. Three repro- 
ductions of photographs of spectra are given. There 
would appear to be one absorption band common to 


J 


OcToBER 16, 1913] 


all the oxyhzmocyanines.—M. de Montessus de 
Ballore: An attempt at synthesis of seismic and vol- 
canic phenomena.—Ph. Flajolet: Observation of a 
curious formation of cirrus. 


New Soutu WALEs. 

Linnean Society, August 27.—Mr. W. W. Froggatt, 
vice-president, in the chair—aA. M. Lea: Revision of 
the Australian Curculionide belonging to the sub- 
family Cryptorhynchides, Part xii. This paper deals 
with the balance of the genera, more particularly those 
allied to Poropterus, and species of this immense sub- 
family of weevils, and, with the exception of a con- 
cluding instalment dealing with the classification, dis- 
tribution, &c., is the last of the series. Fifteen genera 
{one proposed as new) and twenty-three species (two 
proposed as new) are described—W. N. Benson: The 
geology and petrology of the Great Serpentine 
Belt of New South Wales, Part i., Introduc- 
tory. The area described stretches from Warialda 
to Tamworth, embracing about 2000 square miles, 
together with one hundred square miles in the 
Nundle district, S.S.E. of Tamworth. A general 
description of the palzozoic formations is given. A 
great extension of the radiolarian rocks has been 
proved, both laterally and in vertical range. The 
sequence in igneous rocks is sketched. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Preliminary Geography. By E. G. Hodgkinson, 
Pp. xvi+225. (London: W. B. Clive.) 1s. 6d. 


Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in India. 
Botanical Series. Vol. vi., No. 3. Studies in Indian 
Tobaccos, No. 3. The Inheritance in Nicotiana of 
Characters Tabacum, L. By G. L. C. Howard. Pp. 
25-115+plates. (Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Co. ; 
London: W. Thacker and Co.) 3 rupees. 


Die Luftfahrt. Ihre Wissenschaftlichen Grundlagen 
und Technische Entwicklung. By Dr. R. Nimfihr. 
Dritte Auflage. Pp. viiit+132. (Leipzig and Berlin: 
B. G. Teubner.) 1.25 marks. 

Experimental-Zoologie. By Dr. Hans Przibram. 
4, Vitalitat. (Lebenszustand.) Pp. viii+179+x plates. 


(Leipzig and Wien: F. Denticke.) 10 marks. 
The Latest Light on Bible Lands. By P. S. P. 
Handcock. Pp. xii+371. (London: S.P.C.K.) 6s. 


net. 


A First Book on Practical. Mathematics. By T. S. 
Usherwood and C. J.. A. Trimble. Pp. v+182. 
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 1s. 6d. 


Practical Geometry and Graphics for Advanced 
Students. By Prof. J. Harrison and G. A. Baxandall. 
Enlarged edition. Pp. xiv+677. (London: Mac- 
millan and Co., Ltd.) 6s. 


Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society. 
Vol. xxxi. Session 1912-1913. Pp. 110. (Edinburgh: 
Mathematical Society and Lindsay and Co.) 7s. 6d. 

The Twisted Cubic. With some Account of the 
Metrical Properties of the Cubical Hyperbola. By 
P. W. Wood. Pp. x+78. (Cambridge: University 
Press.) 2s. 6d. net. j 


The Physician in English History. (Linacre Lec- 
ture, 1913, St. John’s College, Cambridge.) By Dr. 
N. ot she Pp. 57. (Cambridge: University Press.) 
2s. Od. net. 


The Bacteriology of Diphtheria. Including Sections 
on the History, Epidemiology and Pathology of the 


Disease, the Mortality Caused by it, the Toxins and 
Antitoxins, and the Serum Disease. Edited by Dr. F. 


NO, 2294, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


225 


Loeffler, Dr. A. Newsholme, and others. Re-issue, 
with Supplementary Bibliography. Pp. xx+718+xvi 
plates. (Cambridge: University Press.) 15s. net. 

Notes on the Natural History of Common British 
Animals and some of their Foreign Relations. Verte- 
brates. By Kate M. Hall. Pp. xii+289. (London: 
Adlard and Son.) 3s. 6d. net 


Ulster Folklore. By Elizabeth Andrews. Pp. xiii+ 
121+xii plates. (London: Elliot Stock.) 5s. net. 


Japan’s Inheritance. The Country, its People, and 
their Destiny. By E. Bruce Mitford. Pp. 384+ 
plates. (London and Leipsic: T. Fisher Unwin.) 
ros. 6d. net. 


The Vulgate Version of the Arthurian Romances. 
Edited from manuscripts in the British Museum by 
H. O. Sommer. Vol. vii. Supplement, Le Livre 
D’Artus. Pp. 370. (Washington, U.S.A.: Carnegie 
Institution.) 


Penmo-Carboniferous Vertebrates from New 


Mexico. By E. C. Case, S. W. Williston, and M. G. 
Mehl. Pp. v+8r1. (Washington, U.S.A.: Carnegie 
Institution.) 


Igneous Rocks. Composition, Texture and Classi- 
fication, Description and Occurrence. By, J 2- 
Iddings. Vol. ii. Pp. xi+685. (New York: J. 
Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, 
Ltd-)o (25sus6ds mets 


The Theory of Relativity. By Prof. R. D. Car- 
michael. Pp. 74. (Mathematical Monographs.) 
(New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London : Chap- 
man and Hall, Ltd.) 4s. 6d. net. 


Elements of Water Bacteriolory. By Prof. S. C. 
Prescott and Prof. C. E. A. Winslow. Third edition. 
Pp. xiv+318. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; 
London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net. 

My Game-Book. By A. R. Haig Brown. Pp. xvi 
+239. (London: Witherby and Co.) 5s. net. 


Untersuchungen tiber Chlorophyll. Methoden und 
Ergebnisse. By R. Willstatter and A. Stoll. Pp. 
Viii+424+xi plates. (Berlin: J. Springer.) 18 marks. 

Department of Commerce. U.S. Coast and Geo- 
detic Survey. Results of Observations made at the 
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Magnetic Observa- 
tory at Cheltenham, Maryland, 1911 and 1912. By 
D. L. Hazard. Pp. o98+plates. (Washington, 
U.S.A. : Government Printing Office.) 


Department of the Interior. U.S. Geological Sur- 
vey. Professional Paper 78. Geology and Ore 
Deposits of the Philipsburg Quadrangle, Montana. 
By W. H. Emmons and F. C. Calkins. Pp. 271+ 
xvii. Professional Paper 80. Geology and Ore 
Deposits of the San Francisco and Adjacent Districts, 
Utah. By B. S. Butler. Pp. 212+xI plates. (Wash- 
ington, U.S.A.: Government Printing Office.) 

Outlines of Mineralogy for Geological Students. 
By Prof. G. A. J. Cole. Pp. viiit+339. (London: 
Longmans, Green and Co.) 5s. net. 

A Day in the Moon. By the Abbé Th. Moreux. 
Pp. viii+199+plates. (London: Hutchinson and Co.) 
3s. 6d. net. 


Electric Circuit Theory and Calculations. By W. 
Perren Maycock. Pp. xiv+355. (London and New 
York: Whittaker and Co.) 3s. 6d. net. 

Anleitung zur Darstellung = phytochemischer 
Uebungspraparate fiir Pharmazeuten, Chemiker, 
Technologen u.a. By Dr. D. H. Wester. Pp. xi+ 
129. (Berlin: J. Springer.) 3.60 marks. 


The Principles and Practice of Medical Hydrology : 
being the Science of Treatment by Waters and Baths. 


226 


By Dr. R. F. Fox. Pp. xiv+295. (London: Uni- 


versity of London Press.) 6s. net. 

The Annual of the British School at Athens. 
No. XVIII. Session 1911-12. _ Pp. viii+362+xv 
plates. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 25s. net. 

Modern Substitutes for Traditional Christianity. 
By E. McClure. Pp. viit+145. (London: S.P.C.K.) 


2s. net. 

The Nature and Origin of Fiords. By Dr. J. W. 
Gregory, F.R.S. Pp. xvi+542+viii plates. (Lon- 
don: John Murray.) 16s, net. 


Mechanism, Life and Personality. An Examination 
of the Mechanistic Theory of Life and Mind. By 


Dr. J. S. Haldane, F.R.S. Pp. vii+139. (London: 
J. Murray.) 2s. 6d. net. 

A History of the Royal Society of Arts. By Sir 
Henry T. Wood. Pp. xviii+5584-plates. (London : 


J. Murray.) 15s. net. 

The Continent of Europe. By Prof. L. W. Lyde. 
Pp. xv+446+maps. (London: Macmillan and Co., 
Tete) 7s. fod. met. 


Exercises d’Arithmétique. | Enoncés et Solutions. 


By J. Fitz-Patrick. Troisiéme édition. (Paris: A. 
Hermann et Fils.) 12 franes. 

Théorie des Nombres. By E. Cahen. Tome 
Premier. Le Premier Degré. Pp. xii+408. (Paris: 
A. Hermann et Fils.) 

Les Principes de l’Analyse Mathématique. Exposé 


Historique et Critique. By Prof. P. Boutroux. Tome 
Premier. Pp. xi+547. (Paris: A. Hermann et Fils.) 
14 francs. 


Lecons sur la Dynamique des Systemes Matériels. 
By Prof. E. Delassus. Pp. xii+421. (Paris: A. Her- 
mann et Fils.) 14 francs. 


The Manchester Municipal’ School of Technology. 
Calendar, 1913-14. (Manchester.) 


Canada. Department of Mines. Geological Sur- 
vey. Memoir No, 33. The Geology of Gowganda 
Mining Division. By W. H. Collins. Pp. vii+121+ 
iv plates. Memoir No. 29-E. Oil and Gas Prospects 
of the North-west Provinces of Canada. By W. Mal- 
colm. Pp. vit+gg+ix plates. (Ottawa: Government 
Printing Bureau.) 

Journal of the College of Science, Imperial Univer- 
sity of Tokyo. Vol. xxxiii., Art. 1. A Catalogue of 
the Fishes of Japan. By D. S. Jordan, S. Tanaka, 
and J. O. Snyder. Pp. 497. (Tokyo: The Univer- 
sity.) 

Lebensgewohnheiten und Instinkte der Insekten bis 
zum Erwachen der sozialen Instinkte. By Prof. O. M. 
Reuter. Vom Verfasser revidierte Uebersetzung nach 
dem schwedischen’ Manuskript.. By A. u. M. Buch. 
Pp. xvi+448. (Berlin: R. Friedlander und Sohn.) 
16 marks. 

Das Tierreich. 39 Lieferung. Cumacea (Sym- 
poda). By the Rev. T. R. R, Stebbing. Pp. xvi+ 
210. (Berlin: R. Friedlander und Sohn.) 16 marks. 

The University of Sheffield. Calendar for the 
Session 1913-14. Vol. i. (Sheffield.) 


Lip-Reading: Principles and Practise. By E. B. 


Nitchie. Pp. xiv+324. (London; Methuen and Co., 
Ltd.) 5s. net. ; 
Tasmania. Department of Mines. Geological 


The Preolenna Coal Field 
By L. 


Survey Bulletin, No. 13. 
and the Geology of the Wynyard District. 
Hills. Pp. 69. (Tasmania.) 

New Zealand. Dominion Museum, Bulletin No. 4. 
The Stone Implements of the Maori. By E. Best. 
Pp. 410+li plates. (Wellington.) . 


NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 16, 1913 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, Ocrover 16. 


InstituTION oF Mininc AND METAaLtOrcy, at 8.—Laterization in Minas 
Gerzes, Brazil: J. H. Goodchild.—An Example of Secondary Enrich- 
ment: W. F. A. Thomae.—The Effect of Charcoal on Gold-Bearing 
Cyanide Solutions with» Reference to the Precipitation of Gold: 
Morris Green. . 


FRIDAY, Ocroser 17- 


Junior InsTituTion OF ENGINEERS, at 8,—Education; some Random 
Reflections : G. Evetts. x : 


THURSDAY, Ocroser 23. 


InsTITUTION oF Civit ENGINEERS, at 9.—Progress of Marine Construc- 


tion: Alex. Gracie. j 


FRIDAY, Ocroser 24. 


INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Modern Flour Milling 
Machinery: R. B. Creak. 

Puysicar Society, at 5.—The Ice Calorimeter : E. Griffiths. —An Electro- 
static Oscillograph : H. Ho and S. Koté. es 


CONTENTS. 
British Fish Parasites).c 3 3. «|. sea 5 193 
Disease and Its Prevention... - - <:)5 see 193 
Mathematical Text-Books!'; 2.5 . 5.) o-saeeee 195 
Our Bookshelf . . . o%.-6 0% ma) oy ene 196 
Letters to the Editor :— 
The Piltdown Skull and Brain Cast. (J//ustrated.)—— 
Prof. A. Keith, FJR.S2 ©... Sv) svyeneeee “197 
The Theory of Radiation-—Prof, J. W. Nicholson 199 
Science and the Lay Press.—One of the Reporters ‘ 
Present: > Gps eae oe a » 199 
The Glasgow Memorialto Lord Kelvin. (///ustrated.) 200 
The Prehistoric Society of East Anglia. ..... 201 
MRORCS) nw 8. 8. 5) wes esi ot mn pt alee 201 
Our Astronomical Column :— ; ; 
Brilliant Meteor of October7...... “tora 206 
Cometary Observations in Ig09 to 1912... ... .. 206 
Normal System of Wave-lengths in the Spectrum of 
the Iron Are’ 2." 0) 5 mitwya > . , 206 
Microscopical Examination of Skin and Leather. _ 
ByJ. G. Pe. si ais a) a, llel ns Spe 206 


The British Association at Birmingham : — 
Section H.-—Anthropology.—Opening Address by 
Sir Richard C, Temple, Bart,, C.I.E., Presi- 


dent of the Section =i9. ©) . 02. = ucueene 207 
Section I.—Physiology.—Opening Address by F. 
Gowland Hopkins, F.R.S., President of the 
Section. . 0.55 «205. 2 Se 213 
University and Educational Intelligence. . . . : . 223 
Societies and Academies ©... < .°: c/a scene 224 
Books Received |. .') 5 ss He 225 
Buary of Societies. . 6°55 21.29 oe 226 


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OcroBER 16, 1913] NATURE Ixxili 


LANTERN SLIDES. ]| WATKINS & DONCASTER, 


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Ixxiv NATURE [OcToBER 16, 1913 


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Ixxvi 


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AND TECHNOLOGY, 
SOUTH KENSINGTON, LONDON, S.W. 


The following Special Courses 
commencing in November next :— 


ROYAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, 


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Subject. ‘ Conducted by 
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For further particulars of these and other Courses to follow, application 
should be made to the REGISTRAR. 


COLLEGE 


OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 


SOUTH KENSINGTON, LONDON, S.W. 
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Applications are invited for the post of DEMONSTRATOR in MINE- 
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be required to enter on his duties on November 3. 

A candidate should have had good experience in Engineering surveying 
both on surface and underground, and should be a ¢kilful draughtsman and 
quick computer, 

Applications, accompanied by copies of not more than three testimonials, 
and, if possible, by examples of draughtsmanship, booking, &c , should be 
addressed to the SEcRETARY, Imperial College of Science and Technology, 
South Kensington, S.W. 


ee 
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. 


The following Advanced Lectures will be delivered ;— 
A Course of eight Lectures on ‘‘ The Cytology and Affinities of the 
Higher Fungi," by Dr. H.C. I. Gwynne-VauGuaN, at University College, 
Gower Street, W.C., on Thursdays, commencing on October 23, 1913, 
at 5 p.m. 


A Course of four Lectures on * 


The Cerebro-spinal Fluid,” 
- D. Haccripurto0n, F.R.S., and Professor W. E. 
jointly, at King’s College, Strand, W.C., on Mondays, 
17, and 24, 1913, at 4.30 p.m, 
Admission free, without ticket. 


P. J. HARTOG, Academic Registrar, 


UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. 
CHADWICK LECTURES. 


A Course of three Lectures on ‘! The Place of the Open-Air School in 
Preventive Medicine,” will be delivered under the Chadwick Benefaction 
by Sir George Newman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of the Board of 
Education, at the University of London, South Kensington, S.W., on 
Tuesdays, November 4, 11, and 18, 1913, at 5 p.m. 

Admissicn free, without ticket. 


P. J. HARTOG, Academic Registrar, 


by Professor 
Dixon, F.R.S., 
November 3, 10, 


ee 
RUTHERFORD TECHNICAL COLLEGE 
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. 


Principal—C, L. Ecrarr-Heatu, Wh.Sc., A.M.I.M.E. 


APPOINTMENT OF LECTURER IN ENGINEERING, 
Salary £150, rising by £10 to £180, 

The Council of the above College invite applications for the above 
appointment from gentlemen having good works and drawing office 
experience, first-class technical school training, training in engineering 
laboratory work, and some teaching experience in day or evening work. 

The commencing salary will be increased by £7 10s. for every year's 
service in a similar capacity up to maximum of four years. 

The appointment is a full time appointment (cartly day and partly even- 
ing work) Applications should be made before Wednesday, November Si 


on forms which, with further particulars, may be obtained from the under- 
signed, : 


Education Office, 
Northumberland Road, 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 
O.tober 15, 1913. 


SPURLEY HEY, 
Secretary. 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 23, 1913 


BIRKBECK COLLEGE, 


BREAMS BUILDINGS, CHANCERY LANE, E.c, 

Principal: G. Armitage-Smith, M.A., D.Lit. 

COURSES OF STUDY (Day and Evening) for the Degrees of the | 

UNIVERSITY OF LONDON in the “ 
FACULTIES OF SCIENCE & ARTS 

(PASS AND HONOURS) 

under RECOGNISED TEACHERS of the University. 

SCIENCE.—Chemistry, Physies, Mathematics (Pure and ~ 

Applied), Botany, Zoology, Geology and Mineralogy, | 

ARTS.—Latin, Greek, English, French, German, 

History, Geography, Logie, Economies, Mathematies (Pure) 

and Applied), 

Evening Courses for the Degrees in Economics and Law. 


Day: Science, £17 10s,; Arts, £10 10s, : 
SESSIONAL FEES { 207); Sci Science, Arts, or Economics, 25 5s. | 


| 
POST-GRADUATE AND RESEARCH WORK, | 


Prospectuses post free, Calendar 3¢. (by post sd.) from the Secretary, 


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AOTING IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE LONDON CHAMBER OF Commence. 


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(Near Moorgate and Liverpool Street Stations). 
PRINCIPAL: SIDNEY HUMPHRIES, B.A., LL.B. (Cantab. ) 


EVENING CLASSES IN SCIENCE, 


Well-equipped LABORATORIES for Practical Work in 
CHEMISTRY, BOTANY, GEOLOGY. 


Special Courses for Pharmaceutical and other examinations. 
are also held in all Commercial Subjects, 
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DAY SCHOOL OF COMMERCE. Preparation fora COMMERCIAL 
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Prospectuses, 


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and all other information, gratis on application. 


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SPECIAL EVENING COURSES. 


Bacteriology and Fungus Culture—Hucu MacLean, D.Sc, Ch.B., 
M.D. ; Biochemistry—HuGu MacLzgan, D.Sc., Ch.B., M.D. ; Crystallo- 
graphy and Mineralogy—*A. J. Masten, F.L.S., F.G.S. ; Electricity and 
Magnetism—*L, Lownps, B.Sc., Pb.D.; Foods and Drugs Analysis— 

« B. Stevens, F.I.C., Ph.C., F.C.S.; Heredity and Evolution—* J. T. 
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Metallography & Pyrometry—W, A. Naisu, A.R.S.M., A I.M.M. ; Optics 
—*F.W. Jorpan, B.Sc., A.R.C,S. ; Organic Chemistry—*J. C, Crocker, 
M.A., D.Sc. ; Physical Chemistry—*J. C. Crocker, M.A.. D.Sc. ; Plant 
Ecology—F. Cavers, D.Sc., F.L.S. ; Pure Mathematics, subsidiary sub- 
ject for B.Sc. Honours—*T, G. Strain, M.A.; Recent Researches in 
Biochemistry—Hucu MacLean, D.Sc., Ch.B., M.D. 3. Stratigraphreal 
Geology with special reference to foreign areas—T, C, Nicuotas, B.A. 
(Camb.); Vector Analysis. Complex Quantities with applications to 
Physics—*J. Lister, A-R.C.S, . 

* Recognised Teachers of London University. 

Evening Courses commenced for the Session 1913-14 on Monday, Septem- 
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UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF WALES, 
ABERYSTWYTH. 


The Council invite applications for the post of LIVE STOCK 
OFFICER, who will be attached to the staff of the Agricultural Depart- 
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cations should be sent to the undersigned, from whom further particulars 
may be obtained, not later than November 20 next. 


J. H, DAVIES, M.A., Registrar. 


in Languages, and Literature. _ 


| 
| 


NATURE 


227 


THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1913. 


LORD RAYLEIGH’S SCIENTIFIC PAPERS. 
Scientific Papers. By John William Strutt, 


Baron Rayleigh, O.M., F.R.S. Vol. v., 1902- 
(Cambridge University 


1910. Pp, xiii+624. 
Press, 1912.) Price 15s. net. 
HE fifth volume of Lord Rayleigh’s 


papers contains his researches from 1902 
to 1910; it is a volume of nearly. eighty papers 
on subjects of a very varied nature—no slight 
record for a man during the seventieth decade of 
his life. 

The four. earlier volumes of the work have 
already been noticed in Nature, and there is little 
more to be said with regard to the volume now 
under review. ; 

The thanks of all interested in the advance of 
physical science are due in the first place to the 
author for thus reissuing in collected form his 
work during his own lifetime, and in the second 
to the Cambridge University Press for publishing 
it in the present admirable form. The issue 
of the collected works of great mathematicians— 
Adams, Cayley, Maxwell, Stokes, Rayleigh, Tait, 
and Kelvin—which the Press has undertaken in 
recent years has been of the utmost value to 
students throughout the world; and of this series 
no volumes have been more eagerly looked for 
or met with a more welcome reception than those 
of Lord Rayleigh. The pages under review 
afford ample evidence of the author’s. special 
powers, clearness of vision, whether in regard 
to the mathematical theory of his subject or to 
the essential details of an experimental inquiry; a 
firm grasp of mathematics as an instrument to 
solve the problem he is attacking; readiness to 
use simple methods of experiment where these 
suffice; the power to see when it is necessary 
to call in the highest skill of the instrument- 
maker or the minute care of the observer—these 
are manifest throughout. 

It must suffice for the present to refer to one 
or two of the papers which appear of most interest 
to the present writer; the volume must find a 
place on the shelves of every physical library, and 
be continually referred to by students and workers. 

One of the earliest papers reprinted from the 
Phil. Trans. for 1902 deals with the isothermal 
relation between the pressure and volume of a 
gas at pressures of from 75 to 150 mm. of mercury. 
The conclusion reached is that to one part in 
5000 at least air, hydrogen, oxygen, and argon 
obey Boyle’s law at the pressures concerned and 
at ordinary temperatures (10°—15°). For nitrous 
oxide the deviations are somewhat greater. The 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


work was extended to higher pressures up to 
one atmosphere in a further paper (Phil. Trans., 
1905). 

In two interesting papers the question whether 
the earth’s motion affects the rotatory polarisation 
or produces double refraction of light are both 
answered in the negative. Other papers, again, 
bear evidence as to Lord Rayleigh’s activity 
as a member of the’ Explosives Committee, or 
as adviser to the’ Trinity House, while 2 
large part of the’ volume deals with various 
problems of small vibrations either optical, acous- 
tical, or electrical, e.g. on the bending of waves 
round a spherical | obstacle ; on. the dynamical 
theory of gratings; on the application of Poisson’s 
formula to discontinuous disturbances, together 
with a series of acoustical notes. 

Reference should also be made to a series of 
papers dealing with the measurement of the wave- 
length of light, commencing with one in the Philo- 
sophical Magazine for 1906, on some measure- 
ments of wave-lengths with a modified apparatus, 
followed by another on further measurements of 
wave-lengths, Phil. Mag., xv., 1908. Both these 
papers are admirable examples of Lord Rayleigh’s 
method of dealing with experimental difficulties 
of a high order without any undue elaboration of 
apparatus, and of his success in securing results. 
The method employed was a modification of that 
of Fabry and Perot, and the observations re- 
corded in the first paper verified to one part in 
a million the values found for the wave-lengths, 
in terms of that of the red cadmium line, of the 
more important lines of cadmium, mercury, zinc, 
and soda, by Michelson and Fabry:and Perot. 

In conclusion reference should be made to 
papers on skin friction on even surfaces, a note 
to a paper by’Prof Zahm, Phil. Mag., 1904, and 
on the application of the principle of dynamical 
similarity, Reports of the Advisory Committee for 
Aéronautics, 1909-10 and I9gI10-Tt. 

These deal with the conditions to be observed 
when calculating the resistance on bodies moving 
through the air from experiments on models. 
On the assumption that the resistance depends on 
the velocity and viscosity of the air and on the 
size of the surface, and is approximately propor- 
tional to the square of the velocity, it is shown 
that the resistance R is given by the equation— 


R=pV%¥(v/V)), 
where p, V, and v= are the 
velocity, and viscosity of the fluid, and 1 a linear 


density, 


| quantity defining the size of the body, f being 


an unknown function. It follows from this that 

if the resistances are to be treated as proportional 

to the squares of the velocities for the actual 
I 


228 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 23, 1913 


body and the model, the comparisons must be | lesser black-backed gull marked at Rossitten in 


made at velocities for which VI is constant—i.e. 
at velocities inversely proportional to the size 
of the body and model respectively. 

Enough has probably been written to direct 
- attention to the wide range and absorbing interest 
of the subjects discussed in this volume. 


CONCERNING BIRDS. 

(1) XI. Jahresbericht (1911) derVogelwarte Rossit- 
ten der Deutschen Ornithologischen Gesell- 
schaft. Teil II. By Prof. J. Thienemann. 
Peper 7s. 

(2) The Food of some British Wild Birds: a 
Study in Economic Ornithology. By W. E. 
Collinge. Pp. vi+1o9. (London: Dulau and 
Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 4s. net. 

(3) The Bodley Head Natural History. By E. D. 
Cuming. With Illustrations by J. A. Shepherd. 
Vol. i., British Birds. Passeres. Pp. 120. 
(London: John Lane, 1913.) Price 2s. net. 

(1) N the second part of the eleventh annual 

report of the ‘ Vogelwarte,” or bird- 
watching station, at Rossitten in East Prussia, Dr, 

Thienemann sets forth the 1911 results of the 

migration inquiry. The method pursued is mark- 

ing the birds with numbered and addressed rings, 
and it continues to yield very interesting results. 

We notice that more than one black-headed gull 

born near Rossitten has been recovered in Eng- 

land, and a starling marked in the nest in Livonia 

on June 10, 1951, was shot on December 26, 1911, 

near Buckfast Abbey, South Devon. Other 

black-headed gulls from Rossitten were reported 
from Hungary, Croatia, Switzerland, and Pied- 
mont; and one marked at Munich was found again 
at Tunis. Best of all is the case of a Rossitten gull 
marked in the nest July 18, 1911, and shot in 

November in Barbadoes. We may recall the fact 

that a British marked gull has been reported from 

the Azores. , 

Some new records of German storks from Africa 
bring the total of such cases up to twenty-four. 
They include recoveries from the Mbomu-Ubangi 
basin (North Congo), German East Africa, and the 
Victoria. East district of Cape Province (the 
southernmost locality, 32° 46’ S.). Interest also 
attaches to storks recovered in Europe, for while 
most of those from Germany (east and west), Den- 
mark, and Holland have been found to migrate 
south-eastwards towards Asia Minor on their 
way to Egypt and further south, we have a second 
case of a West German stork migrating towards 
Spain. 

It is difficult to pick and choose among the in- 


teresting records, such as three hooded crows | 


recovered after intervals of more than six years; a 
NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


autumn and reported from Servia after three weeks ; 
a young woodcock marked near St. Petersburg, 
July 3, 1911, recovered in dept. Gers, S.W. France, 
December 12, 1911; a wood pigeon marked in the 
nest near Dresden and obtained five months later 
in dept. Lot-et-Garonne, S.W. France; a rough- 
legged buzzard marked in the nest in northern 
Swedish-Lapland in July, and shot near Vienna 
four and a-half months later; an eagle (A. poma- 


vina) marked in the nest in Russian Kurland in 


July, and recovered two months afterwards in 
Southern Bulgaria. A discussion of certain rather 
puzzling movements of the red-legged faleon con- 
cludes this interesting paper. Dr. Thienemann 
is to be heartily congratulated on the success which 
has attended the inquiry which he so energetically 
pursues. ; 

(2) Mr. Collinge has done a very useful piece of 
work in presenting in compact form the results of 
his post-mortem examination of 3048 adult birds 
and 312 nestlings, and in giving along with this 
an up-to-date summary of what is known in regard 
to the food of the commonest British birds. We 
do not speak without feeling when we say that it 
is no light task to examine the food-canals of 
3000 birds, and to make sure, or as sure as one 
can, of the significance of their imperfectly pre- 
served contents. Mr. Collinge has done his work 
carefully, and the results are proportionately valu- 
able—helping us, none too soon, to get away 
from the practical mistakes engendered by preju- 
dice and hearsay evidence. Mr. Collinge has also 
been careful in his presentation of the work done 
by other observers. 

Attention may be directed to the interesting 
(but all too short) chapters on the food of nestlings, 
on the réle of birds in destroying or distributing 
the seeds of weeds, and on the relation of birds to 
forestry. Of the twenty-nine species of birds which 
have been especially studied by the author, only 
five are regarded as distinctively injurious, viz., 
the house-sparrow, bullfinch, sparrow-hawk, wood 
pigeon, and stockdove; six are regarded as alto- 
gether too plentiful, and consequently injurious, 
viz., missel thrush, blackbird, greenfinch, chaf- 
finch, starling, and rook; the blackeap is injurious, 
but not plentiful; the jay is held to be neutral; 
and the remaining sixteen are beneficial, most of 
them meriting protection, especially the owls, the 
wren, and the plover. It must be borne in mind, 
however, that these are average verdicts, and Mr. 
Collinge would doubtless agree that they require 
modification for different parts of the country. The 
book does not deal at all with fish-eating birds, in 
regard to some of which there is a warm difference 
of opinion—to be settled by gathering more facts 


OCTOBER 23, 1913] 


NATURE 


229 


—between the champions of birds on one hand 
and angling associations on the other. We hope 
this book will pass through many editions, and 
gain in strength as it grows—incorporating new 
data and extending its scope. 

(3) Of making books—big and little—about 
birds there is no end, and the more the merrier 
as long as each newcomer is accurate and sincere, 
with something fresh to reveal. There is no doubt 
of a welcome for the ‘“‘ Bodley Head” bird-book, 
for Mr. Shepherd’s drawings are charming char- 
acterisations, quite unusually successful in reveal- 
ing the ways and habits of the birds. There is a 
good deal of psychology in them. The text is 
pleasantly and clearly written, without waste of 
words, and with insight into what is most distinc- 
tive. We would suggest that the inclusion of 
rarities, such as the rose-coloured pastor, is un- 
called for in a book of this kind. 


NEW AMERICAN BOOKS ON 
AGRICULTURE. 

(1) Cooperation in Agriculture. By G. H. Powell. 
Pp. xv+327+xvi plates. (New York: The 
Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan and 
Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 6s. 6d. net. 

(2) The Farmer of To-morrow. By F. I. Ander- 
son. Pp. viii+308. (New York: The Macmillan 
Company; London: Macmillan and Gon. Ltd: ; 
1913.) Price 6s. 6d. net. 

(3) Animal Husbandry for Schools. By Prof. 
M. W. Harper. Pp. xxii+4o9. (New York: 
The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 6s. net. 

(4) Elementary Tropical Agriculture, By W. H. 
Johnson. Pp. xi+150. (London: Crosby Lock- 

wood and Son, 1913.) Price 3s. 4d. net. 

HE first book on the list contains a very 
interesting account of the cooperative 
movement in America, especially as applied to 
agriculture. The subject is a very difficult onc, 
and the author shows in his opening pages that 
he is fully aware of the intricacies and pitfalls in 
which it abounds. In the first instance a coopera- 
tive movement is not necessarily organised for the 
sake of profit; it may also be—and is, indeed, 
primarily—run for the benefit of its members in 
other directions. Secondly, as the author brings 

out very vividly, the average farmer is not a 

specialist. He produces a variety of general crops, 

each of which has to be handled and marketed 
through different agencies. Moreover, the sup- 
plies he uses are secured from different sources. 

He is thus in an entirely different position from 

the specialist farmer, who devotes his main atten- 

tion to some one crop, such as apples, potatoes, 

&e., and therefore has much in common with 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


(1) 


ethers who are in the same line of business. 
These men can easily combine; they have to face 
the same problems of production, transport, dis- 
tribution, and sale. Everywhere it is found that 
cooperation is easier for them than for the ordin- 
ary farmer. 

The author therefore considers it a fundamental 
principle that a successful industrial organisation 
among farmers must be founded on a _ special 
industry, such as cotton, tobacco, milk, &c. Fur- 
ther, that the unit must lie in a restricted area. It 
also seems necessary for success that the organ- 
isation must be born in times of adversity; if it 
spring's up in times of prosperity it has less chance 
of surviving the competition of existing agencies. 
Having laid down these fundamental principles, 
the author proceeds to show what has been done 
in the various States to apply them to the case of 
the ordinary farmer producing various crops. 

(2) In this book Mr. Anderson gives a vivid ac- 
count of the problem of soil fertility as it is under- 
stood by the Bureau of Soils at Washington. It is 
written in the direct popular style that is being 
cultivated with marked success by some of the 
present American authors, and it gives a very 
lively picture of the work done by the Bureau and 
its bearing on present-day agricultural problems 
in America. The author does not attempt any dis- 
cussion of the hypotheses, and his statement of the 
position of the other side is somewhat inaccurate ; 
in a popular book, however, it is something if the 
other side is recognised at all, even though it is 
only set up to be knocked over. 

Besides all this there is a very spirited account 
of the position of American agriculture to-day, the 
movement back to the land, the introduction of 
business methods, the rise in capital value of the 
land, and the question of soil treatment. All these 
matters are dealt with in a light and easy fashion 
which cannot fail to hold the reader’s interest. 

(3) The third book on the list is one of the Rural 
Text-book Series, and is designed for schools and 
for short-course students at the colleges. It is 
thoroughly worthy of its companions in the series. 
The descriptions of the animals are good, and the 
illustrations are both adequate and to the point. 
The general reader will be struck by the large 
part British live stock play in the animal hus- 
bandry of the United States. After an enumera- 
tion of the different breeds, the author passes on to 
the methods of judging. The animal’s mouth 
affords useful guidance here, and some good illus- 
trations are given showing the appearance of the 
teeth at different ages. Next follows a detailed 
description of the score card, an American inven- 
tion of great value that has now found its way into 
English colleges. 


‘ 


230 


The selection of animals to be fattened is no 
longer a haphazard matter. Farmers and graziers 
have learnt by experience that animals which 
fatten well possess certain points in common. 
Thus a good beef steer for fattening has a head 
with definite characteristics, which are thus set out 
by the author :— 


“Tt should be broad and short, the face and 
cheeks should be full and deep with a_ broad, 
strong lower jaw. The nostrils should be large. 
The eyes should be large, prominent, and mild, 
indicating a quiet temperament. The forehead 
should be somewhat prominent, and covered with 


amass of wavy hair. The ear should be of medium | 


size, and covered inside and out with fine silky 
hair, and should be neatly attached to the head.”’ 


The other parts of the body have to be observed 
in similar detail. It would be interesting to inquire 
how far these “points”? possess any real signifi- 
cance, and how far they are purely fanciful. Al- 
though the author does not help us in this matter, 
he has done good service by placing on record 
the points recognised in American practice. 

(4) Mr. Johnson has gathered together in this 
little book—the only British book on the list— 
the main principles involved in tropical agricul- 
ture, with a view to the introduction of the subject 
into schools. He is convinced that West African 
youths must be encouraged to adopt agriculture as 
a profession if the immense potential agricultural 
wealth of the country is to be extensively de- 
veloped; he considers that the unhealthiness of the 
climate must militate against the direct exploita- 
tion of the industry by Europeans. This being so, 
it is obviously necessary that the principles of 
agriculture should be introduced into West 
African schools, and the book is intended for this 
purpose. It begins with a chapter on soil, then 
with six chapters on the plant, dealing respectively 
with the seed, the root, the stem, leaves, the 
flower, and the fruit. Next follows an account of 
the food of plants, in which the author reverts once 
more to the soil. Two chapters on diseases and 
insect pests come next, and finally there is a sec- 
tion dealing with the school garden. The book is 
well got up, and is clearly written; it should serve 
very well the purpose for which it is intended. 


THE POPULARISATION OF SCIENCE. 
Harmsworth Popular Science, Edited by Arthur 
Mee. In 43 parts. (London: The Amal- 
gamated Press, Ltd.) 
HE days when Science was an intellectual 
preserve for the few are long since past, 
and popularisation has become an. art—increas- 
ingly an art. For if we compare a work like that 
before us with the “Useful Information for the 
NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 23, 1913 


| People,” or the ‘“ Science for All,” or the ‘‘ Popular 
Educator ” of half a century ago, we cannot but 
admit that popularisation has. made strides. The 
scope is more ambitious, bigger and deeper sub- 
jects are tackled; the mode of presentation is more 
interesting, which implies greater psychological 
skill; the style tends to be clearer, more vivid, 
less wordy; the illustrations are often extra- 
ordinarily educative ; and the whole thing is more 
vertebrated. Sometimes it is the evolution-idea 
that gives unity to the treatment; sometimes it is 
an enthusiastic conviction that Science is for Man 
—to aid him to enter into his kingdom; more 
rarely the unifying aim is to work out a course of 
intellectual gymnastics—“a_ brain-stretching dis- 
cipline.” 

Those who have listened to fine examples of 
popular lectures, such as some of the Evening Dis- 
courses at the British Association or at the Royal 
Institution, or who have read Huxley’s or 
Tyndall’s, must admit that sound popularisation is 
possible. If the lecturer has a deep first-hand 
knowledge of what he is talking about, if he has 
lucidity, vividness, the teacher’s instinct, and a 
few more gifts and graces, what may he not 
achieve—as we have seen and heard—in the way 
of making even a difficult subject luminous to an 
average intelligence, and that without any lower- 
ing of the scientific standard? And if sound 
popularisation is possible, it is also for many 
reasons desirable. Knowledge is power: savoir 
pour prévoir, et prévoir pour pourvoir; its in- 
crease is an increase not of sorrow to well-con- 
stituted minds, but of interest and zest, alleviating 
what Shakespeare calls ‘‘life-harming heavi- 
ness’; and thirdly, no one can doubt that one of 
the most pressing social needs of the age is the 
better education of the wage-earners, and, of 
course, of the leisured class as well. Therefore 
we heartily welcome the extraordinary work be- 
fore us, because it is sound popularisation, and 
sometimes reaches a very high level of success. 

The book runs to more than 5000 pages, and 
it has twelve main themes. It tells of other 
worlds in space, of the making of the earth, of 
early forms of life, of the pedigree of plants, of 
the evolution of animals, of the ascent of man, 
of the laws of health, of the mastery of natural 
forces, of the rise of industry, of the development 
of commerce, of the history of society, and of the 
possible improvement of the race. It is, of 
course, sketchy, selective, and sometimes a little 
sensational, but it keeps to the facts, it is written 
with great skill, and it seems to us a big educa- 
tional success. There is vitality and earnestness 
throughout, and the illustrations are exceptionally 
The numerous portraits of 


vivid and arresting. 


_ ing. 


OcTOBER 23, 1913 | 


scientific workers give a personal touch to the 
text. We have tried it on a boy of ten and ‘a 
somewhat blasé reader of fifty, and both give the 
same verdict—that it is extraordinarily interest- 
We should like to have seen the authors’ 
names, and we should like to cut the parts and 
bring, let us say, all the Hygiene together; but 
these are minor matters. 
sation all success, because it is sound; and what 
are the factors in this soundness ? 

It appears to us that the chief desiderata in an 
educational enterprise of this sort are the follow- 
ing :—Getting contributors with the gifts and 
graces already alluded to, plus the crowning 
humility of taking pains and obeying the editor 
(to whom our compliments); the good sense not 
to pretend that everything is easy, since nothing 
thorough is; the critical faculty of discerning 
what can be presented accurately, and at the same 
time intelligibly, for while most true ideas are 
clear there is a clarity that only dazzles the man 
in the street; and, last, the restraint which for- 
bids “giving to the ignorant, as a gospel, in the 
name of Science, the rough guesses of yesterday 
that to-morrow should forget.” We do not mean 
to suggest that this huge work has all these 
Virtues in perfection, but it has striven after them, 
and therefore we wish it well. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


Arabische Gnomonik. No. 1. By Dr. Carl Schoy. 
Pp. 40+2 plates. Aus dem Archiv der 
Deutschen Seewarte.) (Hamburg, 1913.) 

Tuis mathematical account of Moslem dialling, 

by a writer already known for his studies of 

Arabic astronomy, forms one of the publications 

of the Deutsche Seewarte. 

The author first touches on the bibliography. 
There is food for thought in the fact that but two 
references are given to English writers. The 
Arabic sun-dial differs from that of the Greeks 
in having a single point, at the apex of a spike, 
for index, in place of the gnomon. The horizontal 
dial is first treated, and rules are given for laying 
off “temporary hour-lines.” These hours, duo- 
decimal subdivisions of the daylight interval, vary 
in length; nevertheless, their inconvenience did 
not prevent their universal adoption until the time 
of Abu’l Hassan, who introduced equal hours 
about 1200 A.D. They are specially dealt with in 
the third chapter. The analysis of the clepsydra 
in this chapter gives unequal hours, since it 
assumes—erroneously—a constant rate of dis- 
charge. 

Next follow two chapters on the determination 
of the Kibla and the times of prayer—sunset, 
nightfall, dawn, noon, and afternoon (ast), The 
last, with its various definitions, is discussed in 
some detail. The closing chapters concern verti- 
cal, cylindrical, and conical dials. 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


We wish this populari- : 


231 


Though leaning towards the academic in places 
(the author employs declinations of 36°, — 69°, 
—45°, and 63° on p. 21), the work is of high 
interest and much utility to all who have to do 
with Moslem chronometry. A few typographical 
errors apart, it is well printed, but an index would 


have been a useful addition. Nicgg! Barc: 


Cotton Spinning. By W. S. Taggart. Vol. I. 
Including all Processes up to the End of Card- 
ing. Pp. xxxvi+262. Fourth edition. Vol. I. 
Including the Processes up to the End of Fly- 
frames. Pp. xiv+245. Fifth edition. (London: 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 4s. net 
each. 

THESE books have been brought up to date, and 

much new matter and many illustrations have been 

added. In all essential respects they resemble the 
previous editions, which have gained a wide circu- 


lation among students and practical cotton- 
spinners. 
Modern Problems in Psychiatry. By Prof. 


Translated by Drs. D. Orr 
and R. G. Rows. With a Foreword by 
Sir T. S. Clouston. Pp. vii+305. Second 
edition. (Manchester University Press, 1913.) 
Price 7s. 6d. net. 

Tue first English edition of Prof. Lugaro’s book 

was reviewed in the issue of Nature for January 6, 

1910 (vol. Ixxxii., p. 273). The present issue 

differs in no important respect from the former; 

a large number of minor changes, including the 

correction of several errors, have been made. 


Ernesto Lugaro. 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


The Spectra of Helium and Hydrogen. 


Recently Prof. Fowler (Month. Not. Roy. Astr. 
Soc., December, 1912) has observed a number of new 
lines by passing a condensed discharge through mix- 
tures of hydrogen and helium. Some of these lines 
coincide closely with lines of the series observed by 
Pickering in the spectrum of the star ¢ Puppis, and 
attributed to hydrogen in consequence of its simple 
numerical relation to the ordinary Balmer series. 
Other lines coincide closely with the series predicted 
by Rydberg and denoted as the principal series of the 
hydrogen spectrum. The rest of the new lines show 
a very simple relation to those of the latter series, but 
apparently have no place in Rydberg’s theory. 

From a theory of spectra (Phil. Mag., July, 1913) 
based on Rutherford’s theory of the structure of atoms 
and Planck’s theory of black-radiation, I have been 
led to the assumption that the new lines observed 
by Fowler are not due to hydrogen, but that all the 
lines are due to helium and form a secondary helium 
spectrum exactly analogous to the ordinary hydrogen 
spectrum. This view is supported by recent experi- 
ments of Mr. Evans (Nature, September 4, p. 5), who 
observed the line 4686 in a helium tube not showing 
the ordinary hydrogen lines. Prof. Fowler (Nature, 
September 25, p. 95), on the other hand, brings for- 


292 


ward some objections against the assumption that 
the lines are due to helium. In his communication 
Fowler states that the two series of lines, denoted by 
him as the first and the second principal series of the 
hydrogen spectrum, in his opinion cannot be united 
within the limits of error of observation in a single 
series, such as my theory claims. However, I be- 
lieve that it is possible on the theory to account for 
the lines in satisfactory agreement with the measure- 
ments. 

The first and the second columns of the table below 
contain the wave-lengths given by Fowler for the 
new lines and the corresponding limits of error of 
observation. The lines are marked by P,, P., and S. 
according as they belong to the first or the second 
principal series or the Sharp series respectively. The 
figures in the third column are the products of the 


wave-lengths and the quantity 3 = = where n, and 
2 


n, are given in the bracket. 


A. 108 Lainie oF Nar x3) + rol0 
P, 4685-98 O-01 227791 (3:4) 
P, 3203-30 0-05 227790 (3:5) 
P, — 2733:34 0-05 227773 (3: 6) 
Pie eaariesy 0:05 227783 é 37) 
P, 2385-47 0-05 227779 (3:8) 
P, 2306-20 0-10 22777-3, (3:9) 
P, 2252-88 nas 0-10 227791 (3: 10) 
SS 5410°5 se LO 22774 tt 27) 
S 4541-3 0:25 22777 (4:9) 
S 42003 ae O5 22781 (4:11) 


The figures in the third column are very nearly 
equal, and apparently there is no indication of a 
systematic difference in the figures corresponding to 
the lines denoted by P, and P.,. 

The corresponding figures for the first lines in the 
ordinary spectrum of hydrogen (Ames, Phil. Mag., 
Xxx., p. 48, 1890) are :— 


A. 108 A(Za- aan) . 1010 
6563-04 911533 (2:3) 
4861-49 QII52:9 (2:4) 
4340°66 QII53:9 (2:5 
4101-85 + QII52:2 (2:6) 
3970:25 se 911537 (2:7) 


According to the theory in question we have 
K=a( I es + 2) 


ne ne) 2m*Be*M mw’ 
where c is the velocity of light, h Planck’s constant, 
e and m the charge and mass of an electron, and 
E and M the charge and mass of the central positive 
nucleus in the atom. This formula is deduced exactly 
as that given in the Phil. Mag., where, however, in 
order to obtain a first approximation the mass of 
the electron is neglected in comparison with that of 
the nucleus. 
The above tables give for hydrogen and for helium 
respectively 
Ke=01153.10-%, Kye=22779.107 1, 
The ratio between these values is :— 
Ku 
Kue 
From the theoretical formula we get for hydrogen, 
putting E=e and M=1835m, and using recent deter- 
minations of h, e, and m :— 


= 40016, 


Ka oetons- 
The agreement with the experimental value is 


within the uncertainty due to experimental errors in 
h, e, and m. : 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 23, 1913 


The theoretical value for the ratio between K for 
hydrogen and for helium can be deduced with great 
accuracy, as it is independent of the absolute values 
of h, e, and m. Putting Ene="Eu And My =4Mzy, 
we get from the formula: 

Sse 
ice 4°00163 
in exact agreement with the experimental value. 

It may be remarked that according to the theory 
helium must be expected to emit a series of lines 
closely, but not exactly, coinciding with the lines of 
the ordinary hydrogen spectrum. These lines, hitherto 
not observed, correspond to n,=4 and n.=6, 8, 10 

.., and have the wave-lengths 6560-3, 4859°5, 
43389 - . . The lines are expected to appear together 
with the lines of the Sharp series observed by Fowler 
and to have intensities of the same order as the latter 
lines. N. Bonr. 

The University, Copenhagen, October 8. 


I am glad to have elicited this interesting communi- 
cation from Dr. Bohr, and I readily admit that the 
more exact form of his equation given above is in 
close accordance with the observations of the lines in 
question. It will be seen that the equation now 
introduces a modified value for the Rydberg series 
‘constant,’ 109675, in addition to its multiplication 
by 4 for the particular series under consideration. 
The constant 22779, which is deduced from the wave- 
lengths of the lines is the reciprocal of this modified 
number, and in the usual numerical form, for oscilla- 
tion frequencies corrected to vacuum, the equation for 
the lines would be :— 

5 [ety ean 


(3? mJ 
where m takes the values 4, 5,6.... 

With this modification, the agreement with the 
observations is very close; in only two cases do the 
calculated values differ from those observed by 
amounts greater than the estimated limits of error, 
and I should not like to insist that such errors in 
the measurements are inadmissible. It may there- 
fore be possible to unite the P, and P, series in a 
single equation, as Dr. Bohr’s theory requires, but 
it should be noted that the combination demands the 
recognition of a type of series differing from those 
previously known. The result of this combination is 
to give what may be called a “‘half-step”’ series, such 
as would be obtained by combining ordinary first and 
second subordinate series, in the special case where 
the fractional parts of the terms (m+ ) in Rydberg’s 
equations for the two series differed by exactly o-5. 
Consideration of the relative intensities of the two 
sets of lines would in general prohibit this procedure, 
but this objection cannot be made in the case of the 
lines under discussion. It is possible that the mag- 
nesium spark lines, which I have recently described, 
form another series of the same kind, but I know of 
no others. 

The corrected formula given by Dr. Bohr leads to 
the further important result that alternate members 
of the ¢ Puppis series cannot be superposed on the 
Balmer hydrogen lines, as at first appeared, but 
should be slightly displaced with respect to them. Dr. 
Bohr, however, appears to have inadvertently inter- 
changed the last two figures of the constant 22779 in 
working out the wave-lengths, and the lines should be 
expected, within very narrow limits, at 6560-37, 
4859°53, 4338:86, 4100-22... . This should provide 
a valuable test of the theory, as the lines 
near H& and Hy, at least, should not be very 
difficult to detect, if present, in stars of the ¢ Puppis 


n=(4 X 109,720) 


i 


OcTOBER 23, 1913] 


NATURE 


433 


type. The tables published by Lockyer and Pickering 
give no indications of lines in the positions calculated, 
but further examination of the photographs is highly 
desirable. 

It should be noted in conclusion that Dr. Bohr’s 
theory has not yet been shown to be capable of explain- 
ing the ordinary series of helium lines. 

A. Fow er. 

Imperial College, South Kensington, October 14. 


Azolla in Norfolk. 


A very interesting case of the rapid spread of an 
introduced species is afforded by Azolla caroliniana, a 
North American species. So far as the Norfolk 
Broads are concerned, this free-floating water-fern has 
hitherto been confined to a single ditch or “dyke” 
near Horning Ferry, on the river Bure. Here the 
plant flourished greatly, covering the entire surface, 
but owing to the isolation of the “dyke” was pre- 
vented from spreading. According to an inhabitant 
of the neighbouring village of Ranworth, the plant 
has been observed in this one spot for the past fifteen 
years. I have no evidence as to its original intro- 
duction. The disastrous floods of August, 1912, car- 
ried some of the plant into the Bure, and its increase 
during the past twelve months has been extraordinary. 
Distributed by the tide it is now abundant in several 
of the Broads, and is carried by the tide in large 
quantities along the Bure and its tributaries, the 
Thurne and the Ant. It has found the still waters of 
South Walsham and Ranworth Broads particularly 
suited to its needs. It is most partial to the reed 
swamps of Typha angustifolia, so characteristic of the 
borders of our fen-lakes, and with this protection it 
is seen in large crowded expanses. More and more 
of the marsh and fen “dykes” are being invaded. 
It seems probable that the spread of the species to 
the other rivers of the Norfolk system, the Yare and 
the Waveney, will be prevented by the brackish nature 
of the water below Acle Bridge. I understand that 
a hard winter would probably kill the plant off, but its 
abundant sporocarps would carry it over to the suc- 
ceeding spring. 

Undoubtedly ecologists will soon find it necessary 
to include Azolla caroliniana in the local open reed- 
swamp association as a subdominant. It is a highly 
ornamental plant, being pale green in spring, and 
exhibiting a hundred shades of brown and red in 
autumn, 

It would be interesting to know the result of com- 
petition between Azolla and members of the 
Lemnacez, and I am at present carrying out experi- 
ments to test this point. W. E. Patmer. 

Great Yarmouth. 


The Theory of Radiation. 


I owe Prot. Nicholson an apology. 
of course, earlier than Dr. Bohr’s, and is actually 
cited by the latter. The wording of my letter 
(Nature, October 9) implies the reverse. 

S. B. McLaren. 

University College, Reading, October 18. 


His work is, 


RESEARCH IN AERODYNAMICS. 

HE fourth volume of researches from the 
Institut Aerodynamique de Koutchino covers 

the period 1910-1912, and deals mainly with deter- 
minations of the air-resistance of various bodies 
and with comparisons between the results obtained 
at Koutchino with those of observers elsewhere. 
A change in the standard temperature correspond- 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


ing to the published results has been made since 
the publication of the three earlier volumes, the 
later determinations being referred to Tee 
instead of o° C. to bring the results to a form more 
easily comparable with those of other experimental 
establishments. 

An examination into the velocity standard of the 
institution has been carried out, the ultimate 
standard being the movement of the end of a 
whirling arm 16 ft. in radius. Three independent 
methods of estimating and correcting for the 
motion of the air in the room were used prior to 
the calibration of various anemometers on the 
whirling arm. The anemometers were divided into 
two groups, the first containing ‘vane instru- 
ments ” and the second “ pressure tubes.” 

It was found, when the anemometers were trans- 
ferred to the wind-channel of the laboratory, that 
the vane type of anemometer gave somewhat lower 
results than the pressure tubes, and it was con- 
cluded that the latter were more trustworthy, since 
the centrifugal effect of whirling on the vane instru- 
ments might easily account for the differences 
found. 

Using the new calibration of the air-channel 
resulting from these experiments, a series of deter- 
minations of the resistance of square plates normal 
to the air-current was made. The plates were 
12°5, 25, and 50 millimetres side, and the values of 
the absolute coefficient of resistance are given as 
0'58, 0°57, and 0°57 respectively. This is some- 
what higher than the value hitherto accepted for 


plates of this size, and is more nearly equal to 
that previously given for plates of from 300 to 500 
millimetres. 

The same plates were also tested at inclinations 
to the air-current, the curves obtained for the 
normal force showing the well-known maximum 
at an inclination of about 35°. 

Amongst the theoretical investigations is one 
entitled, ‘“‘ Méthode des variables de dimension zéro 
et son application en Aerodynamique.” Reference 
is made to papers by Lord Rayleigh and others, 
but, curiously enough, there does not seem to be 
any indication throughout the paper that the 
author considers the method to have any further 
importance than that of convenience. Approached 
from another point of view, the method of no- 
| dimensional variables arises directly from the 
principles of dynamical similarity, and is only one 
of the many uses of the laws governing similar 
motions. The importance of the physical mean- 
ing behind the mathematics appears to have been 
| overlooked. 

In the articles in this volume which deal with 

comparisons with other observatories it is con- 
_ cluded that the type of channel having enclosing 
walls is preferable to that of Eiffel, and that the 
channel used at Géttingen is more steady than 
that at Koutchino. 

An attempt was made to repeat an experiment 
by Rateau on a discontinuity in the centre of 
pressure variations of an inclined plate. Between 


inclinations of 25° and 50° Rateau found a sudden 
; change, whilst at Koutchino a continuous and well- 


23 NATOCRE 


ae 


[OcTOBER 23, 1913 


defined curve was obtained over the same range, 
the curve linking up the ranges o to 25° and 50° 
to go°. It is definitely stated that, although difh- 
cult to measure, the position of the centre of 
pressure for any inclination was always unique. 


THREE BOOKS OF TRAVEL. 
(1) "T° HE type of travel-narrative to which Sir 

Edward Thorpe’s volume belongs is one 
of the commonest among books, but his manner 
of treating his subject is by no means common. 
The book bears upon it the stamp of a labour 
of love; to any reader who is attached to France, 
attracted by river navigation, or even generally 


Fic. 1.—Ba'albek, temple of Jupiter and Anti-Libanus. 


interested in the 
architecture, it will make exquisitely  plea- 
sant reading; the personal element in the 
narrative, which introduces the companions 
who made the voyage, is never (as it often 
is in such books) given an exaggerated pro- 
minence, and withal there appears here and there 
indications of the scientific authority of the writer 
which suffice to give the book a further peculiar 
value. The journey with which the book deals 


picturesque in scenery or 


1 (x) ‘* The Seine from Havre to Paris.” By Sir Edward Thorpe. Pp. xxi+- 
493. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.. 1913.) Price. 12s. 6d. net. 

(2) ** The Fringe of the East. A Journey through Past and Present Pro- 
vinces of Turkey.” By H.C. Lukach. Pp. xiii+273+plates. (London : 
Maemillan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 12s. net. 

(3) “(A Naturalist in Cannibal Land.” By A. S. Meek. Pp. xviii+238+ 
plates. (London: T. Fisher Unwin, n.d.) Price ros. 6d. net. 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


| inland 


was made in a steam yacht across the Channel, 
up the Seine to Paris, and back. It was made, 
it would appear, leisurely, and gave ample oppor- 
tunity for the travellers to become well acquainted 
with the many beautiful places on the river, and 
for one of them, Miss Olive Branson, to prepare 
the admirable series of sketches with which the 
book is mainly illustrated, though some of the 
pictures are drawn from another source, and there 
is also a series of large-scale maps (1 : 125,000) 
of the rivers; these last will be found of real 
service to those who follow Sir Edward Thorpe on 
this fine river, as will the directions he gives in 
regard to its navigation and the official arrange- 
ments connected therewith. 


From ‘‘ The Fringe of the East.” 


(2) Mr. Lukach, in the sub-title of his book, 
describes his journey as lying ‘“‘through past and 
present provinces of Turkey.” He has visited 
Mount Athos and other Levantine monasteries, 
and the islands of Rhodes and Cyprus, to each 
of which he devotes chapters. With the Holy 
Land, and especially Jerusalem, he deals at greater 
length, and his travels, which are dealt with in 
this volume, extended along the Syrian coast, 
alone the north-and-souvth line from 
Jerusalem and the Dead Sea through Damascus, 
Hama and Aleppo, and as far as the Euphrates 
at Tell Ahmar, a village-name famous in associa- 
tion with Hittite and Assyrian remains. 
Much of the book consists merely of the 


OcroBER 23, 1913] 


NATURE 


235 


Narrative of travel, but this is very well 
told, and many experiences which are likely 
to be of value to other wanderers in the some- 
what intricate paths of the Nearer East are 
given prominence. Mr. Lukach has already 
written on Cyprus, and perhaps his chapter on 
that island in the present volume may be indicated 
as of special value, including as it does a_ brief 
historical review, but throughout the book, a 
medley as it must necessarily be, there is found 
a laudable tendency to avoid assuming for the 
reader a foreknowledge of the complex lines of 
Levantine history. For example, the note and 
“genealogical” table of the Eastern Churches on 
pp- 113, 114, will be welcome to those who have 
striven to comprehend the religious divisions of 


Fic, 2.—Scene, Trobriand Islands. 


Eastern Christendom. The book is illustrated 
with many good photographs, mostly the author’s 
own, and there is a small route-map. 

(3) Mr. A. S. Meek has made extensive 
zoological collections for the Tring Museum, and 
in the present volume he narrates his adventures 
while doing so, and also, at the outset, gives some 
account of his preparation for a collector’s career. 
We follow him, in his narrative, to New Guinea 
and to various island-groups in the region of that 
great island—the Trobriands, the Louisiades, the 
Solomons, &c. In New Guinea itself he has 
travelled widely, and not in British territory only ; 
his two last chapters deal with expeditions into 
the heart of the Dutch area. Mr. Meek asserts 
that he can claim to be neither a man of science nor 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


} 


a descriptive writer ; his colleagues at the museum, 
on the one hand, and his readers, on the other, 


| may be willing to find undue modesty in the state- 


ment. Certainly he has provided the museum 
with much new material; an introduction to his 
book by the Hon. Walter Rothschild makes that 
clear, while so far as the literary claims of the 
work are concerned, the book has had the benefit 


| of editorship at the hands of Mr. Frank Fox, who 
| is well qualified for the task by his authoritative 


knowledge of Australasia. Mr. Meek’s text 
unquestionably increases in interest as it pro- 
gresses, and in addition to his personal adventures 
(from which, quietly narrated as they are, his 
own spirit of intrepidity emerges clearly enough) 
and his successes as a collector, a tribute is cer- 


From ‘‘ A Naturalist in Cannibal Land.” 


| tainly due to his ability in dealing with the natives, 


on whose friendly aid—of the winning of which 
there is but one method and that the right one— 
he has often needed, and been able, to rely. 


NOTES. 

Tue council of the Royal Meteorological Society has 
awarded the Symons gold medal to Mr. W. H. Dines, 
F.R.S., in recognition of the valuable work which he 
has done in connection with meteorological science. 
The medal will be presented at the annual meeting 
of the society on January 21, 1914. 


Tue annual Huxley 
the Royal Anthropological 


of 
de- 


Lecture 
will be 


Memorial 
Institute 


236 


livered on Friday, November 14, by Prof. W. J. 
Sollas, F.R.S., who will take as his subject ‘* Paviland 
Cave.” Prof. A. Keith, F.R.S., president of the 
institute, will occupy the chair. 


THe death is announced, at sixty-two years of age, 
of Mr. H. Herbert Smith, vice-president of the Sur- 
veyors’ Institution, a member of the council of the 
Royal Agricultural Society, and Gilbey lecturer on 
the history and the economics of agriculture, Cam- 
bridge University, 1900-03. 


’Tue Paris Temps has just instituted an inquiry in 
scientific, industrial and medical circles as to directions 
in which developments of research are most desired. 
The object is to suggest the most useful discoveries 
which it is possible to make in the present state of 
scientific knowledge, and to indicate those awaited 
eagerly by workers in such various branches of science 
as electricity, mechanics, chemistry, physics, bacterio- 
logy, astronomy, &c. The result of the 
show the point of view from which, at 
this year, men of science are looking 
future. 


inquiry will 
the close of 
toward the 


Tue council of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union 
has elected Mr. T. Sheppard, of Hull, the president 
for next year. The Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union 
is one of the most successful associations of its kind 
in Great Britain, and has published many important 
monographs on the flora and fauna of the county, and 
also issues The Naturalist, which is one of the oldest 
scientific monthly magazines in the country. The 
union has a membership of nearly four thousand, and 
about forty important natural history societies are 
affiliated with it. 


Tue Harveian oration was delivered before the 
president and fellows of the Royal College of 
Physicians, on October 18, by Dr. J. Mitchell Bruce, 
who took for his subject ‘*The Origin and Nature of 
Fever.”’ The president of the college, Sir Thomas 
Barlow, presented the Baly gold medal to Dr. J. S. 
Haldane, F.R.S. The award of this medal is made 
every alternate year, on the recommendation of the 
president and council, to the person who shall be 
deemed to have most distinguished himself in the 
science of physiology, especially during the two years 
immediately preceding the award. 


THE report of the council of the Cardiff Naturalists’ 
Society adopted at the recent annual meeting shows 
that the membership is now 505, of whom twenty are 
life members. We notice that the council in May, 
1913, adopted a suggestion made by Principal Griffiths 
that steps should be taken towards securing an early 
visit to Cardiff of the British Association. At the 
subsequent meeting of the City Council the sugges- 
tion was approved. An invitation has been forwarded 
to the council of the British Association, but the 
earliest practicable date now vacant is 1919. The 
programme for the present session deals with a diver- 
sity of topics, among which various aspects of animal 
and plant life are prominent. 


Tue council of the Institution of Civil Engineers 
has made the following awards for papers published 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 23, 1913 


in the Proceedings without discussion during the ses- 
sion 1912-13 :—A Telford gold medal to Mr. James 
Mackenzie (Johannesburg); Telford premiums to 
Messrs. H. Hawgood (Los Angeles), J. K. Robertson 
(Bombay), G. S. Perry (Sydney, N.S.W.), and Ger- 
vaise Purcell (Los Angeles); and the Crampton prize 
to Mr. William Mason (Liverpool). The council has 
made the following awards in respect of students’ 
papers read before provincial associations of students 
during the past session:—The James Forrest medal 
and a Miller prize to Mr. P. M. Chadwick (Birming- 
ham); and Miller prizes to Messrs. A. J. S. Pippard 
(Bristol), T. P. Geen (Bristol), C. E. Holloway (Bris- 
tol), J. W. Burns (Glasgow), and B. A. E. Heilig 
(Birmingham). 


Tue Faraday Society has arranged for a general 
discussion on the passivity of metals to be held on 
Wednesday, November 12, in the rooms of the Chem- 
ical Society, Burlington House. The president-elect, 
Sir Robert Hadfield, F.R.S., will preside, and the 
following provisional programme has been arranged : 
Dr. G. Senter will open the discussion with a general 
introduction to the subject, and there will be papers 
by Dr. G. Grube (Dresden) on some anodic and 
kkathodic retardation phenomena and their bearing 
upon the theory of passivity; Dr. D. Reichinstein 
(Ziirich) on interpretation of recent experiments bear- 
ing on the problem of the passivity of metals; Dr. 
H. S. Allen on photo-electric activity of active and 
passive irons. Communications will also be read 
from Profs. G. Schmidt (Miinster), Max LeBlanc 
(Dresden), E. Shoch (Texas), and Gtinther Schulze 
(Reichsanstalt, Charlottenburg). 


A Paris telegram announces the death, in a state 
of destitution, of M. Charles Tellier, the inventor of 
the cold storage system, at eighty-six years of age. 
Appreciative accounts of M. Tellier’s work appear in — 
The Times of October 21, and are here summarised. 
Born at Amiens, he devoted himself to scientific re- 
search, and his experiments found a practical out- 
come in 1876, when the first experimental cargo of 
frozen meat left France for Buenos Aires in Le 
Frigorifique, which had been built under his direction 
with cold storage compartments. His invention met 
at first with little appreciation, but at the present day 
cold storage has not only changed completely the set 
of the world’s food trade, but has deeply affected the 
economic development of many important nations. 
Although Le Frigorifique was M. Tellier’s finest — 
achievement, he did not cease from the early ‘sixties 
on to his death to apply all his forces to the adyance- 
ment of that scientific knowledge on which practical 
refrigeration depends. His two books, written in 
very early days, ‘‘Le Froid appliqué a la Biére,” and 
‘La Conservation de la Viande par le Froid,” Jaid 
the foundation of our knowledge of cold storage, and 
they have been followed by numerous other publica- 
tions and papers, setting forth, as he made them, the 
results of his researches. 


Ir is announced in the October number of The 
Museums Journal that the next meeting of the 
Museums Association will be held at Swansea, the 


1 


OCTOBER 23, 1913] 


NATURE 237 


special object of meeting at that town being to offer 
advice with regard to the work of a newly established 
museum and art institute. In a later paragraph of 
the same issue reference is made to the question of 
the future of the museums established and furnished 
by the late Sir Jonathan Hutchinson at Haslemere, 
Selby, and Charles Street, London. Although the 
founder is believed to have spent something like 
30,0001, on these institutions, no provision for their 
future maintainance is made in his will, the executors 
being empowered to dispose of them in such manner 
as they think best. At a meeting held at Haslemere 
last week it was announced that Mr. Jonathan 
Hutchinson, writing cn behalf of the trustees of 
Sir Jonathan WHutchinson’s estate, had stated that 
if it were found possible to raise the necessary en- 
dowment fund, the trustees were willing to hand 
over by deed the freehold site and the museum with 
all its contents to a suitable trust committee. It was 
also intimated that other members of the Hutchinson 
family were prepared to give substantial monetary 
help to any fund which it might be proposed to raise. 
The value of the site at Haslemere is estimated by 
the trustees at about 4oool. 


THE inaugural lecture for the newly founded lecture- 
ship in palaobotany at University College, University 


of London, was delivered on Friday, October 
17; by Dr.) Marie “Stopes. (Dre seal; F.R.S., 
the director of the Geological Survey, was 
in the chair. In the course of her lecture Dr. 


Stopes communicated the view that palzobotany is an 
independent science, though its main results are of 
particular service to botany, geology, or in practical 
mining. The first part of the lecture was devoted 
to a historical account of the subject, and a number 
of quotations were made from old books not generally 
known to palzobotanists. Historically the science 
has passed through three phases: the first when 
fossil plants were looked on as wanton ornaments, 
even at a time when animal fossils were recognised 
as being of organic origin; the second when plant 
impressions were drawn accurately and described, but 
without true understanding; the third when a scien- 
tific study of plant fossils revealed their importance 
in the conceptions of evolution and morphology of 
living plants, their value as ‘“‘ thermometers of extinct 
continents,” and their importance to the strati- 
graphical geologist and coal miner. Dr. Teall said 
that he had been recently much impressed by the 
results of fossil botany, and expressed a hope that 
more students would give it careful attention. Prof. 
PF. W. Oliver, F.R.S., in thanking Dr. Teall and the 
lecturer, said that he realised that the botanical side 
of paleobotany was not its only one; he agreed with 
the lecturer that palaobotany was an independent 
science, and he hoped before long to see a department 
of paleontology in the University. 


On Wednesday, October 15, a conversazione was 
held at King’s College, by the Royal Microscopical 
Society, when nearly five hundred fellows and their 
friends were received by the president, Prof. G. Sims 
Woodhead. The object was to bring together, so far 
as practicable, a series of exhibits which would demon- 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


strate the many uses to which microscopes may be 
put at the present time, both in science and commerce, 
and to enable those interested or engaged in micro- 
scopic work to demonstrate the methods they em- 
ployed and the results they had obtained. The centre 
tables in the Great Hall of the college were occupied 
by pond-life exhibits, and more than forty micro- 
scopes were arranged under the direction of D. J. 
Scourfield. These were the centre of interest to a 
large number of visitors throughout the evening, 
many of the living objects being beautifully shown. 
Among the exhibits which also engaged the attention 
of visitors, that by F. W. Watson Baker, a demon- 
stration of the actual grinding of a lens for a micro- 
scope objective, holds a high place. The subjects of 
other interesting exhibits were :—A beautiful series of 
slides showing wild flowers under opaque illumina- 
tion, Conrad Beck; preparation of rock sections, C. H. 
Caffyn; an experiment with the Abbe diffraction 
microscope to illustrate the effect of altering the phase 
of one of the spectra forming on image of a grating, 
J. E. Barnard; transparencies in colour, E. Cuzner 
and T. E. Freshwater; colour stereoscopic slides of 
water mites, H. Taverner; an eyepiece micrometer 
with diffraction grating—an ingenious method of 
avoiding the errors common to most micrometers, 
J. W. Gordon; foraminifera, E. Heron-Allen and 
A. Earland; apparatus for stereo-photomicrography 
and also for high-power binocular observation, J. W. 
Ogilvy; fluorescent objects illuminated by ultra-violet 
light, Max Poser; and exhibits to illustrate differ- 
ential colour illumination, J. Rheinberg. Two lec- 
tures were delivered during the evening, one by Dr. 
E. J. Spitta on diatom structure and a demonstration 
of the microscopic structure of rocks, by C. H. Caffyn. 


Some “Notes on the Struggle for Existence in 
Tropical Africa” are contributed to the current num- 
ber of Bedrock by Mr. G. D. H. Carpenter, who 
spent nearly three years on the equatorial islands of 
Lake Victoria in studying the tsetse-fly on behalf of 
the Royal Society’s Sleeping Sickness Commission. 
He emphasises the importance of studying mimiery 
under natural conditions rather than in the cabinet, 
and advances it as a strong argument in favour of 
the truth of the mimetic theory that the resemblance 
of one insect to another is explicable in exactly the 
same way as the resemblance of an insect to a dead 
leaf. On the theory of natural selection through 
minute variations, mimetic resemblances are simply a 
special case of coloration analogous to other special 
cases. 


Tue October number of The Fortnightly Review 
contains an article by Henri Fabre, the veteran 
naturalist of Sérignan, on his relations with Charles 
Darwin. The article illustrates in an interesting way 
some of the leading characteristics of these two re- 
markable men—the combined fertility and caution in 
speculation shown by Darwin, with his determination 
to bring every hypothesis to the test of experiment; 
and the unrivalled powers of observation possessed 
by Fabre, his enthusiasm in the pursuit of his 
favourite study, and the charm of his literary style. 
Darwin, being interested in the homing instincts of 


238 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 23, 1913 


the mason-bees, suggested to Fabre the making of 
experiments to determine, if possible, whether this 
instinct was at all dependent on a perception by the 
insects of the direction in which they were first carried 
away from their nests. A whole series of trials was 
carried out by Fabre, the essential feature in which 
was the enclosure of marked bees in a dark box, the 
carrying of the box with its inmates in a direction 
opposite to that from which the release was to take 
place, and the repeated rotation of the box at different 
points of the route, in order to ensure that the captive 
bees should lose their bearings during the journey. 
The experiment was repeated, with variations, many 
times over, the almost uniform result being that from 
30 to 4o per cent. of the liberated bees found their 
way home without difficulty. This was contrary to 
the expectation of both inquirers, and Darwin next 
proposed to try the effect of placing thé insects within 
an induction coil, ‘‘a curious notion,’ as Fabre 
observes. The experiment was performed, with amus- 
ing results. But in the end the experimenter was 
fain to confess that the homing instinct of his bees 
remained a mystery. 


The Gypsy Lore Journal (vol. vi., Part 4) is largely 
devoted to an account by Mr. E. O. Winstedt of ** The 
Gypsy Coppersmiths’ Invasion of 1911-13." Owing 
to the reticence displayed by these people, the origin 
of the party which visited England is uncertain. 
Some claimed to be Caucasians, others Russians, and 
many seem to have forgotten the place whence they 
started. Galicia seems to be the probable home of 
many of the immigrants. They appear to be 
genuine gypsies, their skin colour being practically 
identical with that of the Russian peasantry. In 
their metal work there are remarkable coincidences 
with Indian art products. This monograph contains 
a very complete account of their religious beliefs, 
organisation, dress, manners, and customs. The 
excellent work being carried out, with very limited 
resources, by the Gypsy Lore Society, which has its 
headquarters at 21A Alfred Street, Liverpool, should 
invite support from all who are interested in this 
remarkable race and from students of anthropology. 


RecentLy the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia 
formed a committee to investigate the “Red Crag 
shell portrait’? at present in the possession of Dr. 
Marie C. Stopes. The report of the committee has 
now appeared in the excellent Proceedings of that 
society (Part 3, vol. i.). The shell represents a typical 
Red Crag species, and bears the crude carving of a 
human face. The committee reported that ‘the 
weight of evidence was in favour of the Pliocene age 
of the human work on the shell... it was impos- 
sible to speak with absolute certainty on the point.” 
One has only to glance at the other articles included 
in this volume to see how much and varied is the 
prehistoric research which is being carried out at 
present in East Anglia. Dr. Allen Sturge has 
applied Drayson’s theory to explain the occurrence of 
periods of glaciation; a description is given by Mr. 
J. Reid Moir of worked flints from the mid-glacial 
gravel and chatky boulder clay of Suffolk; an account 
is written by Col. Underwood of Pleistocene bones 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92| 


and flint implements from a gravel pit at Dovercourt, 
Essex. The description of a Palzolithic site on 
Wretham Heath, near Thetford) by Dr. J. E. Marr, 
of Cambridge, is particularly interesting. Mr. W. G. 
Clarke contributes a paper on Norfolk implements of 
Palzolithic ‘cave’? type. The Proceedings of the 
East Anglia Prehistoric Society contain matter which 
archeologists and anthropologists cannot afford to 
overlook, 


A PARAGRAPH in NaTuRE of October g (p. 175) upon 
a pamphlet recently issued by the National Equine 
Defence League, referred to a Bill to prohibit the 
docking of horses, printed at the end of the pamphlet, 
as having become law. The honorary secretary of the 
league writes to say that the Bill was abandoned last 
session in order to be amended, and will again be 
introduced next session. A clear statement to this 
effect might with advantage have been printed upon 
the same page of the pamphlet to prevent a mistaken 
conclusion such as was arrived at by our contributor. 
The honorary secretary will be pleased to forward any 
information upon the subject to anyone applying to 
him at Beaconsfield Road, New Southgate, London, N. 


In No. 2014 of the Proceedings of the U.S. National 
Museum (vol. xlvi., pp. 93-102) Mr. C. W. Gidley 
gives a preliminary account of mammalian remains 
from a Pleistocene cave-deposit near Cumberland, 
Maryland. Lower jaws of a bear and a dog are de- 
scribed as new species—Ursus vitabilis and Canis 
ambrusteri. As the former differs from the American 
black bear (U. americanus) merely by the larger lower 
canines, it might well have been regarded as a race 
of that species. The latter is of the size of a wolf, 
but has the lower carnassial tooth approximating to 
that of a coyote or a jackal. In the legend to the 
figures on p. roo and the first paragraph on the 
opposite page, no fewer than eight misprints are 
noticeable, one of which, namely Hyscins, for 
Lyciscus, is distinctly puzzling. 

Tue size of litters and the number of nipples in 
swine forms the subject of an interesting paper by 
Messrs, G. H. Parker and C. Bullard in the Pro- 
ceedings of the American Academy of Arts and 
Sciences, vol. xlix., No. 7. The authors have pre- 
pared a record of tooo litters of unborn pigs of various 
breeds, and by means of tables arranged in order 
of the number of pigs in the litter are shown the 
relative position of the pig in the uterus, its sex, and 
the number and arrangement of its nipples. Of the 
total number of pigs examined 3024 were males and 
2946 females, and in the whole population it-was 
found that the nipples ranged from 8-18, with a mean 
of 12-2 and a mode of 12. In the majority (3559) the 
arrangement of the nipples was regular in character. 
No obvious relation would appear to exist between the 
size of the litter and the number of nipples in the 
females; though there may be as few nipples as eight 
and as large litters as fifteen, disadvantageous com- 
binations of large litters borne by females with few 
nipples cannot be of frequent occurrence. Commonly 
there are about twice as many nipples, twelve, as 
young, six. 


: 
- 


OCTOBER 23, 1913] 


In the course of an article, ‘** The Transmutation 
of the Elements,” in the October number of Bedrock, 
Dr, Norman Campbell deals with the apparent syn- 
thesis of neon out of helium and oxygen by Messrs. 
Collie and Patterson, which was described last 
February, as well as with Sir J. J. Thomson’s ob- 
servation that helium, hydrogen, and neon can be 
obtained from many solids by kathode-ray bombard- 
ment. Dr. Campbell takes the view that to apply the 
word ‘transmutation ”’ to these processes is rather an 
unfortunate step, although it might be described as 
mere quibbling to say that the kathode rays do not 
produce transmutation when the results of transmuta- 
tion can only be made evident by means of kathode 
rays. If gold could be ‘“‘liberated’’ from lead by 
such bombardment, the amount so liberated would 
only be the amount accumulated by long ages of 
spontaneous disintegration, and would utterly fail to 
materialise the traditional idea of ‘* transmutation.” 


Vots. ix. and x. of the Collected Researches of the 
National Physical Laboratory maintain the high 
standard of excellence we have come to look on as 
natural in the work which issues from that institu- 
tion. The present volumes cover the twenty-three 
papers published in the scientific or technical Press or 
in the proceedings of learned societies during the 
year 1912. One of the most important of the papers 
dealing with engineering problems is that on the 
properties of welded joints in iron and steel. It is 
found that acetylene welded joints are not so good 
as hand or electrical welded, and that while hand 
welded are somewhat better than electrical for alter- 
nations of stress, they are not so uniform in the 
results they give. Another important contribution 
to engineering knowledge is made in the report on 
the properties of alloys of aluminium and zinc. An 
extended series of tests leads to the general conclu- 
sion that the alloy containing 20 per cent. of zinc 
is the most promising. In electrical engineering the 
valuable papers on the properties of insulating mate- 
rials and the circumstances which affect them supply 
much trustworthy information in a field in which un- 
certainty has reigned for too long a period. Other 
important facts are brought out in papers on the 
visibility of faint lights like those of vessels at sea, 
on photographic lenses and shutters, on the elec- 
tricity emitted by carbon at high temperatures, and, 
lastly, that on a determination of the ohm by alter- 
nating-current methods, which has led to a result 
slightly less than the value at present accepted. 


Messrs. C. A. Parsons anpD C€o., Lrp., have 
despatched from their Heaton Works at Newcastle- 
on-Tyne the largest turbo-generator yet completed. 
An illustrated account of this machine appears in 
Engineering for October 17. The machine has been 
built to the order of the Commonwealth Edison Com- 
pany of Chicago, a Corporation owning probably the 
greatest collective power-station in the world, and 
has been designed for a continuous load, at 750 revolu- 
tions per minute, of 25,000 kw., at a power factor of 
0-95, the periodicity being 25 complete cycles per 
second. The steam consumption § guaranteed 

NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


is 


] 


NATURE 239 


notable, and marks an epoch in steam plant. With 
steam at 200 Ib. per sq. in., superheated to an extent 
of 200° F., and an absolute pressure in the condenser 
equivalent to 1 in., the guaranteed steam consumption 
at 20,000 kw. is 11-25 Ib. per kw. output from the 
alternator; at 25 per cent. over or under the normal 
load, 11-65 Ib. per kw. output; and at half-load, 
12-5 Ib. per kw. output. The steam consumption 
guaranteed for this turbine set—the largest ever fitted 
to a single shaft—is equal to 8-1 Ib. per shaft-horse- 
power per hour, a result not hitherto attained in 
marine practice. Were oil fuel used in the boiler 
furnaces of a marine plant having this steam con- 
sumption, the fuel used would amount to 0-6 Ib, per 
shaft-horse-power per hour, a result nearly compar- 
able, from the point of view of radius of action in 
warships, with that attained by internal-combustion 
engines. 


THE ninth half-yearly volume of the Journal 
of the Institute of Metals contains the presi- 
dential address of Prof. Huntington and some half- 
dozen papers of considerable scientific and  tech- 
nical interest, read at the spring meeting of 
the institute. These include a paper by Mr. Alex- 
ander Siemens on metal filament lamps, papers on 
corrosion by Mr. Arnold Philip and by Dr. G. H. 
Bailey, a paper on the microstructure of German 
silver, by Mr. O. F. Hudson, and papers on the heat 
treatment of alloys by Mr. G. H. Gulliver and by 
Messrs. H. S. and J. S. G. Primrose. The excellent 
photomicrographs which illustrate the presidential 
address and three of the papers are a noteworthy 
feature of the present volume. 


Messrs. NEWTON AND Co., Wigmore Street, 
London, W., have issued new catalogues giving full 
particulars of the optical lanterns, kinematographs, 
and projection apparatus which they able to supply. 
The sectional catalogues now published separately by 
this firm will prove a great convenience, as it will be 
possible easily to keep each up to date. Among these 
catalogues those describing the new science lanterns 
and the are lamps deserve special mention. These 
instruments are the result of many experiments, and 
deserve the careful attention of lecturers and science 
teachers. 


72 


Tue October issue of Mr. C. Baker’s list of 
second-hand scientific instruments contains particulars 
of more than two thousand pieces of scientific appa- 
ratus. Each instrument is guaranteed to be in work- 
ing order, and the majority are in new condition. 
Especial attention may be directed to section 1 of the 
catalogue devoted to microscopes and accessories, of 
which a fine collection is available for selection. 


At the head of the review of ‘‘ The British Parasitic 
Copepoda ” in Nature of October 16 (p. 193) the price 
of the work was erroneously given as 15s. The 
secretary of the Ray Society writes to point out that 
this is the price of vol. i. only; and that the price of 
vol. ii. is 25s. The price of the complete work is, 
therefore, gos. net. 


240 


NATURE: 


[OcToBER 23, 1913 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Comet News.—Astronomische Nachrichten (No. 4686) 
gives improved elements for comet 1913b (Metcalf), 
and also an ephemeris, including the current week, 
from which the following positions are taken :— 


12h. M.T. Berlin. 


R.A. (true) Dec. (true) Mag. 
bs mic, “s: a i 
Oct. 23 ZOST 54). 15. 78 | 
24 BO) GEV os. 3 18:9 
25 49 57 Ir 36:2 gil 
26 pede Ooi 
27 48 26 8 28-6 
28 47 50 rn) ; 
29 ai 2) Ses O77 
30 20 46 53 +4 258 


The comet is rapidly reducing its northern declination, 
and as its magnitude is also decreasing it will become | 
an object only for larger apertures. 

Westphal’s comet is becoming an interesting object, 
and will for some time be in a good observing position. 
It is moving into the constellation of Vulpecula, and 
during the first week of November will pass into 
Cygnus and become involved in the Milky Way. A 
photograph taken on September 28 showed a broad 
tail 3-5° long, a round nucleus of 20 min. in diameter, 
and a distinct nucleus. It has been glimpsed with the 
naked eye, and is an easy object for binoculars. The 
following is an approximate ephemeris :— 


Bae Dec. 

» m ° ‘ 

Oct. 24 20 48 +19 46 
28 43 22 29 

Nov. 1 39 24 50 
5 20 36 +27 16 


It is worthy of note to mention that both Westphal’s 
and Metcalf’s comets are in about the same region of 
the sky, being less than two degrees apart on October 

The following are three positions for comet 1913¢ 
(Neujmin), now a faint object, published in Astro- 
nomische Nachrichten (No. 4685) :— 


R.A. (true) Dec. (true) 
h m. s. a F 
Oct. 22 2394) <0 - +13 55°7 
26. 35 29 14 33°3 
30, + 37 29 15 74 


The same journal (No. 4686) publishes the informa- 
tion received by Banachiewicz to the effect that the 
brightness of Neujmin’s comet appears to be fluctuat- 
ing. Its magnitude is fainter than 11. 


Orsits oF E1cuty-sEVEN Ec.ipsinc Binaries.—Dr. 
Harlow Shapley contributes to The Astrophysical 
Journal for September (vol. xxxviii., No. 2)a summary 
of an important though laborious piece of work on 
the orbits of eighty-seven eclipsing binaries. In the 
present publication he restricts himself to a few of 
the general results, leaving the complete statistical 
discussion for a future Princetown University Observa- 
tory publication. Some of the conclusions here briefly 
summarised show that the better the observations of 
an eclipsing binary are, the more satisfactory is the 
theoretical representation of the light variations. Fur- 
ther irregularities in the shape of the light-curves dis- 
appear with increased photometric accuracy. The 
existence of darkening towards the limb of the stellar 
disc is clearly indicated, and actually demonstrated in 
a few cases. There is a positive indication that the 
fainter star is self-luminous, and no case arises where 
it is necessary .to assume one component completely 
dark. In discussing the distribution of densities rela- 
tive to spectra the first-type stars (spectra B and A) | 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92| 


show a marked preference for an intermediate density. 
The second-type stars fall into two groups, one pre- 
ceding and the other following” in order of density 
the first-type stars. Dr. Shapley points out that these 
two groups are obviously identical with the two 
classes of second-type stars of very greatly different 
luminosity discussed by Hertzsprung and Russell, and 
the facts collected afford direct support of Russell’s 
theory that the differences in brightness of the two 


| groups are to be ascribed in the main to great differ- 


ences in the mean density. 


VARIATIONS IN THE EartH’s MaGnetic Firrp.—In a 
short article in Science (August 29, 1913) Prof. Francis 
E. Nipher states that a series of open-air observations 
has fully verified the conclusions he has published — 
regarding local magnetic storms. It appears that 
clouds prevent the solar ionisation of the air in their 
shadows, just as does the earth. When the molecules 
of air are ionised they become little magnets, and 
arranging themselves along the lines of force add 
their effect to that of the earth’s magnetic field. In 
the absence of the solar radiation, wind or falling 
rain destroys this arrangement. It is hence suggested 
that local, daily, and annual variations are due to 
local variation in the weather. In a previous article 
in Science (May 30) Prof. Nipher describes a model 
with which a somewhat similar magnetic storm can 
be produced experimentally. In the model iron filings 
take the place of the ionised molecules of air. 


Tue Licht Curve or o Ceri.—In the Memorie 
della Societa degli Spettroscopisti Italiani, September, 
1913, Sig. G. B. Lacchini publishes the results of his 
observations of this variable made during the period 
July 12, 1912-March 11, 1913. He used a telescope of 
6 cm. aperture, 80 cm. focal length, with powers 
of 20 and 4o, the comparison stars employed 
being those of the variable star section of the B.A.A. 
The epoch of minimum found was December 10, 1912, 
a result differing by only one day from that found 
by Dr. E. Guerrieri (December 9, 1912). The star 
lost one magnitude per twenty-seven days, and gained 
one magnitude per eleven days, according to Sig. 
Lacchini, which figures compare with 296 days and 
nine days respectively as determined by Dr. Guerrieri. 
The actual faintest magnitude recorded was 9:09 on 
December 3, 1912. = 


THE FRAUENFELD MEETING OF THE 
SWISS SOCIETY FOR THE ADVANCEMENT 
OF SCIENCE. 


ae. ninety-sixth annual meeting of the Société 
Helvétique des Sciences Naturelles was held, as 
already announced, at Frauenfeld in September. The 
set discourses were largely attended, and were listened 
to with considerable interest. Prof. Grubemann, in 
his lecture on the most recent methods employed in 
petrography, referred especially to the evolution of 
rocks, and the bearing of metallography and_ the 
chemistry of colloids on his subject. Prof. Maillefer 
gave an account of his researches on the geotropism 
of plants, partly from an experimental and partly 
from a mathematical point of view. He claimed to 
have proved that gravity has an effect on the curva- 
ture of a plant which requires time to take effect, 
and may be expressed by saying that the curvature 
possesses a velocity proportional to the sine of the 
angle made by the plant with the vertical and an 
acceleration proportional to the time of exposure. 
The effect is, he said, felt by the plant from the 
outset, though the time measurements seem to depend 
on the instruments used in the observations. His 
results were in a subsequent communication partly 


OcTOBER 23, 1913] 


NATURE 


241 


corroborated by Dr. Tréndle, who, however, does not 
admit the presence of an acceleration. 


We pass over the remaining lectures, interesting 


as they were, remarking only on those of Profs. 
Keller and Dutoit. Prof. Keller dwelt on the points 
of resemblance between life in the Caucasus and that 
of the lake-dwellers in Switzerland in prehistoric 
times. Prof. Dutoit gave a brilliant exposition of the 
assimilation which is going on of the methods of 
analytical chemistry to those of physical chemistry 
and biology. The new processes employed—which 
are, in point of fact, due in great measure to Prof. 
Dutoit himself, and have already rendered consider- 
able services both to manufactures and science—are 
indirect, and have the advantage of great precision 
and extreme rapidity. 

Turning to the separate sections, we commence 
with botany. Prof. Chodat, whose unique collection 
of cultures of alga now numbers more than half a 
hundred, spoke of the bearing of his experiments on 
the systematic classification of these plants. Dr. 
Baumann, who has been studying the vegetation of 
the Lake of Constance, described how the small 
shells of gasteropods in these regions become coated 
with tufa, deposited by the algz. In this interesting 
way immense sandbanks of coarse sand, called after 
the little snails whose débris form it, ‘* Schnecker- 
lisand,”’ are deposited in the lake. Prof. Ernst dis- 
cussed parthenogenesis and apogamy among the 
Angiosperma, and showed that, contrary to Treub 
and Lotsy, the embryo of the Balanophoracez is 
formed normally. The asexual reproduction of garlic 
from the point of view of heredity and natural selec- 
tion was treated by Dr. Vogler. Prof. Edouard 
Fischer, who has been engaged in experiments on 
corn-rust, showed the connection between the ap- 
pearance of this plague and the position of the leaf 
attacked with respect to the horizontal. Mr. Jaccard 
discussed the influence of a mechanical force on the 
production and constitution of wood and woody 
plants. 

The section of geology occupied itself with the 
fossils, the stratification, and the relief of Switzer- 
land. Prof. Albrecht Heine communicated his latest 
observations of glacial deposits as corroborating his 
somewhat controverted explanation of the formation 
of alpine lakes by a subsidence of the earth’s crust in 
these regions during the diluvial epoch. Dr. F. 
Miihlberg showed by an interesting collection of 
lantern-slides the fallacious nature of the interpreta- 
tion of the formation of part of the Jura given by 
the Bonn school. Prof. H. Schardt spoke on a sub- 
ject which belongs properly to the borderland of 
geology, the typical phenomena of injection. He 
pointed out how, during the gradual cooling of a 
mass of magma, sudden pressures of a tectonic nature 
must sometimes occur, squeezing the molten material 
into the interstices of the neighbouring rocks and 
causing the phenomena in question. 

In the chemical section the school of Geneva was 
strongly represented. Dr. Reverdin’s determination 
of the constitution of certain anisidines, in particular 
of the two still doubtful trinitro-p-anisidines, is of a 
more advancedly technical character than Prof. A. 
Pictet’s interesting discovery by the process of dis- 
tillation in vacuo of a new kind of tar smelling of 
petroleum, and Messrs. Briner and Kiihne’s re- 
investigation of the still obscure mechanism of the 
chamber process for the production of sulphuric acid. 
The opinion arrived at by these latter investigators 
is that SO,H, is obtained by direct oxydisation of 
SO, into SO,, the nitrous anhydride serving only as 
a catalytic. Of quite a different nature were Dr. 
Piccard of Munich’s account of his experiments on 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


certain dyes, and Dr. W. Baragiola’s report on the 
physical, chemical, and physico-chemical experiments 
which have been made on wine and grape-juice. 

In the physical section there were several com- 
munications deserving of mention; we content our- 
selves with signalising that of Prof. Perrier and 
H. Kamerlingh Onnes on the magnetisation of mix- 
tures of liquid oxygen and nitrogen. These mixtures 
are found simpler to deal with than pure oxygen, 
the specific magnetisation coefficient of which had 
been already shown to differ materially from what 
would be expected by the law of Curie-Langevin. 
Experiments made at a temperature between —195° 
and —210° show that the deviation from the law in 
question depends on the mutual approach of the mole- 
cules caused by the fall of temperature. 

In the mathematical section Prof. Fueter gave some 
instructive examples of algebraic equations possessing ~ 
a prescribed group; Prof. Crelier read a paper, con- 
ceived in the order of ideas of Sturm, on correspond- 
ences in synthetic geometry, with special reference to 
the curve of the third order and third class; while Dr. 
Speiser and Prof. Bieberbach dealt with factorisation 
of algebraic forms and conformal representation 
respectively. Dr. Mirimanoff communicated a new 
and elegant proof of the theorem of Cantor-Bendixon, 
which, as he pointed out, falls into the same category 
as the first proof of that theorem without Cantor’s 
transfinite numbers, that given by W. H. Young in 
“Sets of Intervals on the Straight Line’ (Proc. 
L.M.S., I, XXxXv., pp. 245-268). Prof. W. H. Young 
gave a paper on “The Integral of Stieltjes and its 
Generalisation,”” showing how the theory of the in- 
tegration of any function with respect to a function 
of bounded variation could be built up by the method 
of monotone sequences alone, and giving examples of 
new theorems, into the enunciation of which the 
new concept does not enter, and which he had ob- 
tained by means of its use. 

Communications were also made to the sections 
for zoology, and for geophysics, cosmical physics, and 
meteorology, among them one by Dr. P. Mercanton, 
who added some details to Dr. de Quervain’s account 
of the Swiss expedition across Greenland last year 
and the meteorology of that country. The rate of 
motion of the Greenland glaciers, which are mostly 
riddled with crevasses, was found, he said, to vary 
from one to two metres a day. At the base the grains 
of dust were not very large, the mean size not ex- 
ceeding that of those in the alpine glaciers. Ob- 
servations on some of the ancient glacial terraces 
showed that part of the dust was of cosmic origin. 


PLANKTON DISTRIBUTION.! 


N the University of California Publications in 
Zoology (vol. ix., No. 6), Mr. C. O. Esterly 
discusses the vertical distribution of certain Copepoda 
as shown by a large number of hauls made in the 
region of San Diego, between the years 1905 and 1o11- 
Dividing the twenty-four hours into a “day” period 
from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and a “night” period of the 
remainder, the author finds in the results obtained a 
distinct night migration towards the surface, with a 
corresponding downward movement during the day. 
For nine out of ten species specially considered the 
time of this maximum occurrence at the surface is 
found to vary between 6-8 p.m. and 10-12 p.m., 
Calanus finmarchicus attaining its maximum in the 
latter period. The depth shown for the day plurimum 
is more obscure, ranging between 50 and 200 fathoms. 
1 *€ The Occurrence and Vertical Distributi»n of the Copepoda of the San 


Diego Region, with particular Reference to Nineteen Species.” By Calvin 
O. Esterly. (Berkeley: University of California Press.) 


242 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 23, 1913 


The paper contains a large collection of data 
especially important as all relating to the same area 
and extending over a long period, but a marked want 
of care is shown both in the handling of the records 
and in the conclusions drawn from them. Numerous 
errors left uncorrected in the tables are very confusing 
though not, it would seem, seriously affecting the 
main results. Greater importance attaches to conclu- 
sions formed often quite out of proportion to the 
evidence available. As regards the question of noc- 
turnal migration to the surface, while the records 
show the strongest evidence of a surface maximum 
during the night hours, they are far too incomplete 
to be relied on as indicating any definite period of 
optimum conditions. The maximum obtained for 
Calanus finmarchicus, for example, between 10 and 
I2 p.m., rests on the slender evidence of a single 
haul of 2-8 hours in duration, in which between three 
and four thousand specimens occurred. If this were 
indeed an optimum period, a higher average than 
fifty-eight specimens per hour might be expected be- 
tween midnight and 2 a.m. The occurrence of a 
species in exceptionally large numbers suggests the 
presence of exceptional conditions, it may be, a com- 
bination of several factors at the time, to account for 
it. In estimating averages such a haul may, if un- 
supported by other evidence, give results that are quite 
misleading, and where it is used, as in the present 
case, for time-frequency alone, it is unsafe to place 
narrow limits to the period in which it happens to 
fall. In the two-hour period preceding this, viz. 
8-Io p.m., an average of 973 specimens per hour is 
obtained from eight hauls made during that time. 
Had no other data been available than the four hauls 
covering this period in Table 2, the average given 
would be no more than nineteen specimens per hour 
in place of the 973. The example,serves to emphasise 
the need of repeated observations before any safe 
estimate of such averages can be formed, or any 
deductions made from the latter. 

The same remarks are applicable to the averages 
for Eucalanus and Metridia especially. For the 
former three maxima are shown, for the afternoon, 
evening, and morning severally, and the suggestion 
is even put forward that these are probably of normal 
occurrence, and should be considered so. The maxi- 
mum for Metridia, placed at 1o-12 p.m., rests, like 
that of Calanus, on the unsafe basis of a single haul 
of 31,900 specimens, the same haul as that from 
which the maximum for Calanus was obtained. The 
second highest aggregate for this species, namely 3401 
specimens, was obtained from three hauls made be- 
tween midnight and 2 a.m., and is apparently likewise 
dependant almost entirely on one haul of 3200 
specimens, leaving an average of roo specimens for 
the other two. In the case of Labidocera trispinosa 
the disproportion is greater still. Here the maximum, 
falling between 6 and 8 p.m., shows an aggregate of 
2630 specimens obtained during this period in five 
successful hauls out of thirty, one haul containing 
2425. The second highest aggregate, falling between 
4 and 6 a.m., with a total of 527 specimens obtained 
in seven hauls, includes one haul with 500 specimens. 

It cannot be lost sight of that all of these higher 
figures occur between the late evening and early 
morning hours, and, as a matter of general 
observation, the night preponderance of Copepod 
plankton near the surface will not perhaps be 
questioned by many. But data such as these are 
manifestly too incomplete alone to bear any inter- 
pretation more restricted than this, and though re- 
garded by the author as implying different optimum 
periods characterising the different species, seem rather 
to express collectively particular instances of more or 
less abundant occurrence, in which any one or other 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


of the species considered might equally well have 
been encountered on another occasion. It is indeed 
difficult to understand how, reasoning on such frail 
evidence, the discussion is carried even to the point 
of recognising in these different maxima obtained 
hidden characters distinguishing the species which 
are supplementary to those of structural features, such 
as to indicate, it may be, with more extended know- 
ledge the apparent rather than real nature of the 
latter. 

In estimating the hourly averages for the surface 
hauls the time occupied is made to include, rightly 
it would seem, that of hauls from which a species was 
absent. Thus is obtained the average number of 
animals occurring per hour of hauling. In calculat- 
ing the depths for the day plurima, as shown by the 
self-closing nets, the averages based on the number 
of animals per fathom passed through are not treated 
in the same manner, but merely express the depth 
of the layer of water as a fixed quantity regardless 
of the number of hauls made through it. Thus, for 
C. finmarchicus, the region of the day maximum 
shown between 50 and 77 fathoms is estimated by all 
the animals in all the hauls (seventeen) made through 
that section of water being treated as though occur- 
ring in one haul through 25 fathoms. The average 
found at this depth, namely, 15°7 per fathom, therefore 
denotes no more than the distribution over the layer 
concerned of an aggregate of animals captured be- 
tween 50 and 75 fathoms, and cannot be considered as 
on the same plane with that found between 75 and 
100 fathoms, where six hauls made through a similar 
depth of water show an average of 57 animals per 
fathom. If the repetition of hauls through a given 
column of water be not given a true value, the 
averages are incomparable with one another, and im- 
portant evidence afforded will be lost in the results 
obtained. 

Considerable distortion of the latter averages is 
liable to have arisen through no allowance having 
been made for differences in the size of the nets 
used, amounting to as much as one-half the mouth 
opening. The impression that such allowances are 
of no practical value, if intended to be understood 
literally, might have been removed had the author 
tested the different-sized nets against one another. 

LL. Rags 


THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT 
BIRMINGHAM. 


SECTION K. 
BOTANY. 


OpeninG Appress By Miss ETHEL SARGANT, PRESIDENT 
OF THE SECTION. 


WE were welcomed to Birmingham last night, and 
now—made free of the city—we assemble this morn- 
ing to justify our position as its guests. But before 
entering on the work of the section, your president is 
authorised, and even required by custom, to glance 
at the events of the past year in the botanical world. 

My predecessor in this chair had a great loss to 
record in the death of Sir Joseph Hooker, the doyen 
of British botanists, and a familiar figure at so many 
meetings of this Association, where we were proud to 
feel that he belonged to our section. This year we 
have no peculiar grief, but we join with the whole 
Association in lamenting the death of Lord Avebury. 
We have some right to offer a special tribute to his 
memory, since several of his published works were 
on botanical subjects. His book on the “‘ Fertilisation - 
of Flowers’’ in the ‘‘ Nature Series’’ opened a new 
world to many non-botanical readers, and there are 


OcTOBER 23, 1913] 


probably others here besides myself who have reason 
to be grateful to him for that charming introduction 
to field botany, and for the companion volume on 
“Flowers, Fruits, and Leaves.” The great mass of 
first-hand information on the external characters of 
seedlings, contained in two massive volumes under the 
modest title of ‘‘A Contribution to our Knowledge of 
Seedlings,” was collected under his direction and put 
together by himself. It is not only a book of refer- 
ence to students of vegetable embryology, but no doubt 
played its part in reviving interest in that important 
subject. The work which he published was, however, 
the least part of Lord Avebury’s contribution to 
natural history. He represented a small but most 
distinguished class of naturalists, amateurs in the best 
sense of the word, since they work for pure love 
of the subject. Whether they happen to be men of 
affairs in great positions, like Lord Avebury, or 
artisans devoting their Saturday afternoons to original 
research in natural history, they are the salt of the 
subject, preserving it from the worst effects of a purely 
professional and academic standard. 

There is one more event of the past year to be 
mentioned before entering on the professional portion 
of this address. Section K has made a great innova- 
tion in choosing a woman for its president this year, 
and I will not refrain from thanking you in the name 
of my sex because I happen to be the woman chosen. 
And though I must and do feel very keenly the honour 
you have done me as a botanist in electing me to this 
position, yet that feeling is less prominent than grati- 
tude for the generosity shown to all women in that 
choice. Speaking in their name, I may venture to say 
that the highest form of generosity is that which 
dares to do an act of justice in the face of custom 
and prejudice. 

The main subject of my address this morning is the 
development of botanical embryology since 1870. 

Botanists, as well as zoologists, have used the term 
embryology in two senses. Balfour’s remarks apply 
to both sciences :— 

“Strictly interpreted according to the meaning of 
the word, it ought to deal with the growth and 
structure of organisms during their development 
within the egg-membranes, before they are capable 
of leading an independent existence. Modern in- 
vestigators have, however, shown that such a limita- 
tion of science would have a purely artificial char- 
acter, and the term embryology is now employed to 
cover the anatomy and physiology of the organism 
during the whole period included between its first 
coming into being and its attainment of the adult 
state.”” 

The older botanists used the term in the narrower 
sense. They included the study of the embryo-sac 
and the structures contained in it before the forma- 
tion of the unfertilised egg-cell, as well as the fer- 
tilisation of the latter and its subsequent divisions. 
But they did not proceed beyond the resting-stage of 
the embryo within the ripe seed. Here, as in 
zoology, this division is arbitrary and inconvenient. 
Accordingly, in the following remarks on the em- 
bryology of Angiosperms, I include every stage in 
the development of the plant, from the first division 
of the fertilised egg-cell to maturity. 

Systematists, from Czesalpino onwards, have paid 
much attention to the structure of the seed, and their 
observations are the earliest we possess on botanical 
embryology. They were, indeed, forced to study the 
embryo because its characters are often of systematic 
importance. The number of cotyledons, for instance, 
is the most constant character which separates the 
two great classes of Angiosperms. Again, the endo- 
sperm is not part of the embryo, but its presence or 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


| 


NATURE 


243 


absence in the ripe seed—so important systematically 
—determines the functions of the cotyledons after 
germination, and thus influences their structure pro- 
foundly. In this way botanists became familiar with 
the structure of the embryo in the ripe seed before 
they had traced its origin from the fertilised egg-cell 
or followed its development after germination, 

The early history of the embryo was a sealed book 
to observers without the help of the compound micro- 
scope. Accordingly we find that work on the external 
morphology of seedlings preceded that on the forma- 
tion of an embryo. For the description of seedlings 
we must go back to the middle of last century. The 
greatest name in this school is that of Thilo Irmisch 
(1815-79). His work, like that of earlier observers 
in the same field, was neglected by the succeeding 
generation owing to the rapid development of micro- 
scopic botany. For a time the study of anatomy 
eclipsed that of external morphology. 

The earliest observers to study the embryo-sac of 
Angiosperms with the help of the compound micro- 
scope were naturally attracted by the history of the 
ovum and the process of fertilisation. Little pro- 
gress was made in this direction, however, owing to 
the imperfect technique of the day. The divisions 
of the fertilised egg-cell are more easily followed, as 
Hanstein showed in 1870. His classical paper is the 
foundation of botanical embryology in the narrower 
sense—that is, of the study of the embryo from origin 
to germination. 

This period in the plant’s history would seem, 
indeed, very well defined. It begins with the first 
division of the fertilised egg-cell—undoubtedly a 
natural epoch, for a new generation dates from it. 
It ends with the formation of the ripe seed, which is 
a true physiological epoch, since it corresponds with a 
complete change in the conditions of life. We have 
seen also that the morphologists who have dealt with 
the immature plant have fallen naturally into two 
groups, one ending and the other beginning their 
work at this very point. 

Experience, however, has shown here, as in zoology, 
that embryologists lose more than they gain by this 
division of their subject. It is, indeed, neither so 
simple nor so natural as it appears at first sight. 

It is not simple because the embryo is not always 
completely dormant during the interval between the 
formation of the ripe seed. and the first steps in ger- 
mination. On the contrary, in a large proportion of 
Monocotyledons, and in a smaller but still consider- 
able proportion of Dicotyledons, the embryo is an 
almost undifferentiated mass of meristem when the 
seed first ripens. It becomes differentiated internally 
and externally by degrees during the long interval 
before germination. This is sometimes called the 
maturation of the seed, and it is quite distinct from 
its ripening. Maturation is a process characteristic 
of the seeds of geophilous plants, which commonly 
lie in the ground for a year at least before germina- 
tion. 

In such cases the period of rest occurs immediately 
after the seed is ripe, and while the embryo is still 
undifferentiated. But the embryo is not comparable 
morphologically to that in the seed of an annual, 
for example, which may have ripened at the same time. 
The embryo of an annual has root, stem, and leaves, 
besides its cotyledons, and is ready to germinate 
immediately on the return of spring. 

The morphologist, then, must continue the study 
of his geophilous embryo throughout the period of 
maturation if he is to compare it with that of the 
annual. Even then he will find it less advanced than 
the annual embryo, though both be examined as they 
break out of the seed. For the geophyte may perhaps 


244 


be four or five years before it flowers, while the 
annual has to complete its whole life-cycle in a single 
season. 

Nor is the division of the subject into two parts, 
the first ending with the embryo in the ripe seed, a 
natural one, even if the time of maturation be in- 
cluded in that first period. The structure of the 
embryo cannot be completely grasped by reference to 
its past only. The observer must expect adaptive 
characters of three kinds: first, those impesed upon 
the embryo in the past by its development within the 
embryo-sac while it is still parasitic on the parent 
plant; secondly, certain adaptations to the process of 
germination itself; and, finally, characters which will 
be useful after germination. Before the utility of the 
characters included in this third class can be fully 
understood, the development of the seedling must be 
followed for some time. In short, the structure of 
the embryo is dependent on its future, as well as on 
its past; and a division of the subject which excludes 
that future is, as Balfour says, purely artificial. Thus 
the work done of late years on the anatomy of the 
seedling has not only completed Irmisch’s work on 
its external morphology, but has also thrown light on 
the problems of early embryology attacked by Han- 
stein and his immediate followers. 

These problems are of two kinds, relating to the 
internal anatomy or the external morphology of the 
embryo. Hanstein himself was chiefly interested in 
the former. It is curious to realise when reading his 
paper that up to the date of its publication botanists 
were prepared to find an apical cell in the embryo of 
Angiosperms. They acknowledged, indeed, that no 
such cell existed in the growing-points of the mature 
plant.1. There each new portion of tissue was formed 
by the activity of a group of similar and equivalent 
cells. But it still seemed possible that the embryo 
might possess an apical cell in ‘the earlier stages of 
its growth—a reminiscence of its Cryptogamic an- 
cestors. Hanstein’s work disposed once for all of 
this possibility. It was conclusive even against the 
great authority of Hofmeister, who had described an 
apical cell in the embryo of orchids. 

One general result of the work on the embryo since 
Hanstein’s time has been to discredit phylogenetic 
theories based on its early history. Indeed, it was 
scarcely to be expected that a small mass of meristem, 
developing within a confined space and feeding para- 
sitically on the tissues of the mother-plant, should 
preserve ancestral features, and one is surprised to 
find a morphologist with the experience and the wide 
grasp of Hanstein attaching so much importance to 
the succession of divisions within such a body. The 
conscientious student finds it a laborious task to 
follow the work done in plant embryology during the 
period which succeeded the publication of Hanstein’s 
great paper. No wonder that when the end is seen 
to discredit rather than crown much of that work, 
when he realises how little has been gained as a 
result of so much patient toil, he is apt to renounce 
the whole subject in disgust. Yet in science we dare 
not rule out the unexpected, perhaps even less in 
morphology than elsewhere. Hanstein and his suc- 
cessors did good service when they described the 
growth of the pro-embryo from the fertilised egg- 
cell, its division into suspensor and embryo, the 
general development of both, and the appearance of 
external and internal differentiation in the embryo 
before germination. 

Some of Hanstein’s general conclusions as to 
internal anatomy have become the common property 
of text-books; for instance, the early differentiation 


1 Korschelt in 1884 revived the hypothesis that the growing points of 
some Angiosperms at any rate increased by means of an apical cell. He 
worked chiefly on aquatic plants. His views have not heen accepted. 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 23, 1913 


of dermatogen in the embryo, and its subsequent 
development into the epidermal system. He was less 
successful in demonstrating the initial independence 
of plerome and periblem and their relation to the 
vascular cylinder of the mature stem. 


The early differentiation of plerome and periblem 
from the internal tissues of the embryonic axis, and 
their continued formation at the growing points of 
stem and root respectively, are processes which 
demand the most careful investigation, on account 
of their bearing on the stelar hypothesis. 

Dr. Schoute’s work on the exact relationship of 
plerome and periblem at the growing-point. to the 
central cylinder and cortex as differentiated in the 
older regions of the same axes, whether stem or root, 
is very important. He accepts Prof. Van Tieghem’s 
definition of the stele as the solid cylinder of root 
or stem enclosed within the endodermis. The endo- 
dermis itself, of course, is considered as belonging to 
the cortex, because in the root its cells are opposite 
the radial files of the inner cortex, and, indeed, form 
the inmost rank of those files This is assumed to 
indicate a common origin by repeated tangential 
division. The cells of the pericycle—the outermost 
layer of the stele—alternate with those of the endo- 
dermis. As a rule, there is no corresponding radial 
arrangement in the cortical tissue of the stem, but 
where such exists—as in the stem of Hippuris—the 
endodermis is again included in it and terminates it. 

Using the microtome as an instrument of precision, 
Dr. Schoute in 1903 published the most careful ob- 
servations on the growing-points of roots. His aim 
was to determine whether the limit between plerome 
and periblem (Hanstein) corresponded with that be- 
tween stele and cortex (Van Tieghem). For this 
purpose Dr. Schoute was, of course, obliged to choose 
roots in which the plerome is clearly distinguished 
from the periblem at the growing-point. In the end 
he obtained precise results in three species: 
Hyacinthus orientalis, Helianthus annuus, and Linwmn 
usitatissimum. In each of these the periblem passed 
into the cortex, its inner layer becoming the endo- 
dermis, and the plerome gave rise to the stele only. 

Owing to difficulties of observation, arising chiefly 
from the insertion of leaves close up to the growing- 
point and displacements in the original stem-structure 
consequent on this habit, Dr. Schoute was not equally 
successful in his work on stems. Hippuris vulgaris 
was the only species to give definite results. In this 
species he found that the plerome gave rise not only 
to the stele, but also to the endodermis, and to the 
two or three layers of cortex immediately beyond it. 
If these results are well founded the limit between 
plerome and periblem does not correspond with that 
between stele and cortex in the stem of Hippuris. 
Moreover, doubt is thrown on the assumption made 
by all previous observers that rows of cortical cells 
arranged in radial files must be of common origin. 

Observations on a single species, however well 
attested, form a slender basis for conclusions regard- 
ing stems in general. Nor have Dr. Schoute’s ob- 
servations escaped criticism. Dr. Kniep has since 
examined the growing-point of Hippuris, and believes 
that he can identify plerome with central cylinder, 
and periblem with cortex, even in this test case. How- 
ever this may be, no one denies the obscurity of stem 
anatomy in this respect compared to that of the root, 
nor the cause of that obscurity. The continuity of 
the stem stele is perpetually interrupted by the inser- 
tion of the leaf-traces, just as the symmetry of the 
stem growing-point is destroyed by the formation of 
leaf rudiments close up to its apex. 

The stelar hypothesis is essentially an assertion of 


OCTOBER 23, 1913] 


the real homology between the vascular systems of 
stem and root throughout all vascular plants. This 
was pointed out to me more than twenty years ago by 
Dr. D. H. Scott, and it has been the sheet anchor to 
which I have since clung through much stress of 
morphological weather. No difficulty arises so long 
as we are dealing with roots only, or with the stems 
of those vascular Cryptogams in which the vascular 
system is a closed cylinder, without gaps at the inser- 
tion of the leaf-traces. In such stems the vascular 
cylinder is as well-defined as in all roots, and can be 
described in the same terms. But the case is quite 
different in the stems of Phanerogams, where to all 
appearance the primary vascular cylinder is a system 
built up of leaf-traces, embedded in a parenchymatous 
matrix. And the early anatomists were faced at once 
by this problem in its crudest form. Beginning with 
the anatomy of Phanerogams, they first became 
acquainted with the primary structure of the Dicotyle- 
donous stem. That of the root was not clearly under- 
stood until many years later; perhaps because 
anatomists attempted to interpret it by reference to 
the skeleton of the stem, and in the same terms. 
But there is nothing in the vascular anatomy of the 
root to correspond with the leaf-trace, and the leaf- 
trace is the vascular unit of stem-structure in all 
Phanerogams. Here, as elsewhere, confusion of 
nomenclature went hand in hand with confusion of 
thought, and it is difficult to say which was cause and 
which effect. 

Even when the facts of root-structure were 
accurately known, the conception of the leaf-trace 
bundle as the structural unit continued to be a 
stumbling-block. In 1877 De Bary published his 
monumental work on plant anatomy, and though it 
still keeps its place as the great book of reference 
on that subject, his descriptions of root anatomy 
appear to the modern botanist to be written in a dead 
language. When he calls the vascular axis of the 
root a “radial bundle” it is quite clear that he 
regards this as a purely formal term, not implying 
any true homology between the leaf-trace bundle of 
the stem and the axial core of the root. He does not, 
indeed, consider a bundle as a unit: he defines it 
as a compound structure ‘‘formed of tracheids and 
sieve-tubes definitely grouped.”? But the word 
‘““bundle’’ was already impressed with another super- 
scription. However defined originally, it had con- 
noted the unit of stem-structure to a generation of 
botanists. With that connotation, De Bary’s use of 
the term is in hopeless conflict. Moreover, the con- 
ception underlying that use was already out of date 
in 1877. Modern anatomy dates from 1871, when 
Prof. Van Tieghem published the first of his great 
series of memoirs on the subject. In these the axial 
core of the root was treated as equivalent to the whole 
system of leaf-trace bundles in the stem, though the 
word “stele”’ was not yet invented. This conception 
gained ground from the first; it was popularised by 
the happy choice of a name in 1886. From that date 
the stelar hypothesis has replaced all other schemes 
of vascular anatomy. The advance then made on all 
previous generalisations has been shown by the new 
impulse given to research, and the comparative sim- 
plicity introduced into text-book anatomy. 

We cannot claim equal simplicity, I fear, for the 
technical language of research in this subject, and 
this alone should inspire caution, for obscurity of 
language rarely persists where there is no correspond- 
ine obscurity of thought. 

No one now doubts that the central cylinder of the 
root in Phanerogams is far more closely comparable 

2 ‘Comparative Anatomy of Phanerogams and Ferns.” ist Eng. ed., 
1884, Pp. 400. 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


245 


to the leaf-trace cylinder of the stem than to any one 
of the traces within it. Yet when the comparison 
becomes detailed, difficulties are constantly arising. 
Where, for example, there is a medulla in the root it 
certainly forms part of the stele, which is a solid 
cylinder sharply defined by the specialised endodermis 
surrounding it. But the leaf-traces in the young stem 
surround a massive cylinder of parenchyma, precisely 
resembling the parenchyma of the cortex, with which 
it is in apparent connection through the gaps between 
the leaf-traces. Even the secondary formations do 
not completely divide one system from the other. 
When a specialised endodermis is present it is not so 
clearly defined as in the root: in many cases it is 
not present—in other words, there is no cell-layer out- 
side the leaf-trace cylinder which is differentiated in 
any way from the surrounding tissues. In a few 
instances—most baffling of all—an endodermis sur- 
rounds each leaf-trace. 

The stele in the stem of Phanerogams is not of 
necessity a morphological fiction, because in many 
stems its precise limits cannot be determined. If, 
indeed, the word be used as a descriptive term, its 
value is seriously impaired by every instance in which 
it fails to describe stem-structure with precision. But 
morphology is not merely descriptive. If we suppose 
that the stem-stele in remote ancestors of the Phanero- 
gams was as well defined as that of the root and 
clearly comparable to it, we may attach a real morpho- 
logical meaning to the term when applied to modern 
Phanerogams, provided we can show cause to believe 
that what we call the stele in their stems represents 
the ancestral stele. Its tissues will then have a his- 
tory distinct from those of the cortex, though not 
clearly separated from them. The burden of proof, 
however, certainly lies with those who assert that an 
apparently continuous and uniform tissue can be 
separated into two parts of distinct origin. 

The evidence advanced is of two kinds—one founded 
on the comparative anatomy of stems, and the other 
on the history of the tissues in the individual plant. 
Dr. Schoute has argued the case with great skill from 
the first point of view in his “ Stelartheorie.’’ Depend- 
ing to a large extent on his own researches, he has 
collected a great body of evidence to show that in the 
stems of Angiosperms a specialised layer is commonly 
distinguished from adjacent tissues either by the 
peculiar thickening characteristic of the endodermis 
in the root, or by the presence of starch in its cells. 
He shows that such a sheath surrounds the vascular 
cylinder in a very large proportion of the Dicotyle- 
dons examined, and in a majority of the Mono- 
cotyledons. Among Gymnosperms it occurs but 
rarely. Observing that the Angiosperms in which this 
bundle-sheath is obscure or wanting are commonly 
closely related to species in which it is perfectly well 
defined, Dr. Schoute concludes that its absence in 
such cases must be attributed to reduction. 

Allowing that such a layer is as general among 
Angiosperms as Dr. Schoute believes, grave doubts 
may still exist as to its homology with the endodermis 
of the root. The latter is defined not only by its 
thickened walls, but also by the position of its cells. 
They form the inmost rank of the series of radial 
files which distinguish the inner cortex, and the 
morphological endodermis—the phlaeoterma, as Stras- 
burger calls it—can usually be distinguished by this 
purely morphological character, even when its walls 
are unthickened. In the stem, however, the cells of 
the inner cortex are not radially arranged, except in 
rare cases, such as Hippuris. Thus there is no 
morphological criterion to distinguish the phlaoterma, 
or inmost cortical layer of the stem, from adjacent 
tissues. The bundle-sheaths distinguished by their 


246 


thickened walls or by the presence of starch in their 
cells are physiologically similar; they play a definite 
part in the economy of the stem, but the presence of 
either character must depend mainly on the demands 
of the conducting or assimilating system, and need 
not imply the morphological identity of such layers 
with each other, or with the layer performing a 
similar function in the root. 

Turning now to the second class of evidence—that 
drawn from the history of the tissues in the individual 
plant—we have already seen that the differentiation 
of plerome from periblem is far less definite at the 
growing point of the stem than at the root. Doubts 
have even been thrown on the identity of plerome 
and periblem with stele and cortex respectively. But 
we have not yet followed the development of the tissues 
of the embryo into those of the seedling. 

The normal seedling * of all Phanerogams consists 
at first of cotyledons, hypocotyl, and root, the plumular 
bud being still rudimentary. The primary root lies 
as a rule in a straight line with the primary stem, or 
hypocotyl... The hypocotyl is commonly the first part 
of the embryo to lengthen, and then its xylem is 
lignified a little earlier than that of the root or even 
that of the cotyledon. But when—as in many Mono- 
cotyledons—the base of the cotyledon lengthens first, 
lignification begins in that region and advances 
through the hypocotyl to the primary root. 

The anatomy of the seedling at this epoch has lately 
been investigated by many independent observers. 
They constitute, indeed, the third school of embryo- 
logy to which I have referred as completing the work 
of two earlier schools—namely, morphologists of the 
type of Irmisch, and students of early embryology like 
Hanstein and his school. But though the subject is 
limited to a short period in the history of the plant, 
and to one in which its vascular structure is compara- 
tively simple, yet it has been attacked from different 
sides, and the attempt to give a concise account of 
the results attained beset with difficulties. For 
the present, however, I propose to consider only their 
bearing on the stelar hypothesis. 

Indeed, seedling anatomy becomes extremely im- 
portant when the vascular system of the root is com- 
pared with that of the stem. For in the seedling we 
have a complete and simple vascular skeleton, which at 
one end belongs to the primary root of the plant, 
and at the other to its primary stem. There must be an 
intermediate region in which stem-structure passes into 
root-structure, and the method of transition should 
at least suggest, if it does not precisely determine, the 
relation in which they stand to each other. For this 
reason great value has been attached by anatomists to 
the transitional region of the main axis. Jt was not 
completely investigated, however, until the microtome 
was introduced into botanical practice, for the change 
of structure is often very abrupt, and cannot be 
studied in detail unless all possible sections are present 
in their proper order. 

In this, as in other branches of modern anatomy, 
Prof. Van Tieghem was first in the field. In his 
memoir of 1872, “Sur les Canaux Secréteurs des 
Plantes,” he described the course of the bundles of 
the hypocotyl of Tagetes patula, an example of the 
second type of transition given in his textbook (1886). 
The three types were, indeed, already identified in 
1872, for the first and third are defined in a footnote 
appended to the description of Tagetes. 

Tagetes patula was, of course, examined in 1872 
with the aid of hand-sections only. Two traces enter 
the hypocotyl from either cotyledon, and form in the 
end a diarch root. The plane passing through its 


is 


_ 3 By this qualification 1 mean to exclude cases in which the young s-ed- 
ling is very greatly reduced. 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 23, 1913 


xylem poles is the median plane of the cotyledons. 
In the upper part of the hypocotyl this plane bisects 
the space which separates the two bundles entering 
each cotyledon. So far the description of Tagetes 
given in 1872 is identical with the generalised account 
of type 2 in the text-book (1886). But a detail of 
some importance is mentioned in the description of 
Tagetes which does not reappear in the definition of 
type 2. In each of the spaces just mentioned—called, 
for convenience, xylem spaces, because they lie above 
the xylem poles of the root--lies an isolated xylem 
element, the direct continuation of the most external 
element in one of the root poles, and this element 
comes to an abrupt end higher up. 

Thus Prof. Van Tieghem has tacitly assumed that 
Tagetes is exceptional in this respect, and this view 
was also adopted by Prof. Gérard in his laborious and 
accurate paper of 1881. He describes the transitional 
phenomena of a number of Dicotyledons, among them 
Tagetes erecta. Not only is the transition in this 
species exactly the same as that in T. patula, but the 
author records a similar isolation of primitive xylem 
elements in Raphanus niger, Ipomaca versicolor, and 
Datura Stramonium, still treating the arrangement as 
exceptional. 

These details are important, because if certain 
protoxylem elements belonging to the root are not 
continued upwards in regular succession into the 
cotyledonary or plumular bundles, but end abruptly 
in hypocotyl or base of cotyledon, there is not that 
complete correspondence between stem- and _ root- 
structure which is assumed in Van Tieghem’s three 
types. In all of them the xylem and phloem bundles 
of the root are continued into the cotyledons or 
plumule. On their way through the hypocotyl they 
may divide or be displaced, and the xylem bundles 
“rotate’’—that is, they turn on their own axes until 
the protoxylem is internal. But all the elements pre- 
sent in the root are continued upwards in regular suc- 
cession, and are simply rearranged in the upper part 
of the seedling. This is one of the main arguments 
advanced by Prof. Van Tieghem to support his view 
that the steles of root and stem are identical. 

According to most later observers, however, such 
temporary prolongation of the root-poles upwards as 
that described by Profs. Van Tieghem and Gérard in 
a few instances, and considered by them as excep- 
tional, is really of general occurrence. ‘Lhe protoxylem 
elements, indeed, are not commonly isolated from the 
main xylem of the cotyledonary traces as in Tagetes, 
but are in more or less complete contact with them 
on either side. Such contact is approached in 
Raphanus niger, where it is very clearly suggested in 
Prof. Gérard’s figures. 

There is then a real difference of opinion on a 
question of fact between Prof. Van Tieghem and his 
school, on the one hand, and certain modern embryo- 
logists on the other. Three distinct views are now 
held as to the interpretation of the isolated xylem 
elements in the hypocotyl of Tagetes. I shall try to 
state them as fairly and concisely as possible. a" 

Profs. Van Tieghem and Gérard treat Tagetes and 
the genera which resemble it as exceptional, because 
part of the external xylem of the root is continued 
upwards between the cotyledonary traces, and dies out 
in the base of the cotyledon. They consider that the 
remainder of the external xylem turns on itself and 
becomes internal in the usual way. 

Prof. Gravis and his pupils think that a similar 
prolongation of the xylem poles of the root into the 
hypocotyl or cotyledon is the rule, and that they 
terminate there abruptly. But in most cases this 
vestigal root-xylem is not isolated; it is in contact 
on either side with the early xylem of the cotyledonary 


OcTOBER 23, 1913] 


NATURE 


247 


traces, and is therefore apt to be confused with it. 
The characteristic shape of so many cotyledonary 
traces arises in this way. They are often called double 
bundles, but according to Prof. Gravis they are more 
than double, for each really consists of two traces 
in close contact with the last vestige of root-xylem. 
The latter always disappears higher up in the cotyle- 
don, and the two traces may then unite into a midrib, 
with or without lateral branches. As a consequence 
of this view, Prof. Gravis considers that there is no 
morphological continuity in the hypocotyl between the 
vascular systems of root, stem. and leaf.t Their traces 
are merely in contact sufficiently intimate for physio- 
logical purposes. There can, therefore, be no true 
homology between the central cylinder of the stem 
and that of the root. 

The third view is that of M. Chauveaud, who has 
been engaged for upwards of twenty years in following 
the development of the vascular elements in the hypo- 
cotylar region and its neighbourhood. He agrees with 
Prof. Gravis that the presence of external xylem is 
the rule in the hypocotyl and in the base of the 
cotyledon. But he considers that this external xylem 
belongs to the primitive structure of hypocotyl and 
cotyledon as well as to that of the root. We have 
already said that the vascular system of seedlings is 
first differentiated in the hypocotyl, base of cotyledon, 
and base of primary root. In all these regions M. 


in which the stele of the hypocotyl—at that time the 
only representative of the stem—is developing on 
exactly the same lines as the stele of the primary 
root, and is, in fact, continuous with it. At that 
epoch each cotyledonary trace is also developing on 
the same plan. It belongs to the same phase of evolu- 
tion, and in many species of Dicotyledons the insertion 
of the cotyledons is the simplest imaginable. The 
original stele of the hypocotyl divides below the cotyle- 
donary node, and one-half goes to each cotyledon.® 

In species where this formation is clearly developed 
there cannot be said to be any transition between 
stem- and root-structure. Stem-stele and _ root-stele 
are continuous: their steles are developing in the 
same way. Even the leaf-traces of the first two 
leaves are on similar lines, and their insertion, there- 
fore, does not modify the structure of the stele. 

How, then, does the structure we associate with 
the stem of Phanerogams appear. In the transitonal 
region of the hypocotyl the first xylem elements 
perhaps only two or three at each pole—alternate with 
the phloem groups. The elements next differentiated 
lie within them, for development is still centripetal, 
but in two diverging groups. The xylem-ray is then 
shaped like an inverted V. Each arm of the V 
approaches the adjacent phléem group as it travels 
inwards, until the last-formed elements lie on the 
same radius as the centre of the phloem group, but 


Chauveaud thinks the primitive stele to be root-like 
in his own phrase it belongs to the “disposition 
alterne.”’ The xylem alternates with the phléem, and 
its development is centripetal. This primitive forma- 
tion, however, is permanent only in the root, and 
commonly in the lower part of the hypocotyl also. 
In the upper part of the hypocotyl and in the base of 
the cotyledons the first xylem elements are fugitive. 
They disappear so early that, as a rule, they are 
missed completely by the anatomist, who is apt to 
prefer well-differentiated tissues, and theretore to 
choose seedlings which are past their first youth. 

In considering the theory of stelar evolution in which 
M. Chauveaud has correlated his own long series of 
observations with the results of other embryologists, 
I shall confine myself strictly to the question now 
under discussion—namely, the extent to which the 
stele of the young stem in Phanerogams can be con- 
sidered to represent that of the root. Prof. Wan 
Tieghem, as we have seen, considers them completely 
homologous, while Prof. Gravis denies that they are 
homologous at all. j 

M. Chauveaud occupies a middle position. If I 
understand his views rightly, he considers that there 
is an early phase in the development of the seedling 


4 A. Gravis, ‘Recherches . . . 
del Acad. royal. . 


_: Sur le ‘ Tradescantia virginica,’ J/ém. 
+» Tome lvii., Bruxelles, 1898. See account of hypo- 
cotyl( pp. 28-32), including insertion of cotyledon (pp. 31-32). Also memoir 
by same author on Uvrtica dioica (1885), footnote on p- 117. Cf also Mr. 
k. H. Compton's paper in Vew Phylologist, xii., p. 13, 1912. 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


| 
| 
| 
| 


The next elements are differentiated 


well within it. 
on that radius, but are directed towards the phléem : 


development has become centrifugal. These succes- 
sive xylem formations are called by M. Chauveaud the 
alternate, the intermediate, and the superposed. They 
are distinguished in the diagram by dotted lines for 
the alternate elements, thin lines for the intermediate, 
and thick lines for the superposed. 

The alternate elements are fugitive in this transi- 
tional region; they commonly disappear as the super- 
posed elements become conspicuous. The inter- 
mediate xylem persists. But higher up in the hypo- 
cotyl the intermediate elements, too, disappear as the 
seedling grows older. They vanish in the traces of 
the cotyledons also, and in the cotyledons themselves. 
Thus in seedlings of a certain age we have endarch 


| bundles at the top of the hypocotyl, forming a stele 


of the stem type, and an exarch stele lower down, 
which passes unchanged into the root. The connec- 
tion between the two is maintained by the inter- 
mediate xylem of the transitional region. 

Although M. Chauveaud has been publishing his 
researches since 1891, yet he has only lately (1911) 
put his results into a connected form, and they are 


| therefore less familiar than might otherwise be ex- 


| 


pected to anatomists who are not also embryologists. 
They clearly have a direct bearing on the theory of 


5 Chauyeaud, ‘‘ L'Appareil Conducteur des Plantes vasculaires," 1911. 
See description of Wercurialis annua on pp. 216, 217, and figs. 62, 63. 


248 


the stele. Before, however, entering on this subject, 
I ought to say something on the .question of fact. 
In my opinion M. Chauveaud’s figures and descrip- 
tions represent the vascular development in the hypo- 
cotyl and cotyledons of Angiosperms more accurately 
than any others with which I am acquainted. He 
has dealt more fully with Dicotyledons than Mono- 
cotyledons, but I have been able to verify his account 
of the latter to some extent by reference to my own 
preparations, which include a number of species 
closely allied to those which he has cut. Among 
Dicotyledons I have had the great advantage of con- 
sulting the preparations of Miss Thomas and of Mr. 
R. H. Compton. Neither of these botanists made 
their preparations to illustrate M. Chauveaud’s 
theory; indeed, they attacked the subject, as I did, 
with aims distinct from his. Yhere has _ therefore, 
been nothing like complete verification in any single 
species, but so remarkable a correspondence with his 
figures in similar stages of the material, that | am 
satisfied of M. Chauveaud’s fidelity. 

Assuming, then, that his account of the vascular 
development in a young seedling is substantially cor- 
rect, what are we to conclude as to the homology of 
the central cylinder of the stem with that of the root? 

M. Chauveaud himself believes the stem cylinder 
in the upper hypocotyl of a fairly old seedling to be a 
true stele, but one belonging to a later phase of 
evolution than that of the root, and not, therefore, 
strictly homologous with it in the sense in which the 
earliest vascular formations in cotyledon and hypo- 
cotyl respectively were homologous with each other. 
He considers the successive vascular formations which 
we have just followed in these regions —formations 
marked by the appearance of alternate, intermediate, 
and superposed xylem in turn—to represent three 
successive phases of stelar development. The root- 
stele corresponds to the first of these phases only. 

But questions of phylogeny are strictly historical, 
and the only precise meaning that can be attached to 
the expression ‘“‘successive phases of stelar develop- 
ment’ in the seedling of an Angiosperm is that at 
some past period a group of plants in the direct line 
of descent of Angiosperms possessed a stele re- 
sembling that which is now a mere stage in the life 
of the individual. Thus the alternate formation found 
throughout the very young seedling implies an 
ancestral group with an exarch steie in stem as well 
as root, and a leaf-trace of corresponding structure. 

There is nothing at all improbable in this hypo- 
thesis, since groups with exarch steles in stem as 
well as root are found among living and extinct 


plants. But if adopted several important consequences 
would follow. The seedling while it consists of 
cotyledons, hypocotyl, and primary root only—the 


plumule present as a mere bud—must represent a past 
period in race-history when its ancestors possessed 
an exarch stele in stem and root alike; when the 
stem-stele belonged to the stem only, and the insertion 
of leaf-traces hardly modified its structure; when it 
entered the root without change, and therefore no 
transitional region occupied and puzzled the anatomist 
of the period. 

This early stage in the development of the seedling 
is succeeded by that in which the epicotyl begins to 
grow, and as a rule the epicotyl is quite undoubtedly 
modern.® Its vascular skeleton is built up of leaf- 
traces, which are endarch from the first. At the 
cotyledonary node they are inserted on the vascular 


6 The epicotyl in the /icfea has been described as containing centripetal 
xylem. The facts are given by Mlle. Goldschmid (1876), Prof. Gérard 
(1881), M. Chauveaud (1911). and Mr. Compton (1912). The theoretical in- 
terpretation is discussed by M. Chauveaud (¢:c., p. 348) and Mr. Compton 
(Zc., pp. 93-95). There seems every reason to think, as Mr. Compton 
suggests, that the character is adaptive, depending on the twining habit. 
He points out that Victa Kaba, which does not twine, has a normal epicotyl. 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 23, 1913 


cylinder of the hypocotyl, which has become endarch 
at the top. This transition has been effected lower 
down in the hypocotyl, as described already, by 
the formation first of intermediat@, and then of super- 


, posed xylem, together with the gradual disappear- 


ance of the original alternate xylem. 

Thus the cotyledonary node may be considered to 
mark the interval between two acts in the drama of 
evolution—an interval the length of which cannot yet 
be estimated, but is clearly to be reckoned in geo- 
logical epochs. 

The race-history of the Phanerogamic stem-cylinder 
is at present unknown. How did the ancestral stele 
lose its exarch character, and what intermediate stages 
led up to its present construction from endarch leaf- 
traces? Possibly the development of the hypocotyl 
may give a clue as suggested by M. Chauveaud, 
and the change have been effected by the develop- 
ment of intermediate xylem. Or Prof. Jeffrey may be 
right in deriving the leaf-traces from a siphonostele 
which has been gradually more and more broken up 
by the appearance of foliar gaps. This process is 
said to be exhibited in the young epicotyl.’ Until this 
point is cleared up the exact relationship of the 
vascular cylinder of the stem to that of the root will 
remain obscure. As a matter of convenience the stem- 
cylinder will, no doubt, be called a stele, even though 
anatomists should acknowledge that it cannot be con- 
sidered as strictly homologous with the stele of the 
root. Much confusion of thought would, however, be 
avoided if the two structures were not treated as 
strictly comparable. 

There can be very little doubt that the insertion of 
leaves has brought about the change, and I might 
suggest here that the insertion of leaves on an exarch 
stem-stele would be an interesting subject for re- 
search. The literature of the subject is scattered, 
and its treatment seems to me very incomplete. An 
exarch axis bearing leaves is, of course, exceptional, 
but more common among extinct plants than among 
recent species. So far as my very cursory examina- 
tion of the literature has gone, it seems a general 
rule that the leaf-traces are inserted on the xylem 
poles of the stele.§ 


Hitherto I have considered modern embryology in 
relation to a single problem of internal anatomy— 
namely, the comparison of the vascular system of the 
stem to that of the root. But the evidence of em- 
bryology is also of great weight in questions of 
internal morphology and phylogeny. : 

Several questions of this kind are discussed by 
Hanstein, from whose classical paper I continue to 
date. For example, his account of the embryo of 
Monocotyledons suggests two distinct problems. One 
belongs to formal morphology—namely, the question 
whether a terminal member can be considered as a 
leaf. The other is a question of phylogeny: whether 
Dicotyledons are derived from a monocotylous ancestor 
or Monocotyledons from a dicotylus form. Both these 
questions I have discussed elsewhere,* and only refer 
to them now as examples of the way in which 
seedling anatomy has proved complementary to that 
of the older embryologists. 

The most obvious interpretation of Hanstein’s ob- 
servations is that the single cotyledon of Mono- 
cotyledons is equivalent to the pair found in Dicotyle- 
dons. This would imply that Dicotvledons were 

7 Jeffrey, ‘‘ The Morphology of the Central Cylinder in the Angiosperms.” 
Trans. Canadian Inst.. vi., 1900 

8D. H. Scott, ** Studies in Fossil Botany,” 1908. p 97 (Sphenophylium) 5 
C. E. Bertrand, ‘‘Rema-ques sur le Lesidodendron Harcourtii,’" 1801, 
p. 109; M. Hovelacaue, ‘‘ Recherches sur le Lepidodendron selaginoides,” 
1892, p. 150; F. O. Bower, ‘‘ Origin of a Land Flora,” p. 334 (Selaginella), 


1908 ; C. E. Jones, Trans. Linn. Soc., ser. 2, Vii., 1905, p. 19 (Lycopodium). 
9 E, Sargant, dun. of Bot. xvii., PY, 1903. and 7d xxii., pp. 150-2, 1908. 


OO a 


OcTOBER 23, 1913| 


NATURE 


249 


derived from an ancestor with one cotyledon, ap- 
parently terminal, which gave rise to the existing 
pair by a process of fission. But other interpretations 
were always possible, and the terminal hypothesis 
received a shock when Count Sohms-Laubach dis- 
covered that in certain Monocotyledons the single 
cotyledon is lateral from the first. _ 

‘Yhe comparative antiquity of Monocotyledons and 
Dicotyledons has been one of the first questions 
raised by the study of seedling anatomy. It is re- 
markable that both the hypotheses founded on work 
of this kind assert the greater antiquity of the 
dicotylous form. But if the cotyledonary member of 
Monocotyledons is derived from one or both cotyledons 
of an ancestral pair, it cannot be considered as ter- 
minal. Thus the evidence of seedling anatomy bids 
fair to settle both these questions, as | think it will 
settle others of the same kind mentioned by Hanstein. 

The descriptive work of Irmisch and the school he 
represents has been carried on of late years by an 
American naturalist, Mr. Theo. Holm, with all the 
technical advantages given by modern instruments of 
research. His papers are commonly written with 
systematic intention, but the external characters of 
the species he describes are correlated with their 
internal anatomy, and the structure of the adult 
form is traced from its origin in the seedling. His 
monograph on Podophyllum peltatum is an example 
of this method, and illustrates its advantages in a 
very striking way. But it is becoming much more 
usual to compare the seedling with the adult form, as 
may be seen in two monumental works now being 
published in parts: ‘‘Das Pflanzenreich,’’ edited by 
Engler, and ‘‘Lebensgeschichte der Bliitenpflanzen 
Mitteleuropas,”’ edited by Kirchner, Loew, and 
Schroter. 

In a very useful paper on modern developments of 
seedling anatomy Mr. Compton has pointed out that 
the subject has been attacked from several divergent 
points of view. I have already referred to the work 
of M. Chauveaud and Prof. Gravis, and have now 
come to that of a number of English botanists, whose 
aim—as Mr. Compton observes—is .mainly phylo- 
genetic. They are even more clearly distinguished 
by their methods, which are those of comparative 
anatomy. Instead of following the development of 
the seedling of a single species from germination to 
the age at which its cotyledons begin to decay, as 
M. Chauveaud has done in a number of carefully 
selected instances, they have compared the seedlings 
of different species and different genera at about the 
same age, generally choosing the epoch at which the 
tissues of cotyledon, hypocotyl, and primary root are 
most completely differentiated. There is nothing new 
in this treatment of the subject. It was employed in 
1872 by Prof. Van Tieghem’ in his paper on the 
anatomy of grass seedlings, in which he compares 
them with other Monocotyledons of the same age. 
Much greater precision is possible, however, now 
that the microtome has come into general use. 

The literature of this subject has increased rapidly 
of late years. The list of references in the footnote ™ 


10 Prof. Van Tieghem, Amn. Sec. Nat., ser. 5, xv., p. 
11 The following references are arranged ET a re 

Arber, A., The Cactacee ard the Study of Seedlings. Mew Piiyt., ix., 
P- 333) 1910. 

Compton, R. H., An Investigation of the Seedling Structure in Legumi- 
nose. Linn. Soc. Journ. Bot., xli., p. 1, 1912+ 

de Fraine, Ethel. The Seedling Structure of certain Cactaeca. Ann. Bot 
XxiV., P. 125, T9TO. ; 

Bt nae monology and Seedling Structure of Peperomia. Ann. 
Bot, Xxi., P. 395, 1906. 

Hill, T. G, oe Seedling Structure of certain Piferales. Ann. Bot. 
XX.) P. 160, 1906. f 

Hill, T. G., and de Fraine, Ethel. On the Seedling Structure of certain 
Centrosperma. Ann. Bot., xxvi.y p. 175, 1912. 

Hill, T. G., and de Fraine Fthel. On the !nfluence of the Structure of the 
Adult Plant upon the S-edling. New Piyt., xi., p. 319, 1912. 

Hill, T. G., and de Fraine, Ethel. A Consideration of the Facts 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


appended to this paragraph is, I fear, far from 
complete. But it is not part of my plan to review 
this work critically. The time is, perhaps, not ripe 
for such a review, and certainly the time at my 
disposal to-day is quite insufficient for it. Perhaps | 
may be allowed to offer some general remarks, first 
on the method itself, and then on the criticisms it has 
encountered. 

To compare the structure of organisms with each 
other is, of course, the recognised method of compara- 
tive anatomy, of systematic botany, and, in fact, of all 
branches of morphology. The great difficulty in all 
such work is to distinguish between adaptive char- 
acters of comparatively recent origin and the char- 
acters inherited from remote ancestors. The history 
of systematic botany is very instructive in this respect. 
Systematists discovered by degrees, and by means of 
repeated failures, that characters could not be picked 
out as important for purposes of classification on 
a priori grounds. No character is of uniform import- 
ance throughout vascular plants, for example. On the 
contrary, it may be of great value in the classification 
of one group and worthless in another, though closely 
allied. Generations of botanists have laboured to build 
up the natural system in its present form, and it is 
constructed from the ruins of abandoned systems. 
We all agree now that the guiding principle in all 
morphology is that our classification should represent 
relationships founded on descent only. But the natural 
system was complete in its main features before that 
principle was understood. It represented the feeling 
for real affinity developed in botanists by the study 
of plant form, independently of any theory as to the 
cause of such affinity. 

This, of course, is the commonplace of botanical 
history, but we do not always realise that all morpho- 
logical work is done under similar conditions. The 
only valid appeal from criticism is to the future: a 
new method is approved by its results. Therefore, to 
embark on a new branch of morphology is a real 
adventure. The morphologist risks much time and 
much labour. He knows that the evidence which he 
proposes to gather painfully, to test critically, to pre- 
sent logically, may, after all, prove of little con- 
sequence, and he has to depend on his own instinct to 
lead him in the right course. In his degree he re- 
sembles Columbus, to whom a few sea-borne seeds 
and nuts meant a new continent. 


relating to the Structure Seedlings. Ann. Bot., XXViLL, p. 258 
1913. 

Lee, E. Observations on the Seedling Anatomy of certain Syfetalar 
Ann. Bot., XXvi., Pp. 727; 1912. 

Sargant, E. A New Typeof Transition from Stem to Root in the Vascular 
System of Seedlings. Ann. Bot,, xiv., p- 633, 1900. 

Sargant, E. The Origin of the Seed Leaf in Monocotyledons. New Phyt., 
i., Pp. 107, 1902. 

Sargant, E. A Theory of the Origin of Monocotyledons, founded on the 
Structure of their Seedlings. Amn. Bot., xvii., p- 1, 1903. 

Sargant, E. The Evolution of Monocotyledons. Bot. Gas., XXXVI, Pp. 
325, 1904. 

Smith, Winifred. The Anatomy of some Sapotaceous Seedlings. Trams. 
Linn. Soc., series 2. Bot. vii., p. 189, 1909. 

Tansley, A. G., and Thomas, fk. N- Root Structure in the Central 
Cylinder of the Hypocotyl. Mew P/yt. iil., p. 104, 1904- 

Tansley, A. G., and Thomas, E. N. The Phylegenetic Value of the 
Vascular Structure of Spermophytic Hypocotyls. Brit. Assoc. Report, 
1906. 

Thomas, E. N. A Theory of the Double Leaf Trace, founded on Seedling 
Structure. New PAyt., vi., p- 77, 1907- 

The references given above refer to Angiosperms only, but so much work 
of a similar nature has been done lately on Gymnospermous seedlings that 
I add a list of the pri: cipal papers :-— 

Dorety, Helen A. Vascular Anatomy of the Seedling of Microcycas 
calocoma. Bot. Gaz., x\vii., p. 139, 1909. 

Hill, T. G., and de Fraine, Ethel. The Seedling Structure of Gymno- 
sperm. I., Ann. Bot., xxii., p. 629. 1908. II., i. xxiil., p. 189, 1909. 
ILL, #d. xxiii., p. 433, 1909. 1V., 7a. xxiv., p. 319, 1910. 

Matte, H. L’appareil libéroligneux des Cycadies Caen, 1904. 

Shaw, F. J. F. The Seedling Structure of Avaucarra bidwillit. Ann. 
Bot., XXill., p- 321, 1909- 

Sykes, M. A. lhe Anatomy of Welwitschia mirabilis. .. + + 
Linn. Soc., 2. Bot. vii., p. 327, 1910. 

Thiessen, Reinhardt. The Vascular Anatomy of the Seedling of Dioon 
edule. Bot. Gaz., x\vi., p. 357, 1908- 


Trans. 


250 


Hence the difficulty of criticising recent work. 
When once a conclusion of some importance has been 
formulated it may be tested by evidence drawn from 
other branches of research. Until that time criticism 
from outside is of little value. Those who are work- 
ing at the subject must, of course, form their own 
opinion on its possibilities, for each has to decide for 
himself whether he shall continue on those lines. 

The subject of seedling anatomy is no longer very 
new. It is too late now to debate on the a priori 
probability of ancestral characters surviving in the 
young seedling. No one doubts that a vascular stump 
sometimes persists after the organ it originally sup- 
plied has disappeared.'” Therefore there is no glaring 
improbability in the suggestion that the vascular 
skeleton of the young seedling may afford a clue to 
the structure of a remote ancestor. But this is only 
saying in other words that botanists are justified in 
giving the subject a fair trial. That trial is now 
proceeding. Some general conclusions have been for- 
mulated already, but they have not yet stood the test 


of time. In all probability the final judgment on this 
subject will be given by a future generation of 


botanists on evidence not as yet before us. In the 
meantime we shall all form our own opinien as to 
the prospects of the method. Speaking for myself, I 
think that it has already thrown much light on em- 
bryological problems, and is likely to throw more. 


At the end of this very short and imperfect sketch 
of the progress of botanical embryology in recent 
years, it is natural to look back and attempt to esti- 
mate the importance of the whoje subject and its 
relation to other branches of botanical science. I have 
treated it from the morphological side only, but clearly 
every department of botany must deal with the im- 
mature plant as well as with the adult form. For 
example, the struggle for existence between two 
species in any particular locality must be profoundly 
affected by the characters of their seedlings. If one 
species should gain a decided advantage over the other 
early in life, the vanquished species may never live to 
form seed, and may thus disappear from that neigh- 
bourhood in the first generation. This is an extreme 
case to show the importance of considering seedling 
structure in problems of ecology and distribution. 

The internal structure of seedlings is certainly a 
department of vegetable anatomy, just as their adapta- 
tion to the conditions of life is a department of vege- 
table physiology. That the connection between em- 
bryology and systematic botany must be equally close 
seems at first sight to be beyond dispute, but the 
exact nature of that connection is as yet undetermined. 
In systematic botany we have the net result of an 
enormous mass of experience. Generations of 
botanists have examined and described the external 
characters of plants; they have arranged and re- 
arranged them in groups until at last the instinct for 
affinity has been satisfied. In this continual sifting of 
characters some have been separated out as generally 
of systematic importance—the floral characters, for 
examples, and those of the seed. Certain features of 
the embryo are included among those characters, as 
already mentioned, but, on the whole, systematists 
have dealt exclusively with the adult plant. The 
embryo itself has been treated rather as a portion of 
the seed than as an individual. 

It would be rash to assume that seedling characters 
have been disregarded by systematists because they 
were too busy with the fully-developed plant to pay 
proper attention to the young forms. In all prob- 
ability some _of the earlier botanists examined the 
external characters of seedlings and rejected them 

12 Cf. the discussion of the homology of the Orchis-flower in Ch. Darwin's 
“* Fertilisation of Orchids,” chap. xiii.. .p. 225 in second ed., 1888. 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 23, 1913 


when they proved of tittle systematic value. But 
embryology, like the other branches of botany, entered 
on a new phase when the compound microscopé came 
into general use. It was commonly denied that the 
anatomical characters of mature plants had systematic 
value until the test case of fossil botany was decided 
in favour of anatomy. We need not be surprised that 
conclusions drawn from the new embryoiogy—that is, 


| the embryology which includes internal characters as 


well: as external—sometimes appear to conflict with 
the results of systematic botany, and it does not neces- 
sarily follow that embryological evidence is of no 
systematic value. The fault may lie with the em- 
bryologists, who, being human, do occasionally mis- 
interpret their facts, or possibly the natural system 
may need some modification in the light of new know- 
ledge. When both explanations have failed to account 
for the discrepancy in a number of cases we may be 
forced to give up looking for phylogenetic results from 
embryology. 

And so in the end the appeal is again to Time, who 
—as Milton says—devours 

** No more than what is false and vain, 
And merely mortal dross. 


So little is our loss, 
So little is thy gain.” 


SECTION L. 
EDUCATIONAL SCIENCE. 


FROM THE OPENING ADDRESS By Principat E. H. 
GrirritHs, LL.D., F.R.S., PRESIDENT OF THE 
SECTION, 

We have now had forty years’ experience of com- 
pulsory education, and more than ten years’ experience 
of the working of the Education Act of 1902. We 
are spending at the present time out of the rates and 
taxes about thirty-four millions per annum upon 
education. It seems reasonable, as a nation of shop- 
keepers, that we should ask if we are getting value 
for our money, and the reply will, of course, depend 
on what we mean by value, for the man in the 
counting-house, the man in the street, and the man 
in the schoolroom all have different standards of 

valuation. 

Some of us are old enough to contrast the position 
of to-day with that of forty years ago. Do we ob- 
serve any definite advance in knowledge, intelligence, 
character, or manners, as compared with the pre- 
compulsory days? We must all be aware of the 
tendency to magnify the past at the expense of the 
present, but, after making due allowance for the fact 
that ‘the past seems best, things present ever worst,” 
it appears difficult to find distinct evidence of improve- 
ment in any way commensurate with the sacrifices 
which have been made. 

I have taken every opportunity of ascertaining the 
views of men of varied occupations and differing 
social positions upon this matter, and 1 confess that 
the impression received is one of universal discontent. 
The complaints are not only of want of knowledge, 
but also, which is far more serious, of want of intel- 
ligence. Consider a trivial example drawn from my 
own experience. I am a motorist in a small way. 
My ambition has been restricted in the matter of 
chauffeurs to lads fresh from our elementary schools, 
whom I have employed for what [ may summarise 
as washing and greasing purposes. Some six or 
seven of such lads have passed through my hands 
during the past nine years, and all of them have 
been at a primary school for some seven or eight 
years. They came with good characters, and all had 
passed up to the fifth or sixth standard. None of 
them could spell correctly, keep simple accounts, 
or appear to derive any enjoyment from reading. 


—— 


OcTOBER 23, 191 3] 


Nevertheless, two of them, at all events, gave evi- 
dence of a real liking for mechanics, and within a 
year or so could be trusted to take the engines to 
pieces, clean them, and replace them with but little 
supervision. It might be argued that although they 
had imperfectly acquired the rudiments of ‘the three 
R’s,” the aptitude of these lads was the result of 
their training. Of this, however, 1 could find no 
evidence. It is difficult to understand how these boys 
could have profited so little by their many years of 
school life. If such an example is in any way typical, 
it is time to consider what the country is obtaining in 
return for the thirty millions annually expended on 
elementary education alone. 

It may be thought that I have been unfortunate in 
my experience. I do not, however, believe that my 
case is singular. In The Contemporary Review for 
July, 1909, Prof. Stanley Jevons contributed an article 
on “The Causes of Unemployment.’ He referred 
therein to the opportunities afforded him by Univer- 
sity Settlement Boys’ Clubs in London and Cardiff of 
forming a judgment concerning the products of our 
primary schools. He described the following experi- 
ment :— 

“| arranged to test a few members of the Boys’ Club. 
They were gathered in a room with pens and papers 
and were asked to write down the following short 
sentence, which was spoken to them distinctly twice, 
as an example of the kind of message which they 
might be expected to have to write occasionally for 
an employer: ‘‘I have not been able to find the 
book which you sent me to fetch.’ The test was one 
both of memory and spelling, and most of the boys 
failed in one or both respects.” 

Prof. Jevons gave facsimiles of the results, which 
I am unable to reproduce; but I can indicate the 
nature of the spelling. It will be noticed that there 
are no words of two syllables. The following is the 
best of the batch :— : 

Boy aged nearly sixteen: “I cannot (fetch) find 
the book which you sent me to fetch.” 

The following are from boys aged fourteen and 
fifteen respectively :— 

“T have not been abele to find the boock whi witch 
I sent you (for) to fitch.” 

“T have Not bend able to find the book With I 
sent you to fath.” 

All these boys have been through one of our large 
primary schools. 

Prof. Jevons added: ‘‘In contemplating the ques- 
tion of unemployment one is at once led to the 
conclusion to which so many other economic 
problems ultimately lead—that the only certain 
means of abating the evil is the improvement of the 
individual.” 

Passing from such limited experiences to the views 
of those who are brought into contact with the pro- 
ducts in bulk, a sense of dissatisfaction and uneasi- 
ness is no less evident. Consider the following 
extracts from the presidential address of Mr. Walter 
Dixon, to the West of Scotland Iron and Steel Insti- 
tute in October last :— 

“T have, over a somewhat extended period and a 
wide area, made inquiries amongst those who have 
the control of about 200,000 men in our own allied 
industries, with the following results : 

“Tt is the unanimous opinion that any book- 
learning outside the rudiments of ‘the three R’s’ is 
considered a matter outside the requirements of the 
education of more than 90 per cent. of the usual 
manual workers. In other words, the worl that 
these men are called upon to do, the labour which 
they have to perform in their daily avocation, would 
be as efficient, as successful, and as expeditiously per- 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


251 


formed if the men had no school education whatever 
outside * the three R’s.’” 

If there is any truth in this severe indictment there 
is small cause tor wonder if a general sense of un- 
easiness exists amongst those who consider that the 
future prosperity and safety of this country are 
dependent on the manner in which we train the rising 
generation. 

In justice to Mr. Dixon I must give a further 
extract from his address :— 

“During the recent meeting of the British Asso- 
ciation in Dundee I spent some time amongst educa- 
tional authorities, not only those belonging to our 
own country, but delegates from other nations, and | 
find that they themselves are beginning to see the 
futility of the present methods and to realise that 
they are ploughing the sands. Amongst other matters, 
it was of interest to note that they are at present pro- 
mulgating a scheme for what they call vocational 
education. In other words, I gather that they are 
now attempting in a modified way to replace the old 
‘prentice system by teaching trades in their schools, 
so that children may enter the trades as_ skilled 
workers—a system which, to my mind, would render 
the present confusion more confounded. . . .We must 
recognise that the mechanical developments of the 
last half-century have done away in a large measure 
with the possibility of the interest which man could 
once take in his daily work, inasmuch that few men 
now make anything, but only a small portion of 
something. A statement was made at Dundee that 
135 different persons were employed in the making 
of a boot. It is not to be expected that any of these 
135 workers can get enthusiastic about their particular 
bit. We must recognise that as long as we live under 
the reign of industrial competition the hours of labour 
are likely to be hours of stress, and that when a man 
has finished his labour it is only right, it is only 
human, that he should have hours of reasonable 
recreation. It is with a view of making these hours 
of recreation worthy of the nation to which we 
belong that I feel that our educational methods might, 
and ultimately will, be altered and rendered valu- 
able.” 

If I may venture to summarise Mr. Dixon’s address 
as a whole, it appears to me that the argument is 
somewhat as follows: It is admitted that “the three 
R’s”’ are necessary for all workers, of whatever 
grade, almost as necessary for the mental as are sight 
and hearing for the physical equipment. A large 
majority of manual labourers, however, are not ren- 
dered any more efficient in the discharge of their 
tasks by further instruction of an academic character, 
and therefore we should aim at providing them with 
some form of education which would so quicken their 
intelligence as to enable them to find an interest in 
matters external to their employment and thus lead 
them to utilise their hours of creation in a sane and 
healthy manner. It should be our object not so much 
to train all our soldiers as if they were to be generals, 
as to give them that education which would make 
them good soldiers, and to spare no expenditure of 
time or money in the further education and develop- 
ment of the small percentage who have shown those 
qualities which lead, under proper guidance, to high 
achievement. 

The assumption that all children are fitted to profit 
by more than the rudiments of academic education is, 
I believe, responsible for many of our present diffi- 
culties. In physical matters we seem to be wiser. 
We take account of bodily disabilities; we do not 
train lame men for racing, or enter carthorses for 
the Derby; we do not accept the short-sighted or the 
colour-blind as sailors; but those who talk of com 


252 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 23, 1913 


pulsory further education appear to think that all 
men are on an equality as regards mental equipment. 
Democracy in its control of education counts noses 
rather than brains, I observe, for example, that 
the education committees, on which I have, or have 
had, the honour of serving, are unwilling to continue 
those higher technical classes in science in which the 
numbers are necessarily small. A class of four in 
higher mathematics will probably be discontinued, 
whereas a class of one hundred in shorthand will be 
regarded as a highly successful achievement. 

Such education committees, however, are only 
carrying out what is apparently the policy of those 
sitting in the seats of authority. A nation which 
expends but four millions for the encouragement of 
higher education and research and thirty millions on 
the rudiments cannot be said to lend that recognition, 
assistance, and encouragement to the best brains of 
the country which is the one form of educational 
outlay which is certain to bring, as Mr. Wells has 
truly indicated, not only the best return industrially, 
but also an immunity from invasion otherwise un- 
obtainable. 

It is possible that the views taken by Mr. Dixon and 
the employers and business men whose opinions I 
have attempted to gather are unduly pessimistic. I 
have, therefore, turned naturally to the teachers, with 
many of whom I am brought into contact. 

I find, on the whole, much the same spirit of 
pessimism prevailing. I can only recollect one gentle- 
man—a teacher of long experience and high standing 
—who takes a brighter view of the position. Ac- 
cording to him, the children leave our schools better 
instructed, more intelligent, and better mannered than 
was the case some twenty years ago. 

It is true that teachers as a body agree that there 
has been one real advance—viz., the abolition of the 
system of payment by results—but many of them 
admit that during the past ten years progress, if any, 
has been slight. They plead in extenuation that the 
large size of the classes is in itself a barrier to real 
efficiency, and that the teacher is so fettered by 
regulations, so bothered by the fads of individual 
inspectors, that we ought to be gratified, rather than 
disappointed, by the results achieved. It is a signi- 
ficant fact that the supply of teachers for our primary 
schools is diminishing, and that, as a necessary con- 
sequence, the proportion of fully trained and qualified 
teachers, although increasing, is unduly small. The 
attractions of the profession are undoubtedly in- 
sufficient. When we consider the meagre salaries, 
the slow, very slow, promotion, the few prizes and 
the slight social recognition, it is a surprising fact 
that so many able men and women are prepared to 
accept the lot of teachers in our primary schools. 

The teaching profession, if profession it can rightly 
be termed, compares unfavourably with the so-called 
learned professions. It is noticeable that but few of 
our primary school teachers are prominent in civic 
affairs. Their representation on education com- 
mittees, for example, is quite inadequate; during the 
discharge of their duties they are unable to mix with 
their fellow-citizens, and thus gain experience in the 
same manner as the clergyman, the doctor, or the 
solicitor. The regulations practically forbid participa- 
tion in public life, and the teachers’ activities are 
regarded as bounded by the walls of the schoolroom. 

If the results of our educational system are dis- 
appointing, it is not for us to throw the blame on 
the teachers. Until we learn that satisfactory results 
can be obtained only when the life and emoluments 
of the schoolmaster are such as to offer avenues to 
distinction comparable with those of the learned profes- 
sions, we cannot hope to attract into what should be, 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


after all, the most important of all professions, the 
best brains and energies of the community.* 

Undoubtedly, however, we have made advances 
within the last generation. Our outlook is different, 
but we are expecting higher achievement without 
affording that inducement which entitles us to demand 
it. Our industrial needs have impressed upon us the 
necessity of a wider view of the meaning of the word 
“education."” We are slowly learning that we should 
aim at the awakening of the intelligence, rather than 
at the mere imparting of knowledge by what I might 
term force-pump methods. Forcible feeding is not 
proving a success either physically or mentally. 

Some fifty years ago a leading name in the educa- 
tional world was that of Todhunter—a name which | 
admit was regarded with terror rather than affection 
by many of us in our school days. As a correction 
to pessimism I venture to inflict upon you the fol- 
lowing extract from -Todhunter’s ‘Conflict of 
Studies,”’ published in 1873 :— 

“It may be said that the fact makes a stronger 
impression on the boy through the medium of his 
sight, that he believes it more confidently. I say that 
this ought not to be the case. If he does not believe 
the statement of his teacher—probably a clergyman 
of mature knowledge, recognised ability, and blame- 
less character—his suspicion is irrational and mani- 
fests a want of the power of appreciating evidence, a 
want fatal to his success in that branch of science he 
is supposed to be cultivating.” : 

I take a singular pleasure in this extract. In times 
of depression it serves as a tonic and drives one to the 
conclusion that, after all, our progress, however slow, 
is real, although I have an impression that the Tod- 
hunter school is not entirely extinct. 

So far, the only result of my inquiries has been the 
discovery, if discovery it was, that dissatisfaction with 
our present system was the prevailing sentiment. 
decided, therefore, to take the somewhat bold step 
of endeavouring to ascertain the attitude of those who 
have most to do with the administration thereof. T 
ventured to send to all the directors of education in 
England and Wales a series of questions, the answers 
to which I hoped might throw light on the matter. 
In order to elicit, if possible, free expression of opinion 
I stated that their replies would in general be used 
only for statistical purposes, and in no case would 
indication be given of the authority with which the 
writer was concerned. 

I take this opportunity of most sincerely thanking 
the many directors who have been so good as to assist 
me in this inquiry. No fewer than 121 of these 
gentlemen have undertaken the task of returning 
replies, and when I reflect upon the extent to which 
their energies are employed in compiling returns for 
their various authorities and for the Board of Educa- 
tion, I realise my temerity in thus adding to their 
labours. 

In analysing the replies it has been necessary to 
divide them into the following classes, viz.: (1) 
Counties, (2) county boroughs, and (3) boroughs and 
urban districts, as the conditions in these areas, under 
the Act of 1902, differ considerably. 

We must remember that as the directors of educa- 
tion have to work the machinery, they are perhaps in 
a better position than any others to form a judgment 
as to excellences and defects. True, they look on 
the matter through official spectacles, which are 
always more or less tinted, and they may, like many 
owners of motor-cars, have a tendency to hide im- 
perfections. 


_} It appears that our average expenditure per child per working week 
(including interest on buildings, &c.) is about 1s. 8d. Perhaps we are getting 
in return as much as we deserve at the price. 


i i ee eee 


: 


— 


OcToBER 23, 1913] 


NATURE 


253 


In Class 1 (counties) I received replies from thirty- 
six directors; in Class 2 (county boroughs) from forty ; 
and in Class 3 (boroughs and urban districts) from 
forty-five. 

The authorities concerned are fairly representative 
of all portions of England and Wales, and both of 
rural and urban districts. In order to render com- 
parisons possible, 1 express the nature of the replies 
in percentages of the whole of the class. I believe, 
however, that the effect of reading out, in circum- 
stances of this kind, a large number of tables con- 
taining numerical data would be to occupy a con- 
siderable portion of your time, and yet leave but little 
definite impression. I have, therefore, given these 
tables as an appendix to this address, and will now 
only trouble you with a reference to the results and 
some examples of the interesting remarks included 
in the replies. 

My first question was :— 

I. ‘Do you consider that the centralisation of 
authority in the hands of county councils has caused 
any decay of interest in education in your district?” 

Reference to Table 1 will show that while in large 
areas the effect of the Act has been to stimulate 
interest in educational matters, in small boroughs and 
urban districts the reverse has been the case. It is 
difficult, however, to classify strictly many of the 
replies, as will be seen from the following examples.* 

As a natural sequence to this interrogation I made 
the following inquiry, namely :— 

Il. ““Would you prefer the educational authority to 
be one elected ad hoc, as in the days of the school 
boards, rather than the system as at present estab- 
lished?” 

As might be expected, those directors who con- 
sidered that the present system has caused a decay in 
local interest are, with some few exceptions, in favour 
of a return to an authority elected ad hoc. Replies in 
the affirmative form a large proportion of the whole, 
no less than 72 per cent. of the boroughs and urban 
districts being in favour of a return to the old system. 
In considering the answers to both these questions it 
should be remembered that previous to the Act of 1902 
counties, as such, had no experience as regards 
primary education. 

The Act of 1902 gave to the county councils, as 
regards the constitution of their education committees, 
considerable powers of cooption. I was anxious to 
find to what extent this power had been utilised, and, 
therefore, my third question was :— 

Ill. **To what extent has cooption of members of 
the education committee been adopted in your area— 
i.e. what proportion do the coopted members bear to 
the whole committee, and what is the proportion of 
coopted women members?” 

The average percentage of coopted members is 
curiously equal in all three classes—viz. thirty-one, 
thirty-three, thirty. The highest percentage is forty- 
eight, and the lowest three. It is noticeable that the 
percentage of coopted members is less in Wales than 
in England. A reference to the tables will show that 
a considerable number of directors are desirous that 
the principle of cooption should be extended. 

My fourth question was :— 

IV. ‘‘Have your local committees, or bodies of 
school managers, the right of appointing (a) head 
teachers, (b) assistant teachers?” 

I find that, as regards head teachers, more than 
one-half of the counties, one-third of the boroughs, 
but only a small proportion of the county boroughs, 
have delegated all powers; the right of appointing 


2 The examples referred to will be found in the address as-printed in full 
and issued by the British Association. 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


assistant teachers being delegated to a slightly greater 
extent.* 

The general result oi the replies indicates that the 
power of appointment is unsatisfactorily exercised by 
local bodies of managers. 

V. ‘“‘Has the authority established a college for the 
training of elementary teachers, under its own 
management, or in conjunction with others?” 

I find that as large a proportion as one-seventh of 
the authorities (counties and county boroughs) whose 
directors have returned replies have established train- 
ing colleges. It does not appear, therefore, as if 
the present dearth of teachers was due to lack of 
training facilities. 

I was anxious to ascertain if the effect of such 
local training colleges was to restrict the freedom of 
teachers, and the sixth question was as follows :— 

VI. ‘‘Is the general effect of the present system to 
restrict the freedom of choice of teachers to those 
from your own locality?” 

In about half the counties the answer is in the 
affirmative, and in the county boroughs about four- 
fifths. 

It would appear that, on the whole, the opinion 
of directors is that the effect of the establishment of 
local training colleges has been to encourage the 
evil of what I may term “inbreeding.” 

VII. ‘*Do you consider the curricula of (a) primary, 
(b) secondary, schools under your authority as over- 
crowded? If so, can you indicate the directions in 
which you consider there could be a reduction?” 

Rather more than half of the authorities consulted 
considered that the curricula of the elementary schools 
are overcrowded, and rather more than a third are 
of the same opinion as regards the curricula of the 
secondary schools. 

VIII. ““Are you in favour of an increase in the 
number of vocational schools? Or do you consider 
that the effect of such increase would be detrimental 
to the standard of general education throughout the 
country ?”’ 

One-third of the county directors consulted, and 
almost half of those of the county boroughs and 
boroughs, answer in the affirmative, whereas rather 
more than one-fifth state their inability to arrive at a 
conclusion. A number of those who answer in the 
affirmative qualify their replies by stating: ‘‘ For 
children over fourteen,’ or ‘‘General education must 
be first considered,” ‘Provided general education is 
continued.” 

As a whole, the weight of opinion is strongly 
against any increase in vocational schools for children 
who have not completed their primary education. 

IX. “What is the average size of the classes in 
your primary schools ?”’ 

I find that the average size of the classes in the 
counties is thirty-four, and in the boroughs forty-two, 
and they vary from over sixty-three down to ten. The 
smaller average in the counties is evidently due to 
the large proportion of rural schools. ; 

My next question concerned the counties only. I 
was anxious to ascertain the effect of the clause of 
the Act which places on the locality the task of finding 
the greater portion of the money for additional 
buildings, viz. :— 

X. “Do you consider Par. 18, 1 (a), (c), (d) of the 
tg0o2 Act to work harshly or to the disadvantage of 
educational progress?” ; 

It appears that some 4o per cent. of the directors are 
of opinion that the effect of the clause is unsatisfac- 
tory. It must be remembered that it is not probable 


3 As regards non-provided schrols, in all cases (by the Act) the power o 
appointing head teachers is in the hands of the managers. 


254 


that the officials of county councils would regard this 
matter from an impartial point of view, for, no doubt, 
the existing conditions lighten the burden of the 
county rates. It is somewhat surprising that in such 
circumstances the percentage of those answering in 
the affirmative is so large. 

XI. ‘**Has your council delegated to your education 
committee all the powers permitted by the Act? If 
not, are you in favour of such delegation?” 

I find that while over go per cent. of the county 
authorities have delegated all powers, less than one- 
half of the county boroughs and three-fifths of the 
boroughs and urban districts have adopted the same 
course. An overwhelming majority (85 per cent.) of 
the directors of all classes are in favour of full delega- 
tion. 

XII. ** Please add any special criticisms of, or sug- 
gestions for, improvements in the Act.” 

It was very evident that most of my correspondents 
were anxious to avoid an expression of their views in 
this matter. The nature of many of the replies mav 
be indicated by that of one of the directors—namely, 
“No, thank you.” On the other hand, several have been 
so good as to write me short treatises on the subject, 
containing very valuable expressions of opinion. It 
is difficult, however, to quote from many of these 
without betraying the condition on which I invited 
confidence—namely, that I would give no indication 
as to the localities concerned. On one matter all who 
have expressed their opinions are in accord, viz. : 
“The greatest difficulty of the Act is the dual control 
for non-provided schools, more especially with regard 
to staffing.” 

It is stated that ‘the transfer and promotion of 
teachers is almost impossible under the present 
system.’’ I feel, however, that the less I touch on 
this aspect of the matter the better for the peace of 
mind of this section. Again, all directors urge the 
necessity of relieving the increasing burden of the 
rates. One states that the proportion of Treasury 
grants has dropped from 66 per cent. in 1906 to 48 per 
cent. in the past year, while the iocal rate has been 
nearly trebled. Again: ‘‘Some means should be 
obtained to enable authorities with a large number of 
rural schools to provide adequate education without 
increasing the overwhelming burden now imposed 
upon them.” 

I may sum up as follows the impression left on my 
mind by the study of all the replies, of which I have 
given only a few examples. 

1. The Act appears to give greater satisfaction in 
the counties than in the» county boroughs and 
boroughs and urban districts, although even in the 
counties the position of the smaller rural schools is a 
cause of dissatisfaction. 

2. That in the boroughs there is, on the whole, a 
preponderance of opinion in favour either of an 
authority elected ad hoc, or a more liberal exercise of 
the power of cooption. 

3. That there is a preponderance of opinion that the 
appointments of school teachers should in all cases 
rest in the hands of the L.E.A. 

4. That there is a tendency under the present 
system, except in centres of large population, to re- 
strict the choice of teachers to those who have re- 
ceived their education locally, and that the effect of 
such restriction is detrimental. 

5. That greater freedom in educational matters is 
advisable. The effect of the present system is to 
produce a dull uniformity, although it is doubtful 
whether the head teachers themselves or the Board of 
Education are most to blame. 

6. That an increase in the number of vocational 
schools is not desirable, unless great care is taken that 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 23, 1913 


only those scholars are admitted who have received a 
sound general education. é 

7. That one of the greatest hindrances to progress 
is the large size of the classes.» ; 

8. That there should be a greater delegation of 
powers to the education committees, and that the 
L.E.A. should have complete control over all forms 
of education within its own area. 

g. That a Redistribution Bill in the matter of areas 
is desirable, especially in the relation of urban areas 
to the rural districts connected with them. 

10. That the dearth of fully qualified teachers cannot 
be remedied until the profession is made sufficiently 
attractive by increased emoluments and more rapid 
promotion. Mere increase in the number of training 
colleges is no remedy. 

11. And, lastly, there is a consensus of opinion that 
a greater proportion of the cost of education should 
be borne by the Treasury, and that the danger to 
education arising from the rapid rate of increase in 
the education rate is a very real one. If education 
in this country is to be successful it must be made 
popular. This is impossible when every step in 
advance means an addition to the local burdens. 

I am afraid that the tenor’ of this correspondence 
does little to modify the pessimistic views to which I 
have previously directed attention. Regarded in bulls 
it conveys the idea that the writers are endeavouring 
to make the best of a bad case. As shown by the last 
reply quoted (supra), the race of Mark Tapleys does 
not appear to be entirely extinct. 

I wish it had been possible to obtain the con- 
fidential opinion of H.M.I.s, but I, at all events, am 
not one who would dare to question the gods, the 
distinguishing characteristic of those admirable 
otneials being a cold infallibility which renders ap- 
proach inadvisable. It must be remembered, how- 
ever. that veiled hints of the need of drastic reforms 
have emanated from the highest quarters, and one 
of the most hopeful signs of the situation is that such 
information as has been vouchsafed to us appears to 
indicate that those who are moving in the matter 
actually acknowledge that there is an educational as 
well as a sectarian and a political aspect of the ques- 
tion. Nevertheless, so far as I am personally con- 
cerned [| still find my chief consolation in the quota- 
tion from Todhunter which I have already inflicted 
upon you. 


I am now going to take a bold step—namely, to 
express my own opinion on this matter of primary 
education. I consider that we are proceeding in the 
wrong order, in that we give greater prominence to 
the acquisition of knowledge than to the development 
of character. 

There is truth in Emerson’s dictum that “the best 
education is that which remains when everything 
learnt at school is forgotten.’ We appear to think 
that the learning of “the three R’s” is education. 
We must remember that in imparting these we are 


» only supplying the child with means of education, 


and that even when he has acquired them the mere 
addition of further knowledge is again not education. 
If we impart the desire for knowledge and train the 
necessary mental appetite, the knowledge which will 
come by the bucketful in after life will be absorbed 
and utilised. 

It is, I know, easy to tall platitudes of this kind. 
We have, in justice to the teacher, to remember that 
character depends on home life, as well as on school 
life; but, nevertheless, if we could educate public 
opinion on this matter progress might be possible. 
We want to introduce the spirit of our much-abused 
public schools into all schools, namely, a sense of 


OcTOBER 23, 1913] 


responsibility—and, as a necessary sequence, a sense 
of discipline—a standard of truthfulness and con- 
sideration. In this connection I have been greatly 
impressed by a report issued by the Warwickshire 
County Council on the effect of the establishment of 
the prefect system in the elementary schools of that 
county, and | wish it was possible to place this report 
in the hands of every teacher in the country. It is 
stated in the introduction that ‘the fundamental idea 
of the prefect system is the formation and develop- 
ment of character and the utilising for this purpose 
of the efforts and activities of our pupils themselves.”’ 

The pamphlet contains a description of the system 
as established, and the different methods adopted in 
the schools of the county in carrying it into effect. 

A summary of the head teachers’ remarks, compiled 
by the Director of Education, is given as an appendix, 
and | cannot resist the temptation to quote largely 
from his report :— 

“In the autumn of 1911 a conference of head 
teachers was held on prefect systems in elementary 
schools. It was then decided that all the head 
teachers present should try the system for a year, 
each one on his or her own lines, and then report as 
to its working. 

“Nearly all have now made reports, one only 
having failed without good cause. Reports have come 
in from six large or middling boys’ schools, three 


large girls’ schools, two large mixed schools, mostly | 


in villages, and one infants’ school—twenty-three in 
all, embracing schools of practically every type. 

“The record, with one exception, is a story of 
success, in most cases of extraordinary success, so 
much so as to put the possibility and value of the 
system beyond a doubt. Whether in developing the 
prefect’s own character, or in creating a sense of 
school honour among the other children, or in smooth- 
ing the whole working of the school, the result is equally 
striking. And the more ambitious the scheme of a 
school, the more it approximates to the public school 
tradition, the bigger the faith in boy and girl nature, 
the greater has been the success. The few evidences 
of comparative disappointment come from schools 
where the system has been tried haltingly and with 
distrust. Where there has been courageous faith in 
the children they have risen to it to a degree that 
must surprise even those who were readiest to believe 
in school self-government. Nor is the success con- 
fined to large schools or boys’ schools. Boys’ and 
girls’ and mixed schools, town schools and village 
schools, all have the same tale to tell. A supply 
teacher who has served in seven schools since the 
conference has found that ‘ from all classes of children, 
town and country, a ready response is made to an 
appeal for added responsibility and trust on their 
Part. sus 


“The prefect, being in authority himself, comes to’ 


see the necessity and value of discipline. He is as 


keen as is his head for the school’s honour; he worries | 


the unpunctual, he takes charge of the playground. 
He is proud at being asked and able to help in 
matters of school routine, most of all when the teacher 
is called out of the class-room and he is himself 
responsible for order. And woe then to the disorderly 
or slack... 4 

“Tn its way one of the most remarkable applications 
of the system is its appearance in a miniature form in 
an infants’ school. Children of six and seven, happy 
in the possession of the monitor’s bow of ribbon, 
take care of the younger children and remove dust 
which has escaped the caretaker’s eye. . . . 

“Tt is a moot point whether a written constitution 
helps or not. Some teachers deprecate rules, as limit- 
ing a prefect’s sense of responsibility and his freedom 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


| become almost human. 


255 


to follow out his own ideas. That rules, however, 
meet some want seems to be proved by the fact that 
at a school where the head master had purposely 
made none the boys themselves drew up their code, 
and, the head master adds: ‘I could not have got 
out any better rules.’”’ 

The origin of the movement the results of which are 
thus described is due to the man whom I regard as 
the greatest educator of our time—namely, Sir Robert 
Baden-Powell. I believe that the Boy Scout move- 
ment is rendering greater service than our com- 
plicated State machinery in preparing those who are 
brought within its influence for the struggles of life. 
It is a matter for regret that so small a fraction of 
the children in our schools is able to share its benefits. 
1 only wish it were possible for our political system 
to admit the appointment of Baden-Powell as Minister 
of Education, with plenary powers, for the next ten 
years! 

He states that when visiting a great agricultural 
school in Australia he asked the principal to inform 
him briefly what was the general trend of his train- 
ing. The reply was: ** Character first; then Agricul- 
ture.” 

If this, suitably modified, could be adopted as the 
motto for all our schools, the present attitude of the 
man in the street towards education would soon 
undergo modification. 

There is truth in Dr. Moxon’s statement that ‘‘A 
man has to be better than his knowledge, or he 
cannot make use of it,’’ and our efforts should be 
mainly directed to making the character and the in- 
telligence of the child so much better than his know- 
ledge that increase in knowledge will follow as a 
matter of course. Let us devise some kind of uni- 
versal junior scout system which may so brighten the 
intelligence that the boy will want to know. Let him 
also discover that the paths to knowledge are reading, 
writing, and arithmetic; he will then gladly follow 
his guides and gather more by the way than when he 
is pushed along those paths in a perambulator. 

So long as we attach greater importance to the 
results of examination than to the judgment of the 
teacher our system stands self-condemned, for it places 
knowledge above character. 

It is natural that the discontented amongst us 
should try to cast the blame on those in authority, 
and I confess that at times I feel as if I could join 
the militant section and relieve my feelings by throw- 
ing stones through the windows of the Board of 
Education; but in recent years I have been privi- 
leged to pass to the other side of those windows, and 
I have, to some extent, been led to realise how able 
and how devoted are the men to whom the guidance 
of our educational system is entrusted. All who are 
brought in contact with them must acknowledge their 
earnestness and their zeal in the cause in which they 
are enlisted, and it is remarkable how, in the dis- 
cussion of educational questions, they can, in moments 
of partial abandon, cease to be strictly official and 
It is evident, however, that 
the aim of such men must ever be the smooth work- 
ing of the machine as a whoie. The comforting 
words “coordination,” ‘‘ uniformity,”’ ‘‘ efficiency,”’ are 
ever in their minds. A system planned on one great 
design and perfected in all its details is the ideal for 
which they are bound, consciously or unconsciously, to 
strive. The pity of it is that the more successful their 
efforts, the worse it is for education in this country. 

Evolutionary progress is only possible where variety 
exists, and variety is necessarily abhorrent to the 
official mind. Freedom for local authorities to adopt 
their own methods, to experiment—and often to fail— 


| is the system, if system it can be called, by which 


256 


NATURE 


[OcrToBER 23, 1913 


alone advance is possible. The curse of uniformity, 
perhaps the greatest curse of all, is a necessary con- 
sequence of over-centralised control. 


I have trespassed so greatly upon your forbearance 
in discussing matters connected with primary educa- 
tion that I must give but brief expression to any views 
concerning the secondary and higher branches. 

As I have previously indicated, State aid should be 
restricted to those who are able to profit thereby. The 
25 per cent. free-place regulation has, it is generally 
admitted, brought into the secondary schools many 
really able students. On the other hand, there is no 
doubt that a certain proportion thereof would be more 
profitably employed in serving their apprenticeship in 
the business in which they are to earn their bread- 
and-butter. It is, of course, understood that those 
whose parents can afford to pay for the further educa- 
tion of their children and who are ready to do so are 
not here referred to, but, careful selection assured, 
generous assistance to those in need of help suggests 
itself as the best policy. 

Another subject for consideration is the dispropor- 
tion between the assistance given by the State to the 
training of primary and of secondary teachers. I 
understand that to the latter object, so far as England 
and Wales are concerned, the not impressive sum of 
5oool. is delegated. After making due allowance for 
the difference in numbers under the respective head- 
ings, it is difficult to understand how it is necessary 
to expend a sum approaching 700,0o0ol.' on the train- 
ing of primary teachers, and only 1/140th of that 
amount on training those who are to guide our most 
able students in the pursuit of knowledge. 

Had time permitted I should have liked to dwell 
on the evil effects of what I may term our conspiracy 
of silence regarding sexual instruction. If the pro- 
verbial visitor from Mars was engaged in a tour of 
inspection in our country, I think nothing would 
strike him as more extraordinary than that a subject 
which so closely concerns the progress of the race 
and the welfare of the individual should be entirely 
ignored in our system of education. By our action (or 
rather want of action) we tacitly admit that knowledge 
is harmful, and that we deliberately prefer such know- 
ledge, which must necessarily be attained in one way 
or another, to arrive by subterranean channels and by 
agencies which will present facts of vital importance 
in their worst possible aspect. 

We cannot be said to be really educating our children 
so long as we withhold from them all guidance in one 
of the most difficult problems which will be presented 
to them in later life, and when one reflects on the 
misery and wreckage consequent on our silence, it 
is difficult to speak with due moderation. I will there- 
fore content myself with suggesting to those interested 
in this matter a study of the procedure adopted in the 
schools of Finland, in which systematic instruction is 
given by carefully selected teachers; it is stated with 
the happiest results. 

I have referred, when speaking of primary educa- 
tion, to the curse of uniformity as one of the greatest 


4 Note I.—Grants for 1911-12 :— 
1. Grants from Board of Education :— 
(a) Maintenance grants to training colleges and 


hostels ... sa - £470,910 

(4) Building grants ... 93,406 
5 F £564,496 

2. Grants from L.E.A.'s :— 
(a) To training colleges 21,682 
(6) ‘Yo hostels Pe ey ee ak 787 
(c) Scholarships (not possible to ascertain total) ? 

22,469 
Total £526,875 


Note II.—To the above must be added the grants in aid of bursars and 
pupil teachers, which amount to £re1, 802. 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


I 


; evils of our educational system. 
our provincial universities have escaped, although not 


entirely unscathed, from the cramping effects of de-— 


partmental control. The situdtion, however, is not 
free from danger. It is necessary that these universi- 
ties should be State-aided. It is also evident that, if 
we are to hold our own in competition with other 
nations, State assistance must be increased. There is 
danger, therefore, that the blight of uniformity and 
official control may descend upon them. 
is not immediate, but it is nevertheless real. To some 
of us an ominous sign was the transference of the 
dispensation of the university grants from the Treasury 
to the Board of Education. It is true that we have 
evidence that no desire for undue control is manifest 
at the present time, and it is an encouraging sign 
that the Minister of Education, in a recent dispute 
connected with one of our youngest universities, 
intimated that he considered it beyond his province to 
interfere with its proceedings. 

In this connection Mr. Austen Chamberlain has 
given me permission to read the following extract 
from a letter which I recently received from him :— 

‘“I am in complete agreement with you as to the 
importance of preserving to the universities the 
greatest possible freedom and liberty. For this very 
reason I was at first strongly opposed to transferring 
the administration of the Treasury grants to the 
Board of Education; but I found that, for one reason 
and another, a considerable portion of their receipts 
were already received from the latter Board, and it 
was represented to me that this involved unnecessar 
complication and overlapping, and that the universi- 
ties were likely to receive more generous considera- 
tion if the whole of the grants were placed in the 
hands of a single authority. At the same time I was 
assured that the Board of Education had no desire 
to claim a control different in character or extent 
from that which the Treasury had previously exer- 
cised. On receiving these assurances I withdrew my 
opposition to the transfer and sent word to the Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer that I no longer held him 
bound by an undertaking which he had given me in 
the House of Commons that the transfer should 
not take place.” 

Another encouraging sign is the personnel of the 
Advisory Committee which the Board has established 
to guide it in matters connected with the University 
grants. We cannot, however, be certain that su 
wise views will always prevail, and I have already 
dwelt on the inevitable tendency of any department 
of State to influence and control the policy of all 
bodies receiving assistance from the Treasury. 

The freedom of the universities is one of the highest 
educational assets of this country, and it is to the 
advantage of the community as a whole that each 
university should be left unfettered to develop its 
energies, promote research and advance learning in 
the manner best suited to its environment. It is con- 
ceivable that it might be better for our universities to 
struggle on in comparative poverty rather than yield 
to the temptation of affluence coupled with State 
control. 

The State is at present devoting some 180,000l. to 
the support of university education in England and 
Wales. If, in addition, we include such institutions 
as the National Physical Laboratory and the grant 
of 4oool. to the Royal Society, we may say that this 
country is expending about 200,000]. per annum on 
the highest education and the promotion of research, 
a total but slightly exceeding that devoted to one of 
the universities of Germany. Comment 
needless. 


When we reflect on the magnitude of the results 


So far, at all events, | 


The danger _ 


appears 


—— == SS SS ee eae 


OcToBER 23, 1913| 


NATURE 


ah, 


which would inevitably follow an adequate encourage- 
ment of research, the irony of the position becomes 
more evident. It was stated on authority that 
Pasteur during his lifetime saved for his country the 
whole cost of the Franco-Prussian War. It is com- 
puted that nearly one and three-quarter millions of 
our population are to-day dependent for their living 
upon industries connected with the mechanical 
generation of electricity—a population which may be 
said, without undue use of imagery, to be living on 
the brain of Faraday. We possess mathematicians 
who, granted encouragement, opportunity, and time, 
could establish laws of stability of aéroplanes. Sup- 
pose we spent some millions in discovering the man 
and enabling him to complete his task; the result 
might be an addition to our security greater than 
that of a fleet of super-Dreadnoughts. Unfortunately, 
there are no votes to be gained by the advocacy of 
opportunities for research! 

Associations such as ours should spare no effort 
to bring home to the minds of the people the truth of 
the statement that the prosperity of this kingdom 


is dependent on its industries, and that those indus- 


tries are founded on applied science. 

Some years ago the Petit Journal invited its 
readers to answer the question, ‘“‘Who were the 
twenty greatest Frenchmen of the nineteenth cen- 
tury?"’ No fewer than fifteen million votes were 
recorded. The resulting list included the names of 
nine scientific men, and Pasteur led by 100,000 votes 
over Victor Hugo, who came second, Napoleon secur- 
ing the fourth place. It is obvious that a poll of 
such magnitude must have been representative of all 
classes. I ask you to reflect on the probable result, 
mutatis mutandis, if such a poll was taken in this 
country. I am afraid we should find the names of 
football and cricket heroes included, but I doubt if 
the name of a single man of science would appear 
amongst the immortals. 

It should be our mission to make evident to the 
working man his indebtedness to the pioneers of 
science. Demonstrate to him the close connection 
between the price of his meat and the use of re- 
frigerating processes founded on the investigations of 
Joule and Thomson; between the purity of his beer 
and the labours of Pasteur. Show the collier that 
his safety is to no small extent due to Humphry 
Davy; the driver of the electric tramcar that his 
wages were coined by Faraday.’ Make the worker 
in steel realise his obligation to Bessemer and 
Nasmyth; the telegraphist his indebtedness to Volta 
and Wheatstone, and the man at the ‘ wireless” 
station that his employment is due to Hertz. Tell 
the soldier that the successful extraction of the bullet 
he received during the South African war was accom- 
plished by the aid of Réntgen. Convince the sailor 
that his good “landfall”? was achieved by the help 
of mathematicians and astronomers; that Tyndall 
had much to do with the brilliancey of the lights which 
warn him of danger, and that to Kelvin he owes the 
perfection of his compass and sounding line. Im- 


ress upon all wage-earners the probability that had | 
P y 


it not been for the researches of Lister they, or some 
member of their family, would not be living to enjoy 
the fruits of their labours. If we can but bring 
some 5 per cent. of our voters to believe that their 
security, their comfort, their health, are the fruits of 
scientific investigation, then—but not until then— 
shall we see the attitude of those in authority towards 
this great question of the encouragement of research 
change from indifference to enthusiasm and from 
opposition to support. 

When we have educated the man in the street it is 
possible that we may succeed in the hardest task of 
all, that of educating our legislators. 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


BirRMINGHAM.—A valuable addition to the equip- 
ment of the mining department of the University has 
been made in the form of an electrically-driven oil- 
boring derrick, which has been presented by the Oil- 
well Engineering Company, of Cheadle. The appa- 
ratus is capable of boring to a depth of 2000 ft., and 
by its means mining students will be able to acquire 
practical experience in the handling of oil-boring 
plant. 

The following appointments have been made :—Mr. 
L. J. Wills, assistant lecturer in geology and geo- 
graphy; Mr. David Brunt, lecturer in mathematics 
(to succeed Mr. S. B. McLaren); Dr. C. L. Boulenger, 
reader in helminthology; Mr. H. G. Jackson, assistant 
lecturer in zoology. 

By the will of the late Henry Follett Osler the 
University is to receive the sum of Io,oool., with a 
prospective share in the residuary estate. 


Leeps.—The following appointments have been 
made to the staff of the University :—Mr. S. H. Stel- 
fox, assistant lecturer and demonstrator in engineer- 
ing; Mr. F. Powis, demonstrator in chemistry; Mr. 
E. Lee, assistant lecturer in agricultural botany; Mr. 
N. M. Comber, assistant lecturer in agricultural 
chemistry; Mr. D. B. Morgans, assistant lecturer 
and demonstrator in mining. 


Tue Concrete Institute has arranged a course of 
six educational lectures on reinforced concrete: its 
commercial development and practical application, to 
be given by Mr. H. Kempton Dyson, on Wednesdays 
in November and December, beginning on November 
12. The lectures will be given in the Lecture Hall 
of the institute, Westminster. There is no fee for 
the course; admission will be by ticket, obtainable on 
application from the secretary, the Concrete Institute, 
Denison House, 296 Vauxhall Bridge Road, West- 
minster, S.W. 


AN examination of the prospectus of the East Ham 
Technical College, which was opened in 1905, and 
on which some 33,0001. was spent, shows that the 
boroughs round London are fully alive to the import- 
ance of providing a practical training in technology 
and science for those engaged in the industrial pur- 
suits of the locality. The work of the college is done 
in some eight departments, and important among 
these are those for men engaged in building trades, 
engineers, chemists, commercial men, and for women 
workers. The more elementary evening classes are 
held in three preparatory evening schools in different 
parts of the borough, but in the college itself a 
preparatory industrial course has been provided de- 
signed to enable students later to follow intelligently 
the lectures and laboratory work in the different de- 
partments of technology. 


PRESIDING at a recent meeting of the Senate of 
Calcutta University, Sir Ashutosh Mookerjee made 
an interesting speech on some of the work of the 
University. According to a report of the speech 
given in The Pioneer Mail, the University has ar- 
ranged for lectures for M.A. and M.Sc. students 
| in eleven different branches of study, including pure 
mathematics and botany. The University has made 
itself directly responsible for the instruction of 1005 
students in Calcutta in these subjects for the M.A. 
and M.Sc. examinations. Post-graduate teaching on 
this scale has never before been attempted in any 
Indian university, and that there is a genuine demand 
for higher instruction is established by the readiness 
with which students in large numbers have eagerly 
' joined the classes in such subjects as pure mathe- 


258 


matics. The Government of India has made a liberal 
grant for the acquisition of a site, and plans have 
been nearly completed for further extension of the 
University buildings. When the new buildings are 
erected, there will be ample accommodation for the 
purposes of instruction, and, it will be possible to 
accommodate on the premises at least two hundred 
post-graduate students. 


Tue calendar for the session 1913-14 of the North 
of Scotland College of Agriculture has reached us. 
The classes of the college are held in the University 
of Aberdeen, except the class in agricultural engineer- 
ing, which is held in Robert Gordon’s Technical Col- 
lege, Aberdeen. The courses of instruction provided 
are arranged for the benefit of every section of the 
agricultural community. Persons who can attend the 
college only for four consecutive weeks in winter will 
find a short practical course extending over four 
weeks and including lectures on such subjects as 
feeding-stuffs, live-stock, diseases of animals, and so 
on. The full lectures on agriculture and agricultural 
chemistry extend over three years, but the complete 
course is modified in a variety of ways to meet par- 
ticular needs and to enable students to secure the 
college diploma or the national diploma in agriculture. 
There is a special department of forestry, and for 
practical work, through the liberality of several landed 
proprietors, excellent facilities are afforded. The close 
proximity to Aberdeen of large wooded areas places it 
in an advantageous position for the teaching of 
forestry. Farmers residing within the college area 
are entitled to receive advice and assistance from 
members of the college staff free of charge. There 
is, also, a carefully arranged scheme of county exten- 
sion work under the superintendence of a general 
county organiser. 


TuE calendar of the University of Sheffield for the 
session 1913-14, a copy of which has been received, 
provides striking evidence of the successful efforts 
which provincial universities are making to keep in 
close touch with the varied actvities of the districts 
they serve. Not only does the University of Sheffield 
train students who desire to follow the usual academic 
courses which culminate in degrees in arts, pure 
science, medicine, law, and so on, but it provides also 
graduated instruction in such applied sciences as 
engineering, metallurgy, and mining, and awards 
degrees in these branches of technology to students 
who at the end of the training comply with the 
reasonable regulations specified in the calendar. To 
meet the special needs of students whose circum- 
stances make it impossible for them to devote the 
time necessary for complying with the conditions for 
degrees, associateship and diploma courses have been 
arranged. The mining department of the University 
carries out a system of extension lectures in technical 
science in the West Riding of Yorkshire; a works 
pupils’ certificate course has been arranged by the 
University in consultation with the Sheffield Master 
Builders’ Association to meet the requirements of 
students who are working with the object of becom- 
ing master builders; a diploma course in domestic 
science has been inaugurated; and in other ways the 
University is assisting the higher education of Sheffield 
workers. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, October 13.—M. F. Guyon in 
the chair.—Paul Marchal: The acclimatisation of 
Novius cardinalis in France. In 1912 Icerya purchasi 
was accidentally introduced into France, at Cap Fer- 
rat, and caused great damage. This plant pest has 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 23, 1913 


been successfully fought in California and elsewhere 
by the introduction of its natural enemy, Novius car- 
dinalis, and steps were taken to acclimatise this at 
Cap Ferrat. The results were*completely successful, 
the Icerya being rapidly exterminated.—Charles 
Depéret: The fluvial and glacial history of the Rhéne 

valley in the neighbourhood of Lyons. Evidence is — 
given that there were three glacial invasions of this — 


| region and not two, as currently held, leading to the 


formation of three fluvio-glacial terraces.—Leopold 
Fejér: Trigonometric polynomials.—Michel Fekete; 4 
property of the roots of the arithmetical means of a — 
real integral series ——N. Gunther: The cononical form — 
of algebraical equations.—M. Tomassetti and J. S. 
Zarlatti: The problem of two bodies of variable 


masses.—Thadée Peczalski: Relations between the co- 


efficients of expansion and the thermodynamical 
coefficients.—France Giraud ; Certain reactions depend- 
ing on reply currents.—R. Dongier and C. E. Brazier ; 
The sound effect produced at the contact of a metallic 
point and the surface of a crystal or a metal by the 
passage of an alternating current. A faint musical 
note was first noted in a galena detector at the Eiffel 
Tower. Means have been found to reinforce this note 
so that wireless signals can be heard at a distance 
of 22 metres from the apparatus.—Ch. Gravier; An 
automatic method of developing photographic plates. 
--B. A. Dima: The photo-electric effect of metallic 
compounds. The photo-electric effect of analogous 
compounds of the same metal depends on the valency 
of the metal in those compounds. The four oxides 
of manganese offer a clear example of this.——Yugi 
Shibata and G. Urbain: The spectrochemistry of the 
complex cobalt compounds. A study of the absorption 
bands in the visible and ultra-violet spectra of solu- 
tions of complex cobalt salts——M. Taffanel and Le 
Floch: The combustion of gaseous mixtures. Mix- 
tures of methane and air were heated to various tem- 
peratures between 535° C. and 640° C., and the rates 
of combustion measured. These results are extra- 
polated to evaluate the inflammation temperatures of 
these mixtures.—P. Lemoult: Leucobases and colour- 
ing matters of diphenylethylene. The first stage of 
oxidation of the cyclohexylidenic leucobase, 
E.H,,.=C.[EH,N(CH,)31: 

Tetrahydro-malachite green.—C. Gerber and P. 
Flourens; The trypsin of Calotropis procera and the 
poison which accompanies it. The latex contains a 
proteolytic ferment very resistant to heat, and most 
active in alkaline or neutral media. It coagulates 
milk and digests casein and fibrin. Injected sub- 
cutaneously it is rapidly fatal to some animals (guinea- 
pig, pigeon), whilst in others it produces only local 
troubles (white rat, rabbit). Separation of the trypsin 
and the toxic substance has not been effected.—A. 
Gouvel: The genus Palinurus in Madagascar,—A. 
Brachet : The inhibiting action of the sperm of Sabel- 
laria alveolata on the formation of the membrane of 
fertilisation of the egg of Paracentrotus lividus.—A. 
Paillot: Parasitic coccobacilli of insects.—Sabba 
Stefanescu: The structure of the crown of the 
elephant’s molars.—Michel Longchambon ; The breccia 
of the marmorean complex: conclusions which may 
be drawn concerning the age and the localisation of 
lherzolite.—Francois Picavet: The commemoration of 
Roger Bacon in 1914. It is proposed to publish a 
complete edition of Roger Bacon’s works. 


Care Town. : 

Royal Society of South Africa, September 17.—The 
president in the chair—W. A. Jolly: The interpreta- 
tion of the electrocardiogram. The interpretation of 
the electrocardiogram has remained doubtful, notwith- 
standing the large amount of work that has been 


OCTOBER 23, 1913] 


NATURE 2 


ag 


devoted to it in recent years, and very divergent views 
are entertained as to the significance of the various 
features of the curve without conclusive evidence 
having been adduced for them. The author gives an 
explanation arrived at from experiments on _ the 
isolated tortoise heart, and especially from cases of 
systolic alternation in auricles and ventricle.—Paul A. 

ethuen and John Hewitt ; A contribution to our know- 
ledge of the anatomy of the chameleon. After making 
a comparative examination of the. lungs, sternum, and 
skull in various members of the family the authors 
conclude that the most generalised and probably most 
primitive forms are the genera Brookesia and Rham- 
photeon (the latter not actually examined by the 
authors), whilst the viviparous small chameleons of 
the pumilus group, so characteristic of South Africa, 
are the most primitive in the genus Chameleons : for 
these latter species, pumilus and allies, the authors 
revive the old generic name Lophosaura of Gray. 
It appears probable that the family, as we know it 
to-day, has spread from a centre of origin situated 
in that portion of the Ethiopian region of which there 
now remains two separated components, Madagascar 
and the Cape province of Sclater. There is no evidence 
in favour of a northern origin for this family.—R. 
Marloth: Note on the Pollination of Encephalartos 
altensteinii (Kaffir bread tree). The insect on which 
the transport of the pollen from the male cone to the 
female cone of Encephalartos altensteinii and E. 
villosus depends is not a Phloeophagus, as stated in 


a paper recently published in the Transactions of the 


Royal Society, S.A., but Antliarrhinus zamiae, that 
means the same insect which lives in the seeds of 
these plants until the cones disintegrate and enable 
the mature insect to escape from them. The female 
insect pollinates the ovules while moving about be- 
tween them for the purpose of depositing its eggs. 
Although according to Dr. Rattray’s observations, 
some or most, or even sometimes all, the seeds of a 
cone are thus destroyed by the grubs of the insect, 
the visits of the insect are nevertheless essential to 
the plant, for without them no seeds would be formed 
at all. The case is quite parallel to that of the Yucca 
moth (Pronuba), which, while depositing its eggs 
into the pistil of the Yucca, pollinates the flower. 
GOTTINGEN, 

Royal Society of Sciences.—The Nachrichten (physico- 
mathematical section), part 3 for 1913, contains the 
following memoirs communicated to the society :— 

July 20, 1912.—A. Amsel: Seismic records at Gétt- 
ingen during 1911 (with seven figures and a table, 
illustrating the graphical solution of spherical 
triangles). 

March 8, 1913.—L. Geiger; 
Gottingen during 1909. 

May 24.—G. Polya: Approximation by means 
of polynomials, all the roots of which fall within an 
angular sector.—R. Fueter: A property of the Klassen- 
kérper of complex multiplication.—G, Tammann: The 
melting point.—O,. Miigge: Filiform crystals of green 
vitriol and silver—L. Godeaux: Cyclic involutions of 
order 24 and genus 1 on a surface of genus 1. 

July 5.—R. W. Hoffmann: The embryonic develop- 
ment of the Strepsiptera (preliminary communication, 
with figures). 

July 19.—D. Hilbert: Remarks on the foundation 
of an elementary theory of radiation.—O, Toeplitz : 
A problem, connected with Dirichlet-series, in the 
theory of series of powers of an infinite number of 
variables. 

The business communications (part 1 for 1913) 
include reports by H. Wagner on the Samoa Observa- 
tory for 1912-13, and by F. Klein on the’ progress of 
the publication of Gauss’s works. 


NO. 2295, VOL. 92] 


Seismic records at 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Studies in Cancer and Allied Subjects. Vol. i., The 
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Weeds: Simple Lessons for Children. By R. L. 


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The Freezing-Point Lowering, Conductivity, and 
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Mendelism and the Problem of Mental Defect. I., 
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The Shetland Pony. By C. and A. Douglas. With 
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Prof. J. Cossar Ewart. Pp. xi+176+plates. (Edin- 
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The Sugars and their Simple Derivatives. By Dr. 
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Reversion in Guinea Pigs and its Explanation. 
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A First Book of Nature Study. By E. Stenhouse. 
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Objektive Psychologie oder Psychoreflexologie die 
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260 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 23. 1013 


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2295, VOL. 92] 


(Leipzig and Berlin :. 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, Octoper 23. 

igeaerice oF Civit, ENGINERKS, at aie ad of Marine Construc 

tion: Alex. Gracie. t 
FRIDAY, Gerais 24. 

INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—Modern Flour Milling 
Machinery: R. B. Creak. 

Puysicai. Socirty, at 5 —The Ice Calorimeter : E. Griffiths. —An Electro- 
static Oscillograph : . Ho and S. Koté, 


Junior Institution oF ENGINEERS, at 8.—Mechanical Advertising and 
Similar Appliances: H. W. Sewell. : 


TUESDAY, Ocroser 28. 

ZooLocicat Society, at 8. —Contributions to the Anatomy and Systematic 
Arrangement of the Cestoidea. XI. A New Genus of Tapeworms from 
(CEdicnemus : F. E. Beddard.—The Fossil Crinoids referred to Hypocrinus, 
Reyrich: F..A. Bather.—Satrachiderpeton lineatum, Hancock and 
Atthey,a Coal Measure Stegocephalian : . Watson.—The Brain 
and Brain-case ofa Fossil Ungulate of the Genus ‘Anoplotherium : R. W. 


Sane 
WEDNESDAY, OcTosER 29. 
BritisH "ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION, at 5. —Presidential Address, - 
FRIDAY, OcToeer 
Junior InstiruTIon oF ENGINEERS, at §8.— ‘he Difference between a 
Drain and a Sewer: R. Kelsey. Jones. 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
Lord Rayleigh’s Scientific Papers ........ 227 
Concerning Birds’. \.\.\ sun ee ° is eet 
New American Books on Agriculture. ... . “2 4 229 
The Popularisation of Science .......... 230 
Gur Bookshelf... .) iu tse iaie ee ae ee 


Letters to the Editor :— 
The Spectra of Helium and ee —Dr. N. 


Bohr; Prof. A. Fowler, F.R.S, os0. 0 eee 231 
Azolla in Norfolk.—W. E, Palmer a Jeti tar ete 233 
The Theory of Radiation.—Prof. S. B. McLaren. 233 

Research in Aerodynamics... .\.°..°: 2% yee eS 
Three Books of Travel. (Ji/ustrated.)....... 234 
WWotep ©... . os ee eo 235 
Our Astronomical Column :— ‘ 
Gomet News . . 22.05 n eee Be ee . °240 
Orbits of Eighty-seven Eclipsing Binaries 2 le Pag: 
Variations in the Earth’s Magnetic Field . . . . . . 240 
The Light Curve'of o\Geti_. <.: . s- 0. seeeee + 240 
The Frauenfeld Meeting of the Swiss Soviet for: 
the Advancement of Science. ......... 240 
Plankton Distribution. ByL.R.C. ...... 3 241 
The British Association at Birmingham :— ~ 
Section K.—Botany.—Opening Address by Miss 

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)xxxvi 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 30, 1913 


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Books on Scientifie, Teehnieal, 


THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1913.. 


RADIATION THEORIES. 
Vorlesungen iiber die Theorie der Wéarmestrahl- 
ung. By Dr. Max Planck. Zweite Auflage. 

Pp. xii+206. (Leipzig: J. A. Barth, 1913.) 

Price 7 marks. ‘ 
er first edition of this’ book, which ap- 

peared in 1906, was reviewed in NATURE 
(October 11, 1906, Supplement iii.). The many 
and varied contributions to our knowledge of 
radiation phenomena that have been published in 
the ensuing seven years have made it necessary 
for Dr. Planck to rewrite and modify the book 
to a considerable extent, so that it now contains 
many novel features. As before, the object of 
the book is to apply the statistical methods pre- 
viously used in the kinetic theory of gases to the 
phenomena of radiation, and full use is made of 
Boltzmann’s views on the interpretation of 
entropy in connection with the theory of prob- 
ability. But the present treatment is largely based 
on the remarkable assumption which the author 
designates as the “quantum-hypothesis.” 

The property thus assumed for the elementary 
electrical oscillators under consideration may 
perhaps best be explained by comparing them to 
the cisterns, of which many have been invented 
and which are so arranged that when the water 
in them reaches a certain level they overturn and 
empty themselves, then returning to their original 
position to be refilled. In other words, absorption 
takes place continuously, while emission occurs 
intermittently when the energy of the oscillator 
attains one or other of certain discrete values. 
This “quantum hypothesis,” as the author points 
out, is analogous to the electron theory, which 
assigns a definite magnitude to the electron or 
“elementary quantum ” of electricity. It accounts 
for Nernst’s observed phenomena, and, further, 
it is in accordance with the view that every 
different radiation corresponds to a certain definite 
temperature, and it is already beginning to form 
an important element in present-day physical 
researches. 

It need scarcely’ be pointed out that the quantum 
hypothesis entails irreversibility and thus over- 
comes a difficulty of the kinetic theory of gases, 
namely, that even statistical methods apparently 
fail to account for irreversible phenomena when 
applied to a system the elements of which are 
subject to the equations of reversible dynamics, 
unless some further assumption is made (“ Assump- 
tion A” of the late Mr. Burbury), It will thus 
be seen that the present method does not pretend 
to afford a so-called “dynamical proof” of the 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


NA LORE 


261 


phenomena of radiation, and in the preface Dr. 
Planck distinctly expresses the view that a new 
principle cannot in general be represented by a 
model working according to old laws. It will also 
be evident that brief indications of the new method, 
such as those contained in this notice, cannot be 
regarded as adequate descriptions of the real 
substance of Dr. Planck’s investigations. 

It was natural that a theory fraught with such 
far-reaching consequences should attract consider- 
able attention at the recent meeting of the 
British Association, and the occasion was the 
more suitable as the presidency of Sir Oliver Lodge 
had attracted to the meeting a number of physic- 
ists all keenly interested in radiation theories. It 
would be undesirable to refer in greater length 
to these discussions, as they will be dealt with 
elsewhere. A popular account of modern radia- 
tion theories, including special reference to Dr. 
Plancks quantum hypothesis, was given by 
Dr. Max Born, of Gottingen, in Die Naturwissen- 
schaften 21, for May 28, p. 499. 

It does not appear to the present reviewer that 
the quantum hypothesis is necessarily irrecon- 
cilable with dynamical principles. If we take the 
equations of motion of a dynamical system and 
write down the expressions for the second differ- 
ential coefficients of the squares and products of 
its velocities, we obtain formule which may be 
said to determine the energy accelerations of the 
system in the same way that the ordinary equa- 
tions of motion determine the accelerations of 
the masses. If we assume conditions of statistical 
equilibrium we find a definite amount of energy 
associated with a definite system, and we further 
find that certain conditions must hold in order 
that energy equilibrium may be possible. Such a 
method establishes a kind of principle of duality 
between the properties of matter and the properties 
of energy, and is distinctly favourable to 
an atomic theory of energy. But the attempt to 
reduce everything to dynamics would of course land 
us in the old difficulty over the irreversibility. 

GHB 


CHEMICAL TEXT-BOOKS. 


(1) Osmotic Pressure. By Prof. A. Findlay. Pp. 
vi+84. (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 
1913:)' Price 2s. 6d. net. 

(2) The Organometallic Compounds of Zinc and 
Magnesium. By Dr. Henry Wren. Pp. viii+ 
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(3) The Chemistry of Dyeing. By Dr. J. K. 
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K 


202 NATURE 


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Dr. Richard Anschutz. In Gemeinschaft mit 
Dr. Hans Meerwein. Pp xxii+1048. (Bonn: 
Friedrich Cohen, 1913.) Price 26 marks. 

(5) Traité Complet d’Analyse Chimique Appliquée 
aux Essais Industriels. By Prof. J. Post and 
Prof. B. Neumann. Deuxiéme Edition Fran- 
¢aise Entiérement Refondue par G. Chenu et M. 
Pellet. Tome Troisiéme. Second Fascicule. 
Pp. 465-903+v. (Paris: A. Hermann et Fils, 
1913.) Price 15 francs. 

(6) Traité de Chimie Minérale. By H. Erdmann. 
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a la Chimie et Métalloides. Pp. iv+559. 
(Paris: A. Hermann et Fils, 1913.) Price 12 
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(7) Laboratory Text-Book of Chemistry. By V. 
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(London: J. and A. Churchill, 1913.) Price 4s. 
net. 
(1) HOSE who have read Dr. Findlay’s book 
on the phase rule will have formed 
great expectations of his promised monograph on 
osmotic pressure, and we believe they will not be 
disappointed. The expression osmotic pressure of 
a solution has become a familiar one both to 
chemists and biologists, though, as Dr. Findlay is 
careful to point out, it is incorrect. A solution 
does not in itself have any osmotic pressure, the 
term being loosely used to denote the mechanical 
pressure which would be produced if the solution 
were separated from the pure solvent by a mem- 
brane which was permeable only to the solvent. 
The confusion of thought which has arisen in 
connection with the subject, especially amongst 
the biologists, is unfortunately very considerable, 
so that Dr. Findlay’s clear treatise comes at an 
opportune moment and should be widely read. 
Although necessarily mathematical in parts, it is 
not unduly so, even for the biological reader. 
The author shows himself to be no bigot in 
favour of the extreme views of the German 
physical-chemical school, and his chapter on the 
cause of osmosis and the action of the semi- 
permeable membrane reaches a high standard. 
Regarded from the biological side, the subject 
of osmosis is one in which we are on the eve of 
important developments requiring interpretation in 
the broadest possible manner. In the past the 
tendency has been to give too little attention to 
the chemical meaning of the osmotic phenomena, 
but this error is avoided in the present work. 
The work of Lord Berkeley in this country and 
NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


[OcToBER 30, 1913 
that by Morse in America is described at length 
and its bearing on the general theory of ideal 
solutions discussed‘in a separate chapter. Em- 
phasis is laid on the thermodynamic equation 
connecting the osmotic pressure with the vapour 
pressure of solutions. 

(2), (3) Chemical monographs are evidently 
fashionable, and the success of the biochemical 
series edited by Dr. Plimmer and the inorganic 
series for which Dr. Findlay is responsible has 
inspired others to imitate them. The new series 
for which Dr. Cumming is sponsor are, however, 
of a different type and can scarcely lay claim to 
the title monograph—indeed, the use of the term 
is misleading. They are essentially summaries 
intended for advanced students with the examina- 
tion bugbear in front of them, and though no 
doubt they will be very useful, they are in no 
way authoritative in the same sense as the other 
monographs to which reference has been made. 
However, they are well printed and convenient in 
size and price, and should prove very popular 
among students. 

No. 1 in the series is Dr. Wren’s essay on the 
organometallic compounds of zinc and magnesium. 
Though Grignard described the reaction which 
now bears his name so recently as 1g00, the 
method has proved so fruitful in effecting organic 
syntheses that their number is already legion, and 
the subject forms, we fear, a very favourite 
examination question—hence, no doubt, the motive 
and form of the present summary. The mode of 
using the reagent is first described, but the bulk 
of the book is devoted to the description, with 
copious formule, of the products formed by its 
aid. A few pages are devoted to the theory of 
the reaction. The final section deals with Blaise’s 
more recent applications of the organometallic 
derivatives of zinc, which afford reagents of less 
general activity and of greater ease of control. 

Dr. Wood’s summary of the chemistry of dye- 
ing is simply and clearly written and devoid: of 
technical terms, so that it should appeal to a 
wider public than the chemical student and, indeed, 
be in the hands of all practical dyers. The scheme 
followed is first to discuss the chemical composi- 
tion and properties of the textile fibres, then to 
deal with the classification and properties of dyes, 
and lastly with the nature of the dyeing processes. 
A small bibliography and index is attached. The 
author is to be congratulated on the clear way 
in which he has dealt with the rival theories of 
dyeing within a short space. 

(4) A new edition of Richter scarcely calls for 
criticism beyond the statement that the authors 
have maintained the standard of a work which has 
been indispensable to all students of organic 


il ll el, 


OcTOBER 30, 1913] 


NATURE 


263 


chemistry in the past and is likely to prove equally 
valuable to all in the future. No other text-book 
is so exhaustive and yet relatively still readable. 
We have taken the opportunity to test it somewhat 
severely and always found the desired information. 
The new edition does, however, afford an oppor- 
tunity of noting the enormous increase in our 
knowledge of this part of organic chemistry—em- 
bracing the carbocyclic and heterocyclic com- 
pounds. Our former copy of the ninth edition, 
bearing the date 1go1, is a modest little work of 
809 pages, measuring 4x6 inches. The new 
edition requires 1048 pages, measuring 44x7 
inches. 

Even in 1900 the would-be chemist made some 
attempt to master the whole of Richter—to-day 
this is obviously impossible, and the student is 
forced to specialise at an early stage in his 
reading. Fortunately, chemical literature is now 
enriched by very many special monographs of 
a very readable character and free from too much 
elaboration of detail. When these are supple- 
mented by Richter—the encyclopedia of chem- 
istry—the student is indeed well armed. We have 
one suggestion only—namely, the author’s name, 
as well as the journal reference, should be quoted 
in the references to the original literature. The 
omission of the author’s name prevents reference 
to the abstracts of the original in the Journal of 
the Chemical Society or in the Centralblatt when 
the original paper itself is not available. 

(5), (6) These translations of well-known stand- 
ard German works testify to the rank taken 
by German science in other lands: they are 
already well known in this country. The second 
part of vol. iii. of Prof. Neumann’s technical 
analysis contains Schultz’s famous monograph on 
coal tar and artificial colouring matters, which 
already has a world-wide reputation and forms 
an appropriate complement to Germany’s most 
famous chemical industry. This is the second 
French edition translated from the third German 
edition of the work. 

Prof. Corvisy’s book is a translation for the 
first time of the fifth German edition of the first 
volume of Erdmann’s well-known work. The 
translator refers to the need of such a work in 
France, where no other book is available for 


students covering the ground in quite the same ° 


way. 

(7) This book is intended to be actually used 
as a laboratory note-book in schools, the pupil 
having to write his answers in the spaces in the 
text left for the purpose. Precise instructions are 
given how to do everything and what to observe 
and infer, and in quantitative exercises only the 
actual figures have to be filled in by the schoolboy. 

NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


The book is elaborately bound and somewhat 
expensive. We fear we do not agree with the 
author’s interpretation of practical chemistry ; 
indeed, we had hoped that books of this type 
had ceased to exist. [Dap ie watc 


PROBLEMS OF LIFE AND REALITY. 

(1) Essais de Synthése Scientifique. By E. 
Rignano. Pp. xxi+294. (Paris: F. Alcan, 
1912.) Price 5 francs. 

(2) Contre la Métaphysique. 
Poe2qcey a(barisc: oh.) Alcan, 
3 frances 75 centimes. 

(3) Modern Science and the Illusions of Prof. 
Bergson. By H. S. R. Elliot. With a preface 
by Sir Ray Lankester, K.C.B., F.R.S. Pp. 


By F. Le Dantec. 
1912.) Price 


xix +257. (London: Longmans, Green and 
Col @on2. rice 5s. net. 

(4) Wissenschaft wnd Wirklichkeit. By Max 
Frischeisen-Kéhler. Pp. viii+478. (Berlin: 


B. G. Teubner, 1912.) Price 8 marks. 

(5) The Young Nietzsche. By Frau Forster- 
Nietzsche. Translated by A. M. Ludovici. Pp. 
viii+399. (London: W. Heinemann, 1912.) 
Pricearss. net: 

HE first two of these volumes contain a 
curiously similar plea for the theorist in 

science. M. Rignano in his opening essay (1) 

maintains that there are a number of central 

problems in the biological sciences, in which there 
is almost a deadlock, due to the fact that they 
have been attacked exclusively by two opposite 
groups of specialists. One such problem, awaiting 
the synthetic view, is that of the nature of life 
and growth. Others are: the meaning of religion 
as viewed from the psychological and the socio- 
logical points of view; the economic and ideologic 
factors in history; the antithesis of socialism and 
liberal economics. These are dealt with in succes- 
sive essays. In the first the various transformist 
theories are reviewed, in order to demonstrate 
how far-reaching may be the clarifying effects of 

a single piece of theorising. At the same time 

the leit-motiv of the whole volume is introduced 

—the mnemonic principle. The recapitulation of 

phylogenetic development in ontogenesis is essen- 

tially mnemonic, as is assimilation. 

The same principle is next applied more in 
detail to the problem of growth, by means of a 
summary of the author’s “centro-epigenetic ” 
theory of development. This asserts that growth 
| is determined by a nervous circulation, indepen- 
| dent of a nervous system, consisting of discharges 
| of specific nervous energy accumulated in the 
| germ-plasm, each discharge depositing a sub- 

stance apt in decomposing to regenerate the same 


264 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 30, 1913 


specific nervous current. “Memory” in this wide 
sense is next applied to explain the affective ten- 
dencies (conations) which are regarded as striv- 
ings to regain physiological equilibrium. Thus 
one and the same explanation holds of all the 
finalism of life, namely, the mnemonic property of 
vital substance, that faculty of ‘specific accumu- 
lation ’’ which belongs exclusively to nervous 
energy, itself the basis of life. The other essays 
reveal the same acuteness, fertility, and confidence 
in theorising. 

(2) M. le Dantec, after a semi-serious demon- 
stration that the philosopher is an artist, to be 
appreciated by those vibrating in harmony with 
him rather than understood by mankind at large, 
and a plea for more reasoning in natural science 
and less “kitchen-technique,” proceeds also to 
consider the central problems of biology. All vital 
phenomena fall under the head of “functional 
assimilation.” The organism assimilates qua 
organ of its function at the moment. Thus a 
mammal into whose peritoneum cow’s milk is 
injected assimilates this, if it survives, qua organ 
of the struggle against cow’s milk, but not abso- 
lutely, for it retains a trace or “memory” (cf. 
Rignano) in that its serum will henceforth give a 
precipitate with cow’s milk. Thus it is impossible 
to separate “nature” and ‘“‘nurture,” though the 
part played by the latter must be relatively small 
“on pain of death.” Like M. Rignano, a Neo- 
Lamarckian, M. le Dantec holds that among the 
transmissible acquisitions are the instincts, and 
logic, “the résumé of ancestral experience.” 

(3) Mr. Elliot’s view of philosophy is, broadly, 
that it consists in making unfounded and untest- 
able statements about the universe—mapping the 
back of the moon. Now this is surely a mistake; 
philosophy is not description, but explanation; 
and to explain is to bring unconnected or conflict- 
ing facts under one general law or notion. Some- 
times it is merely a question of selecting the right 
familiar notion, but often a new ‘appropriate 
conception” has to be created, a process the 
difficulty and importance of which Mill so greatly 
underestimated; and philosophical explanation is 
evidently likely to be of this nature. 

Thus while it is legitimate criticism of a philo- 
sophy to say that it is incomprehensible (a line 
pretty effectively worked by Schopenhauer) it is 
unreasonable to insist that it must be easily com- 
prehensible, or use only everyday notions. Nor 
can one fairly complain if philosophers do not 
adduce specific facts for their theories. Negative 
evidence can disprove an explanatory hypothesis; 
positive evidence can only “verify” it cumula- 
tively, and here the facts are broadly not in dis- 
pute. This, if correct, invalidates much that Mr. 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


Elliot says about M. Bergson’s “besetting falla- 
cies,” e.g., the “mannikin fallacy.” Again, his 
keen scent for “false analogy” often leads Mr. 
Elliot to take as demonstration what is clearly 
meant as “explication.” While always acute and 
often touching on real difficulties, Mr. Elliot too 
often allows himself to be tempted, in sporting 
parlance, into smashes which find the net. 

(4) Perhaps the least of the differences between 
the last work and Herr Frischeisen-KGhler’s essay 
in Critical realism is that in the latter M. Bergson 
is not so much as mentioned. The nineteenth 
century saw a movement of opposition to the intel- 
lectualism of the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- 
turies, and the book aims at helping to find a 
common point of view for the sciences typical of 
the two points of view—mathematics and history, 
the latter of which can never be based on pure 
thought. The method is a critical consideration of 
the conditions involved in consciousness, which 
themselves contain the bases of knowledge. Of 
the categories or modes of experiencing involved 
in consciousness, however, only that of reality is 
considered. 

The closely-reasoned exposition is impossible to 
summarise here, but it involves the discussion of 
the two main modern attempts to derive all experi- 
ence from the laws of pure thought—the logical 
idealism of the Marburg school and the philosophy 
of values developed. by Windelband and Rickert. 
Finally, the empirical bases of our notion of 
reality are found, above all, in experiences of 
striving and resistance. Like fish in a glass bowl 
we are unable to go further in some directions, 
and since this experience always occurs in con-— 
junction with certain sense-impressions, we recog- 
nise in these that which sets limits to our subjec- 
tivity. The real remains, indeed, always within 
the conditions of consciousness in general, but 
within consciousness the independence of the 
objective world from the self is assured. The book 
is a  clearly-written, cautious, and eminently 
helpful discussion of the difficult problems with 
which it deals. 

(5) Having nothing in common with the other 
works except that it deals with a philosopher, the 
life of Nietzsche by his sister is an interesting 
and pleasing account of the first happy portion of 
that tragic existence. Strangely unlike a morose 
apostle of hardness is the almost painfully well- 
behaved child in the country parsonage, the bril- _ 
liant schoolboy with all the German idealism and 
schwarmerei, the student shocked by the coarse- 
ness of university conviviality, the youthful pro- 
fessor of classics, the heroic but too sensitive am- 
bulance volunteer in the Franco-Prussian war. 


The book takes us to the end of the friendship 


OcTOBER 30, 1913] 


NATURE 


265 


with the Wagners, and it is its main weakness 
that it fails to make clear the reason either for the 
intensity or for the abrupt end of this devotion. 
The translation is quite satisfactory, and some 
excellent portraits add much to the book’s effec- 
tiveness. 


TEXT-BOOKS ON HEAT. AND 
THERMODYNAMICS. 

{1) An Introduction to the Mathematical Theory 
of Heat Conduction. With engineering and geo- 
logical applications. By Prof. L. R. Inger- 
soll and O. J. Zobel. Pp. vit+171. (London 
and Boston: Ginn and Co., n.d.) Price 7s. 6d. 

(2) The Laws of Thermodynamics. By W. H. 
Macaulay. Pp. viii+71. (Cambridge: Univer- 
sity Press, 1913.) Price 3s. net. 

(3) A Text-book of Thermodynamics (with special 
reference to Chemistry). By J. R. Partington. 
Pp. viiit544. (London: Constable and Co., 
Ltd., 1913.) Price 14s. net. 

(4) Lehrbuch der Thermodynamik. 
sungen von Dr. J. D. v. d. Waals. 


Nach Vorle- 
Bearbeitet 


von Dr. Ph. Kohnstamm. Zweiter Teil. Pp. 
xvi+646. (Leipzig: J. A. Barth, 1912.) Price 
12 marks. 


(5) Lecons de Thermodynamique. By Dr. Max 
Planck. Avec une conference du méme a la 
Société chimique de Berlin sur Le Théoréme de 
Nernst et L’Hypothése des Quante. Ouvrage 
traduit sur la troisiéme édition allemande (aug- 
mentée). By R. Chevassus. Pp. 310. (Paris: 
A. Hermann et Fils, 1913.) Price 12 francs. 

(1) HIS book is the outcome of the authors’ 
teaching experience, and as one might 

expect, covers the ground usually required for a 

university degree. The subject-matter includes the 

Fourier equation, the steady flow of heat in one 

and more than one dimension, periodic flow in one 

dimension, Fourier’s series applied to the linear 
flow of heat in the case of an infinite as well as 
semi-infinite solid, heat sources, slab and radiating 
rod, and in addition radial flow, instantaneous heat 
source at a point, sphere with surface at constant 
temperature, sphere cooled by radiation, and the 
general case of heat flow in an infinite medium. 
The concluding chapter deals with the formation 
of ice. The appendix contains a list of values for 
the thermal conductivities and emissivity factors, 
as well as the more commonly occurring integrals 
and miscellaneous formule. The striking feature 
about the book is the prominence which is given to 
the experimental applications of the expressions 
derived. These belong mainly to engineering, 
though the student of pure physics will find many 
of them of considerable interest. 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92| 


' 


At the end of ! 


each chapter there are a number of problems to 
be worked out. As the work covers a relatively 
large field the authors have had to restrict them- 
selves to typical cases. Full references are given, 
however, on particular points to larger works and 
original papers. The authors have compiled a 
very useful text-book of moderate size, which 
should appeal to a fairly wide circle of readers. 

(2) This monograph contains a succinct account 
of the fundamental principles of thermodynamics. 
The writer has been singularly happy in combining 
precision and accuracy of statement with remark- 
able lucidity and readableness. Although he warns 
us in the preface that the tract should be read 
“in conjunction with other information,” it ought 
to be found by no means beyond the grasp of the 
beginner. The subject is presented, in the first 
instance, from the engineer’s point of view, though 
the nature of the publication is such as to pre- 
clude any very detailed illustrations of an applied 
character: This has the advantage, however, of 
making the work more interesting to the general 
reader. The author commences by explaining 
perfect differentials, and then passes on to the first 
and second laws and the four thermodynamic rela- 
tions. In addition to the perfect gas, considerable 
space is devoted to the treatment of wet and dry 
steam, and a short account of the lead accumu- 


lator. The monograph as a whole forms a very 
excellent introduction to engineering thermo- 
dynamics. 


(3) The first sixteen chapters of Mr. Parting- 
ton’s “ Thermodynamics ” represent a very full and 
detailed account of the classical theory along the 
usual lines. The two final chapters of the book 
deal rather briefly—considering the growing im- 
portance of the subject—with Nernst’s heat 
theorem and the theory of energy quanta. The 
reader is assumed to be fairly well equipped as far 
as mathematics is concerned, and for chemists, at 
any rate, the book will in places make fairly severe 
reading. All the thermodynamic potentials 
(Gibbs’ p included) are freely employed, as well as 
the cycle method. Perhaps the least satisfactory 
is the chapter on electrochemistry. An English 
book dealing with thermodynamics from the 
chemical point of view is rather badly wanted, 
however, and Mr. Partington’s deserves to meet 
with a good reception. 

(4) As anyone familiar with van der Waals’ 
writings will anticipate, the present work is by no 
means. a text-book of thermodynamics in the 
ordinary sense of the term. This second volume, 
like the first (which appeared in 1908), is based 
upon Prof. van der Waals’ lectures, the material 
being edited for the Press by Prof. Kohnstamm. 
As the sub-title expressly states, this volume deals 


266 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 30, 1913 


with the application of thermodynamics to liquid- 
gaseous systems containing more than one com- 
ponent. Although the phase rule and the theory 
of dilute solutions (from the osmotic point of 
view) are discussed at some length, the greater 
part deals with the problems of phase equilibrium 
from the points of view and by the methods with 
which one associates the name of van der Waals 
himself. The book is divided into two main parts, 
first, the consideration of systems in the absence 
of external forces, chemical or capillary effects, and 
secondly, the behaviour of systems when exposed 
to such forces. The work requires no introduction 
to English readers. The fundamental nature of the 
subject itself, and the fact that it emanates from 
the greatest living authority upon this subject, 
ought to provide a sufficient reason for every 
physicist and physical chemist becoming ac- 
quainted with it. 

(5) Planck’s thermodynamics is already so well 
known to readers in every country that it is only 
necessary in this place to direct attention to the 
appearance of the (enlarged) French translation 
of the third German edition. It would be utterly 
futile to attempt any worthy review of this book 
in the space of a few lines. A very interesting 
feature of this edition is the incorporation by the 
French translator of the lecture on Nernst’s 
theorem and the energy quanta hypothesis de- 
livered by Prof. Planck in December, 1911, before 
the German Chemical Society, and also a list of the 
papers on thermodynamics published by Prof. 
Planck with cross-references to the paragraphs of 
the book in which the same subjects are treated. 
.The work is divided into four parts: the first deals 
with fundamental experiments and definitions, the 
second and third with the first and second laws, 
whilst the concluding part takes up the application 
of those laws to special physical chemical cases. 
The last chapter of this part is devoted to the dis- 
cussion of the absolute value of entropy (Nernst’s 
theorem), As an illustration of the place which 
Planck’s ‘‘ Thermodynamics ” occupies, it may be 
mentioned that a fourth German edition has 
already appeared this year. It is high time 
that the English translation was brought up to 
date. 

WiC. “McGiaia 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


The Annual of the British School at Athens. No. 
xvili, Session 1911-1912. Pp. viii+362+15 
plates. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 
n.d.) Price 25s. net. 

Tue eighteenth volume of the Annual of the 

British School at Athens for the session 1911-12 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


is fully up to the level of this excellent series. — 
The chief archeological artigle gives an account — 
by Messrs. A. J. B. Wace and M. S. Thompson 
of the excavations at Halos, one of the smaller 
and less-known cities in Thessaly. A group of 
tombs at the foot of the acropolis was opened. — 
Such cist graves formed of slabs are common in 
Thessaly, both in the fourth prehistoric period 
and in the Early Iron Age, to which the Halos 
tombs belong. Here there is no sign of crema- — 
tion, simple inhumation being the only process. 
On the other hand, the excavation of a neighbour- 
ing tumulus proved that here corpses were burned. 
Thus in these two cemeteries we find two different 
methods of disposal of the dead. From an exam- 
ination of the pottery and fibule it seems clear 
that the cremation tumulus is of a date later than 
that of the cist graves, and it may be referred to 
the middle of the so-called Geometric period, 
about the ninth century B.c. No exact parallel to 
this type of cremation burial has yet been found 
in Greece or elsewhere, and it differs from that 
of Halstatt and the rites described in the Homeric 
poems in some important particulars, The tumulus 
is clearly post-Homeric, and may be an Achzan 
burial in a degenerate or modified form. 


Mr. M. N. Tod’s paper on Greek numerical 
notation is of special importance. By a review of 
the epigraphical evidence he seeks to determine 
the numerical systems employed in the various 
Greek cities, and to state afresh some of the 
conclusions which we are entitled to draw from it. 
This paper is devoted only to the so-called “acro- 
phonic” or “initial” class of numerical notation, — 
the consideration of the other main type, in which 
the letters are used in their alphabetical order as 
numerical signs, being reserved for later treat- 
ment. The earliest example of this type appears 
to belong to the fifth century B.c., and the diver- 
sity of the systems employed in the various cities 
seems to be due to the modifications introduced 
into the pure numbers to make them capable of 
expressing money, weights, and measures. The 
detailed epigraphic evidence thus presented de- 
serves the attentive study of students of the early 
history of mathematics. 

H. *© 


The New Encyclopaedia. Edited by 


O'Neill. Pp. vii+1626. (London and Edin- 
burgh: T. C. and E. ©. Jack, nidsjieenes 
7s. 6d. net. 


Tuis encyclopedia is handy in shape and fairly 
light in weight, and considering the limits of size, 
it appears to be as complete and authoritative as 
can be expected. The expert in any branch of 
knowledge may note the omission of facts which 
he might think could have been included, but the 
general reader will find brief summaries on many 
topics. He will, therefore, find this volume use- 
ful, and will be able to continue his studies under 
the guidance of the bibliography which is appended 
to the more important articles. The information 
appears to be accurate and modern, but some of 
the less informative maps might have been 
omitted. . 


OcTOBER 30, 1913] 


NATURE 


267 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


The Reflection of 7 Rays from Crystals. 


In some recent investigations Prof. Rutherford and 
Mr. H. Richardson have analysed the y radiations 
emitted by a number of radio-active products. They 
have shown, for example, that radium B emits three 
distinct types of y radiation, which are absorbed ex- 
ponentially by aluminium with absorption coefficients 
#@=230, 40, and o-51 (cm.)~! respectively. On the 
other hand, radium C appears to emit essentially only 
one type of y radiation, the absorption coefficient of 
which is “=o0-115 in aluminium. 

Recently we have undertaken an examination of these 
types of radiation by the methods developed for X-rays 
by W. H. and W. L. Bragg, and by Moseley and 
Darwin, which consist in determining, either by the 
photographic or electric method, the intensity of the 
X-rays reflected from a crystal at different angles of 
incidence. In our experiments the source of y radia- 
tion was a thin a-ray tube containing about roo milli- 
curies of emanation, the y rays arising from the pro- 
ducts of the emanation, radium B and radium C. A 
diverging cone of rays fell on a crystal of rock-salt, 
and the distribution of the reflected radiation was 
examined by the photographic method. The source 
and photographic plate were each about 10 cm. from 
the centre of the crystal. Suitable precautions were 
taken to reduce to a minimum the effect on the photo- 
graphic plate of the primary and secondary 8 rays and 
penetrating y rays. The source was first arranged 
so that the radiation made an average angle of about 
9° with the face of the crystal. 

It was calculated from the known data of the 
crystal that the radiation »=40 from the radium B, if 
homogeneous, should be strongly reflected at about 
this angle. A group of fine lines comprised between 
the angles 8° and 10° have been observed on the 
photographic plate in a number of experiments. 
Similar results have been observed with a crystal 
of potassium ferrocyanide, kindly loaned to us by Mr. 
Moseley. On examining the reflection for an angle 
cf 2° another series of fine lines was obtained on the 
plate, probably resulting from the reflection of the 
more penetrating radiations from radium B and 
radium C. 

The experiments indicate that the y radiation for 
which “=40 is complex, and consists of several groups 
of rays of well-defined wave-length. Experiments are 
in progress to examine carefully the character of this 
reflected radiation, both by the photographic and elec- 
tric method. It is hoped that in this way definite 
evidence will be obtained on the constitution and wave- 
length of each of the types of y radiation which are 
emitted from radium B and radium C. 

E. RurHerrorp. 
E. N. pa C. Anprape. 

The University, Manchester. 


The Piltdown Skull and Brain Gast. 


Now that my friend Prof. Keith has explained 
(Nature, October 16, pp. 197-99) so lucidly his reasons 
for making a big brain-case of the Piltdown frag- 
ments it is possible to define precisely the point at 
issue between us. 

I should say at the outset that any anatomist, 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


working with the plaster casts but without reference 
to the actual fragments from which they were 
moulded, might solve the extraordinarily difficult 
problem of reconstruction of the cranium in the way 
Prof. Keith has explained so plausibly. But the bones 
themselves present features which make such a solu- 
tion altogether inadmissible. Anyone who examines 
the left parietal and temporal bones cannot fail to 


; recognise that there is no room for any doubt as to 


the relative positions of these bones the one to the 
other, which is not that claimed for them by Prof. 
Keith. 

The right parietal fragment and the occipital can 
be put into their proper positions and the symmetry of 
the two branches of the lambdoid suture be restored 
without producing ‘“‘any marked asymmetry of 
another kind,’ such as troubled Prof. Keith, and 
without the necessity of making any such liberal addi- 
tions to the capacity of the cranium as he demands 
(see his Fig. 2). 

The “marked asymmetry of another kind” that he 
could overcome only by the adoption of the most 
drastic measures was created wholly by his refusal 
to admit the possibility that the middle line in the 
parietal region, as‘determined by Dr. Smith Wood- 
ward, was a close approximation to the truth. 

The determination of the précise location of the 
middle line in the frontal and parietal regions is one 
of quite exceptional difficulty, but a number of facts 
and considerations make it certain that it is not 
where Prof. Keith would place it. 

The crux of our difference, then, is the criteria 
which Prof. Keith uses for determining the middle 
line in the posterior parietal region. He writes (op. 
cit., p. 198 et seq.) :—‘‘In the skulls of all the higher 
primates, the longitudinal sinus, near the hinder end 
of the adjacent margins of the right and left parietal 
bones, is marked by a narrow deep groove with dis- 
tinct edges; on the margin of the upper angle of the 
Piltdown fragment the edge or margin of this groove 
can be clearly recognised.” 

It must be remembered that the area in question 
(the “upper angle” of the quotation) is immediately 


| above the middle part of the lambdoid suture, which 


is preserved upon the larger parietal fragment. Prof. 
Keith does not seem to have realised this fact, for 
he represents the lambdoid suture (in his Fig. 2) as 
a large arch (A, B, A, B) crossing the middle line a 
short distance below the larger bone fragment. If a 
series of human and simian cranial casts be examined 
it will be found that, contrary to Prof. Keith’s state- 
ment, in a considerable proportion of them there is 
no trace whatever (in the place just above the lambda 
corresponding to that preserved in the Piltdown 


| specimen) of “the narrow deep groove with distinct 


edges"’ on which Prof. Keith relies as his guide for 
the determination of the middle line. This is especially 
the case in the casts of the more primitive human and 
the simian crania, as Profs. Boule and Anthony have 
pointed out in their discussion of the Chapelle-aux- 
Saints and La Quina brain-casts. 

On these grounds Prof. Keith ‘‘moved the left 
parietal bone outwards or rather tilted [it] upwards 
and outwards until it assumes a more vertical posi- 
tion’? (p. 199). But in order to do this he had to 
get rid of one of ‘‘the peculiar features of the original 
brain-cast—the sharp bending inwards or kinking of 
the temporai lobe of the brain” (p. 199). If Prof. 
Keith had not opened out the angle between the left 
temporal and parietal bones the aperture of the ear 
would have been made to look towards the neck, 
when he ‘“‘tilted the left parietal upwards and out- 
wards”’! But the precise relationship of the left 
temporal and parietal bones is not a matter of argu- 


268 


NATURE 


ment but of fact; mo one who examines the actual 
fragments and sees how precisely the edges of these 
bones fit one on to the other can refuse to admit that 
the parieto-temporal angle of Dr. Smith Woodward’s 
restoration is a genuine peculiarity of this skull. If 
this is admitted it becomes impossible to tilt the upper 
margin of the parietal upwards and outwards. In 
other words, this peculiar articulation of the temporal 
bone affords confirmatory evidence of the proper loca- 
tion of the middle line. 

It is a very interesting fact that the curious con- 
formation of the temporal region of the brain, to 
the reality of which Prof. Keith objects, is quite 
analogous to that exhibited in the remarkable cranial 
cast of the Gibraltar skull, of which he is the custo- 
dian, and in some of the casts of primitive crania 
(negro, Australian, and Tasmanian) which he kindly 
obtained for me. 

The greater part of Prof. Keith’s letter deals with 
the lack of symmetry in the original reconstruction, 
which was due to a slight error in the positions 
assigned to the occipital and right parietal fragments. 
The need for this correction was realised before the 
meeting of the Geological Society last December; and 
this was taken into consideration when I was writing 
my preliminary note. G. Exv.ior SMITH. 

The University of Manchester. 


*€ Aéroplanes in Gusts.’’ 


I SHALL esteem it a favour if you will spare a little 
space in which to refer to the unsigned review of the 
first edition of my book, ‘‘Aéroplanes in Gusts,” 
printed in Nature of October 2. 

It is not at all my intention to refer to or contest 
an adverse opinion standing alone, but there is asso- 
ciated with that opinion, in a way that might appear 
to justify it, a misstatement of fact that I can scarcely 
be expected to pass without an endeavour to correct. 

Your readers are informed that I ‘‘measure the 
effect of a gust of wind by the accelerations of the 
air particles relative to the aéroplane.”” That I cer- 
tainly do not do, and your reviewer has no excuse 
whatever, in anything I have written, for attributing 
to me so simple and foolish an error as the words 
imply. A most casual reading of my book, even in 
its first pages, shows, decisively, that I quite properly 
measure the gust—not “the effect of a gust,’’ whatever 
that may mean—by the acceleration of headway, or 
acceleration of the velocity relative to the air, which, 
independently of that due to gravity and even of that 
due to the propeller, is being impressed upon the 
flying machine by the air. 

The confusion made possible by not maintaining or 
exhibiting, as I have done in my book, the distinction 
between an actual acceleration and an impressed 
acceleration, and by not excluding the gravitationa 
acceleration, scarcely needs enlarging upon or explain- 
ing in the columns of NATURE. 

S. L. Wa kpEn. 

Muswell Hill, N., October 4. 


I HAVE just received the second edition of ‘ Aéro- 
planes in Gusts,” and in reply to the author’s criticism 
of my review, I cannot do better than quote the 
passage on p. 2 containing the definition :— 

“Using therefore the term ‘headway’ in place of 
the cumbersome ‘ velocity relative to the air,’ it will 
be taken for granted that the reader knows that :— 

‘“(1) The instantaneous strength of gust at any point 
of the air as regards a given flying-machine flying 
at that point is measured by the acceleration of head- 
way which any singularity of the air at that point is 
impressing upon the flying-machine, and the direction 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92| 


[OcToBER 30, 1913 


of the gust is opposite to the direction of the impressed _ 
acceleration. — , 
“For example :—If the air is accelerating down- 
wards at qo ft. p.s. p.s., it is impressing upon the 
flying-machine an upward acceleration of headway of 
40 ft. p.s. p.s., and this is the measure of the down- 
ward gust. In other words, the gust is of strength 
4o ft. p.s. p.s., downwards. Simple velocity as dis- 
tinguished from rate of change of velocity is, it will 
be noticed, completely ignored.” 
(The author then goes on to point out that accelera- 


tions may be represented by straight lines. Agreed.) 
On p. 4 he says :— 3 
“The general method of finding the impressed 


accelerations acting at a given instant upon a flying- 
machine consists in first answering the question :— 

“Tf at any given instant the flying-machine could 
be suddenly transformed to a small smooth concen- 
praise mass, how would it accelerate relative to the 
air: 

‘The acceleration answering the above question is 
the ‘resultant relative gravity’ of the following dis- 
cussion, and when common gravity is subtracted in 
vector sense the result is the acceleration tendency or 
impressed acceleration due to the gusts. When from 
this result the impressed acceleration due to the abso- 
lute acceleration of the air at the place of the flying- 
machine is also subtracted in vector sense there will 
usually be found an impressed acceleration remaining. 
This is due to the air having what is called ‘‘ velocity 
structure’’ at the point, and to the flying-machine 
in crossing that structure creating for itself a rate of 
change of headway.” 

If Mr. Walkden considers that he has received any 
injustice through the use of the term “effect of a 
gust” in substitution for his reference simply to “a 
gust,’’ or the measure thereof, 
“effect "’ should certainly be withdrawn. But as re- 
gards his views on ‘impressed accelerations,’ the 
above quotations will probably appeal to readers of 
Nature far more effectively than any criticism, how- 
ever adverse. Yet several journals have reviewed the 
book favourably, and it has run into a second edition. 
THE REVIEWER. 


Mass as a Measure of Inertia. 


Can any of your readers enlighten me as to the 
authorship of the definition, ‘‘The mass of a body is 
the dynamical measure of its inertia”? JI am under 
the impression that it is due to Clerk Maxwell, but — 
have not been able to find where it occurs. I should 
be grateful for information as to where to look for 
it. W. C. Baker. 

School of Mining, Queen’s University, 

Kingston, Ont., October 13. 


ENGINEERING RESEARCH AND 
COORDINATION. 


| ee questions of the coordination and encour- 
agement of research in engineering have 
been brought forward in various ways recently. 
In April Sir Frederick Donaldson, chief super- 
intendent of Woolwich Arsenal and president of 
the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, referred 
to them in his presidential address. At the 
recent summer meeting of the same institution 
held in Cambridge, Mr. G. H. Roberts, of Wool- 
wich, read an interesting paper entitled “A Few 
Notes on Engineering Research and its Coordina- 
tion,” while the matter was also touched upon 


ITS 


the reference to — 


OcTOBER 30, 1913] 


by the president of the Institution of Water 
Engineers in his presidential address. 


“‘T have long thought,’’ he says, “‘and indeed it must 
be obvious to all who reflect upon the subject, that 
a great mass of experimental work is lost to the 
community because the results in many cases are not 
properly recorded, and even when complete records 
are kept, the results remain with the investigator,” 
and after referring to the advantages of combining 
for research the experience and opportunities of a 
number of people, he continues :—‘‘It occurs to me 
therefore to ask whether it is possible to make this 
institution ""—the Institution of Water Engineers—‘‘a 
clearing house for the handling of some at least of 
the many problems to which we devote time and 
thought.” 

Again, Sir Frederick Donaldson writes :— 

Research in the hands of firms and engineering 
undertakings has already been advocated, and no 
one would wish to see such efforts in any way ham- 
pered, but if it were possible to coordinate the work 
more than is done at present, and also to place the 
results at the disposal of the profession more readily 
than is now the case, great advantage may be ex- 
pected to result. Is it not worth considering whether 
inquiries should not be made to see if an Engineering 
Research Committee, the bounds of which should be 
much wider than membership of this institution alone 
[the Institution of Mechanical Engineers] could be 
got together with a view to organising, coordinating, 
and assisting research, more especially for engineer- 
ing purposes? 

Mr. Roberts’s paper commences with the state- 
ment that 

Although engineering as an applied science has now 
reached a high state of development, and has in many 
of its branches become highly specialised, it is some- 
what remarkable that no definite and generally recog- 
nised system has been formulated for making known 
for the benefit of the profession as a whole the results 
of the numerous private researches and experiments 
which are continually being carried on. 


The paper describes a few of the researches 
of general interest carried on at Woolwich 
Arsenal 
with the hope that it may induce others to come 
forward and add to the stock of general knowledge 
and it may thus form the nucleus of a clearing house 
of engineering information. 


Sir Frederick Donaldson goes farther than the 
formation of such a clearing-house; he suggests, 
as we have seen, in addition the organisation, 
coordination, and assistance of research: we will 
return to this point later. 

To many readers of Nature interested mainly 
in branches of science other than engineering, the 
need for a clearing-house may appear strange. A 
man after he has carried through a research in 
chemistry, physics, or one of the _ biological 
sciences, is not usually averse to giving his paper 
to the world. He communicates it to one of the 
scientific societies. In due time it appears in the 
journal, and is abstracted into one or more of the 
numerous and valuable periodicals which under- 
take such work for the great benefit of other 
investigators. But it is otherwise with much 
engineering or other technical research. The 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


269 


work is carried out for a special purpose: to 
determine the proper material to use in some 
structure; to see if some alloy which it would 
be convenient to employ for a certain machine 
will retain its properties under the conditions of 
temperature and stress to which it will be subject; 
to settle the form of bolt or screw-thread which 
for a given diameter offers the greatest resistance 
to shocks or impact and the like. Mr. Roberts’s 
paper gives us examples. He records the results 
of tests on many specimens of timber used in the 
arsenal; of an investigation into the standard 
shapes and dimensions of tensile specimens; of 
numerous experiments on aluminium alloys. He 
describes a special instrument for indicating the 
yield-point of tensile specimens, and discusses the 
effect of the time-factor upon results of tensile 
testing and the unification of methods of report- 
ing. Any of these investigations might have been 
carried out in some other works, and the result, 
when it had been utilised for the job in hand, 
forgotten and left to pass into oblivion. 

Investigations of the kind, though of real value, 
may scarcely be of sufficient importance to be 
worked up as a paper for communication to one 
of the technical societies—always a somewhat 
elaborate business—and, indeed, results and 
methods sufficient for the purpose in view, and 
deserving of record, would be felt not unfrequently 
to be unsuitable for an evening’s formal dis- 
cussion. Again, there is the desire, sometimes 
the necessity, to keep the results private, and the 
disinclination to spend time in working them up 
for publication. Possibly some of these diffi- 
culties could be met by a committee guiding a 
staff of men whose business it would be to keep 
in intimate touch with works in which investiga- 
tions of general interest were going on. The 
knowledge of these men would enable them to 
suggest to the committee what researches it was 
important should be secured for the public: they 
might assist the workers in preparing these for 
publication, or, where complete publication was 
not necessary or desired, in abstracting such parts 
as could usefully be placed on record. The com- 
mittee, or the committee’s records, would in time 
become a storehouse of information to be searched 
by a would-be investigator before he commenced 
his own experiments. Useful knowledge would 
be disseminated and overlapping prevented. The 
difficulties of the attempt are fairly obvious. Suc- 
cess, if it could be achieved on a sufficient scale, 
would be a real advantage to engineers. 

But this is distinct from Sir Frederick Donald- 
son’s suggestion of organising and advising as to 
research. To attempt this for the whole field of 
engineering science is a heavy task, and it may be 
questioned whether such work is not better done 
by a number of special committees, each working 
in a more limited field. Possibly a main com- 
mittee like the main committee of the engineering 
standards committee is wanted to start the sub- 
ordinate bodies and coordinate their work. Such 
special committees do exist at present. Prof. 
Hopkinson mentioned in the discussion on Mr. 


270 


Roberts’s paper the gaseous explosions committee 
pap eS Pp 


of the British Association. The alloys research 
committee of the Institute of Mechanical Engin- 
eers; the newly established research committee 
of the electrical engineers; the reinforced concrete 
committee of the civil engineers; or the Govern- 
ment Advisory Committee for Aéronautics, are all 
instances. For the success of such committees 
three things are needed—a man or men to carry 
out the research, a laboratory or works with 
proper equipment for the experiments, and funds 
to defray the expenses. 

Prof. Hopkinson did well in the discussion at 
Cambridge to direct attention to the individuality 
of research. Much—everything—depends on the 
man, and he must have freedom. The committee 
may specify the objects of the inquiry, and indicate 
in general terms the methods to be followed, but 
no real result will ensue unless the investigator 
has ideas of his own, and, after the suggestions 
laid before the committee are approved, is free 
to carry them out. 

The gaseous explosions committee owes its suc- 
cess to Dugald Clerk and Hopkinson; the alloys 
research committee to Roberts-Austin, Carpenter, 
and Rosenhain; while the work of the Advisory 
Committee for Aéronautics would lose nearly all 
its value were it not for the energy and devotion 
of the staff of the National Physical Laboratory. 

Engineering research—technical research, in- 
deed, of all kinds—differs, however, from much 
scientific research in that it can be organised. 
The problems proposed are usually fairly definite. 
What are the properties of a certain series of 
alloys? How are they modified by temperature, 
forging, annealing, and the like? Do the results 
of impact tests depend on the form and dimension 
of the specimen? What is the exact series of 
changes of temperature and pressure in the 
cylinder of a gas-engine? How are the forces 
and couples on an aéroplane related to its aspect 
to the wind? The problems may be difficult, the 
answers may elude inquiry; but, given the man, 
the laboratory, and the funds, a committee meet- 
ing at intervals to discuss the results of the 
experiments may reasonably hope in time to meet 
with success. 

Sir Frederick Donaldson and his colleagues 
have raised questions of great interest and im- 
portance, well worth the careful consideration of 
those engaged in bringing the results of scientific 
inquiry to bear on the problems of manufacture 
and construction. 


HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE STATE. 


ORD HALDANE had something important 

to say upon the subject of provision for 
higher education in the course of his speech at 
the opening of the new buildings of the depart- 
ment of applied science of the University of 
Sheffield on Saturday last. An account of his 
address will be found elsewhere in this issue, but 
we are more particularly interested in a summary 
of the main points, communicated by him to 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 30, 1913 


representatives of the Press. Lord Haldane ex- 
plained that he desired it to be realised fully that 
he was announcing the considered decisions of 
the Cabinet upon the subject of university educa- 
tion, and was indicating the policy to be followed. 
The substance of his remarks was expressed as 
follows :— 


The main features of the Board of Education’s 
scheme are a recognition of the great strides being 
made in university education by the United States and 
Germany, and an intention to maintain closely the 
connection between pure science and applied science 
and to check any tendency on the part of any of the 
younger universities to cultivate the latter at the 
expense of the former. Theory and practice must 
keep together. Men of business must remember that 
much of what is distinctive in the inventive and indus- 
trial genius of this country comes from theoretical 
sources, 

Unless we wake up fully about this matter of educa- 
tion, and particularly higher education, I am a little 
nervous as to what the state of things with regard to 
our industrial supremacy will be fifteen or twenty years 
hence. 

The nation will have to make up its mind to give 
considerably more out of central funds. The plans 
for these advances are now fashioned. I hate any 
idea of increasing expenditure, whether out of local 
or national sources, if it can be avoided. But this 
cannot be avoided. It is salvage money, and unless 
you spend it you will go back as a nation, and your 
revenues by which you keep up your fleets and your 
armies will begin to shrink, because you will not be 
holding your own in that great industrial position 
from which your power and your wealth have come. 


We have now, therefore, a definite statement 
of the position which university work is to take 
in the national scheme of education adumbrated 
by various Ministers since the beginning of this 
year. There is a clear acknowledgment of the 
fact that in the matter of State provision for 
higher education we have not kept pace with other 
progressive nations; that scientific work which 
has no industrial interest is as important as that 
of which the direct application can be seen; that 
national advancement can be secured best by in- 
crease of scientific knowledge; and that all these 
things involve contributions from the national 
exchequer greatly in excess of those hitherto given. 

Readers of Nature scarcely need reminding that 
the policy thus broadly outlined has been urged 
consistently and persistently in these columns. 
Ten years ago, Sir Norman Lockyer, in his presi- 
dential address to the British Association at 
Southport, gave the evidence from which each_one 
of the points mentioned by Lord Haldane 
could be justified; and since then, year by year, 
particulars have been given in the reports of the 
British Science Guild of the progress being made 
in the endowment of higher education and research 
abroad, in comparison with the position in this 
country. It was shown, for instance, in the last 
report of the Guild, that the total receipts of 
universities in the United States in the year 1910— 
1911 amounted to nearly nineteen million pounds, 
and the benefactions to four and a half millions. 
In the same year, the total receipts of those uni- 
versities and university colleges in Great Britain 


OcTOBER 30, 1913| 


in receipt of grants from the Board of Education 
was little more than 600,000l., of which amount 
the total State grant was roughly one half. The 
State grants to universities in Prussia alone are 
more than twice as much as are contributed to our 
universities from the national exchequer. 

Lord Haldane may therefore safely say that the 
United States and Germany have made far greater 
strides in university education than have been 
undertaken in this country. When he wrote the 
introduction to Sir Norman Lockyer’s collection 
of addresses on education and national progress 
(1906), he suggested that the private donor should 
be encouraged, but that the motto of the Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer as regards expenditure 
upon matters connected with higher education 
and research should be Festina lente. “I do not 
mean,” he wrote, “that the Government ought not 
to spend public money generously upon the uni- 
versities. I mean that it should not be spent 
unless and until a case for the necessity of such 
expenditure has been clearly made out.” 

We may be permitted to conclude from the 
address at Sheffield that Lord Haldane is now of 
the opinion that a case has been made out for 
increased national provision for our educational 
forces. He knows as well as anyone that the 
great advances being made in education in other 
countries constitute a formidable menace to our- 
selves, and that the State can wait no longer for 
like developments if it desires to maintain a lead- 
ing position among progressive peoples. He has 
now stated authoritatively that the Cabinet realises 


_ our weakness, and accepts the only policy which 


will remedy it. We have read this pronounce- 
ment with lively satisfaction, and shall welcome 
any measure which will put the policy into effect. 


DR. LUCAS-CHAMPIONNIERE. 


ihe sudden death of Dr. Just Lucas-Champion- 
niére has brought regret to many surgeons 
in this country, who knew the excellence of his 
character and of his work. He was seventy years 
old, surgeon to the Hétel Dieu (the great hospital 
in Paris, founded by Saint Louis)\—Commander of 
the Legion of Honour, and member of the French 
Academy. His father was the first editor of one 
of the chief medical journals of France; his grand- 
father had been a leader in the heroic war of La 
Vendée. From the Collége Rollin, Lucas-Cham- 
pionniére went to the Hétel Dieu as a student, 
and was interne there in 1865. He became one of 
the most eminent of all French surgeons of his 
time, and received honours from many countries, 
including the Fellowship of the Royal Colleges 
of Surgeons of London and of Edinburgh. He 
was a great “all-round” surgeon; but he gave 
especial study to the operative treatment of hernia, 
and to the management of fractures. His best 
recreation—so far as he had time for it—he found 
in music. 

To us over here—some of us may remember 
his genial presence in London during the 1881 
International Medical Congress—he stands for the 


NO, 2296, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 271 


introduction into France of Lister’s antiseptic 
method. He in France, and Saxtorph in Den- 
mark, were the teachers of the new learning. He 
came to Glasgow in 1868, and Edinburgh in 1875, 
that he might learn for himself, watching Lister 
himself, every detail of the method. He so wor- 
shipped the work of Lister that, in the later years 
of his life, he resented the changes of method, 
the preference for things “aseptic” over things 
“antiseptic ”; he hoped that surgery would return 
to ‘Lister’s own method.” There are few 
surgical books more pleasant to handle than his 
“Pratique de la Chirurgie Antiseptique ”—with 
its portrait of Lister for a frontispiece, and the 
loyalty and devotion of the writing. It is pitiful 
to think how slow was the spread of the new learn- 
ing; what misery was. added, for want of the anti- 
septic method, to the misery of the Franco-German 
War; what unbelief, and worse than unbelief, 
delayed the universal recognition of Lister even in 
our own country. 


NOTES. 


A Royat Commission has been appointed to inquire 
into the subject of venereal diseases in the United 
Kingdom. The terms of reference are :—To inquire 
into the prevalence of venereal diseases in the United 
Kingdom, their effects upon the health of the com- 
munity, and the means by which those effects can be 
alleviated or prevented, it being understood that no 
return to the policy or provisions of the Contagious 
Diseases Acts of 1864,. 1866, 1869 is to be regarded 
as falling within the scope of the inquiry. The mem- 
bers of the Commission are:—Lord Sydenham of 
Combe, G.C.S.I., F.R.S. (chairman), the Right Hon. 
Sir David Brynmor Jones, K.C., M.P., Mr. Philip 
Snowden, Sir Kenelm E. Digby, G.C.B., K.Caya ae 
Almeric FitzRoy, K.C.B., Sir Malcolm Morris, 
K.C.V.O., Sir John Collie, Dr. A. Newsholme, Canon 
J. W. Horsley, the Rev. J. Scott Lidgett, Dr. F. W. 
Mott, Mr. J. E. Lane, Mrs. Scharlieb, Mrs. Creighton, 
and Mrs. Burgwin. The secretary to the Commission 
is Mr. E. R. Forber, of the Local Government Board, 
to whom any communications on the subject may be 
addressed. 


By Order in Council dated October 14 new de- 
nominations of standards of the metric carat 
of 200 milligrams and its multiples and sub- 
multiples have been legalised for use in trade 
in the United Kingdom on and after April 
1, 1914. The permissible abbreviation of the 
denomination “ metric carat” is ‘‘C.M.’”’ The weights 
legalised range from 500 C.M. to 0-005 C.M., the 
series being 5, 2, 1 throughout. The legalisation of 
the metric carat has been undertaken by the Board 
of Trade after consulting representatives of the trade 
in diamonds and precious stones, and is the outcome 
of a resolution passed at the General Conference on 
Weights and Measures, held in Paris in 1907, advo- 
cating the adoption of an international standard carat. 
Diamond dealers in this country were at first opposed 
to any change, and it is only quite recently that they 
have found it necessary to reconsider their views on 


292 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 30, 1913 


the subject, owing to the progress made on the Con- 
tinent in enforcing the adoption of the metric carat. 
The new standards are intended to displace the old 
English carat weight, which has never had legal 
sanction, but has long been in use in this country, 
and is recognised by the trade as defined by the rela- 
tion 1513 carats=1 oz. troy, so that it is equivalent 
to 3:1683 grains, or to 205-3 milligrams nearly. 


By the death of Mr. William Hunting, on October 
24, the veterinary profession has lost one of its most 
brilliant members, and the public in general one of 
its most strenuous workers in the cause of public 
health, especially in relation to the prevention of 
diseases transmissible from animals to man. Mr. 
William Hunting was born in 1844, receiving his early 
education at the Edinburgh Academy, and his profes- 
sional training at the New Veterinary College, Edin- 
burgh. He obtained his diploma of membership of the 
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1865, and 
became a fellow in 1877. His former teacher, Prof. 
Gamgee, established a veterinary college in London, 
and selected him to teach anatomy and physiology, 
and after a while Mr. Hunting was appointed 
professor of veterinary science at.. the Royal 
Agricultural College, Cirencester. He did not retain 
this chair for.long, and eventually he settled in general 
practice.in London, where he was brought into daily 
contact with glanders in horses, a disease with which 
his name will always be associated. He was later 
elected to the council of the, Royal College of 
Veterinary Surgeons, and became its president, the 
highest honour his profession could bestow on him, in 
1894-5. Mr. Hunting was acknowledged to be the 
greatest authority on clinical glanders, and it was 
mainly owing to his efforts that the London County 
Council instituted its campaign against this disease 
which was so easily communicable to man, and almost 
invariably fatal. For this purpose the L.C.C. ap- 
pointed him as its chief inspector, from which 
post he retired under the age limit. He lived, how- 
ever, to see the disease got well under control with 
every prospect, of its being completely eradicated in 
a comparatively few years. He published an illus- 
trated monograph on glanders in the horse and in 
man, the best work in existence on the disease, and 
he has also contributed the chapter on this affection in 
Hoare’s ‘‘System of Veterinary Medicine.” He had 
only recently been invited to provide a paper on the 
same subject for the International Veterinary Con- 


gress, which will meet in London in i914. He 
founded and edited The Veterinary Record, and 
published a standard worl on horse-shoeing, and 


was also a prolific writer to the veterinary Press. 
Amongst the many offices he held at the time of his 
death, Mr. Hunting was president of the National 
Veterinary Association, examiner for the membership 
and fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary 
Surgeons, examiner for the membership of the Royal 
Agricultural College, and for the meat inspector’s 
certificate of the Royal Sanitary Institute. He was 
also a member of the board of studies in veterinary 
science in the University of London, and a governor 
of the Royal Veterinary College. 


2296, VOL. 92] 


Dr. F. H. Hatcu tee been elected president of the 
Institution of Mining and Metallurgy for the forth- 
coming year. rma 


Mr. STEPHEN REYNOLDS, a member of the pede 
mental Committee inquiring into the condition of the 
inshore fisheries, has been appointed adviser on these 
fisheries to the Development Commission. 


Dr. H. R. Mitt, director of the British Rainfall 
Organisation, has been compelled to take a complete — 
rest for a time on account of his eyes, which have 
been affected by the continual strain of his work. 
He will leave next month for a voyage to New 
Zealand, and is advised not to attempt to take up for 
at least a year any work which involves close atten- 
tion. It is hoped that the rest and change will have 
a decidedly beneficial effect upon Dr. Mill’s eyesight 
and general health. 


THE young Malay elephant at the Zoological Gar- 
dens, which had been ailing for some time, died in 
the latter part of last week. The skin has been con- 
signed to Messrs. Rowland Ward, Ltd., by whom it 
will be mounted for the Natural History Museum. 
At the time of its death the animal, although about 
three years old, still retained the hairy coat of new- 
born Asiatic elephant calves. 


In The Field of October 25 Mr. R. I. Pocock records 
the acquisition by the Zoological Society. of the second 
known example of the South American short-eared 
dog, or fox (Canis sclateri). The first specimen was 
acquired by the society in 1882, and described by Dr. 
Sclater under the preoccupied name of C. microtis. 
In neither case is the precise habitat known, but Mr. 
Pocock, who also refers to the peculiarity of the asso- 
ciation of short ears with small bodily size, considers 
that the species is probably a forest animal. 


An exhibition of ‘‘ Nature Photographs,’’ organised 
by the Nature Photographic Society, is now being 
held at the house of the Royal Photographic Society, 
35 Russell Square. It consists of 132 photographs of 
birds, animals, flowers, fungi, insects, &c., generally 
of a high order of merit, and many of them by 
workers who have earned a considerable reputation for 
work of this kind. Admission to the exhibition is by 
presentation of visiting card, between 11 and 5, until 
November 15. The photographs shown are just of 
the kind that must appeal to those interested in 
nature-study. 


THE annual dinner of the London School of Tropical 
Medicine was held at Prince’s Restaurant on October 
24, Dr. F. M. Sandwith presiding, and among those 
present were Lord Milner, Mr. Percival Nairne, Sir 
Charles Lukis, Sir J. West Ridgeway, Sir John Ander- 
son, Surgeon-General May, Sir Patrick Manson, and 
many others. Mr. Austin Chamberlain, proposing the 
toast of the school, referred to the progress which 
tropical medicine has made during the last twenty- 
five years, and said that it is a matter of national 
pride that in so beneficent a movement our country- 
men stand in the forefront in regard to the new 
learning which is being acquired. The London School 
has appealed for a sum of 100,000l. for endowment, 


_ OcTOBER 30, 1913} 


research, and endowment of beds for certain tropical 
eases, of which about 70,0001. has been obtained. A 
"pleasing event of the evening was the presentation to 
Sir Patrick Manson, the doyen of tropical research, 
of two portraits of himself on behalf of the subscribers, 
by Mr. Cantlie and Dr. Prout, representing the Lon- 
by don and Liverpool Schools respectively. 


A VIOLENT wind-storm passed over part of Wales 
- on Monday night, October 27, causing damage 
roughly estimated at between 30,0001. and 50,000l., 
and the loss of two lives, as well as injuries to many 
people. Two men named Woolford and Breeze were 
_ walking arm-in-arm when they were caught by the 
wind and blown a distance of thirty yards. Woolford 
fell on his head and was killed, and Breeze had two 
ribs fractured. From the position in which the dead 
body of a man named Harries was found in a field 
near Abercynon it is believed that the man must have 
_ been carried 300 or 400 yards by the force of the gale. 
_ Along the whole Taff Valley, from Treforest past 
_ Cilfynydd and by Quakers Yard to Treharris wrecked 
structures and up-rooted trees mark the path of the 
storm. It was first felt at Treforest, and it seemed 
to gather force as it entered the valley at Cilfynydd. 
Along the whole way the storm was confined to a 
_ path about 200 yards wide. 


_ Ar the annual public meeting of the Five Academies, 
held last week at Paris, a paper on the subject of 
prehistoric trepanning was read, by the late Dr. Lucas 
Championniére; it dealt with instances of the opera- 
tion, beginning with the first discovery of such a skull 
by M. Pruniéres under a dolmen in the Lozére, among 
the cave men, the ancient Gauls, and the pre-Colum- 
bian Americans. These people performed trepanning 
by means of flints, and the writer had succeeded in 
piercing the skull of an adult in the dissecting-room 
in thirty-five minutes by means of a flint, which was 
not specially sharpened. He attributed the skill of 
these early surgeons to the now lost art-of rotating 
instruments in fire-making. The operation was per- 
formed in the case of serious skull wounds, and also 
to relieve headache and epilepsy, by releasing the spirit 
to which the attacks were attributed. He himself had 
seen a native at Biskra, in Algeria, whose head showed 
four perforations, and he and his brothers asserted 
that they had trepanned their own father twelve 
times. It is remarkable that the operation was not 
practised among highly civilised races, like Greeks, 
Egyptians, Arabs, Hindus, and Chinese, or among 
some peoples of low culture, like African negroes. 


Av the annual general meeting of the Royal Society 
of Edinburgh, held on October 27, the following office- 
bearers and councillors were elected :—President: 
Prof. James Geikie, F.R.S. Vice-Presidents: Dr. fe 
Burgess, Prof. T. Hudson Beare, Prof, F. O. Bower, 
F.R.S., Sir Thomas R. Fraser, F.R.S., Dr. B. N. Peach, 
F.R.S., and Sir E. A. Schifer, F.R.S. General 
Secretary: Dr. C. G. Knott. Secretaries to Ordinary 
Meetings: Dr. R. Kidston, F.R.S., and Prof. A. 
Robinson. Treasurer: Mr. J. Currie. Curator of 
Library and Museum: Dr. J. S. Black. Councillors : 
Prof. T. H. Bryce, Mr. W. A. Carter, Mr. A. Watt, 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


273 


Dr. J. H. Ashworth, Dr. J. G. Gray, Prof. R. A. 
Sampson, F.R.S., Prof. D’Arcy W. Thompson, C.B., 
Prof. E. T.- Whittaker, F.R.S., Principal, A. P. 
Laurie, Prof. J. Graham Kerr, F.R.S., Dr. L. Dob- 
bin, Mr. E. M. Wedderburn. It is worthy of note that 
the presidents of the Royal Societies of London and 
of Edinburgh are brothers, natives of Edinburgh, and 
both geologists. 


Ar the annual general meeting of the Cambridge 
Philosophical Society, held on October 27, the follow- 
ing officers and council were elected :—President : The 
Master of Christ’s. Vice-Presidents: Prof. Pope, Dr. 
Barnes, and Prof. Seward. Treasurer: Prof. Hobson. 
Secretaries: Mr. A. Wood, Mr. F. A. Potts, and Mr. 
G. H. Hardy. Other Members of Council: Sir J. J. 
Thomson, Mr. J. E. Purvis, Mr. R. P. Gregory, Dr. 
Cobbett, Mr. J. Mercer, Dr. Marshall, Mr. G. R. 
Mines, Mr. F. J. M. Stratton, Prof. Woodhead, Mr. 
C. Forster Cooper, Mr. C. E. Inglis, and Dr. Duck- 
worth. 


Ar the annual meeting of the Prehistoric Society 
of East Anglia, the honorary secretary made an an- 
nouncement, which will be welcome to archzologists, 
that the society proposes to undertake a survey of 
Grime’s Graves, at Weeting. A few of these con- 
structions were superficially studied in 1852, and one 
was carefully examined by Canon Greenwell in 1870. 
But much still remains to be done, and the import- 
ance of flint implements of the Cissbury type found 
in the caves has been greatly increased by the sug- 
gestion of Mr. Reginald Smith that they are analogous 
to those of the Aurignacian age found on the Con- 
tinent. Contributions are invited for the prosecution 
of this undertaking by Mr. W. G. Clarke, 12 St. 
Philip’s Road, Norwich. The president, Mr. J. Reid 
Moir, discussed the fractured flints found in the 
Eocene ‘‘ Bullhead”’ bed at Coe’s Pit, Bramford, near 
Ipswich, with special reference to the views of M. 
Breuil, who is inclined to regard the fractures as the 
result of natural pressure. The Ipswich bed is now 
overlaid by some 4o ft. of deposits, partly sand, and 
it is difficult to imagine how pressure on the lower 
strata could have been exercised through such a 
medium. Mr. Reid Moir concludes, from experi- 
ments, that pressure may account for the fractures. If 
this be the case, it must have been exercised before 
the deposition of the present overlying strata. In 
later beds the ‘‘human touch” is sufficiently obvious, 
and it is thus possible to differentiate one type from 
the other with some confidence. 

The Eugenics Review for October (v., No. 3) con- 
tains matter of much interest for the citizen. The 
Chancellor of Stanford University, U.S.A., writes on 
the eugenics of war, pointing out that it is the best 
part of the population that becomes the military, and 
that a country, therefore, by the ravages of war, 
suffers not only at the time but for generations after- 
wards. ‘‘Wars are not paid for in war-time; the 
bill comes later,’’ as Benjamin Franklin said. Mr. 
Soéren Hansen marshals evidence on the inferior 
quality of the first-born children, and a State not only 
loses citizens by the limitation of families, but is also 
penalised thereby by a deterioration in racial quality. 


274 


THE monograph published by Prof. P. N. Ure, and 
issued by the Oxford University Press, on black glaze 
pottery from Rhitsona in Beeotia (pp. 63+xix plates, 
price 7s. 6d. net) is a useful contribution to our know- 
ledge of Greek ceramics. Our information on the 
history of the Boeotian federation from literary sources 
is confined to Thebes; that of the minor members 
must be discovered by the spade. If this pottery 
could be accurately dated it would supply much useful 
evidence. The present monograph has established the 
leading facts, which must be supplemented by further 
excavation and examination of the material. 


Tue Danysz rat virus, consisting of a cultivation 
of a microbe which produces a fatal infectious disease 
among rats, has been used with considerable success 
for the extermination of rats in many districts. The 
accompanying illustration shows the preparation of 


Saturating crushed oats with Danysz virus at Kaltern, Austrian Tyrol. 


the ‘‘ bait,” made by impregnating crushed oats with 
the virus, for use in Kaltern, a village in the Austrian 
Tyrol, which had suffered severely from an invasion 
of field rats. 


THE age of the earth has long been a favourite 
topic for discussion, and conclusions have been arrived 
at from time to time remarkable mainly for their 
variety. This variety is likely to characterise for a 
long time to come other conclusions that may follow, 
for the simple reason that at present we lack the data 
for dealing with the subject in a comprehensive way. 
Estimates of geologic time, founded upon one set of 
facts and assumptions, are found to be difficult to 
square with those based upon other and equally trust- 
worthy sets. Mr. H. S. Shelton considers some 
methods of attacking the problem in the October 
number of Science Progress. He points out the 
absence of sufficiently good data for the average rate 
of erosion of rocks, and suggests that further in- 
formation could be obtained if we possessed fuller 
details concerning the extent of particular local forma- 
tions. Of the geochemical methods he thinks the 
best is probably that based on calculations concerning 
the amount of limestone in the rocks of the earth; and 
from Mellard .Reade’s deductions he believes it is 
‘possible to assess a probable minimum of the order 
of 500,000,000 of years.’’ Respecting the estimates 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


| by Dr. Hartman of one published by Engelenburg 
| in 1891, since which time the number of stations has 


[OcTOBER 30, 1913 
of Strutt, based on the study of helium and radio- 
active minerals, he says: ““The most we can now 
infer is a moderate minimum of time, a result that 
is given equally well by other data if properly 
handled.” Concerning biological evidence, he says: 
“The biologist has no independent standard of time. 
Vague as are the data of the geologist, those of the 
biologist are still more uncertain.’ Finally: “What 
we are entitled to say on the evidence before us— 
biological, geological, and physical—is this: It would 
be absurd to attempt, on very insufficient data, to 
give an estimate of the probable lapse of geologic 
time. But.there is, at the present day, no reason 
whatever why it should not be a thousand million 
of years or a time even greater.’ This does not carry 
us very far, and Mr. Shelton’s suggestions for further 
study of the problem are somewhat trite. 


Tue October number of The Entomologists’ Monthly — 
Magazine contains a memoir and portrait of the late 
Dr. O. M. Reuter, the celebrated hemipterist, who 
died on September 2, in his native town of Abo, at 
the age of sixty-three. 


Tue report of the Entomological Society of Ontario 
for 1912 mainly deals with the infestations of in- 
jurious insects in the Dominion and the best means 
of keeping them in check. Great aid in this work 
has been afforded by the establishment of field labora- 
tories in various districts, which have enabled investi- 
gations to be carried on over much wider areas than 
was previously possible. Another feature of the year’s 
work has been an increased importation of parasitic 
enemies of some of the most noxious insects, notably 
the introduction of cocoons of the larch-sawfly infected 
with an ichneumon-fly from the English Lake District. 


Tue beautiful colours of thin films observable with 
Mr. C. V. Boys’s scientific toy, ‘The Rainbow Cup,” 
were referred to in a Note in our issue of January 23 
of this year (vol. xc., p. 579). A cheap form of the 
instrument is now available from Messrs. J. J. Griffin 
and Sons, Ltd., the price being 2s. 6d. only instead 
of 25s. Though the new form is, of course, not so 
good as the more expensive instrument, it shows the — 
changing colour patterns in a very pleasing way, 7 
and should interest a large section of the general 
public. An explanatory pamphlet is included in the 
box containing the instrument and the soap solution. 


Tue Royal Meteorological Institute of the Nether- 
lands has issued a useful, paper on the rainfall of that 
country (Mededeelingen en Verhandelingen, 15), with — 
maps and tables showing the annual and seasonal 
distribution. The work is a continuation prepared 


greatly increased, and is the first instalment of a 
general climatology of the Netherlands. In addition © 
to the annual means for the whole period, which — 
differs for each station, all the means for the twenty- 
five years, 1881-1905, have been calculated, as this 
period has been adopted as a normal time for com- 
parison by the Solar Commission of the International 
Meteorological Committee. The extreme annual 
values for this series vary from 828 mm. (32°6 in.) 


Set i a 


- Royal, Edmund Halley. 


OcTOBER 30, 1913| 


at Leeghwater (South Holland) to 596 mm. (23'5 in.) 
at Kampen (E. Zuider Zee). The rainfall diminishes 
considerably near the coasts; at some distance from 
these it increases, and afterwards the diminution 
becomes progressive and general with distance from 
the sea. The maximum values occur in July, August, 
and October; the minimum values occur generally in 
February and April. In July the increased rainfall is 
due chiefly to thunderstorms. 


THE present autumn has many meteorological 
features of especial interest. Only one-third of the 
autumn now remains, and although there is ample 
time for a thorough change to set in, there are at 
present no indications of generally colder conditions. 
The weekly reports issued by the Meteorological 
Office show an excess of temperature since the close 
of summer at the end of August, in all parts of the 
British Isles, and over England and Ireland the excess 
amounts to 3° for the period embraced by September 
and October. The absence of low temperatures is 
very pronounced, and at Greenwich the lowest shade 
temperature for October is 36°, while to October 28 
there were nine nights with the thermometer above 
50°. In October last year sharp frost was experienced 
on October 5 and 6, but it is not altogether uncommon 
to escape frost throughout the month, and in 1910 
the lowest temperature at Greenwich for October was 
39:6°. On twenty-one days out of the first twenty- 
eight days in October this year the shade temperature 
at Greenwich had exceeded 60°, and even towards the 
close of the month such high temperatures were fairly 
common. The autumn rains have so far been in 
excess of the average over the midland and eastern 
districts of England, but there is generally a deficiency 
in the western districts. 


In his remarks on Dr. Bohr’s letter on the spectra 
of helium and hydrogen, in Nature of October 23, 
p- 232, Prof. Fowler referred to certain corrections 
required in the wave-lengths calculated for the lines 
near H8, Hy, &c., as given in the original submitted 
to him. Dr. Bohr, however, corrected these wave- 
lengths in the proof, thus rendering Prof. Fowler’s cor- 
rections unnecessary. We are asked to mention this 
in order to remove any ambiguity to which the refer- 
ence to corrected wave-lengths may have given rise. 


THE September number of Terrestrial Magnetism 
and Atmospheric Electricity devotes twenty pages to 
an account of the magnetic work of the Astronomer 
In 1698 he was placed in 
command of the Paramour Pink in order “to improve 
the knowledge of the longitude and the variations of 
the compasse.” He spent two years taking observa- 
tions in the Atlantic between latitudes 50° N. and 
52° S., and published his results in a ‘‘General Chart 
of the Variations of the Compass” in won.» The 
journal in which he entered all his observations is 
reprinted under the editorship of Messrs. Ault and 
Wallis, of the department of terrestrial magnetism, 
and Dr. Bauer has collected together the references 
to Halley’s magnetic work in the journals of the Royal 
Society, and gives reprints of the letterpress which 
accompanied the sea charts of the western and 
southern oceans, and of the whole world. 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


275 


SoME interesting results are recorded by Messrs. 
F. A. Sannino and A. Tosatti in the Atti R. 
Accad. Lincei (vol. xxii., ii., No. 5) of the effect of 
manuring grape vines with manganese sulphate. The 
result of the application is considerably to increase 
the yield of grapes per hectare, but the must obtained 
in the vintage is poorer in glucose, and higher in 
acidity than with the control, carried out on the same 
land, but without the addition of manganese. The 
wine obtained after fermentation shows a quite char- 
acteristic odour and flavour, and tends to resemble 
Marsala or Madeira. At the same time a tendency 
to develop turbidity is shown which is also found in 
wines when too rich in oxydases. The proportion of 
manganese present in the ash of the wine is at the 
same time markedly increased. 


ComMENTING on the loss of the German naval air- 
ship Zeppelin L2, The Engineer for October 24 does 
not consider that present constructive methods will 
ever render available the tactical superiority of air- 
ships. No dirigible balloon has yet been constructed 
which has fulfilled its function otherwise than by 
dodging the forces of nature. It is held that both 
commercially and  constructionally, the dirigible 
balloon of to-day appears to be an absurdity. Fur- 
ther, there is little reason to hope that conditions 
will change, and that new materials and methods of 
construction will be made available. 


Tue ‘‘ James Forrest” lecture for 1913 was delivered 
by Mr. Alexander Gracie in the new buildings of the 
Institution of Civil Engineers on October 23, the 
subject being twenty years’ progress in marine con- 
struction. Increase in size of vessel is undoubtedly 
the most valuable resource of the naval architect, 
as it leads directly towards the attainment of greater 
comfort, speed, and economy. Twenty years ago, the 
premier Atlantic vessel was the Campania, 600 ft. 
in length, 65 ft. in beam, and 41 ft. 6 in. in depth. 
To-day the largest vessel afloat is the Imperator, 
880 ft. by 90 ft. by 63 ft. The Cunard liners Lusi- 
tania and Mauretania have been surpassed in size, but 
still hold their supremacy in speed unchallenged; these 
vessels maintain an ocean speed of between 25 and 
26 knots. The advance has been greatly facilitated 
by the introduction and development of the steam 
turbine, which has provided the way to further pro- 
gress in economy, lightness, and the construction of 
very large units, while at the same time eliminating 
vibration troubles and relieving the difficulties of 
engine-room management. Twenty years ago, the 
majority of cross-Channel vessels were paddie- 
steamers. Typical vessels were the paddle-steamer 
Calais Douvres and the twin-screw Ibex. The former 
vessel had a displacement of 1065 gross tons, and 
engines of 6000 indicated horse-power: gave a speed 
of 20:64 knots. The corresponding dimensions of the 
latter vessel were 1062 gross tons, 4200 indicated 
horse-power, and 19:37 knots. The introduction in 
Igit of geared-turbines in the Normannia and 


' Hantonia has led to a great economy in fuel, these 


vessels using but 43 tons of coal per trip, as compared 
with 7o tons used by their immediate predecessors 
of the same capacity, but propelled by direct-driven 


270) 


three-screw turbines. Last summer, the Channel 
steamer Paris, fitted with geared turbines, attained 
the remarkable speed of 25-07 knots—a result which 
has only been surpassed by torpedo craft. Hydraulic 
transmission has lately been developed in Germany, 
and electrical transmission has also been applied to 
several vessels. Cargo steamers have advanced from 
6400 to 9600 tons dead-weight, at practically constant 
speed of 11 knots. There are many attractive pos- 
sibilities in the problem of producing a trustworthy 
internal-combustion engine able to compete success- 
fully with the steam-engine and geared turbine. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES FOR NOVEMBER :— 


Nov. 1. 16h. om. Mercury at greatest elongation 
east of the Sun. 
2. 2th. 18m. Jupiter in conjunction with the 
Moon (Jupiter 4° 35’ N.). 
4. 11h. 32m. Uranus in conjunction with the 
Moon (Uranus 3° 26’ N.). 
5. 8h. om. Venus at greatest heliocentric 
latitude N. 
12. 13h. om. Mercury stationary. 
15. 12h, 25m. Saturn in conjunction with the 
Moon (Saturn 6° 40! S.). 
18. 7h. 6m. Mars in conjunction with the 
Moon (Mars 2° 23’ S.). 
13h. 21m. Neptune in conjunction with the 
Moon (Neptune 4° 40’ S.). 
22. 18h. om. Mercury in inferior conjunction 
with the Sun. 
26. 7h. 33m. Venus in conjunction with the 
Moon (Venus 5° 41’ N) 
»> 23h. 32m. Mercury in conjunction with the 
Moon (Mercury 6° 43’ N.). 
27. oh. om. Mars stationary. 
30. 16h. 5m. Jupiter in conjunction with the 
Moon (Jupiter 4° 12’ N.). 


A New Comert.—A Kiel telegram, dated October 24, 
distributes the information communicated by Prof. 
Hartwig that on October 23 Dr. Zinner discovered a 
comet of the 1oth magnitude at 7h. 58:8m. M.T. Bam- 
berg. Its position is given as R.A. 18h. 4om. 1s., and 
declination —4° 32’ 38”, and the object was observed 
to have a tail. The comet is thus situated in the 
constellation of Aquila, a little less than half-way 
between A Aquilze and 7 Serpentis. 


Comet Metcatr 1913b.—The following is the 
ephemeris for Metcalf’s comet as calculated by Herr 
A. Kobold, and published in Astronomische Nachrich- 
ten, No. 4686 :— 

12h. M.T. Berlin. 


Ce (true) Dec. (true) Mag. 
eet tiBe a i i 
Ock 30° ~ ..+_ 20 4058s cera 25°8 
31 46 31 3 139 
Nov. 1 a6 Ui 300i mere O21 
2 AG SS ty, eee 2:0, 9:7 
3 AS 47; ODS 
“3 45°39 12) ede) 
5 AS: 35) ieee ste OL 
6 45 30 + 2 4I4 99 


This faint comet is now just moving into the con- 
stellation of Aquarius, and is only a suitable object for 
telescopes of large aperture. 

Comet WESTPHAL (1913d).—Comet Westphal is 
becoming a faint object, being now a little fainter 
than 8-5 magnitude. The following is a portion of 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 30, 1913 


the ephemeris published by Hermann Kobold in 
Astronomische Nachrichten, No, 4687 :— 


12h, M.T. Berlin. 


(true) Dec. (true) Mag. 
- m Ss 5 1 
Oct. 30 20 40 35 «.- +23 168 
eT ass 39 38 23a 
Novant |... 38 46 24 30:4 | «0 Se 
37 56 25 65 
Be ome 27500 25 42-3 
ARM ics 36 30 20 17-7 
ee 35 eT 26 528 ... 86 
6 39 2%, 27 27°5 ; 


The comet is moving in the constellation of Vul- 
pecula, and is in a good position for observation. 


ELEMENTS AND NuMBERS OF MINOR PLANETS.—The 
growth in the number of the minor planets discovered 
is clearly brought out in the two interesting com- 
munications by Dr. Cohn in Astronomische Nachrich- 
ten, No. 4688. In the first paper he refers to the 
elements and numbering of these bodies, and points 
out that in the interval, July 1, 1912, to June 30, 1913, 


sixty-seven objects have been given provisionary num-— 


bers. Five of these have been identified as old mem- 
bers of the group. Of the sixty-two remaining, nine- 
teen hail from Heidelberg, seven from Johannesburg, 
nine from Neuchatel, eleven from Simeis, three from 
Vienna, and thirteen from Winchester. Of this num- 
ber twenty-one have had their elliptical orbits checked 
and numbers assigned to them. 

In the second communication Dr. Cohn points out 
the unsatisfactory state, and possibility of mistakes, in 
the present system of lettering the planets, owing to 
their great number, and suggests, with the help of 
other astronomers, a set of names for the planets 
from No. 570 to 727. As an example, it may be 
stated that 697 has been named “‘ Galileo,” as it was 
discovered on the day of the three hundredth anni- 
versary of the discovery of Jupiter’s satellites. 727 is 
termed ‘‘Nipponia,’” as the planet was discovered 
twice by Herr Hirayama in Tokio. 


THEORETICAL ASTRONOMICAL RESEARCH.—A circular 
regarding a plan for an institute for theoretical astro- 
nomical research has reached us from Lund, Sweden. 
It is a timely plea for financial support for a 
neglected part of astronomy. The work suggested 
as specially suitable to be undertaken by the institute 
is in the first place the investigations of the orbits 
of the asteroids, work which it is confidently antici- 
pated will lead to the solution of ‘tthe problem of three 
bodies,’ and perhaps also solve the enigma of the 
evolution of the heavenly bodies. This work would 
be undertaken by three of a proposed staff of eight 
“theoretical astronomers.’ Two more would work 
at the problem of three bodies; to another couple 
would be assigned various cosmological problems, 
such as the figure of the heavenly bodies, tides, and’ 
related problems. The remaining astronomer would 
be required to deal with stellar statistics. These men 
would be of the standing of university professors, and 
have rather better pay. Each astronomer would have 
one algebraical computer and two numerical com- 
puters at his personal disposal, and should the neces- 
sity arise additional computers would be available. 
The project is conceived in a princely manner, the 
proposed yearly budget being 200,000 marks (German) 
(10,0001.), and the complete scheme requires a capital 
sum of 5,600,000 marks (280,000l.). Calculating 
machines, worked by lady computers, would be em- 
ployed for the numerical calculations, and no fewer 
than 100,000 marks (5oool.) is proposed to be spent on 
machines. 


OcTOBER 30, 1913| 


—_ 


COMMITTEES ON RADIO-TELEGRAPHIC 
INVESTIGATIONS. 


Organisation of an International Commission. 
MEETING was held in Brussels at the com- 
mencement of last month at which the question 

of organising an international commission to carry 
out wireless experiments was further discussed. At 
the International Time Conference in Paris last Octo- 
ber a series of resolutions was passed with reference 
to the formation of an international organisation for 
the scientific study of Hertzian waves and their rela- 
tionship to the medium through which they travel. 
At this conference Mr. Goldschmidt, of Brussels, 
placed his high-power station at Brussels and the 
sum of toool. for preliminary studies at the disposal 
of the proposed international commission. J 
Arising out of these resolutions the representatives 
of the different countries who were present at Brussels 
last month drafted a provisional constitution for the 
international commission and a scheme for its work. 
The objects of the commission are :—(1) To carry 
out experiments on the propagation of electric waves. 
(2) To make wireless telegraph measurements and the 
study of the problems related therto. 
The provisional programme of the work of the com- 
mission will consist in making measurements in 
different countries and at different distances and in 
different directions of the strength of signals sent out 
from the station at Brussels. These measurements 
will be repeated from day to day or hour to hour as 
necessary in order to determine the variation of the 
strength of the signals both with time, with distance, 
and with direction, and later the effect of wave-length 
and decrement will be studied. 

It is proposed to set up a receiving station near 
the transmitting station in Brussels in order accu- 
rately to control the strength of the waves sent out so 
that an allowance can be made for any unavoidable 
variation in reducing the final results. 

The organisation consists of a number of national 
committees, one in each of the countries taking part. 
The national committees will send delegates to the 
international commission, and these delegates, to- 
gether with the officers, will constitute the inter- 
national commission. It is proposed that the inter- 
national commission should meet once a year, or more 
often if the work is sufficiently advanced. 

The Institution of Electrical Engineers has decided 
to undertake the formation of the national committee 
for Great Britain, under the scheme for the organisa- 
tion and encouragement of electrical research which 
was announced at the institution meeting on Decem- 
ber 12, 1912. 


The British Association Committee. 

The British Association Committee has now in- 
augurated an extensive scheme for the making of 
observations of natural electric waves by means of 
wireless telegraph receiving apparatus, and is address- 
ing to wireless telegraph experimenters an invitation 
to cooperate in the making of observations. The 
records will be collected by the committee and com- 
pared and reduced by it. 

These natural electric wave trains produce trouble- 
some noises in the telephone receivers of wireless 
telegraph stations. Some proportion of them are due 
to lightning strokes within a few hundred miles of 
the receiving station; but even when there is no 
thunder weather recorded over the whole continent of 
Europe and the adjacent seas, they are received con- 
tinuously by an antenna adjusted to a great wave- 
length. It has been suggested that some of these 
wave trains may be due to extraterrestrial causes, 
and it does not seen unreasonable to suppose that 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


277 


electrical discharges may occur in the sun and may 
be the source of a proportion of the natural electric 
wave trains we receive. There is little likelihood of 
our gaining a knowledge of the causes at work until 
organised observations are carried out simultaneously 
at numerous points of the globe and collated at a 
single centre, such as the committee now affords. 

Another and distinct inquiry which urgently needs 
pursuing is the action of the earth’s atmosphere in 
causing variations of the electric waves used in trans- 
mitting messages over long distances. The laws of 
these variations, especially in respect of their con- 
nection with weather conditions, with position on the 
earth’s surface, and with the time of day would, if 
unravelled, probably throw light on the electrical 
conditions of the highest parts of our atmosphere. 
The committee has undertaken this inquiry also. 

In carrying on the work the committee looks very 
largely to private experimenters for the collection of 
data. But it has been a matter of extreme gratifica- 
tion to find that the Imperial Navy and the British 
Post Office were willing to help. The Marconi Com- 
pany also has, with commendable public spirit, pro- 
mised to give its powerful assistance to the com- 
mittee. Thus the committee can already make sure 
that data will be collected on its behalf in all parts 
of the world. Meanwhile private experimenters who 
are willing to assist the committee by making observa- 
tions should communicate with the secretary, Dr. W. 
Eccles, University College, Gower Street, London, 
England. 


APPLIED SCIENCE IN THE UNIVERSITY 
OF SHEFFIELD. 


Gy" October 25 the completed buildings of the 
applied science department of Sheffield Univer. 
sity were opened by Lord Haldane. These buildings 
have the largest frontage in Sheffield, being 350 ft. 
long, the architecture being of the Hampton Court 
Palace type. The cost of the additions has been 
approximately 45,000]. The central administrative 
block contains a very fine assembly-room, called the 
‘““Mappin Hall,’ after the late Sir Frederick Thorpe 
Mappin, first chairman of the applied science com- 
mittee of Sheffield University, and a handsome de- 
partmental library which will house books having 
reference to applied science and pure science data 
more immediately bearing upon this subject. There 
are staff common-rooms, and the metallurgical record 
office included in this central block, and the depart- 
ment of pure geology is also housed here. 

The south-east wing, a considerable portion of the 
cost of which was defrayed by the Drapers’ Company 
of London, contains four floors; the two lower floors 
are devoted to non-ferrous metallurgy, the third floor 
to mining, and the fourth floor to applied chemistry 
which has particular reference to mining. The new 
non-ferrous department, which has been organised so 
as not in any way to overlap the metallurgy of the 
Royal School of Mines, has been designed to develop 
scientifically the silver industries of Sheffield. The 
course here is divided into two sections: first, the 
basis metal section, in which are produced on a works’ 
scale ingots of German silver, Britannia metal, brass, 
and bronze, white metals, and other non-ferrous 
metals in use in Sheffield manufactures (for working 
these metals into the finished articles, the department 
has secured the friendly cooperation of silver manu- 
facturers in Sheffield); secondly, the electroplating 
department, in which all classes of plating operations 
are carried on on a manufacturing scale. Each 
student’s bench is fitted with a specially combined 
ammeter and voltmeter, so that the student may 
make his preliminary studies under exactly known 


278 


conditions. There are two large laboratories for the 
preparatory and advanced stages of this special study 
of non-ferrous metals as used in the Sheffield trades. 
The lecture-rooms are two in number, one seating 
150 and the other fifty students, both being provided 
with up-to-date electric lantern arrangements. 

The micrographic laboratory has been made to a 
specially thought out design, each block of the polish- 
ing battery being run by a separate electric motor 
of one-seventh h.p., revolving at 1400 revolutions per 
minute. Adjacent*to the polishing and etching-room 
is a photomicrographic department complete with dark- 
room. The photomicrographic apparatus is by Zeiss, 
and is fitted with the. new arc lamp of this firm. 
There is a large staff and research laboratory, one 
side of which is devoted to calorimetric work. 

From the point of view of pure science the most 
important installation in the new metallurgical wing 
is a specially devised recalescence laboratory for ob- 
serving with great accuracy the critical points of 
iron and steel, the freezing points of metals, and the 
phenomena of solid solution in metals. There are 
coke-fired and electric vacuum: furnaces in which a 
complete vacuum can be obtained in about one minute 
by means of the ‘‘Fleuss” pump. The recalescence 
apparatus comprises an astronomical clock by the 
Synchronome Company, a chronographic recorder 
reading to a quarter of a second, and a delicate 
galvanometer reading direct or in connection with a 
potentiometer. This installation, which has been 
made to specification by the Cambridge Scientific 
. Instrument Co., has cost about 4ool., and is the most 
complete extant. 

The melting-shop for non-ferrous metal will re- 
gister the comparative melting efficiencies of coke, 
oil, gas, and electricity, each method being capable 
of making ingots of about go lb. weight. The static 
and dynamic testing of non-ferrous metals will be 
made in the ferrous department, which is provided 
with a single-lever Buckton machine on two centres, 
so that the machine may be arranged to read off the 
stress either in 3-in. ton moments or 12-in. ton 
moments. For more delicate work there is a two- 
ton static machine. The dynamic testing will be car- 
ried out on Arnold’s standard stress-strain machine, 
on which it is hoped to obtain important results on 
the adherence of silverplating of different thicknesses 
on different basis metals. 

In declaring the building open, Lord Haldane in- 
sisted most strongly that the industrial success of 
this country in the future depends upon the cordial 
cooperation of pure and applied science, which are 
practically indivisible. He said :—‘* Without a Kelvin 
or a Clerk Maxwell, or a Lister, or a man, to go 
further back, like Sir Isaac Newton, many of the 
things which we do to-day, and do so well, would 
not be done, but we have also to remember that unless 
other men of a similar type are produced in the future 
we cannot keep up to the level we are now at, but we 
should be at a disadvantage compared with other 
countries. You have done a very practical thing in 
founding this. great new department of applied 
science; you have done the right thing in keeping 
applied science and pure science in close relation, and 
bringing both into intimate organic relation with the 
spirit of the University, that great permeating spirit 
without which they cannot be on a high level. 

“What will be done in the department of applied 
science will be to go still further than has been pos- 
sible in the past in bringing the application of science 
to bear on the problems of industry. It will not be 
practical work merely; it will be work in the course 
of which the student will be trained in the highest 
knowledge. He also will be told that he must not 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 30, 1913 ~ 


him, but must show his capacity to apply the conchy- 
sions at which he has arrived to the actual and prac- 
tical solution of the difficulties which confront the 
industrial world. In the old days pure science ap- 
peared to be something no one was interested in from 
the point of view of practical education. Now the 
greatest commercial discoveries depend upon new 
ideas, new conceptions being developed by men who 
have genius which makes them devoted to their work, 
even though they have to starve to do it. It is only 
in universities and technical schools that we find these 
men, and if British industry is to hold its own in the 
future, we shall have to realise the necessity there is, 
not only to turn to science, but to see that pure science 
has an opportunity of developing itself and being 
brought in contact with daily work.” 

Lord Haldane went on to contrast the rapid strides 
that are being made in the development of universities 
in America with what is being done in this country. 
He has, he said, great faith in the capacity of the 
British nation, but unless we wake up thoroughly 
in the matter of education, and particularly higher 
education, he is a little nervous as to what we may 
find the state of things concerning our industrial 
supremacy some fifteen or twenty years hence. 

““Nowadays not only Governments, but Government 
Departments are waking up about these things. For 
the last twelve months there has been a great deal of 
activity about the business of national education. 
Mr. Pease is carrying out what I _ believe 
to be a right line of policy. He is trusting the 
very highly expert officials at the Board of Education 
and consulting the education committees throughout 
the country. The local education committees have 
done splendid work, but the burden on them has been 
very heavy. The nation will have to make up its 
mind to give considerably more out of the taxes for 
this work. The plans are now fashioned. The 
Government knows exactly what to do to make ad- 
vance if only it has the nation at its back. 
I hate any idea of increasing expenditure, whether 
it is out of local or national resources, if it 
can be avoided. This expenditure, however, cannot ~ 
be avoided. Unless we spend it we shall go back as 
a nation. Our revenues, by which we keep up our 
fleets and armies, will shrink, because we shall not 
be holding our own with the industrial nations. What 
Sheffield has done will have to be done right through 
the country.” 

Lord Haldane also referred to the report of the 
Advisory Committee on University Grants, and men- 
tioned that this Committee, amongst other matters, 
has practically decided recently to deal with a pension 
fund for professors (see Nature, March 6, 1913, 
p. 21), which, he said, ‘‘meant that instead of a man 
having to cling on to his post as the alternative to 
starving when he felt himself old, he could retire, 
and let a young man take his place, and go on with 
the development still further of the teaching which 
the professor had carried so far.”’ = 


THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT 
BIRMINGHAM. 


SECTION M. 
AGRICULTURE. 


Opentnc ApprEss ny Pror. T. B. Woop, PRESIDENT 
OF THE SECTION. 


I propose to follow the example of my predecessor 
of last year, in that the remarks I wish to make 
to-day have to deal with the history of agriculture. 
Unlike Mr. Middleton, however, whose survey of the 


stop short at the conclusions to which science leads i subject went back almost to prehistoric times, I pro- 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


OcTOBER 30, 1913] 


pose to confine myself to the last quarter of a century 
—a period which covers what I may perhaps be per- 
mitted to call the revival of agricultural science. 

Twenty-five years ago institutions concerned with 
the teaching of agriculture or the investigation of 
agricultural problems were few and far between. I 
do not propose to waste time in giving an exhaustive 
list, nor would such a list help me in developing 
the argument I wish to lay before the section. It will 
serve my purpose to mention that organised instruc- 
tion in agriculture and the allied sciences was already 
at that date being given at the University of Edin- 
burgh and at the Royal Agricultural College, whilst, 
in addition, one or more old endowments at other 
universities provided courses of lectures from time to 
time on subjects related to rural economy. Agricul- 
tural research had been in progréss for fifty years at 
the Rothamsted Experimental Station, where the 
work of Lawes and Gilbert had settled for all time 
the fundamental principles of crop production. Inves- 
tigations of a more practical nature had also been 
commenced by the leading agricultural societies and 
by more than one private landowner. 

In these few sentences I have endeavoured to give 
a rough, but for my purpose sufficient, outline of the 
facilities for the study of agricultural science twenty- 
five years ago, at the time when the county councils 
were created. Their creation was followed almost 
immediately by what can only be called a stroke of 
luck for agriculture. The Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer found himself with a considerable sum of 
money at his disposal, and this was voted by Parlia- 
ment to the newly created county councils for the 
provision of technical instruction in agriculture and 
other industries. 

Farmers were at that time struggling with the bad 
times following the wet seasons and low prices of the 
seventies and ’eighties, and some of the technical 
instruction grant was devoted to their assistance by 
the county councils, who provided technical instruc- 
tion in agriculture. Thus, for the first time consider- 
able sums provided by the Government were avail- 
able for the furtherance of agricultural science; and, 
although at first there was no general plan of work- 
ing and every county was a law unto itself, the result 
has been a great increase of facilities for agricultural 
education and research. 

Almost every county has taken some part. The 
larger and richer counties have founded agricultural 
institutions of their own. In some cases groups of 
counties have joined together and federated them- 
selves with established teaching institutions. For my 
purpose it suffices to state, without going into detail, 
that in practically every county, in one way or other, 
attempts have been made to carry out investigations 
of problems related to agriculture. 

Twenty years after the voting of the technical in- 
struction grant to the county councils, Parliament has 
again subsidised agriculture, in the shape of the 
Development Fund, by means of which large sums 
of money have been devoted to what may be broadly 
called agricultural science. It seems to me that the 
advent of this second subsidy is an occasion when this 
section may well pause to take stock of the results 
which have been achieved by the expenditure of the 
technical education grant. I do not propose to discuss 
the results achieved in the way of education, although 
most of the technical instruction grant has been spent 
in that direction. It will be more to the point in 
addressing the Agricultural Section to discuss the 
results obtained by research. 

The subject, then, of my address is the result of 
the last twenty years of agricultural research, and I 
propose to discuss both successes and failures, in the 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


279 


hope of arriving at conclusions which may be of use 
in the future. 

Agricultural science embraces a variety of subjects. 
I propose to consider first the results which have been 
obtained by the numerous practical field experiments 
which have been carried out in almost every county. 
I suppose that the most striking result of these during 
the last twenty years is the demonstration that in 
certain cases phosphates are capable of making a very 
great increase in the crop of hay, and a still greater 
increase in the feeding value of pastures. This in- 
crease is not yielded in all cases, but the subject has 
been widely investigated, and the advisory staffs of 
the colleges are in a position to give inquirers trust- 
worthy information as to the probability of success 
in almost any case which may be submitted to them. 
This is a satisfactory state of things, and the question 
naturally arises: How has it come about? 

On looking through the figures of the numerous 
reports which have been published on this subject, it 
appears at once that in many cases the increase in 
live-weight of sheep fed on plots manured with a 
suitable dressing of phosphate has been twice as great 
as the increase in weight of similar animals fed on 
plots to which phosphate has not been applied. Now 
about a difference of this magnitude between two 
plots there can be no mistake. It has been shown 
by more than one experimenter that two plots treated 
similarly in every way are as likely as not to differ 
in production from their mean by 5 per cent. of their 
produce, and this may be taken as the probable error 
of a single plot. Where, as in the case of many of 
the phosphate experiments, a difference of 100 per 
cent. is recorded, a difference of twenty times the 
probable error, the chances amount to a certainty 
that the difference is not an accidental variation, but 
a real effect of the different treatment of the two 
plots. The single-plot method of conducting field 
trials, which is the one most commonly used, is 
evidently a satisfactory method of measuring the 
effects of manures which are capable of producing 
roo per cent. increases. It was good enough to 
demonstrate with certainty the effects of phosphatic 
manuring on many kinds of grass land, and it is to 
this fact that we owe one of the most notable achieve- 
ments of agricultural science in recent years. 

Another notable achievement is the discovery that in 
the case of most of the large-cropping varieties of 
potatoes the use of seed from certain districts in 
Scotland or the northern counties of Ireland is profit- 
able. This is another instance of an increase large 
enough to be measured accurately by the single-plot 
method. Reports on the subject show that seed 
brought recently from Scotland or Ireland gives in- 
creased yields of from 30 to 50 per cent. over the 
yields produced by seed grown locally for three or 
more years. E : ‘ 

That the single-plot method fails to give definite 
results in many cases where it has been used for 
manurial trials is a matter of common knowledge. 
Half the reports of such trials consist of explanations 
of the discrepancies between the results obtained and 
the results which ought to have been obtained. The 
moral is obvious. The single-plot method, which 
suffices to demonstrate results as striking as those 
given by phosphates on some kinds of pasture land, 
signally fails when the subject of investigation is 
concerned with differences of 10 per cent. or there- 
abouts. : ; 

Before suggesting a remedy for this state of things 
it will be well to consider the allied subject of variety 
testing, which has been brought into great prominence 
recently by the introduction of new varieties of many 


280 


kinds of farm crops. In testing a new variety it is 
necessary to measure two properties—its quality and 
its yielding capacity—for money-return per acre is 
obviously determined by the product of yielding capa- 
city and quality as expressed by market price. I 
propose here to deal only with the determination of 
yielding capacity. The determination of quality is not 
allied to manurial trials. 

In attempting to determine yielding capacity there 
has always been a strong temptation to rely on the 
measurement of obvious structural characters. For 
instance, in the case of cereals many farmers like 
large ears, no doubt with the idea that they are an 
indication of high-yielding capacity. Many very 
elaborate series of selections have been carried out, on 
the assumption that large grains, or large ears, or 
many ears per plant implied high yield. 

We may take it as definitely settled that none of 
these characters is trustworthy, and that the deter- 
mination of yielding capacity resolves itself into the 
measurement of the yield given by a definite area. 
The actual measurement, therefore, is the same as 
that made in manurial trials, and is, of course, sub- 
ject to the same probable error of about 5 per cent. 

It follows, therefore, that it is subject to the same 
limitations. Variety trials on single plots, and that 
is the method commonly used, will serve to measure 
variations in yielding capacity of 30 per cent., or 
more, but are totally inadequate to distinguish be- 
tween varieties the yielding capacities of which are 
within 10 per cent. of each other. 

Numbers of such single-plot trials have been carried 
out, with the result that many varieties with yielding 
capacities much below normal have almost disappeared 
from cultivation, and those commonly grown do not 
differ greatly from one another—probably not more 
than ro per cent. 

Ten per cent. in yielding capacity, however, in 
cereals means a return of something like 15s. to 20s. 
per acre—a sum which may make the difference be- 
tween profit and loss; and if progress is to be made 
in manuring and variety testing, some method must 
be adopted which is capable of measuring accurately 
differences in yield per unit area of the order of 10 per 
cent. 

The only way of decreasing the probable error is to 
increase the number of plots, and to arrange them 
so that plots between which direct comparison is 
necessary are placed side by side, so as to reduce as 
much as possible variations due to differences in soil. 
Thus it has been shown that with ten plots in five 
pairs the probable error on the average can be reduced 
to about 1 per cent., in which case a difference of 
from 5 to Io per cent. can be measured with consider- 
able certainty. 

Such a method involves, of course, a great deal of 
trouble; but agricultural science has now reached 
that stage of development at which the obvious facts 
which can be demonstrated without considerable effort 
have been demonstrated, and further knowledge can 
only be acquired by the expenditure of continually in- 
creasing effort. In fact, the law of diminishing return 
holds here, as elsewhere. 

It appears, then, that for questions involving 
measurements of yield per unit area, such, for 
instance, as manurial or variety trials, further ad- 
vance is not likely to be made without the expendi- 
ture of much more care than has been given to such 
work in the past. The question naturally arises: Is 
it worth while? I think the following instance shows 
that it is :— 

Some years ago an extensive series of variety trials 
was carried out in Norfolk, in which several of the 
more popular varieties of barley were grown side by 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[OcToBER 30, 1913. 


side at several stations for several seasons. In all, 
the trial was repeated eleven times. As a final result 
it was found that Archer’s stiff-straw barley gave 
Io per cent. greater yield than any other variety in- 
cluded in the trials, and by repetition of the experiment 
the probable error was reduced to 14 per cent. The 
greater yield of 10 per cent., being over six times the 
probable error of the experiment, indicates practical 
certainty that Archer barley may be relied on to give 
a larger crop than any of the other varieties with 
which it was compared. One difficulty still remained. 
It was almost impossible to obtain anything like a 
pure strain of Archer barley. Samples of Archer sold 
for seed commonly contained 25 per cent. of other 
varieties. This difficulty was removed by Mr. Beaven, 
who selected, again with enormous trouble, a pure 
high-yielding strain of Archer barley. Since this 
strain was introduced into the Eastern Counties the 
demand for it has always exceeded the supply which 
could be grown at Cambridge and at the Norfolk 
Agricultural Station, and it is regarded by farmers 
generally as a very great success. 

The conclusion, therefore, is that a ro per cent. 
difference is well worth measuring, that it cannot be 
measured with certainty by the single-plot method, 
and that it behoves those of us who are concerned 
with field trials to look to our methods, and to avoid 
printing figures for single-plot experiments which may 
very well be misleading. Almost everyone thinks him- 
self competent to criticise the farmer, who is com- 
monly described as too self-satisfied to acquaint him- 
self with new discoveries, and too conservative to try 
them when they are brought to his notice. Let us 
examine the real facts of the case. Does the farmer 
ignore new discoveries? The largely increasing prac- 
tice of consulting the staffs of the agricultural colleges, 
which has arisen among farmers during the last few 
years, conclusively shows that he does not; that he 
is, in fact, perfectly ready to avail himself of sound 
advice whenever he can. Is he too conservative to 
try new discoveries when brought to his notice? The 
extraordinary demand for seed of the new Archer 
barley quoted above, and for seed of new varieties 
generally, the continuous advance in the prices of 
phosphatic manures, as the result of increased demand 
by farmers, the trade in Scotch and Irish seed pota- 
toes, all show how ready the farmer is to try new 
things. The chief danger seems to be that he tries 
new things simply because they are new, and he may 
be disappointed if those who are responsible for the 
new things in question have not taken pains to ascer- 
tain with certainty that they are not only new but 
good. Farmers are nowadays in what may be called 
a very receptive condition. Witness the avidity with 
which they paid extravagant prices for single tubers of 
so-called new, but inadequately tested, varieties of 
potatoes some years ago, and in a less degree the 
extraordinary demand for seed of the much-boomed 
French wheats, and the excitement about nitragin for 
soil or seed inoculation. Witness, too, the almost 
universal failure of the new potatoes and French 
wheats introduced during the boom, and the few cases 
in which nitragin gave any appreciable result. The 
farmer who was disappointed with his ten-guinea 
tuber, his expensive French wheat, or his culture of 
nitragin cannot but be disillusioned. Once bitten, 
twice shy. He does not readily take advice again. 

Let us, therefore, recognise that the farmers of the 
country are ready to listen to us, and to try our 
recommendations, and let that very fact bring home 
to us a sense of our responsibility. All that is new is 
not, therefore, necessarily good. Before we recom- 
mend a new thing let us take pains to assure ourselves 
of its goodness. To do so we must find not only that 


_ type of soil to which this result is applicable. 


OcTOBER 30, 1913| 


the new thing produces a greater return per acre, but 
that the increased return is worth more than it costs 
to produce, and we must also define the area or the 
This 
implies in practice that each field trial should confine 
itself to the investigation of only one, or, at most, 
two, definite points, since five pairs of plots will be 
required to settle each point; that the experimental 
results should be reviewed in the light of a thorough 
knowledge of farm book-keeping, and that accurate 
notes should be taken of the type of the soil, and the 
area to which it extends, and of the various meteoro- 
logical factors which make up the local climate. At 
present we are not in possession of a sufficient know- 
ledge of farm accountancy, but there is hope that this 
deficiency will be removed by the work of the Insti- 
tute for Researchin Agricultural Economics, which has 
recently. been founded at Oxford by the Board of 
Agriculture and the Development Commission. The 
excellent example set by Hall and Russell in their 
“Survey of the Soils and Agriculture of the South- 
Eastern Counties,’ an example which is being fol- 
lowed in Cambridge and elsewhere, seems likely to 
result in the near future in a complete survey of the 
soils of England which will make a sound scientific 
basis for delimiting the areas over which the results 
of manurial or variety trials are applicable. 

Reviewing this branch of agricultural science, the 
outlook is distinctly hopeful. New fertilisers are 
coming into the market, as, for instance, the various 
products made from atmospheric nitrogen. New 
varieties of farm crops are being produced by the 
Plant-breeding Institute at Cambridge, and elsewhere. 
It is to be hoped that the work of the Agricultural 
Economics Institute at Oxford will throw new light 
on the interpretation of experimental results from the 
accountancy standpoint. Finally, the soil surveys on 
which the colleges have seriously embarked will assist 
in defining the areas over which such results are 
applicable. It only remains for those of us who are 
responsible for the conduct of field trials to increase 
the accuracy of our results, and the steady accumula- 
tion of a mass of systematic and scientific knowledge 
is assured. It will be the business of the advisory 
staffs with which the colleges have recently been 
equipped by the Board of Agriculture and the De- 
velopment Commission to disseminate this knowledge 
in practicable form to the farmers of this country. 

One more point, and I have finished this section of 
my address. I have perhaps inveighed rather strongly 
against the publication of the results of single-plot 
trials. I quite recognise that the publication of such 
results was to a great extent forced upon those ex- 
perimenters who were financed by annually renewed 
grants of public money. Nowadays, however, agri- 
cultural science is in a stronger position, and I venture 
to hope that most public authorities which subsidise 
such work are sufficiently alive to the evils attendant 
on the publication of inconclusive results to agree to 
continue their grants for such periods as may suffice 
for the complete working out of the problem under 
investigation, and to allow the final conclusions to be 
published in some properly accredited agricultural 
journal, where they would be readily and permanently 
available to all concerned. This would in no wise 
prevent their subsequent incorporation in bulletins 
specially written for the use of the practical farmer. 

So far I have confined my remarks to subjects of 
which I presume that every member of the section has 
practical experience, subjects which depend on the 
measurement of the yield per unit area. These sub- 
jects, however, although they have received far more 
general attention than anything else, by no means 
comprise the whole of agricultural science. Certain 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


281 


scientific workers have confined their efforts to the 
thorough solution of specific and circumscribed pro- 
blems. I propose now to ask the section to direct its 
attention to some typical results which have been thus 
achieved during the last twenty years. 

The first of these is the development of what I may 
call soil science. Twenty years ago the bacteriology of 
nitrification had just been worked out by Warington 
and by Winogradski. The phenomena of ammoniacal 
fermentation of organic matter in the soil were also 
fairly well established. The fixation of atmospheric 
nitrogen by organisms symbiotic on the leguminosz 
had been definitely demonstrated. Fixation of 
nitrogen by free-living organisms had been sug- 
gested, but was still strenuously denied by most soil 
investigators. No suggestion had yet been made of 
the presence in normal soils of any factor which in- 
hibited crop production. The last twenty years have 
seen a wonderful advance in soil science. Our know- 
ledge of nitrification and ammoniacal fermentation 
has been much extended. The part played by the 
nodule organisms of the leguminosz has been well 
worked out, has seen a newspaper boom, and a sub- 
sequent collapse, from which it has not yet recovered. 
But the greatest advance has been the discovery of 
the part played by protozoa in the inhibition of fer- 
tility. 

The suggestion that ordinary soils contained a 
factor which limited their fertility emanated in the 
first instance from the American Bureau of Soils. The 
factor was at first thought to be chemical, and its 
presence was tentatively attributed to root excretion. 
Certain organic substances, presumably having this 
origin, have been isolated from sterile soils, and found 
to retard plant growth in water-culture. It is claimed, 
too, that the retardation they cause is prevented by 
the presence of many ordinary manurial salts with 
which they are supposed to form some kind of com- 
bination. 

Contributions to the subject have come from several 
quarters, but whilst the suggested presence of an 
inhibitory factor has been generally confirmed, its 
origin as a root-excretion and its prevention by 
manurial salts has not received general confirmation 
outside American official circles. The matter has been 
strikingly cleared up by the work of Russell and 
Hutchinson at Rothamsted, who observed that the 
fertility of certain soils which had become sterile was 
at once restored by partial sterilisation, either by 
heating to a temperature below 100° C., or by the 
use of volatile antiseptics such as toluene. This ob- 
servation suggested that the factor causing sterility 
in these cases was biological in nature, that it con- 
sisted, in fact, of some kind of organism inimical to 
the useful fermentation bacteria, and more easily 
killed than they by heat or antiseptics. After a long 
series of admirable scientific investigations these 
workers and their colleagues have shown that soils 
contain many species of protozoa, which prey upon 
the soil bacteria, whose numbers they keep within 
definite limits. In certain circumstances, such, 
for instance, as those existing in the soil of sewage 
farms, and in the artificial soils used for the cultiva- 
tion of cucumbers, tomatoes, &c., under glass, the 
protozoa increase so that the bacteria are reduced 
below the numbers requisite to decompose the organic 
matter in the soil into substances suitable for absorp- 
tion by the roots of the crop. Practical trials of 
heating such soils, or subjecting them to the action 
of toluene, or other volatile antiseptics, have shown 
that their lost efficiency can thus be easily restored, 
and the method is now rapidly spreading among the 
market gardeners of the Lea Valley. 

I have attempted to sketch the chief points of this 


282 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 30, 1913 — 


subject with some detail in order to show that strictly 
scientific work, quite outside the scope of what some 
people still regard as “‘practical,’’ may result in dis- 
coveries which, apart from their great academic in- 
terest, may at once be turned to account by the cul- 
tivator. The constant renewal of expensively pre- 
pared soil which becomes ‘‘sick’’ in the course of a 
year or so is a serious item in the cost of growing 
cucumbers and tomatoes. It can now be restored to 
fertility by partial sterilisation at a fraction of the 
cost of renewal, and considerable sums are thus saved 
by the Lea Valley growers. 

For my second instance of scientific work which 
has given results of direct value to farmers, J must 
ask to be allowed to give a short outline of the wheat- 
breeding investigations of my colleague Prof. Biffen. 
Even as late as fifteen years ago plant-breeding was 
in the purely empirical haphazard stage. Then came 
the rediscovery of Mendel’s iaws of heredity, which 
put in the hands of breeders an entirely new weapon. 
About the same time the Millers’ Association created 
the Home-grown Wheat Committee, of which Biffen 
was a member. Through this committee he was able 
to define his problem as far as the improvement of 
English wheat was concerned. There appeared to be 
two desiderata: (1) The production of a wheat which 
would crop as well as the best standard home-grown 
varieties, at the same time yielding strong grain, i.e. 
grain of good milling and baking quality; and (2) the 
production of varieties of wheat resistant to yellow 
rust, a disease which has been computed to decrease 
the wheat crop of the world by about one-third. 

The problem having been defined, samples of wheat 
were collected from every part of the world and sown 
on small plots. From the first year’s crop single 
ears were picked out and grown on again. ‘Thus 
several hundred pure strains were obtained. Many 
were obviously worthless. A few possessed one or 
more valuable characteristics: strong grain, freedom 
from rust, sturdy straw, and so on. These were used 
as parents for crossing, and from the progeny two 
new varieties have been grown on, thoroughly tested, 
and finally put on the market. Both have succeeded, 
but both have their limitations. Burgoyne’s Fife, 
which came from a cross between strains isolated 
respectively from Canadian Red Fife and Rough 
Chaff, was distributed by the Millers’ Association 
after a series of about forty tests, in which it gave 
an average crop of forty bushels per acre of grain, 
which milled and baked practically as well as the 
best imported Canadian wheat. It is an early-ripen- 
ing variety which may even be sown as a spring 
wheat. It has repeatedly been awarded prizes for the 
best sample of wheat at shows, but it only succeeds 
in certain districts. It is widely and successfully 
grown in Bedfordshire and Dorset, but has not done 
well in Norfolk. The other variety, Little Joss, suc- 
ceeds much more generally. In a series of twenty- 
nine trials scattered between Norfolk and Shropshire, 
Kent and Scotland, it gave an average of forty-four 
bushels per acre, as compared with forty bushels given 
by adjoining plots of Square Head’s Master. It 
originated from a cross between Square Head’s 
Master and a strain isolated from a Russian graded 
wheat known as Ghirka. Its grain is the quality of 
ordinary English wheat. It tillers exceptionally well 
in spring, and is practically rust-proof. Its one draw- 
back is its slow growth during the winter if sown 
at all late. It has met with its greatest success in 
the Fen districts, where rust is more than usually 
virulent. 

The importance of this work is not to be measured 
only by the readiness with which the seed of the new 
varieties has been tried by farmers and the extent to 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


‘inconclusive. : 


which it has succeeded. The demonstration of the — 
inheritance of immunity to the disease known as 
yellow rust, the first really aecurate contribution to 
the inheritance of resistance to any kind of disease, — 
inspires hope that a new method has appeared for the © 
prevention of diseases in general. : 

Biffen’s work too shows the enormous value of co-— 
operation between the investigator and the buyer in 


defining problems connected with the improvement of — 


agricultural produce. It is open to doubt if a com- 
mittee of farmers would have been able to define the 
problems of English wheat production as was done 
by the Millers’ Committee, and in the solution of any — 
problem its exact definition is half the battle. Mac- 
kkenzie and Marshall in their work on the ‘* Pigmenta- 
tion of Bacon Fat’’ and on the spaying of sows for 
fattening, have found the great value of consultation 
with the staffs of several large bacon factories. There 
seems to be in this a general lesson that before taking 
up any problem one should get into touch not only 
with the producers but with the buyers, from whom 
much useful information can be obtained. 

I feel that Biffen’s work has borne fruit in still 
another direction, for which perhaps he is not alone 
responsible. Twenty years ago agricultural botany 
took a very subsidiary position in such agricultural 
examinations as then existed. In some of the agricul- 
tural teaching institutions there was no botanist, in 
others the botanist was only a junior assistant. It is 
largely due to the work of Biffen and the botanists at 
other agricultural centres that botany is now regarded 
as perhaps the most important science allied to agri- 
culture. : 

I must here repeat that I am not attempting to 
make a complete survey of all the results obtained in 
the last twenty years. My object is only to pick out 
some of the typical successes and failures and to 
endeavour to draw from their consideration useful 
lessons for the future. So far I have not referred 
to the work which has been done in the nutrition of 
animals, and I now propose to conclude with a short 
discussion of that subject. The work on that subject 
which has been carried out in Great Britain during 
the last twenty years has been almost entirely confined 
to practical feeding trials of various foods or mixtures 
of foods, trials which have been for the most part 


It has been shown recently that if a number of 
animals in store condition are put on a fattening diet, 
at the end of a feeding period of twelve to twenty 
weeks about half of them will show live-weight in- 
creases differing by about 14 per cent. from the 
average live-weight increase of the whole lot. In 
other words, the probable error of the live-weight 
increase of a single fattening ox or sheep is 14 per — 
cent. of the live-weight increase. This being so, it is 
obvious that very large numbers of animals must be 
employed in any feeding experiment which is de- 
signed to compare the feeding value of two rations 
with reasonable accuracy. For instance, to measure 
a difference of 1o per cent. it is necessary to reduce 
the probable error to 3 per cent. in order that the 
1o per cent. difference may have a certainty of thirty 
to one. To achieve this, twenty-five animals must be 
fed on each ration. Those conversant with the 
numerous reports of feeding trials which have been 
published in the last twenty years will agree that in 
very few cases have such numbers been used. We 
must admit then that many of the feeding trials 
which have been carried out can lay no claim to 
accuracy. Nevertheless, they have served a very 
useful purpose. From time to time new articles of 
food come on the market, and are viewed with sus- 
picion by the farmers. These have been included in 


~ and always will be, most useful. 


OcTOBER 30, 1913| 


Thus, for instance, 
Bombay cotton cake, when first put on the market, 
was thought to be dangerous on account of its woolly 
appearance. It was tried, however, by several of the 
agricultural colleges and found to be quite harmless to 
cattle. Its composition is practically the same as 
that of Egyptian cotton cake, and it now makes on 
the market practically the same price. 

Soya-bean cake is another instance of a new food 
which has been similarly tested, and found to be safe 
for cattle if used in rather small quantities and mixed 
with cotton cake. The price is now rapidly rising to 
that indicated by its analysis. Work of this kind is, 
Trials with few 
animals, whilst they cannot measure accurately the 
feeding value of a new food, are quite good enough to 
demonstrate its general properties, and its price will 
then gradually settle itself as the food gets known. 

Turning to the more strictly scientific aspects of 
animal nutrition, entirely new ideas have arisen during 
the last twenty years. I propose to discuss these 
shortly, beginning with the proteins. Twenty years 
ago the generally accepted view of the réle of 
proteins in nutrition was that the proteins in- 
gested were transformed in the stomach and gut 
into peptones, and absorbed as such without further 
change. Splitting into crystalline products, such as 
leucin and tyrosin, was thought only to tale place 
when the supply of ingested protein exceeded the 
demand, and peptones remained in the gut for some 
time unabsorbed. It is now generally agreed that 
ingested protein is normally split into crystalline pro- 
ducts which are separately absorbed from the gut, and 
built up again into the various proteins required by 
the animal. If the ingested protein does not yield a 
mixture of crystalline products in the right propor- 
tions to build up the proteins required, those crystalline 
products which are in excess are further changed and 
excreted. If the mixture contains none of one of the 
products required by the animal, then life cannot be 
maintained. This has been actually demonstrated in 
the case of zein, one of the proteins of maize, which 
contains no tryptophane. The addition of a trace of 
tryptophane to a diet, in which zein was the only 
protein, markedly increased the survival period of 
mice. 

The adoption of this view emphasises the importance 
of a knowledge of the composition of the proteins, 
and especially of a quantitative knowledge of their 
splitting products, and much work is being directed 
to this subject in Germany, in America, and more 
recently in Cambridge as a result of the creation there 
of an institute for research in animal nutrition by the 
Board of Agriculture and the Development Commis- 
sion. This work is expected ultimately to provide a 
scientific basis for the compounding of rations, the 
idea being to combine foods the proteins of which 
are, so to speak, complementary to each other, one 
giving on digestion much of the products of which 
the other gives little. Meantime, it is desirable that 
information should be collected as to mixtures of foods 
which are particularly successful or the reverse. 

Here the question. arises, for what purpose does the 
animal require a peculiarly complicated substance like 
tryptophane? The natural suggestion seems to be 
that the tryptophane grouping is required for the 
building up of animal proteins. It has also been sug- 
gested that such substances are required for the 
formation of hormones, the active principles of the 
internal secretions the importance of which in the 
animal economy has received such ample demonstra- 
tion in recent years. The importance of even mere 
traces of various substances in the animal economy 
is another quite recent conception. Thus it has been 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


283 


feeding trials and found to be safe or otherwise, a | shown, both in Cambridge and in America, that young 
‘piece of most useful information. 


animals fail to grow on a diet of carefully purified 
casein, starch, fat, and ash, although they will remain 
alive for long periods. In animals on such a diet, 
however, normal growth is at once started by the 
addition of a few drops of milk or meat juice, or a 
trace of yeast, or other fresh animal or vegetable 
matter. The amount added is far too small to affect 
the actual nutritive value of the diet. Its effect can 
only be due to the presence of a trace of some sub- 
stance which acts, so to speak, as the hormone of 
growth. The search for such a substance is now 
being actively prosecuted. Its discovery will be of 
the greatest scientific and practical interest. 

Evidently new ideas are not lacking amongst those 
who are engaged in investigating the réle of the 
proteins and their splitting products in the animal 
economy. But of more immediate practical interest 
is the question of the amount of protein required by 
animals under various conditions. It is obviously im- 
possible to fix this amount with any great accuracy, 
since proteins differ so widely in composition, but 
from many experiments, in which a nitrogen balance 
between the ingesta and the excreta was made, it 
appears that oxen remain in nitrogenous equilibrium 
on a ration containing about one pound of protein 
per 1000 lb. live-weight per day. All the British ex- 
periments of a more practical nature have been re- 
calculated on a systematic basis by Ingle, and tabulated 
in the Journal of the Highland and Agricultural 
Society. From them it appears that increase of pro- 
tein in the ration, beyond somewhere between one and 
a half and two pounds per tooo |b. live-weight per 
day of digestible protein, ceases to have any direct 
influence on increase in live-weight. 

We may fairly conclude, then, that about two ° 
pounds of proteins per tooo lb. live-weight per day is 
sufficient for a fattening ox. This amount is re- 
peatedly exceeded in most of the districts where beef 
production is a staple industry, the idea being to 
produce farmyard manure rich in nitrogen. The 
economy of this method of augmenting the fertility of 
the land is very doubtful. The question is one of those 
for the solution of which a combination of accurate 
experiment and modern accountancy is required. 
Protein is the most expensive constituent of an 
animal’s dietary. If the scientific investigator, from 
a study of the quantitative composition of the proteins 
of the common farm foods, and the economist, from 
careful dissection of farm accounts, can fix an 
authoritative standard for the amounts of protein 
required per 1000 lb. live-weight per day for various 
types of animals, a great step will have been made 
towards making mutton and beef production profitable 
apart from corn-growing. 

For many years it has been recognised that an 
animal requires not only so much protein per day, 
but a certain quota of energy, and many attempts 
have been made to express this fact in intelligible 
terms. Most of them have taken as basis the expres- 
sion of the value of all the constituents of the diet in 
terms of starch, the sum of all the values being called 
the starch equivalent. This term is used by various 
writers in so many different senses that confusion has 
often arisen, and this has militated .against its 
general acceptance. Perhaps the most usual sense in 
which the term is used is that in which it means the 
sum of the digestible protein multiplied by a factor 
(usually 94) plus the digestible fat multivlied by a 
factor (usually 2°3), plus the digestible carbohydrates. 
This, however, gives misleading values which are too 
high in concentrated foods and too low in bulky 
foods, the discrepancy being due to the larger pro- 
portion of the energy of the bulky foods which is 
used up in the much greater work of digestion which 


284 NATURE [OcTOBER 30, 1913 P 
SS 


they require. Kellner and his school have devised a 
method which measures the starch equivalent by ex- 
periment, a much more satisfactory and practical 
method than any system which depends purely on 
calculation. 

An animal or a number of animals are kept on a 
maintenance diet so that their weight remains con- 
stant. To this diet is added a known weight of 
starch, and the increase in weight observed. The 
animal or animals are then placed again on the same 
maintenance diet for some time, and then a known 
weight of the food to be tested is added, and the 
increase in weight again observed. The data thus 
obtained indicate that so many pounds of starch pro- 
duce as much increase in live-weight as so many 
pounds of the food under experiment, from 
which it is easy to calculate how many pounds 
of starch are actually required to produce as 
much increase in live-weight as 100 lb. of the food 
under experiment. The starch equivalent thus found 
expresses an experimentally determined fact which is 
of immediate practical value in arranging a dietary, 
its value, however, depending on the accuracy with 
which it has been determined. Kellner and his col- 
leagues have thus determined the starch equivalents 
of all the commonly used foods. Their values for 
concentrated foods, and other foods commonly used 
in Germany, have been determined with considerable 
accuracy, and with the method which has also been 
devised for defining the relation between the experi- 
mentally determined equivalent and the equivalent 
calculated from the analysis by means of a formula, 
they form by far the most trustworthy basis for 
arranging a feeding ration including such kinds of 
foods. 

But roots, which form the staple of the diet of 
fattening animals in Great Britain, are not used on 
the same scale in Germany, and Kellner’s starch 
equivalents for roots have not been determined with 
sufficient accuracy or under suitable conditions to 
warrant their use for arranging diets under our 
conditions. 

This, and the fact that the term starch equivalent 
is so widely misunderstood, is no doubt the reason 
why the Kellner equivalent has not been more 
generally accepted in Great Britain. An advance will 
be made in the practice of feeding as soon as the 
starch equivalent of roots has been accurately deter- 
mined under our conditions, when the Kellner equiva- 
lents will no doubt come into general use. 

I have now reached the end of my survey. J recog- 
nise that it is very incomplete, and that I have been 
compelled to neglect whole subjects in which important 
work has been done. I venture to hope, however, 
that my words have not been altogether unprofitable. 
It is somewhat difficult to summarise what is in 
itself really nothing but a summary. Perhaps, how- 
ever, I may be allowed to point out once more what 
appears to me to be the moral of the last twenty 
years of work in agricultural science. 

The many practical field and feeding tests carried 
out all over the country have demonstrated several 
very striking results; but, if they are to be continued 
with profit, more trouble must be taken to insure 
accuracy. Farmers are ready to listen. It behoves 
us more than ever to found what we tell them on 
accurate results. 

Besides such practical trials, however, much has 
been done in the way of individual scientific work. 
The results thus obtained, as, for instance, Russell 
and Hutchinson’s partial sterilisation of soils, Biffen’s 
new wheats, and Beaven’s pure Archer barley, are of 
practical value to the farmer as immediate as the 
most practical field trial, and of far wider application. 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONA. 
INTELLIGENCE. : 


Oxrorp.—The Herbert ‘Spencer lecture will be 
delivered by Prof. C. Lloyd Morgan, F.R.S., proz 
fessor of psychology in the University of Bristol, on 
Friday, November 7. The subject of the lecture will 
be :—‘‘ Spencer’s Philosophy of Science.” i 


Dr. O. W. RicHarpson, F.R.S., professor of 
physics in Princeton University, New Jersey, has been 
appointed as from January 1 next to the Wheatstone 
chair of physics at King’s College, London, in suc- 
cession to Prof. C. G. Barkla, F.R.S. 


Mrs. W. Bayard CurtinG and her children have 
(says Science) given 40,o00l. to Columbia University 
for a fund in memory of the late W. Bayard Cutting, | 
who served as trustee of the University from 1880 until - 
his death, in 1912. The income of this fund is to be 
applied to the maintenance of travelling fellowships, 
open to graduate students of distinction in letters, 
science, law, and medicine or engineering. 


STUDENTS who are working privately with the 
object of graduating in the University of London will 
welcome the ‘“‘ London University Guide and Univer- 
sity Correspondence College Calendar, 1914,’’ pub- 
lished by the University Correspondence College, Lon- 
don, and distributed gratuitously. The first part of 
the volume constitutes the guide, and contains the 
regulations for the examinations leading to the vari- 
ous degrees to be held by the University of London 
in 1914 and 1915. The calendar, 1913-14, which 
completes the volume, gives particulars of the facili- 
ties offered by the University Correspondence College 
to students who desire assistance in their work 
through the post. 


A very useful form of pocket diary, which covers 
the academic year beginning with October, 1913, 
instead of commencing with January in the usual 
way, has been published by the Cambridge University 
Press. Though concerned more particularly with 
events in the work of the University of Cambridge, 
the diary will appeal to all whose work is in connec- 
tion with colleges or schools. The diary is published 
in three forms, at 1s. net, 2s. net, and 2s. 6d. net re- 
spectively. From the same source we have received 
“The Cambridge Diary for the Academical Year 
1913-14,’ in block form. Each sheet contains seven 
days, and ample space is provided for manuscript 
notes of engagements. The price of this diary is 1s. 
net. 


TuE establishment of new universities in Germany 
was one of the chief topics of discussion at the recent 
congress of German university teachers held at Stras- 
burg. The movement was strongly opposed in a re- 
port presented by Prof. Biicher, of Leipzig. Accord- 
ing to this, many corporations, with the encourage- 
ment of the Ministry are endeavouring to raise the 
status of existing institutions to that of university 
rank. The preponderance of government in such in- 
stitutions would be municipal, and consequently uni- 
versity independence would be endangered, and, in 
addition, a high academic standard would not be 
maintained. Overcrowding of the existing universi- 
ties was advanced as an argument in favour of the 
creation of new institutions, but the organisation of 
such universities as those of Berlinand Leipzig enabled 
them to deal with large numbers without any detri- 
ment to the teaching. Prof. Kaufmann, of Breslau, 
remarked that quite 4o per cent. of the students were 
unsuited for an academic training, and the creation 
of new institutions would in no way relieve over- 
crowding at the older universities, but simply increase 


awit 


e total number of students. Many teachers, how- 
ever, were strongly in favour of the movement, con- 
tending that the establishment of universities in the 
ge industrial and commercial centres was an essential 
and necessary element in modern conditions of life. 
| It was a movement which should be strenuously sup- 
ported. Side by side with this question arose that of 
| the standard required for the doctorate. The congress 
considered it should be made imperative for all univer- 
‘sities to demand a thesis embodying independent and 
eriginal research work from the candidate. 


Tue second annual report of the King Edward VII. 
British-German Foundation states that there is an 
increase in the expenditure, due to a larger number 
of cases assisted, and to the fact that several of the 
} permanent allowances have been raised. We learn 
} from The Times that in accordance with the terms 
of the trust deed, which provides for an annual joint 
sitting of the two sections of the foundation, alter- 
nately in England and Germany, the first joint con- 
ference was held last September, at Sir Ernest Cassel’s 
residence in London. The question of the best way 
of employing the surplus funds was discussed, and 
it was agreed finally to adopt the following resolu- 
tion :—‘‘ That a certain proportion of the surplus 
funds of the German section be employed in enabling 
British subjects to attend or visit universities, schools, 
institutes, or business establishments in Germany, or 
to reside in Germany, and that a certain proportion 
of the surplus funds of the British section be employed 
in enabling Germans to attend or visit universities, 
schools, institutes, or business establishments in the 
United Kingdom, or to reside in the United King- 
dom.” It is hoped that this scheme will serve to 
assist students who are not possessed of the necessary 
means in pursuing a course of studies abroad, and 
give them an insight into the customs and character 
| of the German people, affording them an opportunity 
of making lasting friendships with Germans, and 
thus help in promoting a good understanding between 
the two nations. The second joint conference of the 
two sections was held in Berlin on October 25. Its 
main object was to discuss the merits of the scheme 
of studentships and the desirability of continuing it. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
Paris. 
Academy of Sciences, October 20.—M. F. Guyon in 
the chair.—Pierre Termier: The Ar excursion of the 
} twelfth International Geological Congress: the 
- Appalachian region of Canada.—R. Lépine and M. 
Boulud : The presence, in the vascular walls, of a fer- 
ment setting free a reducing sugar at the expense 
| of the virtual sugar of the blood, and capable of 
_ hydrolysing phloridzin. These experiments show that 
the vascular walls possess a new function, hitherto 
ascribed to the liver alone.—Léon Lichtenstein : Some 
applications of the notions of functions of an infinity 
| of variables in the calculus of variations.—Frangois 
| Lukacs : Laplace’s series.—Pierre Idrac : Experimental 
researches on the vol plané. Photographic experi- 
ments with small balloons show that in places where 
birds are capable of hovering flight there is an ascend- 
_ ing current of air with velocities of the order of 
3 to 4 metres per second. This corresponds to the 
magnitude of the velocity of air currents in the vol 
plané of an aéroplane.—R. Fortrat: An abnormal Zee- 
man phenomenon with the sodium doublet, A=2853. 
| Whe use of a ferro-cobalt electromagnet, made according 
to the indications of P. Weiss, enabled the author to 
place an ordinary spark in a field of 49400 Gauss. 
The experimental results obtained agree closely with 
the theory of Voigt—Raoul Dupuy: Functional arte- 


NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


OcrToBER 30, 1913] NATURE 


285 


rial hypertensions. Pseudo-arterio-sclerosis. A dis- 
cussion of the means of differentiating arterio-sclerosis 
from functional hypertension.—P. Chaussé: The path 
of penetration of the tuberculous virus in the calf and 
the tuberculigenic power of cow’s milk. Inhalation 
is the usual mode of tuberculous infection in the young 
calf; intra-uterine infection must also be taken into 
consideration, since the. latter furnishes an important 
proportion of the graver cases. Although the calf is 
much more exposed than the adult animal to infection 
through the alimentary canal, this is relatively the 
least important mode of infection. The milk of the 
cow is not the cause of infection of the calf to any great 
extent._—J. Danysz: The use of some new medicinal 
combinations in the treatment of trypanosomiasis. A 
compound obtained by the action of silver nitrate upon 
arsenobenzene, was found capable of sterilising the 


| blood of rabbits infected with Surra by a single injec- 


tion. Trypanosoma rhodesiense was more resistant 
but succumbed to a mixture of the above reagent with 
trypan red.—Jules Amar: The physiological effects of 
work and the degree of fatigue——R. Anthony : The 
experimental study of the factors determining the 
cranial morphology of mammals deprived of teeth.— 
J. Chaine: The ilots of the Termites.—M. Lemoigne : 
The butylene-glycollic fermentation of glucose by 
staphylococci—Lucien Mayet and Jean Pissot: The 
discovery of the engraved bone of a mammoth show- 
ing a human figure, in the upper Aurignacian layer 
of La Colombiére, near Poncin. The drawing de- 
scribed would appear to be the first engraving of man 
of the middle Quaternary epoch.—Jean_Boussac : The 
geological constitution of Haute-Tarentaise.—F. 
Dienert : Remarks concerning some experiments with 
fluorescin. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Records of the Indian Museum. Vol. viii., Zoo- 
logical Results of the Abor Expedition, 1911-12. 
Part 3. September. Pp. 191-231+ plates. (Calcutta.) 
2 rupees. 

Memoirs of the Indian Museum. Vol iv., No. 1, An 
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Pacific Region, based on the Collection in the Indian 
Museum. By S. Kemp. Pp. 217+plates. (Cal- 
cutta.) 15 rupees. 

Uber Natronzellstoff ; seine Herstellung und chem- 
ischen Eigenschaften. By Dr. C. Christiansen. Pp. 
v+154. (Berlin: Gebrtider Borntraeger.) 5 marks. 

Einfiihrung in die Mykologie der Gebrauchs- und 
Abwiisser. By Dr. A. Kossowicz. Pp. vi+ 222. 
(Berlin : Gebruder Borntraeger.) 6.60 marks. 

Handbuch der Morphologie der Wirbellosen Tiere. 
Edited by A. Lang. Zweite Begw. Dritte Auflage. 
4 Band, 3 Lief. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 5 marks. 

A Text-Book of Quantitative Chemical Analysis. 
By Dr. A. C. Cumming and Dr. S. A. Kay. “Pp: xi+ 
382. (London: Gurney and Jackson.) 7s. 6d. net. 

Elementares Praktikum der Entwicklungsgeschichte 
der Wirbeltiere mit Einfiihrung in die Entwicklungs- 
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Conseil Permanent International pour L’Explora- 


tion de la Mer. Investigations on_ the Plaice. 
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153+xxxvtiv plates. Rapports. et Procés-Verbaux 
des Réunions. Vol. xv. Juillet 1911Juillet 1912. 
Pp. viii+167. (Copenhague : A. F. Host et Fils.) 
Technological Museum, Sydney. Technical Educa- 
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Les Lois Empiriques du Systéme Solaire et les Har- 


286 


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43. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars.) 2. francs. 

Les Progrés de la Chimie en 1912. Pp. xiv+4r1. 
(Paris: A. Hermann et Fils.) 7.50 francs. 

Traité de ‘Chimie Minérale. By H. Erdmann. 
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10 francs. 
Traité de Physique. By Prof. O. D. Chwolson. 


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L’Etude Physico-Chimique des Sels Chromiques. 


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Smithsonian Institution. U.S. National Museum. 
Report on the Progress and Condition of the U.S. 
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Leeds Astronomical Society. No. 20, Journal and 
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Maryland Geological Survey. Middle and Upper 
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The British Rust Fungi (Uredinales) : their Biology 
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Rubber and Rubber Planting. By Dr. R. H. Lock. 
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Recent Physical Research. By D. Owen. Pp. 156. 
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DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


FRIDAY, OcToper 31. 

F ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Difference between a 

R. Kelsey. Jones. 

MONDAY, Novemorr 3. 

Society orf ENGINEERS, at 7.20 —Accretion at Estuary Harbours on the 
South Coast of England: G.O Cure. 

ARISTOTELIAN SocinTy, at 8.—President’s Address: 
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NO. 2296, VOL. 92] 


Junior Institution o 
Drain and a Sewer: 


Appearance and 


IV. The 
Peroxidation as Determined by 
. Armstrong.—Analysis of Crude 
Methods 1911. Determination 
Grimwood.—Observations on the Abel Heat 


NATURE 


[OcTOBER 30, 1913 


TUESDAY, 
RoyvaL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUT 
Surfaces : J. R. Moir. 
RénTGEN Society, at 8.15.—Presidential Address: Prof. A. W. Porter. 
InsTITUTION oF Civit ENGINEERS, at 8.—Presidential Address; A, G. 


Lyster. 
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Analysis: L. Archbutt.—’he Examination of Commercial Gelatines in 
Reference to their Suitability for Paper Making: R. W.° Sindall and 
W. Bacon.—Some Experiments on Chlorine Compounds of Ethane and 
Ethylene, with Special Reference to their Applications to Analytical 
Chemistry : L. Gowing-Scopes.—The Detection and Estimation of Benzoic 


Acid in Milk and Cream: E, Hinks. ' 
EnTomoocica Society, at 8.—New or Little Known Heterocera from 
rough the Andes of 


NovEMBER 4. 
E, at 8.15.—The Striation of ‘Flint 


Madagascar : Sir Geo. H. Kenrick. 
Ggovocicat Soctery, at 8:—Geological Sections th: 
Peru and Bolivia: Dr. J. A. Douglas. 


THURSDAY, Novemner 6.  % 
Royat Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: The Soil Solution and the 
Mineral Constituents of the Soil: A. D. Hall, W. E. Brenchley, and Li M. 
Underwood.—Studies in Heredity, II. Further Experiments in Crossing 
British Species of Sea Urchins: Prof. E. W. MacBride.—Synthesis by 
Sunlight in Relationship to the Origin of Life ; Synthesis of Formaldehyde 
from Carbon Dioxide and Water by Inorganic Colloids acting as ‘'rans- 
formers of Light Energy.—Prof. B. Moore and TI. A» Webster.—lhe 
Trypanosomes causing Dourine (Mal de Coit or Beschilseuche) : Dr. B. 
Blacklock and Dr. W. Yorke.—Postural and Non-Postural Activities of 
the Mid Brain: T. G. Brown.—The Nature of the Coagulent of the 
Venom of Echis carinatus: J. O. W. Barratt. 


FRIDAY, NovemBer 7: 
Junior Institution oF ENGINEERS, at 8,— Experience in the Design and 
Working on Different Kinds of Fuel for Gas Producers: G. E. Lygo. © 
Geotosists' AssociaTIon, at 8.—Annual Conversazione. : 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
Radiation Theories. ByG.H.B........... 261 
Chemical Text-Books, By. E. F.Al. > oe 261, 


Problems of Life and Reality 
Text-Books on Heat and Thermo 


eee ee . 263 
dynamics, By » 


NY. Co. McG. Li e5, Sy lay, 9/0) uke eee + 8) + 265 
Our Bookshelf Hit 2 Se ee aol oS, OO 
Letters to the Editor :— f : 


f, EB. 


The Reflection of y Rays from Crystals.—Pro 

Rutherford, F.R.S.; Dr, E. N. daC. Andrade 267+ 

The Piltdown Skull and Brain Cast.—Prof. G. 

Elliot Smith, -FUR-Si, 3... 2 eee . 267 

“Aeroplanes in Gusts."—S. L. Walkden; The 
Reviewer... c.seie)s) ),«) o6 0 rr 
Mass as a Measure of Inertia.—Prof, W. C, Baker. 268 
Engineering Research and its Coordination . . . . 268 
Higher Education and the State ts foi aig agen 
Dr. Lucas-Championniere Mas ete! 
Notes. (J//ustrated.). ..... Ficus 3 ;/ 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Astronomical Occurrences for November. . . , . . 276 
A. New ‘Cometuer say nana Neat sate 276 
Comet Metcalf 19136 am, et, eee 
Comet Westphal (1913@)). 0) 2 cr 
Elements and Numbers of Minor Planets. . . . 276 
Theoretical Astronomical Research Aes 276 
Committees on Radio-Telegraphic Investigations . 277 
Applied Science in the University of Sheffield . 277 
The British Association at Birmingham :— : 
Section M.—Agriculture.—Opening Address by Prof. 

T. B. Wood, President of the Section 278 
University and Educational Intelligence . Perce 3:07) 
Societies and Academies . on 285, 
Books Received ' o 2 wanes 
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OcTOBER 30, 1913] 


NATURE 


xciil 


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XciVv NATURE [OcToBER 30, 1913 


[EITZ EDUCATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL 
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A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL. OF SCIENCR. 4 


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XcVvi 


UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. 


NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Senate is about to proceed 
to elect Examiners in the following departments for the year 1914-15. 


Full particulars of the remuneration of each Examinership can be 
obtained on application to the Principal. 


A.—FOR EXAMINATIONS ABOVE THE MATRICULATION. 
Facutty oF ARTS AND FACULTY OF SCIENCE, SEPT., 1914—AUG., 1915. 


One in Veterinary Pathology. 


One in Exglish. 
One in Veterinary Physiology. 


One in Pedagogy. 
One in Sociology (also Faculty of 
Economics). 
Facutty oF ENGINEERING. 

One in Engineering (including Theory of Machines and of Structures, 
Strength of Materials, Surveying, Hydraulics, and Theory of Heat 
Engines) for 1914. 

Facutty oF Economics, SErt., 1914—AUG., 1015. 


One in Economics. One tin Sociology (also Faculty of 
One in Statistics. Arts). 
B.—FOR THE INTERMEDIATE EXAMINATION, FINAL 
EXAMINATION, OR BOTH EXAMINATIONS. 
FacuLty oF ARTS AND FacuLty oF ScrENCcE, SEPT., 1914—AUG., 1915. 
One in Physics. 

Candidates must send in their names to the Principal, with any attes- 
tation of their qualifications they may think desirable, on or before 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29. (It is particularly desired by the Senate 
that no application of any kind be made to its individual Members.) 

Lf testimonials are submitted, three copies at least of each should be 
sent, Original testimonials should not be jorwarded in any case. If 
more than one Examinership is applied for, a separate complete applica- 
tion, with copies of testimonials, if any, must be orwarded in respect of 
cach. 


THIS IS TO GIVE NOTICE that the Senate will shortly proceed to 
-elect Examiners in the following subjects for the year 1914-15. 

The Examiners appointed may be called upon to take part in the Exam- 
‘ination of both Internal and External Siudents. Full particulars of the 
remuneration of each Examinership can be obtained on application to the 
Principal. 


HIGHER EXAMINATIONS FOR MEDICAL DEGREES. 


EXAMINERSHIPS. PresENT EXAMINERS. 


Norman Dalton, M.D., F.R.C P. 
Humphry Davy Rolleston, M.A., M.D., 


Four in Medicine B.C. F.R.C.P. 


\¥. B. Warrington, M.D., Ch.B., F.R.C.P. 
Vacant. 
{ Henry Russell Andrews, M.D., B.S., 
Two in Obstetric Medicine ...- M.R.C.P. 
\ vacant. ‘ 
myorinweeharaey i { eons Muir, M.A., M.D., F.R.S. 
Frédéric F. Burghard, M.D., M.S., 
F.R.C.S. 

F “Te copaer _} William F. Haslam, M.B., Cb.B., F.R.C.S. 
QUE eee =¥ “| Henry Betham Robinson, M.D., M.S. 
| F.R.C.S. 

Vacant. 4 
Two in Tropical Medicine..| Yroant, M. Sandwith, M.D., F.R.C.P. 


The Examiners above named are re-eligible, and intend to offer them- 
selves for re-election. 


N.B.—Attention is drawn to the provision of Statute 124, whereby the 
Senate is required, if practicable, to appoint at least one Examiner who 
is not a Teacher of the University. 

Candidates must send in their names to the Principal, with any attes- 
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MONDAY, DECEMBER rs. (It is particularly desired by the Senate 
that no application of any kind be made to its individual Members.) 


If testimonials ave submitted, three copies at least of each should be 
sent. Original testimonials should not be forwarded in any case. If 
more than one Examinership is applied for, a separate complete applica- 
tion, with copies of testimonials, if any, must be forwarded in respect 
of each, 

University of London, 

South Kensington, S.W., 
November, 1913. 


UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW. 


ADDITIONAL EXAMINERSHIPS. 

The University Court of the University of Glasgow will shortly proceed 
to appoint ADDITIONAL DEGREE EXAMINERS in each of the 
subjects named :— 

Classics (including Greek and Roman History), Mathematics (two 
Examiners), Natural Philosophy (two Examiners—one with a knowledge 
of practical applications of Physics to Engineering, &c., and both qualified 
to examine in Mathematical and Experimental Physics), Botany, Chemistry 
and Anatomy; one Examiner for the subjects of Scots, Civil and 
Mercantile Law; one Examiner for the subjects of Jurisprudence, Public 
and Private International Law and Constitutional Law and History ; and 
one Examiner for the subjects of Conveyancing and Forensic Medicine. 

Particulars of- the duties, emoluments, &c., may be had on application to 
the SecrETARY of the University Court. 

University of Glasgow, 

October, 1913. 


By Order of the Senate, 
HENRY A. MIERS, 
Principal. 


NATURE 


ARTS.—Latin, 
History, Geography, Logic, Economies, Mathematics (Pure 


SESSIONAL FEES { 


Day Courses under recognised Teachers in Preparation for 
London University Degrees in Mechanical and Electrica 
Engineering, in Chemistry, Physics and Natural Science; 
and Technical Courses arranged to extend over Three Years 
and Prepare for Engineering, 


*S. Skinner, M.A., *L. Lownps, B.Sc., Ph.D., *F. W. Jorpan, B.Sc. 5 
Chemistry—*J. B. Coteman, A.R.C.S., *J. C. Crocker, M.A., 
and *F. H. Lowe, M.Sc.; Botany—*H. B. Lacey, S. E. CHANDLER, 
D.Sc., and *W. Rusuton, A.R.C.S., D.1.C. ; Geology—*A. J. MASLEN, 
F.G.S., F.L.S.; Human Physiology—E. L. Kennaway, M.A., M.D. ; 
Zoology—*J. T. ‘ 
Houston, B.Sc., A.M.I.C.E., *V. C. Davigs, B.Sc., and H. AUGHTIE; — 
Electrical Engineering—*A. J. Makower, M.A., *B. H. Morpny, and 
U. A. OscuHwacp, B.A. 


tions, Gas Reactions, Phase Rule, Electrochemistry, Chemical Kinetics. 


Heterogeneous Equilibria, a systematic review of the elements for the peri- 
odic and physicochemical standpoints, with reference also to the colloidal 
state, theories of valency, and structure and radio active transformations. 
Wednesday or Thursday evenings (Oct. to March), 7.15 tog.45. Fee ras. 6d. 
of Bacteria, Study of Toxins, Agglutination, Vaccine Preparations. 
Second Year Course—Tuesdays, 7.15 to 9.45, 10 Meetings, commencing 


First Year Course (Dyeing and Cleaning), Thursday, 7.15 to 9.45. 15 


CITY OF LONDON COLLEGE. 


WHITE S8T., and ROPEMAKER S8T., MOORFIELDS, E.C. 


PRINCIPAL: SIDNEY HUMPHRIES, B.A., LL.B. (Cantab.) 


Well-equipped LABORATORIES for Practical Work in 


are also held in all Commercial Subjects, in Languages, and Literature. — 
Art Studio. 


or BUSINESS career. 


[NovEMBER 6, 1913 


BIRKBECK COLLEGE, 


BREAMS BUILDINGS, CHANCERY LANE, E.C. 
Principal: G. Armitage-Smith, M.A., D.Lit, 


COURSES OF STUDY (Day and Evening) for the Degrees of the 
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON in the 


FACULTIES OF SCIENCE & ARTS 
(PASS AND HONOURS) 
under RECOGNISED TEACHERS of the University. 


SCIENCE.—Chemistry, Physics, Mathematies (Pure and 
Applied), Botany, Zoology, Geology and Mineralogy. 


Greek, English, French, German, Italian, 


and Applied). 
Evening Courses for the Degrees in Economics and Law. 


Day: Science, £17 10s.; Arts, £10 10s. 
Evening: Science, Arts, or Economics, £5 5s. 


POST-GRADUATE AND RESEARCH WORK. 
Prospectuses post free, Calendar 3d. (by post sd.) from the Secretary. 


SOUTH-WESTERN POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, 
MANRESA ROAD, CHELSEA, S.W. 


Electrical, Chemical and 
Metallurgical Professions. _ Session Fee, £15. 
Evening Courses in all Departments :— 


Mathematics—*J. Lister, A.R.C.S., *T. G. STRAIN, M.A.j Physics— 


D.Sc., 


CUNNINGHAM, A.; Engineering—*W. CAMPBELL 


*Recognised Teacher of the University of London. 
Prospectus from the SECRETARY, post free, 4d. ; at the Office, rd. 
Telephone: 899 Western. SIDNEY SKINNER, M.A., Principal. 


BATTERSEA POLYTECHNIC, S.W. 


CHEMICAL DEPARTMENT. 

Head of Department ... .... J. Witson, M.Sc., F.1LC. 
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY.—E. B. R. Pripgaux, M.A., D.Sc, 
First Year's Course—Lecture and Laboratory—Friday evenings, 7.15 to 
9-45 (October to May). Fee 1os. 

SYLLABUS : The Gas Laws, Kinetic Theory, Thermochemistry, Solu- 


Second Year's Course for Honours B.Sc.—Lectures and Laboratory— 


Monday evenings, 7.15 to 9.45 (October to May). Fee ros. 
SYLLABUS: Applications of Thermodynamics to Homogeneous and 


ADVANCED BACTERIOLOGY.— J. H. Jounston, M.Sc, F.I.C. 

SYLLABUS: Organisms of Commercial Importance, Chemical Action 
DYEING.—F. W. Wacker. 

Tuesday, November 11, 1913. Fee 5s. 


Meetings, commencing Thursday, November 13, 1913. Fee 7s. 6d. 
For further details see Sectional Calendar, rd., post free 2d. 


ACTING IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE LONDON CHAMBER OF COMMEROE. 


(Near Moorgate and Liverpool Street Stations), 
7 
EVENING CLASSES IN SCIENCE. 


CHEMISTRY, BOTANY, GEOLOGY. i 


Special Courses for Pharmaceutical and other examinations. Classes — 


All Classes are open to both sexes. j 
DAY SCHOOL OF COMMERCE. Preparation fora COMMERCIAL ~ 


Prospectuses, and all other information, gratis on application. } 
“ 
4 


DAVID SAVAGE, Secretary. 
{ 


THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 10913. 


GERMAN SCHOOL CHEMISTRY. 


Methodik des chemischen Unterrichts. By Dr. 
Karl Scheid. Pp. xv+448. (Leipzig: Quelle 
und Meyer, 1913.) Price 20 marks. 

DUCATIONAL restlessness, so characteristic 

of the times in England, prevails to a 
scarcely less degree in the country to which we 
are so often directed to turn for pedagogic inspira- 
tion; and the agitation about methods of teaching 

‘science is not the least remarkable example of the 

contemporary stir in the educational world of 

Germany. 

The present volume is the fourth of a series 
constituting a handbook of scientific and mathe- 
matical instruction issued under the editorship of 
Dr. J. Norrenburg, and is written by a professor 
of the Realgymnasium mit Oberrealschule at 
Freiburg in Breisgau. ‘‘ Knapp und einfach in der 
Form,” it is declared to be by the editor; 
“Knapp” it may be by Teutonic standards, but it 
extends to about 450 large pages, and it ‘“‘grinds 
exceeding small,” as books on Methodik are apt 
to do in every language. However, the work is 
of much interest, and to a large degree readable. 
It refers to German boys’ schools, and the 
terminology of the German system, with its slight 
and subtle variations, presents some difficulty to 
the English reader. 

The first or general part of the book gives an 
account of the history of chemistry teaching in 
German schools, a description of its present 
condition, and of the various recommendations and 
‘criticisms that have been made by scientific, 
medical, or industrial authorities. The general 
educational principles involved in science teaching 
are discussed at considerable length with a great 
deal of division and sub-division. The second or 
special part of the book gives the outline of a 
4 suggested course of school chemistry. 

_ The chief impression produced by reading this 

~ account of German school science is the comfort- 

able one that we in England are well in advance 
of Germany in our attempts to make science 

_ worthy of its place in the school curriculum. It 

is somewhat remarkable that a German writer 
should have paid such little attention to what has 

been going on in other countries. There is a 

eulogistic reference to Faraday’s ‘Chemistry of a 
_ Candle,” but no allusion to the very great work 

that has been done in England during the last 

twenty-five years towards improving school 

_ science. 

The difficulties recounted by Dr. Scheid, the 

_ unsatisfactoriness of the traditional methods, and 


4 NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


"1 


: 
\ 
| 


NATURE 


287 


the obstacles to reform, are very much the same 
as we have known here. There has been a strong 
academic prejudice against the intrusion of science 
into the school curriculum; the science that has 
been taught has been diluted university science 
administered dogmatically; sciences have been 
artificially severed; they have been detached from 
living nature and from human interests; they have 
resulted in a thing of shreds and patches that has 
been of no account for any terrestrial or celestial 
purpose. Against all this a rebellion has been 
fermenting ; the demonstration is condemned; the 
pupils are to work in laboratories; they are to 
be put into the position of discovering rather than 
of being told; things, in fact, are moving as they 
have moved here, but they have not moved so fast. 

There are many wise things said in the book, 
which, if they are not new, are the things that 
need to be said again and again. Dr. Scheid 
insists, for example, that the school teacher must 
remember that he has not got a collection of 
prospective chemists before him; that the method 
of teaching is more important than the range of 
matter; that every occasion must be taken to 
connect school teaching with the realities of life 
and industry; that the artificial tendency, not 
imposed by nature, between natural history and 
the exact sciences must disappear, if the realistic 
(i.e. modern) schools are to be true educational 
institutions in a thorough cultural sense. Only 
then will the Ober-realschulen and Realgymnasien 
be in a position to give a scientific education 
equivalent to the humanistic one. The distribu- 
tion of different branches of science to different 
teachers, the severance of physics from chemistry, 
are deprecated. Chemistry dissociated from 
physics, says the author, is resolved into a mosaic 
of details. Boyle, Dalton, and Davy were 
chemists and physicists in one person. 

The course of chemistry outlined by Dr. Scheid 
is not quite like those which have supplanted the 
old academic courses that prevailed in this coun- 
try. He begins with limestone, and makes it 
the object of some fundamental observations, 
partly quantitative, passing then to air and com- 
bustion. Sulphur and sulphuric acid lead to 
hydrogen, and then comes water. Flame, salt, 
and hydrochloric acid, quantitative experiments on 
the laws of combination, carbon and carbon 
dioxide, carbonates, nitrogen compounds, phos-. 
phorus, silicon, and the heavy metals—these com-- 
plete the topics of the lower course. The higher 
is more like the traditional systematic course. 
Proposals for the treatment of organic chemistry 
begin with alcohol, and include a restricted list of 
the substances and topics related more especially 
to everyday life. 

L 


288 


Whilst the course suggested is in many respects 
interesting, and no doubt a great improvement 
on much that has prevailed, it does not seem to 
be better than many that are now being followed 
in this country. 

It is well known that the prominent position 
taken by Germany in chemical science is in no 
degree due to the quantity or quality of the 
chemistry in its schools. We still hear, indeed, 
from time to time, of the pronouncement made a 
score of years ago by a group of eminent German 
chemists to the effect that a classical education 
was to be preferred above all else as a prepara- 
tion for the serious study of science. “This pro- 
nouncement is akin to many that are heard in 
the world of education, and is of the nature of 
those half-truths which are so particularly mis- 
chievous. Just as in this country, so long as 
modern studies were disdained and were the resort 
of the less intellectually gifted, and so long as 
modern studies were being taught on a vicious 
model, ancient studies might well seem to be the 
best preparation for every kind of higher training. 

It will be interesting to see the face of German 
education when Dr. Scheid and his coadjutors 
have achieved their reform of its school science. 
Meanwhile it matters much less in Germany than 
here whether school science is good or bad, for 
in Germany there is plenty of education, and of 
good education, of some kind; there is a sincere 
belief in it; there is a sincere belief in science; 
and there are plenty of men sufficiently well 
trained to keep the country eminent in science 
and pre-eminent in the application of scientific 
knowledge to the welfare of the State. 

ARTHUR SMITHELLS. 


ZOOLOGICAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES AND 
CATALOGUES. 

(1) Catalogue of the Books, Manuscripts, Maps, 
and Drawings in the British Museum (Natural 
History). Vol. iv., P—SN. Pp. 1495-1956. 
(London: British Museum (Natural History); 
Longmans, Green and Co., 1913.) 

(2) A Bibliography of the Tunicata, 1469-1910. By 
John Hopkinson. Pp. xii+288. (London: The 
Ray Society; Dulau and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 
I5s. net. 

(3) Catalogue of the Noctuide in the Collection 
of the British Museum. By Sir G. F. Hampson. 
Plates cxcii-cexxi. (London: British Museum 
(Natural History); Longmans, Green and Co., 
1913-) 

(4) Catalogue of the Ungulate Mammals in the 
British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 1, 
Artiodactyla, Family Bovide, Subfamilies 

NO. 2297, VOL. 92]| 


NATURE 


{ NOVEMBER 6, 1913 


Bovine to Ovibovine. By R. Lydekker, F.R.S. 
Pp. xvii+249. (London: British Museum 
(Natural History); Longmans, Green and Co., 
1913.) 
(x) HE British Museum of Natural History 
continues to issue at frequent intervals 
a series of extremely useful catalogues, guides to 
the collections, or other valuable volumes. Not the 
least welcome of these to workers in the museum, 
although probably not of general interest+to the 
public, is the ‘Catalogue of the Books, Manu- 
scripts, Maps, and Drawings.” This, under the 
superintendence of Mr. B. B. Woodward, the 
librarian, is still in course of completion, and 
vol. iv. now lies before us. Starting at P, it brings 
the entries under authors’ names down to SN. 
We learn from the director’s preface that the first 
sheet was passed for press in October, 1910, and © 
the issue of this volume marks a distinct advance — 
in cataloguing a library, the value and richness of 
which is probably known to very few of the 
public. 

(2) A catalogue of a very different nature is Mr. 
John Hopkinson’s “Bibliography of the Tuni-— 
cata,” from 1469-1910, compiled for the Ray 
Society. This was commenced for the private use © 
of its author in connection with the publication 
by the Ray Society of the late Messrs. Alder and 
Hancock's “ British Tunicata.” During the course - 
of its completion it was found to contain so many 
references not in any previous bibliography that 
it appeared to Mr. Hopkinson that if printed it 
might be useful to others—a surmise which we 
expect will prove correct, as the bibliography, 
which must have involved immense labour, has 
been very carefully prepared. 

(3) A second volume issued by the British 
Museum: contains plates 192-221 of Sir George 
Hampson’s “Catalogue of the Noctuide.” In this 
a large number of species are illustrated, the work 
having been carefully executed by Messrs. West, 
Newman and Co. The colours have been very 
well reproduced; each species is named, and a 
reference given to its habitat and the page on 
which it is described. , 

(4) The first volume of Mr. R. Lydekker’s 
“Catalogue of the Ungulate Mammals” deals 
with the cattle, sheep, goats, chamois, takin, — 
and musk-oxen. Owing to the large size of © 
most of the species and the relatively small 
number of specimens available, the work is written — 
on lines different from those governing other cata- 
logues. Real systematic detail and thorough con-— 
ciseness of description cannot be attained until a_ 
much larger series of specimens can be accumu- 
lated. Instead, although the principle of priority — 
in scientific nomenclature has been adhered to, an 


_ (3) A Handbook of Forestry. 


ae’ nil 


+ 


NoveEMBER 6, 1913] 


NATURE 


289 


attempt has been made to render the descriptions 
as little obtuse as possible, so that they may be 
of interest to sportsmen as well as to scientific 
naturalists, to the former of whom the Ungulates 
are of special interest. 

Recent minute study and careful comparison of 
specimens has led to such multiplication of species 
that new arrangements of them are unavoidable. 
In most modern works an attempt is made to 
group the known forms by instituting new and 
narrower genera which are often identical with 
old-time species. Mr. Lydekker attempts to attain 
the same end by classing nearly-related forms as 
races of a single species. We are not sure that 
we approve of this method, which involves a 
greater use of trinomials, where binomials would 
often suffice, and is, we think, a hopeless struggle 
against modern tendencies. In the case of the 
musk-oxen this practice gains nothing; nor does 
it seem a great advantage to grade all the sheep 
inhabiting the North American continent as sub- 
species of Ovis canadensis. In other respects we 
have nothing but praise for a work which will 
certainly be valued by those for whom it is in- 
tended. 


THE SCIENCE OF FORESTRY. 

(1) The Theory and Practice of Working Plans 
(Forest Organisation). By Prof. A. B. Reck- 
nagel. Pp. xli+235+6 plates. (New York: 
John Wiley and Sons; London: Chapman and 
Hall, Ltd., 1913.) Price 8s. 6d. net. 

(2) The Important Timber Trees of the United 
States: A Manual of Practical Forestry. By 
S. B. Elliott. 
Constable and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price ros. 6d. 
net. 

Bypew..- B.A. 

(Watford: The Cooper 

Price 2s. 6d. net. 


Hudson. Pp. ix+82. 
Laboratory, n.d.) 
HE output of forestry literature in America is 
becoming remarkable. In addition to several 
admirable periodical publications like the Forest 
Quarterly and the Proceedings of the Society of 
American Foresters, as well as the’ numerous 
bulletins, circulars, and miscellaneous works 
issued by the Forest Service at Washington, there 
are constantly appearing now useful text-books on 
the different branches of the science of forestry. 
These are especially valuable to us, as, with the 
exception of the standard works of Nisbet and 
Schlich, which are necessarily limited and stereo- 
typed in scope, scarcely any serious books on 
forestry have appeared of late years in England. 
In arboriculture, which is the study of individual 
trees, on the contrary, English writers still keep 
NO. 2297, VOL. 92]| 


Pp. xix +382+plates. (London: 


up the tradition of Loudon and are in the first 
rank. 

(1) Forest organisation is the subject of an 
excellent book by Prof. Recknagel, of Cornell 
University. The works in English on this im- 
portant branch of forestry hitherto available have 
been practically two only, Schlich’s ‘“ Manual,” 
vol. iii., somewhat limited in scope, and D’Arcy’s 
‘““Working Plans,” confessedly confined to Indian 
practice. We have had no treatise which gave a 
general discussion of the subject. The merit of 
Prof. Recknagel’s work is the clear and concise 
way in which he treats of the different methods of 
estimating the yield of the forest, and the ample 
details which he gives concerning the modes of 
management in Germany, Austria, France, and 
the United States. The author agrees with 
Schlich in considering that Judeich’s method is the 
most rational of the seventeen methods described 
for determining the yield, i.e., of calculating the 
actual amount of timber that should be cut 
annually in a forest, which is worked so as to 
give a constant annual return. This method, 
with obvious simplifications, can be adapted to 
ordinary estates in England, on which there is 
a considerable area of woods of different ages. 
On p. 53, line 9, there is an obvious error : 49,000 
should read 24,500. 

(2) It is significant of the depletion of the 
timber supplies of the United States that numerous 
books are now being published there which deal 
with the formation of new woods by planting 
methods. The latest of these, by Mr. Elliott, is 
designed for the use of private landowners in 
America. The first part (pp. 1-129) deals with 
the ordinary details of sylviculture, and contains 
nothing novel, though the account of nursery 
work, as it is carried on in Pennsylvania, with 
illustrations of the State Forest Nursery, is of 
considerable interest. 

The second part of the book (pp. 130-357) is a 
description of the important timber trees which 
are suitable for planting for profit in North 
America. There is scarcely any information in 
this which will be of much service to English 
foresters, as the author’s experience is mostly 
drawn from the eastern part of the United States, 
while for us it is the Pacific Coast trees that are 
of value. His knowledge of the latter is limited, 
as evidenced by the perfunctory way in which the 
Douglas fir is treated, and the omission of the 
Sitka spruce. The statement that “one who pur- 
chases Western hemlock believing it to be Oregon 
pine is not much wronged” is quite erroneous. 
The latter tree (Pseudotsuga Douglasit) is, of 
course, much superior to the hemlock, both in 
rate of growth and in the quality of the timber 


290 


The account of the cultivation in 
America of Scots pine, European larch, and 
Norway spruce is of considerable interest. All 
three grow well for a time, but never make good 
trees in the eastern parts of the United States. 

(3) The ‘“‘Handbook of Forestry,” which has 
been issued by the Cooper Laboratory at Watford, 
is inconvenient to handle, being a thin folio of 82 
pages, with 25 illustrations of very unequal merit. 
While generally sound in regard to practice, it 
contains nothing that has not been said before in 
several small, handy text-books, and is startling 
in its omissions. While the London plane is in- 
cluded as a forest tree, the Corsican pine, which 
is the most valuable of its genus for many soils 
and situations, is omitted. In the chapter entitled 
“conditions affecting growth” nothing is said 
about the important questions of altitude, exposure 
to wind, situation near the sea or inland, and 
latitude, all important factors influencing the 
choice of species and the formation of new planta- 
tions. The “Black Poplar” (Populus nigra) is 
correctly drawn; but in the description it is con- 
fused with the “Black Italian Poplar” (Populus 
serotina), the fast-growing hybrid tree, which 
should always be planted in preference to the 
former, when timber is required. 

Such statements as (p. 64) that the lime is not 
indigenous, and names like Tilia magnifolia, show 
that the author is not well acquainted with forest 
botany. The two native birches are distinguished 
by drawings, but nothing is said of their very 
different soil-requirements. 


produced. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 
Practical Stone Quarrying: a Manual for Man- 
agers, Inspectors, and Owners of Quarries, and 
for Students. By A. Greenwell and Dr. J. 


Vincent Elsden. Pp. xx+564. (London: 
Crosby Lockwood and Son. 1913.) Price 
t2s. 6d. net. 


WHEN our hard-headed forbears were roving Pilt- 
down, the art of the quarryman could scarcely 
have been in its infancy; yet we have far to travel 
in the mazes of the past if we must find its be- 
ginnings, and the work of some of the early 
masters of the craft still remains to excite our 
wonder. From the nature of the material ancient 
methods were very like our own, and _ probably 
differed mainly in speed. 

Old though the art may be we are still in doubt 
as to what a quarry is; most likely the ancient 
quarryman was not troubled with this question, 
but now, what with Acts of Parliament, judicial 
embellishments, and the sanction of custom, it has 
become” impossible to define ‘“‘quarry.” The 
authors of this volume have made a brave effort 
to clear up the confusion; it is very interesting, 
but scarcely successful. They have had almost as 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[NovEMBER 6, 1913 


much difficulty with “stone” ; however, by includ- 
ing some “mines” among the quarries and omit- 
ting to take account of some materials which 
would come under their own definition of stone, 
they have succeeded in producing an eminently 
satisfactory book on the subject, one for which 
there was a real need. 

After an adequate discussion of the occurrence: 
of stone, the distribution of quarries in the United 
Kingdom, and divisional planes in rocks, there 
follows some excellent advice on the location of 
quarries and their proper development, a subject 
of the greatest importance. 

A large amount of space is devoted to methods. 
of extraction, tools, blasting, cableways, and 
haulage systems. The table, p. 300, giving the 
amounts of different explosives used in the United 
Kingdom, would have been more valuable if the 
explosives had been classified according to the 
kind of rock and the uses of the stone. 

A short chapter treats of the preparation of 
stone for the market, another with the dangers of 
quarrying, and the book concludes with some 
remarks on quarry legislation which may be com- 
mended to the notice of those in authority. The 
volume is very well illustrated, and there is a 
fair index. 


The Microtomist’s Vade-Mecum. A Handbook of 
the Methods of Microscopic Anatomy. By 


A. B. Lee. Seventh edition. Pp. x526% 
(London: J. and A. Churchill, 1913.) Price 
15s. net. 


WE gladly welcome the new edition of this worl 
which has become indispensable in all laboratories. 
of biology. The general plan and the size of the 
book remain unaltered, but the author has 
managed by judicious “ pruning,’’ and some ex- 
clusion of out-of-date matter, to introduce much 
new matter, more than seven hundred additonal 
entries appearing in the index. 

Goldmann’s intra-vitam staining methods, and 
improvements in the silver fibril stains of Biel- 
schowsky and Ramén y Cajal are detailed. 
Gibson’s new mounting media, which dispense 
with the use of clearing agents, and confer on 
unstained or feebly stained objects just the re- 
quired degree of visibility, are described. The 
sections relating to the blood and blood parasites 
have been rewritten. Not the least useful part 
of the contents are the full references given to 
the literature of the subject. Those who have 
worked with former editions will find that the 
present one maintains in all respects the high 
standard of its predecessors. R. Dene 


Astronomy Simplified. By Rev. Alex. C. Hender- 
son. (London: James Clarke and Co., 1913.) 


Tue object of this book is, as the author states, 
“to extend a knowledge of the sublimest of the 
sciences,”’ and he intentionally reminds the reader 
many times throughout the pages that while man 
is striving to find out the laws which govern the 
behaviour of matter in space, there is a greater 


a en  ——eEEEeEOEEEeEoeEeEeEeEEEeEeEeEeEeEeEEeEeEeE—E——EEEE ee 


NOVEMBER 6, 1913] 


Power who not only created the laws, but formed 
matter and space. 

The book consists of three chapters, covering 

seventy-five pages, followed by a series of sub- 
sidiary chapters, which are termed notes, which 
extend another seventy-one pages. © The three 
chapters deal with general information about the 
sun, moon, and stars, diurnal motions of the 
heavenly bodies and comets. The treatment is 
quite elementary, clear, and brief, and the informa- 
tion accurate. The notes, which are twenty-six 
in number, treat of a miscellaneous set of subjects 
relating to astronomy, and may be considered 
in some cases as brief essays. The headings of 
some of these notes are as follows :—Aurore, 
magnetic storms, sun-spots, and prominences; 
seven methods of obtaining accurate time; 
eclipses; proofs of the earth’s rotundity, &c. 
_ The book is neatly produced, contains numerous 
illustrations, and will no doubt serve a useful 
purpose in drawing youthful minds to the subject 
of astronomy. 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


Philosophy of Vitalism. 


I THINK that I voice the feelings of all London 
zoologists when I say how grateful we all are both 
to the Zoological Board of the University of London 
and to the governing body of King’s College for the 
opportunity which they have afforded us of hearing 
the new philosophy of vitalism so brilliantly ex- 
pounded by Prof. Hans Driesch. 

Perhaps you would spare me a little space if I try 
to set forth some reasons why Prof. Driesch’s con- 
ceptions do not appear to me to be of much service 
in assisting the progress of zoology. 

At the outset, one or two preliminary remarks may 
be made. The question whether for any consistent 
system of philosophy, or attempt to explain the 
universe, an idealistic attitude must be adopted, and 
the question whether at the present juncture idealistic 
conceptions ought to be imported into zoological 
science are two entirely different things. 

The task of zoologists is not to explain the universe; 
it is the much humbler one of endeavouring to com- 
pare together zoological phenomena and to ascertain 
the rules governing them. All “explanation” is 
merely comparison; we endeavour so far as we can 
to express the more complex phenomena in terms of 
the simpler, and so to find uniformity and order be- 
neath an apparent welter of unconnected details. 

Now Prof. Driesch offers us an “entelechy,” i.e. a 
non-material, non-mechanical ‘‘arranging”’’ power, a 
rudimentary “ psychoid”? which knows its purpose and 
uses the materials at its disposal in order to effect that 


purpose. Does the conception of entelechy help us 


to collate zoological facts or not? 

It was invented to account for the remarkable fact 
that when the first two blastomeres of the egg of a 
sea-urchin are separated from one another each will 
give rise to a perfect larva of diminished size. Driesch 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


rn 


291 


argued that since in normal circumstances one of 
these. blastomeres would have given rise to half a 
larva, therefore when it is separated from its fellow 
some innate power must be at hand to rearrange 


| the materials of the blastomere so as to give rise to 


a whole larva. But if the conception of an entelechy 
will cut the Gordian knot of this difficulty, there are 
a great many cases where the facts seem to be totally 
inconsistent with the existence of an entelechy. 

If the tail of a lizard be broken off.a little bud is 
formed at the injured surface, from which in due time 
a new tail is developed. But if this bud be slightly 
indented by a prick from a knife two tails and not 
one are developed from the bud. 

What is the entelechy doing in this case? Is its 
purpose altered, and has it decided to use the mate- 
rials to make two tails? Are we not justified in 
saying that if an enielechy was invented to explain 
why one blastomere of a sea-urchin’s egg forms a 
whole larva, it must be rejected because it utterly 
fails to explain why the injured bud on a lizard’s 
tail makes two tails? 

Again, if, when the egg of a frog has divided into 
two blastomeres it be tightly clipped between two 
glass slides in order to prevent its rotating, and if 
the whole preparation be inverted, then there will 
often result a ghastly two-headed tadpole. Why does 
the entelechy allow its purpose to be upset by so 
small a thing as the inversion of the egg? Is this 
not a much less violent change than cutting the egg 
in two? Instances of this kind might be multiplied 
indefinitely, and they show that at the best the con- 
ception of an entelechy is of quite limited application. 
There is another conception which is far more helpful 
in binding together phenomena, and that is the idea 
of “organ-forming substance.” In the egg of Cyn- 
thia, an Ascidean, the development of which has been 
worked out by Conklin, these organ-forming sub- 
stances can be seen in the living egg. This case was 
not alluded to by Prof. Driesch, as it is one which is 
almost impossible to reconcile with his theory. In 
the egg of Cynthia there is a yellow substance in the 
outer layer of the protoplasm. This collects round 
the entering spermatozoon when the egg is fertilised, 
and eventually forms a crescent in one quadrant of 
the egg. As development proceeds it is relegated to 
certain cells in the segmenting egg, and is eventually 
used up in forming the longitudinal muscles of the 
tail of the Ascidean tadpole. Now it is possible to 
kill the cells containing this substance on one or 
both sides of the segmenting egg. If the cells on one 
side be killed then there results a larva devoid of 
muscles on one side of its tail. 

Now if we assume that normal development depends 
on the juxtaposition of certain organ-forming sub- 
stances in certain spatial relations to one another, 
then when the two-cell stage of the egg of a frog 
is inverted these substances can partially or totally 
rearrange themselves, not under the influence of an 
entelechy, but under the influence of gravity. So also 
in the regenerating lizard’s tail, the spatial relations 
of the organ-forming materials with respect to one 
another are altered by the indentation produced by 
the knife, and so two tails and not one develop. 

Whence do these organ-forming substances come? 
The development of the egg of Cynthia teaches us 
that they arise from the nucleus of the ripe egg, and 
that they are definitely arranged (in some cases at 
least) under the influence of the spermatozoon. The 
ectoderm-forming substance of the egg of Cynthia is 
contained in the nuclear sap of the unripe egg and 
is emitted when the nuclear membrane breaks down. 
“But,’’ Driesch will reply, ‘‘I have shown that the 
nuclei of a segmenting egg can be displaced from 


292 


their normal positions without altering the result.” { 


Granted. When once fertilisation has been effected 
and the arrangement of materials in the cytoplasm 
fixed, the nuclei which result from the division of 
the zygote nucleus enter on a period of inactivity so 
far as influence on the cytoplasm is concerned. But 
this inactivity does not last for ever, for though the 
Cynthia tadpole is incapable of regenerating anything, 
that same tadpole metamorphosed into an adult 
Ascidian will regenerate any part that is cut off— 
even its head. In the same way Roux showed that 
when one blastomere of a frog’s egg is killed the 
surviving blastomere will give rise to half a tadpole; 
but that half-tadpole, if it lives, will post-generate 
the missing half, and this belated regeneration is 
oa mea by a migration of nuclei into the injured 
alf. 

It may be objected that it is difficult to imagine 
what kind of chemical composition an ‘‘ organ-forming 
substance ”’ possesses. This is true; it may be difficult 
to compare it with chemical substances found in dead 
matter, but our knowledge of the possible complica- 
tions of organic substance in living matter is as yet 
small. This at least may be said, the active agent in 
development and regeneration can be displaced from 
its original position, and can be divided into two, and 
such attributes are much more easily connected in 
our minds with a substance than with a non-material 
entity, which, Prof. Driesch assures us, is not in space. 

E. W. MacBribe. 

Imperial College of Science, October 28. 


The Piltdown Skull and Brain Cast. 


In suggesting that a reconstruction of the Piltdown 
skull, made by the use of casts of the actual frag- 
ments, is not trustworthy (Nature, October 30, p. oe, 
Prof. Elliot Smith does Dr. Smith Woodward and 
Mr. F, O. Barlow less than justice. The casts now 
in circulation are most accurate representations of the 
originals, and reflect the greatest credit on the 
modeller, Mr. Barlow. Anatomists* have had no diffi- 
culty in gaining the freest access to the actual 
specimens; even those who, like myself, regard the 
original reconstruction of the skull and brain cast as 
fundamentally erroneous, have had every privilege 
granted to them on repeated visits to see the Piltdown 
fragments in Dr. Smith Woodward’s keeping. A 
reconstruction made from casts is then just as trust- 
worthy as one made from the original fragments. 

You have already (Nature, October 16, p. 197) 
permitted me, by the use of a diagram, to demon- 
strate the errors in the original reconstruction; I also 
availed myself of that opportunity to show diagram- 
matically the only reconstruction which gives an ap- 
proximate symmetry to the right and left sides of the 
head, and, at the same time, places the parts in their 
proper anatomical positions. It is clear, from his 
letter (NaTURE, October 30, p. 267) that Prof. Elliot 
Smith knows of another method, one which fulfils 
the same conditions, but gives a much smaller brain- 
capacity. All that is necessary to convince me that 
he is right and I am wrong is a drawing of that 
reconstruction : one comparable with the drawings in 
my previous letter. I have articulated the fragments 
in the manner suggested in his letter, and find that 
the degree of asymmetry in his suggested reconstruc- 
tion is as great as in the original. It is possible that 
I have misinterpreted some of the indications given 
in his letter. Any error of this kind would be cleared 
up by a drawing. ArtTuHurR Keiru. 

Royal College of Surgeons, 

~ Lincoln’s Inn Fields, W.C. 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[NovEMBER 6, 1913. 


Pianoforte Touch. 


Pressure of other work has prevented me from 
replying earlier to Prof. Pickering’s letter in NATURE 
for July 31. It is, of course, difficult to express any — 
definite opinion about an experiment without fuller — 
knowledge of the circumstances than can be acquired 
from a mere written description; at the same time 
it appears to me very easy to suggest explanations 
for the failure of the experiment. To strike the same 
note a hundred times in succession is certainly a very 
severe test to impose on a person’s powers of dis-— 
crimination. In this connection it would be interest- 
ing to perform, for the sake of comparison, one — 
hundred tests of a totally different character, say the 
well-known tests of blindfolding a person and making 
him taste tea and coffee, according to a prearranged 
succession. It would be giving the hearer a fairer 
chance if the experiment were performed by playing 
over a short sequence of notes, say a simple melody 
a number of times in succession. I have always per- 
formed the test in this manner, and it has generally 
been successful. 

Then, again, there is evidently a certain knack 
about producing these touch effects, and though one 
may try to strike a note sometimes in a pressing or 
caressing manner, and sometimes sharply, it is quite 
easy to fail to produce the desired effects, especially 
if the note is struck by the fingers. The best results 
I have been able to get in this way have usually been 
produced by holding the wrists high above the key- 
board for a brilliant tone and right below the key- 
board (so as almost to pull the keys down) for a soft 
tone. In producing the same effects with a pneu- 
matic player, variation of the load on the regulating 
bellows by means of my sliding weight or some 
equivalent method produces sufficient differences, but 
the action of the feet in pedalling has so much effect 
on the touch that even here it is easy to fail, especially 
in experimenting where the performer consciously 
attempts to produce a particular effect and thinks of 
what he is doing. In the course of playing a com- 
position the touch control is easier, as the necessary 
movements of the hands and feet are performed un- 
consciously, the performer only being conscious of 
the effect produced and not thinking of why or how 
he moves his levers and pedals to produce that effect. 

Another point which has been overlooked in this 
discussion is that different makes of piano respond in. 
very different degrees to small differences of touch. 
I recently tested a number of different pianos, and 
found that the make which I always use was by far 
the most sensitive, while one of the least sensitive 
was similar to the piano used by our local musical 
society, thus accounting for the comparative harshness 
of some of the professional performances compared 
with my pneumatic effects. 

It is, of course, necessary to distinguish carefully 
between variations in quality of individual notes and 
variations in the quality of chords. The possibility 
of producing the latter variations in the pneumatic 
player is proved beyond doubt, and, to my mind, it 
is very largely the failure of either the instrument or 
the performer to produce a pleasing balance between 
the various components of a chord that renders the 
playing so mechanical and uninteresting. The usual 
effect is to produce with soft playing a heavy bass 
drowning a dull treble, and with loud playing a shrill 
treble drowning a weak bass. This effect is prob- 
ably due to a large extent to the action of the regu- 
lating bellows, which in the ordinary players are 
controlled by springs. In playing a chord a number 
of different striking hammers of unequal mass have 
to be set in motion by means of the air pressure, 


Se ———eeeerl 


_ manipulating his piano-player. 


NoveEMBER 6, 1913] 


NATURE 


293 


or rather tension, acting on the ‘“‘ playing pneumatics ”’ 
or small bellows which operate the fingers, and the 
duration of the impulse necessary to produce the 
maximum effect is greater for the bass than the treble 
hammers. Now the regulating bellows are in a con- 
tinual state of vibration, producing rapid fluctuations 
of tension every time a note is played. If these 
fluctuations synchronise with the impulses required 
to produce the maximum effect in a particular part 
of the scale, it is evident that the corresponding part 
of the chord will predominate. Now, in playing 
softly the regulating bellows are only slightly com- 
pressed, and they open and shut slowly; in playing 
loudly they are much more highly compressed, and they 
collapse and open sharply. Thus the unpleasing want 
of balance in the quality of chords is easily accounted 
for. This difficulty I get over by varying the load 
on the regulating bellows, and also the inertia by 
means of a sliding weight, as well as by controlling 
its vibrations by hand. I have seen a patent in which 
it is sought to control the regulating bellows by en- 
closing it in an air chamber in which the tension can 
be varied by means of valves, and attempts have also 
been made to vary the tension in a spring controlling 
the bellows; but this can only be done by compressing 
the spring by a corresponding amount, and the time 
required to produce this compression appears to be 
too long to render the method efficacious. 

The usual method of concealing this want of 
balance is to operate the two halves of the keyboard 
with separate controls. This system produces effects 
which are pleasing at first, but are very arti- 


ficial and limited in character, and a person who is 


accustomed to this method of ‘‘faking"’ his chords is 
scarcely likely ever to learn how to balance their 
different parts with due regard to the effects required. 
Possibly this explanation may clear up some of the 
obscure points in my descriptions referred to by Prof. 
Morton. At the same time, I have heard 
professional pianists of considerable reputation whose 
range of control did not extend beyond that obtain- 
able by damping down the halves of the keyboard or 
accenting notes by means of punch-holes. 

Prof. Pickering’s references to the sustaining pedal 
or lever are calculated to suggest the inference that 
Prof. Pickering may not have had much experience in 
If he finds it necessary 
to listen for each note before he knows when to 
operate his sustaining lever it would appear that he 
has not yet learnt to play each note at the exact in- 
stant that he wishes it played, and in this case it is 
not easy to see how it would be possible to play 
accompaniments in which it is necessary to listen to 
and keep in time with the soloist. Personally, I 
have always considered that the sustaining lever 
played a far more important part in pneumatic playing 
than in hand playing, one reason being that the 


_ mecessary movements can be regulated with much 


greater rapidity and precision by hand than by foot. 
The right hand operating the speed regulator fixes 
the exact instant at which each note is going to be 


played, the left hand operates the sustaining levers 


and other controls at the correct predetermined in- 
stant. Probably, as Prof. Pickering says, an experi- 
enced pianist can also work hand and foot together, 
and I have known one musician who could operate 
the sustaining pedal of the piano three times in suc- 


cession in holding down a single chord. This would 
be quite easy with a piano-player, and I certainly 


_ the same in playing with fingers, 


_ often use the lever twice if not three times in playing 


a chord. But it must be much more difficult to do 
_ sa and with the 
majority of amateurs the main use of the loud pedal 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


appears to be to compensate for the loss of resonance 
caused by boxing up the piano and covering it with 
rugs, vases, and photograph frames. 

The slight sound of suction through the air-holes is, 
of course, an inevitable defect, but one soon ceases 
to notice it. As regards ‘‘thud,’’ well, fingers as well 
as pneumatics sometimes produce this. 

G. H. Bryan. 
The Light Energy Required to Produce the Photographic 
Latent Image. 


THE amount of light energy required to produce a 
latent image on a modern high-speed photographic 
plate is known to be extremely small. The energy 
per silver grain may be roughly calculated without 
difficulty, and the calculation leads to some interest- 
ing conclusions regarding the nature of the latent 
image. 

Consider an exposure sufficient to produce a deposit 
of unit density, that is, one which will transmit but 
one-tenth of the incident light. A negative has unit 
density when the silver deposit is to milligrams per 
square decimetre, or o-1 mg. per sq. cm. (Sheppard 
and Mees, ‘Investigations of the Theory of the 
Photographic Process,” p. 41). This amount of silver 
represents roughly 10!? molecules, or 107 grains 3 » 
in diameter. Now the amount of light energy re- 
quired to produce an exposure giving unit density is 
of the order of 107 watt-sec. (erg) per sq. cm., and 
therefore 10-™ erg per grain, or 10-*° erg per mole- 
cule. The probable uncertainty in these values is not 
greater than a factor of 10. 

The effect of the ligkt on the plate is to permit 
the chemical reduction of silver halide to metallic 
silver with an additional expenditure of energy less 
than that required to reduce the unexposed silver 
bromide. Development we know to proceed by whole- 
grain units, hence we reason that one molecule in a 
grain (10! molecules) is so affected by exposure that 
the whole grain is developable. 

The simplest assumption to be made is that one 
electron per grain is detached from one molecule; 
such a liberation would require (Davis, Phys. Rev., 
XX., Pp. 145, and others) 5 x 10-1 erg, or less (Astroph. 
Journ., Xxi., p. 404), a quantity consistent with that 
calculated above from the known exposure and mass 
of silver. Hence the hypothesis is reasonable that the 
latent image consists of halide salt in each grain 
of which one electron has been liberated by exposure 
to light. P. G. Nurtinc. 

Research Laboratory, Eastman Kodak Co., 

Rochester. 


An Aural Illusion. 


Mr. ALLISTON refers in NaTuRE of September 18 
(p. 61) to a certain aural illusion, and wonders if 
anyone has thought of it before. 

Two or three years ago, in a letter to Knowledge, I 
commented on the fact that if a flash of lightning 
2 or 3 miles long happened to occur ‘‘head on” to an 
observer, the result of the flash travelling so far 
quicker than the sound would be that he would hear 
first the thunder caused by the part of the flash 
nearest to him, which arose last, and then in succes- 
sion the earlier sounds, until finally he would hear 
the opening crash, like a phonographic record 
reversed. Sometimes I have noticed that a thunder 
peal ends up with a sudden and more violent crash, 
and I wonder if this is owing to the explosion which 
begins a peal of thunder being louder and more 
abrupt than the after noise T. B. BratHwayrt. 

Cape Town, October to. 


294 


NATURE 


NATURAL HISTORY AND TRAVEL... 


HE latest addition to Messrs. Witherby’s well 
ty got-up series of volumes on the life-histories 
of British birds, four of which, dealing with the 
golden eagle, the osprey, the spoonbill, the stork, 
and some herons, have already been issued, is 
quite equal to its predecessors as a contribution 
to ornithology. The four species of terns (1) are 
its subject-matter; and the author, Mr Bickerton, 
is to be congratulated for the excellence of his 
photographs showing the eggs, the young and 
adult birds, and the nesting-sites, as well as for the 
time and labour devoted to securing them, and to 
compiling the voluminous notes embodied in the 
text. To the ordinary reader the text is naturally 
somewhat tedious on account of its prolixity and 
repetitions, unavoidably due to the similarity in 
mode of life of the species described; and the 
value of the volume would have been increas2d 
by the addition of a short chapter 
summarising the results, and 
pointing out briefly the differences 
in. habit between the several 
species. This is the only criti- 
cism, ‘however, we have to offer 
of an admirable and painstaking 
piece of work; and we trust 
Mr. Bickerton will. be able to 
find the, leisure to observe and 
record the habits of other groups 
of British birds in a similar way. 

“The Charm of the Hills’’ (2) 
is mainly a collection of reprints 
of articles already published in 
various periodicals, such as the 
Scotsman and Country Life. The 
book is divided into two parts, 
chapters i, to xxxi. being a mis- 
cellaneous series of disconnected 
chapters dealing mostly with 
certain aspects of bird-life in the 
Scotch highlands, while the 
second part, entitled, ‘The 
Year on the Hills,” also devoted 
mainly to birds, recounts observations upon 
their. habits in the Cairngorm mountains 
in spring, summer, autumn, and __ winter. 
Mr. Seton Gordon is an_ enthusiastic and 
trustworthy field-naturalist, and while he writes 
feelingly and well about his own personal experi- 
ences, his book contains a great deal that is 
interesting and instructive to those for whom wild 
life in the mountains has a fascination. 


Photographed and 
(London : 


1 (x) ** The Home-life of the Terns or Sea Swallows.’ 
Described by W. Bickerton. Pp. 88+xxxii mounted plates. 
Witherbv and Co., 1912.) Price 6s. net. 

(2) “ The Charm of the Hills." By S. Gordon. 
Cassell and Co., Ltd., 1912.) Price ros. 6d. net. 

(3) “The Flowing Road,” Adventuring on the Great Rivers of South 
America. By C. Whitney. 
Price ras. 6d. net. 

(4) “Wild Life and the Camera.” By A. R, Dugmore, 
(London : W. Heinemann, 1912.) Price 6s. net. 

(s) “Che Feet of the Furtive.”” By C.G. D. Roberts. 
Ward, Lock, and-Co., | td., 1912.) Price 6s. 


Pp. xiv+248. (London : 


Pp. 319. (London: W. Heinemann, 1912.) 
Pp. xi+332 


Pp. 277. (London: 


(6) ‘Insect Workers.” By W. J. Claxton, Pp. xii+62. (London: 
Cassell and Co., Ltd., 1912.) Price 1s. net. 
(7) “Letters from Nature's Workshop.’ By W. J. Claxton. Pp, 192. 


(London: G. G. Harrap and Co., 1912.) Price 15. 6d. net. 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


[NoveMBER 6, 1913 


“The Flowing Road” (3) is full of facts of 
interest both to the naturalist and the geographer. 
It is an account of five expeditions, mostly by 
canoe, along the rivers and streams of the 
northern countries of South America. Two of 
these were undertaken with the object of visiting 
a native people in the south-eastern corner of 
Venezuela, reported to be savage and unknown. 
The others, however, as the author tells us, were 
instigated ‘neither by a wish to hunt the beasts 
of the jungle . nor to report on the social or 
industrial conditions of the land, nor even to add 
to the sum of knowledge of the ‘ scientific ’ world 
—hbut solely to satisfy the hunger which incites me 
every now and again to go and ‘see things ’—the 
curiosity which Prof. Shale has called the 
primal instinct.” Despite this modest disclaimer, 
nevertheless Mr. Whitney’s narrative, setting 
forth the true nature of the areas traversed, and 
of the inhabitants found there, is a really valuable 


Fic. 1.—The Arctic tern—admirably protected by the surroundings on which it has settled. 
From * The Home life of the Terns or Sea Swallows,” by W. Bickerton. 


| contribution to many branches of knowledge; be- 


cause there are certainly few districts in the world 
lying beyond the beaten tracks of travel less 
accurately known than those drained by the 
Amazon and the Orinoco and their tributaries, and 
probably none, according to the author’s experi- 
ence, which have been so frequently and persist- 
ently misrepresented in printed accounts inspired 
by self-interest or based on the superficial observa- 
tions of casual tourists. 

Those who have heard Mr. Dugmore lecture 
would expect him to write entertainingly and well 
about the habits and characteristics of the animals 
with which he has had personal experience ; and 
those who have read his “Camera Adventures in 
the African Wilds,” will find “Wild Life and the 
Camera” (4) equally readable and trustworthy, 
although widely different in its subject-matter, 
which is confined to North American species. 

The greater number of the chapters are given 


NovEMBER 6, 1913] 


NATURE 


295 


up to birds; but there is much to interest anglers 
in those devoted to salmon- and trout-fishing. 
Mammals are in a minority; but perhaps the 
chapter describing caribou migration in New- 
foundland is the most valuable in the book from 
the naturalist’s point of view. A few chapters 
containing instructions and hints on bird 
mammal photography, and on camping out, will 
be most helpful to those who wish to follow in 
Mr. Dugmore’s steps and attempt to do what he 
has done under similar physical conditions. 
“The Feet of the Furtive” (5) contains several 
well-written stories of a kind much in vogue at 
the present time, wherein the author weaves inter- 
esting facts in natural history into an attractive 


and | 


Workers” (6), Mr. Claxton tells once again the 
story of the burying beetle, trapdoor spider, ants 
and aphides, wasps, and other common and fami- 
liar species of articulated animals the industries 
of which never fail to appeal to the imagination of 
children and to arouse their interest in creatures 
they are mostly taught by their elders to fear and 
destroy. 

The purpose of awakening and fostering a taste 
for nature-study also underlies “Lessons from 
Nature’s Workshop” (7), by the same author. 
This book, however, is rather more pretentious in 
scope than the last, and is written for readers 
of maturer mind, many of the chapters being 
devoted to more or less abstract questions in 


: F 


Fic. 2.—The Newfoundland caribou in migration. Going at a quick walk, or swinging trot, or at times a gallop, they usually travel in single file 


along the well-worn leads or paths that have been used for centuries. 


fabric of fiction. The habits of familiar North 
American mammals are the theme Mr. Roberts 
presents so cleverly in this guise; but while giving 
full play to his imagination and to his powers 
of linguistic expression, he never oversteps the 
bounds of probability, and carefully avoids that 
pitfall authors too frequently dig for themselves 
and their readers, by attempting to humanise the 
species whose mode of life they wish to» portray. 
Many of the stories recall others that have already 
been published by American authors; but there 
is a distinct air of novelty about the one called 
“The World of Ghost Lights,” which gives a 
vivid picture of one aspect of life in the ocean 
depths. 

In his little book for children, called “Insect 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92! 


In nearly all cases a doe leads the herd. 


From ‘‘ Wild Life and the Camera. 


natural history. such as the struggle for exist- 
ence in plants, assimilative coloration, scenery, and 
so forth. Ret te. 


PROF. NOGUCHI’S RESEARCHES ON 
INFECTIVE DISEASES. 

"THE Royal Society of Medicine mostly limits 
the record of its work to its own Proceed- 

ings and the medical journals; and it does well to 
observe this wise rule. But from time to time 
it receives some communication of the highest 
importance to the general welfare, and on such 
occasions it is mindful of its immediate duty to 
the public. It lately held a special meeting, at 
which Prof. Noguchi, of the Rockefeller Institute, 
demonstrated the results of his researches into 


296 


NATURE 


[NoveMBER 6, 1913 


syphilis, general paralysis of the insane, epidemic 
infantile paralysis, and rabies. None who heard 
Prof. Noguchi and saw the great crowd of physi- 
cians and surgeons listening to him could fail to 
recognise the profound significance of this 
occasion. 

No man of science works alone or in isolation : 
and a vast amount of cooperative work is being 
done in diverse parts of the world on what may 
be called the “‘ higher types” of germs. Let us 
note the development of the work. Let us go 
back half a century, to the earliest methods of 
Pasteur. We may take 1855 as an approximate 
date for the beginning of the founding of “the 
germ-theory.” For many years the only method 
which Pasteur had for the growth of germs in 
pure culture was the use of fluid media, such as 
broth; and, under the conditions of bacteriology 
fifty years ago, the use of these fluid media was full 
of difficulties. He had to wait until 1872 for the 
discovery that germs could be grown on solid 
media, such as gelatine or slices of potato. He 
had to wait until 1875 for the discovery that 
germs could be stained with aniline dyes so as to 
distinguish them, under the microscope, from their 
surroundings. 

Pasteur lived until 1895—that is, ten years after 
the first use of his protective treatment against 
rabies, and two years after the first use in practice 
of diphtheria antitoxin—but he did not live to see 
more than the beginning of the study of the higher 
types of germs. At the time when he died, many 
of the lower types—the bacilli and the micrococci 
—had heen discovered, isolated, grown in pure 


culture on solid media, and proven, by the inocu- | 


lation of test animals, to be the very cause of 
this or that infective disease. But the higher 
types, such as the plasmodium of malaria, were 
still waiting to be worked out. Then, after 
Pasteur’s death, came Ross’s fine work on 
malaria; and then came two discoveries of no less 
importance—the discovery (Schaudinn, Hoffmann) 
of Spirochaeta pallida in cases of syphilis, and the 
discovery (Forde, Dutton) of Trypanosoma gam- 
biense in a case of sleeping sickness. These two 
discoveries brought syphilis and sleeping sickness, 
at last, within the range of practical bacteriology. 
Long ago, Moxon had said of syphilis that it was 
“a fever cooled and slowed by time”; but the 
cause of that fever was unknown until the Spiro- 
chaeta pailida was discovered. 

But to prove that it does not merely accompany, 
but actually causes the disease, it had to be grown 
in pure culture, and inoculated into test animals, 
producing in them some characteristic sign. 
Syphilis must be studied as diphtheria, tetanus, 
typhoid fever, and tubercle had been studied. That 
is the meaning of all the work done by Ehrlich and 
his school upon salvarsan—that, in particles of 
tissue from a rabbit in which the disease has been 
produced, the Spirochaeta pallida is present, 
under the microscope, before a dose of salvarsan, 
and is absent after it. 

The work has been of immeasurable complexity, 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


and there is much still to be done. 


or that condition of bodily life, besides Spirochaeta — 
pallida ; indeed, Prof. Noguchi demonstrated seven © 


species. But he has cleared the way in this field of — 
He has distinguished those which — 


bacteriology. 
need some air for their growth from those which 


cannot grow in air; he has discovered the method — 


of adding a fragment of sterilised animal sub- 
stance to each tube of pure culture: and these 
methods are of great value. 

But that is not all. 
chaeta pallida in the brain, in general paralysis 
of the insane. He has found it in twelve out of 
seventy specimens. There is no need to underline 
the importance of that statement. 

Also, Prof. Noguchi has obtained in pure culture 
the germs of anterior polio-myelitis (epidemic 
infantile paralysis). Of all the many diseases of 
childhood in which the art of medicine, apart from 
its science, is of no great use, few are more unkind 
than infantile paralysis. It is the Rockefeller 
Institute that we must thank here. First came 
Flexner’s magnificent work on epidemic cerebro- 
spinal meningitis, and his discovery (1908) of the 
special antitoxin for that disease; then came the 
study of epidemic infantile paralysis. To have in 
one’s hands, in a test-tube, infantile paralysis, is a 
grand experience for a man who has attended a 
children’s Hospital, year in year out, long before 
the Rockefeller Institute was born or thought of. 
It is enough to make him believe that the doctors 
some years hence may be able to stop the disease 
before it can inflict irremediable injury on the 
nerve cells of the spinal cord. 

Finally, Prof. Noguchi spoke of rabies (hydro- 
phobia). He has been able to obtain, in pure 
culture, the microscopic bodies which Negri dis- 
covered in the brain in that disease. He demon- 
strated to the Royal Society of Medicine, on the 
lantern-screen, photographs showing the cycle— 
not unlike that of the plasmodium malariae— 
through which these bodies pass until, like minia- 
ture shrapnell, they break, setting free their con- 
stituent granules; and each granule becomes a 
“Negri body,” and starts the cycle again. 
Happily, the protective treatment against rabies 
did not have to wait for the discovery of these 
Negri bodies. Pasteur worked at rabies, as Reed 
and Lazear worked at yellow fever, knowing 
that the virus was there, and able to control, fight, 
and beat it, without seeing it under the micro- 
scope. = 

The Royal Society of Medicine deserves the 
thanks of the public for inviting Prof. Noguchi to 
give this demonstration in London. He is indeed, 
in width and originality of work, equal to his 
fellow-countryman, Prof. Kitasato. He has helped 
to make it possible for men of science to extend 
to other diseases those methods of study which 
brought about the discovery of diphtheria anti- 
toxin, and the protective treatments against 
cholera, typhoid fever, and plague. 

STEPHEN PAGET. 


There are — 
many species of spirochzetes#discoverable in this — 


For he has detected Spirvo-— 


‘ 


NoveMBER 6, 1913] 


. 


EDWARD NETTLESHIP, F.R.S. 


R. E. NETTLESHIP, whose death on October 
30 we have to deplore, was well known to 
the public as a distinguished ophthalmic surgeon, 
and to men of science as an enthusiastic worker on 
the subject of heredity. He was one of the six 
sons of Henry John Nettleship, solicitor, of 
Kettering. Three of his brothers became noted. 
The eldest, Henry, held the Corpus professorship 
of Latin at Oxford with great distinction. The 
second, John Trivett, was well known for his 
accurate and realistic pictures of wild animals, and 
was the author of the first serious study of 
Browning. ‘The youngest, Richard Lewis, was a 
Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. 

Edward Nettleship was born in 1845, and after 
a preliminary education at Kettering became a 
‘student of the Royal Agricultural College at 
Cirencester, and of the Royal Veterinary College. 
Though he qualified as a veterinary surgeon, he 
soon relinquished that branch, and studied at 
King’s College and the London Hospital Medical 
Schools, taking the Fellowship of the Royal 
College of Surgeons of England in 1870. He 
specialised in ophthalmic surgery at a time when 
most ophthalmic surgeons still practised general 
surgery. He was appointed surgeon to the 
South London Eye Hospital, but his real life-work 
was carried out at St. Thomas’s Hospital and 
the Moorfields Eye Hospital. 

_ At St. Thomas’s Hospital that remarkable per- 
sonality, Liebreich, who still lives an artistic life 
in Paris, had laid the foundation of an ophthalmic 
clinic. Nettleship continued his work, and 
brought it to a state of perfection previously un- 
equalled in England. At Moorfields he had been 
assistant to the late Sir Jonathan Hutchinson, 
where he rivalled his teacher and life-long friend 
‘in his enthusiasm for clinical work, and in his 
abounding inquisitiveness into the mysteries of 
eye diseases. 
_ Papers full of acute observation and accurately 
authenticated facts came rapidly and continuously 
from Nettleship’s pen. He thus built up a re- 
‘putation which ranks with that of the greatest 
‘ophthalmic clinicians of the past—Mackenzie of 
Glasgow, von Graefe of Berlin, and Sir William 
Bowman of London, the founders of modern clini- 
eal ophthalmology. His magnetic personality 
attracted many of the best students to his side, 
pe he thus founded a tradition for careful 
_ observation and accuracy of detail which is being 
carried on by his successors. He did not suffer 
_ fools gladly, and his somewhat brusque manner 
_ towards them kept his little band select, whilst it 
_ unfortunately aroused some enmity in those who 
__ had not the opportunity of testing intimately his 
sterling character and warm friendliness. He 
built up a very large private practice, one of his 
_ most distinguished patients being Mr. Gladstone, 
_ on whom he operated successfully for cataract. 
About fifteen years ago Nettleship retired from 
_ practice and settled down in his country house 
at Hindhead. It was not a retirement to ease and 
luxury, but merely a deviation into scientific work 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


297 


| little less laborious than his earlier work. He 
devoted himself especially to the study of here- 
dity, and his painstaking and illuminating re- 
searches in this subject require no other testi- 
monial than that they were rewarded by the 
Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1912. 

These are his greatest works, but he was full 
of lively interest in all that pertained to ophthal- 
mology. Much of his time and energy was given 
up to colour-vision, and he did most valuable 
service as a member of the departmental com- 
mittee of the Board of Trade on sight tests for 
the mercantile marine. 

Mr. Nettleship was somewhat reserved, and 
only those who gained his confidence and learnt 
to know him well succeeded in penetrating to the 
fires of friendship which glowed within him. He 
has passed away, leaving behind him a record 
of work which lives and will continue to live. 

J. Hersert Parsons. 


NOTES. 


At the meeting of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 
held on November 3, 1913, the following were elected 
honorary fellows :—Prof. Horace Lamb, F.R.S., pro- 
fessor of mathematics in the University of Man- 
chester; Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., 
formerly director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; 
Dr. G..E. Hale, director of the Mount Wilson Solar 
Observatory (Carnegie Institution of Washington); 
Prof. Emil C. Jungfleisch, Mem.Inst.Fr., professor of 
organic chemistry in the College of France, Paris; 
Prof. S. Ramén y Cajal, professor of histology and 
pathological anatomy in the University of Madrid; 
Prof. V. Volterra, professor of mathematics and 
physics in the University of Rome; Prof. G, -.R. 
Zeiller, Mem.Inst.Fr., professor of plant pal#ontology 
in the National Superior School of Mines, Paris. 


Tue Physical Society’s Annual Exhibition will be 
held. on Tuesday, December 16, at the Imperial Col- 
lege of Science, and will be open both in the afternoon 
and evening. 


ANNOUNCEMENT is made from Paris that Prof. 
Charles Richet, professor of physiology in the Univer- 
sity of Paris, and member of the Academy of Medicine, 
has been awarded the Nobel Prize for science. 


Tue eighty-eighth Christmas course of juvenile 
lectures, founded at the Royal Institution in 1826 by 
Michael Faraday, will be delivered this year by Prof. 
H. H. Turner, F.R.S., his title being ‘‘A Voyage in 
Space.” 

Tue brain of the late Prince Katsura, which, 
according to his wishes, has been removed to the 


Imperial University Museum in Tokio, was found 
to weigh 1600 grams—the same as that of Kant. 


Tue death is reported, in his seventy-ninth year, of 


Dr. P. R. Uhler, an American entomologist and geo- 
logist of repute. For three years he was an assistant to 
Prof. Louis Agassiz, at Harvard, and afterward ex- 
plored parts of the island of Hayti for him. Since 


298 


1862 he had been officially connected with the Peabody 
Institute, Baltimore. Dr. Uhler was the author of 
many contributions to scientific journals, and his col- 
lection of locusts, presented several years ago to the 
U.S. Government, was considered one of the best 
ever made. 


_ Tue death is announced, at sixty-seven years of age, 
of Dr. H. F. Parsons, formerly of the Medical De- 
partment of the Local Government Board. An 
obituary notice in The Times reminds us that Dr, 
Parsons served on many Departmental Committees, 
including those on water, gas, regulations as to 
cremation, the work of the Geological Survey, and 
the medical inspection and feeding of children in 
public elementary schools. He contributed papers to 
the Transactions of the Epidemiological Society, of 
which he became president, and to those of other 
scientific bodies. He was a fellow of the Geological 
Society, and among his works were memoranda on 
the sanitary requirements of cemeteries, disinfection 
by heat, a report on the influenza epidemic of 1899-90, 
and an examination of the comparative mortality of 
English districts. . 


Tue jubilee of the practical realisation of the 
ammonia-soda process by the chemist, Ernest Solvay, 
~was recently celebrated in Brussels, and was marked 
‘by munificent gifts of five million francs for scientific 
‘purposes by the veteran inventor, who on the same 
occasion celebrated.his seventy-fifth birthday.. The 
Institute of. Applied Chemistry of the faculty of 
sciences at Paris received 500,00 francs, and the same 
sum was allotted to the University of Nancy to create 
a chair of electrotechnics. A fund of 500,000 francs 
‘was also put aside for a quadrennial prize to be 
awarded by the International Congress of Hygiene 
for researches in transmissible disease. On the occa- 
‘sion of the jubilee, M. Solvay delivered an enthusiastic 
eulogy of pure science and its results, and made the 
interesting avowal that the pursuit of science was the 
réve doré de toute sa vie, and had it not been for the 
necessity of providing for a family he would probably 
have taken it up as his profession. On the occasion 
of this jubilee King Albert honoured M. Solvay by 
naming him a grand officer of the Order of Leopold. 


IMPORTANT proposals for another British Antarctic 
Expedition, to start next year, are made public by a 
letter to the Press from Sir Clements Markham, and 
by Mr. J. F. Stackhouse, who is to lead the expedi- 
tion. The completion of work in the McMurdo Sound 
‘region by the expeditions under Shackleton and Scott 
directs attention elsewhere in the British section of 
Antarctica, and Sir Clements Markham regards as 
one of the next most important problems the investi- 
gation of the connection between King Edward VII. 
Land and Graham .Land. It is proposed by Mr. 
Stackhouse to begin his work at the eastern or 
Graham Land end of the British quadrant, and to 
follow the coast, hoping to prove or disprove its con- 
tinuity, and thus to solve a leading question regarding 
the physiography of Antarctica in outline. The 
scheme depends largely upon the incidence of an open 
season, when the ice-pack leaves a passage along the 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[NoveMBER 6, 1913 


coast; Scott himself held the chances of such 
opportunity to be good. Financial support is invited, 
and headquarters for the expédition have been estab- 
lished at Sardinia House, Kingsway, W.C. ia 

Tue National Council of Public Morals has estab 
lished a private commission to inquire into the extent 
and character of the decline in the birth-rate, its 
causes, its effects, and its economic and national 
aspects. This commission is both a strong and repre- 
sentative one, and the fact that Dr. Stevenson, the 
Superintendent of Statistics for the Registrar-General, 
and Dr. Newsholme, Medical Officer to the Local 
Government Board, have joined it gives one confidence 
that it will be able to obtain and use in an effective 
manner the best statistical data available to anyone, 
It will be remembered that these two authorities pub- 
lished in 1906 a paper on the decline in human fer-— 
tility, which attracted considerable attention. The 
commission is also to be congratulated on obtaining 
as members several well-known lady doctors, includ- 
ing Dr. Mary Scharlieb and Dr. Ettie Sayer, who 
through their professional work have had special 
opportunity for studying fertility and its absence from 
the woman’s point of view. Economic science, medi- 
cine, law, and journalism are all well represented, — 
and the biological aspects of the questions to be dis- 
cussed will not be forgotten with Mr. Walter Heape 
to stand for this branch of science. As might per- 
haps have been expected, the clerical element some-— 
what predominates. | Bishop Boyd-Carpenter is the 
chairman of the commission, and the Rev. James 
Marchant the secretary, and there is besides‘a galaxy 
of bishops, deans, and well-known preachers. Among 
these we are plad to find the Dean of St. Paul’s, 
whose sane and broad-minded treatment of such sub- 
jects as eugenics has done so much to focus the atten- 
tion of serious people on them, 

The Falmouth Packet of September 17 contains an 
account of the recent visit of the surveying ship 
Carnegie, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 
in charge of Capt. W. J. Peters. This is the second 
visit paid by the vessel to Falmouth for the purpose 
of magnetic observations, the first having been paid 
four years ago. From Falmouth the Carnegie left 
for New York, whence she set out in June, 1910. The 
cruise has extended over a large part of the world, 
calls having been made at, amongst other places, 
Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Colombo, Mauritius, 
Manila, Fiji, Falkland Islands, and St. Helena, Its 
geographical position and the presence of a magnetic 
observatory have in the past rendered Falmouth a 
specially favourable port for linking up observations 
on the Atlantic with land observations in western — 
Europe. The discontinuance of magnetic work at 
Falmouth has been so recent that its usefulness as a 
base has scarcely as yet been impaired, but in future 
years unfortunately greater uncertainty will prevail — 
as to the secular change there of the magnetic 
elements. 

THE opening meeting of the Institution of Electrical 
Engineers for the present session will be held on 
November 13, when the premiums awarded for papers — 
read or published during the session 1912-13 will be 


NoveMBER 6, 1913] 


presented, and an address on pressure rises will be 
given by Mr. W. Duddell, F.R.S., the president of 
the institution. In the list of papers to be read at 
meetings during the first half of the session we notice 
one by Mr. H. R. Speyer on the development of 
electric power for industrial purposes in India. The 
papers in preparation for the second half of the 
session are to deal largely with electric traction, and 
great prominence is to be given to the general question 
of the electrification of railways. The fifth Kelvin 
lecture is to be delivered by Sir Oliver Lodge on 
January 22, 1914. Much of the good work accom- 
plished by the institution is done by the local sections, 
which meet regularly. The local branches which have 
been inaugurated up to the present are the Birming- 
ham, Dublin, Manchester, Newcastle, Scottish, 
Western, and Yorkshire Sections. The Newcastle 
Section sometimes meets at Newcastle, and sometimes 
at Middlesbrough; the Scottish alternately at Glas- 
gow and Edinburgh; the Western alternately at Bris- 
tol and Cardiff, and the Yorkshire Section at Leeds. 


Tue Natal Sugar Growers’ Association has for some 
time past been in communcation with the Durban 
Technical Institute with the view of establishing a 
sugar school, the aim of which would be to prepare 
young men for the technical control and investigation 
of the manufacture of cane-sugar. The original 
scheme was to establish three lectureships—in chem- 
istry, bacteriology, and entomology respectively. 
These, together with the lectureships already in exist- 
ence, would supply a good technical training. The 
three specialists appointed would also conduct research 
in connection with the processes of manufacture and 
growth of cane-sugar. A wide field is open in this 
direction. There are problems in the sugar-house 
awaiting solution which are of great interest in them- 
selves, and the solution of which will be of prime 
importance to the sugar industry, as something like 
20 per cent. of the available sugar is at present lost. 
In this field it is hoped that the specialists will do 
pioneer work. Two lecturers—one in the chemistry 
‘and one in the bacteriology of cane-sugar—are soon 
‘to be appointed, the appointments in the first instance 
to be for three years at a salary of 4ool. per annum 
in each case. Applications should be sent to Mr. 
B. M.. Narbeth, principal of the Durban Technical 
‘{nstitute, Durban, Natal. 


GustaF Isak KottHorr, who died on October 26, 
in his sixty-eighth year, had considerable reputation 
as a scientific hunter and as a pioneer in the realistic 
methods of exhibiting natural groups of animals in 
Museums. His chief monument is the large cyclo- 
rama at Stockholm, known as the Biological Museum, 
‘in which, with the assistance of the Swedish artist, 
Bruno Liljefors, he has presented the Swedish verte- 
brate fauna under the successive conditions of spring, 
Summer, autumn, and winter. A small, but perhaps 
more genuinely instructive example of his work in 
‘this direction is the Biological Museum at the Univer- 
sity of Upsala, in which University he was appointed 
zoological curator so long ago as 1878. In addition 
to these and to the museum which, about 1865, he 
created in the boys’ school at Skara, near his own 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


299 


home, Kolthoff was responsible for the installation of 
six other collections of Swedish mammals and birds 
in various places in Sweden. He was without scien- 
tific training of the academic kind, ‘and picked up the 
technique of his profession while still a youth in the 
workshops of the State Zoological Museum, By his 
own study, however, he became a skilled practical 
ornithologist and entomologist, and in ‘that capacity 
accompanied Baron A. E. Nordenskjéld’s expeditions 
to Greenland in 1883 and 1887. He also joined Prof. 
A. G. Nathorst on his voyages to Beeren Isiand, Spits- 
bergen, and King Karl’s Land. In 1890 he himself 
led an expedition to Spitsbergen and north-east Green- 
land. In addition to many popular accounts of ‘his 
travels, he was responsible, together with Dr. L. 
Jagerskiéld, for a work entitled ‘‘ Birds of the North,” 
which appeared during the years 1895 to 1899. In 
1907, at the Linnean festival, he received from the 
University of Upsala the honorary degree of doctor 
of philosophy. 


In the Transactions of the Hull Scientific Field 
Naturalists’ Club (vol. iv., Part 5), Mr. T. Sheppard 
describes the excavation of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery 
at Hornsea, the objects obtained having been de- 
posited in the Hull Museum. Some of the corpses © 
were buried in the crouched position, which seems to 
be a not unusual feature in Anglo-Saxon interments 
in east Yorkshire. Among the ‘‘finds"” is a series 
of bronze brooches, similar to examples found in 
Norway, with very naturalistic representations of 
horse heads. A bell formed of very thin metal is, 
from comparison with an example from Papcastle, 
Cumberland, now in the British Museum, assigned 
to the Roman period. The ‘food vases" found are 
interesting because they are unlike the typical Anglo- 
Saxon cinerary urns, being quite plain, without any 
trace of ornamentation, and very similar to ordinary 
domestic utensils. They evidently contained food 
when placed with the burials. 


In the October number of Science Progress 
Mr. A. G. Thacker contributes. an __ interest- 
ing article on the significance of the Piltdown 
discovery. The era of Homo sapiens, he states, 
should include the Aurignacian epoch and_ all 


that comes after; before that epoch we are among 
kindred but unfamiliar creatures. He suggests, 
therefore, that the Aurignacian and three subsequent 
ages should be classed as Deutolithic, and the pre- 
vious epochs grouped as Protolithic. A discussion 
follows of the possible relationships of Pithecanthropus 
erectus, the Java ape-man; Homo heidelbergensis, 
the Heidelberg man; Eoanthropus dawsoni, the Pilt- 
down woman; Homo neandertalensis or Homo primi- 
genius, the Neanderthal man of Acheulian and Mous- 
terian times; and Homo sapiens, garrulous man. 
“The power of speech was a crying need of the 
advancing primates . . . it was language that trans- 
formed the horde into the tribe. The creatures were 
probably widely dispersed on the earth, whilst they 
were yet speechless ... rudimentary powers of 
speech may thus have been acquired independently 
by more than one species; and this, not blood-relation- 
ship, may have been the explanation of the man-like 


300 


NATURE 


[NoveMBER 6, 1913 


symphysis of the Heidelberg jaw.’ On this hypo- | in regions where the respective models are present, 


thesis the common ancestor is conceived as possessing 
a simian mandibular symphysis, a massive jaw, large 
teeth, and probably a low forehead. From this 
ancestor the Heidelberg and Piltdown types may have 
come along diverging branches; the former leading 
up to Neanderthal man, the latter to H. sapiens. 
The author is strongly inclined to think that both 
the apes and Pithecanthropus have a low forehead, not 
because they are degenerate, but because they are 
immediately descended from monkeys. And even in its 
more plausible application to Neanderthal man, he 
views the degeneracy theory with considerable sus- 
picion. 


Untit quite recently holothurians (sea-cucumbers) 
were known from the older rocks merely by their hard 
spicules and plates, which were long ago identified 
in the Scottish Carboniferous. From certain very fine- 
grained Middle Cambrian beds in British Columbia 
there have, however, been obtained impressions of soft- 
bodied organisms which Dr. C. H. Walcott (Smith- 
son. Miscell. Collect., vol. Ivii., No. 3) identified as 
holothurians, under the generic names of Eldonia, 
Loggania, Louisella, and Mackenzia. But his deter- 
mination was not suffered to pass without criticism, 
and in Science of February 16, 1912, Dr. Lyman 
Clark expressed very strong doubts as to whether any 
of these genera are really holothurian, stating confi- 
dently that Eldonia is not. These criticisms are dis- 
cussed in the August number of The American 
Naturalist by Mr. Austin Clark, who arrives at the 
conclusion that, with the exception of Mackenzia, 
which is regarded as a zoantharian, the original 
identification is correct, two of the genera being 
assigned to the existing deep-sea family Elpidiide, 
while the third (Eldonia) represents an allied pelagic 
family. In bodily form the last-named type recalls 
a medusa, but the resemblance may probably be re- 
garded as a parallel adaptation to a free-swimming 
existence. 


In the October number of Bedrock, Prof. Poulton 
replies to Prof. Punnett’s criticism of the theory of 
mimicry in the July number of the same review. 
After pointing out that de Vries himself holds that 
small variations may be inherited and selected, he 
brings instances to show that such transmission does 
actually occur. The case of Acraea alciope is adduced 
as demonstrating that an incipient mimetic feature 
may arise as an occasional variation in one part of the 
area inhabited by a given species, which feature may be 
further developed in distinctness, and in the relative 
number of individuals possessing it, in the presence 
of a distasteful model occupying another part of the 
range of the mimicking species. These facts, it is 
contended, support the conclusion that ‘tthe mimetic 
pattern was attained by steps and not suddenly.” A 
more elaborate instance is afforded by Papilio polytes, 
with its two mimetic females. Here, apparently, the 
pigments of mimic and model have different genetic 
antecedents. By a detailed analysis of the patterns 
of the forms im question, and by a comparison of 
their numerical relation with the non-mimetic form 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


rare, or absent, Prof. Poulton arrives at the conclu- 


sion that these forms have been derived from the 
ancestral condition by gradual stages, and that his 
opponent is not justified in the statement that natural — 
selection is non-existent in so far as concerns the — 
comparative numbers of the mimetic and non-mimetic — 
females of this species. 


The Scientific American for October 18 contains an — 
article on earthquakes and the Panama Canal, by — 
Mr. D. F. MacDonald, geologist to the Isthmian — 
Canal Commission. The recent occurrence of two 
earthquakes in the Isthmian zone has directed atten- — 
tion to a subject that might be of considerable import- 
ance with regard to the safety of the canal works. 
Mr. MacDonald, however. concludes that little danger 
is to be feared from earthquake disturbances (see 
Nature, vol. xcii., p. 174), and he gives two main 
reasons for his view. The first is connected with the 
geological structure of the isthmus. Though 
numerous small faults along the course traversed 
show that readjustments of the crust have taken 
place in times past, the district is one from which 
high mountains and all evidences of recent displace- 
ment are alike absent. Again, though a large num- 
ber of tremors are recorded every month by the 
Bosch-Omori seismograph at Ancon, the isthmus is 
entirely free from serious earthquakes. The seismic 
record of the isthmus dates from the Spanish con- 
quest, and during more than three centuries there 
have been only two earthquakes of any consequence. 
One in 1621 destroyed many buildings in Panama, 
while another in 1882 damaged several buildings and 
bridges, and in places threw the railway track out of 
alignment. But neither of these shocks, it is prob- 
able, would have damaged seriously even the most 
delicate parts of the canal. ; 


To Symons’s Meteorological Magazine for October 
Mr. R. C. Mossman contributes an article on cor- 
relations at St. Helena, the fifth of these interesting 
investigations. The results are not considered as con- 
clusive, but some suggestive resemblances and con- 
trasts have been disclosed. During the years 1893- 
1903 there was an undoubted relation between the 
rainfall in the vicinity of Fort William from January 
to March, and the mean temperature at St, Helena 
for the months May to August following, but from 
1904-11 the correlation breaks down. A relation could 
also be traced between the mean temperature at St. 
Helena during January to April and the mean baro- 
metric pressure at Punta Arenas (Magellan Straits) 
during the four months following, but during the last 
six years (1906-11) the results, for reasons given, 
were not very conclusive. With respect to tempera- 
ture at St. Helena and rainfall at Mexico City, the 
curves pursued the same course from 1892 to 1898, 
while from 1899 to 1909 they were the reverse of each 
other. It will probably be remembered that Dr. 
W. N. Shaw pointed out (NaTURE, December 21, 1905, 
“The Pulse of the Atmospheric Circulation”) an 
apparent connection between the seasonal variation 


of wind-force at St. Helena and the rainfall in the 
south of England. 


vegetables such as cabbage, 


NoveMBER 6, 1913] 


Vor. x. of ‘Contributions from the Jefferson 
Physical. Laboratory of Harvard University"’ consists 
of reprints of eleven papers on physical subjects which 
appeared during 1912 in the Proceedings of the 
American Academy, The Philosophical Magazine, The 
Astrophysical Journal, and our own columns. The 
researches described have been aided by the Rumford 
fund of the American Academy, the Bache fund of 
the National Academy, and the Thomas Jefferson 
Coolidge fund of the University. More than half the 
volume is occupied by the researches of Dr. P. W. 
Bridgman on the thermodynamic properties of liquids 
at high pressures. To this work, which takes its 
place as one of the classics in this field, we have 
directed our readers’ attention, as it has been pub- 
lished. Other important papers are those by Profs. 
Pierce and Evans showing that carborundum crystals 
possess electrostatic capacity owing to the alternation 
of insulating and conducting strata within them, by 
Profs. Kennelly and Pierce, showing how the motion 
of the diaphragms of telephone receivers affect the 
impedances of the instruments, and by Prof. Peirce 
on the maximum magnetisation in iron, to which we 
referred in our issue for July 24. From this list 
of first-class work it will be seen that Harvard 1s not 
one of those universities which overlooks its duty of 
increasing knowledge in its anxiety to impart know- 
ledge and test it by examination. 


THE enzymic activity of the sap of a number of 
onions, ginger, and 
radishes has been investigated by T. Tadokoro, and 
the results published in a contribution to the Journal 
of the College of Agriculture, Tohoku University, 
vol. v., part 2. The capacity of the sap to induce 
certain enzymic changes appears to vary widely with 
the plant, peptolytic action being more pronounced in 
the case of onions and ginger than in the other six 
plants studied. Diastase was detected in every case 
with the exception of onions, and urease was present 
in ginger and yam-roots, although not to any great 
extent. Catalase and. oxydase action was obtained 
with each sap, but the power to hydrolyse amygdalin 
and salicin was confined to that of the yam and 
cabbages. 


At a meeting of the Institute of Chemistry on 
October 29, the first of two lectures was delivered by 
Mr. W. P. Dreaper on the research chemist in the 
works, with special reference to the textile industry. 
The total gross value in 1907 of the textile materials 
and fabrics manufactured in the United Kingdom 
amounted to 333,000,000l., and 1,253,000 persons were 
employed in their manipulation. On a basis of one 
chemist for every 2000 persons employed, no fewer 
than 600 chemists should be utilised in this industry 
alone, each of whom would deal with an annual 
gross output valued at more than 500,0001. One large 
aniline dye combine on the Continent already employs 
7oo chemists. The lecturer insisted that the indus- 
trial chemist who remains in his laboratory is lost. 
Knowledge of chemistry alone is an insufficient equip- 
ment; modern research requires a knowledge of 


NATURE 301 


textile chemist was considered in detail, and specially 
illustrated by reference to the developments in mer- 
cerising and schreinering. The chemist working 
under industrial conditions at once realises the success 
achieved by the ‘rule-of-thumb’ man in the past; 
by systematically studying his methods and seeking 
to discover points he has not fully realised the chemist 
may often be able to improve upon them. The nature 
of the methods and machinery used for producing 
artificial fibres, and more recently artificial fabrics 
were reviewed. In conclusion the lecturer dealt with 
the influence of theory and the chemist’s work on 
actual industrial operations. 


Messrs. A. GALLENKAMP_AND Co.’s new catalogue 
(section 1, part iii.), recently issued, deals mainly 
with the requirements of engineering chemistry. 
Fuel calorimeters of all descriptions are dealt with 
very fully, a special feature being a full description 
of the method of using each of the better known 
types of instrument. Gas calorimeters are also well 
represented, including two self-recording types. Five 
types of CO, recorders are illustrated, including all 
the instruments in common use, and this is supple- 
mented by apparatus for draught measurement and 
flue gas analysis. The section dealing with oil test- 
ing includes viscosimeters, both the flow and friction 
types, flash-point and distillation apparatus. Appa- 
ratus for iron and steel analysis includes an electric 
tube furnace, apparatus for the determination of 
carbon by the wet combustion process, and for the 
estimation of arsenic, phosphorus, and sulphur. The 
last quarter of the catalogue is devoted to pyrometers; 
this includes instruments of every type. The prin- 
ciples utilised in the various instruments and their 
mode of use are briefly but accurately summarised. 


WE learn from The Builder for October 31 that the 
Liverpool Corporation has held recently a competition 
for a sanatorium of phthisis patients. This is one of 
the first municipal sanatoriums to be tackled by the 
architectural profession, and it was extraordinary to 
note the great diversity of planning shown by the 
thirty-one sets of designs submitted. Tuberculosis 
sanatorium planning is as yet in its infancy, and this 
fact accounts for these differences in treatment. It 
is probable that we shall not arrive at anything like 
a standard type until several have been built and their 
actual working arrangements tested. The first pre- 
mium was awarded to Messrs. T. R. and V. Hooper, 
of Redhill. In their design, nearly all the blocks are 
isolated, with the exception of the actual wards; these 
are combined into one long wing. The children’s 
wards are separate, and comprise practically a small 
self-contained sanatorium; this block is particularly 
good, and forms a one-storey bungalow. There is a 
good deal to be said in favour of aiming at a cheerful 
collegiate-like character in such a building, rather 
than going on the lines of the regular and somewhat 
dreary infirmary type, and this is perhaps the best 
feature in favour of Messrs. Hooper’s design. 


THREE new volumes in Messrs. T. C. and E. C. 
Jack’s compact little series, ‘The People’s Books,” 


physics and the power to apply it. The work of the j have recently reached us; and they merit a word or 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


302 


NATURE 


[NoveMBER 6, 1913 


two of description in addition to the announcement 
of their publication, in our weekly list of books re- 
ceived. Mr. E. W. Mauader contributes a popular 
account of astrophysics in a volume having the title, 
‘Sir William Huggins and Spectroscopic Astronomy.” 
Dr. W. D. Henderson has written a volume on 
“Biology,” in which he gives in language as free 
from technicalities as possible, a broad account of the 
main facts of the science of life; and Mr. J. Arthur 
Hill writes with dignity and philosophic power upon 
the subject of ‘‘ Spiritualism and Psychical Research.” 
Each volume contains about 96 pp., and is published 
at the price of 6d. net. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Comer News.—The latest comet discovered, namely 
1913e, (Zinner), has been identified as a return of 
1900 III. (Giacobini), so that it has made two revolu- 
tions since its original discovery, the period being 
6-435 years. Being of about the tenth magnitude and 
its declination a large southerly one, namely, greater 
than 19°, it is not a favourable object for observers 
in high northern latitudes. An ephemeris extending 
to November 14 is given in Astronomische Nachrich- 
ten, No. 4690. 

Herr T. Banachiewicz, as Astronomische Nachrich- 
ten, No. 4689, states, reported a light change in 
comet 1913¢ (Neujmin) on October 6, while on Octo- 
ber 8 the comet could no longer be seen. Dr. Graff 
also looked for the comet in vain. 

Writing to the Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4690, 
on September 11, Prof. Barnard describes an unusual 
appearance of this comet on September 9. He at first 
thought that a small star was involved in the north 
preceding side of the comet, but further observation 
indicated that the star was travelling with the comet; 
in fact, it was the nucleus. Using the 4o-in. and a 
power of 460 the nucleus was still stellar, but with 700 
it became ill-defined and not so readily taken for a star. 
He concludes in the following words :—‘ The nucleus 
was estimated to be 11:5 magnitude. It was so clear 
cut and distinctly star-like that one would not for a 
moment have suspected any real connection with the 
faint nebulosity apparently attached to it south follow- 
ing. I have not before seen such a striking case 
of a comet being essentially all nucleus.” 

Comet 1913¢ (Westphal) does not gain in bright- 
ness, as was anticipated, in spite of its distance from 
the sun being reduced. The following is a continua- 
tion of the ephemeris printed in Astronomische Nach- 


richten, No. 4687 :— 
12h. M.T. Berlin. 


R.A. (true) Dec. (true) Mag. 
h om. ss ° ‘ 
Nov. 6 20.95 Te ee 24 27:5 8-6 
7 34 46 28 2-0 
8 34 18 28 36:1 
9 33 54 29 99 3-6 
TOA rant 33,32 29 43:4 
Ls aes 33 14 30 16-7 
12 33.0 «=» 30 498 
13). § BOs Manes e 22:6 8-7 


According to Miss S. M. Levy, of Berkeley, Cali- 
fornia, the above ephemeris reads about 23 seconds 
too great in R.A., and about 3-4' too small in declina- 
tion for November 13. During the current week the 
comet passes from Vulpecula into Cygnus, and is in 
a good position for observation. 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


SpPEcTRA OBTAINED BY MEANS OF THE TUBE-ARC.— 
Another important spectroscopic research has just b een 
published by Prof. A. S. King (Contributions from th 
Mount Wilson Solar Observatory, No. 73), who 
been studying the relation of the are and spark li 
by means of a tube-arc. In this paper he presents 
in some detail the leading features of the spectrum 
of this form of arc, and by a comparison with other 
sources he infers the probable character of the radia- 
tion involved. The results discussed and finely illu 
trated are based on fifty plates taken with instrumen 
of different degrees of dispersion. This paper follows 
the one described in this journal in July last (Vol. 
xci., p. 541), and the main results of the inquiry may 
be briefly summarised as follows :—In the study of the 
tube-arc spectrum a region near the centre of the 
tube’s cross-section was found to give the hydrogen 
spectrum and the enhanced lines of metals most” 
strongly, with some variation among different elements 
as to how rapidly their enhanced lines diminish in 
intensity towards the wall. The are lines of two 
groups of elements, represented by iron and calcium, | 
show different degrees of response to the cond 
most favdurable for enhanced lines. The are line 
titanium and vanadium differ from those of the othe 
elements studied, as they show their greatest strength 
close to the wall. On the question of dissymmetry of 
lines produced in the central part of the tube, the dis- 
symmetry is usually towards the red, but some lines | 
show litile or no effect. In the cases of 44481 (M 
and 4267 (C.) the dissymmetry is explained. by 
observation that both these lines are double. Tests’ 
on the ionisation of the vapour and on its conductiv ity 
compared to that of the tube material, together with | 
the spectroscopic phenomena of the tube arc, indicate 
that the effects may largely be due to the impact of 
electrons emitted by the highly heated carbon, the 
resultant effect of these impacts becoming stronger 
near the centre of the tube. Wo! 


KODAIKANAL PROMINENCE OBSERVATIONS AND Dis- | 
cUSSIONS.—Two bulletins, Nos. 31 and 33, of the 
Kodaikanal Observatory, have come to hand dealing — 
with the routine observations of prominences an 
discussion of past data. No. 31, by the director, Mr. 
J. Evershed, is confined to the summary of promin- 
ence observations for the 


first half of the present year. — 
Compared with the previous six months the mean — 
frequency remained practically unaltered, while the — 
mean height slightly increased, and the mean extent — 
somewhat diminished. The eastern limb showed a 
slight preponderance in numbers and areas over the 
western. Only five metallic prominences -were ob- | 
served. Other observations recorded include the dis- — 
placements of the hydrogen lines, prominences pro- — 
jected on the disc as absorption markings, &c. 

Bulletin No. 33 is written by the assistant-director, — 
Mr. T. Royds, and deals with prominence periodici-— 
ties, the investigation being a construction of the — 
periodograms of prominences in the same way as 
Schuster investigated the sun-spot data. Mr. Royds 
confined the Kodaikanal data to the years 1905-1912, 
and determined the mean daily areas by dividing 
the total prominence areas for each month by the 
effective number of days of observation in each month. 
The prominence periodogram finally obtained dis- 
played the presence of three periods of large intensity, 
two nearly homogeneous, of 6} and 73 months, and 
the third, provisionally fixed at 133 months, the 
highest of the band. The mean daily frequencies for 
each month from the year 1881 to 1912, deduced 
from observations at Palermo and. Catania, were 
similarly analysed, as a check, and they indicate 
distinct peaks at the same points as the Kedaikanal 


| curve. The amplitudes of these short periods in 


| 


NoveMBER 6, 1913] 


NATURE 


393 


terms of a percentage of the average of mean daily 
areas are given as follows :— 


Period 13% months. Percentage 13-6 
al at 

”? “2 ” ” 9 
s 65 sa ie 10°I 


Mr. Royds concludes by adding that other inde- 
pendent. prominence data which are sufficiently com- 
plete and continuous are, however, highly desirable 
in order to establish firmly the reality of these periods. 


PRESENTATION OF BUST OF LORD 
KELVIN. 
Ae the general statutory meeting of the Royal 
Society of Edinburgh, held on October 27, a 
marble bust of the late Lord Kelvin, by Mr. A. M’Far- 
lane Shannan, which had been given by Lady Kelvin 


Marble bust of Lord Kelvin. 


to the society, was formally presented and received. 
Sir William Turner, the retiring president, occupied 
the chair, and there was a large and representative 
gathering of the fellows and the general public. Prof. 
Crum Brown made the presentation in the name of 
Lady Kelvin. After referring to Lady Kelvin’s 
thoughtful kindness in giving this beautiful bust as a 
permanent possession of the Royal Society of Edin- 
burgh, and to his own lifelong friendship with Lord 
Kelvin, Prof. Crum Brown referred especially to Lord 
Kelvin’s “‘supreme love of truth and of his intense 
interest in everything, however apparently trivial, 
connected with the constitution or with the working 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92| 


| know something of the tree from its fruit. 


| same spirit. 


of the physical universe. These were the prime 
motives to his work, and he carried it out in the 
Having formulated a problem, he fol- 
lowed the straightest course to its solution. Of course, 
he encountered difficulties; these he did not evade, he 
surmounted them. Todosohe had often to invent and 
construct special instruments of wholly novel type. . . 
Lord Kelvin was a great mathematician. He was 
never at a loss to find the mathematical key... . 
Lord Kelvin was no intellectual miser. When in the 
course of his scientific work he came across something 
which could be so applied as to be of practical use, he 
developed this application, and thus became the in- 
ventor of instruments, truly scientific instruments, 
differing in character from those he made for purely 
scientific purposes only in this, that they were also 
used and very highly prized by those who were not 
necessarily scientific, who perhaps did not care about 
the dissipation of energy or vortex motion. These 
practical men, by using Lord Kelvin’s inventions, came 
to see that pure science was not vain; they came to 
Lord 


Kelvin was quite free from selfishness or jealousy. 


| He rejoiced in his own work and discoveries; he also 


| rejoiced in the discoveries of others. 


In questions of 
first importance to man, where science gave no help, 
Lord Kelvin was a humble and devout disciple. In 
Lady Kelvin’s name I hand over to the Royal Society 


| of Edinburgh, through you, sir, as president, this 
| beautiful work of art and striking likeness of Lord 
| Kelvin, one of the greatest discoverers in pure science, 


a true benefactor of mankind, our honoured president 
and dear friend.” 

In accepting the bust in the name of the society, 
Sir William Turner referred more particularly to Lord 
Kelvin as a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 
He joined the society in 1847, and continued so to be 
for the remaining sixty years of his life. His early 
communications were on the theory of heat, and their 
Transactions contained a valuable record of that bril- 
liant work. Numerous communications followed, and 
his last paper was communicated in 1906, just a year 
before his death. This was upon the initiation of 
deep-sea waves, and, as all knew, the sea and the 
deep-sea formed important features in his practical 
career. Lord Kelvin occupied the presidential chair 
for three different periods, from 1873 to 1878, from 
1886 to 1890, and from 1895 to his death in 1907. The 
second period was only for four years, the council of 
the society relieving him from the full five years at 
that time in order that he might be able to accept 
the invitation of the Royal Society of London to act as 
their president, an arrangement which was carried 


| out by mutual understanding between the two councils. 
| He asked Prof. Crum Brown to be good enough to 
| convey to Lady Kelvin their most devoted and hearty 


thanks for that admirable bust of her late husband, 
which would be one of their precious possessions. 


ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 

O the Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat. Moscou for 1912 Prof. 

P. P. Suschkin contributes an article of more than 

200 pages on the bird-fauna of the Minussinsk district 

of the Upper Yenisei, the Sahan Mountains, and the 

Urhanchen country, an area of special interest on 

account of being the meeting-place of several sections 

of the Eastern Holarctic fauna. To the north and 

east, for instance, is the realm of the East Siberian 

fauna, while on the west we enter the great plain of 

western Siberia, with a fauna differing but slightly 

from that of Europe. To the southward is the fauna 

of Central Asia, and, finally, to the south-west that of 
Turkestan. 


304 


NATURE 


‘se 


[NoveMBER 6, 1913 


The local distribution of the large number of species 
of birds found in this vast tract is shown in elaborate 
tables, which indicate not only the area visited by 
each, but likewise whether this includes steppe, wooded 
steppe, or alpine country. The paper should be of 
great value to students of zoological distribution. 

In this connection may be noticed a paper by Mr. 
T. Iredale in the Transactions of the New Zealand 
Institute for 1912 (vol. xlv.) on the bird-fauna of the 
Kermadec Islands, in which stress is laid on the 
affinity between the birds of New Zealand on one 
hand, and those of New Caledonia on the other. It 
is suggested that the Kermadec Islands should be 
regarded as one province of the Australian region, 
exhibiting marked Polynesian affinities, Norfolk and 
Lord Howe Islands as a second, and New Caledonia 
as a third. 

Turning to Australia, reference may be made to a 
coloured plate in the July number of The Emu, illus- 
trating the remarkable variation in shape, size, colour, 
and marking displayed by the eggs of the piping- 
crow, or Australian magpie (Gymnorhina teen 
which, it is claimed, exceeds that in any other bird. 
Nine specimens are figured, each from a different 
clutch, and each more or less unlike the rest, the 
variation in colour ranging from greenish-blue to 
reddish and sandy, and the markings from blackish 
spots to reddish scribblings. In an accompanying 
note Mr. A. F. B. Hall states that, unlike those of 
many sea-birds, all the eggs of any particular clutch 
are practically similar, and this similarity extends to 
all the clutches laid by each individual bird. This, 
it may be added, has an important bearing on the 
theory of ‘' wagtail-cuckoos,”’ ‘‘ reed-warbler-cuckoos,” 
&c. 

Footprints of the larger species of moas are, it 
appears, but very rarely found,'the two chief, if not 
only, recorded instances of their discovery having 
taken place at Turangui, Poverty Bay, in 1871, and 
on the Manawater River, Palmerston North, in 1894. 
At the latter locality four other footprints were ex- 
posed in rgrr by a flood, which washed away a bank 
15 ft. high, revealing at its base a bed of clay contain- 
ing four prints. These are described and figured by 
Mr. K. Wilson in the aforesaid volume of the Trans- 
actions of the New Zealand Institute. The tracks 
measure 18 in. across the foot, 12 in. from point of 
middle toe to heel, and 30 in. from heel to heel. 
Plaster casts have been taken. 

In the first number of vol. ii. of The Austral Avian 
Record Mr. J. B. Cleland directs attention to abnormal 
coloration in the palate and pharynx of certain Aus- 
tralian birds, the variation taking the form of black 
and grey tints in some groups, and of yellow or 
orange in others. No suggestion as to the reason for 
this departure from the normal flesh-colour is sug- 
gested. 

The autumn number (vol. v., No. 7) of Bird Notes 
and News is illustrated by a reproduction in 
black and white of an exquisite painting by Mr. H. 
Gronvold of the white heron, or egret, with the 
legend, ‘‘Where are my companions? Save me.” 
The issue includes a chronological sketch of the move- 
ment against the plumage trade, from its rise in 1869 
to the present day, with the text of the Government 
Plumage Bill. Reference is also made to the protec- 
tion of birds at lighthouses, the slaughter of swallows 
in France, and bird-catching in this country. 

In the October number of British Birds, Mr. H. F. 
Witherby records the results of a series of careful 
observations made by himself with the object of ascer- 
taining the cause of the baldness of the area round 
the base of the beak in adult rooks. The investiga- 
tion also included the moults undergone by the plum- 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


the meeting was of great interest in itself, and in 


age generally. In rooks of the year the area which 
is bare in their parents is fully feathered; but Mr. 
Witherby records that a number of hair-like “filo 
plumes” grow amid the narial bristles, and that larger 
filoplumes, as well as down-like plumules, are hidden — 
among the contour-feathers of the chin and throat. — 
In the first—July and August—moult the feathers are 
renewed all over the head in the normal manner, 
although those on the area which eventually — 
becomes bare are of a somewhat abnormal type. In 
the following January, however, or somewhat later, 
the feathers of this area are gradually shed, and not 
treplaced—although most of the filoplumes and 
plumules persist—while the feather-papillz undergo an > 
abnormal development into curious pin-like growths 
over the now permanently bare area. R, Ee 


THE SYNTHESIS OF GLUCOSIDES BYe 
MEANS OF FERMENTS. 


A? the closing session of the eleventh International — 

Congress of Pharmacy, recently held at the 
Hague, Prof. Emile Bourquelot, of Paris, delivered a 
lecture on the synthesis of glucosides by means of 
ferments, in which he described the results of his 
recent researches on this subject. 

Hitherto it has not been proved that enzymes have © 
anything but an analytical action; Prof. Bourquelot, 
who has been working on the ferments for something 
like twenty years, has, however, obtained results 
which justify the conclusion that the decomposing 
action continues up to a certain point only, and that 
at this point a synthetic action begins. He gives as 
an example the action of emulsion on arbutin; one 
of the products of decomposition is hydroquinone, but 
the action ceases before the whole of the arbutin is 
decomposed. This he shows to be due to the presence 
of the products of decomposition, for when hydro- 
quinone is added to a solution of the enzyme and the 
glucoside, the decomposing action of the enzyme is 
greatly retarded. 

Having established this fact, Prof. Bourquelot 
allowed ferments to act upon methyl alcohol in the 
presence of glucose, and succeeded in forming methyl- 
glucoside 8. He next dealt with other alcohols, and 
succeeded in synthesising a series of glucosides, and 
determined the conditions under which synthesis could 
be effected. By combining different sugars with the 
same alcohol, a number of hitherto unknown gluco- 
sides was synthesised, and the synthesis of many 
others is possible. , 


PHYSICS AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. — 
"THE meetings of Section A of the British Associa- 
tion at Birmingham were of great interest to the 
general scientific public and of considerable value to. 
those more specially interested in the particular 
problems discussed and the papers read at the sec- 
tional meetings. English physicists, astronomers, and 
mathematicians attended the meeting in force. 
Among those who were present may be mentioned 
Lord Rayleigh, Sir J. J. Thomson, Sir Joseph 
Larmor, Prof. Rutherford, Prof. Bragg, Prof. 
Poynting, Prof. Hobson, Prof. H. H. Turner, Sir D. 
Gill, Dr. Glazebrook, Principal E. H. Griffiths, Prof. 
Lamb, Prof. Love, Prof. S. P. Thompson, and Mr. 
J. H. Jeans. A distinguished company of foreigners 
also attended, amongst whom were Madame Curie, 
Prof. H. A. Lorentz, Prof. E. Pringsheim, Prof. 
Arrhenius, Prof. R. W. Wood, and Dr. Bohr. With 
the president of the association a physicist, and Dr. 
H. F. Baker as sectional president, the personnel of 


NovVEMBER 6, 1913]| 


WAT ORE 395 


consequence the papers and discussions were of a 


very high order of excellence. 

The address of Sir Oliver Lodge was of special 
interest, as in it he touched on the main subjects 
of discussion in the section. The address has been 
published in full in an earlier number of NaturE, so 
that there is no need for further remark here. The 
sectional president’s address has also appeared in full 
in Nature, and there is similarly no call to deal with 
it further in this place. It was listened to by a 
crowded audience, and formed a fitting opening to a 
meeting that proved itself of great importance, and 
in which the interest was kept up till the last day. 

The address of Dr. Baker, after a vote of thanks 
proposed by Sir Oliver Lodge and seconded by Lord 
Rayleigh, was followed by a paper by Prof. Barkla 
on the nature of X-rays. This subject has practically 
ceased to be controversial except as it has passed 
over into the general subject of radiation. Prof. 
Barkla gave an outline of the evidence in favour of 
the undulatory theory, of which he has always been 
a keen exponent, and which is now accepted by all 
physicists. Sir J. J. Thomson and Prof. Rutherford 
spoke in the following discussion, the former paying 
a well-deserved compliment to Prof. Barkla on the 
large amount of our knowledge of X-rays which is 
due to him. Prof. Rutherford laid stress on some of 
the still outstanding difficulties in the subject. The 
discussion was not so interesting as it would have 
been a year ago, when the supporters of the cor- 
puscular theory would have been in force. This paper 
was followed by one from Sir J. J. Thomson on the 
structure of the atom. This was a brilliant attempt 
to construct an atom which would account for some 
of the evidence for the quantum theory of energy. 
The paper was delivered with the clearness and bold- 
ness now always expected from Sir J. J. Thomson, 
and it will be long before his illustration of the 
quantum theory by pint-pots is forgotten. 

The next paper was by Prof. H. A. Lorentz. Prof. 
Lorentz is known to all physicists as the leading 
exponent of all questions involving the interactions 
of zther and matter. His presence at the Birming- 
ham meeting added greatly to the interest and value 
of the discussions. His command of English, his 
extraordinary capacity for exposition, and his quiet 
humour made his paper and his speeches in discus- 
sion one of the most enjoyable features of the pro- 
ceedings of Section A. The subject of the paper 
was, “The Relation between Entropy and Prob- 
ability.” The entropy of a body in a certain state is 
intimately connected with the probability of that 
state. Boltzmann has deduced the expression of the 
relation in his well-known formula, in which the 
entropy is proportional to the logarithm of the prob- 
ability of the state. Prof Lorentz’s paper was to 
investigate how the probability is to be evaluated. 
The method of calculation, closely connected with 
Gibbs’s microcosmical ensembles, gives the entropy 
of Boltzmann’s formula as the thermodynamical 
entropy. On account of the enormous number of 
molecules contained in a body, Boltzmann’s formula 
thas the remarkable property that great changes in 
the value assigned to the probability have no ap- 
preciable effect on the entropy. 

A special case considered was that of a monatomic 
gas. If the number of molecules is n, P the prob- 


3n 
ability=Cune2’, C being a determinate constant 
factor; hence if we omit the corresponding term in 


: 3 R : 5 ; 
the entropy S, this=nv loz (vet), which since n 
- R : E Ries 
is very large=7—log(ve*), an expression which is 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


neither very large nor very small when the mass of 
the gas is comparable with a gram-molecule. Now 
it is clear if P be multiplied by n, or even a high 
power of n, say n’®*°, this produces no appreciable 
effect on S, for logn is very small compared with n 
for large numbers. Boltzmann’s formula is there- 
fore insensible to such factors as n'°* in the value of 
P. Again, if the nm molecules be supposed distributed 
at random over a volume v, the probability that they 


all lie in one half of it is +, whereas it is 1 if all 


possible distributions are considered. The correspond- 
ing difference in the entropy is no more than 
we log2. The result of this property is that we are 
to a large extent free in the choice of a value of P. 
Thus, in order to calculate the entropy, we may as 
well take the probability of the most probable state 
of things as the much higher value that is obtained 
if all possible states are included. 

After Prof. Lorentz, another paper on the structure 
of the atom was read by Prof. Rutherford. The 
author took the opposite view to that represented by 
Sir J. J. Thomson’s atom. The Rutherford atom con- 
sists of a charged nucleus of minute dimensions, in 
which most of the mass is concentrated. This 
nucleus is surrounded by a distribution of electrons. 
The evidence for this structure of atom lies in the 
large angle scattering of high-speed particles like the 
a and 8 particles from radio-active matter. New 
experiments were described by Prof. Rutherford on 
the scattering of « particles by the simple gases. It 
was unfortunate that there was no time for a fuller 
discussion of the interesting points raised by this 
paper and that of Sir J. J. Thomsor. 

The last communication, taken on Thursday, was 
one by Dr. Swann—who has just left Sheffield for 
America—-on the resistances of thin metallic films. 
Some of the hitherto unexplained facts in connection 
with the conductivity of thin films were explained on 
the hypothesis that the film deposited by the electric 
discharge does not consist of a continuous and homo- 
geneous distribution of molecules, but of patches or 
groups of molecules more or less definitely separated 
from each other. This distribution was taken account 
of in the paper, and a formula calculated to allow for 
the resulting alteration in the mean free path of elec- 
trons concerned in conduction. ‘fhe agreement of 
the theory with experimental results is as close as 
could be hoped for. : ‘ 

On Friday morning the most important discussion 
of Section A, if not of the whole meeting, took place. 
The subject was radiation, and it was opened by 
Mr. J. H. Jeans in a masterly and concise manner. 
The discussion turned on the question of the validity 
of the laws which have hitherto been believed to be 
the ultimate laws of nature. The problem at its 
simplest occurs in the case of black body radiation. 
Mr. Jeans regarded the work of Poincaré as con- 
clusive when starting with the mean energy of each 
vibration of specified wave-length he deduces the quite 
definite result that the exchange of energy must take 
place by finite jumps. This leads directly to the 
quantum hypothesis which the opener assumed in its 
entirety. He went on to consider what other pheno- 
mena bear witness to its truth. The most important 
is the photoelectric effect: the energy imparted to 
an electron appears to be exactly the right amount 
required by the quantum hypothesis. Mr. Jeans 
quoted in this connection the recent work of Dr. 
Bohr, who has arrived at a convincing and brilliant 
explanation of the laws of spectral series. 

Against the quantum theory seem to be arranged 


306 


most of the well-established results of the undulatory 
theory of light. The great difficulty is the reconcilia- 
tion of the two sets of facts. The boldest and simplest 
attempt lies in abandoning altogether present con- 
ceptions of the zther, and relying on some purely 
descriptive principle, such as relativity. But the 
attempt at a dynamical explanation should be made, 
and Mr. Jeans concluded by a suggestion as to the 
meaning of the Planck constant h. This constant is 
connected with e, the charge of an electron. We 
may, perhaps, imagine that the equations of the 
zther involve e or h as well as the Maxwell terms. 
These terms may be eliminated in forming the equa- 
tions for wave propagation for certain cases, and in 
that event there will be no discrepancy between the 
quantum theory and the undulatory theory. But 
where the equations are applied to interactions 
between matter and ether, the older theory will not 
apply, and the terms involving h must remain in. 

The second speaker was Prof. Lorentz. He ac- 
cepted the quantum theory, and sought a method of 
accounting for it. Some kind of discontinuity in the 
transfer of energy is experimentally proved, but the 
individual existence of quanta in the ether is im- 
possible. He considered the scheme of transference 
of energy from matter to resonators and to the ether. 
The transfer from a resonator to the ether of a 
quantum can be easily conceived, but it is difficult 
to understand how the quantum can be transferred 
back to the resonator from the zther, for once in the 
zther it becomes distributed indefinitely. Prof. 
Lorentz suggested that the quanta are necessary in 
some transference, and that perhaps the solution was 
to be found in assuming them operative in transfer- 
ences from matter to the resonator and vice versa, and 
not in the interchange between resonators and the 
zther. The difficulty in this yiew is to distinguish 
clearly the two classes, matter and resonator. Prof. 
Lorentz was again clear and very interesting. His 
humour again appeared, as when referring to Sir J. J. 
Thomson’s atom he remarked that ‘it was highly 
ingenious—as it could not otherwise be—but the 
point was, did it represent the truth?” 

Prof. Pringsheim followed, and confined his 
remarks to the experimental bearing of the problems 
raised. The constants of radiation are not accurately 
enough known—for example, Stefan’s and Planck’s 
constants. He also referred to the question of the 
radiation from other sources than the black body. 
Dr. Bohr, of Copenhagen, was the next speaker. 
His work had been referred to by previous speakers, 
and he gave a short explanation of his atom. His 
scheme for the hydrogen atom assumes several 
stationary states for the atom, and the passage from 
one state to another involves the yielding of one 
quantum. Dr. Bohr also emphasised the difficulty of 
Lorentz’s scheme for distinguishing between matter 
and the radiator. Planck’s resonator has all the 
ordinary properties of matter, and it is difficult to 
keep up the distinction. Prof. Lorentz intervened to 
ask how the Bohr atom was mechanically accounted 
for. Dr. Bohr acknowledged that this part of his 
theory was not complete, but the quantum theory 
being accepted, some sort of scheme of the kind sug- 
gested was necessary. 

Prof. Love represented the older views, and main- 
tained the possibility of explaining facts about radia- 
tion without adopting the theory of quanta. He 
criticised the application of the equi-partition of 
energy theory, on which part of the quantum theory 
rests. The evidence for the quantum theory of most 
weight is the agreement with experiment of Planck’s 
formula for the emissivity of a black body. From 
the mathematical point of view, there may be many 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[NoveMBER 6, 1913 _ q 


= 


more formula which would agree equally well with 
the experiments. A formula due to A. Korn was deal 
with, which gave results over a wide range, showing 
just about as good agreement with experiment 
the Planck formula. In further contention that 
resources of ordinary theory are not exhausted, 
pointed out that it may be possible to extend the 
calculation for the emissivity of a thin plate due to. 
Lorentz to other cases. For this calculation no simple — 
analytical expression represents the results over the 
whole range of wave-lengths, and it may well be 
that in the general case no simple formula exists 
which is applicable to all wave-lengths. Planck’s 
formula may, in fact, be nothing more than an ~ 
empirical formula. Lord Rayleigh spoke next. He 
did not attempt to discuss the question, but welcomed — 
the discussion. It was interesting to see Lord Ray- 
leigh at the meeting, and references to his historic — 
work on the subject of radiation were made by 
several of the speakers. 

Sir J. Larmor spoke about the theory of the equi-— 
partition of energy. In an isolated region of the ~ 
zther there is no way open for the interchange of 
energy at all between one type of radiation and ~ 
another, so that the assumption of ‘‘other things 
being indifferent’? is not applicable. The structure — 
of an electron and the mechanism by which it reacts 
with the ether is totally unknown. In the very 
intense kinetic phenomena which occur when trans- 
ferences of energy take place, the energy may not 
be expressible as a sum of squares, as the equi- 
partition theory requires. A transfer may be even — 
discontinuous. Sir J. Larmor went on to show that 
equi-partition need not (therefore be necessary as — 
regards free radiation, and atomic vibrations which 
are set up by its agency and must be in equilibrium 
with it need not come under the equi-partition theory. 
The new knowledge we have of specific heats at very 
low temperatures has also led to further speculations 
and extension of theoretical schemes, but it can be 
held that there is nothing destructive of older prin- 
ciples of physics. He looked to a_ reconciliation 
between the older and newer views from further 
knowledge of the interactions between free zther 
and electrons. 

Sir J. J. Thomson further discussed the equi- 
partition theory, and was prepared to give it up if 
it was the cause of all the difficulty. Referring to 
statistical methods, he recalled De Morgan’s saying 
that if a calculation in probability required more than 
half a sheet of notepaper, its result should not be 
received without further independent evidence. 

Sir Oliver Lodge spoke also, and pointed out’ that 
the ordinary laws could not apply in the interior of 
an electron or a positive charge, for if they did the 
charge would fly to pieces because of the mutual 
repulsion of its parts. 

Prof. Lorentz again spoke, and remarked that a 
theory that explained both the phenomena of specific 
heat and the absorption spectrum was not to be dis- 
posed of on purely mathematical grounds. He em- 
phasised the fact that the Planck constant was there, 
and that it had some very definite meaning which 
had to be interpreted. P 

Dr. S. D. Chalmers gave an account of an atom 
model which agreed with the results of the quantum 
theory, and also with the magneton hypothesis. Mr.° 
Jeans closed the discussion with replies to some 
criticisms, and again pointed out that from the experi-. 
mental point of view Prof. Lorentz’s discrimination” 
of matter and radiators was impossible. No distinc= 
tion between them could be made. 

This discussion went on from ten o’clock to one, 
and the interest was kept up till the end. It was of 


NOVEMBER 6, 1913] 


great value, as all points of view were represented, 


and gave a much clearer notion of the trend of 
thought on this fundamental subject to those who 
have not been able to follow the literature very care- 
fully. We understand that the discussion is to be 
published in full in the reports. This will be a 
valuable addition to the literature of the subject. 

Sir Joseph Larmor gave a short account of a 
paper on lightning and protection from it. He dis- 
- cussed the relation of the field of force near a lightning 
conductor and the mechanism of the discharge. It 
was unfortunate that there was only a few minutes 
for the subject, as there was no discussion, and the 
views brought forward were of great practical im- 
portance. It is to be hoped the paper will appear in 
full and will have the attention it deserves. 

Prof. W. H. Bragg spoke on X-rays and crystals, 
which was of great interest and importance. The 
paper was discussed at a special meeting of the 
section on Tuesday afternoon. It was unfortunate 
that some of those most interested—Profs. Pope, 
Barlow, and Armstrong, for example—were unable 
to be present at the discussion. Prof. Bragg gave 
an account of the new method of tsing characteristic 
Réntgen rays and crystals. With his son, Mr. W. L. 
Bragg, he had obtained as many as five orders of 
spectra by reflection at certain planes of the 
crystals. If in a crystal there are planes 
specially rich in atoms, these planes, spaced 
at definite distances, act somewhat in the manner of 
an echelon grating, and spectra are produced. From 
the characters of the spectra of different orders— 
absence, diminished intensity, and so on—the spacing 
of the planes can be determined, and so we have a 
new method of determining the arrangement of atoms 
in crystals. The diamond has been thoroughly 
examined, and a model of its structure was shown. 
The method is a singularly beautiful one, and 
apparently not open to criticism. The method also 
provides, in the words of Prof. Bragg, a spectroscope 
for X-rays, and measurements could be made without 
doubt to an accuracy of 1 part in 1000. For the dis- 
cussion of the paper Prof. Bragg specially came back 
to Birmingham and gave further details of the 
method. Prof. Arrhenius congratulated the authors, 
and remarked that it was the beginning of a new 
crystallography. Reference was made to the work 
of Pope and Barlow, and Prof. Bragg explained that 
in his view the differences between the structures 
obtained by the new method and by the old might be 
reconciled. He made no claim to have contradicted 
the work resting on the theory of close packing. 
The paper and discussion were listened to by large 
audiences, and formed one of the most interesting 
parts of a successful meeting. 

On Friday, after the radiation discussion, the 
department of mathematics met separately, when 
two papers on mathematical physics were read. 
Prof. Eddington spoke on the dynamics of a globular 
stellar system. The problem attacked is that of the 
determination of different possible distributions of 
velocity which correspond to a steady state. In the 
paper a number of simpler cases are worked out. It 
is of special interest to find a system in which there 
is a strong preference for motion to and from the 
centre (following Prof. Turner’s suggestion for ex- 

lanation of the two star streams). Systems satisfy- 
ing this kind of motion, and also requiring only a 
finite density at the centre of the system, have been 
found. The other paper at this meeting was by Dr. 
Swann on the expression for the electrical conductivity 
of a metal deduced from the electron theory. 

On Monday the department of general physics held 
a joint discussion with Section G (engineering) on 


NO. 2297. VOL. 92] 


NATURE 397 


the investigation of complex stress distribution. This 
discussion was more on the engineering side than the 
physical, and will be dealt with in the special article 
on the proceedings in Section G. The department of 
cosmical physics met at the same time, and several 
important papers were contributed. Mr. C. Bag ste 
John, of Mount Wilson Observatory, gave an 
important account of some late results of solar work 
at Mount Wilson. He made out a clear connection 
between the radial velocity of gases in the solar 
atmosphere and the intensity of the lines which are 
used in the velocity determinations. That is to say, 
a connection has been demonstrated between radial 
velocity and the level in the solar atmosphere. The 
displacements of Fraunhofer lines in the penumbre 
of sun-spots thus is shown to give a means of 
sounding the solar atmosphere and of assigning 
relative levels to the sources of the lines. The results 
obtained clearly open a wide field for further solar 
research. 

Dr. S. Chapman gave an interesting paper on the 
lunar influence on terrestrial magnetism and _ its 
dependence on solar periodicity. On Schuster’s 
theory of the variation of magnetic force Dr. Chap- 
man considered the effect of the lunar tide in the 
earth’s atmosphere. This effect can be detected in 
the observations. The solar effect is due to the 
ionisation and conductivity in the upper atmosphere 
depending on the sun’s hour angle. The study of 
the lunar period is valuable, as it enables us to 
separate the two effects, periodicity in the atmosphere 
and periodicity in the conductivity. No apparent 
relation has been detected between the conductivity 
and the eleven-year solar cycle. A paper on solar and 
terrestrial magnetic disturbances was read by the 
Rev. A. L. Cortie, S.J. 

Two interesting papers on meteorology were read— 
Mr. J. I. Craig on a temperature see-saw between 
England and Egypt, and on temperature frequency 
curves by Mr. Gold and Mr. F. J. W. Whipple. 
There were two papers on seismology: ‘The Dis- 
tribution of Earthquakes in Space and Time,”’ by the 
Rev. H. V. Gill, S.J.; and ‘‘Notes on the Construc- 
tion of Seismometers,”’ by the Rev. W. O’Leary, S.J. 
A communication of general interest was read by Dr. 
J. S. Owens, deaiing with methods for measuring 
the amount of atmospheric pollution by suspended 
matter, such as smoke and dust. Prof. H. H. 
Turner gave a paper on the Fourier sequence as a 
substitute for the periodogram. Mr. J. H. Reynolds’s 
communication on arrangements for a reflecting tele- 
scope was taken as read. After the joint discussion, 
the department of general physics met for another 
important session. Prof. Pringsheim gave his paper 
on a theory of luminescence and the relation between 
luminescence and pure temperature radiation. It was 
interesting to the section to hear in Prof. Pringsheim 
another distinguished foreign visitor, and one whose 
name is intimately connected with the experimental 
results that form the foundation of the new theories 
of radiation. 

The next paper was by Prof. R. W. Wood, of 
Baltimore, who is well known as one of the most 
brilliant experimentalists of our day. He described 
some experiments on resonance spectra under high 
dispersion. As is expected of Prof. Wood, most 
interesting and amusing details of experiments were 
related. The method of removing spider-webs from 
the long buried tube of the spectrograph by sending 
“the household pussy cat” through is an original 
and effective method of attaining the desired end. 
Amongst the many interesting details of the work, 
which will be fully described elsewhere, may be men- 
tioned the method of exciting the resonance spectrum 


308 


NATURE 


of iodine by monochromatic illumination filtered 
through bromine vapour to supply light of a small 
enough range of wave-length to include only one line 
of the iodine spectrum. The paper was full of the 
kind of experimental perfection that is to be found in 
so much of Prof. Wood’s work. 

Prof. S. B. Maclaren gave a paper on a theory of 
magnets. This paper dealt with some of the difficul- 
ties of magnetic theory, and pointed out how an 
explanation of paramagnetism and diamagnetism may 
be arrived at. Magnetic induction is explained by 
means of tensions in the field acting on matter, and 
the molecular magnetic field is not explained as due 
to the circulation of electric current sheets. Prof. 
Coker gave a demonstration of large polarising 
apparatus for lantern projection. Beautiful pictures 
result, but the apparatus has been described before, 
and there is no need for details in this place. 

In the middle of the same morning the department 
of pure mathematics met, when communications were 
read by Prof. J. C. Fields, Prof. Hilton, Lieut.-Col. 
Allan Cunningham, Prof. A. C. Dixon, and Mr. 
M. D. Hersey. A paper by Prof. A. W. Conway was 
taken as read. 

On Tuesday morning there was a joint meeting 
with Section E (geography), when four papers on 
geodetic subjects were read. An account of this joint 
meeting will appear in the article describing the 
work of the geographical section, which will shortly 
be published in Nature. At the same time the 
department of general physics met and had another 
‘series of important papers and discussions. Dr. 
W. H. Eccles read an account of some experiments on 
contacts between electrical conductors. The paper 
explained the absence of a linear relation between 
current and electromotive force when the current 
passes across a ‘loose contact.” The behaviour of 
the contact was explained by purely thermal actions 
in the matter near the point of contact. The Joule, 
Peltier, and Thomson effects all play a part. 

Prof. Poynting read a paper on the twisting of 
indiarubber. By means of an exceedingly delicate 
piece of apparatus he had measured the changes in 
length and cross section of steel and copper wires 
under torsion, and had tried the same with india- 
rubber. Indiarubber showed no observable change in 
volume when twisted, but a very large increase in 
length when compared with steel. Sir J. J. Thomson, 
in discussing the subject, suggested a connection in 
the behaviour of these materials under magnetic 
influence. 

Two papers—one by Sir J. J. Thomson on X, and 
the evolution of helium, the other by Mr. F. W. 
Aston on a new elementary constituent of the atmo- 
sphere—created great interest. A number of chemists 
came to hear of this fresh invasion of their territory 
by Sir J. J. Thomson. The gas X,, which has been 
described before, is now considered by Sir J. J. 
Thomson to be H,. Evidence was given in the paper 
which though in detail perhaps not convincing, yet 
has great cumulative weight. The chemists present 
were prepared to accept the possibility of an H, 
molecule. As to the evolution of helium, there seems 
little doubt that it comes from the material bombarded 
by the kathode rays in the tube. Here there is a 
divergence between the views recently put forth that 
such helium results from a transformation of the gas 
in the discharge tube. In the discussion Sir Oliver 
Lodge emphasised the importance of these experi- 
ments, as in his opinion it was the first case of 
the artificial production of atomic disintegration. 
Mr. Aston dealt with an investigation of the 
existence of an element with atomic weight about 
22. Sir J. J. Thomson’s positive ray method 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


had detected such an element, and the 
was an account of the partial separation of 
into two gases of approximate atomic wei 
199 and 22'1. The method was one of diff 
attested by a change of density. The method of d 
mining the density was by means of a specially c 
structed quartz balance of small size hung inside 
tube containing the gas. By adjustment of the 
pressure the quartz beam could be balanced and th 
density of the gas determined with great accuracy. 
The smallness and compactness of the apparatus 
enabled very small quantities of gases to be dealt 
with. No physical differences except in density ha 

been discovered between the two gases. 

Dr. E. E. Fournier D’Albe gave an account of the 
minimum quantity of light discoverable by selenium. — 
Very faint illuminations can be detected, and it was 
suggested that there might be a possibility of direct 
measurement of the Planck quantum of energy. A 
paper by Mr. H. B. Keene on the transmission of — 
X-rays through metals was of interest, especially as 
it was allied to Prof. Bragg’s paper on X-rays and 
crystals. Other papers were by Mr. F. Forrest 
on the electric arc ‘as a standard of light, and by Dr. 
G. A. Shakespear on the resistance of air to falling 
spheres and on a method of increasing the sensitive-_ 
ness of measuring instruments. The method was to — 
throw the image of a Nernst filament lamp from the 
mirror of any deflected instrument on to a radio- 
micrometer strip; any change in the direction of the 
original reflected beam of very small amount results 
in a large deflection of the radio-micrometer. The 
method can be repeated, and any increase in sensi- — 
tiveness obtained except for the difficulty of keeping — 
steady conditions. Mr. J. S. Anderson described a 
new method of starting mercury lamps. Papers by — 
Mr. W. H. F. Murdoch on a magnetic susceptibility 
meter, Mr. A. J. Lotka on a new process for en- 
larging photographs, and Prof. H. Stansfield on the 
sensitiveness of the human skin as a detector of low- 
voltage alternating electrostatic fields were taken as 
read. The discussion on Tuesday afternoon of Prof. 
Bragg’s paper has already been referred to. 

On Wednesday the first business was the presenta- 
tion of reports. On the report of the Seismological 
Committee Prof. Turner spoke of the loss to seismo- | 
logy and science generally in the death of Prof. John © 
Milne. The work of British seismology and seismo- — 
logy generally owes nearly everything to Milne; as a 
resolution of the committee expressed it, he may be 
said to have created a new science. For many years — 
past he had himself presented the annual report of © 
the Seismological Committee, and the report presented 
by Prof. Turner had been drawn up by him just before ~ 
his death. 

After the reports, papers were read by Mr. J. S. 
Anderson on a new method of sealing electrical con- 
ductors through glass, and by Mr. J. J. Shaw on a 
seismograph. This instrument had been exhibited 
during the meeting, and was of the Milne type, with 
its natural oscillations damped by means of an 
aluminium strip attached to the boom swinging 
between the poles of magnets. The instrument is of 
importance, and had a further interest in the fact that 
it was designed and constructed with the cooperation ~ 
of Prof. Milne just before his death. Papers by Dr. 
Vaughan Cornish on a method of determining the 
period of waves at sea, by Mr. Lotka on the dynamics 
of evolution, by Mr. Hookham on microscope crystals 
with epidiascope illustrations, and by Prof. T. R. 
Lyle on the Goldschmidt dynamo were taken as read. 
It was unfortunate that Dr. Vaughan Cornish, owing 
to a misunderstanding, arrived just after the sec- 
tional meeting was formally closed, but an informal 


NOVEMBER 6, 1913] 


meeting was held, which heard the paper with 


- interest. 


The meetings of the section were well attended all 
through, and on several occasions the room, although 
holding 350 people, was not large enough for those 
who desired to hear certain papers. The programme 
was too crowded, and there was not sufficient time 
for discussion. The remedy is in the sectional com- 
mittee’s own hands. Two afternoon sessions in the 
week would remove all congestion, and it is difficult 
to see why Section A should not adopt a course fol- 
lowed by several other sections. This course was 
urged by the Recorder at the Committee, but re- 
jected. The experiment of a discussion of a par- 
ticular paper—Prof. Bragg’s—in the afternoon was a 
complete success, and to hold such afternoon meetings 
would be a better method than to restrict the number 
of papers contributed. It would be a loss to the 
usefulness of the section if less important papers were 
altogether crowded out. One function of the associa- 
tion is to provide some opportunity and encourage- 
ment to younger and less well known men, and it 
would be a pity for such a function to be lost 
altogether. 

Some important work was done in the sectional 
committee and in research committees. The report 
et the Seismological Committee has been already 
referred to. The Seismological Committee had to 
consider what steps should be taken in order to carry 
on the work that has hitherto been done under Prof. 
Milne. It was felt that it was impossible to raise 
enough money to carry on the work at Shide as an 
independent station, and the committee decided to 
try to obtain sufficient funds to enable the observa- 
tional work to go on. Prof. H. H. Turner undertook 
to exercise a general supervision over the station at 
Shide, and for the present this seems a satisfactory 
arrangement. But it is unfortunate that the work 
cannot be carried on: with proper equipment and 
personnel. Seismology owes so much to Milne that 
it would be a fitting tribute to his memory for his 
observing station to develop into a_ thoroughly 
equipped institution. In the meantime, the subject is 
under great obligation to Prof. Turner for taking 
over the general supervision. 

A report was received from the Electrical Standards’ 
Committee announcing its own dissolution. | This 
committee has done immensely important service in 
the past. Its work has appeared in a more readily 
obtainable form. The reports from 1861 to the present 
time are republished in one volume. Prof. H. H. 
Turner moved a resolution calling attention to the 
historic character of this committee, and expressing 
on behalf of the Committee of Section A the sense 
of its importance and value. Dr. Glazebrook, the 
secretary of the Standards’ Committee, replied. 

An important research committee on _ radio- 
telegraphic investigations presented its first report 
and outlined a programme of work. Certain problems, 
especially those of “strays”? and of the differences 
between night and day signalling, can only be in- 
vestigated by cooperative work at widely scattered 
stations. The committee has obtained the coopera- 
tion of most of the large institutions connected with 
wireless telegraphy, and hope that exceedingly valu- 
able work may be done in the near future. Both 
this committee and the seismological committee hope 
to be able to carry on their work by means of grants 
from the Caird Fund. 

Reports were also received from the committees 
for investigation of the upper atmosphere, for the 
tabulation of Bessel and other functions, for the 
establishment of a solar observatory in Australia, for 
administering a grant for the international tables of 
constants, and for the disposal of ‘‘the binary canon.” 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 309 


The list of grants made to research committees has 
already appeared in the columns of Nature. 

The local arrangements for the meeting of the 
section were admirable. The rooms devoted to Sec- 
tion A were in the Mason College, and served their 
purpose excellently. The large room on some occa~- 
sions was not quite large enough, but it would be 
difficult to find anywhere a suitable lecture-room to 
hold the number who would have liked to hear some 
of the papers. Great credit is due to those who had 
the arrangements in hand, especially to Dr. Shake- 
spear, for the smooth working of such a large and 
complicated section. A word oi congratulation may 
also be given to The Times for the excellent way in 
which some of the meetings, especially the radiation 
discussion, were reported. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


BirMINGHAM.—A course of ten lectures on social 
anthropology, by Mr. A. R. Brown, of Trinity Col- 
lege, Cambridge, has been arranged for the winter 
and spring terms. This course is the outcome of a 
suggestion made in the Anthropological Section of the 
British Association during the recent meeting, and is 
intended as a tentative experiment to determine to 
what extent there is a demand for such a course in 
addition to the existing course in physical anthro- 


pology. 

CampriwcE.—Mr. W. E. Hartley, of Trinity College, 
has, with the consent of the Vice-Chancellor, been 
appointed chief assistant at the observatory. 

Mr. F. W. Aston, of Trinity College, has been 
elected to the Clerk Maxwell scholarship. 

Mr. T. L. Wren and Mr. IF. Kidd have been elected 
to fellowships at St. John’s College. 

An examination for the award of the Sheepshanks 
astronomical exhibition will be held in the Lent term, 
1914. The exhibition is open to all undergraduates 
of the University of Cambridge, but any person 
elected, if not already a student of Trinity College, 
shall thereupon become a student of Trinity College. 
Candidates may offer themselves for examination in 
one or more of the following subjects :—(a) astronomy 
and allied subjects as defined in Schedule A of part ii. 
of the mathematical tripos; (b) spherical astronomy 
and combination of conservations; (c) celestial 
mechanics; (d) use and optical theory of astronomical 
instruments; (e) astrophysics. A paper of essays on 
astronomical subjects and an examination at ‘the 
observatory in elementary practical astronomy will be 
compulsory on all candidates. 


Amonc numerous bequests under the will of the 
late Dr. F. G. Smart is one of “10,000l. to Gonville 
and Caius College, Cambridge, for two * Frank 
Smart Studentships’ in natural history or botany, 
and if this sum shall be more than sufficient to pro- 
vide for these studentships the balance is to be used to 
promote the study of these subjects in that college.” 


Mr. J. A. Pease, President of the Board of Educa- 
tion, speaking at Camberwell on October 31, fore- 
casted largely increased grants from the Treasury for 
education. In the course of his remarks he said :— 
“ Local authorities know only too well that educational 
expenditure has increased and is increasing, and J 
must tell them that it will have to increase still farther 
if we are to get the economic equivalent for what we 
spend. The gravest of all defects in our educational 


| system is not in elementary education, but in. inter- 


mediate education. Every child in the country has an 
equal chance of developing his abilities up to a certain 
point. It is when that point is reached and passed 


310 


NATURE 


[NoveMBER 6, 1913 


ee tM 


that the defects of our present system make themselves 
manifest. You keep a child at school for eight or 
nine years, and just at the critical time when his 
natural aptitudes are taking their bent and his char- 
acter is forming his education is broken off, and the 
boy and the girl who might have done good service 
in some profession or skilled industry drops into idle- 
ness or loafing, or adds one to the millions of casual 
and unskilled labourers. I say with conviction that 
the first upward step must be the improvement of our 
intermediate education, because that is the branch in 
which we are most lacking. You may not always find 
a genius—a genius is rare—but remember that if you 
do find him you will have repaid yourselves more than 
a hundredfold. Remember the economic value of a 
great inventor covers the educational expenditure of a 
whole town. I think Sir Henry Bessemer was a 
fellow-townsman of yours here in Camberwell, and 
Sir Henry Bessemer’s chief invention, we know, was 
equal in productive power to the labours of a hundred 
thousand men. Now, that is why I say that we must 
be prepared for further expenditure if we are to get 
the economic equivalent for what we have spent 
already. We must be prepared as a country to foot 
the bill, just as the Government will be prepared to 
make the proposals to the country. The Government 
policy is a large policy, and I may say that it is our 
intention not only to increase the amount of the grant, 
but to change the manner of its distribution, so that 
of two areas equally efficient the poorer will receive 
the larger grant, and of two areas equally necessitous 
the more efficient will receive the larger grant.” 


A SUGGESTIVE paper was read by Mr. Cloudesley 
Brereton at a conference of employers of labour on 
October 28, in connection with the recent National 
Gas Congress and Exhibition., Mr. Brereton pointed 
out that although until recently education in England 
has busied itself far too little, upon the whole, with 
the problems of the work-a-day world, yet even the 
older English Universities of Oxford and Cambridge 
in actual practice have always been to a considerable 
extent technological institutions. Their work has 
been mainly, not so much the imparting of book 
knowledge, but of ‘tmancraft,” the art of handling 
men, gained through daily contact with their fellows. 
In so far as the studies of candidates for theology, 
medicine, and law are concerned, these Universities 
are to all intents and purposes purely technological 
colleges. At the present time in the older, and to a far 
greater extent in the younger, universities we find 
training in technique provided in many subjects, not 
merely in law, medicine, and theology, but also in 
engineering, applied chemistry, the textile industries, 
gas and electricity, and certain branches of commerce. 
Whatever the grade of educational institution may be 
the problem of suitable curricula can only be solved 
by first considering what will be the probable career 
of the pupil. The elementary school is already moving 
in the direction of first diagnosing the pupil’s future 
needs and then prescribing for him. Even the older 
universities and the public schools are showing signs 
of being affected by similar influences. Employers, in 
consequence of the increasing pressure of competition 
and the invasion of industry by science, are as vitally 
interested in the production of pupils of the right type 
as the educationist is, or ought to be. Mr. Cloudesley 
Brereton gave a valuable summary of the principal 
steps which have been taken by employers to foster 
the continued education of their employees, e.g. by the 
award of prizes for attendance and success at examina- 
tions, the payment or repayment of fees, making 
attendance at evening classes compulsory upon junior 
employees, meetings at works during the hours of 
employment, and the formation of advisory committees 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


containing representatives of employers and workmen. 
Important educational results are accruing from such 
organised schemes of training as those at Sunderland 
for engineering apprentices, and at the Bournville 
works. With regard to the question of raising the 
age of attendance at school to sixteen or seventeen, 
he suggested that one great difficulty, apart from the 
cost, is the growing dissatisfaction with the mainly 


literary type of education, and the conviction that our 


“present system does not give value for the public 
‘money now granted. ; 


At the distribution of prizes to successful students 
of the City and Guilds Institute at the Mansion House 
on October 20, the President of the Board of Education 
delivered an address. Mr. Pease dealt with the ques- 
tion of a worthy university for London. He said that 
the Government, after careful consideration, has 
decided that the scheme set out in the report of the 
recent Royal Commission is calculated to produce a 
University of London worthy of the name. Every- 
thing possible is to be done to carry out the scheme 
with all reasonable dispatch. To this end a Depart- 
mental Committee has been appointed. The under- 
lying principles of the Commission’s scheme are to be 
regarded as accepted. Modifications in detail and 
machinery may be found desirable, but the funda- 
mental principles must be accepted if any advance is 
to be made now. If London shows that it is anxious 
and willing to have a reconstituted pce on 
the lines laid down in the report of the Royal Com- 
mission, the Government will play their part in supply- 
ing the money necessary. Continuing, Mr. Pease 
said :—-‘‘The whole history of the development of 
modern universities shows that the prime essential 
of success is local patriotism. Local patriotism means, 
of course, money, but it means a great deal more 
besides. It implies a belief in the necessity for a 
great university and in the immensity of the influence 
the university can exercise—an influence which, 
especially in the case of an Empire metropolis, must 
always extend far beyond the narrow limits of the 
area which the university primarily serves. Its 
functions will be Imperial, even international, as well 
as local. But without the active support and con- 
fidence of the locality no modern university can exist, 
let alone flourish. Acts of Parliament and State-aid 
cannot alone create a university.’’ In the case of the 
University of London, Mr. Pease laid it down that 
the principles on which any permanently satisfactory 
scheme must be based are simple :—(1) Educational 
and financial control of all the most important colleges 
to be in the hands of the University; (2) the creation 
of a University quarter by concentration of as much 
of the University work as possible, together with its 
administration, on a central site [the Imperial College 
must remain where it is]; (3) government of the 
University by a small Senate, predominantly lay, and 
not representative of special interests; (4) control of 
the teaching and examination in the hands of the 
teachers; (5) continuance of access to University 
examinations by external students. The place of the 
Imperial College in a reconstituted University is one 
of the first points the Departmental Committee pro- 
poses to investigate. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
CAMBRIDGE. 

Philosophical Society, October 27.—Prof. Hobson in 
the chair.—R. D. Kleeman; The dependence of the 
relative ionisation in various gases by B rays on their 
velocity, and its bearing on the ionisation produced 
by y rays.—N. P. McCleland: Note on a dynamical 
system illustrating fluorescence. 


‘Deslandres and L. d’Azambuja: Laws relating to the 
-structure of band spectra and to the deviations from | 
“their arithmetical series. 


-Moureu, P. Th. Muller, and J. Varin: Refraction an 


‘acetylene group. Experimental data are given for 
-ninteen substances containing the group —C=C~—.— 


‘integral number of beats of the chronometer. 


NovEMBER 6, 1913] 


NATURE 311 


Paris. 
Academy of Sciences, October 27.—M. P. Appell in 


-the chair.—The President announced the death of M. 


Lucas Championniére.—Maurice Hamy: An arrange- 


-ment of spectrograph with an objective grating suit- 


able for the measurement of radial velocities.—H. 


A study of the second group | 
of nitrogen bands. The formula expressing the re- | 
sults differs from that applicable to line spectra.—Ch. | 

compounds containing na 


magnetic rotation of 


M. Depéret was elected a non-resident member.—A. 
Claude and L. Driencourt: A coincidence micrometer 
free from the personal equation. This method is 
based on the use of a deformable micrometer network, 
one set of wires being capable of moving, retaining 
their parallelism; the distance between the wires is 
equal to the path described by the image of an 
equatorial star in the principal focal plane during an 
So soon 
as the star enters the field, the first wire is set to 
coincide with the image at a beat of the chronometer. 
If the adjustment is exact, the passage over the next 
wire will also coincide with a beat, and this can be 
repeatedly verified. The method of observation is 
capable of a very high precision—P. Chofardet: 
Observations of the new comet 1913e (Zinner) made 
at the Observatory of Besancon.—Jean Chazy: Cer- 
tain trajectories of the problem of n bodies.—MM. 
Chipart and Liénard: The sign of the real part of the 
roots of an algebraic equation.—Georges Rémoundos :; 
The theorem of Picard in a circle of which the centre 
is a critical algebraic point.—Maurice Janet: The 
existence and determination. of solutions of systems 
of partial differential equations.—Henri Villat: The 
validity of the solutions of the problems of hydro- 
dynamics.—Emile Borel: Kinematics in the theory of 
relativity—M. Girousse: The electrolysis of lead and 
iron in the.soil: a discussion of the effects of stray 
currents from tramway systems. It is pointed out 
that the usual rule, a drop of potential of not more 
than one volt per kilometre, is insufficient. The 
essential point is the difference of potential between 
the metallic substances capable of being attacked and 
the tramway rails. It is shown that the amount of 
moisture in the soil is one of the main factors of the 
problem. The resistance of the contact surface is 
also important; the contact of lead with earth is much 
more resistant than the contact of iron with earth. 
No critical potential is required to produce electro- 
lytic effects.—G. Sagnac: Luminous zther demon- 
strated by the effect of the wind relative to the zther 
in an interferometer in uniform rotation.—L. Gay : 
The:pressure of expansibility of normal liquids.—M. 
Tafianel: The combustion of gaseous mixtures and 
gaseous velocities—Clément Berger: The preparation 
of aluminium ethylate. Amalgamated aluminium 
reacts with alcohol in presence of a small quantity of 
sodium ethylate, and pure aluminium ethylate can be 
isolated from the resulting solution.—Ch. Boulanger 
and J. Bardet : The presence of gallium in commercial 
aluminium and its separation. The spectrographic 
examination of commercial aluminium showed strong 
gallium lines, and a successful attempt was made to 
isolate gallium from this product. 1-7 kilograms of 
the metal were dissolved in hydrochloric acid, treated 
with sulphuretted hydrogen first in hydrochloric acid 
and then in. acetic acid solution, and the product 
heated with potash solution to remove iron. 0-3895 
gram of gallium oxide was obtained, or o-o17 per 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92] 


| B-rhodanine, 


cent. of metallic gallium on the aluminium taken. 
The purity of the product was proved spectroscopic- 
ally—R. Bossuet and L. Hackspill: A group of 
metallic phosphides derived from the hydrogen phos- 
phide P,H,. Rubidium phosphide, Rb,P,, dissolves 
readily in liquid ammonia, and this reacts with a solu- 
tion of lead nitrate in the same solvent, giving the 
corresponding lead phosphide, PbP,. Other metals 
give similar phosphides, but their purification offers 
great difficulties—Roger Douris: The addition of 
hydrogen to a secondary alcohol derived from furfurol 
in presence of nickel. A study of the reduction pro- 
ducts of ethylfurfurylcarbinol—P. Lemoult: Leuco- 
bases and colouring matters derived from diphenyl- 
ethylene. The action of the ethyl and methyl mag- 
nesium iodides upon . Michler’s ketone.—Marcel 
Mirande; The existence of a cyanogen compound in 
Papaver nudicaule.—P. Sisley and Ch. Porcher: The 
elimination of artificial colouring matters by the 
lacteal glands. Various harmless dyestuffs (uranine, 
methylene blue, dimethyl-amino-azo- 
benzene) were administered to goats 2nd dogs, both 
by ingestion and injection. The colouring matters 
were almost completely arrested by the lacteal glands, 
little or no colour appearing in the milk.—Em. 
Bourquelot, H. Hérissey, and J. Coirre: The bio- 
chemical synthesis of a sugar of the hexabiose group, 
gentiobiose.—Sabba Stefanescu: The phylogeny of the 
crown of the molars of mastodons and elephants. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

By Sir John Murray. 
sity Library.) Pp. 256+xii plates. 
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Higher Algebra. By Dr. W. P. Milne. Pp. xii+ 
586. (London: E Arnold.) 7s. 6d. net. 

Graphical Methods. By Prof. C. Runge. Pp. 
viiit+148. (New York: Columbia University Press; 
Oxford University Press.) 6s. 6d. net. 

Handbuch der vergleichenden Physiologie. Edited 
by H. Winterstein. Band iii., 37 Lief. (Jena: G. 
Fischer.) 5 marks. 

The Use of Vegetation for Reclaiming Tidal Lands. 
By G. O. Case. Pp. iv+36. (London: St: Bride’s 
Press, Ltd.) 2s. net. 

The Divine Mystery. By A. Upward. Pp. xv+ 
309. (Letchworth: Garden City Press, Ltd.) 10s, 6d. 
net. 

A Shorter Algebra. 
Bourne. Pp. viii+320+lix. 
Sons, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. 

Bell’s Outdoor and Indoor Experimental 
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39. Fourth Year’s Course. Pp. 39. Fifth Year’s 
Course. Pp. 48. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 
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4d. and 6d. respectively. 

Bergens Museums Aarbok 1913. 1 and 2 Heft. 
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In the ‘Once upon a Time.”’ By L. Gask. Pp. 
G. G. Harrap and Co.) 


(Home Univer- 


The Ocean. 
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By W. M. Baker and A. A. 
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Chemistry, Inorganic and Organic, with Experi- 
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Die Strudelwiirmer (Turbellaria). By Drs. P. 
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Dr. W. Klinkhardt.) 9 marks. 

Tintenfische mit besonderer Beriicksichtigung von 
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312 

Camp Fire Yarns of the Lost Legion. By Col. G. 
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Bird Life throughout the Year. By Dr. J. H. 


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Elementary Theory of Alternate Current Working. 
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Department of the Interior. Weather Bureau. 
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Number of Rainy Days. By Dr. G. T. Walker. Pp. 
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Vorlesungen tiber Pflanzenphysiologie. By Dr. L. 
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Fischer.) 16 marks. 

The Moose. By A. Herbert. Pp. viii+248+8 
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Highways and Byways of the Zoological Gardens. 
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DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, Novemper 6. 

Royat Society, at 4.30.—The Soil Solution and the Mineral Con- 
stituents of the Soil: A. D, Hall, W. E. Brenchley, and L. M. 
Underwood.—Studies in Heredity. II. Further Experiments in Crossing 
British Species of Sea Urchins: Prof. E. W. MacBride.—Synthesis by 
Sunlight in Relationsbip to the Origin of Life ; Synthesis of Formaldehyde 
from Carbon Dioxide and Water by Inorganic Colloids acting as ‘I'rans- 
formers of Light Energy : Prof. B. Moore and T. A. Webster.—'lhe 
Trypanosomes causing Dourine (Mal de Coit or Beschiilseuche): Dr. B. 
Blacklock and Dr. W. Yorke.—Postural and Non-Postural Activities of 
the Mid-Brain: T. G. Brown.—The Nature of the Coagulent of the 
Venom of Echis carinatus : J. O. W. Barratt. 


FRIDAY, NovemBER 7." 
Junior Institution or Encinerrs, at 8.—Wood Waste, &c., as Fuel for 
Gas Producers: G. E. Lygo. 
Geo .ocists’ AssociaTIon, at 8.—Annual Conversazione. 


SATURDAY, Novemser 8. 

British Psycuol.ocicat Society, at 3.30,—A Comparative Study of 
Normal and Sub-normal Children by Means of Mental Tests: Dr. A. R. 
Abelson.—A Reaction Pendulum, and a Dise, illustrative of Weber's Law, 
for Use in Class Teaching : Prof. J. Brough.—Observations on the Process 
of Learning and Relearning in Mice and Rats: Miss M. E. Maceregor.— 
A priori Argument for the Existence of a Cerebral Centre for Affection : 


Dr. A. Wolgemuth. 
MONDAY, NovemMBrR ro. 
Rovat GEOGRAPHICAL Society, at 8.30.—The Work and Adventures of the 
Northern Party of Captain Scott's Antarctic Expedition: Raymond E. 


Priestley. ~ 
TUESDAY, NovemBeEr 1:. 
INSTITUTION or Crvitt Encinerrs, at 8.—The Construction of the ‘‘ White 
shat Dock and adjoining Quays at Southampton: F. E. Wentworth- 
e1ldas. 
ZooLoGIcaL Society, at 8.30,—On Freshwater Decapod Crustacea (Families 


NO. 2297, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[NovEMBER 6, 1913 


Potamonidz and Palzmonidz) collected in Madagascar by the Hon. Paul 

A. Methuen: Dr. W. T. Calman.—On a Collection of Reptiles and 

Batrachians made by Dr. H. G.F. Spurrell, in the Colombian 

Choco: G. A. Boulenger.—A Revision of the Cyprinodont Fishes cf the 

Subfamily Peeciliine : C. Tate Regan.—Sponges in Waterworks: Prof. 

W. N. Parker.—I'wo new Actinians from the Coast of British 

Columbia : Prof. J. Playfair McMurrich. 

MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY, at 5.30.—A Crystalline Basic Copper Phosphate 
from Rhodesia: A. Hutchinson and A. M. MacGregor.—(1) On the 
Meteoric Stone of Wittekrantz, South Africa: (2) On the Remarkable 
Similarity in Chemical and Mineral Composition of Chondritic Meteoric 
Stones: Dr. G. T. Prior.—Notes on the Minerals occurring in the 
neighbourhood of Meldon. near Okehampton, Devonshire: A. Russell.— 
On a Calcium-iron-garnet from China: J. B. Scrivenor. 


THURSDAY, NovemBeER 13. 

Concrete INsriTUTE, at 7.30.—Presidential Address: E. P. Wells. 

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Pressure Rises: W. 
Duddell. 

Roya Socixrty, at 4.30.—Probable Paters: The Preparation of Eye-pre- 
serving Glass for Spectacles: Sir William Crookes.- On an Inversion 
Point for Liquid Carbon Dioxide in regard to the Joule-Thomson Effect : 
A. W. Porter.—Negative After-Images and successive Contrasts with Pure 
Spectral Colours: A. W. Porter and Dr, F. W. Edridge-Green.—The 
Positive Ions from Hot Metals: Prof. O. W. Richardson.—(r) The 
Diurnal Variation of Terrestrial Magnetism.—(2) A Suggestion as to the 
Origin of Black Body Radiation: G. W. Walker. 


FRIDAY, NovemMBeER 14 

Roya ASTRONOMICAL SOcIETY, at 5. 

Puysica Society, at 8.—On the Thermal Conductivity of Mercury by the 
Impressed Velocity Method: H. R. Nettleton.—On Polarisation and 
Energy Losses in Dielectrics :; Dr. A. W. Ashton.—A Lecture Experiment 
fa illustrate Ionisation by Collision and to show Thermoluminescence: F. 

. Harlow. 

ALCHEMICAL Society, at 8.15 (at The International Club, Regent Street, 

S.W.)—The Hermetic Mystery: Mme. Isabelle de Steiger. 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
German School Chemistry. By Prof. Arthur 
Smiithells, F.R.S: . 60 2 2 2 scp eke 
Zoological Bibliographies and Catalogues ... . 
‘he science of Forestry’. < . 57. <1.) 3 
Gur Bookshelf . . 2 . 4% 1s is) «5s si pe be) en 
Letters to the Editor :— 
Philosophy of Vitalism.—Prof. E. W. MacBride, . 
0) 2S Perey a EL 
The Piltdown Skull and Brain Cast.—Prof. Arthur 
Keith, F.R.S. 2.2 (oon) =o) = ee 
Pianoforte Touch.—Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S.. ., 292 
The Light Energy Required to Produce the Photo- 
graphic Latent Image.—P. G. Nutting. ... . 
An Aural Illusion. —T. B, Blathwayt 
Natural History and Travel. (///ustrated.) By R. 1, P. 
Prof. Noguchi's Researches on Infective Diseases. 
By Stephen Paget . 
Edward Nettleship, 
PaPaONS 30.5. 
INGEES) | we. ew vie ene (an elites one ee 
Our Astronomical Column :— : 
Gomet ‘News .... . =! ., a, gunn) 6 ea 
Spectra Obtained by Means of the Tube-arc .... . 
Kodaikanal Prominence Observations and Discussions 
Presentation of Bust of Lord Kelvin. (J///ustrated.) 
Ornithological Notes. By R.L. ....5%55 0% 
The Synthesis of Glucosides by Means of Ferments 
Physics at the British Association. ....... 
University and Educational Intelligence. ..... 
Societies and Academies . . 5... - 2 oun 
Books Received ee CMe cc 
Didoyiof Societies . «5 uh ss (es) ee 


F.R.S. By Dr. J. Herbert 


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NovEMBER 6, 1913] 


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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1913. 


THE ZEEMAN EFFECT. 
Researches in Magneto-Optics. With Special 

Reference to the Magnetic Resolution of 

Spectrum Lines. By Prof. P. Zeeman. (Mac- 

millan’s Science Monographs.) Pp. xvi+219 

+viii plates. (London: Macmillan and Co., 
etd) 1913.)) Price 6s. net.. 
HIS synthesis of our knowledge in an im- 
portant and fundamental branch of physics 
-—opened up by our author in 1896, and after- 
wards cultivated so zealously and fruitfully by 
many workers, but by himself far in front of all 
others—will be most welcome to all who wish to 
keep abreast of the advancing tide of electrical 
and optical discovery. Prof. Zeeman has paid us 
the compliment of writing his book in English; 
and nowhere, perhaps, will he have more attentive 
readers than here. Though occasional slight 
differences of idiom betray that the work is not 
composed in his native language, yet the clear- 
ness and directness of statement, and the con- 
ciseness of exposition, enable him to cover a large 
field, so to speak in a single view, in a manner 
which will make the book a permanent companion 
of all who are interested in the progress of the 
marvellous subject which is indissolubly asso- 
ciated with the name of the Professor of Physics 
of Amsterdam. 

In the early days of this research it could 
scarcely have been anticipated that it would grow 
almost into a separate science. The present 
writer well remembers the earliest announcement 
in this country of the first phase of Prof. Zeeman’s 
discovery, which was contained in a single 
sentence in NATuRE in December, 1896, imbedded 
in the midst of an abstract of proceedings of 
the Amsterdam Academy of about a month before ; 
its importance was, however, at once grasped, 
and the experiment was promptly repeated and 
verified by Lodge. The idea of a spectrum line 
being widened by a magnetic field had in fact 
been thought of; but a rough estimation had 
shown that if the ions concerned are comparable 
‘in mass to atoms, the effect would be far too 
slight for practical detection. The actual small- 
ness of the inertia of the electron, only 1/1500 of 
that of the hydrogen atom, which made all the 
difference in this regard, could not have been 
anticipated. But when Zeeman’s full paper came 
to hand, it was found to include much more; not 
only Lorentz’s brilliant and decisive test of a 
magnetic influence, and its verification, viz., the 
"circular polarisations of the edges of ihe widened 

spectral line: it also contained the establishment | 


NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


Wea! URE 


JF3 


of an actual splitting of each line into sharp 
components, which had been suggested as pos- 
sible, though one would imagine scarcely likely, 
by the special circumstances of Lorentz’s simple 
illustration of a single electron revolving round 
a centre of force. 

This latter very remarkable result, the sharp 
multiplication of the line instead of a mere general 
broadening, remains the theoretical crux of the 
subject, and at the same time is that feature of 
definiteness which makes and will make the 
Zeeman phenomenon so effective a probe as 
regards the inner physical structure of the 
individual molecules of matter. 

The value thus found for the ratio of charge 
to inertia, for the negative optical electron, fell 
at once into line with the value belonging to the 
free corpuscles of J. J. Thomson—the Crookes- 
Stokes torrent of charged particles which carry 
the kathode current in vacuum tubes—as an- 
nounced by the discoverer of free electrons, and 
of their stupendous translatory velocities, in the 
earlier part of the same year. Thus the electron 
theory, which already embraced in its theoretical 
scope all electric phenomena as well as all effects 
of radiation, was raised, by convergence from both 
its aspects in the same year, from a mental con- 
structive synthesis to the rank of tangible experi- 
mental fact. Special electron theories could thus 
in future be launched out in detail, into regions 
of tentative speculation hitherto almost regarded 
as fanciful, as the test of experiment became 
applicable more and more as a check on their 
exuberance or an indication for their fruitful 
modification. 

The earliest general comparative study of the 
phenomena of resolution, for the various spectral 
lines of the same chemical element and of related 
elements, was made in the two following years by 
Preston, working within the circle of FitzGerald’s 
influence in Dublin, who was able, as it happened, 
to turn to account a powerful Rowland grating 
that had just previously been established at the 
Royal University. The circumstances which pre- 
vented Zeeman himself, for nearly ten years, from 
proceeding with the full exploration of his own 
subject in this direction—namely, his transfer 
from the Leyden laboratory to a lectureship at 
Amsterdam University, and the very imperfect 
spectroscopic equipment which he found there— 
are recorded here not without pathos, at the be- 
ginning of chap. iv., in explanation of his occupa- 
tion during those years mainly on side problems 


| which could be attacked with small optical powers. 


The rule announced by Preston, and now appro- 
| priately known by his name, as it arose out of his 
| last piece of work before the premature termina- 

M 


314 


NATURE 


[ NovEMBER 13, 1913 


tion of a promising career in science, viz., that 
in each spectral series the magnetic separations 
measured in frequency are the same for all lines, 
and that there is close parallelism for elements 
of the same chemical group, remains the chief 
generalisation in this branch of the subject. It 
was fully confirmed by the much more extensive 
investigations of Runge and Paschen published 
three years later. But in fact the narrower 
foundation on which Preston built may well have 
appeared at the time to be sufficient, in view of 
the pertinent theoretical considerations. 

The fundamental puzzle, why there should be 
definite resolution at all, instead of hazy broaden- 
ing, has already been referred to. The most 
general theoretical system for which definite 
resolution can be predicted remains now, as then, 
one composed of any number of negative elec- 
trons describing orbits, however entangled, under 
their mutual repulsions in a field of force steady 
(or nearly steady), thus due to positive charges 
fixed (or nearly fixed, as they may well be, even 
though free, on account of attached inertia), and 
symmetrical with respect to the axis of the im- 
pressed magnetic field. In such a case the effect 
of an impressed magnetic field H on the system 
is the same as that of an impressed rotation round 
the axis of the field with velocity w=eH/2m; and 
in the analysis of the radiation which the system 
sends out, all its spectral lines are therefore 
divided into normal triplets, i.e. according to the 
elementary Lorentz rule, with the common interval 
w/2m in their frequencies. If a natural spectral 
series had been found to behave differently from 
this theoretical system, it would at that time have 
been a matter for surprise: yet in Runge and 
Paschen’s work, though Preston’s rule is obeyed, 
the resolution proved often to be very different 
from the normal triplet type which is characteristic 
in the proposition above quoted. Instead, how- 
ever, these experimenters found order of a more 
general kind, the components, often more than 
three, being usually symmetrically spaced at inter- 
vals which are equal to or exact sub-multiples 
of the standard Lorentz amount. 

Not a few attempts have been made for the 
theoretical elucidation of this remarkable rule; 
but it probably still remains as a touchstone for 
the next substantial advance in the dynamics of 
molecular structure. Prof. Zeeman rather hints 
his opinion that its range of approximate applica- 
tion may be limited, just as the original standard 
triplet resolution proved to be exact only in 
special systems. Large accumulations of material 
exist for detailed comparative study: the subject 
has in fact- now definitely entered the chemical 
laboratory, and attention is specially directed by 

NO. 2298, VOL. 92) 


| the simplification, in fact fusion, which has been 


our author to the work of J. E. Purvis with Dr. — 
Liveing’s spectroscopic equipment at Cambridge, — 
revealing identical types Of resolution in the 
spectra of numerous elements in which series are 
not as yet known. . 
For further progress on the physical side, much — 
hivher resolving power is a desideratum, which, — 
indeed, is now rapidly being applied. A beginning” 
has been made (by Nagaoka in a recent letter in 
Nature, August 25) in the mapping of the re- 
markable changes of type of resolution of the 
definite satellites attached to certain lines, as the 
magnetic field is increased: this phenomenon, and — 


found by Paschen and Back to ensue in the resolu- 
tion of close multiple lines, when the field becomes — 
very great, and more recently by Fortrat, follow- 
ing early isolated observations by Michelson and 
others, lend weight to Voigt’s hypothesis of some 
kind of vibrational linkage between adjacent lines, 
even when their own modes of resolution are of 
different types. 

Such difficulties as these have obstructed the 
general theory, as approached from the side of the — 
radiation from magnetised flames. But at an 
early stage Voigt had formulated the problem— 
and has since developed it in many directions, 
analytically and experimentally, with his usual 
mastery—from the point of view of propagation 
of incident radiation through a magnetised 
medium, a subject already discussed for trans- 
parent media in theories of Faraday’s rotation of 
the plane of polarisation and of the related Kerr 
effect of reflection. If that type of theory is ex- 
pressed so as to exhibit the mechanism of selec- — 
tive absorption, by the explicit introduction of — 
terms appropriate to molecules vibrating by reson- 
ance and attached to the medium, and also of 
general damping terms when expedient, a dark 
narrow band which would be single in the 
absence of an impressed magnetic field should 
become resolved into Zeeman components 
when such a field is included; or at any rate 
this fact will be a guide to the form of the 
equations. 

Almost simultaneously with this theoretical dis- 
cussion, the Italian physicists Macaluso and 
Corbino broke the cognate experimental ground, 
by the detailed observation of an absorption line 
under very high dispersion, showing that the 
known excessive and anomalous refraction at its 
borders was accompanied by excessive and anoma-— 
lous magnetic rotation, superposed on the mag- 
netic resolution of the line. Indeed, very soon 
after Zeeman’s first discovery, Righi had put the 
resolution of the line in evidence in a most effective 
and beautiful manner, in an absorption experi- 


NOVEMBER 13, 1913] 


NATURE 345 


ot 


ment, simply by showing that a magnetic field 
restored visibility of the line when applied to an 
absorbing vapour between nicols crossed for ex- 
tinction of the light. 

In the theoretical procedure of Voigt the 
radiating molecule has thus disappeared from 
the scene, or rather has become latent; the 
problem proposed is now to represent the effect 
of the medium in bulk heuristically, as well as 
may be, by introduction of appropriate new 
types of terms into the differential equations 
of propagation, new types which owe their 
justification, or at any rate their suggestion, to 
the general physical nature of the interaction of 
the molecules with the «ther in the magnetic 
field. The aim is thus coordination of phenomena 
rather than their explanation; and the procedure 
is specially appropriate to that philosophical view 
which restricts the sphere of physics to the adequate 
formulation of the relations subsisting between the 
tangible experimental data. The mode in which 
the interaction of the vibrating molecules gives 
rise in a general way to such terms in the 
equations of propagation, including the relation of 
reciprocity of the Zeeman to the Faraday effect, 
had been exhibited by FitzGerald, by means of 
simple illustrative systems, about the same time. 
All these converging activities show how ripe for 
the harvest ideas had become, through the pro- 
gress of the general theory of absorption and the 
related anomalous dispersion, first essayed by 
Young with imperfect means of analysis a century 
ago, and effectively developed in experiment and 
theory by Kundt, Maxwell, Rayleigh, Sellmeier, 
Helmholtz, &c. in more recent days. 

Similarly, allusion has been made above to the 
circumstance that the times had been ripening, 
before Zeeman’s discovery, towards the under- 
‘Standing of the relations of a magnetic field to 
the vibrations of the molecules which take part 
in the emission or transmission of radiation. The 
most remarkable and even precise anticipation of 
all, and one which by good fortune incited Prof. 
Zeeman to enter upon his investigation, was an 
experimental attempt made by Faraday himself, 
which our author had come to know of, very 
appropriately, from a reference in a lecture by 
Clerk Maxwell. Then there was the additional 
fortunate circumstance that Prof. Lorentz was at 
hand at Leyden, to bring to bear his exact ideas 
on the nascent discovery and point out the path 
for further developments. These are opportunities, 
Seemingly merely born of concurrent chances, yet 
‘such as are only grasped by men worthy of them. 
. The skill in optical experimentation, which is re- 
_ vealed by the investigations recorded in 
m NO. 2208, vor. 92] 


treatise, connotes a long training for the tasks 
there undertaken: we are thus reminded of Prof. 
Zeeman’s early exact measurements on the Kerr 
effect in reflection of light from a magnetic pole 
(not mentioned in this book), by which he won 
his spurs at Leyden, doubtless in that problem 
also enjoying the stimulus of Lorentz’s advice and 
inspiration. 

Recently the centre of interest has shifted in 
this subject into a purely observational side, to 
the mountain peak in California where G. E. Hale 
and his associates, by refined and determined work 
with the very powerful special equipment of the 
Carnegie Observatory, have realised in marvellous 
ways, still awaiting closer interpretation, one of 
Zeeman’s anticipations in his earliest paper, the 
application of the method to the exploration of 
the magnetic phenomena of the sun, greatly ex- 
panding thereby our picture of the activities of the 
ultimate source of all our light and power. 

But we must stop: these topics, and many 
others of absorbing and often perplexing interest, 
may be followed up in the book itself. Less than 
twenty years ago the Zeeman effect was unknown, 
we may almost say unthought of. Already it 
permeates, as a method of coordination and dis- 
covery, all the most refined problems of electrical 
and optical science. We have now a handbook 
of the present state of the subject, of the right 
degree of detail, written from the experimental 
point of view without. undue occupation or dis- 
traction with theoretical speculations for which it 
yet arranges the material, with brief side exposi- 
tions recalling to mind succinctly such knowledge 
of related subjects, spectral resolving power, 
spectral series, &c., as is essential to the argu- 
ment: and this reasoned survey has come to us 
from the hands of the discoverer and chief experi- 
mental promoter of the Zeeman phenomenon. 


Joni 


P.S.—In the foregoing review of Prof. 
Zeeman’s monograph, which was written early in 
October, it is remarked that recent observations, 
especially by Paschen and Back, and afterwards 
by Fortrat, on the modification of the Zeeman 
effect in strong fields, give support to the theory 
advanced by Voigt, which postulates mutual influ- 
ence between the constituents of a close multiple 
line in the spectrum. The case may now (Novem- 
ber 4) be put stronger. The recent account by 
Fortrat of the magnetic resolution of a sodium 
doublet (Comptes rvendus, October 20,° 1913, p. 
635) seems to leave no room for doubt that the 
equations advanced by Prof. Voigt are of the 


this { essence of the matter.—J. L. 


8) 


MALARIA AND PARASITOLOGY. 

(1) Malaria, Cause and Control. By Prof. W. B. 
Herms. Pp. xi+163. (New York: The Mac- 
millan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 
1913.) Price 6s. 6d. net. 

(2) A Laboratory Guide to the Study of Parasit- 
ology. By Prof. W. B. Herms. Pp. xv+72. 
(New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 3s. 6d. 


net. 

(1) HE volume on malaria is written in a 

popular style, and is intended to edu- 
cate the intelligent public as well as the expert on 
the methods of controlling this disease. It con- 
tains much valuable information, and should be 
read by all those who live in malarious districts. 
The contents of the book are based mainly on the 
author’s four years’ experience in the State of 
California. This State is noted for its healthful 
climate, yet in many localities malaria is a scourge. 
Malaria is the principal cause of absences from 
the rural public schools in the infested districts, 
and three-fourths of the malaria in California is 
found in nine out of twenty-four malarial counties. 
The Board of Health there estimates that the 
annual loss from this disease amounts to 
2,820,400 dollars. 

A short and popular account is given of the 
various stages of development of the malarial 
germ, in the human body and in the mosquito, in 
order that the reader may obtain a more intelli- 
gent grasp of the methods of prevention. The 
germ is transmitted by the bite of certain species 
of anopheline mosquitoes. A lucid and well-illus- 
trated description is given of the anopheles and 
other mosquitoes in general in order to teach the 
reader how to detect easily the dangerous varie- 
ties which transmit the disease. 

The breeding places, development, and habits of 
these insects are thoroughly described. This in- 
formation is necessary, since the methods of 
controlling and eradicating the disease are based 
upon this scientific knowledge. Prevention con- 
sists mainly in a systematic and determined 
crusade against mosquitoes. These can be best 
attacked at their source of production, or, in other 
words, their breeding grounds must be destroyed 
or rendered unsuitable for their development. 
This is done by draining or filling in the swampy 
lands near habitations and by spraying oil or 
poisons on stagnant pools of water. It is also 
important to destroy as much as possible by 
fumigation the adult mosquitoes in dwellings; 
these should be screened in order to prevent the 
mosquitoes from gaining an entrance. Probably 
the most important part, however, of an anti- 


2298, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


} minerals—their crystalline form, physical proper= 


may be obtained. A considerable portion of 
book deals with this important subject. Among 
other methods, the public is best educated by 
aid of the local Press and by popular lectures. Th 
book is excellently illustrated throughout, and 
nothing has been omitted in the endeavour to 
make ie subject clear and intelligible to the 
ordinary reader. 

(2) The work on parasitology is intended to 
give students a wide practicil view of the subject 
in its application to the health and well-being of 
man and beast. It is arranged so as to provide 
sufficient matter for a full laboratory session on 
human and veterinary parasitology. It is divided 
into exercises, each of which is sufficient to 
occupy the student in the laboratory for two and 
a-half to three hours. The various orders of 
disease transmitting insects are dealt with, includ- 
ing bed-bugs, mosquitoes, gnats, horse flies, 
house flies, stable flies, bot flies, lice, ticks, and 
mites. Parasiticides and their method of use are 
given. Amcebe, trypanosomes, and malarial 
parasites have each one exercise devoted to them 
Under the heading of helminthology come — the 
round worms, hook worms, lung worms, whip 
worms, trichina, filaria, leeches, flukes, tape 
worms, &c. A special exercise is devoted 
helminth ova and another to the various anthel- 
minthics. Finally, exercises are given on the life- 
histories of the common house fly, the mosquito, 
and the flea. is 

This book must necessarily be of great value 
to the student and to the teacher. There are no 
illustrations, but it is intended for use in 
laboratory with a lecturer and material at ha 
and also as a practical supplement to a genera 
course of lectures on the subject. 


A POPULAR MINERALOGY. 

The Mineral Kingdom. By Dr. Reinhard Brauns 
Translated, with additions, by L. J. Spencer, 
eats 1-25. Pp. 432+91 plates. Esslingen- 
a-N.: J. F. Schreiber; London: Williams and 
orate, 1912.)\ Price’si; oss net 
N the preface to the original German edition 
Prof. Brauns states that the book was written 

for the admirers and collectors of minerals, and 
aimed at increasing the number of those inter- 
ested in such things. Since its appeal is to the 
layman rather than to the student or the expert 
the arrangement of the book is somewhat different 
from that usual in text-books on the subject. — 
general part deals briefly—perhaps too briefly for 
satisfactory exposition—with the characters of 


NovEMBER 13, I913]| 


NATURE 317 


ties, and chemical composition. In the other, and 
principal, part the characters, chief occurrences, 
and uses of the principal mineral species are very 
fully described. 

Since the reader for whom the book is intended 
is mainly interested in knowing what each mineral 
is used for, the species are grouped together, not 
-as is customary in modern text-books according 
to their crystallo-chemical relations, but to the 
uses to which they are put, an arrangement which 
has much to commend it in a popular work. Thus 
in the first section we find the ores and the minerals 
resulting from*their weathering, meteorites form- 
ing an appendix to iron; in the second the precious 
stones; in the third the rock-forming minerals, a 
group of extreme importance, though individually 
not often attaining to very prominent size; in the 
third the mineral salts, which includes, besides 
rock-salt, the phosphates, and the minerals supply- 
ing the rare earths, &c., several species left over, 
such as the calcite and barytes groups; and lastly 
we have the organic compounds. Some useful 
hints on the collection and preservation of speci- 
mens are given in an appendix. A valuable feature 
of the book consists in the extensive series of 
coloured plates, on which are depicted as faith- 
fully as the chromo-lithographic process will 
permit some of the finest specimens contained in 
the principal German collections. 

The English translation was entrusted to the 
efficient hands of Mr. L. J. Spencer, of the 
Natural History Museum, and Prof. Brauns was 
fortunate in securing the services of one so well 
qualified for the task. While adhering to the 


made many small additions and alterations which 
render the book of greater value to English 
readers. Since the German edition appeared 
mearly ten years ago, he has introduced more 
‘recent statistics than were given in the original. 
Owing to a change of publishers the English 
edition, which, like the German, was issued in 
parts, was considerably delayed, and was not 
finally published until last year. For that reason 
some of the information—for instance, that re- 
‘garding the carat-weight—is already out of date. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 

The Golden Bough: a Study in Magic and Reli- 
gion, Third edition. Part vi., The Scapegoat. 
By Prof. J. G. Frazer. Pp. xiv+453. (London: 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price ros. net. 
E sixth part of “The Golden Bough” deals 


teristic human failing, the avoidance of responsi- 
larity of the popular ideas and practices in the 


matter of sin-transference, expulsion of evils, 
NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


general design of the original, Mr. Spencer has. 


bility. The extraordinary prevalence and simi- | 


expiatory sacrifices, and vicarious atonement, as 
shown by Prof. Frazer in a myriad cases from 
China to Peru, is enough to make the social and 
political philosopher despair of humanity. The 
story of “The Scapegoat” depicts the negative 
aspect of representation, which is the dark and 
lurid side of social morality. In his famous de- 
scription of the periodic rage of the people against 
social offenders Macaulay simply illustrates the 
modern form of the savage “expulsion of evils.” 
The idea culminates in the use of the Dying God 
as a scapegoat to free his worshippers from the 
troubles with which life is beset. The author con- 
cludes that “the idea resolves itself into a simple 
confusion between the material and the imma- 
terial, between the real possibility of transferring 
a physical load to other shoulders, and the sup- 
posed possibility of transferring our bodily and 
mental ailments to another who will bear them 
for us.” What was in the previous edition the 
spectacular climax of the exposition, viz., the 
brilliant explanation of the Gospel story of the 
Crucifixion as embodying the ritual of the mock 
king and popular (not to say royal) substitute in 
sin, is relegated to an appendix, as being doubt- 
ful. This is possibly a mistake. Prof. Frazer 
goes out of his way to assert his belief in the 
historicity of Jesus. The occasion demanded an 
examination of the facts. 

An important addition is a careful study of the 
Aztec religion of human sacrifice, the secret lever 
of which has not yet been discerned. It should be 
compared with the auto-da-fé of Christianity. 
Such comparisons are avoided by Prof. Frazer, 
who will not go down to the ultimate depths. 
Another new feature is an extended treatment of 
the use of games as magical processes to change 
the weather, and so forth. Hence the author too 
easily assumes that certain games were originally 
magical rites, which is absurd. 

But the book is a storehouse of social facts, 
sympathetically treated, and invaluable to those 
interested in the development of society and the 


moral law. As an analysis of religious ideas, of 
course, like the other volumes, it is epoch- 
making. A. E. CRaw_Ley. 


Reports from the Laboratory of the Royal College 
of Physicians, Edinburgh. Edited by Dr. G. L. 
Gulland and Dr. James Ritchie. Vol. xii. 
(Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1913.) 

Tuis volume of Reports contains contributions 

of workers in the laboratory of the Royal College 

of Physicians, Edinburgh, during the year 1912, 

and is edited by the Curator, Dr. Gulland, and 

the Superintendent, Professor Ritchie. Anatomy, 
pharmacology, pathology, and bacteriology are the 
branches of medical science represented, and the 


| papers are valuable contributions to science and 
| are evidence of the useful work which is being 
| done in this laboratory. 

With the folklore and priest-craft of that charac- | 


Of the papers of more general interest, we note 
Dr. Gardner’s on soaps and their effects on the 
skin. He concludes that all soaps are more or 
less irritant to the normal skin, particularly the 
cheaper soaps made with cotton-seed and other oils 


318 


NATURE 


[NovEMEER 13, 1913. 


and rancid fats. Soaps, even when combined with 
antiseptic substances, possess little or no anti- 
septic power, even in more than the quantities in 
which they are ordinarily used. Dr. Addis has 
investigated the causation of hemophilia, the 
‘bleeding disease.” He finds that the essential 
factor is a qualitative defect in the prothrombin, 
whereby blood coagulation in the hamophilic in- 
dividual is delayed; on the other hand, quantita- 
tively all the elements necessary for blood-coagu- 
lation are present in the normal individual. 

Distemper in dogs and other animals has been 
investigated by Dr. M’Gowan, who has regularly 
isolated in this condition a bacterium with distinct 
characters. Dr. John Fraser has investigated the 
prevalence of the human and bovine types of the 
tubercle bacillus in bone and joint tuberculosis 
occurring in children. He finds that the bovine 
type of bacillus is present in more than half the 
cases. 

The Edinburgh College of Physicians is to be 
congratulated on the results of their liberal endow- 
ment of research; and in the preface due acknow- 
ledgment is made of additional financial assistance 
received from the Carnegie Trust. RO els 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


The Piltdown Skull and Brain Cast. 


In my previous letters (NATURE, October 2, p. 131, 
and October 30, p. 267) I refrained from entering into 
a detailed consideration of the reconstruction of the 
Piltdown skull, because I am preparing for presenta- 
tion to one of the learned societies a full statement 
of all the facts and considerations bearing upon the 
points at issue. But I am glad to accede to Prof. 
Keith’s invitation (NaturE, November 6, p. 292) to 
publish a drawing of the brain cast for comparison 
with his (Nature, October 16, p. 198, Fig. 2). 

It is a pleasure to express my hearty agreement 
with his appreciation of the excellence of Mr. Bar- 
low’s workmanship and of Dr. Smith Woodward’s 
courtesy in permitting anatomists freely to handle 
and examine the precious fragments. Mr. Barlow’s 
casts of the fossil bones are certainly the best 
examples of such modelling that I have ever seen; 
and I strongly resent the interpretation (op. cit., 
Pp, 292) put upon my remarks in reference to them. 
But even such realistically perfect copies cannot dis- 
play structural details such as the texture of bone, 
the precise location of certain faintly marked sutures, 
and the nature of sutural edges of the bones; and all 
of these points are of crucial importance in this 
discussion, 

On the actual fragments, for example, one can see 
quite plainly a part of the right half of the coronal 
suture (not visible on the cast), meeting the 
more obvious left half at an angle which must, 
of course, be upon (or very close to) the median plane. 
Now this point lies upon the forward extension of the 
plane mm (see fig.), which was determined from other 
evidence (see Nature, October 30, p. 267). 


NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


Then again the texture of the bone covering th 
area on the brain cast near the line mm just aboy 
the point e (see fig.) is characteristic of that whi 
comes into contact with the median longitudinal sin 
This is further confirmation of the accuracy of th 
determination of the line mm. There are three o' 
features of the bone in the neighbourhood of the 1 
corresponding to mm, namely the supralambd 
flattening, the arrangements and medial relations 
the meningeal grooves, and the median groove 
the frontal region, which confirm this identification 
of the line mm as a close approximation to the real 
median plane. 

On these grounds the orientation of the left parietal 
(P) to the median plane (mm) is settled; but we 
have still to determine its position in relation to the 
occipital upon that plane. * 

In spite of the extreme asymmetry of the posterior 
poles of the cerebral hemispheres (O and O°), the two 
halves of the cerebellum (Ce.l. and Ce.r.) and the 
lateral sinuses (L. and R.), the orientation of the 
occipital fragment upon the median plane is fixed, 
as a Keith has explained (NaturE, October 16, © 

. 198). : ; 
The broken piece (b) fits accurately upon the main 


fragment (O'), and as it bears upon its external face 
and lateral edge traces of the right part of the 
lambdoid suture, it is important as giving some indi- 
cation of the breadth of the occipital bone at this 
level. [To avoid the addition of another diagram, I 
have inserted alongside the letter b a stippled design 
to suggest, in a purely diagrammatic manner, 
extent and complexity of a small fragment of the 
lambdoid suture preserved upon the external face of 
the bone that covered the area b.] ¢ 

Now that the occipital and left parietal fragments 
have been orientated upon the line mm, the problem 
remains of determining their relative heights the one 
to the other upon that line. e 

The left lateral sinus left its imprint upon the 
occipital (L.) and also upon the lower corner of the 
left parietal (at d). Although the sinus is sometimes 
distinctly arched upward as it passes from the occi- 
pital to the parietal, the points d and the uppe 
margin of L are as a rule on approximately the same 
horizontal plane, both in man and the anthropoid apes 
Thus we cannot ‘go far wrong if we bring the occi- 
pital and the left parietal into the positions shown 
in the diagram. 


But Prof. Keith will object (NaTurE, October 16, 


NOVEMBER 13, 1913] 


lambdoid suture (cd and ab) into symmetrical posi- 
tions. In answer to this criticism it may be said 
that the lambdoid suture in this restoration is as 
nearly symmetrical as it is in many ancient and 
modern skulls. Moreover, in the case under con- 
sideration there is the most positive evidence of a lack 
of complete symmetry. Not only is there the most 
striking asymmetry in the whole occipital area 
(compare O and O! and Ce.l. and Ce.r.), but the 
remains of the lambdoid suture itself present a 
marked contrast on the two sides, being quite simple 
on the left (cd), but complex and dentate on the right 
_(b). To base any far-reaching conclusions upon the 
position and direction of an isolated centimetre (b) 
: 


. 
: p. 198) that this will not bring the two halves of the 
: 


of the lambdoid suture (see Nature, October 16, 
p- 198) is simply courting disaster. For every 

_ anatomist knows that the lambdoid is the most vari- 
able and tortuous of all the cranial sutures. 

Another indication of asymmetry of the lambdoid 
suture is the direction of the fragment marked e. 
My critics may say that as it points towards the 
piece cd and not towards b and f, it clearly belongs 
to the left and not to the right half of the suture, and 
that it would fall into its proper position if the left 
parietal were moved wholly to the left side of the 
line mm. But such a deviation as e is quite common. 
A precisely similar thing occurs in the Gibraltar 
skull, and in the La Quina skull there is a Wormian 
bone near the corresponding spot on the right side. 

So far I have said nothing of the right parietal 
fragment (P'). It bears only a very small fragment 
(a) of the lambdoid suture, which, of course, must 
lie somewhere near the line joining e and f. Its 
lower margin does not quite reach the lateral sinus 
at f. With these and other guides (supplied by the 
impressions of the brain and meningeal vessels) this 
fragment may be orientated in a position approxi- 
mately symmetrical to the left side. Incidentally, as 
the point @ must be in the neighbourhood of the 
sutural line on 6, the position of the right parietal 
fragment (P*) so determined checks the accuracy of 
the position of the left parietal (P). 

No exact symmetry between P and P? is attainable 
because the brain itself is not symmetrical. In the 


human brain the type of occipital asymmetry seen in. 


this case (O and O') is usually associated with a 

greater prominence of the right parietal eminence 

(P!). This was the case in the Piltdown brain. In 

further confirmation of the reality of this it is found 

‘that the right parietal bone is very much thinner than 

the left, so that, as in the occipital region, the full 
extent of the cerebral lack of symmetry is not dis- 
played in the outline of the skull. 

_ In making the drawing illustrating this letter I 
have used a cranial cast which Dr. Smith Woodward 
_ kindly sent me a few weeks ago, but have made 

some slight alterations in the positions of the two 
parietal fragments. 

_ In conclusion I should like to say how much I am 
indebted to Prof. Keith for all the help he has given 
me in my investigations, not only by allowing me 

“to make use of all the valuable material in the museum 
of the Royal College of Surgeons, but also by dis- 
cussing with me frankly and openly all the points in 

‘dispute concerning the Piltdown skull itself. In the 

earlier part of July, working with the cranial casts, 

he seemed to me fo have established a good case for 

his mode of reconstruction; but from the moment I 

began to examine the actual fragments (August 13, 

1913, the day after the discussion of the matter at the 

International Medical Congress) I became convinced 

that his solution of the problem was an impossible 

one. It was this personal experience of the import- 


NO. 2298, vor. 92] 


NATURE 


319 


ance of working with the real things that I had in 

mind when I was writing my last letter (NATURE, 

October 30, p. 267). G. Extior Smirn. 
The University of Manchester. 


The Piltdown Mandible. 

In The British Journal of Dental Science of October 
1, there are published some excellent radiograms of 
the Piltdown mandible and of a chimpanzee’s, the 
views having been taken from the side and from 
above. 

In order to compare the outlines of the two 
specimens, I have superimposed tracings taken from 
each (Figs. 1 and 2). 


Fic. 1.—Outline tracing from radiograms of the Piltdown mandible 
(continuous line) and of the mandible of chimpanzee (broken line). 


The similarity of the specimens brought out in this 
way is very striking, for the outlines are practically 
identical. JI have also superimposed tracings of the 
last reconstruction of the Piltdown mandible and of 
the jaw of a young chimpanzee (Fig. 3), and again 
the similarity of the outline is very remarkable. No 
human mandible is known which shows anything 


Fic. 2.—Outline tracing from radiograms of the Piltdown mandible 
(continuous line) and of a chimpanzee (broken line as viewed 
from above. 


like the same resemblance to the chimpanzee jaw in 
outline and in all its details. 

Of the molar teeth, I need only say here that not 
only do they approach the ape form, but in several 
respects are identical with them. 

The cranial fragments of the Piltdown skull, on 
the other hand, are in practically all their details 


Fic. 3.—Outline tracing of the last reconstruc- 
tion of the Piltdown mandible, and of the 
mandible of a young chimpanzee (shaded 


essentially human. If that be so it seems to me to be 
as inconsequent to refer the mandible and the cranium 
to the same individual as it would be to articulate a 
chimpanzee foot with the bones of an essentially 
human thigh and leg. Davip WarTERSTON. 
University of London, King’s College, 
Strand, W.C. 


Darwinism 100 Years Ago. 


Wuo was the first to propound clearly the idea of 
sexual selection as an important factor in evolution? 
“Darwin, of course,” is the usual answer, even of 
those who, sneering at this great man, delight in 
pointing out that it was not he who first promulgated 
the improving effects of selection, and that all he 
himself did introduce was the subsection of sexual 
selection; according to them a baseless idea. 

Recently I happened to come across the following 
statement by Friedrich Tiedemann, in his ‘ Anatomie 
und Naturgeschichte der Vogel” (Zweiter Band, p. 13, 
Heidelberg, 1814) :—‘‘ Very often there arise fights 
between the males for the possession of the females. 
.. . These fights, which take place also between very 
many mammals, seem to be very important for the 
conservation of a healthy progeny, since only the 
strongest and most vigorous males propagate the race, 
whilst the young and too old individuals, being weak, 
are conquered, and removed from the act of propaga- 
tion. 

Tiedemann, who flourished just one hundred years 
ago, was a zoologist with great and clearly expressed 
ideas, and the following quotations may be of interest 
to some readers of NATURE :— 

‘““€ Metamorphosis of the Birds.’ There is a meta- 
morphosis concerning the whole life of the indivdual 
bird, from the moment of hatching to its death. 
There is further a yearly metamorphosis, culminating 
with the period of propagation; and a less significant 
diurnal change. Lastly, there is a metamorphosis 
due to successive geological epochs" (pp. 288-325). 

“. . With every larger geological epoch (Erd- 
Revolution) some animals have perished. . . . But it 
seems also that after each of such revolutions new 
animals have been formed, mainly—I suppose— 
through gradual metamorphosis and alteration of the 
previous remaining animals into new kinds (Thier- 
formen), caused by new climatic and physical influ- 
ences"’ (p. 322). 

“.. . These fossil rests of birds testify to the age 
of the class of birds. But since all these remnants 
seem to belong to extinct kinds of birds, they can 
be taken as proofs that in the course of time the 
species is just as much subject to metamorphosis as 
the individual” (p. 325). H. Gapow. 

Cambridge, October 23. 


The Stone Implements of the Tasmanians. 


THE stone implements of the Tasmanian aborigines 
are frequently cited as an instance of the survival 
of an Eolithic assemblage into modern times. Having 
collected eoliths on the Kent plateau and_ similar 
chipped pieces of stone in South Africa, and having 
recently had the opportunity of collecting worked 
stones on an old camping ground of the Tasmanian 
aborigines, I feel impelled to make a few comments 
on this assertion. 

The site that I visited, under the guidance of its 
discoverer, Mr. W. S. Smith, of Launceston, is about 
two miles east of that town. It is about ten acres 


in extent, and occupies rising ground at the side of . 


a stream—a characteristic position, I am told. It is 
now sparsely strewn with flakes, among which 
trimmed examples are rare; formerly the reverse was 
the case, Mr. Smith having removed about 400 
trimmed flakes. The ground was ploughed several 
years ago, so that a large number must be buried. 
Several such sites are known around Launceston, 
and Mr. Smith has a large collection from them. I 
have also examined the collection of the Rev. C. S. 


NO. 2298, VOL. 92} 


NATURE 


Scott, of the museum. Both of these are from ~ 
various parts of Tasmania,#but present the same 
general facies as those from the neighbourhood of 
Launceston. Bi 

If we accept the eoliths of the Kent plateau as 
typical, then these Tasmanian implements are cer- 
tainly not true eoliths, for instead of being made from 
naturally broken pieces of stone, they are made from 
artificially produced flakes. “They are not even com- 
parable to the flake-eoliths of South Africa, for they 
include examples that exhibit a meatness of edge 
trimming and resultant regularity of outline that | 
never met with among them. At the same time the 
bulk of the Tasmanian implements are characterised 
by an unskilful trimming and irregular outline that 
remind one forcibly of the eoliths, while they. fre- 
quently exhibit characteristic eolithic shapes. The 
minority remind me strongly of a prominent element 
in some of those South African assemblages that 
approach nearest to the Aurignacian. 

If we eliminate the more advanced implements 
from these pseudo-Aurignacian assemblages, then they 
resemble the Tasmanian assemblage, with this differ- 
ence, that in the one the Eolithic resemblances are 
subordinate, and in the other they are predominant. — 

In attempting to convey an idea of the lowly statu 
of the Tasmanian implements by the use of Europea 
terminology, one is therefore not justified in speaking 
of them as Eolithic. Pre-Aurignacian would more 
correctly indicate their position. f 
J. P. JoHNSON. — 


Launceston, Tas., September 25. 


A Further Parasite of the Large Larch Saw-fly. 


May I be permitted to add a brief note to the letter 
written by Mr. Mangan, which appeared in Nature of - 
July 24 (vol. xci., p. 530)? In the account of the 
examination of the parasites that have emerged this 
year from cocoons collected in the Thirlmere district 
it was stated that 25 per cent. of the cocoons yielded 
specimens of an undetermined species of Mesoleius. 

Since the letter was written, this new parasite has 
been identified by Prof. Otto Schmiedeknecht as 
Hyperablys albopictus gray. (syn. 
fuga, Holmgr.). It is described by Mr. 
“‘Ichneumonologia Britannica,’’ vol iv., 
name Euryproctus albopictus grav. It has apparent 
never been hitherto recorded from Nematus erichsonit; 
it has been bred, however, by Brischke (Schr. Nat. 
Ges., Danz., 1871) from larve of N. hypogastricus 
and of N. testaceus in Prussia, and has also been bred, 
probably at Worcester, from Camponiscus lurid 
ventris. , 

This species is readily distinguished from Meso. 
leius tenthredinis by the white colour of the first and 
the second coxz and the dark tint of the third. he 
face in the female is marked with white, and in thi 
male the white marking present in both species is 
broader than in M. tenthredinis. ie aq 
R. A. WaARDLE, © 
Department of Economic Zoology, 

Victoria University of Manchester. — 
November 3. 


LICENCES FOR WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. 


QUESTION of considerable importance i 
raised in certain correspondence which h 
passed between Mr. F. Hope-Jones and the 
Secretary to the Post Office in relation to the con: 
ditions under which the postal authorities are pre 


NOVEMBER 13, 1913] 


NATURE 321 


pared alone to issue licences, at the present time, 
_ for the installation of apparatus for the reception 
of wireless time signals. Since the commence- 
ment of the present year the postal authorities 


nection with the issue of ordinary licences for a 
wireless installation; a protest has been raised in 
some quarters to this charge, and the legality of 
the action of the authorities has been doubted. 
However, as the postal authorities have explained 
that the fee is charged to recoup the expenses in- 
curred in connection with the registration of 
licences, no serious objection can, it is thought, 
be raised on a question of principle to this charge, 
although at first sight it seems difficult to justify 
so large a fee as 11. 1s., in respect of what is, toa 
great extent, merely routine clerical work. 

The correspondence to which reference has been 
made raises, however, quite another question. 
_ The inauguration of the International Time Ser- 
vice on July 1 last has placed at the disposal of 
watch and clock makers, as well as the members 
of the public generally, a means of ascertaining 
correct time, which involves only a relatively small 
outlay on a simple wireless receiving set of 
apparatus. Before such apparatus may be in- 
stalled for use it is, of course, necessary to obtain 
a licence from the Postmaster-General. Quite re- 
cently applications have been submitted for the 
necessary licence for such purposes, and in reply 
thereto the postal authorities have notified the 
applicants that the introduction of an annual 
royalty charge of 2]. 2s. is in contemplation in 
respect of such installations, and, in consequence, 
(briefly speaking) licences can alone be issued, 
provided that applicants make a deposit of 3]. 3s. 
dor 21. 2s. if the fee of 11. 1s. already referred to 
has been paid) pending the settlement of the 
question. 

No indication is given in the correspondence 
under review of the source from which the postal 
authorities claim to derive the power to levy the 
said annual royalty. As is well known, the powers 
of control in respect of wireless telegraphy vested 
‘in the Postmaster-General are derived wholly 
from the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1904; and, 
therefore, since the postal authorities are at the 
present time laying down a condition precedent to 
the grant of a licence, it seems fair to presume 
that the provisions of the Act of 1904 referred to 
are relied upon in justification of the demands now 
being made. It is not surprising in the circum- 
stances that considerable resentment should have 
B been aroused in relation to what can only be con- 
: sidered as an extremely arbitrary attitude on the 
_ part of the postal authorities in this matter. 

It is evident that the question raised by Mr. 
or. Hope-Jones has a two-fold importance. In the 
first place, it raises a question of constitutional 
usage, and in the second place that of the con- 
_ ditions under which the development of our indus- 
ie generally is to be permitted to take place 
under bureaucratic rule. From the constitutional 

_ aspect, the real point at issue seems to be whether 
rr it is competent for a Government Department to 


NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


have commenced to charge a fee of 11. 1s. in con-’ 


exercise a power of imposing taxes on the public 
generally, or an industry in particular, without 
express parliamentary authority. In the time of 
the Tudors and the Stuarts, the Crown did cer- 
tainly attempt to exercise a power of independent 
legislation, in virtue of asserted prerogative by 
licence and dispensation, or by proclamation and 
ordinance. The fruit of such action was to give 


| birth to collisions in the courts of law, with the 


ultimate result that, after violent struggles, the 
principle was clearly established that the Crown 
may not legislate or impose, save with the con- 
sent of Parliament; and so far as we are aware 
this principle remains in force at the present 
day. 

The provisions of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 
of 1904 appear to leave no doubt, on the face of 
it, as to the intentions of the legislature i in framing 
this measure; and it is evident that no power was, 
in express terms, conferred on the Postmaster- 
General, or his advisers, to impose anything in 
the, nature of a tax or other annual charge. If 
the postal authorities, therefore, persist in their 
present attitude, it will become necessary to test 
the legality of their action before the established 
tribunals of the country. 

On investigating the actual merits of the case, 
quite apart from the constitutional aspects of the 
situation, we feel that the attitude of the postal 


| authorities in this matter is one requiring con- 


demnation as being entirely opposed to the wise 
and generous principles which have guided public 
policy in matters affecting monopolies from very 
early times right up to the present day. The fact 
that the monopoly in telegraphs is vested in the 
State does not appear to afford a good reason for 
departing from the great principle that it is the 
duty of a Government to stimulate new industries 
and not to injure them. It was the recognition 
of the importance of this principle which in Tudor 
times established for us the commercial supremacy 
we have been enjoying for many centuries past. 
The fact that the postal authorities themselves 
have not established any system of wireless time 
signals of which the public may avail themselves, 
either openly or surreptitiously, seems in itself to 
afford sufficient grounds for the argument that no 
justification exists for the contemplated royalty 
charge in respect of wireless time signal installa- 
tions. But another serious reason for offering 
resistance to the proposal lies in the possibility 
that Government Departments may easily extend 
the application of the principle on which the postal 
authorities appear to be acting, to the great pre- 
judice of the public interest, if it is submitted to 
without protest at the present time. We are 
strongly of the opinion that the postal authorities 
are acting contrary to justice and common right, 
and that they are attempting to impose an unpro- 
fitable charge, calculated to do wrong to the 
liberty and trade of the subject. We hope, there- 
fore, that strenuous onnosition will be offered to 
the imposition of the proposed tax by all who are 
concerned with either the scientific or applied 
aspects of wireless telegraphy. 


322 


NATORE 


[NovEMBER 13, 1913 bs 


DR. ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE, O.M., 
BERS. 


HE death of Alfred Russel Wallace on Novem- 
ber 7, at ninety years of age, marks a 
milestone in the history of biology. For he was 
the last distinguished representative of a type 
that can never be again—a combination of 
naturalist-traveller, biologist, and geographer, a 
knower of species, and yet from first to last a 
generaliser “inquisitive about causes,” and, with 
all this, an investigator who stood outside any 
of the usual methods of analysis, with “a positive 
distaste for all forms of anatomical and physio- 
logical experiment.” It will probably be a very 
long time before a biologist again rises to real 
distinction apart from experimental analysis in 
some form or other. His career and _ scientific 
work were described in these columns by Prof. 
H. F. Osborn in June of last year (vol. Ixxxix., 
p. 367), and we hope to publish a further apprecia- 
tion of him next week. Here, therefore, we do 
little more than record his death and point to some 
outstanding characteristics of his life. 

In thinking of Wallace’s contributions to science, 
we recall first the feverish week at Ternate, when 
he wrote his famous letter to Darwin, “like a 
thunderbolt from a cloudless sky,” expounding 
the idea of natural selection—a letter which was 
communicated, along with extracts from Darwin’s 
unpublished work, to the Linnean Society at the 
historical meeting on July 1, 1858. Everyone is 
proud of the magnanimity with which each dis- 
coverer treated the claims of the other. Their 
detachment from everything but getting at the 
truth was congruent with the nobility of both. It 
was indeed just what might have been expected, 
but there was throughout an instinctive generosity 
which has always appealed to the ethical imagina- 
tion. Darwin’s helpful friendliness was met by 
Wallace’s devoted loyalty, which was conspicuous, 
for instance, when he gave his fine book of 1889 
the title “Darwinism,” or emphasised at the 
1908 celebration the fact that the idea of natural 
selection had occurred to Darwin nearly twenty 
years before the joint paper of 1858. Well was 
it said of him, ‘Darwinii emulum, immo Dar- 
winium alterum.” 

After natural selection, one thinks of the 
geographical distribution of animals, and it may 
be justly said that this study, which has evolved 
vigorously in many directions in the last genera- 
tion, got its modern start from Wallace’s standard 
work (1876), which fulfilled its intention of bearing 
to the eleventh and twelfth chapters of the 
“Origin of Species,” a relation similar to that 
which ‘‘ Animals and Plants under Domestication ” 
bears to the first. It was followed up by the more 
popular “Island Life,” which has been a stimulus 
to many a travelling naturalist, and has prompted 
numerous investigations. 

The building up of a science often reminds one 
of the waves making a new beach—multitudes of 
particular movements which are not in themselves 
permanent, but make others of more lasting effect 
possible. Perhaps the same should be said of 


NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


a 


much that Wallace’s fertile mind contributed, for 
instance, in regard to sexual selection, concerning ' 
which he was wisely sceptical, in regard t to. 

“warning colours” and “recognition marks,” 
regard to the part played by instruction and 
imitation in the development of instinctive be 
haviour ; and many more instances might be se 


work which centres round Mendelism and muta-_ - 
tions, but it was a fine example of his a 
plasticity of mind that he entirely agreed with 
Weismann in finding the transmission of acquired 
characters unproved. His independence was con- 
spicuously shown by the vigour with which he 
maintained in his “Darwinism” and elsewhere 
that the facts of man’s higher nature compel us 
to postulate a special “spiritual influx,” com- 
parable to that which intervened, he thought, — 
when living organisms first appeared and when — 
consciousness began. He may have lacked 
philosophical discipline, but he was never awanting — 
in the courage of his convictions. Throughout — 
his life he was given to puzzling over difficult — 
problems far beyond the range of biology—in 
economics and astronomy, in psychology and 
politics, and perhaps it was this width of interest 
in part that kept him young so long. 
There was a great humanity about Alfred 
Russel Wallace, which won affection as surely as 
his services to science commanded respect. Like 
many hard workers he found time to be 
generously kind to young men; he did not suffer 
fools gladly, but he was always ready to cham- 
pion the cause of the oppressed; he could never 
divest himself of his citizenship, and almost to 
his last breath he was thinking of how things 
might be made better in the State. By nature 
quiet, gentle, reflective, and religious, he had no” 
ambitions save for truth and justice and the 
welfare of his fellow-men; he was satisfied with — 
plain living and high thinking, with his garden, — 
and with that “ double vision” which was always 
with him. For, whatever we may think of his” 
spiritualism,” it was peculiarly his— 

To see the world in a grain of sand, 

And heaven in a flower; 
To grasp infinity in the palm of the hand 
And eternity in an hour. 


SIR WILLIAM HENRY PREECE, K:CoBs 
F.RES. 

ILLIAM HENRY PREECE was born near | 
Carnarvon on February 15, 1834, being the 
eldest son of R. M. Preece. He died at Penrhos, 
Carnarvon, on November 6, 1913, being in his 
eightieth year. All his professional life had been 
connected with telegraphic engineering and the 
development of electrical engineering ; and, savi 
for the veteran, Mr. C. E. Spagnoletti, who sur- 
vives him, he was the oldest telegraph engineer 
in Great Britain. After completing his education 
at King’s College, London, he entered the office’ 
of the late Mr. Edwin Clark, who was connected 
with pioneering work of submarine cables, and 
at the age of nineteen he was appointed as a junior 


national Telegraph Company, 


NovVEMBER 13, 1913] 


engineer on the staff of the Electric and Inter- 
becoming later 
superintendent of the company’s southern division. 
From 1858 to 1862 he acted as engineer to the 
Channel Islands Telegraphs, and in 1860 was 
appointed telegraph engineer to the London and 
South-Western Railway, and made Southampton 
his headquarters. In 1864 he married Miss Agnes 


Pocock, of Southampton, who died in 18 After 
ten years of railway telegraph work, ecame 
a divisional engineer under the Post Offiee, which 


was then creating a telegraphic staff to deal with 
the many undertakings which it was taking over 
from the companies under the Telegraph Act of 
1870. From that time his promotion was steady. 
He was appoiated Electrician to the General Post 
Office in 1877, and Engineer-in-Chief, an office of 
much more importance then than now, in 1892. 
In 1894 he was made C.B.; and he was given 
the honour of K.C.B. on his retirement under the 
age rule in 1899. Since that date until his decease 
he was senior partner in the firm of Preece, 


Cardew, and Snell, consulting engineers; though 


his failing health for several years past precluded 
him from much active participation in the respon- 
sible work of his firm. 

Sir William Preece was an indefatigable worker, 


and one who was constantly before the public 


eye by reason of the lectures which he gave, the 
papers which he contributed to the scientific and 
professional bodies on telegraphic and electrical 
inventions, and the considerable part he played 
in the internal working of the professional 
societies. He was one of the earliest members 


of the Society of Telegraph Engineers (now the 


Institution of Electrical Engineers), to the pro- 
ceedings of which he made numerous contribu- 
tions. Its earliest volume (1871-2) contains a 
lecture which he gave to Postal Telegraph Engi- 
neers on the advantages of scientific education, 
and reports a discourse on the rise and progress 
of telegraphy, which he gave at the Albert Hall 
on June 18, 1872. During the next dozen years 
his contributions to the meetings and journal of 
the Society of Telegraph Engineers were 
numerous, and ranged from such topics as 
shunts, and the winding of electromagnets, to the 
then newly invented phonograph of Edison. He 
was President of the Society in 1880, and again 


' in 1893, after its reconstitution as the Institution 


of Electrical Engineers, to which body he con- 
tributed later several papers on telegraphy and 
electric lighting. 

Sir William Preece took a great interest in the 
early development of the telephone, and gave 
papers on it to the Physical Society and the Society 
of Arts, and to the British Association during 
several successive years. In 1888 he was Presi- 
dent of the Mechanical Engineering Section of the 
British Association at Bath. He read several 


- papers also before the Royal Society in connection 


with telephone and photophone; also on the effects 
of temperature on the electromotive forces and 
resistances of batteries; on a standard of light; 
and on studies in acoustics; the last-named in 


NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


343 


conjunction with Mr. Stroh. He was elected a 
Fellow of the Royal Society in 1881, and served 
on the Council of that body from 1887 to 1889. 
He made several communications of importance 
to the Institution of Civil Engineers on submarine 
cables, and on various points in the use of elec- 
tricity on railways, including intercommunication 
between passengers, guards, and drivers of trains 
in motion. He delivered the “James Forrest” 
lecture on the relations between electricity and 
engineering, and in 1889 became President of the 
Institution. To the Society of Arts he gave a 
number of papers and lectures on electric lighting, 
and on electrical exhibitions, and delivered a set 
of Cantor lectures in 1879. He was chosen Chair- 
man of the Council of the Society of Arts for the 
year 1901-2. He took out patents in his earlier 
career for various inventions in connection with 
duplex telegraphy and railway signalling. As a 
lecturer he excelled, having a good delivery and 
a power of presenting matters in a simple and 
practical way. His lecture in 1878 on electric 
lighting at the Albert Hall, during the height of 
the electric lighting fever, will not be readily 
forgotten by his hearers; while his discourses at 
the Royal Institution, where he expounded various 
recent developments in electric lighting, telephony, 
and telegraphy, were always welcomed by a 
crowded audience. 

Sir William Preece will probably be best remem- 
bered in after time by the pioneering work he 
carried out for a number of years on the subject 
of telegraphy without wires, experimenting as he 
did by conductive and inductive methods across 
arms of the sea, such as the Bristol Channel or 
the Solent, or from land to lighthouse, or between 
coal mines. To this work he had been attracted 
by observations of the stray currents which, on 


| the establishment of telephonic circuits in London 


in 1884, were found to disturb even well-insulated 
lines. In 1892 he was able to send inductive 
messages across the Bristol Channel between 
Penarth and the Flat Holm, a distance of more 
than three miles. In 1895 he established tem- 
porary wireless communication between the Island 
of Mull and Oban, during an interruption of the 
cable connecting them, before a cable-repairing 
ship could arrive. Strange to say, he entirely 
missed the significance of the wireless signalling 
by Hertzian waves that was shown by Oliver 
Lodge at the British Association meeing at 
Oxford in 1894; and yet when Signor Marconi 
arrived upon the scene in 1896, using the same 
method and the same devices of oscillators, spark- 
gaps, coherers, and tappers, Sir William Preece 
received him with open arms, and put the resources 
of the Post Office at his disposal, with results 


| known to all the world. 


Sir William Preece wrote several valuable text- 
books—one on telegraphy in conjunction with Sir 
James Sivewright, and two on the telephone. 

Sir William’s work at the Post Office during 
the strenuous years of the development of the 
national telegraphic system out of the con- 


| flicting systems of rival companies, is a record 


[ 324 


of honest work conscientiously performed. As 
Chief Engineer he enjoyed the confidence of suc- 
cessive Postmasters-General, and his attainments 
and qualifications raised the prestige of that post. 
It is a deplorable circumstance that since he 
quitted it, the post of Chief Engineer has been 
degraded and circumscribed, so that now the 
occupant of what should be a post of dignity and 
independent technical responsibility can only 
approach the Postmaster-General through secre- 
taries or other non-technical officials, and is not 
even master over the technical men in the Post 
Office Department. This could never have 
occurred in the days when Sir William Preece was 
Chief Engineer; his efforts to secure adequate 
recognition for the scientific and technical side of 
telegraphic work were persistent and successful 
during the term of his administration. That he 
had the courage of his opinions all who knew 
him intimately are well aware; yet even in his 
severest contentions with opponents he bore no 
malice. A foreign “inventor” who had trifled 
with him he indignantly showed to the door; a 
deserving subordinate who had some technical 
improvement to suggest found in him a_ sym- 
pathetic listener. Doubtless he had the defects 
of his qualities. 
the work of Oliver Heaviside is inexplicable in 
view of the stress he laid at times upon the 
need for technical men to study abstract theory. 
Genial, cheery, thorough, industrious to the last 
degree, Sir William Preece’s name and memory 
will long be cherished. An excellent portrait of 
him by Miss Beatrice Bright adorns the walls of 
the Institution of Civil Engineers. He held the 
distinction of Officier in the Légion d’Honneur, 
and was a Doctor of Science of the University of 
Wales. ‘Spa eeed he 


NOTES. 


Tue President of the Board of Education has 
appointed Dr. Aubrey Strahan, F.R.S., to be Director 
of the Geological Survey and Museum, in succession 
to Dr. J. J. H. Teall, F.R.S., who will retire from 
the post on January 5 next. 


Mr. AusTtEN CHAMBERLAIN has received from the 
Secretary of State for India a contribution of 5ool. 
towards the fund for the enlargement and endowment 
of the London School of Tropical Medicine. The 
fund now amounts to 71,2761. 


At the annual meeting of the Challenger Society, 
held on October 29, Sir John Murray, K.C.B., in the 
chair, the following officers were elected for the ensu- 
ing year :—Secretary, Dr. W. T. Calman; Treasurer, 
Mr. E. T. Browne; Committee, Prof. E. W. Mac- 
Bride, Messrs. D. J. Matthews and C. Tate Regan. 


Ar Dijon on November 9 the centenary was cele- 
brated of the discovery of the element iodine by the 
French chemist, Bernard Courtois, who was a native 
of Dijon.” Prof. Camille Matignon, professor of 
mineral chemistry at the Collége de France, gave an 
address on the history of iodine and its identification 


2298, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


His entire inability to appreciate | 
ment Board, of which he had served as tempor: 


[NOVEMBER 13, 1913. 


as an element. A commemorative tablet is to — 
placed on the house, 78 rue Monge, Dijon, wl 
Courtois was born. 


Ir is announced that the Swedish Acadent 
Sciences has decided to award this year’s Nobel pr 
for physics to Prof. Kamerlingh Onnes, of Leyde 
and the prize for chemistry to Prof. A. Werner, 


Zurich. @Each prize is worth about 7880]. 
THE annual meeting of the Iron and Stee 
Institute 1 be held on Thursday and Friday, May 


7 and 8, 1914. By the kind invitation of the Comité 
des Forges de France, the autumn meeting next year 
will be held in Paris, on Friday and Saturday, Sep- 
tember 18 and 19. The first half of the following: 
week will be devoted to excursions to the chief iron 
mining and manufacturing districts of. France. The 
Bessemer gold medal for 1914 will be awarded to Dr. — 
Edward Riley. ; 


Tue death is announced on November ro, at fifty- — 
seven years of age, of Dr. R. D. Sweetin » Senior 
Medical Inspector of the Local Governm i Boatdle : 
Dr. Sweeting was for twenty years hon. treasurer of the A 
Epidemiological Society of London, afterwards becom-— 
ing fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and 1 vice- ; 
president of the Epidemiological Section. In 1890: he 
joined the Medical Department of the Local Govern. | 4 


inspector during the Cholera Survey of 1885-6. 


On the recommendation of the committee on the 
award of the Hodgkins prize of 3001. for the best — 
treatise on the relation of atmospheric air to tuber- — 
culosis, which was offered by the Smithsonian Insti- — 
tution in connection with the International Congress _ 
on Tuberculosis, held in Washington in 1908, the 
institution announces. that the prize has been equally — 
divided between Dr. Guy Hinsdale, of Hot Springs, — 
Virginia, for his paper on tuberculosis in relation to 
atmospheric air, and Dr. S. Adolphus Knopf, of New — 
York City, for his treatise on the relation of atmo- — 
spheric air to tuberculosis. 


Tue following is a list of those who have been — 
recommended by the president and council of the ; 
Royal Society for election into the council at the 
anniversary meeting on December 1 Mie Sir 
William Crookes, O.M. Treasurer: Sir Alfred — 
Kempe. Secretaries : Sir John Bradford, K.C.M.G., i 
and Prof. A. Schuster. Foreign Secretary: Dr. D. H. 
Scott. Other Members of the Council: The Right — 
Hon. A. J. Balfour, Prof. W. M. Bayliss, Dr. F. W. — 
Dyson, Dr. H. J. H. Fenton, Prof. W. Gowland, Dr. 
F. G. Hopkins, Sir Joseph Larmor, Prof. C- H. — 
Lees, Prof. E. W. MacBride, Prof. G. Elliot Smith, 
Prof. J. Lorrain Smith, Sir John Thornycroft, Prof. — 
W. W. Watts, Mr. A. N. Whitehead, Mr. C. T. R. 
Wilson, and Dr. A. Smith Woodward. 


A TABLET to the memory of Capt. L. E. G. Oates, 
of the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons, who lost his life — 
in the Scott Antarctic Expedition, has been erected — 
by his brother officers in the Parish Church of Gest- 
ingthorpe, Essex, where his family reside, and was — 
unveiled on November 8. The tablet bears the fol-— 
lowing inscription :—‘‘In memory of a very gallant — 


After pursuing scientific studies 


NovEMBER 13, 1913] 


' gentleman, Lawrence Edward Grace Oates, Captain 


in the Inniskilling Dragoons. Born March 17, 1880. 
Died March 17, 1912. On the return journey from 
the South Pole of the Scott Antarctic Expedition, 
when all were beset by hardship, he, being gravely 
injured, went out into the blizzard to die, in the hope 
that by so doing he might enable his comrades to 


reach safety. This tablet is placed here in affectionate 
remembrance by his brother officers. A.D, 1913.”" 
Tue death is announced, at the age of seventy- 


seven, of Dr. J. P. Kimball, of Cody, Wyoming. 
in America and 
Germany, he was appointed geologist on the Wis- 
consin and Illinois State Surveys. He was occupy- 
ing the chair of chemistry and economic geology in 
the New York Agricultural College when the Civil 
War broke out. He took part in that conflict as 
captain and assistant adjutant-general, and at the 
end of the war was breveted major for ‘‘ gallant and 
meritorious services’? in the Wilderness campaign. 
He then engaged in mining practice for several years. 
From 1874 to 1885 he was honorary professor of 
geology at Lehigh University, and from 1885 to 1888 
he was director of the Mint at Washington. His later 
years were spent in the west, where he did consider- 
able pioneer work upon the glaciers and mining fields, 
and contributed largely to American and foreign 
technical journals. 


Ir is announced that the Postmaster-General has 
appointed a committee to consider how far and by 
what methods the State should make provision for 
research work in the science of wireless telegraphy, 
and whether any organisation which may be estab- 
lished should include problems connected with 
ordinary telegraphy and telephony. The names of 
the members of the committee are as follows :—The 
Right Hon. C. E. H. Hobhouse, M.P. (chairman), 
the Right Hor. Lord Parker of Waddington, Sir 
Joseph Larmor, M.P., F.R.S., Sir Henry Norman, 
M.P., Dr. R. T. Glazebrook, F.R.S., Mr. W. Dud- 
dell, F.R.S., Mr. R. Wilkins, C.B., Rear-Admiral 
E. F. B. Charlton, R.N., Sir Alexander King, K.C.B., 
Mr. W. Slingo, Commander F. Loring, R.N., Major 
the Hon. H. C. Guest, M.P., and Commander J. K. 
Im Thurn, R.N. 


TueE Royal Society of Arts will commence its 160th 
session on November 19 with an address by the chair- 
man of the council, Col. Sir Thomas H. Holdich. 
Before Christmas there will be four meetings, besides 
the opening meeting. The first of these will be 
devoted to a paper by Dr. Chalmers Mitchell, on 
zoological gardens; the second to a paper by Mr. 
John Umney, on perfumery. At the third, Mr. 
Thorne Baker will read a paper on applications of 
electricity to agriculture, and at the last meeting 
before Christmas, the question of the Channel Tunnel 
will be brought forward by Mr. Arthur Fell, M.P. 
There will be five courses of Cantor lectures. The 
first, by Prof. Coker, on the measurement of strains 
in materials and structure, will comprise, amongst 
other matters, the results of his own investigations 
into the application of polarised light to the measure- 
ment of stresses. The second course will be by Sir 


NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


325 


| Charles Waldstein, who will deal generally with the 


subject of industrial art; the third by Mr. Joseph 
Pennell on artistic lithography. The subject of the 
fourth course will be announced later. The last will 
be by Mr. William Burton on recent developments 
in the ceramic industry. A course of juvenile lectures 
to be delivered as usual during the Christmas holi- 
days will be given by Mr. Howgrave Graham, and 
will deal in a popular way with the subject of wire- 
less telegraphy. 


At the meeting ci the Royal Geographical Society 
the medals awarded by the society and by the Italian 
Geographical Society to officers and men who took 
part in Capt. Scott’s Antarctic Expedition of 1910-13 
and to relations of those who lost their lives in the 
expedition were presented. The Italian Ambassador 
presented to Lady Scott the gold Humbert medal 
which bore the inscription:—‘‘Alla memoria di 
Robert F. Scott, R.N, Giunto Secundo al Polo 
Australe Suggella Colla Morte La Veritd della 
Scoperta, 1913." The replicas in silver bore an in- 
scription in Italian to the memory of Capt. Scott’s 
“companions in glory and martyrdom,’ and were 
presented to Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Oates, and Mrs. 
Bowers. The widow of Petty Officer Evans was not 
present, and the medal is to be sent to her. Lord 
Curzon, president of the society, presented the society’s 
special Antarctic medal to the ladies and to Com- 
mander Pennell, R.N., Commander Bruce, R.N.R., 
Staff-Paymaster Drake, R.N., Lieut. Renwick, R.N., 
Surgeon L, Atkinson, R.N., Surgeon Levick, and to 
the following members of the scientific staff :—Mr. 
Griffith Taylor, Mr. Frank Debenham, Mr. Charles 
Wright, Mr. Raymond Priestley, and Mr. Apsley 
Cherry-Garrard. Commander V. Campbell was not 
present, and the medal is to be sent to him. The 
medal has on the obverse the inscription :—‘ British 
Antarctic Expedition, 1910-13. Captain R. F. Scott, 
C.V.O., R.N., Commander,” and on the reverse :— 
‘Presented by the Royal Geographical Society for the 
Antarctic Discovery, 1913.” 


AN interesting paper was read at the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society on Monday, November 10, by Mr. 
Raymond Priestley, on the experiences of the northern 
party during Capt. Scott’s last Antarctic Expedition. 
This party had been organised under the command 
of Lieut. Campbell in order to explore King Edward’s 
Land, which it was unfortunately unable to reach 
owing to the heavy pack-ice. It accordingly adopted 
the alternative mission entrusted to it by Capt. Scott, 
and landed at Cape Adare. It thus became the 
northern party. As its supply of mutton was con- 
demned immediately after landing at Cape Adare, the 
party was compelled to rely for meat on seals and 
penguins—an experience which possibly saved them 
the following winter. The hope of a long sledge 
journey to the west was frustrated by the bad condi- 
tion of the sea ice, and the party therefore undertook 
a detailed survey of Robertson Bay. In January, 
1912, the Terra Nova returned from New Zealand 
and transferred the party to the neighbourhood of 
the. Drygalski glacier, and there the six. members 
were landed with only stores for the summer. This 


326 


district Mr. Priestley regards as of especial interest, 
but the paper was confined to an account of the 
adventures and life of the party during the following 
winter. Owing to the failure of the steamer to return 
they had to live through the winter on an island 
which they have named inexpressible Island; they 
excavated chambers in the snow, and their food con- 
sisted of a scanty supply of seals and penguins. The 
experiences of this party were unique in the Ant- 
arctic, and the fact that, in spite of their sparse supply 
of food, they were able to live through the winter 
without the loss of a single man reflects the highest 
credit on their ingenuity and judgment. As was 
expected years ago, this coast is subject to strong 
westerly winds, which added greatly to the discom- 
fort of the explorers. In the spring of 1913 the party 
sledged down the coast, found one of Taylor’s food 
depéts, and crossed McMurdo Sound to the head- 
quarters. Mr. Priestley regards the risks run by this 
party during both seasons as unduly great. He re- 
marks of one experience, ‘this is the sort of thing 
that does not happen twice without disaster.” 


News was received at the latter part of last week 
announcing the death, on Nevember 4, at Leyden, at 
the age of sixty-nine, of Dr. Fredericus Anna Jentink, 
director of the Rijks Museum van Natuurlijke His- 
torie, commonly known as the Leyden Museum. Dr. 
Jentink’s connection with the museum of which he 
eventually became the head was a long one, dating, 
we believe, at least from the ’seventies. Throughout 
his scientific life the deceased naturalist devoted such 
time as could be spared from his other duties to 
systematic work on mammals, one of his earlier 
important efforts in this direction being the catalogue 
of mammalian osteology in the Leyden Museum, pub- 
lished in 1889, which was followed by a catalogue 
of the entire collection of mammals, issued three 
years later. African mammals early attracted much 
of his attention; and his name is perpetuated in con- 
nection with one of the two largest species of duiker- 
boks, or crested antelopes (Cephalophus jentinki). 
The Dutch possessions in the Malay Archipelago and 
Papua were, however, the means of affording to 
Jentink exceptional and unrivalled material for ex- 
tending our knowledge of the mammalian fauna of 
those regions, this being especially the case in regard 
to the Papuan islands, from which a large number 
of new generic and specific types were described by 
him. As a climax to this work, particular value 
attaches to the summary of the whole mammalian 
fauna of Papua given by Jentink in his “Nova 
Guinea,” if for no other reason than as showing the 
enormous advances which have been made in our 
knowledge of this subject since the appearance of 
Dr. Wallace’s ‘‘ Geographical Distribution.” But his 
administrative and other official duties, in addition to 
the large amount of work he accomplished on mam- 
mals, by no means sufficed to exhaust the energies of 
Dr. Jentink, for after the issue of the first volumes, 
which commenced in 1879, he undertook the editorship 
of ‘Notes from, the Leyden Museum,” a task which he 
continued, we believe, to the end. The amount of 
valuable information with regard to the zoology of 


NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


‘the Eastern 


[NovEMBER 13, 1913 "a 


7 
ra 


Archipelago contained in the long series 
of volumes bearing that title,is known to every ; 
worker. ca 


Tue October number of Science Progress contains 
an editorial article in which the necessity for a 
“ serious stocktaking in the business affairs of science 
is emphasised, and united effort is advocated to “Te 
sist that proper attention be paid to science, that 
disabilities be removed, and that enough means be 
provided.” In a striking phrase it is pointed out 
that ‘‘science has now become an industry. It has 
indeed become the premier industry of all,” and the 
great necessity is to see that this industry is properly — 
organised. ‘Men of science are apt to think that — 
their duties extend to no more than investigation,” — 
but they must also attend to the means by which 
great investigation is to-day rendered possible; “the 
scientific education of the individual and the national 
encouragement of scientific work." The political im- a 
portance for scientific research is emphasised: “it 
gives hegemony to the nations which possess it and 
leaves nations, like individuals, which do not possess — 
it in a backwater of failure and poverty.” ; 


In the September issue of The Journal of Economic — 
Biology, Prof. F. V. Theobald completes his revision — 
of the British species of Macrosiphum, the genus of 
Aphidz usually known as Siphonophora, and includ- 
ing some familiar “‘ greenfly’ pests of rose, pea, and — 
other cultivated plants. The distinctive structural 
characters of each species are clearly figured, and the © 
paper cannot but be useful to students of this impor-— 
tant and interesting group. 


Tue recently issued vol. ix. of the Fortschritte der 
naturwissenschaftlichen Forschung contains an in- 
teresting summary by Dr. C. Wesenberg-Lund of our 
knowledge of the dwellings, in the form of burrows 
or built-up “‘houses,”’ constructed by fresh-water in-— 
sects. Noteworthy are his own recent observations — 
of the tunnelling habits of larvz of Libelluline and — 
other European dragonflies, paralleled by the re- 
searches of B. J. Tillyard on the Australian Petalura 
gigantea. There are also illustrated notes on the | 
form and arrangement of tubes made by larval Chiro- 
nomus, Orthocladius, Tanytarsus, and other midges. — 
As might be expected, the greater part of the review 
is devoted to the architecture of the caddis-worms — 
(Trichoptera) among which the detailed account, wit 
drawings, of the nets constructed by Hydropsychid 
larvee for catching their minute aquatic prey will be 
found especially interesting. 4 


Mr. H. F. Wiruersy, editor of British Birds, in- 
forms us that the readers of that magazine have now ~ 
placed more than 32,000 rings on wild birds of many — 
kinds. This work is leading to results of great 
interest and importance in connection with the study _ 
of birds, and a remarkable case of a swallow ringed — 
in Ayrshire being recovered in Orange River Colony is 
described in the November number. Mr. Witherby _ 
has received a letter from Mr. A. C. Theron, dated 
from ‘‘Riet Vallei, District Lindley, O.F.S.,” stating — 
that a swallow bearing a ring with his name and — 
address was captured at Riet Vallei on March 16, 


NovEMBER 13, 1913] 


NATURE 


327 


1913. This ring was placed on a nestling swallow 
by Mr. R. O. Blyth, at Skelmorlie, Ayrshire, on July 
27, 1912. A few months ago an adult swallow ringed 
in Staffordshire was recorded as having been captured 
near Utrecht, Natal, in December, and the present 
record is from about one hundred and fifty miles 
west of that place, which is not far in 
comparison with the total length of the 
journey. Mr. Witherby adds:—‘‘In writing of the 
Natal record I expressed surprise that a swallow 
breeding in the far west of Europe should migrate 
so far east in South Africa, but now that Dr. Hartert 
has shown by his observations in the middle of the 
Sahara that deserts are not necessarily a bar to the 
passage of migrating birds, as was formerly sup- 
posed, it may perhaps be presumed that these swallows 
take a more direct line than one would previously 
have thought possible.” 


THE monthly meteorological chart of the North 
Atlantic for November (first issue), published by the 
Meteorological Office, contains daily maps showing 
the distribution of air-pressure, wind, &c., for October 
10-16. These exhibit at the beginning of that period 
low-pressure systems extending from beyond the Great 
Lakes’ region of North America to Central Asia. The 
central area of the most important of these disturb- 
ances lay near latitude 53° N., longitude 27° W. It 
was in the heavy gales associated therewith that the 
ill-fated steamship Volturno was abandoned on Octo- 
ber 10, near latitude 48° N., longitude 34° W. (see 
Nature, October 16). The Meteorological Office re- 
port states that the effects of the storm were felt in 
a modified degree on the western coasts of the British 
Islands, the wind reaching gale-force at a few exposed 
points. 


SomE interesting observations that promise to throw 
a much-needed light upon several problems in the 
later geological history of Northumberland and Dur- 
ham were described at the opening meeting of the 
Northumberland Coast Club by Mr. S. Rennie Hazel- 
hurst. Mr. Hazelhurst has found in natural and arti- 
ficial exposures at the mouth of the Tyne a series 
25 ft. thick of gravels, sands, clays, and loams 
containing well-preserved plant remains. They are 
traceable over an area of about a square mile, and 
reach an altitude of 100 ft. above the sea. The sug- 
gestion is made that they mark the site of a post- 
glacial lake which is regarded as exceeding in mag- 
nitude any similar lake recognised by its deposits in 
any other part of these islands—a claim that can 
scarcely be maintained in view of Fox Strangways’s 
description of Lake Pickering. The details so far 
published of Mr. Hazelhurst’s observations make no 
mention of their bearing upon the question of the 
alleged raised-beaches on this coast. The local geo- 
logists are unanimous in asserting the existence of a 
well-preserved raised beach in Northumberland and 
Durham at about 150 ft. above sea-level, but most 
outsiders regard the features as of glacial origin. A 
lake at 100 ft. O.D. at the mouth of the present 
Tyne may have preceded, or succeeded, the period of 
supposed submersion, and in either case the relations of 


NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


\ . 
|; the two conditions may furnish decisive arguments for 


or against the hypothesis of the beaches. 


In ‘‘Mendelism and the Problem of Mental Defect” 
(London, Dulau and Co., Ltd., 1913) Dr. David Heron 
enters into a lengthy and elaborate criticism of some 
of the work of the American Eugenics Record Office. 
In particular the theory that feeble-mindedness is 
caused by the absence of a mendelian factor, and 
therefore behaves when inherited as a simple recessive 
character is shown to be unfounded. The care and 
thoroughness with which Dr. Heron has performed 
the task of writing sixty-two pages of destructive 
criticism are worthy of high praise; but if, as he 
anticipates, ‘‘ jealousy of the work of another labora- 
tory’’ is assigned by some as his motive for doing 
something so unusual, he will only have himself to 
thank. For the whole pamphlet is written in a highly 
provocative way, and seems, intended, so far as pos- 
sible, to wound the feelings of the head of the Eugenics 
Record Office, who is responsible in one way or 
another for most of the work criticised. 


In the August number of Le Radium, M. de Broglie 
gives the results of his observations of the inter- 
ference patterns produced on photographic plates by 
Roéntgen rays reflected from the surfaces of crystals. 
He finds that the positions of the spots obtained by 
reflection from various crystals of the cubic system 
are identical, but that the intensities are characteristic 
of each crystal. The effect of temperatures from that 
of liquid air to a red heat is slight, a diminution being 
just perceptible at the highest temperature. Magnetic 
fields of strengths up to 10,000 appear to have no 
effect on the patterns. M. de Broglie directs attention 
to the close similarity between the patterns produced 
by reflection of Réntgen rays from the surfaces of 
crystals and the patterns produced by transmitting 
light through two crossed diffraction gratings. As a 
general rule each spot shows a number of bands which 
the author attributes to the presence in the crystal 
close to the surface of incidence of regions in which 
the orientation of the crystalline elements varies 
slightly. 


WE have received from Messrs. Watson and Sons, 
Ltd., specimens of a new optical glass, called 
“Spectros.”’ Specialists have long desired a glass 
which would absorb (or cut out) the harmful or irritant 
ultra-violet rays, but which would at the same time 
allow the ordinary visual rays to pass unhindered. 
Hitherto the only lenses employed for this purpose 
have been made of the dark smoked or coloured glass 
so often seen; but unfortunately this glass not only 
absorbs the visual rays to a large extent but also fails 
to cut out the ultra-violet rays. ‘‘Spectros” glass, as 
it absorbs the ultra-violet and part of the red, is of a 
green colour, and is made in six distinct tints. The 
first is so light as to be practically unnoticeable—this 
is used for reading glasses—especially by artificial 
light. The other tints are used as occasion may 
require, and the deepest only in severe cases of 
ophthalmia, snow-blindness, &c. Few people recog- 
nise the harm done to eyes by the ultra-violet light 


| present in bright electric illumination, especially by 


328 


NATO RE 


[NOVEMBER 13, I9I3_ 


5 


arc lamps, and on snow surfaces at a great elevation 
when the absorption of the atmosphere is reduced. 
Snow-blindness and its concomitants are due to this 
cause. Examined by a prism it is seen that by this 
‘‘Spectros” glass all the ultra-violet light is stopped, 
while that in the central portion of the spectrum is 
allowed to pass; there are no absorption bands. 
Microscopists may find the use of various thicknesses 
or prisms of this glass an advantage in their work. 


Pror. A. M. WortuinctTon has contributed a very 
valuable paper on multiple vision with a single eye 
to vol. vi. of the Proceedings of the Royal Society 
of Medicine. The cause of monocular diplopia and 
polyopia has hitherto been considered rather obscure 
by ophthalmologists, who have usually contented 
themselves with the view of Donders that ‘the 
polyopia arises from the fact that each of the more 
or less regular sectors of which the eye is structurally 
built up forms a separate image.’’ This explanation 
fails to cover the fact that even widely separated 
images of an object seen out of focus are at once 
accurately superposed, when the error is corrected 
by means of a suitable lens (spherocylindrical if neces- 
sary. The main value of the paper is the produc- 
tion of direct experimental evidence that similar mul- 
tiple images are formed on a photographic plate when 
the lens of the camera is obscured by a spattering 
of black plasticine. This is a confirmation of Ruete’s 
explanation in 1853 that polyopia was due to irregu- 
larities and opacities on the surface of the lens. Prof. 
Worthington has succeeded in obtaining a well-marked 
polyopia, or rather a multiude of images, by putting 
a thin layer of a dilute solution of canada balsam 
on a clean lantern slide. This is a very fair repre- 
sentation of the normal irregularities on the anterior 
capsule of the lens of the eye, and it will be found 
that, if the object be fine enough and sufficiently 
brightly illuminated. any eye when a little out of 
focus will exhibit this phenomenon, which indeed may 
be considered as a variation of Scheiner’s experiment 
when an object is viewed through a card pierced by 
a great number of pinholes. The illustrations which 
accompany the paper are excellent. 


Tue address of Mr. A. G. Lyster, president of the 
Institution of Civil Engineers, was delivered on 
November 4. Mr. Lyster dealt with the constitution 
of port authorities as affecting the organisation and 
development of ports, a subject to which he brought 
his long experience derived in the port of Liverpool. 
Such authorities should be bodies capable not only 
of bringing special commercial knowledge and sound 
judgment to bear on problems with which they have 
to deal, but also able to take a broad view of their 
responsibilities and to recognise that national and 
imperial, as well as local interests, are involved in 
the successful administration of their charge. The 
ownership and management of docks and harbours 
may be grouped as (a) private, (b) public dock com- 
panies, (c) railway companies, (d) municipal corpora- 
tions, (e) trusts or commissions, (f) governments. 
The constitution of these variously governed ports 
has not been based on any common standard of suit- 
ability; the adoption of a variety of systems has the 


NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


merit of arriving by experience at a practical deter- 
mination of their relative utility. Mr. Lyster pro- 


largest ports, such as Liverpool, Glasgow, and Dub- 
lin, were under municipal control in their early stages, 
and it was deemed expedient to convert them into 
trusts, or, in the case of London, to sell the City’s 
interest to dock companies. It is difficult to see how © 
the essentials required of a body to manage success- 
fully a port can be obtained under Government con- 
trol. The responsible authorities in this case are 
remote in every sense of the word from those whose 
interests are involved. Under an efficient system 
there ought to be close connection between the 
management and the whole commercial interests of 
the port. The trust system has recommended itself 
to the people of this country as best suited to their 
largest and most important ports. 


WE have received the October number of ‘‘ Lewis’s 
Quarterly List of New Books and New Editions 
added to the Technical and Scientific Circulating 
Library.” It contains the books which have been 
published and added to the library during the months _ 
of July, August, and September. The first part of 
the list is occupied with the additions to the medical — 
side of the library, while in the second, under the 
general heading ‘‘Scientific,’’ will be found those on — 
such subjects as chemistry, engineering, metallurgy, 
motor-cars, technology, &c. Short notes are given 
to the more important works, and the list should be 
useful to students and others wishing to see what 
has appeared during the months included on any — 
subject in which they are interested. 


THE 1914 issue is now available of the ‘Nature 
Calendar,”’ published by Messrs. G. Philip and Son, 
Ltd., at the price of sixpence net. The special notes — 
for the months of 1914 deal with problems of nature- 
study suitable for continuous observation. The 
calendar is eminently adapted for exhibition on the — 
walls of schoolrooms and natural history club-rooms, 
where nature-study is taken up in a practical manner. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Comer 1913d (WestpHaL).—This very interesting 
periodic comet of 1852 IV. is likely, according to The — 
Observatory for November, to be visible for several — 
months, and that journal publishes an ephemeris up — 
to the middle of January, in continuation of that — 
given by Prof. Kobold. This ephemeris is computed — 
with slightly different elements, and a portion of it — 
is as follows :— ’ 


Greenwich, Midnight. 


R.A, Dec. N. 

i" hi rn hes " ; 
Noy. 17 20 31 51 34 8 
21 2 28 36 20 

25 33 54 38 25 

29 20 35 56 40 27 


The comet is about magnitude 8-7, and is situated — 
in the constellation of Cygnus. wt 


EUROPIUM IN STELLAR SPECTRA.—In this column for 
October 2 reference was made to the striking varia- 
tions in the spectrum of « Canum Venaticorum dis- 
covered by Prof. Belopolsky. The full account of his 


NOVEMBER 13, 1913] 


NATURE 


32 


observations was published in the Bulletin de 
V’Académie Impériale des Sciences de St. Petersbourg 
(April 24, 1913). In the current number of The Ob- 
servatory (November) Mr. F. J. M. Stratton gives an 
account of the work of Belopolsky on this star, and 
Mr. F. E. Baxandall contributes a communication on 
the chemical origin of certain of the spectrum lines. 
Some of the conspicuous lines in the spectrum of this 
star which underwent periodic changes were those at 
4A4130-:04 and 4205-20, lines of unknown origin. Mr. 
Baxandall has now identified these lines as two very 
strong lines of Europium, and the evidence is the 
more convincing as the other lines of Europium in 
the region of the spectrum photographed by Belopol- 
sky are found also to be represented. Two other 
strong lines of Europium are just outside the photo- 
graphed region of the star, and, as Mr. Baxandall 
points out, it would be of very great interest to know 
whether these lines are represented also. The pre- 
sence of Europium lines in stellar spectra has pre- 
viously been suggested by Mr. Lunt in the case of 
Arcturus, and Dr. Dyson and Mr. Jewell have identi- 
fied them also with weak lines in the spectrum of 
the chromosphere. 


RaptaL VELOCITIES WITH THE OBJECTIVE PrisM.— 
The problem of obtaining radial velocities by means 
of the objective prism is one that needs urgent solu- 
tion, and few practical workers have as yet taken the 
subject up. Dr. Frank Schlesinger sums up in a 
very interesting way the state of the problem to-day 
(Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., vol. lii., No. 209, April, 1913), 
and stellar spectroscopists will no doubt be glad to 
have their attention directed to this paper. He re- 
views three methods of procedure, all of which, he 
says, warrant a trial, but he thinks that the process 
involving an absorptive medium to produce one or 
more narrow and sharp absorption bands, such as 
neodymium chloride, would probably lead to imme- 
diate results provided a moderate degree of precision 
is only wanted. Dr. Schlesinger’s remarks apply 
chiefly to the spectra of stars fainter than the fifth 
magnitude, for the brighter stars are well dealt with 
by means of slit spectroscopes, instruments which only 
utilise a very small percentage of the light which falls 
on the slit plate. 


Sotar Activity aND CycLonges.—In addition to the 
detailed observations of the meteorological elements 
for the year 1912, No. 2 of the Annals of the Observa- 
tory of Montserrat, Cuba, contains a study of the 
synchronism between solar activity and the hurricanes 
of the Antilles, by the director, Father Simén Sara- 
sola, S.J. It appears that each of the last four sun- 
spot minima was followed by minima of cyclonic 
activity. Further, it is stated that maxima of cvclonic 
and solar activities do not coincide, although cyclones 
are frequent and violent about the time of a maximum 
of sun-spots. The dates given show a minimum of 
cyclonic activity in the year 1884, thus almost coin- 
ciding with a spot maximum. 


MICROSCOPE STANDS AND OBJECTIVES. 
WE have received from Messrs. Swift and Son 

their catalogue of microscopes and accessories. 
The microscope stands listed are of varying degrees of 
complexity suited to the requirements and pockets of 
all classes of microscopists. The higher priced stands 
all have centring substage condensers, and are fitted 
with the ‘‘improved climax” fine adjustment. This 
is constructed with an accurately cut micrometer 
screw with graduated drum fixed horizontally parallel 
to the coarse adjustment, and with milled heads on 
either side of the pillar. The adjustment automatic- 
ally ceases to act should the objective touch the cover- 


NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


glass. The ‘ Premier,” first constructed to the speci- 
fication of Mr. J. E. Barnard, for the bacteriological 
department of King’s College, London, is one of the 
most perfect stands we have seen (see figure). It is 


| swung on an arc on the “ Wales”’ principle; the body- 


tube is of wide diameter, adapted for use with wide- 
angled photographic lenses, and is provided with two 
graduated draw-tubes, one of which is actuated by 
a rack and pinion. The substage has centring screws, 
and the iris diaphragm can be racked eccentrically 
and rotated, so as to allow of the use of light of any 
azimuth, and can be swung out of the optic axis 
independently of the condenser. 

A full series of apochromatic objectives, of which 
Messrs. Swift are the sole British makers, is also 
listed, and we have had the opportunity of examining 
two of the 1/12 in. oil immersions with numerical 
aperture of 1-4. Tested with a Zeiss apertometer, one 


of these lenses was found to come up to 1-4, the other 
was slightly less—1-37. With both lenses the image 
was free from colour, and the definition excellent, 
even with the higher-power compensating oculars, and 
both lenses compare very favourably in all respects 
with similar lenses of other makers at double the price. 
We think it would be an advantage if the tube-length 
Were engraved on the mounts of these lenses. 


CHEMISTRY AT. THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION. 

lige chemical section was well supported through- 
out the meeting both by chemists and by the 

general public. The programme was a varied one, 

appealing both to the specialist and to the public 

generally. In particular, the discussion on fuel was 

of extreme importance, and it was evident that though 


33° 


there is far too much apathy on this question among 
men of science and the general public, yet a great 
deal is being done on scientific lines to effect greater 
efficiency in the utilisation of fuel. Probably nothing 
but economic pressure will make the public at large 
abandon the present wasteful methods which were 
indicted by Prof. Armstrong. A minor feature of 
the meeting was the number of chemical papers read 
in other sections: this is an inevitable consequence 
of the splitting up of the sections of the association 
during the last decade. The spread of chemistry is 
satisfactory, if it be regarded as a sign of the 
growing appreciation of the subject by biologists and 
others; but, on the other hand, it leads to state- 
ments being made and accepted without comment 
which would be criticised drastically by an audience 
of chemists. 

The section welcomed Prof. Feist (Kiel), Prof. 
Sérensen (Copenhagen), and Prof. Tschugaeff (St. 
Petersburg) at its meetings, and had the pleasure of 
entertaining them to dinner on the Saturday evening. 

After Prof. W. P. Wynne had delivered the presi- 
dential address on substitution, Mr. P. K. Dutt gave 
a brief account of work carried out with Prof. J. B. 
Cohen on the progressive bromination of toluene 
in which the orienting effect of the various mono- and 
di-halogen compounds has been studied; the results 
were contrasted with those obtained by chlorination. 

Dr. R. S. Morrell described his recent work on the 
saturated acids of linseed oil which he has identified 
as stearic acid and palmitic acid with a trace of oleic 
acid. The great difficulty experienced in the quantita- 
tive separation of the fatty acids was emphasised. 
In a discussion of the paper, attention was directed to 
the necessity from the biological point of view of a 
more complete study of the fatty acids. 

Dr. Tinkler made a communication on a series of 
mixtures of nitro compounds and amines which are 
coloured only in the liquid state, which he illus- 
trated experimentally. Mixtures of diphenylamine 
with certain nitro compounds give solutions which 
are coloured at one temperature but become colourless 
on cooling. Thus a mixture of diphenylamine and 
parachloronitro-benzene acquires a_ reddish-yellow 
eolour when held in the hand, and loses this colour 
when the temperature falls. The colour is considered 
due to the combination of nitro-compound and amine 
in the liquid state only. Various physico-chemical 
investigations of the fused mixtures were undertaken. 

Mr. E. Vanstone dealt with the influence of 
chemical constitution on the thermal properties of 
binary mixtures of benzoin .with other organic com- 
pounds which had been studied by the usual methods 
of thermal analysis. 

A short paper by Mr. H. Ehrhardt established the 
fact that anthranilic acid is formed by the decom- 
position or over-reduction of indigo in the bisulphite- 
zinc-lime vat. Some remarks on the influence of the 
presence of gas upon the inflammability of coal-dust 
in air by Prof. W. M. Thornton completed the day’s 
programme. 

Optical Properties. 

The morning of Friday, September 12th, was de- 
voted to a series of papers dealing with the signi- 
ficance of optical properties. The first, by Dr. R. H. 
Pickard and Mr. J. Kenyon, concerned the optical 
rotatory powers and dispersions of the members of 
some homologous series of organic compounds. 
More than one hundred opticaily active compounds 
belonging to ten such series have been synthesised. 
Although they possess simple and closely related 
constitutions, no numerical relationship between their 
rotatory powers-has yet been detected. Well-marked 
regularities are shown which are more or less common 


NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


Q 
| NOVEMBER 13, I913 


to all the series. A comprehensive account of the 
present state of the knowledge of optical activity was 
given by Dr. Pickard. + 

Rotatory dispersion was the subject of Dr. Lowry’s 
paper. Formerly measurements of optical rotation 
were made with the light of one wave-length only, 
but it is necessary tomake them over a range of wave- 
lengths, especially in the case of substances which 
exhibit anomalous rotatory dispersion. The methods 
of measuring rotatory dispersion have been greatly 
simplified by Dr. Lowry, so that they present no 
difficulty. Use is made of the green and violet mer- 
cury lines, of sodium and lithium, and also of the 
red and green cadmium lines. The curve of rotatory 
dispersion for organic liquids was shown to have 
an extremely simple form. It is expressed by the 
equation 
Ke 

W=Ae? 
where K is the rotation constant and A,” the disper- 
sion constant for the substance. If a is plotted 
against A,?, the curve is a simple rectangular hyper- 
bola. If 1/a is plotted against A*, the curve becomes a 
straight line. 

Prof. L. Tschugaeff followed with a paper on 
anomalous rotatory dispersion, of which there are 
three different types. These were dealt with by the 
reader at some length. The shape of the dispersion 
curve is largely influenced by constitutive factors, the 
whole curve resulting from the superposition of 
several partial curves. The relative positions of the 
centres of activity and of the chromophor groups 
within the active molecule are of much influence, 
The influence of varying factors on the rotatory dis- 
persion of the optically active xanthates was compared 
with that of the tartrates. There is an intimate 
analogy in the origin of the anomaly in both cases. 

Prof. P. F. Frankland directed attention to another 
part of the subject, namely, the so-called Walden 
inversion. He gave an account of researches carried 
out with W. E. Garner to determine the nature of 
the action of thionyl chloride on lactic acid and ethyl 
lactate. In each case the action was very com- 
plicated, but the investigation is throwing light on 
the process of substitution in optically active com- 
pounds. 

Dr. T. S. Patterson directed attention to the rota- 
tion of active compounds as modified by temperature, 
colour of light, and solution in indifferent liquids. 
It has been found that the rotation of certain com- — 
pounds reaches a maximum at a definite temperature. 
This may indicate that one of the groups attached to 
an asymmetric carbon atom attains to a maximum 
influence. The theory is extended to afford a reason 
why anomalous dispersion should exist. The influence 
of the solvent in shifting the temperature-rotation 
curves so as to bring the parts in the neighbourhood 
of the maximum into view was demonstrated. 

Unfortunately, time did not permit of a discussion 
of the views represented. . 

Lieut.-Col. J. W. Gifford described a partially cor- 
rected fluor-quartz lens for spectrum photography of 
a very high degree of accuracy. Dr. J. Hulme made 
a brief communication on crystalline-liquid substances. 


Utilisation of Fuel. 

The subject of the proper utilisation of coal and 
fuels derived therefrom was introduced before a large 
attendance by Prof. Armstrong, who urged that coal 
was burned wastefully and wrongly, and that certain 
issues ought to be brought prominently before the 
public. He deplored the exclusion of the chemist from 
the gas industry until quite recently, and considered 
gas and coke production should be associated in every 


a 


NovVEMBER 13, 1913] 


large town. In the same way the methods of burning 
gas had been very inefficient until recently the chemist 
had come in. He asked for legislation to secure the 
proper use of coal, and urged the appointment of a 
royal committee of experts to organise and direct 
experimental work. The efforts of the remaining 
speakers were directed to show how economy had been 
secured in various branches of the subject as the result 
of the application of scientific inquiry. 

Dr. Beilby dealt with low temperature carbonisation, 
describing for the first time a form of apparatus which 
he had devised in which coal could be exposed to the 
action of heat in thin layers. This consisted of a 
column heated externally in a gas-fired oven at 400° 
to 450°, and fitted internally with a series of sloping 
shelves. The coal was fed mechanically to the top 
of the column and the shelves jolted, so the coal 
passed over the whole series from top to bottom in 
a sheet of from 2 in. to 24 in. in thickness. The time 
required was about an hour and a half, and a unit 
with a capacity of fifteen tons per day had been 
reached. He was satisfied that the production of a 
mechanically perfect apparatus into which small coal 
was automatically fed, passed through a distilling 
zone, and finally passed through a cooling chamber, 
only required a little more patient step by step 
development. Present disadvantages of the apparatus 
were that it would only work smoothly with non- 
caking coal and that it tended to break down the coal 
into small stuff. The coke from this plant had proved 
quite satisfactory in water-gas plant, and when aggre- 
gated into briquettes with about 7 percent. of pitch it 
had proved eminently suited for domestic fuel. 

Dr. H. G. Colman followed with a comprehensive 
account as to how far the gas industry was helping 
towards the economic use of fuel. The industry takes 
at present sixteen million tons of coal per annum. 
A steadily increasing proportion of the gas output is 
now employed for heating. The intrinsic luminosity 
of the gas was now only of minor significance, the 
calorific power being vastly more important. The cost 
at which gas was sold was steadily decreasing owing 
to greatly improved technological methods in the 
manufacture, to economies due to the larger scale on 
which operations were carried out, and to the in- 
creased value of some of the by-products. 

Twenty-five per cent. of the heat units in the coal 
were obtained in the gas, 50 per cent. in the coke, 
and about 5 per cent. in the tar, the remainder being 
used in the process of manufacture. At present only 
about 20 per cent. of the nitrogen present in the coal 
is recovered in the form of ammonia. The efficiency 
of gas when used for lighting and for domestic 
heating and cooking was discussed, and its present 
increasing employment on a large scale for other 
industrial purposes was mentioned. In Birmingham 
this use accounts for some 8 per cent. of the total 
output. 

Recent progress in gas-fire science was the subject 
summarised by Mr. H. James Yates. The drawbacks 
of the early gas fire were explained, and the evolution 
of the modern form of radiating fire, in which the 
fire-front consists of a series of hollow fire-clay 
columns (radiants), each flame rising into the cavity 
of its radiant, care being taken to prevent any in- 
fringement on the inner cone of the flame. Radia- 
tion has taken the place of convection as the mode of 
heat transference, and more than 50 per cent. of the 
net heat combustion of the gas is delivered as radiant 
energy. The author next enlarged on the testing of 
gas fires. The important question of ventilating effect 
was next considered. To ensure good ventilation with- 
out any sacrifice of radiant efficiency, an adequate 
vertical distance between the top of the radiants and 
the bottom of the canopy must be preserved. The 


NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


oos 


entire change in the construction principle of gas fires 
was leading to their general adoption. To-day there 
were upwards of 350,000 gas fires in use in London 
alone. 

Prof. W. A. Bone, who spoke at some length, dealt 
with the use of cheap gaseous fuel generated at or 
near the point at which it was to be used. He dis- 
cussed the cost of generating water-gas and of 
ammonia-recovery producer gas, the latter being 
equivalent to coal-gas at 4d. per 1000 cubic feet. He 
outlined recent improvements in connection with a 
modern steel works plant which had led to the sub- 
stitution of producer gas by a mixture of blast-furnace 
gas and coke-oven gas. This resulted in the aboli- 
tion of the gas-producer with an economy of 2 to 
3 cwt, of coal per ton of steel produced. Progress 
of this type represented an enormous economy in 
the use of coal; in addition, both tar and ammonia 
were recovered from the coal used. 

Dr. R. V. Wheeler, speaking on the composition of 
coal, described a method of discriminating between 
coking and non-coking coals, his object being to ex- 
plain the variations in the bituminous coals which 
cannot be accounted for by the differences which occur 
in their ultimate chemical composition. Coal was 
extracted with pyridine, and this extract separated 
further by partial solution in chloroform. 

Dr. R. Lessing returned to the economics of 
domestic coal consumption, pointing out that any great 
increase in the use of coal-gas in the future would 
result in an over-production of gas-coke. He advo- 
cated more attention being paid to low-temperature 
carbonisation. 

Mr. W. H. Patterson spoke with regard to the 
improvement of combustion and the blending of coals. 
The discussion then became general. 

A lengthy paper by Messrs. J. F. Liverseege and 
A. W. Knapp entitled ‘The Action of an Alkaline 
Natural Water on Lead” concluded the sitting. The 
subject is now one of wide importance since so many of 
the large cities are now using very soft water gathered 
in distant hilly country. Such water may corrode or 
erode lead pipes, and requires treatment to prevent 
any danger arising from this action. The behaviour 
of the Birmingham water, gathered chiefly in Wales, 
towards lead pipes and sheet lead has been very 
thoroughly investigated by the authors, who find that 
given sufficient oxygen, the alkalinity of the water is 
the principal factor determining the amount of erosion. 
The use of lime as a preventative was not found satis- 
factory, but protection was given by the addition of 
four parts of calcium carbonate -or two parts of 
calcium bicarbonate per 100,000. In practice a small 
proportion of powdered chalk is added to the water in 
Wales. The authors gave a full account of their 
methods of analysis. These were criticised by Prof. 
P. F. Frankland, who contended that the employment 
of Houston’s test for determining the action of the 
water on lead was valueless, and that the only suit- 
able test is to place the water in a corked lead pipe. 
The authors determined the alkalinity of the water 
by titration. This did not represent the true condi- 
tion of the water, as it overlooked the dissolved 
carbon dioxide. He advised the use of Walker’s 
method. 


Radio-active Elements. 


The discussion on radio-active elements and the 
periodic law attracted a very large audience. Unfor- 
tunately the counter-attractions of Sir J. J. Thomson’s 
new gas limited it to an hour and a half, but Mr. 
Soddy, who opened it, was properly very brief. His 
main conclusion, based on the existence of chemically 
identical and non-separable groups of elements may be 
summarised as follows :— 


ao” 


The chemical analysis of matter is not an ultimate 
one. It has appeared ultimate hitherto, on account of 
the impossibility of distinguishing between elements 
which are chemically identical and non-separable 
unless these are in the process of change the one into 
the other. But in that part of the periodic table in 
which the evolution of the elements is still proceeding, 
each place is seen to be occupied not by one element, 
but on the average, for the places occupied at all, by 
no fewer than four, the atomic weights of which vary 
over as much as eight units. It is impossible to 
believe that the same may not be true for the rest of 
the table, and that each known element may be a 
group of non-separable elements occupying the same 
place, the atomic weight not being a real constant, 
but a mean value, of much less fundamental interest 
than has been hitherto supposed. Although these 
advances show that matter is even more complex 
than chemical analysis alone has been able to reveal, 
they indicate at the same time that the problem of 
atomic constitution may be more simple than has been 
supposed from the lack of simple numerical relations 
between the atomic weights. 

The general law is that in an wray change, when 
ahelium atom carrying two atomic charges of positive 
electricity is expelled, the element changes its place 
in the periodic table in the direction of diminishing 
mass and diminishing group number by two places. 
In a B&-ray change, when a single atomic charge of 
negative electricity is expelled from the atom as a 
B particle, and also in the two changes for which the 
expulsion of rays has not yet been detected, the element 
changes its position in the table in the opposite direc- 
tion by one place. j 

The discussion was continued by Mr. A. Fleck, who 
has determined experimentally what element each of 
the short-lived radio-elements most resembled, and 
whether it was separable from the ordinary element 
by fractional methods. 

The results of the work show that :— 

1. Uranium-X and radio-actinium are chemically 
identical with thorium. 

2. Mesothorium-2 is 
actinium. 

3. Radium-A is chemically identical with polonium. 

4. Radium-C, thorium-C, actinium-C, and radium-E 
are chemically identical with bismuth. 


chemically identical with 


5. Radium-B, thorium-B, and actinium-B are 
chemically identical with lead. 
6. Thorium-D and actinium-D are chemically 


identical with thallium. 

In the cases in which the inseparable elements are 
common elements these latter have all atomic weights 
above 200, and occupy one or other of the last twelve 
places of the periodic table. 

Closely allied to the discussion was the next paper 
by Dr. G. Hevesy, entitled ‘‘ Radio-active Elements as 
Indicators in Chemistry and Physics.” 

_ By means of an a-ray electroscope of ordinary sensi- 
tiveness it is possible to measure accurately as small 
a quantity as 10-17 orm. of a radio-active substance 
having a half-value period of one hour. The extra- 
ordinary simplicity and at the same time sensitiveness 
with which these extremely small quantities of radio- 
active bodies can be determined makes them of the 
greatest use not only in studying substances in great 
dilution, but also as indicators of physical and chemical 
processes. Radio-active indicators are conveniently 
divided into two principal groups. To the first group 
belong those the use of which as indicators depends 
only on their physical properties, and not on their 
chemical properties. Several examples of the use of 
indicators of this kind were given. The radio-active 
elements may be used chemically as indicators of the 
metals from which they are known to be non-separable. 


NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[ NOVEMBER 13, I913 


In this way 10-* mg. of lead is quantitatively deter- 
minable. a 

The section then divided into*physico-chemical and 
metallurgical divisions. After Dr. Patterson had com- 
municated certain novel suggestions for the nomen- 
clature of optically active compounds, two papers were 
read by Dr. B. de Szyszkowski, of Kieff. He first 
described the influence of sodium and potassium 
chloride in varying concentration upon the distribution 
of benzoic and salicylic acids. Both the affinity con- 
stant and partition coefficient were calculated. The 
former first rises, passes through a maximum, and 


then falls as the concentration of the salt is con- 


tinually increased. Maxima of solubility are shown ~ 
to exist for salicylic acid and 1:3: 5-dinitrobenzoic 
acid. The increased solubility of acids in presence of 
salts is due to double decomposition and increase of 
the affinity constant, both factors contributing towards 
the diminution of the undissociated proportion of the 
acid. 

The second paper dealt with solubility and distribu- 
tion. 

Dr. Prideaux, in a paper entitled ‘“‘The Hydrogen 
Ion Concentration of the Sea and the Alkali-carbon- 
dioxide Equilibrium,” supported the opinion that the 
interaction between the small quantities of carbon 
dioxide and free alkali is a most important factor 
controlling life in the sea and dealt at some length 
with the physico-chemical constants which connect 
the concentrations of the hydrogen and carbonate ions. 
It is supposed that the first and second dissociation 
constants of carbonic acid are both altered in saline 
solution. A lively discussion followed, in which Prof. 
Sérensen, Dr. Syzszikowski, and Dr. E. F. Armstrong 
tool part. 


Metallurgical Chemistry. 


The metallurgical section sat separately on two 
mornings, Prof. T. Turner being in the chair. The 
first item was a discussion on metals, crystalline and 
amorphous, introduced by a paper from Dr. W. 
Rosenhain, who submitted advance proofs of the full 
paper to the meeting. The ‘‘amorphous”’ theory, as 
it now stands, appears to consist of three distinct 
propositions. The first of these is that mechanical 
disturbance of the material at the surface of a piece 
of crystalline metal, locally destroys the crystalline 
nature of the material and produces on the finished, 
polished surface a thin film of amorphous metal. 

The second is that, just as friction and polishing of 
a metal surface produces a thin amorphous layer or 
film, so the internal rubbing which talkes place on 
surfaces of internal slip when crystalline metal is 
plastically strained, will also bring about local dis- 
turbance resulting in the formation of a thin layer 
of amorphous metal. This amorphous metal is re- 
garded as being less dense and much harder than the 
crystalline variety, and its formation is regarded as 
explaining the changes in hardness and density which 
are known to accompany plastic strain. 

The third proposition is that where the constituent 
crystals of a metal meet, thin films of residual liquid 
metal will remain in circumstances which render 
them incapable of crystallising, so that they will con- 
stitute thin films of undercooled liquid or amorphous 
metal acting as an intercrystalline cement. 

The author reviewed in detail how far these pro- 
positions can be regarded as established. The second 
in particular has been much criticised, but it was 
demonstrated that it offers an explanation for a larger 
number of facts than any rival theofy. 

In the subsequent discussion Dr. G. T. Beilby 
pointed out that interpenetration of the surface layer 
and the polishing powder is not essential, as calcite 
may be polished without any powder. The layers 


NOVEMBER 13, 1913] 


NATURE 


497 
III 


produced by polishing were not of molecular thinness, 
but really very deep. Unlike the author, he con- 
sidered the microscopical evidence of a mobile phase 
in the interior of a strained metal conclusive. 

Dr. C. H. Desch considered it necessary to dis- 
tinguish between the hypothesis of amorphous phase 
in strained metal, due to Dr. Beilby, and that of an 
intercrystalline cement in unstrained metal, developed 
by Dr. Rosenhain. The first was now fully estab- 
lished; the second, although highly ingenious, was 
yet unproved. Most of the facts could be explained 
by the surface tension of the crystal grains. 

Dr. Rosenhain, in reply, said that iron, unlike 
calcite, would not give a layer of amorphous material 
without the use of a powder. He could not agree 
that there would be any surface tension at the boun- 
daries of crystals in contact. 

In a paper by F. E. E. Lamplough and J. T. Scott 
it was stated that the ‘‘halos”’ sometimes seen around 
the crystallites in alloys containing a eutectic are not 
due to undercooling, but to segregation. They appear 
more readily when the alloy is slowly cooled, and 
their formation still occurs when undercooling is pre- 
vented by inoculation. By quenching experiments it 
is shown that the two constituents of aeutectic crystal- 
lise simultaneously, not alternately. 

Prof. T. Turner’s paper on the volatility of metals, 
especially under reduced pressure, was concerned with 
a subject in which there are considerable possibilities 
of future practical application. Distillation in vacuo 
is specially suitable for easily oxidisable metals such 
as sodium, potassium, cadmium, and zinc. Quantita- 
tive separations of the constituents of some alloys can 
readily be effected at suitable temperatures in vacuo. 
A general description of the work was given with par- 
ticular reference to the influence of the pressure on 
the rate of volatilisation. 

The structural changes brought about in certain 
alloys by annealing formed the subject of a paper by 
Mr. O. F. Hudson, which had reference mainly to 
those alloys which consist of a solid solution. On 
annealing, the cored structure characteristic of the 
cast alloy disappears and the crystals become quite 
uniform. Structurally the alloy does not now differ 
from a pure metal. Alloys which have been worked 
before annealing practically became recrystallised 
during the process. In the case of alloys consisting 
of crystals of two or more kinds, the chief effect of 
annealing is to promote equilibrium between the two 
phases present. Prolonged annealing is required to 
attain complete phase and structural equilibrium. 
The paper gave a valuable summary of the existing 
knowledge on the subject. 

In a paper on diffusion in solid solutions, Dr. C. H. 
Desch alluded to the fact that since his report to the 
Dundee meeting of the association, Bruni and 
Meneghini have succeeded in demonstrating the 
occurrence of diffusion in a clear, crystalline solid in 
the case of sodium and potassium chlorides. A mix- 
ture of these two salts, heated at 500° or 600°, yields 
a homogeneous solid solution, the formation of which 
is recognised by determining the heat of solution in 
water, which differs from that of a mechanical mix- 
ture. The author’s further experiments with metallic 
alloys show that a sharp boundary is characteristic 
of diffusion in solids when a chemical compound is 
formed. An abrupt discontinuity of composition is 
also observed when one component is removed by 
solution, as in the dezincification of alloys of copper 
and zinc. 

Mr. E. Vanstone described the methods and results 
of determinations of the electrical conductivity of 
sodium amalgams when in the solid state. 

The work described by Dr. A. Holt in a paper 
entitled ““The Solubility of Gases in Metals’’ had 


NO. 2298. voL. a2] 


reference mainly to the solubility of hydrogen. in 
palladium, but there seems distinct evidence that the 
phenomena are not peculiar to this case, but occur 
also with other metals and gases. 

Rapid solution of gas appears only to take place 
when the metal is in an amorphous condition. The 
metal may be wholly amorphous, as in the case of 
palladium black, orit may havean amorphous surface 
associated with amorphous films round the crystals 
of the otherwise holocrystalline material. The rate 
of solution appears to depend on the amount of 
amorphous metal present, hence when the amorphous 
and crystalline phases are in physical contact, the 
metastable amorphous phase tends to crystallise, and 
so causes a falling off in the rate of solution. When, 
however, the amorphous phase alone is present, the 
rate of change is so excessively slow that the rate of 
solution appears to be a constant, even after a long 
period of years. 

The activity can be increased up to a maximum 
value by repeated saturation and removal of gas 
from the metal. According to Beilby, ‘‘the gas 
molecules as they find their way among the metal 
molecules of the solid are quite capable of producing 
sufficient movement to arrest crystallisation, or even 
to flow the crystals which are already formed into the 
amorphous variety,” and this would explain the above- 
mentioned increase in activity. 

Since, however, all forms of the metal appear 
eventually to dissolve almost the same volumes of 
gas, it must be concluded that when the metal is 
mainly crystalline, the amorphous phase functions as 
a vehicle for the transference of gas, for some 
amorphous metal is always present in physical contact 
with the crystalline phase. 

Dr. R. E. Slade and Mr. G. I. Higson contributed 
two papers. The first, on the equilibria of reduction 
of oxides by carbon, described the methods followed 
to determine the equilibrium temperature and pres- 
sure of carbon monoxide for vanadium, tantalum, 
chromium, tin. The second described the determina- 
tion in a similar manner of the dissociation pressures 
and temperatures of the nitrides of vanadium, 
tantalum, and boron. 

Mr. F. D. Farrow gave a concise summary of the 
recent work on the melting points and dissociation 
pressures of the system copper oxygen, the data being 
collected to form temperature-composition and tem- 
perature-pressure diagrams. The influence of traces 
of impurities on the properties of copper was surveyed 
by Mr. F. Johnson, who urged the importance of 
metallurgical testing and analysis and the use of 
the microscope in studying the commercial brands of 
crude copper for practical use. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 


INTELLIGENCE. 
CaMBRIDGE.—It is proposed to confer the degree of 
Master of Arts, honoris causd, upon Mr. W. Dawson, 


reader in forestry / f 
Dr. A. S. F. Griinbaum, of Gonville and Caius 


College, and Mr. F. R. C. Reed, of Trinity College, 
have been approved by the General Board of Studies 
for the degree of Doctor of Science. 

Mr. F. T. Brooks, of Emmanuel College, is leaving 
England for the Federated Malay States, in order to 
make a report to the Government on the fungoid 
diseases and as to whether anything can be done to 
arrest them. Mr. Brooks has received one year’s 
leave of absence from the University. 

Oxrorp.—It is proposed to raise a memorial to the 


late Dr. Francis Gotch, Waynflete professor of physio- 
logy in the University. The form taken by the 


334 


NATURE 


[NovEMBER 13, 1913 


memorial will be determined by the success of the 
appeal which is being made to the friends and former 
pupils of the late professor in London, Liverpool, 
Oxford and elsewhere. In a circular that has been 
issued by the provisional committee, which includes 
the names of the Dean of Christ Church (Vice- 
Chancellor), the heads of Magdalen, Brasenose, and 
Keble, Profs. Bayliss, Bourne, Dreyer, Elliott, Sir 
W. Osler, Poulton, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sherrington, 
Arthur Thomson, H. H. Turner, and Dr. J. S. Hal- 
dane, attention is directed to his strenuous work in 
physiology and his wide sympathies in other branches 
of science and in art. Subscriptions may be sent to 
either of the secretaries (Dr. W. Ramsden, Pembroke 
College, and Dr. H. M. Vernon, Magdalen College), 
or to Messrs. Barclay and Co., Ltd., Old Bank, 
Oxford. 

The electors to the Waynflete professorship of physio- 
logy have elected Dr. C. S. Sherrington F.R.S., Holt 
professor of physiology in the University of Liver- 
pool, to succeed Dr, Gotch. 

An appeal is issued for the endowment of a pro- 
fessorship of forestry at Oxford. 
exact knowledge is this country more backward than 
in scientific forestry. Chairs of forestry at the univer- 
sities have existed on the Continent for more than a 
century. The higher forest instruction is now firmly 
established in tne United States of America. The 
Oxford Forest School has for many years been at the 
head of scientific forestry teaching in the British 
Empire. Founded originally for the training of Indian 
forest students, it has grown steadily under Sir Wil- 
liam Schlich’s guidance. It is no longer mainly 
occupied with the training of Indian forest officers. 
Of the thirty-five students at present under instruction 
only seven are destined for India. South Africa, which 
in forest organisation is some quarter of a century 
ahead of the other British Colonies, has long had its 
forest officers trained under Sir William Schlich. The 
appeal now issued states that a total of 3,744l. has 
been raised out of 10,oo00l. required to secure per- 
manently a fully competent professor of forestry. In 
the list of contributions, Sir W. Schlich and his pupils 
appear at the head with sool., and a like sum is con- 
tributed by the Secretary of State for India and by 
four other Colonial Governments. The Oxford col- 
leges promise donations amounting to 875I., and St. 
John’s College, Oxford, sol. a year permanently. 
When we reflect on 30,000,000l. going yearly out of 
this country to pay for the timber and paper pulp that 
could demonstrably be produced in it (Cd. 4460, 1909), 
and that this huge amount of rural employment is lost 
to us yearly, it will be seen that the appeal for the 
endowment of a chair of forestry at Oxford has claims 
oe in the truest sense are national as well as scien- 
tific. 


Sir Rickman GopLex, president of the Royal College 
of Surgeons, has had the honorary degree of Doctor of 
Laws conferred upon him by the University of 
Toronto. 


Tue University of Bristol has made a regulation 
whereby the Bath Municipal Technical School will 
be connected with the faculty of engineering of the 
University, which is provided and maintained in the 
Merchant Venturers’ Technical College. It will be 
possible for a student to take the preliminary and 
intermediate courses for the University certificate in 
engineering, either in whole or in part in evening 
classes in-the Bath Technical School, provided that 
the classes included in them have been approved by 
the Senate, and are conducted by teachers recognised 
by the Senate for the particular purpose. 


NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


In no branch of 


We learn from the issue of Science for October 31 
last that the General Education Board of the United 


States, in addition to a gift of*280,000l. to the Johns _ 


Hopkins Medical School, to provide professorial salaries 


which will enable the professors to be independent of 


private work, has made conditional grants of 40,oo00l. for 
Barnard College, Columbia University; 40,o0ol. for 
Wellesley College, and 10,0001. for Ripon College. 
From the same source we find that two gifts have 
been made to the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
nology from anonymous donors, sums of 100,000l. and 
20,0001. respectively. There is an understanding that 
the larger gift is to be used for the buildings, while 
the other has no restrictions. By the will of the 
late Mr. Simeon Smith, of Indiana, DePauw Univer- — 
sity has recently added 16,000]. to its productive 
endowment. By the terms of the will, 10,0001. of this 
amount has been set aside specifically as an endow- 
ment of the department of chemistry. 


Tue Board of Agriculture and Fisheries is not allow- 
ing the grass to grow under its feet, and in further- 
ance of its educational schemes for the benefit of 
agriculture it has just issued a memorandum (Cd. 7118) — 


“as to the constitution of the advisory councils for — 


agricultural education in England and of the agricul- 
tural council for Wales.” The Rural Education Con- 
ference recommended that joint councils should be 
constituted in each of the twelve divisions which were 
being formed in England and Wales in connection 
with the Board’s scheme for the provision of tech- 
nical advice to farmers, and that their duties should 
primarily be to promote the organisation of the 
different forms of agricultural instruction which are 
not provided for inside the agricultural colleges form- 
ing the divisional centres. The first appendix to the 
Memorandum sets out in detail the steps which have 
been taken to establish such advisory councils in 
nine of the ten divisions which cover England, with 
particulars as to their constitution and membership. 
No formal steps have, as yet, been taken to con- 
stitute such a council for Lancashire and Cheshire. 
The Board has rejected the proposal of the conference 
to establish two councils for Wales, and has preferred 
to constitute a single agricultural council for Wales 
and Monmouth. Details of its constitution are given 
in Appendix II. The function of these councils is 
twofold :—(a) Educational, including the assistance 
and advice of local education authorities on such points 
as the organisation and coordination of agricultural 
education each within its sphere of action, provision of 
agricultural experiments, demonstrations, and _ in- 
structors, inquiry into the need for farm schools and 
other educational centres of a type less advanced than 
the agricultural colleges, and so forth; (b) advisory : 
to keep the Board informed on the state of agricultural 
education within their respective provinces, and, 
through a live-stock committee, to assist the Board in 
furthering its schemes for the improvement of the live- 
stock of the country. Further developments will be 
watched with keen interest by all who have the welfare — 
of British agriculture at heart. = ‘ 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
Lonpon. 

Royal Society, November 6.—Sir Archibald Geikie, 
K.C.B., president, in the chair.—Prof. E. W. 
MacBride: Studies in heredity. II., Further experi- — 
ments in crossing the British species of sea-urchins. — 
In this paper the results obtained two years ago 
and communicated to the society are confirmed and — 
extended. The hybrid produced by fertilising the egg 
of Echinus with the sperm of Echino-cardium is 
described. This hybrid was not obtained two years 


NovEMBER 13, I9I 3] 


ago. The effect of foreign sperm in producing cyto- 
lysis on an egg is described, and it is also shown 
that an egg may become totally unreceptive for 
foreign sperm, whilst it is still perfectly capable of 
being fertilised with the sperm of its own species.— 


A. D. Hall, W. E. Brenchley, and L. M. Underwood : 
_ The soil solution and the mineral constituents of the 
_ soil.—Prof. B. Moore and T. A. Webster: Synthesis 
_ by sunlight in relationship to the origin of life. 
_ thesis of formaldehyde from carbon dioxide and water 
_ by inorganic colloids acting as transformers of light 
_energy.—Dr. B. Blacklock and Dr. W. Yorke: The 
_ trypanosomes 
_ Beschalseuche).—T. G. Brown: Postural and non- 


Syn- 


causing dourine (mal de coit or 


stural activities of the mid-brain._J. O. W. 
arratt: The nature of the coagulant of the venom of 


_Echis carinatus.—E. H. Rodd: Morphological studies 
in the benzene series. 


IV., The crystalline form of 
sulphonates in relation to their molecular structure.— 
Prof. W. H. Bragg and W. L. Bragg: The structure 


_ of the diamond.—Hon. R. J. Strutt: Note on electric 
_ discharge phenomena in rotating silica bulbs.—J. N. 


Pring: The origin of thermal ionisation.—Clive 
Cuthbertson and Maude Cuthbertson: The refraction 
and dispersion of gaseous nitrogen peroxide. 


Physical Society, October 24.—Prof. C. H. Lees, vice- 
president, in the chair.—Ezer Griffiths : The ice calori- 


_ meter, with remarks on the constancy of the density 


of ice. The primary object of the work was the re- 


_ determination, by an electrical method, of the constant 


of Bunsen’s ice calorimeter. The mean value of the 


calorimeter constant was found to be 15-486 milli- 


grams of mercury per mean calorie. Various ob- 
servers have advanced evidence tending to show that 
the density of ice at 0° C. is not a definite constant. 
A consideration of their work leads to the conclusion 
that the small variations of density found for different 
samples might be simply due to the presence of 


_ occluded water or an amorphous modification cement- 


ing the ice crystals together. The value (80-30) of the 
latent heat of fusion of ice, calculated from the ice 
calorimeter, supports this view, as it is higher by 
about o-7 per cent. than the value obtained by direct 
determinations with ice in bulk.—H. Ho and S. 
Koto: An _ electrostatic oscillograph. The paper 
describes an electrostatic oscillograph suitable for 
recording very high voltages. Two vertical bronze 
strips pass symmetrically between two parallel metallic 
plates called ‘field plates.” They are connected at 
their lower ends by a silk fibre which passes under 
an ivory pulley. An extremely small mirror is fixed to 
the strips. This arrangement constitutes the vibrator, 
which, mounted on an ebonite frame, is immersed in 
an oil bath. To the upper extremities of the strips 
are connected the terminals of a direct-current voltage 
of about 300. The alternating voltage to be recorded 
is connected to the ‘field plates,” in parallel with 
which there are two oil condensers in series. The 
electrical midpoint of the direct-current battery is 
connected to a point between the condensers. The 
turning moment on the strips is proportional to the 
product of the momentary values of the alternating- 
current voltage and the direct-current voltage, so that 
if the latter is constant, the deflection of the mirror 
accurately follows the variation of the former. 


Zoological Society, October 28.—Prof. E. A. Minchin, 
F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—Dr. F. ; 
Beddard: The anatomy and systematic arrangement 
of the Cestoidea. A new genus and species of tape- 
worms from the double-striped thicknee (Cfdicnemus 
bistriatus) was described.—Dr. F. A. Bather: The 
fossil Crinoids referred to Hypocrinus Beyrich. The 


two specimens of Hypocrinus schneideri, Beyr., de- | 


scribed by Beyrich and Rothpletz respectively, are re- 
NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


335 


described and re-figured. The structure of the genus 
is shown to agree with that of the Devonian family 
Gasterocomidz, the content of which is discussed; 
but it is suggested that in this case and in that of 
‘* Lecythiocrinus”” adamsi the distinctive features may 


| have been independently acquired. The holotype of 


Hypocrinus piriformis, Rothpletz, is redescribed and 
refigured, and proved to be no Hypocrinus. It is 
thought to be a highly modified descendant of the 
Taxocrinidze, by way of such a genus as Cydonocrinus. 
The left posterior radial appears to have borne a large 
arm, but the other arms are more or less atrophied, 
and the right posterior radial has almost disappeared. 
—D. M. S. Watson: Batrachiderpeton lineatum, Han- 
cock and Atthey, a Coal-Measure Stegocephalian. The 
paper contained the description of the skull, lower 
jaw, and pectoral girdle of this species, based on a 
series of specimens in the Newcastle Museum, derived 
from the low main seam of Newsham Colliery.— 
R. W. Palmer: The brain and brain-case of a fossil 
ungulate of the genus Anoplotherium. A cranium 
from the Phosphorites of Quercy, together with an 
exceptionally perfect and well-marked brain-cast ob- 
tained from it, were described from material in the 
British Museum collections. 


Challenger Society, October 29.—Sir John Murray in 
the chair.—Dr. E. J. Allen: A new quantitative tow- 
net for the collection of plankton. A net of bolting- 
silk is enclosed within a canvas case so arranged that 
all the water passing through the net escapes from 
the canvas case through a meter The meter con- 
sists of a propeller and a clockwork recorder, and 
is calibrated by running through it a measured stream 
of water. The number of organisms collected by the 
net can be counted or the amount of plankton deter- 
mined in some other way, and the quantity per unit 
volume of water calculated. The net can be used for 
horizontal or for vertical hauls, in the latter case 
working both when going down and when coming 
up.—Dr. Francis Ward: Reflection as a concealing 
and revealing factor in aquatic life. 


MANCHESTER. 


Literary and Philosophical Society, October 7.—Mr. 
Francis Nicholson, president, inaugural address: The 
old Manchester Natural History Society and its 
museums. An account of the society, which existed 
from 1821 to 1868, first in St. Anne’s Place, after- 
wards in King Street, and from 1835 in a museum 
built for the purpose in Peter Street. The museum 
was eventually passed over to Owen’s College, in trust 
for the people of Manchester, and exists to-day, im- 
proved out of recognition, as the Manchester Museum. 
The museum was perhaps strongest in the class of 
birds, in which it once rivalled the British Museum. 
As trustees, the University are now carrying on the 
work initiated by the Natural History Society much 
more efficiently than the society did in its most pros- 
perous days.—Prof. F. E. Weiss: Juvenile flowering 
in Eucalyptus globulus. A young plant developed 
flower buds during its second year, after the main 
stem had been cut down. The flowers were sub- 
tended by leaves characteristic of the immature plant 
and very different from the mature foliage. Such 
occurrences have been recorded for one or two species 
of Australian Eucalypti. In the case described by the 
author, the interference with the growth of the plant 
seems to have led to the juvenile flowering, as another 
plant dealt with in a similar way has produced flowers 
on the lateral branch, which had taken the place of 
the main stem after the latter was cut down. 

October 21.—Mr. Francis Nicholson, president, in 
the chair.—Miss D. A. Stewarts Changes in the 
branchial lamellz of Ligia oceanica after prolonged 


336 


NATURE 


[NOVEMBER 13, 1913 


immersion in fresh- and salt-water. Ligia oceanica, 
the quay-slug, is found at various heights above high- 
water mark, but not far inland, and has congeners 
which inhabit fresh-water or are amphibious or terres- 
trial. The gills of these forms are similar, and Miss 
Stewart carried out experiments to determine the 
effect upon the gill structure of prolonged immersion 
in sea-water and fresh-water. 


Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, November 3.—M. F. Guyon in 
the chair.—A. Haller: The alkylation of the f- and 
y-methylcyclohexanones by means of sodium amide. 
The reaction between sodium amide, methylcyclo- 
hexanone, and ethyl iodide gives a condensation pro- 
duct of the ketone in addition to the substituted ethyl 
derivatives. Details are given of the variation of this 
secondary reaction with the experimental conditions. 
—A,. Laveran and G. Franchini: Experimental infec- 
tions of mammals by the flagella of the digestive 
tube of Ctenocephalus canis and Anopheles maculi- 
pennis. Flagelle from both sources are equally 
capable of infecting the mouse and _ rat.—Pierre 
Termier: The excursion Cr of the twelfth Inter- 
national Geological Congress. The Pre-Cambrian 
strata of the Lake region; the tectonic problems of 
the great chains of the west.—E. Belot: Zodiacal 
matter and the solar constant. A discussion of the 
perturbations due to zodiacal matter, the reflection of 
sunlight upon the same, and the variations of the 
solar constant due to absorption by zodiacal matter.— 
M. Giacobini: The comet i1913e. Position of the 
Zinner comet on November 1. The comet appeared 
as a round nebulosity of about 45” diameter, with a 
nucleus of about 9-5 magnitude. There were indica- 
tions that the light from the comet was polarised.— 
M. Couadé: An aviation parachute. A description of 
experiments made with small-scale models.—P. 
Helbronner; The complementary geodesic triangula- 
tions of the higher regions of the French Alps.— 
Bohdan de Szyszkowski: The réle of the neutral mole- 
cule in electrolytes.—B. Szilard : A direct reading static 
voltmeter for the measurement of very small currents. 
——Thadée Peczalski: Compressibility and the differ- 
ences of the specific heats of liquids.—Georges 
Baume: Some physico-chemical applications of the 
Maxwell-Barthoud distribution equation.—Eugéne L. 
Dupuy and A. Portevin: The influence of various 
metals on the thermo-electric properties of the iron- 
carbon alloys. Sixty alloys were studied, the elements 
added to the iron-carbon alloy including chromium, 
manganese, aluminium, tungsten, and molybdenum, 
The thermo-electric power was measured over the 
ranges —78° C. to 0°, and o°—100°.—Amé Pictet 
and Maurice Bouvier; The distillation of coal under 
reduced pressure. The coal was heated to about 
450° C., and the pressure in the retort maintained at 
about 16 mm. The aqueous portion of the distillate 
was acid, and contained no ammonia. The tar con- 
tained neither phenols nor naphthalene, but the pre- 
sence of secondary bases was proved. The hydro- 
carbons belonged nearly exclusively to the fatty series. 
—Aug. Rilliet and L. Kreitmann ; 6-Aminopiperonal.— 
Pierre Lesage: Contribution to a critical examination 
of the action of atmospheric electricity upon plants.— 
J. Beauverie : Frequent presence of the germs of rust 
in the interior of the seeds of the Graminacea.—R. 
Robinson: The physiology of the czcal appendix. 
The hormone of the vermium.—Raoul Bayeux: A new 
distributing gas micrometer for use in intravenous 
injections.—Jules Amar; The respiratory signs of 
fatigue.—L. C. Soula: The mechanism of anaphylaxis. | 
— Gabriel Bertrand and A. Compton: The presence of | 
a new diastase, salicinase, in almonds.—C. Gessard : 
Che salts in the coagulation of the blood.—Fred Vlés : 


NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


The absorption of the visible rays by the blood of the 
octopus.—Louis Gentil and Pereird de Sousa: The 
effects in Morocco of the great earthquake in Portugal 
of 1755. : ° 

New SoutH WaAtEs. 

Linnean Society, September 24.—Mr. W. S. Dun, 
president, in the chair—W. N. Benson: The geology 
and petrology of the great Serpentine belt of New 
South Wales. Part ii., the geology of the Nundle 
district. The formations present are, the Woolomi: 
Series, the Bowling Alley Series (equivalent to th: 
Tamworth Series), of which five divisions are recog 
nised; and the Nundle Series, equivalent to the Bar 
raba Mudstones. The last lies conformably on the 
Bowling Alley Series, for the Baldwin Agglomerates 
are not developed. The first two contain numerous 
interstratified flows of spilite, and, in the second, sills 
of albitised dolerite are abundant. All three contain 
radiolaria. A well-marked Middle Devonian limestone 
horizon runs throughout the Bowling Alley Series.— 
E. C. Andrews; The development of the natural order 
Myrtaceze. The Myrtacez are widely distributed over 
the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, par 
ticularly in the fertile tropics. The number of specie 
is approximately 3100 (America, 1670; Australia, abou — 
800; Asia, about 235; Africa, 85; Malay Archipelagc 
and Pacific Islands, 310 species; Europe only one). 
By far the greater number of these are of luxuriant 
types, possessing fleshy and indehiscent fruits. The 
capsular genera are endemic in Australasia and the 
neighbouring regions, and the majority of the species 
grow on poor sandy soil, and are strikingly de- 
pauperate in nature, compared with the widely spread 
genera, such as the Myrtles, Guavas, and Eugenias. 
Whereas Ettingshausen considers the modern endemic 
flora of Australia as being of cosmopolitan range in 
early and later Tertiary time, the present author con- 
siders the present endemic flora of Australia as being 
the depauperate descendants of luxuriant and cosmo- 
politan types of the Cretaceous and Eocene periods.— 
Rk. T. Baker: Descriptions of three new species of the 
natural order Myrtaceze. Two species of Melaleuca 
from littoral Eastern Australia, and one of Angophora 
from the New England district, are described as new. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Index of Spectra. By Dr. W. M. Watts. Appendix 

Pp. iv+92. (London: W. Wesley and Son.) 
Die radioaktive Strahlung als Gegenstand wahr- 
scheinlichkeitstheoretischer Untersuchungen. By Prof. 
L. v. Bortkiewicz. Pp. 84. (Berlin: J. Springer.) 
4 marks. 

The Life of the Fly, with which are Interspersed 
some Chapters of Autobiography. By J. H. Fabre. 
Translated bv A. T. de Mattos. Pp. xi+508. (Lon- 
don: Hodder and Stoughton.) 6s. net. 

The Diesel or Slow Combustion Oil Engine. By 
Prof. G. J. Wells and A. J. Wallis-Tayler. Pp. xvi+ 
286. (London: Crosby Lockwood and Son.) 7s. 6d. 
net. - 

Key to “A New Algebra.” Vol. ii., containing 
parts iv., v., and vi. By S. Barnard and J. M. Child. 
Pp. 447-915. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 
8s. 6d. 


V. 


Ministry of Finance, Egypt. Survey Department. 


| The Rains of the Nile Basin and the Nile Flood of 


tg1t. By J. I. Craig. Pp. 110+viii plates. (Cairo: 
Government Press.) P.T.10. 

The Johns Hopkins University Circular, 1913, No. 8. 
Catalogue and Announcement for 1913-14 of the 
Medical Department Established in Connection with 


the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Pp. 276. (Baltimore, 


| Md.) 


NOVEMBER 13, 1913] 


Our Common Sea-Birds : Cormorants, Terns, Gulls, 
Skuas, Petrels, and Auks. By P. R. Lowe. Pp. 
xvi+310. (London: Country Life, Ltd.) 15s. net. 

The Archzology of the Anglo-Saxon Settlements. 
By E. T. Leeds. Pp. 144. (Oxford: Clarendon 
Press.) 5s. net. 


University College of North Wales. Calendar for 
the Session 1913-14. Pp. 446. (Manchester: J. E. 
Cornish, Ltd.) 

Le Scienze Esatte Nell’ Antica Grecia. 
. Loria. Seconda edizione. Pp. 
{Milano: U. Hoepli.) 9.50 lire. 

Opere Matematiche di Luigi Cremona. Tomo 
Primo. Pp. viiit+497. (Milano: U. Hoepli.) 25 lire. 

Cement, Concrete, and Bricks. By A. B. Searle. 
Pp. xi+412. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd.) 
Ios. 6d. net. 


Dysenteries: their Differentiation and Treatment. 
By Prof. L. Rogers. Pp. xi+336+x plates. (Lon- 
don: H. Frowde and Hodder and Stoughton.) tos. 6d. 
het. 

., Milton’s Astronomy: The Astronomy of ‘ Paradise 
ost." By Dr. T. N. Orchard. Pp. xi+288+ plates. 
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_ Scott’s Last Expedition. In two vols., vol. i. being 
the Journals of Capt. R. F. Scott, R.N., C.V.O. Pp. 
XXvi+633+ plates; vol. ii. being the Reports of the 
Journeys and the Scientific Work undertaken by Dr. 
E. A. Wilson and the Surviving Members of the 
Expedition. Arranged by L. Huxley. With a Pre- 
face by Sir Clements R. Markham, K.C.B. Pp. xiv+ 
534+plates. (London: Smith, Elder and Co.) 4ps. 
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Notions fondamentales de Chimie Organique. By 
Prof. C. Moureu. Quatriéme édition. Pp. 383. 
(Paris: Gauthier-Villars.) 9 francs. 

The Library Association Book Production Com- 
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Report of. the Bombay Bacteriological Laboratory 
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By Prof. 


3 P 
XXiv+970. 


Ueber Neo-Vitalismus. By E. du Bois-Reymond. 
Edited by E. Metze. Pp. 60. (Brackwede i.W.: Dr. 
W. Breitenbach.) 1 mark. 

Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 
Vol. xlix., part 2 (No. 3). A Monograph on the 
General Morphology of the Myxinoid Fishes, based on 
a Study of Myxine. Part v., The Anatomy of the 
Gut and its Appendages. By Prof. F. J. Cole. Pp. 
293-344+plates. (Edinburgh: R. Grant and Son; 
London: Williams and Norgate.) 6s. 3d. 

The Elements of Descriptive Astronomy. By E. O. 
Tancock. Pp. 110+xv plates: (Oxford: Clarendon 
Press.) 2s. 6d. net. 

Papers of the British School at Rome. 
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Clinical Bacteriology and Vaccine Therapy for 
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Vol. vi. 
Macmillan and 


xii plates. (London: Balliére, Tindall and Cox.) 
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Chemische Technologie der Gespinstfasern. By Dr. 
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A Text-book of Elementary Statics. By Prof. R. S. 
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All Men are Ghosts. By L. P. Jacks. Pp. ix+360. 


(London : Williams and Norgate.) 55. net. 
NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


337 
Institut de Paléontologie Humaine. La Pasiega. 
A. Puente-Viesgo (Santander), Espagne. By Prof. 


H. Breuil, Prof. H. Obermaier, and H. Alcalde del 
Rio. Pp. 64+xxix plates. (Monaco: A. Chéne.) 

Hope and Help. Golden Advice on the Overcoming 
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Introduction to Biology. By Prof. M. A. Bigelow 
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Fishery Board for Scotland. Fifth Report (Northern 
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plates. (Berlin: D. Reimer.) 15 marks. 


338 


NATURE 


[NOVEMBER 13, 1913 _ 


Matter and Some of its Dimensions. By W. K. 
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Mountains: their Origin, Growth and Decay. By 
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By Sir E. 
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By ‘C.. (M. We 
(London: A. and 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, Novemeer 13. 


Royat Society, at 4.30.—The Preparation of Eye-preserving Glass for 
Spectacles: Sir William Crookes, O.M.—An Inversion Point for Liquid 
Carbon Dioxide in regard to the Joule-Thomson Effect: Prof. A. W. 
Porter. — Negative After-Images and successive Contrast with Pure 
Spectral Colours : Prof. A. W. Porter and Dr. F. W Edridge-Green.—The 
Positive Ions from’ Hot Metals: Prof. O. W. Richardson.—(1) The 
Diurnal Variation of Terrestrial Magnetism.—(2) A Suggestion as to the 
Origin of Black Body Radiation: G, W. Walker. 


Concrete Insriture, at 7.30.—Presidential Address: E. P. Wells. 


cee Tag OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Pressure Rises: W: 
uddell, 


FRIDAY, NovemBeER 14 


Roya Astronomicat Socigty, at 5.—Note on a Method of Balancing 
Dome Shutters: W. H. Maw.—Mean Areas and Heliographic Latitudes 
of Sun-spots in the Year rgr2; Royal Observatory, Greenwich.—Reply to 
Mr. Denning's “‘ Observations of the Orionids’’: C. P. Olivier.— The 
Expression of Sun-spot Frequency as a Fourier Sequence, and on the 
General Use of a Fourier Sequence in Similar Problems: H. H. Turner. 
—Further Note on the Possibility of Refraction by the Solar Atmosphere : 
R. S. Capon.—Sixth Note on the Number of Faint Stars with Large 
Proper Motions: F. A. Bellamy.—Seventh Note on the Number of Faint 
Stars with Large Proper Motions: R. J. Pocock.—The Dynamics of a 
Globular Stellar System : A. S. Eddington.—Probadle Pagers: Retrograde 
Satellite Orbits: J. Jackson.—(1) Photographic Magnitudes of 265 Stars 
within 25° of the North Pole; (2) The Application of Parallel Wire 


ears Gratings to Photographic Photometry: S. Chapman and P. J. 
elotte. 


Puysicat Society, at 8.—On the Thermal Conductivity of Mercury by the 
Impressed Velocity Method: H. R. Nettleton.—On Polarisation and 
Energy Losses in Dielectrics : Dr. A. W. Ashton.—A Lecture Experiment 
to illustrate Ionisation by Collision and to show Thermoluminescence : F. 
J. Harlow. 


ALCHEMICAL Society, at 8.15 (at The International Club, Regent Street, 
S.W.)—The Hermetic Mystery : Mme. Isabelle de Steiger. 


MONDAY, NovemMBeER 17. 
Junior Institution oF ENGINEERS, at 7.—Annual General Meeting.— 
The Institution : E. King. 
TUESDAY, NovemBer 18. 
RovaL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—The Evidential Value of 
the Historical Traditions of the Baganda and Bushongo: E. S. Hartland. 


Royat Sratisticat Society, at 5.—The Course of ‘‘Real Wages" in 
London,*:900-1912 : Frances Wood. 


ILLUMINATING ENGINEERING SocieTy, at 8.—Report on Progress during 
the Vacation: L. Gaster.—Proceedings at the National Gas Exhibition: 
F. W. Goodenough.—The Fourth International Congress on School 
Hygiene: Dr. J. Kerr. 


INSTITUTION OF Civ. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Further Discussion: Vhe Con- 
struction of the ‘‘White Star” Dock and adjoining Quays at South- 
ampton: F. E. Wentworth-Sheilds. 


NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 


WEDNESDAY, Novemser 19. . 


Rovat MereoroLocicat Society, at 7.30.—Daily. Temperature Range at 


Great Heights: W. H. Dines.—Eddy Wind of Gibraltar: H. Harries. 


GroLocicat Society, at °8.—Exhibition 6f Implements and Reputed 
Implements of Palzolithic or Earlier Age, and of Flints showing Various 
Types of natural Fracture, followed by a Discussion. 


AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY, at §.30.—The Right to Fly: Roger Wallace, K.C. 


Royar Society oF ArTS, at 8.—Opening Meeting. Address by Col. Sir 
T. H. Holdich, K.C.M.G. 


EnToOmoLoGicaL Society, at 8. 


Rovat Microscoricat Society, at 8.—Notes on the Shell Structure in the 
Genus Lingula, Recent and Fossil: F. W. Chapman.—Development of an 
Embiid: J. C. Kershaw. 


THURSDAY, NoveMeER 20. ,! 


Rovat Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: Medullosa Pusilla: Dr, 
D. H. Scott.—Neuro-muscular Structures in the Heart: Prof. A. FP. S. 
Kent.—The Alleged Excretion of Creatine in Carbohydrate Starvation = 
G. Graham and E. P. Poulton.—The Origin and Destiny of Cholesterol in 
the Animal Organism. XI. The Cholesterol Content of Growing Chickens 
under Different Diets: J. A. Gardner and P. E. Lander.—Contributions 
to the Biochemistry of Growth—The Lipoids of Transplantable Tumours 
of the Mouse and the Rat: W. E. Bullock and W. Cramer. . 


FRIDAY, November 21. eh 


INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAar. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Cutting Power of Lathe 
Turning Tools: Prof. W. Ripper and G. W. Burley. 


CONTENTS. 
The Zeeman Effect. By Jj Ly... 2 os 
Malaria and Parasitology. ..'.°. 5 - .72s:neem 
A Popular Mineralogy .:.. +. 2 3 5) Ws 
Our Bookshelf . «2.00.03 -5 W 8 cs ee 


Letters to the Editor :— 


The Piltdown Skull and Brain Cast. (Z//ustrated. )— 
Prof. G: Elliot Smith, F. RS. «2 2epeeee 


The Piltdown Mandible. (With Diagrams.)—Prof. 
David Waterston... . 


Darwinism 100 Years Ago,—Dr. H. Gad ow, F.R.S. 
The Stone Implements of the Tasman ans.—J. P. 
Jehnson)*. 2 eae . 6 «hs. 


A Further Parasite of the Large Larch Saw-fly.— 
R.A, Wardle... cs « «oie =, 


Licences for Wireless Telegraphy . 
Dr, Alfred Russel Wallace, O.M., F.R.S. .... . 
Sir William Henry Preece, K.C.B., F.R.S. 
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NovEMBER 13, I913]| 


NATURE 


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GEOLOGICAL PHOTOGRAPHS. 


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Meteorie Iron and Stones in all sizes and prices. 
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i a me 
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OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 

THE LABORATORY, PLYMOUTH, 

The following animals can always be supplied, either living 
or preserved by the best methods :— 

Sycon; Clava, Obelia, Sertularia; Actinia, Tealia, Caryopbyllia, Alcy- 
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CXiv NATURE [NovVEMBER 13, I913 


[ELTZ ANEROID BAROMETERS 


NEW SUBSTAGE GONDENSLR || Gp'mounTaINs OR BALLOONS. 


APLANO-ACHROMATIC. N.A. 1°33 
(Vide “' Knowledge,” July and August, 1913.) 
In ordinary mount ... ir £3 10 O 
Ditto, with iris diaphragm ... £4 0 


Best Quality Move 
ments compensated 
Temperature. — 


MICRO-OBJECTIVES. 


The Glasses of which our Objectives are made up are 
exclusively of a kind which long experience has shown 
to be unaffected by atmospheric influences. The 
lenses are in particular not liable to undergo 
spontaneous changes. 

The following is a selection from our Catalogue of 
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FLUORITE OBJECTIVES. £ s, d. 


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1/6 in. o’82 N.A. cn, pat Om wa of 

1fB ide Aci Atenas, NEA 20 0 | divided to 100 fee 

/8 in. (double fluorite) o’95 N.A. 3 0 

wight; eee 200 £4 4 0 

1/rrin. ... asd ae UR wae ee : 4 

r/czin. ... oil imm, ... 1°32 N.A. LY * 

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: APOCHROMATIC OBJECTIVES. divided to I0O feet 

2/3 in. cae 0°30 ay : f i 

1/3 in F 

1/6 in N. 600 ——— £5 5 0 

1/8 in dis re, N. 610 0 P 

te in. oil imm. ... : 2 - : Illustrated Catalogue, Part II, Post Free. ’ 

1/12 in. do = A 


J. H. STEWARD, Ltd. 
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A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF. SGIENCE.. 


“To the solid ground 
Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.’’—WoRrDSWORTH. 


; fay % 4 


No. 2299, VOL. 92] 


THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1913 


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ie a < 


REYNOLDS & BRANSON, Ltd., 


A Chemical and Scientific Instrument Makers to 
His Majesty's Government (Indian, Home, and Colonial), 
Laboratory Furnishers and Manufacturing Chemists. 


The Stroud & Rendell Science Lantern was jointly invented by Dr. W- 
Stroud (late Professor of Physics, Leeds University) and W. J. Rendell, 
Esq., and was first catalogued by us in 1893 (vide Chemical and Physical 
Apparatus Catalogue, gth edition, 1893). A large number of these lanterns. 
have been manufactured and supplied by us to numerous institutions both 
at home and abroad. To protect the interests of customers, our ttade 
mark, ‘A Snow Crystal,” is attached to each instrument as shown. 


Catalogue of Optical Lanterns and Accessory 
Apparatus (new edition) post free. 


14 COMMERCIAL STREET, LEEDS. 


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Description, and Price List of 
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sent free. 


NEGRETTI & ZAMBRA, 
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CxVl 


UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. 


THIS IS TO GIVE NOTICE that the Senate will shortly proceed to 
elect Examiners in the following subjects for the year rg14q-15. 

The Examiners appointed nay be called upon to take part in the Exam- 
ination of both Internal and External Students. Full particulars of the 
remuneration of each Examinership can be obtained on application to the 
Principal. 

HIGHER EXAMINATIONS FOR MEDICAL DEGREES. 
PresENT EXAMINERS. 


Norman Dalton, M.D., F.R.C P. 
Humphry Davy Rolleston, M.A., M.D. 
B.C., F.R.C.P. 
W. B. Warrington, M D., Ch.B., F.R.C.P. 
Vacant. 
Henry Russell M.D., B.S. 
Two in Obstetric Medicine ... M.R.U.P. 
Vacant. 

f Prof. Robert Muir, M.A., M.D., F.R.S. 

"| Vacant. 


EXAMINERSHIPS. 


Four in Medicine... ae 


Andrews, 


Two in Pathology 


Frédéric F. Burghard, M.D., M.S., 
Willis Piast B., Ch.B., F.R.C.S. 
= as J William F. Haslam, M.B. -B., F.R.C.S. 
Four in Surgery " "| Henry Betham Robinson, M.D., M.S. 
| F.R.C.S. 
Vacant. i 
Two in Tropical Medicine... oe M.“Saudwithy)M°2.) Fei CE 


The Examiners above named are re-eligible, and intend to offer them- 
selves for re-election. 

N.B.—Attention is drawn to the provision of Statute 124, whereby the 
Senate is required, if practicable, to appoint at least one Examiner who 
is not a Teacher of the University. 

Candidates must send in their names to the Principal, with any attes- 
tation of their qualifications they may think desirable, on or before 
MONDAY, DECEMBER is. (lt is particularly desired by the Senate 
that no application of any kind be made to its individual Members.) 

If testimonials are submitted, three copies at least of each should be 
sent. Original testimonials should not be forwarded in any case. If 
more than one Examinership is applied for, a separate complete applica- 
tion, with copies of testimonials, tf any, must be forwarded in respect 
of each. 

University of London, 

South Kensington, S.W., 
November, 1913. 


SWINEY LECTURES, ON GEOLOGY, 
IgI3. 


UNDER THE -PIRECTION OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH Museum. 


A Course of Twelve Lectures on “Tue Naturat History oF 
MINERALS AND ORES” will be delivered by T. J. JEHU, M.A., M.D., 
F.R.S.E., in the Metallurgical Lecture Theatre of the Imperial College of 
Science and Technology, Exhibition Road, South Kensington (by per- 
mission of the authorities of the College), on Mondays and Tuesdays at 
5 p-m., and Saturdays at 3 p.m., beginning Saturday, November 29, and 
ending Tuesday, December 23. The Lectures will be illustrated by 
Lantern Slides. Admission Free. 

By Order of the Trustees, 
L. FLETCHER, Director. 


By Order of the Senate, 
HENRY A. MIERS, 
Principal. 


British Museum (Natural History), 
Cromwell Road, London, S.W. 


BEDFORD COLLEGE FOR WOMEN 
(UNIVERSITY OF LONDON), 
YORK GATE, REGENT’S PARK, N.W. 


SECONDARY TRAINING DEPARTMENT. 
Miss Sara MEtuutsu, M.A. 


Head of the Department 


The Course, to which Students are admitted in January and October, 
includes full preparation for the Examinations for the Teaching Diplomas 
granted by the Universities of London and Cambridge. 

Applications for Entrance Scholarships, Grants, &c., for the Course 
beginning January, 1914, should be sent to the Head of the Department 
not later than December 6. 


UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, 


NOTTINGHAM. 
RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP. 


The Council of University College, Nottingham, offer a SCHOLAR- 
SHIP for SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, tenable for one year, of the value 
of £50, together with free admission, open to any graduate of a British 
University. Candidates will be required to give evidence of suitable 
training and capacity for conducting original research. The successful 
candidate will be required to devote himself to some subject of research to 
be approved by the Senate. 

Forms of application may be obtained from the RecisTRAR, to whom 
they must be returned not later than December 6, 1913. 


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NATURE 


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[ NOVEMBER 20, 1913 


BIRKBECK COLLEGE, 


BREAMS BUILDINGS, CHANCERY LANE, E.C. 
Principal: G. Armitage-Smith, M.A., D.Lit. 


COURSES OF STUDY (Day and Evening) for the Degrees of the 
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON in the 


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under RECOGNISED TEACHERS of the University. 
SCIENCE.—Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics (Pure and 
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ARTS.—Latin, Greek, English, French, German, 


and Applied). 
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EVENING CLASSES IN SCIENCE. 


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SOUTH-WESTERN POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, CHELSEA. 


SPECIAL EVENING COURSES. 

Bacteriology and Fungus Culture—HuGcuH MacLean, D.Sc., Ch.B., 
M.D. ; Biochemistry—HuGu MacLean, D.Sc., Ch.B., M.D. ; Crystallo- 
graphy and Mineralogy—*A. J. Masten, F.L.S., F.G.S.; Electricity and 
Magnetism—*L. Lownps, B.Sc., Ph.D. ; Foods and Drugs Analysis— 
H. B. Stevens, F.1.C., Ph.C., F.C.S.; Heredity and Evolution—*J. T. 
Cunnincuam, M.A. ; Human Physiology—F. O'B. Evtison, B.A., M.D. ; 
Metallography & Pyrometry—W. A. Natsu, A.R.S.M., A I.M.M. ; Optics 
—*F. W. Jorban, B.Sc., A-R.C.S. ; Organic Chemistry—*J. C. CROCKER, 
M.A., D.Sc. ; Physical Chemistry—*J. C. Crocker, M.A., D.Sc. ; Plant 
Ecology—F. Cavers, D.Sc., F.L.S.; Pure Mathematics, subsidiary sub- 
ject for B.Sc. Honours—*T. G. Srratn, M.A.; Recent Researches in 
Biochemistry—HuGcu MacLean, D.Sc., Ch.B., M.D.; Stratigraphical 
Geology with special reference to foreign areas—T. C. NicHotas, B.A. 
(Camb.); Vector Analysis. Complex Quantities with applications to 
Physics—*J. Lister, A.R.C.S. 

* Recognised Teachers of London University. 

Evening Courses commenced for the Session 193-14 on Monday, Septem- 
ber 22, 1913, and the Day Courses on Monday, September 29, 1913. 
Further particulars on application to the SECRETARY. 


Telephone: 899 Western. — sin NEY SKINNER, M.A., Principal. 


LONDON HOSPITAL. 


‘“LIDDLE” PRIZE. 
Under the Will of the late Dr. JoHn Lippe the College Board of the 


London Hospital offer a Prize of the value of £120 for the best Essay on — 


** The Ventilation of Schools and Public Institutions.” = 
The Prize is open to public competition. 
Kssays should be sent to the Dean, from whom further particulars may 
be obtained, on or before May 31, 1914- 
Protessor WILLIAM WRIGHT, M.B., D.Sc., F.R.C,S., Dean. 
London Hospital Medical College, 
Mile End, E. 


ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL 
INSTITUTE. 


Monsieur Fr. DE ZELTNER will deliver a Lecture on ‘‘ THE TUAREG, 


illustrated by lantern slides, on WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, at q 


5 P.M., at 50, GREAL RUSSELL STREKT, W.C. 


CHEMICAL ASSISTANT (Graduate) 


wanted for Laboratury of West Riding of Yorkshire Rivers Board. 
Commencing salary £1co. Apply, own handwriting, with three recent 
testimonials, CHigr INSPECTOR, Wakefield. 


42 


Italian, — 
History, Geography, Logic, Economies, Mathematics (Pure — 


NATURE 


ayer 


THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1913. 


MODERN PHYSICAL 


IDEAS AND 


RESEARCHES,” __ 
(1) Modern Electrical Theory. By Dr. N. R. 
Campbell. | Second edition. Pp. xii+4oo. 


(Cambridge: University Press, 1913.) Price 
gs. net. j is 

(2) Les Idées Modernes sur la Constitution de la 
Matiére. Conférences Faites en 1912. By E. 
Bauer, A. Blanc, E. Bloch, Mme. P. Curie, 
A. Debierne, and others. Pp.) 370, (Paris: 
Gauthier-Villars, 1913.) Price 12 francs. 

(3) Researches in Physical Optics, with especial 
reference to the Radiation of Electrons. Part i. 
By Prof. R. W. Wood. Pp. vii+ 134 +x plates. 
(New York : Columbia University Press, 1913.) 

(1) HE second edition of Dr. Norman Camp- 

bell’s “Modern Electrical Theory,” re- 
viewed first in NaturE, May 28, 1908, is practi- 
cally a new book. The work of Barkla and Bragg, 


dered necessary a fresh treatment of part ii. 
dealing with radiation. 
and Stark’s work on valency alter completely 
part iii, which deals with electricity and matter, 
a field in which second thoughts have proved 
notoriously less ambitious than the first, whilst the 
first part, which deals with the electron theory 
proper, has also been entirely re-written. 


’ 


It must have been a task of no ordinary magni- | 


tude to attempt to present to-day the changing 
theories of modern physics. Speaking of the 
subject of radiation, the author claims it is. the 


best attempt in the English. language to deal | 


generally with the matter, because ‘‘so far as I 
know there is no other.” Again, in the references 
to the literature at the end of chapter i., after a 
mention of Lorentz's “Theory of Electrons,” we 
read: “I know of no other English treatise which 
can be recommended with confidence,” and the 
remark will be generally endorsed. 

The book deals with the whole of the large legi- 
timate field of the electron theory, electro-magnet- 
ism, metallic and electrolytic conduction, optics, 
radiation, and the chemical as well as physical 
properties of matter. It is in welcome contrast 
to the earlier more or less popular presentations 
of the subject which have appeared in our Jan- 
guage, in that as much attention is given to the 


failures as to the successes of the theory, and in 
that, in the absence of any experimental evidence | 
of positive electricity apart from matter, it does | 


not trespass unduly into the region which many 


ii people have been led to regard as the chief object 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92| 


2 
* 


The principle of relativity | 


of the electron theory, the explanation of matter 
in terms of the electron. 

Physical theories at the present moment are so 
shaky at the foundations that the doubt arises 
sometimes whether the superstructure is not being 
built up too rapidly. The difficulties, now ten 
years old, in reconciling the undulatory and cor- 
puscular types of radiation in one theory, the 
hopeless confusion that prevails as to the neces- 
sity for the existence of an ether, and the modern 
discrete or quantum theory of energy, seem to call 
for a more drastic reconsideration than we find 


| here of many of the simplest physical conceptions 


and their experimental basis. Take, for example, 
the view that has been universally held of the 
uniform propagation of radiation in all directions 
through space. There seems to be really no evi- 
dence for this. All that experiment and observa- 
tion justify is its propagation between portions of 
space occupied by matter. Elsewhere it may not 
be propagated at all. Recent suggestions that it 


| 1S propagated along ‘‘Faraday tubes” which, 
_ and the theories of Einstein and Planck have ren- | 


starting from the radiator, must necessarily end 
“somewhere,” seem vaguely to imply something 
of the kind. But what a different complexion 
would be assumed by some of the larger general- 
isations of science, in the field, for example, of 
the maintenance of solar and cosmical energy, not 
to mention problems in wireless telegraphy con- 
nected with the curvature of the waves round the 
earth, and all of the topics dealt with in the 
present book, if it were frankly confessed at the 
outset that we are really in complete ignorance as 
to the answer to this simplest first question about 
the nature of radiation. 

In the concluding chapters the author permits 
himself to wander beyond the strict boundary of 
his’ Subject to discuss the principle. of relativity 
and the changes in current ideas required 
from this new point of view. It is at least instruc- 
tive to try to follow a British author attempting to 
reproduce these abstruse conceptions, which as 
yet scarcely anyone in this country professes to 
understand, or at least to appreciate. But the 
exposition is marred by too great an anxiety to 
defend the view from possible objections, and it 
cannot be said that the fundamental or primary 
significance of the principle is made out, or that 
it has been duly correlated with other physical 
conceptions. One remains in doubt whether, if 
not metaphysical, it is not of subjective rather 
than objective importance, a mathematical correc- 
tion to render consistent observations in which the 
velocity of light enters, and which would be, if 
not actually false, at least inoperative were gravi- 
tational action, for example, instead of light em- 

N 


340 


NATURE 


[NovEMBER 20, 1913 


ployed to transmit the intelligence of an event to 
a distant place. 

It may be true that it is impossible to conceive 
of a body moving relatively to an observer with 
velocity greater than that of light. But we can, 
and do, work with f-particles of radium, and we 
can imagine two of these expelled in opposite 
directions from a source of radium at rest rela- 
tively to the earth, and therefore, in ordinary 
parlance, having a velocity relatively to one 
another nearly twice that of light. This, of 
course, in no way questions or minimises the im- 
portance of the principle of the great German 
mathematical physicist in its own field, but science 
is evér sceptical of restrictions which it is told 
must necessarily and for all time limit its power 
of disentangling the phenomenon from the appear- 
ance of the phenomenon. In any case the author 
deserves success in thus including in this conscien- 
tious review of modern electrical theory some of 
the modern conceptions which are at once the most 
foreign to our habits of thought and the most diffi- 
cult to appreciate at their true worth. Successful 
the volume undoubtedly is in its purpose of pro- 
viding serious students acquainted with the older 
physics an introduction to the newer theories. 

(2) This collection of ten lectures by as many 
authorities treats in simple and clear fashion with 
some of the special departments of physical science 
nov: most to the fore. Brownian movement, the 
subject of high vacua or ultra-rarefied gases, and 
the relations between matter and the ether are the 
only three topics which can claim even thirty 
years of history. Three more deal with the elec- 
tron in one or other aspect—electro-magnetic 
dynamics, the electronic theory of metals, and 
ionisation by collision and the electric spark— 
and two with radioactivity, the radiations of the 
radioactive substances, and their successive trans- 
formations. Lastly, two of the newest concep- 
tions, the quantum theory of energy and the 
magneton theory, complete the volume, which 
will prove as useful and interesting as earlier 
publications on similar lines by the Société fran- 
gaise de Physique. 

(3) The third volume is a collection of some of 
the most interesting and beautiful discoveries of 
Prof. R. W. Wood, issued by the Columbia Uni- 
versity under the E. K. Adams fund for physical 
research. They include the notable contributions 
to resonance spectra and radiations, first with 
iodine, then from mercury vapour, which have 
enabled the vapour arising from a cold surface of 
mercury.to be photographed, and going on to 
experiments with heat waves of more than o'r mm. 
wave-length, analogous to those with Herzian 
waves, in which a “dew” of condensed mercury 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92| 


globules deposited on quartz was employed for ; 
the resonator. This in turn leads to some extra- “3 
ordinary, still incomplete, observations on the elec- 
tric conductivity of ruled silvered glass gratings, — 
in spite of the complete severance of the silver 
film by the diamond. ° 

Lastly must be mentioned some attempts to 
photograph the lunar surface through screens 
transmitting only yellow, violet, and ultra-violet 
light respectively. These photographs reveal the 
presence of a remarkable deposit round the crater 
of Aristarchus, which very probably may be 
sulphur, and foreshadow a method for carrying 
out a limited petrological survey of the lunar 
surface. It is a pity that the volume does not 
appear to be for sale, for many no doubt would 
be glad to secure this well-illustrated collection of — 
modern experimental researches by one of its — 
greatest masters. FREDERICK SODDY. 


THE THRESHOLD OF SCIENCE—AND 
BEYOND. 

(1) Zoology. By Prof. E. Brucker. Pp. xili+ 219. 
(London : Constable and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 
2s. net. 

(2) Some Secrets of Nature. Short Studies in Field 
and Wood. With an introduction by W. J. r 
Burton. Pp. xiv + 144 + plates. (London : 
Methuen and Co., Ltd., n.d.) Price 1s. éd. 

(3) Lhe Romance of Nature. Studies of the Earth — 
and its Life. With a preface by the Rev. A. 
Thornley. Pp. xix+164+x plates. (London: — 
Methuen and Co., Ltd., n.d.) Price 2s. 

(4} In the Lap of the Lammermoors. By W. 
McConachie. Pp. xii+315- (Edinburgh and 
London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1913-) 
Price 5s. net. 

(1) ). of the many ways of beginning the 

study of zoology is to take a survey of © 
the whole animal kingdom, working from the 
simple to the complex, never going very deeply 
into anything, but using now this, now that, to 
illustrate a principle. That is what Prof. Brucker — 
has done, and it is a feat to have done it so 
clearly and in such simple language. If the reader, © 
young or old, is able to touch and handle, as well 
as read about, even a tenth of the creatures dis- 
cussed, he will have got far across the threshold — 
of the science—to use the phrase which gives its — 
name to this new series. To our thinking there is 
far too much in the book for an introduction, but 
that is largely a matter of opinion, and it is doubt- 
less what students say of most courses of elemen- : 
tary instruction which their professors after much — 
thought on the subject decide to deliver. Be this — 
as it may, the author of this little book is evi- 


“a 


NOVEMBER 20, 1913| 


dently an experienced teacher, and he has been 
successful in working out the method he has 
adopted. His avoidance of the unnecessarily tech- 
nical is most praiseworthy, even if it leads to 
difficulties of its own, such as that one, more or 
less happily circumvented, that the squids are 
“molluscs with the foot surrounding the head.” 
That is rather a stiff one on the threshold ! 

(2) A very different kind of introduction is sup- 
plied by “Some Secrets of Nature,” a book show- 
ing real educational insight on the part of the 
anonymous author. Why should we not know 
who this is, who sets these quite admirable “ prob- 
lems for consideration,” sometimes just a little 
conundrumoid, at the end of each short study ; who 
reveals a very intimate knowledge of what really 
goes on in field and wood and some other places 
too; who knows how to awaken the scientific 
spirit? Asa guide to the embarrassed teacher and 
an aid to the eager pupil, where rural nature-study 
(plants and animals) is concerned, we would very 
strongly recommend this book. We venture to 
suggest that the note personnel—natural in a talk 
_—becomes a little fatiguing in this book. The 
author is no egotist, but he must have impover- 
ished the printer’s stock of one letter. 

(3) “The Romance of Nature” is meant to be a 

“Nature Reader for Senior Scholars,” but it is 
not, in our opinion, very successful. 
chapter discloses what the rest of the book con- 
firms, that the writers are ignorant of the psycho- 
logy of the normal senior scholar. From the 
earth’s beginnings to the establishment of land 
_ and sea; the story of rock and fossil; the life-cycle 
of a plant and the life-history of a frog; birds and 
insects ; and so on—the general idea and intention 
_ of the book is good enough, but the outcome seems 
to us unattractive. The writers know a great deal; 
their book is full of useful information ; the outlook 
is wholesome; the inculcation of reverence and 
_ independent research is admirable: yet, somehow, 
this “Nature Reader” does not grip, and we are 
afraid that it will not lead many senior scholars to 
_ appreciate the “Romance of Nature.” For one 
_ thing, the style is not good enough. 
(4) It is not quite fair to bring in Mr. 
' McConachie’s book along with the foregoing, for 
it is a work of art. They are helps across the 
| threshold, but he has got to the hearthstone. Yet 
| there may be justification for what we have had 
'to do. For while the first three books follow 
‘different methods, is not their aim one—that 
of seeing, understanding, enjoying, and learning 
- from what we call Nature? And it is our convic- 
tion that unless “Nature Study ”—helped or hin- 
dered by books—makes for, or at least towards, 
© NO. 2299, voL. 92] 


The first | 


NATURE 


341 


that cultured outlook which Mr. McConachie’s 
past and present work reveals, then it has in great 
part missed its mark. The first book reminds us 
that we must see widely and at the same time 
precisely ; the second book rouses the curious ques- 
tioning spirit; the third book suggests reverence 
before the wonderfulness of things; in the fourth 
book we have the harvest of a clear, searching, 
well-informed, and loving eye. 

Mr. McConachie tells us of his walks in a Border 
parish, but his gift to us is independent of geo- 
graphy—the suggestion of how much there is in 
that which lies closest to our feet. Of course, he 
could not do what he does in these sketches—to be 
ranked beside those of Richard Jefferies and John 
Burroughs—unless he knew his birds and flowers 
and more besides really well, and unless he had a 
rare gift of style. But beyond that, in these pic- 
tures of the Border Parish, the Golden Glen, the 
Drifting Mist, the Woodpecker’s Nest, the 
Wilderness, the Meadow Burn, the Lonesome 
Moor, the Summer Shielings, the Southward 
Flight—to name just a few—there is “a feeling 
for Nature,” which, while in part doubtless the gift 
of the gods, is also the reward of those who 
sojourn with nature in sunshine and in storm, and 
who discipline themselves to hear her voices. And 
this is the chief end of ‘‘ Nature-study.” 

J. ARTHUR THOMSON. 


PRACTICAL MATHEMATICS. 


(1) Practical Mathematics: First Year. By A. E. 
Young. Pp. viit+124. (London: George 
Routledge and Sons, Ltd., 1913.) Price 
1s. 6d. net, 

(2) An Elementary Treatise on Calculus. A Text- 


book for Colleges and Technical Schools. By 
W. S. Franklin, B. MacNutt, and R. L. Charles. 
Pp. ix+253+41. (South Bethlehem, Pa: 
Lehigh University, 1913.) Price $2.00. 


| (3) Problémes de Mécanique et cours de Cinéma- 


tique. By Prof. C. Guichard. Rédaction de 
MM. Dautry et Deschamps. Pp. 156. (Paris: 
A. Herman et Fils, 1913.) Price 6 francs. 

(4) Further Problems in the Theory and Design 
of Structures. By E. S. Andrews. Pp. viii+ 
236. (London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1913.) 
Price 7s. 6d. net. 

(1) HE author has covered a wide range of 

topics within the small compass of a 
hundred pages. He opens by explaining the use 
of the vernier calliper and the micrometer screw- 
gauge, and this leads naturally to an exposition 
of contracted methods. There is an excellent 
chapter on graphical work, which includes applica- 
tions to statics; and there are also sections on the 


342 


NATURE 


[ NOVEMBER 20, 1913 | 


practical use of logarithms, the meaning of the 
trigonometric functions, the mensuration of plane 
and solid figures, and variation. The concluding 
chapter introduces the reader to Cartesian 
geometry. 

(2) The lines on which this text-book is written 


show that the authors are convinced, and in our | 


opinion rightly, that a knowledge of the ideas 
and methods of the calculus can be obtained with- 
out any severe algebraic manipulation. They 
have wisely omitted all purely formal developments 
of the subject, and have introduced integration 
at an early stage. The explanations are given in 
a clear and simple style, and a variety of applica- 
tions are made which should secure the interest 
of the reader. In a work such as this a rigorous 
treatment is out of place, but it is well to warn 
the student of this, and we disagree with the 
authors in their suggestion that the proof given 
of Maclaurin’s theorem is complete, and secure 
against criticism. The subject-matter includes 
ordinary and partial differential equations and an 
excellent account of vector analysis. It is curious 
and regrettable that this is generally omitted by 
English writers. 

(3) The first half of this volume is occupied 
with the solution of rather a miscellaneous set of 
problems on the motion of plane and solid bodies 
and systems of bodies, with special reference to 
envelopes and roulettes. The remainder falls into 
three sections: (1) particle dynamics; (2) rigid 
dynamics; (3) a brief account of relative motion, 
and the composition of motions of translation and 
rotation. Each of these is taken in far less detail 
than would be the case in a similar English treat- 
ise, and no exercises are included. Many students, 
however, might profitably read a course of this 
kind to supplement their ordinary text-book. 

(4) This is a sequel to the author’s former work 
on structures, forming a supplementary volume 
dealing with recent developments of the subject. 
The first eighty pages give a clear and full account 
of the method of influence lines, which, although 
suggested in Germany forty years ago, has until 
quite recently received little attention in this 
country. The next sixty pages deal with the 
principle of work and its application to the deflec- 
tion of framed structures, redundant frames, and 
rigid or elastic arches; and the remainder to 
portals, wind bracings, and secondary stresses. 

The mathematical work is set out at full length, 
and so clearly that it should offer few difficulties. 
The diagrams are excellent; and the problems 
chosen for discussion are of real practical interest ; 
their selection and treatment is evidently the work 
of a tee experienced teacher. 


2299, VOL. 92| 


‘ 


- a SS a 


LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS IN 
AERONAUTICS. 


The Resistance of the Air and Aviation. Experi- * 
ments conducted at the Champ de Mars Labora- — 
tory. By G. Eiffel. Second edition, revised and 
enlarged. Translated by J. C. Hunsaker. Pp. — 
XVi+242+xxvii plates. (London: Constable 
and Co., Ltd.; Boston and New York: Hough-— 
ton Mifflin Co., 1913.) Price 42s. net. 

N English edition of this work will be wele) 

A comed by the large and increasing circle of © 

scientific and engineering men who are desirous of 

obtaining accurate experimental data in aero-— 
nautics from which to direct their work. It need — 
not be said that the experimental work of M. Eiffel 
repays study, for whether the reader seeks to gain 
information regarding the difficult and perplexing 
problems met with in this branch of physics, or 
practical “tips” for designing aerofoils, he will 
not be disappointed. Though the contents of this — 
book, based as they are upon experiments made — 
at the laboratory at the Champ de Mars, have 
passed into the category of established experi- 
mental facts, they are not so well known as they 
deserve to be. By 

The great new Auteuil laboratory 1 js described 
in the volume, from which in the future we may 
expect great things; nevertheless, the results ob- 
tained at the Champ de Mars with the smaller 
wind tunnel to which the volume before us is 
devoted, will pass the most critical examination 
for painstaking experimental work. From time to” 
time we are met with suggestions that capable 
mathematicians should be entrusted with problems 
of stability and like questions, but the mathe- 
matical investigator must be provided with care- 
fully ascertained facts if his conclusions are to 
be worth anything at all. 

From such experiments as these, and from those 
made at the National Physical Laboratory, the 
mathematician must derive the grain for his logi- 
cal mill. That good use will be made of them there 
cannot be any reason to doubt. As aeroplane wi 
sections are capable of indefinite variation, and no 
two experimenters have adopted similar sections, 
comparison of the work of different experimenters 
becomes difficult, hence the conflicting results 
which are quoted by those who have not taken into 
account the many independent variables entering 
into the experiments. 

Perhaps the most striking result in this series 
of experiments on aeroplane wings is the effect of 
the “negative” angle at the leading edge as in- 
creasing the efficiency. After considering the 


1 See Naturr, February 20, 1913, p. 677, e¢ seg. 


NOVEMBER 20, 1913] 


NATURE 343 


the models experimented on, there is no special 
type which can be said to be the most advantage- 
ous from the aeroplane constructor’s point of view, 
and the choice of the most advantageous depends 
upon the conditions of the particular problem in 
each case. In the case of wings with reverse 
curvature it was found that the reaction was no 
longer proportional to the square of the velocities. 
The wings tested had sections similar to those 
_ employed by the principal designers of aeroplanes. 


electric motor in the wind tunnel; thus the results 
obtained more closely conform to the conditions of 
flight, and the “dynamic ” instead of the ‘“‘static”’ 
thrust is obtained. The conclusions to be drawn 
from the experiments are that the reaction upon a 

propeller cannot be assumed exactly proportional 
to the square of the relative velocity, and from a 
study of the model it is possible to predict all the 
elements of propeller action provided that the 
model be tested with the same relative velocity, 
_ both in magnitude and direction, that the full-sized 
_ propeller is expected-to use. This requires for the 
same velocity of translation a speed of rotation 
‘inversely proportional to the diameters of model 
and propeller. The distortion of the propeller at 
high velocities is mentioned as a cause of some 
variations observed in the results. Velocities of 
5 to 18 metres per second were used, and the pro- 
_pellers were driven at speeds from 400 to 1600 
revolutions per minute. 

By such experiments facts are being brought to 
light which already have had a great influence on 
aeroplane construction in France, and the expeti- 
™ments on models offer a safe guide to the be- 
haviour of the air upon aeroplane wings by the use 
of appropriate constants. From the results of the 
experiments the minimum effective power that can 
_ sustain flight is obtained for a given wing section. 
Thus a Blériot machine with a supporting area of 
25 Sq. metres, weight in service with pilot 588 kg., 
and an angle of attack of 9°, was found by the 
model to require a minimum effective power of 
24h.p. This, it is stated, is practically the power 
used. The effect of superposed planes is also 
| Studied; also the effect of aspect ratio upon the 
"reaction. In this connection it may be mentioned 
that the author first observed the curious varia- 
‘tions for a square plate with the Eiffel Tower 
dropping apparatus. The reaction on a square 
plate inclined 37° is nearly one and one-half times 


Reps.) Bs 


results on the eighteen types of wing which formed | 


| 


| 
| 


| 


| portion of the book. 


| is certainly very striking. 


| where. 


| souterrains.” 
| structures. 
| tions of some fairy souterrains give the work 


| point is marked, that of Knockdhu (p. 30). 


OUR BOOKSHELF 


Ulster Folklore. By Elizabeth Andtews 
xilit+ 121+xii plates. (London: 
1913.) Price 5s. net. 

Tuts dainty volume is made up of a collection 

of papers communicated to various societies 

and journals. As much of the information was 
collected at first hand, the book is a valuable 
contribution to the literature of Irish folklore. 

The expressed purpose kept in view was to find, 

and show, some correspondence between the 

description of Irish fairies and that of actual 


Pp. 
Elliot Stock, 


Propellers were tested by driving them by an | pigmies found, dead and alive, in various parts 


| of the world, and that purpose gives unity to the 


which is more of a monograph than a 
The correspondence made out 
There are also rare 
pigmies to be met with in Ireland as well as else- 
But of the actual existence of pigmy 
communities in Ireland no evidence is given. The 
fairies there, as elsewhere, haunt “raths and 

They occupy Neolithic megalithic 
The photographs, plans, and descrip- 


work, 
folklore drag-net. 


recognises the invariably 
Only on one plan the north 
If 
the true north is given, the cove, which is 87 ft. 
long, is oriented 70° N.W.-S.E. The entrance 
is south-east; and assuming a sky-line elevation 
of one degree, the star Antares is indicated about 
1700 B.C., a date by no means late for a Neo- 
lithic culture in the north of Ireland. 

There is some evidence to show “that Palzo- 


special value. One 
oriented creepway. 


| lithic man lived and worked in Ireland” (pp. 99- 


too). ‘‘Itis difficult to exterminate a people, and 
they could not be driven further west” (p. 104). 
One may add that the pigmy of folklore is much 
more ancient than the Irish Neolithic men. In 
the case of Ireland, however, what may be said 
with tolerable certainty is that the fairies are the 
Neolithic builders, and the case is well stated in 
a quoted statement of the late Mr. John Gray. 
“The stature of these primitive Danes and Pechts 
is five feet three inches, and they must have 
looked very small men to the later Teutonic in- 


| vaders of an av erage stature of five feet eight 


and a half inches” (p. 102). The souterrains of 
Ardtole and Maghera are 5 ft. 3 in. high. 
Joun GRIFFITH. 


Chemistry: Inorganic and Organic, with Experi- 
ments. By C. L. Bloxam. Tenth edition, Re- 
written and Revised by A. G. Bloxam and 
Dr. S. J. Lewis. Pp. xii+878. (London. 
J. and A. Churchill, 1913.) Price 21s. net. 

THE first edition of this well-known treatise ap- 

peared in 1867, and consisted of 630 pages which, 

as the preface of the present issue points out, 
sufficed to give a fuller account of the science 
of chemistry than the tenth edition can pretend 
to offer. The development of physical chemistry 
has rendered necessary a recasting of the first 
The periodic classification 


344 


is followed more closely than in previous editions, 
and the inorganic portion of the volume rather 
than the organic has been developed in accord- 
ance with the increased attention which, the 
editors say, has been directed to inorganic 
chemistry’ of late years. Precise details from 
original memoirs, outside the scope of the 
ordinary text-book, have been included and will 
increase the value of the work for more advanced 
students. 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any oiher part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. | 


Distance of the Visible Horizon. 


Tue subject of terrestrial refraction and its effect 
on the distance of the visible horizon, about which Mr. 
Backhouse inquires in NaTurE of September 25, is 
very fully discussed in the second volume of Jordan’s 

- “Handbuch der Vermessungskunde.” The formula 


there proved is s 
MS 
a= Ns h 


1—# 
where a=distance of visible horizon. 
r=earth’s radius. 
k=coefficient of refraction (mean value o-13). 
h=height of observer. 

This formula reduces to 

Distance in statute miles=1-312/”height in feet. 

The subject is also discussed in Gillespie’s ‘‘ Higher 
Surveying,” where, using a slightly different co- 
efficient of refraction, the formula arrived at is very 
nearly the same, viz. :— 

Distance in statute miles=1-317/height in feet. 

It is easy to construct a table from either of these 
formula which will give the distance of the visible 
horizon at any height under average atmospheric con- 
ditions. 

The method of reducing trigonometric heights de- 
scribed by Capt. Tizard, where the refraction-angle is 
taken at 5” for each nautical mile of distance, is 
equivalent to using a refraction-coefficient of 0-18 in 
place of Jordan’s 0-13. My own experience in the 
Red Sea and Gulf of Suez is that Jordan’s value is 
tolerably correct near midday in winter and spring; 
this would imply that 4" per nautical mile of distance 
is a nearer value than Capt. Tizard’s 5” under those 
conditions, and as a matter of fact the substitution of 
the lesser value leads to a rather better agreement for 
the height of Jebel Hooswah than that shown in 
Capt. Tizard’s table. : 

Abnormalities of refraction, such as Capt. Tizard 
notes, are tolerably frequent over tropical seas, and 
one naturally avoids making measurements of altitude 
when the conditions are palpably abnormal. The 
variation of 18° in the altitude of the horizon in the 
Arctic regions, quoted by Capt. Tizard, is doubtless 
a misprint for 18’ or 18"; but in any case such a figure 
is meaningless unless the height of the observation- 
point is given. 

It is not temperature per se which affects refraction, 
so much as the vertical temperature-gradient in the 
air; this varies very rapidly in the early morning 
hours, but becomes more steady about noon. I have 
found that at fair altitudes the refraction is in general 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


_I was previously unacquainted. 


[NovEMBER 20, 1913 | 
a orn 


wonderfully constant in the middle of the day, sa 
between 11.30 a.m. and 3 p.m.; and by restrictin 
observations for level to this time of the day I have 
obtained very much more concordant results than tho: 
quoted by Capt. Tizard. If the object is only visible 
in the early morning or late evening, an evening — 
observation is much to be preferred to a morning one. — 

The table given by Capt. Tizard is liable to give ar 
exaggerated impression of the range of refraction 
The differences of height found for the same point — 
by his various observations probably depend not so” 
much on variations in refraction, as on the roughness — 
of the angular observations; in all cases except two, — 
his depression-angles are only given to minutes, and 
a minute of arc at a distance of fifty-eight nautical 
miles subtends more than 100 ft. It is easy nowadays — 
to measure the vertical angles well within 5” of the 
truth, using only a 6-in. micrometer-theodolite; but 
perhaps in 1871 the instruments available were of a 
less accurate nature, and one must not be too critical 
of the results obtained. I would, however, venture 
to point out that it is incorrect to take the arithmetic — 
mean of the heights from a number of observations — 
at different distances when the least certain factor in_ 
the height (the correction to the height due to refrac- 
tion) varies as the square of the distance; and it is 
scarcely scientific to correct for refraction to single — 
seconds when the observations themselves are only 
taken to the nearest minute, or to calculate heights 
to four significant figures from distances given only 
to three. Joun Batt. 

Survey Department, Cairo, October 2. pity 


Wit reference to the remarks of Dr. John Ball, 1 
am much obliged to him for directing my attention 
to Jordan’s ‘‘ Handbuch der Vermessungskunde”™ and — 
Gillespie’s ‘‘ Higher Surveying,” two works with whic 

The coefficient for refraction given by Jordan is the 
mean of a number of results by different observers in 
different countries, the originals varying from o-105 to 
0-167. ; . 

These results show that the refraction is a very — 
vagiable quantity, and that the results inland are — 
different from those near the sea. In Gillespie’s work 
he shows how the refraction varies at different hours — 
in the day on the coast of California (a) from a height 
of 57 metres, and (b) from a height of 1173 metres, 
being least near noon, and greatest in the morning 
and evening. From the height of 57 metres the 
coefficient varied from 0-14 to oto, whilst from the 
height of 1173 metres it varied from 0-09 to 0-06. 

Gillespie publishes curves showing the results ob- 
tained. But he points out that the refraction is a very 
variable quantity, and it is doubtful whether the same 
curves would be obtained at all seasons at the same 
place. These are the very observations that are re 
quired. ; 

It is quite true, as Dr. Ball points out, that if a 
Jebel Hooswah a refraction of 4 seconds instead of 5 
per mile was used the results would be in close 
accordance, but he does not appear to have seen that 
if a refraction of 6 seconds instead of 5 per mile wa 
used for the Jebel Serbal observations they would be - 
still more in accordance with each other. Therefore 
on different days and from different heights the results 
in the one case would be closer if the coefficient fo 
refraction was decreased, and in the other if it was 
increased. Abnormal refractions are more common if 
high than in low latitudes; the greatest I have seen” 
personally was in the Baltic Sea. 7 

With reference to Dr. Ball’s observations on the 
table given by me I reply as follows :— 


NOVEMBER 20, 1913] 


(1) The observations were obtained by a 5-in. theo- 
dolite reading to 30” of are. 

‘(2) That the results given from angles of depression 
from Jebel Serbal to points nearly 180° apart show 
(a) that the theodolite was in perfect adjustment, and 
that the height obtained from a distance of fifty-eight 
miles on the north side differed only 116 ft. from the 
height obtained at a distance of 24-9 miles on the 
south side. 

(3) Although observations obtained with imperfect 
instruments—and what instrument is perfect ?—may 
give results not perfectly accurate, I cannot admit that 
the corrections applied should not be as accurate as 
they can be. 

(4) Dr. Ball is correct in stating that a distance of 
fifty-eight miles an error of one minute in the angle 
of depression means a difference of about roo ft. in 
the result. 


tion in altitude of the horizon in the Arctic should be 
18 minutes and not 18 degrees. This is a printer’s 
error. T. H. Tizarp. 


The Piltdown Skull and Brain Cast. 


TueE~excellent figure of the Piltdown brain cast 
which accompanied Prof. Elliot Smith’s last letter 
(Nature, November 13, p. 318) brings out clearly 
the differences which separate him and me. His 
figure represents a brain with approximately sym- 
metrical right and left hemispheres, so far as these 
are viewed from the hinder or occipital aspect. If, 
then, the anatomical parts occupy corresponding posi- 
_ tions on the two sides, he has solved the problem of 


a considerably smaller brain than I had postulated. 
I have made a tracing of his reconstruction in order 
to fill in with some details the exact relationship 
of parts represented by his drawing. It will be seen 
he has obtained symmetry by the most simple means. 
In the original brain cast the right hemisphere of the 
brain measured only 555 cubic centimetres, the left 
half 645 c.c.; this difference of 90 c.c. referred only 
to the hinder part of each hemisphere. In Prof. 
Elliot Smith’s reconstruction the hemispheres have 
been balanced by moving 
or beyond the middle line and enlarging the left 
_ hemisphere. The middle line which Prof. Elliot 
Smith has selected is exactly that used by Dr. Smith 
_ Woodward in the reconstruction of the skull, not that 
which he employed when building up the brain cast; 
in building up the brain he employed another middle- 
line altogether. 

In the accompanying tracing of Prof. Elliot Smith’s 
reconstruction I have indicated the longitudinal blood 
sinus which sweeps widely (10 mm.) to the right as 
it passes between the occipital poles of the brain. 
The left pole exceeds the right to'a degree which is 
seldom seen in even the highest forms of modern 
human brains. Seven years ago Prof. Elliot Smith 
published a short paper (Anat. Anz., 1907, vol. xxx., 
P: 574), which is justly regarded as authoritative. He 
directed attention to the preponderance of the left 
_ occipital pole of the brain, 
_ Ponderance to the specialisation of the right hand; 


Bett he retains the present reconstruction, have to modifv 
_ to some extent the opinion he has expressed of the 
brain of Piltdown man—that it is “the most primi- 
: tive and simian brain yet recorded.” As regards the 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92] 


(5) He is also correct in his surmise that the varia-_ 


how to reconstruct the Piltdown skull so as to obtain | 


the left hemisphere towards 


NATURE 345 


asymmetry of the occipital poles, it is, in my opinion, 

_ ultra-modern. 

_ Prof. Elliot Smith has frankly stated that his recon-- 
struction is not, in the strict sense of the word, a 
cranial cast—a cast taken from the interior of a 
reconstructed skull; it is a reconstruction built up—as 
the original brain cast must have been—from impres- 

| sions taken from the inner or cerebral aspect of the 

cranial bones. To test such a brain reconstruction 


$0 


SO 


$0 


Fic. 1.—Tracing of Prof. Elliot Smith's reconstruction of the brain-cast 


with certa in additions. (Half nat. size.) 


the actual fragments of the skull must be placed over 
the corresponding parts of the brain cast. When that 
is done it is at once seer that in securing a symmetry 
of the brain hemispheres the corresponding parts of 
the skull are thrown somewhat out of position. On 

the tracing of the reconstruction (Fig. 1) I have 
| drawn a line, x—y, across corresponding angles of the 

parietal bones. That of the right side is a centiinetre 
| higher than on the left; on the right side the lamb- 


& 


Poster Lord th 


Nene nee’ 


=o, 


cy 0 


| 
Fic. 2.—Tracing of the right fragment of the parietal (Piltdown) fragment 
(broken line) superimposed on the right ps (continuous line), (Half nat. 
size, 

doid suture passes outside the 50 mm. vertical line; 

on the left it stops short of that line. 
It may be questioned if the hinder, lower angle of 
the parietal bones do correspond. That was the 
| very first point I set out to determine when I 
found there was such a discrepancy between. the 
size of the Piltdown cranial fragments and the 
brain capacity which Dr. Smith Woodward had 
ascribed to this earliest known form of man. That 
is the first step which has to be taken. In Fig. 2 


NATURE 


| NOVEMBER 20, 1913 


346 
I give drawings representing the corresponding 
parts of these two bones. The determination 


is not difficult; in each bone, enough of the lower 
border is preserved to guide one with certainty to the 
identification of right aad left parts. In both sides 
the lower hinder angle of the parietal bone is broken 
away, but although not fractured in exactly the same 
manner, the lowest point in both cases may be taken 
as in strict correspondence. In this reconstruction 
then the lower border of the right parietal occupies a 
position nearly half an inch higher on the right than 
on the left side. I think that discrepancy must be 
due to an error in reconstruction. 

I have not entered into a discussion on the mark- 
ings which indicate the middle line of the skull for 
this reason. A very considerable experience in attempt- 
ing to reconstruct ancient and modern skulls from 
fragments has convinced me that if a wrong bearing 
is taken—if one misidentifies any point in the middle 
line—unless it be a very slight error, that misidentifi- 
cation will find the reconstructor out, and his taslk 
will be brought to a halt by the development of a 
degree of asymmetry. If, on the other hand, points 
are rightly recognised—often it has to be by repeated 
experiment—then the parts fit easily together, pro- 
vided there is a sufficiency of them, and in the case 
of Piltdown there is an ample sufficiency. I look 
upon the problem of rightly reconstructing a skull 
as similar to that of replacing the fragments of a 
broken vase of symmetrical design. Given the frag- 
ments of the greater part of one half and a part of 
the other, there cannot be two reconstructions. All 
the parts may be got together except one fragment. 
The remaining fragment is evidence that the task has 
not been accomplished. I know very well that my 
friend Prof. Elliot Smith is searching for a true 
representation of the brain-state of the very earliest 
human form that can claim any direct relationship to 
modern men; I hope I may claim the same spirit for 
myself. I also admit that he has gone a considerable 
way towards what, inmy opinion, must have been the 
original form. The points on which we disagree are 
now apparent, and I am content, having had an 
opportunity of presenting my case, to leave the final 
decision to the future. Artuur KEITH. 

Royal College of Surgeons, W.C. 


Work of Natural Forces in Relation te Time. 


In the notice of the “Origin and Antiquity of 
Man" (Nature, October 9), the remark that I have 
‘returned to the manner of thinking which was prevya- 
lent before the days of Lyell"’ calls for some comment. 
It would be nearer correct to say that I have adopted 
the manner of thinking occasioned by the facts which 
have come to light since Lyell’s day, and which may 
be succinctly described as that of regarding nature, 
not as a ‘‘uniformity,’’ but an “evolution."’ Lyell’s 
habit of regarding nature as a progression by infini- 


tesimal steps has been corrected by later observations | 


which reveal, at times certainly, a much more rapid 
rate of progress than he and his followers have been 
wont to admit. Lyell certainly failed to appreciate 
the activity even of the present forces of nature. 
For example, in 1842, after a cursory examination 
of Niagara Falls, he put forth the estimate that their 
recession could not have amounted to more than one 
foot a year, and probably one foot in three years, 
thus making the age of the cataract at least 35,000 
years, and probably 100,000. But at his suggestion 
Dr. John Hall made a trigonometrical survey of the 
front of the falls and set up monuments so that the 
rate could be eventually determined by actual measure- 
ments. After seventy years, surveys show that the 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92| 


falls have receded, during the entire period, at a rat 
of about five feet a year. yt 
Again, Darwin, adopting “Sir Charles Lyell’ 
methods in the first edition of his ‘‘ Origin of Species,” — 
estimated that the erosion of the Wealden deposits in — 
England required the work of 306,662,400 years, which — 
he called ‘‘a mere trifle of geological time.’ But on 
having his attention directed to the activity of sub 
aérial erosive agencies acting over the entire surface — 
at all times, concerning which a great mass of 
evidence had recently been gathered, he confessed in | 
‘a second edition that he had made a rash statement, — 
and in subsequent editions withdrew it entirely. The — 
facts accumulated concerning the activity of present 
eroding forces show that instead of the immense period ~ 
originally assumed by Darwin, the whole removal of — 
the Wealden strata would be accomplished in a few — 
million years. . F- 
But it is in respect to the rapidity of glacial moye- — 
ments that the slow rates assumed by Lyell and his 
followers are pre-eminently misleading. Those whose — 
studies of glaciers have been limited mainly to the — 
Alps, have not readily appreciated the facts concern-_ 
ing the movement of glaciers in North America. For — 
example, it was in 1886 that I made the first extended — 
observations upon the great Muir Glacier in Alaska. — 
This glacier presented a water front one mile in 
width, rising 300 ft. above the water, and descending — 
zoo ft. below the water. From examination of 
various lines of evidence I was able to show that, 
when Vancouver surveyed the region 100 years before, — 
the Muir Glacier with various others coming in to — 
Glacier Bay had united to project the ice twenty miles — 
farther south, with a thickness of two or three — 
thousand feet. The correctness of this inference has 
been abundantly corroborated by subsequent observers. — 
But now comes the confirmatory evidence in the — 
fact that the Muir Glacier has receded seven miles” 
and a half in the twenty-five years that have elapsed 
since my first observations. Moreover, the ablation — 
from the surface has been such as to lower it 700 ft. 
In short, we have here from actual observation in a_ 
glacial field larger than that of the Alps, evidence 
of greater changes in twenty-five years than some of 
those for which Prof. Penck has demanded many ~ 
thousand years. : es 
The word uniformity as applied to the action of — 
natural forces, both in geology and biology, is un- — 
fortunate and misleading. There is, indeed, con- 
tinuity. But this permits varying rates of movement 
according to evolutionary laws, so that, as Huxley — 
observed, all that Darwin had to do to adjust his 
theory to the recent moderate estimates of geological 
timie was to assume a more rapid rate of variation. — 
Neither need the Darwinian be afraid of recognising — 
| paroxysms in nature, since they naturally follow the 
slow accumulations of strain which finally culminate — 
in some sort of fracture or interruption of the ordinary 
| course of events. I am not a pre-Lyellian, but a 
post-Lyellian. G. FREDERICK WRIGHT. 
| Oberlin, Ohio, October 23. = 


The United States Territory of Hawaii. 


Dr. J. Stantey Garpiner, in his appreciative notice 
of ‘** Fauna Hawaiiensis,”’ in Nature of September 25, 
just received, has used a name against which I must 
enter protest. I thought it a possible misprint, b 
it appears several times as Hawaiia. a 

We shall probably have to bear Cook’s name, Sand- 
wich Islands, from our conservative English friends 
for some years longer, although the Hawaiian king- 
dom was independent many years, and never officially 
| used that name, although having diplomatic and com- 


¢ = ry 
NOVEMBER 20, 1913| NATURE 347 
‘mercial agents in England as elsewhere. Its suc- Among those present at the meeting were Prof. 


cessor, the United States territory of Hawaii, now 
administers the affairs of the late kingdom. Neither 
kingdom nor republican territory has ever sanctioned 
such a barbarous name as your reviewer gives— 
_ Hawaiia. 

Wo. T. BricHam. 
Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Honolulu, H.I., 

October 24. 


Tue first article in the ‘‘Fauna Hawaiiensis"’ is 
entitled ‘Introduction, being a Review of the Land- 
- Fauna of Hawaiia.”. Dr. Brigham’s quarrel is hence 
' with the writer of that article, and with the editor 
of the fauna, not with me. I "should have expected 
_“Hawaiia"’ to meet with his approval as against 
_ the rather cumbrous title, ‘‘ United States Territory 
_ of Hawaii,” a title taken from the name of the 
largest island. The islands from Niihau to Hawaii 
stand on an isolated plateau in the ocean, and repre- 
sent a geographical group; the name “ Hawaiia,” I 
consider, may quite usefully be applied to them. A 
name will also have to be adopted for the islands 
between Nihoa and Lisiansky, which form a similar 
group; these I frequently find in maps included in 
the Hawaiian Islands. 
Presumably the aboriginal inhabitants had no name 
for the islands in question, as they knew no other 
lands, and certainly the Spanish navigators estab- 
lished no name for them. Cook’s name, ‘‘ Sandwich 
Islands,” dates from 1778, and clearly has priority, a 
fact which should appeal to American—I hope Dr. 
Brigham will pardon this incorrect adjective being 
applied to his countrymen—biologists. 
‘ J. STANLEY GaRDINER. 
November 14. 


INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE 


STRUCTURE OF MATTER. 

HE first International Conference in Brussels 

on the Theory of Radiation in 1g11 (see 
_ Nature, vol. Ixxxvili., p. 82) owed its inception to 
“Mr. Ernest Solvay, and proved a great success. 
Shortly afterwards, Mr. Solvay generously gave 
the sum of one million francs to form an Inter- 
national Physical Institute (Nature, vol. xc., 
Pp: 545), part of the proceeds to be devoted to 
assistance of researches in physics and chemistry, 
and part to defray the expenditure of an occa- 
sional scientific conference between men of all 
nations to discuss scientific problems of special 
interest. In pursuance of this aim the second 
‘International Conference or Conseil International 
_ de Physique Solvay, was held in Brussels this year 
_/ on October 27-31, under the able presidency of 
_ Prof. Lorentz. On this occasion the general sub- 
"jects of discussion were confined to the structure 
of the atom, the structure of crystals, and the 
molecular theory of solid bodies. 
___ Reports were ‘presented by the following :—The 
structure of the atom, Sir J. J. Thomson; Intere- 
ferenzerscheinungen an Ré6ntgenstrahlen hervor- 
-gerufen durch das Raumgitter der Kristalle, Prof. 
_ Laue; the relation between crystalline structure 
and chemical constitution, W. Barlow and Prof. 
Pope; some considerations on the structure of 
verystals, Prof. Brillouin; and Molekulartheorie de- 
_ Festen Korper, Prof. Gruneisen. 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92| 


with x- 


Lorentz, Kamerlingh Onnes, Sir J. J. Thomson, 
Barlow, Pope, Jeans, Bragg, Rutherford, Mme. 
Curie, ‘Gouy, Brillouin, Langevin, Voigt, War- 
burg, Nernst, Rubens, Wien, Einstein, Laue, 
Sommerfeld, Gruneisen, Weiss, Knudsen, 
Hasenéhrl, Wood, Goldschmidt, Verschaffelt, 
Lindemann, and De Broglie. 

An interesting and vigorous discussion followed 
on all the papers presented to the congress. 
Special interest was taken in’ the report of Laue 
on the interference phenomena observed in crystals 
rays. A valuable contribution was made 
by Prof. Bragg on selective reflection of x-rays 
by crystals, and on the information afforded by 
this new method of research on crystalline 
structure. The report of Mr. Barlow and Prof. 
Pope on the relation between crystalline structure 
and chemical constitution was illustrated by a 
number of models, and was followed with much 
interest. A report on the papers and discussions 
at the Conference will be published as promptly 
as possible. 

The arrangements for the meeting, which was 
ee in every way, were admirably made by 

. Goldschmidt. All the members stayed at the 
same hotel, and thus were afforded the best of 
opportunities for social intercourse and for the 
interchange of views on scientific questions. 
During the meeting, the members were very hos- 
pitably entertained by Mr. Solvay and Dr. Gold- 
schmidt, while a visit was made to the splendid 
private wireless station of the latter, which is one 
of the largest in the world, capable of transmitting 
messages to the Congo and Burmah. 

The committee of the International Physical 
Institute, who were present at the conference, held 
meetings to consider the applications for grants 
in aid of research, made possible by the sum set 
aside for this purpose by Mr. Solvay at the founda- 
tion of the institute. 

It was arranged that the next meeting of the 
Conseil de Physique should be held in three years’ 
time at Brussels, when there will be a new pro- 
gramme of subjects for discussion. In order to 
extend the scope of the congress, and to make it 
as representative as possible, it*has been arranged 
that the orieinal members will retire automatically 
at intervals, while their place will be taken by 
new members, who will be specially invited to take 
part in discussion of definite scientific topics. 

E. RUTHERFORD. 


ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE. 


HE fast link with the great evolutionary 
writers of the mid-nineteenth century—the 
men who transformed the thought of the world— 
is broken. How can I best speak of the long, 
happy, hard-working, many-sided life that has 
just come to a close? The history of Wallace’s 
contributions to science and the details of his 
career have been long known, and are now re- 
written and epitomised in the Press of the world. 
I propose to speak of the man himself as he was 
revealed to his friends. 


348 


I first saw Wallace about twenty-five years ago, 
introduced by a dear common friend and fellow- 
worker at the problems of evolution. We were on 
a short walking-tour, and our road lay through 
Godalming, where Wallace was then living. From 
that time I have been happy in his friendship and 
his kind encouragement and help. 

Wallace possessed, like Charles Darwin, a 
charming personality. He was tall, with a magni- 
ficent head, a strong, clear, and pleasant voice, a 
hearty laugh, a keen sense of humour, an intense 
and vivid interest in the most varied subjects, 
But the central secret of his personal magnetism 
lay in his wide and unselfish sympathy. 

It might be thought by those who did not know 
Wallace that the noble generosity which will 
always stand as an example before the world was 
something special—called forth by the illustrious 
man with whom he was brought into contact. 
This would be a great mistake. Wallace’s atti- 
tude was characteristic, and remained character- 
istic to the end of his life. 

A keen young naturalist in the north of Eng- 
land, taking part in an excursion to the New 
Forest, had called on Wallace and confided to him 
the dream of his life—a first-hand knowledge of 
tropical nature. When I visited Old Orchard in 
the summer of 1903, I found that Wallace was 
intently interested in two things: his garden, and 
the means by which his young friend’s dream 
might best be realised. He then, and later on in 
many a letter, eagerly discussed the most favour- 
able localities, the scientific memoirs to be carried, 
the means by which the journey could be under- 
taken, the disposal of collections, and every cir- 
cumstance that would be likely to affect the 
success of the expedition, The subject was re- 
ferred to in seventeen letters to the present 
writer: it formed the sole topic of some of them. 
It was a grand and inspiring thing to see this 
great man identifying himself heart and_ soul 
with the interests of one—till then a stranger— 
in whom he recognised the passionate longings of 
his own youth. By the force of sympathy he 
re-lived in the life of another the splendid years 
of early manhood. 

In 1889, when the degree of D.C.L. was con- 
ferred upon him, Wallace stayed with us, and I 
was anxious to show him something of Oxford; 
but, with all that there is to be seen, one subject 
alone absorbed the whole of his interest. He was 
intensely anxious to find the rooms where Grant 
Allen had lived. He had received from Grant 
Allen’s father a manuscript poem giving a picture 
of the ancient city dimly seen at midnight from 
an undergraduate’s rooms. With the help of 
Grant Allen’s college friends we were able to visit 
every house in which he had lived, but were 
forced to conclude that the poem was written in 
the rooms of a friend or from an imaginary point 
of view. 

Of Wallace’s energy and love of work much 
might be written. About ten years ago, at the 
age of eighty, he moved from Parkstone to Old 
Orchard, Broadstone, having himself superin- 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


| I addressed a friendly remonstrance to Wallace 


| NOVEMBER 20, 1913 


* 


tended the building of the house and the layin 
out of the garden. In a letter written May < 
1903, he speaks of ‘the charming ‘lodge in { 
wilderness’ I have got here in which to end fr 
days on earth. I assure you I am enjoying 
perhaps more than I should ever have done at 
earlier period.’’ How entirely this happy an 
pation was fulfilled is well shown by the foll 
ing words written March 13, 1911, when Wal 
was more than eighty-eight :— 


But what I am mainly at work (or at play) w 
now is my garden, and I have suddenly developed 
sad mania for Alpine plants, more especially for my 
old favourites, the genus Primula, which has é 
ceived such wonderful additions lately from the Hima-— 
layas, but more particularly from N, China. My 
resuscitated hobby is due to my having now, the very 
first time in my life, a bit of ground really suitable 
for them, combining shelter, good aspects, a moist 
(even boggy in parts) subsoil, a moister atmosphere, 
and a good and varied soil. The new Primulas i 
troduced by Veitch, Bees, and several others are 
so grand and charming that I have raised some from 
seed, and have applied for others (and for Ane " 
generally) to Kew, Edinburgh, Cambridge, and Dub-— 
lin Botanical Gardens, and have already got such 
fine lot of plants—about 20 species of Primulas ani 
150 of Alpines generally—with promises of more, tha’ 
I am laying out a regular Alpine and bog garden, o 
quite small scale, buying stone and stone chippi 
by the ton or truck-load, collecting sand and road 
scrapings, protecting against rabbits, &c., which all 
give me very interesting occupation, so filling up my 
time and powers of work that I have little time or 
energy for reading anything but newspapers, novels, 
and the regular supply of scientific or political 
periodicals. ‘= 


And Wallace invoked for his friends the power 
which brought youth and happiness to his old 
age. ‘Many happy returns (and lots of work),”” 
were his birthday wishes to the writer in 1909. 

With the love of work we must above all asso- 
ciate the enthusiasm which Wallace put into all 
that he did—the bright, boyish spirit which shone 
in him as it did in Darwin. “I’ve enjoyed every 
minute of the time, Why, he has the spirit of a 
boy of eighteen!’ was my daughter’s comment 
on an afternoon spent at Old Orchard in the 
autumn of 1906. No youth gazing for the first 
time on the wonders of nature in the tropics could 
feel more enthusiasm than is expressed in Wal- 
lace’s words describing a visit to the Natural 
History Museum on the morning after his Friday 
evening lecture at the Royal Institution in 
January, 1909 :— ; 

I had a delightful two hours at the museum on. 
Saturday morning, as Mr. Rothschild brought from 
Tring several of his glass-bottomed drawers with his 
finest New Guinea butterflies. They were a trea 
I never saw anything more lovely and interesting! 


The history of that Friday evening lecture 
Wallace’s last appearance before the scientific 
public—is given in the following passage, which 
is of interest in many ways, and recalls especially 
the famous 1858 essay—thought out in two hours 
and completed in three evenings. When the 
promise to the Royal Institution was made known, 


NOVEMBER 20, 1913] 


for having refused to lecture in Oxford. He 
replied November 6, 1908 :— 


I am a believer in inspiration. All my best ideas 
have come to me suddenly. 1 had quite determined to 
decline this one [invitation] when, lying on my couch, 
an idea suddenly came to me! I saw that the sub- 
ject had never been treated from that point of view— 
{ felt that I could and should like so to treat it, and 
that it would suit the audience and do gooa. So I 
accepted. I hope I shall be able to do it justice. 


The late Aubrey Moore, in a remarkable ad- 
dress delivered thirty years ago to the Church 
Congress in Reading—an address noticed in the 
columns of NaturE—spoke with disparagement of 
a mind “built like a modern ironclad in water- 
tight compartments.” But the criticism does not 
apply when the sliding doors are kept in good 
working order by constant use. 

Wallace was keenly interested in many subjects 
—psychical, political, and economic—that would 
not attract the majority of the readers of Nature. 
With those who met him in the field of biological 
and especially of evolutionary inquiry, the whole 
of the intercourse was filled to overflowing with 
the give-and-take of friendly discussion. The 
opportunities that came all too rarely would have 
been wasted in argument over fundamental differ- 
ences or in the vain attempt to reconcile divergent 
tastes. All such subjects were therefore shut out. 


“T am still very busy,” he wrote, February 23, 
1903, ‘‘and all the time I can spare from the garden 
I give to a new book I am writing—a kind of pot- 
boiler—though one that I am immensely interested in, 
but that you will not care about.” 


Many will doubtless be inclined to think, with 
the writer of the article last week (NATURE, p. 
322), that Wallace’s views on Mendelism were a 
product of the intellectual rigidity of old age. 
The facts here brought forward, to which numbers 
more might have been added, prove, however, 
that he retained his vitality and elasticity and 
keenness to a degree that was perfectly marvel- 
lous. With regard to Mendelism, he felt, as many 
far younger men feel, that it is both interesting 
and important, but that from the first it has been 
put in a wrong light, and erroneously used as a 
weapon of attack upon other subjects to which 
it is not in any way antagonistic. 

His attitude towards “‘ Mutation” was different ; 
for here he knew that all the essential facts had 
been long pondered over by a greater mind than 
that of any living naturalist. Thus he wrote, 
July 27, 1907 :— 


Mutation as a theory is absolutely nothing new— 
only the assertion that new species originate always 
in sports—for which the evidence adduced is the most 
meagre and inconclusive of any ever set forth with 
such pretentious claims! 


And again on March 1, 1909, he used words 
with which a firm believer in natural selection 
as the motive cause of evolution may fitly con- 
clude :— 


I have no doubt, however, it will all come right 
in the end—though the end may be far off, and in 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 349 


the meantime we must simply go on, and show, at 
every opportunity, that Darwinism actually does ex- 
plain whole fields of phenomena that they [Muta- 
tionists] do not even attempt to deal with, or even to 
approach. 1 OR gt ha 


Dike. if, -P. THEARLE, 
De S. J. P. THEARLE, whose death is an- 
nounced, was born in the year 1846, and 
was thus at the time of his death sixty-seven years 
of age. He was born in Portsmouth, and entered 
as an apprentice at Devonport Dockyard in 1860, 
From this, as the result of competitive examina- 
tion, he passed into the Royal School of Naval 
Architecture, South Kensington, in the year 1865, 
and after three years’ study was graduated as a 
Fellow of the Royal School. He spent eight years 
in government service as a naval constructor, and 
then resigned his appointment to become surveyor 
to Lloyd’s Register, in which Society he ultimately 
rose in the year 1909, after passing several stages, 
to the position of chief ship surveyor on the 
retirement of Mr. H. J. Cornish. ; 

One of his most notable achievements was the 
preparation of several text-books on naval archi- 
tecture, which became standard books for students 
for many years, and were so used by teachers in 
the Science and Art evening classes. Many naval 
architects feel themselves indebted to Dr. Thearle 
for their earliest introduction to scientific ship- 
building. These works not only dealt with 
scientific naval architecture, but also practical 
ship laying off and ship construction. As a sur- 
veyor of Lloyd’s Register, he was notable for the 
independent action in connection with the ships 
under his survey, while always at the same time 
being loyal to his Society, and in the carrying out 
of its rules. His promotion to the senior posi- 
tion in his society was hailed as an excellent 
appointment, and a merited recognition of his life 
work. 

Latterly the calls upon his time had been ex- 
ceedingly onerous; he having been appointed on 
the committee formed to investigate subdivision 
of ships, under the presidency of Sir Archibald 
Denny, and on the committee created by the 
Government to investigate the question of suitable 
load lines for steamers, on both of which commit- 
tees he proved himself a most active and useful 
member. Apart from this, he was in frequent 
request as a representative of his society. He was 
also on the Board of Trade Advisory Committee, 
which since the loss of the Titanic has been in more 
or less constant session. 

Dr. Thearle had thus been for the last forty-five 
years closely identified as an individual and as an 
official with the progress made in naval architec- 
ture, and his contribution to that advance as an 
official and as a scientific naval architect have 
been of no mean order. Probably his best-known 
work during the last years was the reorganisa- 
tion of Lloyd’s rules for the construction of ships, 
bringing them up to their present position, in 
which they are abreast of the latest advances in 
scientific naval architecture. 


359 


NOTES. 

‘Tne following is a list of those to whem the Royal 
Society has this year awarded medals. The awards 
of the Royal medals have received the King’s 
approval ‘—The Copley medal to Sir Ray Lankester, 
on the ground of the high scientific value of the 
researches in zoology carried out by him, and of the 
researches inspired and suggested by him and carried 
out by his pupils. A Royal medal to Prof. H. B. 
Dixon, F.R.S., for his researches in physical chem- 
istry, especially in connection with explosions in 
gases. A Royal medal to Prof. E. H, Starling, 
F.R.S., for his contributions to the advancement of 
physiology. The Davy medal to Prof. R. Meldola, 
F.R.S., for his work in synthetic chemistry. The 
Hughes medal to Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, on the 
ground of his share in the invention of the telephone 
and more especially the construction of the telephone 
receiver. The Sylvester medal to Dr. J. W. L. 
Glaisher, F.R.S., for his mathematical researches. 


Pror. J. N. Lancury, F.R.S., professor of physio- 
logy in the University of Cambridge, has been elected 
a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences 
at Munich. 


Tue Mary Kingsley medal of the Liverpool School 
of Tropical Medicine was presented on November 14 
to Prof. F. V. Theobald, Vice-Principal and zoologist 
of the South-Eastern Agricultural College, Wye. 


WE regret to see the announcement of the death 
on November 10, at sixty-four years of age, of Colonel 
St. George C. Gore, R.E., Surveyor-General of India 
in the years 1899-1904. 


WE notice with regret the death, at fifty-six years 
of age, of Mr. A. J. Wallis, fellow and bursar of 
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Mr. Wallis was 
bracketed fourth wrangler in the tripos of 1879, and 
was also bracketed equal with Prof. M. J. M.° Hill, 
now of University College, London, for the Smith’s 
prizes in that year. 


Tue death is announced of Dr. R. L. Bowles, at 
seventy-nine years of age. Dr. Bowles was a fellow 
of the Royal Society of Medicine, and was for some 
time president of the south-eastern branch of the 
British Medical Association. He was the author of 
a number of papers, including the article “ Stertor” 
in “‘Quain’s Dictionary of Medicine,’ and articles on 
the treatment of certain diseases of the heart at Bad 
Nauheim, the influence of light on the skin, and other 
subjects. 


Tue mounted head of an Indian rhinoceros (Rhino- 
ceros unicornis), shot in the Nepalese Tarai by the King 
in 1911, and presented by his Majesty, has been placed 
on exhibition in the corridor leading to the upper 
mammal gallery, in the Natural History Museum, 
South Kensington. This trophy, which has been 
mounted by-Messrs. Rowland Ward, Ltd., is in juxta- 
position to the Nepalese tiger presented by the King 
seme month ago, and faces the Hume bequest of 
Indian big-game heads. 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


South ren: have in preparation an exhibition 
of a representative series of specimens selected from 
the collections made by the Scott Antarctic Expedi-) 
tion. The specimens, chiefly marine’ invertebrates, Bi 
have been selected by Mr. D. G. Lillie, a member of 
the scientific staff on board the Terra Nova, who is 
engaged at present in sorting out the collections — 
preparatory to their being sent to specialists to be; = 
worked out and described in the monumental r ort i 
on the scientific results of the expedition, the publi ica- 
tion of which has been undertaken by the trustees. , 
of the British Museum. The specimens, which are, 
being arranged for exhibition by Dr. W. G. Ride- 
wood, form, of course, only a very small portion of the. — 
collections brought home by the Terra Nova, but they — 
will serve to show the public some of the more strik- — 
ing and interesting species obtained in southern 
waters. ‘Two cases in the central hall are aes set 
apart for the purpose. 

A SEVERE earthquake is reported to hie occurred at’ cg 
Abancay, in. Peru, on November 7. According to’ 
the meagre accounts which have reached this country 
two hundred people were killed and many villages- d 
were destroyed. Abancay lies about 250 miles east-— 
south-east of Lima, but, so far as known, | it seems ‘ 
to have been free from disastrous earthquakes in the — 
past. On November 13 another earthquake, the third p 
since the beginning of October, occurred in ithe” 
isthmus of Panama, but again without bate beats 

damage to the canal structures, 


THE annual conversazione of the Selborne Society 
will be held on November 21 in the theatre and halls — 
of the Civil Service Commission, Burlington Gardens; 
as usual, there will be a large display of microscopes, 
and in the hall devoted to general exhibits. an effort — 
will be made to show by means of skins and feathers 
how wild species of birds and mammals are being 

saved from extinction by rearing them in captivity, as 
in the case of the ostrich and the silver fox, by pro-. 
tecting them, and by using the products of truly 
domesticated species in their place. in 

Ar the anniversary meeting of the Mineralogical _ 
Society, held on November 11, the following” officers . 
and members of council. werg elected :—President, - 
Dr. A. E. H. Tutton,: E.R-S.;. Vice- Presidents, Prof. * 
H. L. Bowman ‘and’ Dr.; A: Phutuhirisone Treasurer, — 
Sir William’ P. Beale, Bart., K.C., M.P.; General — 
Secretary, Dr. G. T.Prior, F.R‘S.; Foreign Secre- 
tary, Prof. W. W. Watts, F:R:S.; Editor of the ~ 
Journal, Mr. L. J. Spencer; Members of Couneil, — 
Mr. W. Barlow, F.R.S.,. Mr. T. Crook, Sir Thomas 5 
H. Holland, K:C.1.E., F/R.S.; Dr. G.: F. H. Smith, . 
Mr. F. H. Butler, Mr. J. P: De Castro, Mr: B. Kitto, — 


oa y 
. 


+ 
é 


Prof. A. a sidge, F.R:S., Dr. Ji: J. Ho Deal F: 
F.R.S., Mr. N. A. Fleischmann, Mr. H. Hilton, — 
and Mr. -A. pace: r 


Mr. AusTEN CHAMBERLAIN presided at a meeting at 
the London Chamber of Commerce on November 13 
for the purpose of dissolving the subcommittee which — 
had been formed for the purpose of raising funds for 
the London School of Tropical Medicine. The amount ~ 
of the fund to date is 71,444l., which, after deducting 


NOVEMBER 20, 1913] 


expenses, leaves a balance of 70,4311. available for 
the purposes of the school. Mr. Otto Beit and the 
Government of the Federated Malay States each con- 
- tributed 5oool., and Sir William Bennet allocated the 
- Wandsworth bequest of 10,0001. to the fund for pur- 
poses of research. After deducting the last-named, 
together with 15,o00l. spent on new laboratories and 
hostel and an endowment for certain beds for tropical 
cases (to be named the ‘‘Chamberlain Ward"’), there 
“remain 39,0001. to form an endowment for the general 
purposes of the school. 


Tue death is announced of Dr. W. J. Ansorge, the 
well-known African explorer and natural history col- 
lector, at Loanda, Angola, on October 31. Dr. 
Ansorge was born in Bengal, in 1850, and educated 
at Pembroke College, Cambridge. His collections, 
which included mammals, birds, and fishes, were 
very” extensive, and obtained from such widely 
sundered districts as Angola, Nigeria, Uganda, and 
_ British and German East Africa. A large proportion 
of the collection of birds is in, Mr. Rothschild’s 
museum at Tring, but there is also a considerable 
series in the British Museum, inclusive of 258 skins 
_ from Benguela and Uganda, purchased in 1895-6. At 
least one mammal—Lophuromys ansorgei—bears the 
name of the deceased collector, and in the first two 
volumes of the British Museum Catalogue of the 
Fresh-water Fishes of Africa there are eight species 
named in his honour. A few years ago he presented 
‘to the museum several skulls and horns of East 
African antelopes and rhinoceroses. Dr. Ansorge was 
the author of ‘Under the African Sun,” published 
in 1899. 


_ Tue annual Huxley Memorial Lecture of the Royal 

Anthropological Institute. was delivered on November 
14 by Prof. W. J. Sollas, upon the subject of Paviland 
Cave. The Cave of Paviland, which opens on the 
face of a steep limestone cave about a mile east of 
Rbossili, on the coast of Gower (Wales), provided 
an almost ideal hunting lodge to Paleolithic man. 
The discovery by Buckland, in the kitchen midden 
which forms its floor, of a painted skeleton long 
‘known as the ‘Red Lady,” rendered it famous. 
Recent investigation has shown that this skeleton is 
‘the remains of a man ‘belonging to the tall Cré- 
‘Magnon race, which occupied the greater part of 
habitable Europe in the Aurignacian age (Upper 
Paleolithic). The bone of the animals, most of 
them extinct, found in the cave are in agreement with 
‘this conclusion. The assogiated implements are also 
d urignacian. Paviland Cave is thus the most westerly 
outpost of the Cré-Magnon race, and at the same 
time the first Aurignacian station yet discovered in 
‘Britain.—At the conclusion of the lecture the presi- 
dent presented Prof. Sollas with the Huxley memorial 
medal for 1913. 


A FEW months ago The Scientific American offered 
rizes for the three best essays on the ten greatest 
Patentable inventions of the past twenty-five years. 
_ The’ results were announced in the issue of our 
contemporary for November 1. No two competitors 
selected the same set of inventions. In fact, only one 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92] 


| on-Trent, and other towns. 
| Pool Museum) raised the question how far it was 


NATURE 351 


invention, that of wireless telegraphy, was conceded 
unanimously to belong to the group of the ten greatest. 
The vote on aéroplanes was almost unanimous. But 
beyond that there was no unanimity. The conditions 
of the contest stated that greatness would be measured 
in terms of practical success and general usefulness 
to mankind; the competitors were limited to machines, 


| devices, and discoveries commercially introduced in 


the last twenty-five years, and special emphasis was 
laid on the fact that the inventions must be patent- 
able, although not necessarily patented. A dozen 
essays were afterwards picked out at random, and 
these were found to contain forty different subjects. 
The list of these subjects was published, and readers 
of The Scientific American were invited to vote upon 
it The result shows that the vote was not unani- 
mous even on wireless telegraphy. The following 
twelve inveations secured the highest number of 
votes, the number printed after each representing a 
percentage of the votes given :—Wireless telegraphy, 
97; aeroplane, 75; X-ray machine, 74; automobile, 
66; motion pictures, 63; reinforced concrete, 37; 


| phonograph, 37; incandescent electric lamp, 35; steam 


turbine, 34; electric car, 34; calculating machine, 33; 
internal-combustion engine, 33. 


A CONFERENCE of members of the Museums Asso- 
ciation and others interested in museum work was 
held at Warrington on October 30, on the invitation of 
the committee of the Municipal Museum. Repre- 
sentatives attended of the museums of Liverpool, 
Manchester, Hull, Bolton, Salford, Leicester, Stoke- 
Mr. P. Entwistle (Liver- 


allowable to go in the restoration of imperfect 
specimens, maintaining the view, with which the 
meeting generally agreed, that such restoration as 
was required to give a clear impression of the form 
of the object was desirable, provided that the extent 
of the restoration were obvious on close examination. 
Dr. Tattersall (Manchester Museum), in a paper on 
museums and local collections, with the outlines of a 
scheme for the compilation of a fauna of Lancashire, 
said that the first duty of a provincial museum was to 
collect and preserve specimens illustrating the natural 
history of the surrounding district, and proposed that 
an organisation should be formed to link up the 
existing museums in Lancashire with the various 
natural science societies, and specialists in various 
zoological groups. The museums would receive the 
specimens collected locally and forward them to 
appointed centres, where they would be named and 
recorded, and returned when dealt with to the same 
museums for permanent preservation. A committee 
was appointed, with Dr. Tattersall as convener, to 
take preliminary steps to carry out the scheme. Mr. 
Madeley (Warrington Museum) announced that it was 
proposed, provided a sufficient number of museums 
agreed to subscribe, to prepare and distribute a series 
of casts of, say twenty, typical British stone imple- 
ments from the British Museum collections. The 
selection would be made by Sir Hercules Read, who 
had also kindly consented to prepare a description to 
accompany the casts. 


357 


Pror. A. Keiru, in the November issue of Man, 
describes two ancient crania found by the Rev. H. 
Mason in an old deposit at Wanganui, New Zealand. 
They belong to the Moriori race, now confined—a 
mere remnant—to the Chatham Islands. They in- 
habited New Zealand before the arrival of the Maori, 
and their crania differ in a remarkable degree from 
those of the latter race. The Moriori skulls are 
devoid of negroid characteristics, the stock to which 
the Maori are more closely allied. The Moriori are 
evidently related to some of the Polynesian and South 
American races; at least it is among these peoples 
that we find cranial forms which are comparable with 
them. 


WE have received from the Land Agents’ Society 
a copy of the seventh annual report of the honorary 
consulting biologist, in which Mr. W. E. Collinge, 
after referring to the spell of wet in 1912 as having 
been favourable to animal pests and inimical to game- 
birds, mentions some of the most serious cases of 
damage by insects and other pests which occurred 
during the year, with the best remedial measures for 
such infestations. 


In the October number of The American Naturalist 
Prof. W. S. Anderson insists on the importance of 
the study of the inheritance of coat-colour in horses. 
“Tf" he remarks, “there is a law governing the 
transmission of colour, may we not infer that a law 
of somewhat like nature will govern the transmission 
of the more essential qualities of the horse? If it 
can be proved that colours are unit characters and 
their inheritance obeys the Mendelian law of 
dominants and recessives, I believe one very important 
step will have been taken to solve the whole problem 
of breeding horses.’ Very noteworthy is the fact 
that when chestnut horses are mated with one another 
the progeny all seem to inherit the (recessive) colour 
of their parents, the recorded exceptions of one per 
cent. being probably due to error. 


In the current number of The Journal of Agricul- 
tural Science (vol. v., part 4) Messrs. W. A. Davis 
and A. J. Daish contribute a study of the methods of 
estimation of carbohydrates, especially in plant ex- 
tracts. 
estimation of sugars in plant extracts, particularly 
of cane-sugar and maltose, are dealt with. A new 
method of estimating maltose, based on the use of pure 
cultures of maltase-free yeasts, such as Saccharomyces 
marxianus and S. exiguus has been devised. This 
is the only one available in such cases, as the ordinary 
method, using dilute hydrochloric acid for the hydro- 
lysis of maltose, leads to destruction of much lzvulose 
and to quite erroneous results. A scheme for the 
analysis of the complex mixtures of sugars, namely 
pentoses, dextrose, lavulose, cane-sugar, and maltose, 
occurring in plant extracts is appended. Mr. Davis 
also describes, in a separate paper, a simple labora- 
tory apparatus for the continuous evaporation in vacuo 
of large volumes of liquids, such as plant extracts, 
which under the ordinary conditions froth badly and 
thus present difficulties. 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92] 


Certain sources of error encountered in the. 


NATURE 


[ NOVEMBER 20, 1913 


The Journal of Economic Biology for Septemt 
contains a valuable ‘“‘Generak Survey of the Ins 
Fauna of the Soil,’ by Mr, A. E. Cameron, of 
department of agricultural zoology in the Univers 
of Manchester. The researches described have bee 
carried out in the grounds at Fallowfield attached 
the economic laboratory, and from this small area 
wonderful amount of interesting information has be 
obtained. The author gives a catalogue of more th 
150 species of Apterygota, Coleoptera, Lepidopte 
Diptera, and Hymenoptera found in the soil at le 
during some stage of their life-history, together wii 
the depth and nature of their habitat and observatio 
on their food. He also discusses the effect exerted 
these terrestrial insects on the soil as regards mois re, 
temperature, and ventilation—all factors of great cul- 
tural importance. It is regrettable that this excellent 
paper is disfigured by an abnormal number of m 
prints, and we do not understand why the explanations 
of some of the well-drawn figures of larva are given 
in German rather than in English. i. 


Tue October number of The Journal of Genetics ; 
(vol. iii, No. 2) contains papers of very varied interest. 
Prof. Punnett and Miss Pellew deal with gametic 
reduplication (‘‘coupling”’) in sweet-peas and peas. 
Prof. Punnett gives evidence that when two domin: 
factors are introduced into a double heterozygote 
from different parents, the ratio of ‘‘repulsion”” 
the same as that of the coupling found when th 
are introduced from the same parent. When thre 
factors are concerned together, the ratios between an: 
two of them are modified, and he shows that the 
modification appears to agree with Trow’s ae 
of secondary reduplication. Mr. J. C. F. Fryer gi 
a preliminary account of Mendelian segregation in 
sexually dimorphic Phasmid, in which the female 
differ in two pairs of characters; perhaps his mo 
interesting observation is that typical Mendeliz 
segregation may occur in parthenogenetic reproduc 
tion. Mr. E. N. Wentworth shows that strains 
Drosophila (Diptera) of very different fecundity may 
arise by inbreeding from one pair, and suggests that 
loss of fecundity on inbreeding may be due simply to 
the segregation of such strains of low fertility. Pure 
strains of high fertility showed no loss in eight gene 
rations of inbreeding. Mr. C. Todd gives a luci 
account of hzmolytic tests, showing that not o 
phylogenetic relationship may be ‘tested in this w 
but also that each individual has characteristic blood 
corpuscles, the fate of which, when injected i 
another individual, can be followed. He gives indi 
tions of the hereditary transmission of these individ 
blood-characters. Mr. C. J. Bond shows that af 
apparently complete removal of the testicular tissue 
birds, a full-sized testis may be regenerated; 
suggests that the proportions of gametes bearing 
different hereditary characters may differ in the r 
generated testis from those existing in the normal 
testis. 


t 


An important investigation, entitled “Cloud and 
Sunshine of the Mediterranean Region,’ by Mr. J. 
Friedemann forms Part 2, vol. xxxv., of Archiv der 
Deutschen Seewarte. The area dealt with extends to 


NOVEMBER 20, I913]| 
many parts beyond the Mediterranean district, and 
includes data from no fewer than twelve meteorological 
services. Many of the observations have been already 
published in widely scattered volumes; one of the 
merits of the present discussion is the bringing 
together of the separate data. The monthly, 
seasonal, and yearly distributions of the elements in 
question are shown in great detail; to obtain a 
satisfactory idea of these it will be necessary to refer 
to the original paper, which is accompanied by 
numerous tables and several coloured charts. One 
of the diagrams, however, consists of isopleths show- 
a ing the variation of the yearly range of the amount 
_ of cloud on both sides of a line from Little St. Bernard 
to Beni Suef (Egypt). 
alia, the peculiarities of the range at alpine stations, 
the rather cloudy condition of the Apennines, the 
_ decrease to the south-east, the small amount on the 
west of Greece, especially in summer, and the great 
differences in the Aigean Sea. A large part of this 
laborious work was prepared by the late Mr. F. 
 Zillmann at the instigation of Prof. Partsch. 


Tue October number of the Journal of the Institu- 
tion of Electrical Engineers is devoted almost exclu- 
sively to the subject of electric traction. At the joint 
meeting of the Institution and the Société Inter- 
nationale des Electriciens, held in Paris in May, the 
question of the electrification of existing railways was 
widely discussed, and it seems evident that the 
_ problem is no longer a technical one but is now purely 
financial. The difficulties of construction and main- 

tenance have been overcome, and direct-current and 
single and three-phase systems are all now in opera- 
tion. While each of these three systems claims to be 

more economical than steam traction, there does not 
appear to be any certainty as to which of them is 
best. On the whole the papers read and the discussion 
which followed them tended to favour the continuous 
system with much higher voltages—e.g. 2400—than 
are usual at present, but it was evidently felt even 
by the advocates of such a system that there were 
_ circumstances under which the other two systems 


might be used with advantage. 


AT a meeting of the Alchemical Society held on 
_ November 14, a paper was read by Mme. Isabelle de 
_ Steiger, entitled “The Hermetic Mystery,” the chair 
_ being occupied by the acting president, Mr. H. Stan- 
ley Redgrove. Mme. Isabelle de Steiger’s interpre- 
tation of the theories and aims of the ancient and 
_ medieval alchemists differs radically from that 
_ accepted by many students of the history of philosophy 
_ and science, her views in the main agreeing with those 
_ expressed in that well-known but exceedingly scarce 
_ work, “A Suggestive Enquiry into the Hermetic 
_ Mystery and Alchemy” According to the lecturer, 
the doctrines underlaying alchemy were the primitive 
doctrines at the heart of every ancient religion. 
Alchemy, she maintained, was not concerned with 
metals but with man, whom the alchemists en- 
_ deavoured spiritually to perfect through a process 
_ analogous to that said to have been discovered by 
a Mesmer. The alchemists, she said, formed a sort 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


From this may be seen, inter ; 


age 


of free secret order, and their writings were crypto 
grammatic, being intended to be understood by one 
another only. They were couched in the language 
of chemistry to mislead the ignorant, this being neces- 
sary on account of the danger attendant upon any 
misuse of the processes with which they dealt. The 
full text of the lecture will be published in the 
November number of the society’s Journal. 


AN article by Mr. W. A. Caspari, entitled ‘‘ British 
Chemistry and British Manufactures,” is published in 
the November issue of The British Review. Mr. Cas- 
pari insists again upon the importance of the manu- 
facturers of this country learning to appreciate the 
value to their industries of the services of highly 
qualified men of science. In the application of chem- 
istry to industrial objects, Great Britain was the 
pioneer and undisputed leader during the earlier 
periods of the industrial revival. At present Ger- 
many stands easily supreme in all purely chemical 
manufactures, except possibly metallurgy and ‘‘ heavy 
chemicals’'; and the potency of German competition 
resides in clear-thinking German appreciation of 
applied science. My. Caspari asks: What is wrong? 
Too many of our manufacturers prefer to run their 
works with clerks, engineers, and “ practical’? men; 
in Germany, the chemical element in the personnel 
of the factory is strong, not only numerically, but 
also as regards rank. The British manufacturer’s 
mind seldom soars beyond the conception that a 
chemist is a person who analyses things. He too 
often fails to realise that the scientific man, far from 
being merely a useful background accessory like the 
works’ plumber, holds the key to the whole of his 
manufacture. Mr. Caspari makes some wise sugges- 
tions for the more suitable training of chemists in 
universities and colleges, and maintains that once the 
suitable type of chemist is produced and planted in 
our factories, our industrial system will evolve almost 
imperceptibly in the right direction, and our captains 
of industry with it. 


Messrs. H. F. Ancus anp Co., 83 Wigmore Street, 
London, W., have issued a catalogue of second-hand 
microscopes, objectives, and accessories, which they 
have for sale or hire. In addition to second-hand 
instruments, Messrs. Angus have in stock some forty 
or more different patterns in microscopes and an 
equal variety in accessory apparatus, which include 
specimens of English, American, Austrian, German, 
Italian, and Swedish manufacture. It should prove 
a great convenience to purchasers to be able easily 
to) compare instruments of varied character and range. 


Tue following books are announced, as in the press 
or in preparation, by the Cambridge University 
Press :—In the ‘‘ Cambridge Psychological Library’’: 
“Psychology,” Prof. J. Ward; ‘The Nervous 
System,” Prof. C. S. Sherrington, F.R.S.; “The 
Structure of the Nervous System and the Sense 
Organs,” Prof. G. Elliot Smith, F.R.S.; ‘ Pro- 
legomena to Psychology,” Prof. G. Dawes Hicks ; 
‘Psychology in Relation to Theory of Knowledge," 
Prof. G. F. Stout; ‘‘ Mental Measurement,” Dr. W. 
Brown; ‘‘The Psychology of Mental Differences," 


NATURE 


[NovEMBER 20, 1913 _ 


= 


C. Burt; ‘Collective Psychology,’? W. McDougall, 
F.R.S.; ‘‘The Psychology of Personality and Sug- 
gestion,’ T. W. Mitchell; “The Psychology of 
Dreams,” T. H. Pear. In the ‘‘ Cambridge Technical 
Series”? :—‘‘ Automobile Engineering,” A. Graham 
Clark; ‘Electro-Technical Measurements," A. E. 
Moore; ‘Applied Mechanics,” E. S. Andrews; ‘' Alter- 
nating Currents," W. H. N. James; ‘' Chemistry and 
Technology of Oils and Fats,’’ F. E. Weston; “ Paper, 
its Uses and Testing,” S. Leicester; ‘‘ Mining Geo- 
logy,” Prof. G. Knox; ‘Textile Calculations—Mate- 
rials, Yarns, and Fabrics,” A. M. Bell; “Domestic 
Science,” C. W. Hale; ‘‘ Business Methods,” Thomas 
Hart, jun.; ‘‘ Electrical Engineering,” TC, Barllie; 
“Applied Mechanics and Heat Engines,” F. Boulden ; 
“‘Elements of Applied Optics,” W. R. Bower; 
“Physics for Engineers,” J. F. Yorke; ‘‘ English 
Building Construction,’ C. F. Innocent; “Sculpture 
in Relation to Architecture," T. P. Bennett; ‘‘ Electric 
Installations,” C. W. Hill; ‘‘ Accounting,” J. B. War- 
daugh; ‘‘The Theory and Practice of Commerce,” 
J. C. Stephenson. In the ‘Cambridge Health 
Series’: ‘‘The Bacteriological Analysis of Water, 
Sewage and Foods,” Dr. W. G. Savage; ‘Isolation 
Hospitals,’ Dr. H. F. Parsons. In the “ Provincial 
Geographies of. India”: “Bengal and Orissa,” 
L..S. S: O'Malley; ‘The Punjab, N.W. Frontier 
Province, and Kashmir,” Sir J. McC. Douie. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Comer News.—Miss Anna R. Kidder, of the 
Berkeley Astronomical Observatory, communicates to 
the Lick Observatory. Bulletin, No. 245, the elliptic 
elements and ephemeris of comet rg13e (Zinner). 
The elements she has computed correspond so closely 
to those of comet 1900 II]. (Giacobini) that she con- 
cludes that both comets are identical. The two sets 
of elements are as follows :-— 

Comet 19co IIT. (Giacobini) 

T =1900,: Nov. 28°17 


Com t 1913¢ (Zinner) 


@ =171° 29") 171° 29°1') 
Q.=196 32 19000 195 27°3 ;1913°0 
z= 29 52 | 31 oI! 

g =0°9342 0°97787 

e =0'74168 0'72968 


The average period derived from the dates of peri- 
helion passage in 1900 and 1913 is 6-464 years. 

Two publications, namely the Lick Observatory 
Bulletin, No. 239, and the Lowell Observatory Bul- 
letin, No. 57, contain accounts of photographs secured 
at the respective observatories. In the former, Dr. 
C. C. Kiess describes the observations made on comet 
1g11c (Brooks) and illustrates his descriptions with 
ten excellent reproductions. In the latter communi- 
cation Mr. C. O. Lampland describes fully the photo- 
graphs secured at the Lowell Observatory of the fine 
comet 191oa. A large series of most striking photo- 
graphs is also reproduced. In the addenda to the 
paper he discusses the heliographic positions of this 
comet, and adds some remarks in connection with the 
heliographic latitudes of Donati’s comet (1858 VI.), 
and Chéseaux’s comet (1744 I.) when near perihelion. 

Macnirvinc Powers Usrep py Dovusik-star Op- 
seRveRS.—Mr. T. Lewis, writing in The Observatory 
for November, briags together some very interesting 
facts relating to the magnifying powers used by 
double-star observers. The object of the inquiry was 
to answer the question, “ What is the best magnifying 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92| 


_negative results, for polarisation. 


1913, Nov. 2"1047 G.M.T. ° | 
913s ae Norman Lockyer and Mr, Baxandall in 1905. With — 


power of a telescope in actual practice?” and, in the 
hope of arriving at some definite result, he made 
counts of thousands of observations all over the world 
by various observers. The result of the investigation 
was to produce a formula— a 


Magnifying power=140V A, 


where A is the diameter of the aperture, in inches 

and this formula gives an excellent representation. 
the values derived from the discussion of the actu 
observational data. Thus the formula, as Mr. Lew 
says, ‘“‘may safely be taken as representing the co 
sensus of opinion among experienced observers in 
their choice of the best magnification for a given 
telescope; and it may, therefore, be useful as a guide — 
to others in selecting the eyepieces which will best — 
suit their particular telescope.” a 


STELLAR CLassiIFicaTIoN.—At the Lick Observatory — 
much work has recently been accomplished in the — 
classification ot stellar spectra. Bulletins 237 and 243 
contain two researches in this subject, both of which 
have been carried through by candidates for the © 
degree of doctor of philosophy in the University of — 
California, a fact which indicates the increased atten- 
tion now being devoted to this section of astrophysics. 
The first of these papers deals with ‘Class B Stars 
whose Spectra Contain Brignt Hydrogen Lines," and 
is the work of Mr. Paul W. Merrill. “a 

By using plates stained with Wallace’s three-dye 
stain the spectrograms included He. Five slit- — 
prism spectrographs giving dispersions ranging from 
8-7 A per mm. at Hy, and one grating spectrograph 
giving in the second order at Ha (with that line 
central) 10.9 A per mm. were employed, attached to 
the 36-in. refractor. 

The survey included nearly all the’ stars of the © 
above description north of —40°, and some related — 
stars; also some stars included either because on 
three-prism spectrograms H8 was peculiar, or the 4 
lines were weak and diffuse in order to see whether 
Ha might be bright. The bright components of the 
H8 line of y Cassiopeia and b, Cygni were tested, with — 
The author con- — 
firms the presence of the chromospheric lines AA4g924 
and 5018 in these stars, first pointed out by Sir — 


regard to the doubling of the bright hydrogen lines, — 
complex self-reversal is suggested as the expianation — 
most in accord with the facts. Finally, Mr. Merrill 
divides these stars into four groups, of which the 
types are y Cassiopeie, 6? Cygni, Electra, and ; 
¢@ Persei. The groups contain fourteen, nineteen, — 
two, and three stars respectively, whilst six stars — 
remain unclassified. The variability and distribution — 
of these stars also receives attention. ee 
Bulletin 243 contains a photographic study of 

the visual region of the spectra of the brighter 
Class A stars, by Miss E. Phoebe Waterman. The 
line of greatest wave-length measured was A6517, of — 
unknown origin. Miss Cannon’s proposal to-re- — 
arrange the classification of these stars is supported; — 
the stars now classified as A would thus be divided — 
between classes Ao to A2. In the summary it is — 
stated that the metal lines present are the enhanced — 
or spark lines of the elements represented. They 
coincide throughout in wave-length and intensity with — 
the stronger lines of the solar chromosphere. The 
peculiarity of the spectrum of « Cygni is found ‘to — 
consist in the great intensity of some of the iron — 
lines, and in the narrow and well-defined character oft™ 
all the lines rather than in the presence of lines 
foreign to stars of Class A. Miss Waterman finds — 
that some stars perhaps show bright borders to the — 
absorption lines. 


NOVEMBER 20, 1913] 


NATURE 


~INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE | 


SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA. 


‘TRE International Conference on the Safety of 

Life at Sea was opened by the President of the 
Board of Trade on November 12, at the Foreign 
Office, in the presence of delegates from Germany, 
the United States of America, Australia, Austria- 
Hungary, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Spain, 
France, Great Britain, Italy, Norway, Netherlands, 
Russia, Sweden, and New Zealand.’ 

After offering a warm welcome to the delegates on 
behalf of the British Government, and an expression 
of their gratification at the cordial manner their invi- 
tation to the conference had been accepted, Mr. Bux- 
ton alluded to the importance of the task before them, 
and ventured on the opinion that few international 
conferences had had a greater and nobler work 
entrusted to them. 

With regard to the questions to be discussed, he 
considered that they could be divided broadly into 
five heads. These may be summarised as follow :— 
(1) Is it possible to eliminate the liability to founder 
by constructional arrangements? (2) In the event of 
collision, fire, and other accidents, what life apparatus 
are required to minimise disaster 
and to save life? (3) What organ- 
isations are best to ensure the effec- 
tive and expeditious handling of life- 
saving appliances on board the ship 
herself and the rescuing ship? (4) 
How can assistance from another 
ship or from shore be most quickly 
and effectively invoked and _ ob- 
tained? (5) What measures can be 
taken on behalf of the ships to avert 
or diminish the risk of accident, 
under which head come the observa- 
tion and reporting of ice and dere- 
licts, storm and fog signals, and 
warnings, &c.? 

The President of the Board of 
Trade then read a message of cor- 
dial welcome to the delegates from 
the King, in which his Majesty re- 
ferred to his personal experience as © 
a sailor of many of the matters that 
would be considered by the confer- 
ence, and to the special interest he 
took in the questions they were 
about to consider, affecting as they did the lives of 
so vast a number of his subjects. ~ 

An interesting speech from Dr. von Koerner, the 
chief German delegate, followed. 

Lord Mersey, who was unanimously elected presi- 
dent, after thanking the delegates for the honour 
they had conferred upon him, pointed out that while 
means have to be taken to secure comparative im- 
Munity from risk, the practical requirements of 
business must be borne in mind. ‘“*Perfection,’’ he 
said, ‘can sometimes be reached at too great a cost. 
But while remembering these two considerations, I 
would suggest that where doubt exists, the tendency 
should always lean towards the line of safety rather 
than towards. the line of economy.” Lord Mersey 
Went on to say that increased cost incurred in the 
interest of safety will be cheerfully met by the public, 


' who, after all, are those who have to pay. 


After luncheon at the Foreign Office, Sir Edward 
Grey and M. Guernier, the chief French delegate, 
were the principal speakers. The former remarked 
that, though international, the conference caused no 
anxiety diplomatically, because, unlike some which 
arouse the rivalry of nations, it sprang from one of 
those human tragedies in history which only cause 
sympathy among the nations. ; 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92] 


| 


AGRICULTURAL ENTOMOLOGY IN THE 
UNIVERSITY -OF MANCHESTER. 
HE new laboratory for research work in agricul- 
tural entomology in the University of Manchester 
is situated at the top of the north-east corner of the 
University buildings in Oxford Road. Its position 
gives easy access to the general zoological labora- 
tories on the floor below and to the collections of the 
Manchester Museum in the same building. It is a 
lofty room, 58 ft. in length by 28 ft. wide, with 
accommodation for five or six persons engaged in 
original investigations. The windows under which 
the working benches are placed face due north, and 
two large skylights in the sloping roof give illumina- 
tion on the south side of the room. Leading out of 
the main laboratory there is a private room for the 
reader in agricultural entomology, 17 ft. by 17 ft., 
with a staircase leading to a working place raised 
above the floor level. 

At a distance of about a mile from the University 
and on the main tram route, there is an experimental 
field with glass houses and a small laboratory, where 
the insectaria can be erected, trees planted, and other 
arrangements made for breeding and observing insect 


[Photo C. Treland, Manchester. 


Laboratory for Agricultural Entomology in the University of Manchester. 


life. The University, moreover, is working in coopera- 
tion with the Cheshire County Council, and facilities 
will be offered for entomological work on the farm 
lands connected with the Agricultural College at 
Holmes Chapel. - The scheme of work has been 
approved by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 
and the expenses will be met by a grant of one-third 
of the total amount by the council of the University 
and two-thirds from the Development Fund. 

The University has appointed Dr. A. D. Imms, 
formerly forest entomologist to the Government of 
India, to be the first reader in agricultural ento- 
mology, and he will conduct researches and super- 
intend the work of research students in the laboratory. 

The reader in agricultural entomology will give 
occasional lectures in the University on the subject of 
the researches conducted in the department, and may 
give advice or assistance to students reading for the 
honours school of zoology who are taking the Insecta 
as a special subject; but the department will not be 
concerned in the ordinary course with instruction 
given to students for the degree examinations of the 
University. It is anticipated, however, that a certain 
number of post-graduate students will be offered 
facilities for the conduct of original research in the 
University, and such students will be eligible to apply 


356 NATURE 


for the M.Sc. degree after a course of two years’ 
research work in the University. 

The new laboratory was opened on November 13 
by Sir Sydney Olivier, the Permanent Secretary of 
the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, in the absence 
of Mr. Walter Runciman, the President of the Board, 
who was detained in London by a meeting of the 
Cabinet Council. At the opening ceremony, Dr. 
Imms gave a short sketch of the aims and scope of 
agricultural entomology, and Sir Sydney Olivier, in 
declaring the laboratory open, explained the policy 
of the Board as regards the endowment of the univer- 
sities and agricultural institutions for research work 
in agricultural science. 

At the conclusion of the ceremony a number of 
exhibits of the research work done in the department 
and of the apparatus used in entomological investiga- 
tions was shown to the visitors in the zoological 
laboratories and museum. S. J.. Hickson. 


THE PASSIVITY OF METALS. 

& GROUP of eight papers brought together with 

the view of setting forth every aspect of ‘ pas- 
sivity’’ as it presents itself to those now actively 
engaged in working out a satisfactory explanation of 
this most difficult and elusive subject, was discussed 
at the meeting of the Faraday Society on Novem- 
ber 12. 

The theoretical importance of passivity lies in the 
fact that it is in all probability so closely bound up 
with the fundamental mechanism of electrolytic action 
that a proper understanding of its cause will go far 
towards clearing away many of the difficulties which 
still surround the simple processes of anodic solution 
and kathodic deposition. It has further an important 
practical bearing on corrosion, for if this be an 


electrolytic action, a non-corrodible metal and a 
passive metal are, anyhow within certain limits, 
synonymous terms. The very idea of the connection 


suggests a line of research on non-corrodible alloys 
that may lead to most fruitful results. But if the 
subject is important, it is no less perplexing. At 
present two theories, in many respects diametrically 
opposed to one another, would appear to hold the 
field, one of which, broadly speaking, ascribes 
passivity to the presence of oxygen in some form or 
another, and the other to hydrogen. It may be added 
that the advocates of each theory point to an experi- 
mentum crucis claimed to prove the impossibility of 
its rival as a satisfactory explanation of all the pheno- 
mena which have been observed. 

While attention was concentrated on the original 
observation made in 1790 by Keir, that iron became 
‘“‘passive’’ or indissoluble after plunging into strong 
nitric acid, the simple mechanical explanation that 
the change of state was due to a close film of pro- 
tective oxide no doubt seemed all-sufficient. It was 
only when passivity was studied as an electrolytic 
phenomenon, as an example of anodic polarisation by 
which the passive metal rises higher in the electrolytic 
scale towards the ‘‘noble’’ metals than it was in its 
active state, that a broader interpretation was called 
for, and hence was put forward Le Blanc’s fruitful 
conception that the retarded anodic action was chem- 
ical and not mechanical in its origin, and that it 
must be explained as arising from the diminished 
reaction-velocity of some chemical process taking 
place at the anode. 
ally adopted in the consideration of passivity pheno- 
mena; the only question arising is, What is the 
reaction the velocity of which is diminished when 
metals become’ passive? 

To this question the following answers were given 
in the papers presented for discussion. 


2299, VOL. 92| 


-lower solution pressure than the pure metal. Sue 


This conception is now univers- 


[NovEMBER 20, 1913. 


(1) Adopting the curren: view of Nernst that e 
trode potential is a result of the formation of me 
ions when the electrode is placed into an electro 
Dr. G. Grube supposes this action to be retarded unc 
conditions known as passive by the formation of 
alloy of anode surface and oxygen, which ha 


retardation of anodic action is known to take p 
when a platinum anode is used in the electrolysis 
halogen salts, and for the self-same reason, 
analogous kathodic retardation was likewise sh 
to exist by Dr. Grube; for example, when zine a 
hydrogen are deposited simultaneously with i 
Much the same theory was developed by Dr. 
Reichinstein direct from the Nernst formula, a1 
experimental support was given to the theory by D 
H. S. Allen, who showed that the photo-electi 
behaviour of iron—its property of losing negati 
electricity under the action of light—which from con-— 
siderations of ‘fatigue’ is believed also to be due to 
se state of the gaseous film on the metal, increases 
- diminishes in intensity according as the iron is 
in the active or passive state. ‘ ae 
(2) In order to take into consideration the specific 
properties of the electrolyte anion some investigators 
are now reverting to the old Grotthus view of electro- 
lysis that the primary action at the anode is not the 
formation of metallic ions, but a discharge of negati 
ions (anions). Prof. Leblanc, however, further su 
poses that the anion is hydrated, and that passivity 
is merely the retardation of the reversible reaction, © 
ion—hydrate—ion+water. Prof. E. Schoch also 
adopts the theory of primary anion discharge, but 
impressed by Dr. Giinther Schulze’s experiments on 
the structure of aluminium anode-films, he considers” 
that under certain conditions of current density, tem 
perature, &c., there will be a diminished rate of 
reaction between anions and electrode owing to 
formation on the latter of a film of oxide or oxygen 
Neither of these theories, which seem to ma 


gratuitous and unnecessary assumptions, were re-_ 
ceived with much favour. 
(3) More attractive is the } 
stated in the paper presented ‘ Prof. 
Schmidt, and Suppo by some i 


condition is normal, and that metals like iron and 
chromium are only rendered active by the diffusion 
through them of hydrogen, which acts as a catalys 
and sets up local action. Possibly this is often the 
case, but it is doubtful whether the ‘hydrogen- — 
activation’ theory will explain all cases of passim 
In the end it may be found, as Dr. G. Senter said i 

the course of the discussion, that no one theory will 
cover every case of passivity, but the sense of 

meeting was certainly in favour of either an oxyg 
film or an oxygen surface alloy as offering in most 
cases a satisfactory working hypothesis of the passive — 
state. : 


T 


/ : 
UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN LONDO V4 


TRE President of the Board of Education has sent | 
to the Vice-Chancellor of London University 
an important letter in which he announces that the 
Government accepts in general the recommendations 5 
of the Royal Commission on University Education in_ 
London, and is prepared to act upon them. TI a] 
letter is as follows :— mY 


Board of Education, Whitehall, S.Wa 
Nov. 12, 1913. : 
Dear Mr. HerrINGHAM,—1. I am very anxiou 


that the position of the Government in regard to the 
proposed reconstitution of the University should be — 
generally realised, and that discussion should not be ~ 


y 


NOVEMBER 20, 1913]| 


obscured by any misunderstanding on the subject. 
I am, therefore, venturing to set out in the form of a 
letter to yourself as Vice-Chancellor of the University 
the substance of what I said at the Mansion House 
the other day. 
2, As you are aware, I have appointed a Depart- 
mental Committee to consult the bodies and persons 
cencerned and to recommend the special arrange- 
ments and provisions which may be immediately 
adopted for the purpose of giving effect to the scheme 
_ of the report and as the basis of the necessary legisla- 
tion. The committee will not attempt to go again 
over the ground covered by the Royal Commission. 
The Government, after careful consideration, have 
decided that the scheme of the report is calculated 
to produce a University of London worthy of the 
name. Starting from this point it will be the business 
of the Departmental Committee to discover how far 
the numerous bodies and persons concerned are pre- 
pared to cooperate on the basis of the principles 
underlying the scheme. 

3. Those principles are in themselves simple. They 
may be shortly stated as follows :— 


(1) That the Government of the University, 
and particularly its financial administration, shall 
be entrusted to a small Senate predominantly lay 
in its composition and not representative of 
special interests; and 

(2) That on the other hand the control of the 
teaching and the examinations of students in 
colleges of the University shall be in the hands 
of the teachers; 

(3) That the educational and financial control 
of the constituent colleges shall be vested in the 
University; and 

(4) That as much of the University work as 
possible, together with the University adminis- 
tration, should be concentrated in a_ central 
University quarter. (The question of the par- 
ticular site to be selected is one on which the 
Departmental Committee will be able to advise 
the Government after they have considered the 
various alternatives that have been proposed) ; 

(5) The scheme of reconstruction should pro- 
vide effectively for continuance of access to Uni- 
versity examinations by external students—i.e., 
by those who are not attached to any college or 
school of the University. 


4. As regards the future of the Imperial College, 
I may say that it has never been proposed that the 
college should be moved from its present site. It is, 
however, an essential part of the scheme that it should 

become a constituent college of the new University 
_under ‘‘the educational and financial control” of the 
Senate. I ought to explain that the word “incor- 
poration,’’ which is sometimes used as a convenient 
term to describe the position of a constituent college 
under such control, does not imply any such vesting 
of the property of the constituent college in the 
University as would preclude the earmarking of 
capital or income by donors and benefactors for par- 
ticular institutions or specific purposes. This applies 
_ to past no less than to future gifts. Such a restric- 
_ tion is not contemplated by the Government, and, 
Speaking for myself, it would be contrary to the 
-Yiews which I have more than once expressed as to 
the value of local and private munificence in main- 
ping the highest standard of educational develop- 
ment. 

__5- On the conclusion of the necessary negotiations 
_ the Government hope to introduce legislation in due 
course to give effect to these principles, and I see 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92] 


no reason why sufficient agreement should not be 


NATURE 


357 


arrived at to secure the acceptance of the Bill in Par- 
lisment as a non-contentious measure. 

6. I trust that this statement, which I have already 
made in public, will be of assistance to all who are 
from whatever point of view interested in the work 
of reconstruction by defining the area within which 
amendments and modifications of the scheme of the 
committee are admissible. Particularly would I ask 
of them that they should not reject the scheme be- 
cause in this point or in that it may fall short of their 
ideals or is even contrary to what they think best. 
Some acquiescence or even sacrifice on individual 
points will be necessary for all concerned if a scheme 
worth having is to be carried out. It must be remem- 
bered that the scheme of the Royal Commission is 
the only one in the field and that if it fails of accom- 
plishment all chance of reform and _ progressive 
development may be gone for many years. In these 
circumstances and with a definite statement of prin- 
ciples before them I trust that they will not hesitate 
to make some mutual surrender of views and opinions 
which perhaps owe their origin in large measure to 
the uncertainty which has so long prevailed even as 
to the main lines of reconstruction. 

7. The Government will be. prepared, in the event 
of the scheme taking shape in legislation, to make 
substantial new contributions to the resources of the 
University, and they are confident that the establish- 
ment of a University worthy of the capital of the 
Empire will be regarded by the citizens, Livery Com- 
panies, and corporate bodies of London equally with 
the Government as an object deserving of their in- 
terest and support. 

8. I am sending a copy of this letter to the Press. 

Yours faithfully, 
f JosepH A. PEAsE. 
W. P. Herringham, Esq., M.D., &c. 


THE PREPARATION OF EYE-PRESERVING 
GLASS FOR SPECTACLES. 
Since March, 1909—in connection with the Glass 


' Workers’ Cataract Committee of the Royal Society— 


I have been experimenting on the effect of adding 
various metallic oxides to the constituents of giass in 
order to cut off the invisible rays at the infra-red end 
of the spectrum, and thus to prepare a glass which 
will cut off those rays from highly heated molten 
glass which damage the eyes of workmen, without 
obscuring too much light or materially affecting the 
colours of objects seen through the glass when 
fashioned into spectacles. 

Single metals were at first tried in varying quan- 
tities to see if from the colour and properties com- 
municated to the glass they were worth further 
examination. Each specimen is cut and polished into 
a plate 2 mm. thick. The plate so prepared is first 
put into the radiometer balance to find the percentage 
of heat cut off. It is then tested in the spectrum 
apparatus to ascertain the upper limit of transmission 
of the ultra-violet rays; next it is tested in Chapman 
Jones’s opacity meter to estimate the percentage of 
luminous rays transmitted, and finally the colour is 
registered in a Lovibond’s tintometer. 

The following elements were selected as likely to 
be worthy of further experimentation by combining 
the metals, two, three, or four at a time in one glass 
so as to enable the advantages of one to make up for 
the shortcomings of another :—Cerium, chromium, 
cobalt, copper, iron, lead, manganese, neodymium, 
nickel, praseodymium, and uranium. 

Whilst bearing in mind that the chief object of 


1 Summary of a paper read before the Royal Society on November 13 by 
Sir William Crookes, O.M., F.R.S. 


this research is to find a glass that will cut off as 
much as possible of the heat radiation, 1 have also 
attacked the problem from the ultra-violet and the 
transparency points of view. Taking each of these 
desiderata by itself, I have succeeded in preparing 
glasses which cut off more than 90 per cent. of heat 
radiation, which are opaque to the invisible ultra- 
violet rays, and are sufficiently free from colour to be 
capable of use as spectacles. But I have not been 
able to combine in one specimen of glass these three 
desiderata in the highest degree. The ideal glass 
which will transmit all the colours of the spectrum, 
cutting off the invisible rays at each end, is still to 
be discovered. 

So far as transparency, however, is concerned, it 
will not be an unmixed advantage for the sought-for 
glass to be quite clear and colourless. The glare of 
a strong light on white cliffs, expanses of snow, 
electric light, &c., is known to be injurious to the 
eye, and therefore a tinted glass combining good 
ebstruction to the heat radiation and ultra-violet rays 
is the. best to aim for. 

For ordinary use, when no special protection against 
heat radiation is needed, the choice will depend on 
whether the ultra-violet or the luminous rays are 
most to be suppressed, or whether the two together 
are to be toned down. Ordinarily the visible spectrum 
is assumed to end at the Fraunhofer line K, 3933, 
but light can easily be distinguished some distance 
beyond by the naked eye. It may therefore be con- 
sidered that the ultra-violet rays which are to be cut 
off on account of their possible injurious action are 
those of shorter wave-lengths than, say, 3700. Many 
glasses have been prepared for this purpose, all of 
which are opaque to rays shorter than 43700. The 
colours are pale green, yellow, and neutral; they 
transmit ample light so that ,a choice of tints is 
available to suit individual taste. 

Glasses which are restful to the eyes in the glare 
of the sun on chalk cliffs, expanses of snow, or 
reflected from the sea, of yellow, green, and neutral 
tints, have also been prepared which have the advan- 
tage of cutting off practically all the ultra-violet rays 
and also a considerable amount of the heat radiation. 


GEOLOGY AT THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION. 


(oP the conclusion of Prof. E. J. Garwood’s presi- 

dential address, which has been published in 
full in a previous issue, Prof. Lapworth gave an 
address on the geology and physical geography of the 
country round Birmingham, which was supplemented 
by a description of the igneous rocks of the district 
by Prof. W. W. Watts. Prof. Lapworth’s address 
dealt with the broad features of the topography and 
stratigraphy of the area, special reference being made 
to some of the places to be visited on the field excur- 
sions. 

Mr. George Barrow described the typical Spirorbis 
Limestone of North Warwickshire as a rather compact 
rock, usually grey, and containing Spirorbis carbon- 
arius. Two main beds occur, the Index Limestone 
about 1oo ft. down in the Halesowen group, and 
another less persistent bed close to the base of the 
Keele group. There are other less continuous bands, 
and also lenticles and scattered nodules. He attri- 
buted the formation of the limestone to the evapora- 
tion of shallow sheets of lime-bearing water, a view 
which is supported by the structure of the rock, during 
a dry epoch, subject to sudden or periodical floods. 

The stream-courses of the Black Country plateau 
feted the subject of a communication by Mr. Henry 
Kay. 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92] 


The area was described as including the anti- 


NATURE 


cline of the South Staffordshire Coalfield plus the 
north-western parts of Cannock Chase and the War- — 
ley-Barr area. The chief physical feature is the mid- 
land watershed which runs across the plateau from — 
Wolverhampton to the Lickeys. The Trent drains — 
the larger part of the area, but the southward mar- — 
ginal drainage flows into the Severn. The Trent 
drainage area has been subjected to excessive piracy 
and has steadily suffered loss. The northern drainage _ 
is consequent on the formation of the South Stafford- 
shire anticline, regarding the age of which it bears — 
notable evidence. The author states that the uplift — 
is, in part at least, post-Tertiary. a 
Prof. Sollas exhibited a number of flints showing 
outlines similar to those described as “rostro- — 
carinate,”’ and supposed to be of human workman- — 
ship. He described the conditions under which they — 
were found, and expressed his firm belief in their — 
formation by the action of surf upon nodules of flint — 
partially embedded in the deposits of the beach, the — 
curved keel being produced by the intersection of two _ 
conchoidal fracture-surfaces. ’ 
In a paper on the structure of the Lias Ironstone ~ 
of South Warwickshire and Oxfordshire Mr. E. A. — 
Walford inferred that the sea-floor of the Middle Lias — 
was a tangle of crinoid growth, stage above stage. 
He described beds of the Middle Lias stone as packed — 
with curved and interlacing stems lying upon the ~ 
bedding plane, with other beds of the fine pentangular — 
and smaller ossicles of crinoids between. eo 
Mr. T. C. Cantrill described the occurrence of — 
Estheria, cf. minuta, in the Bunter pebble bed of 
Ogley Hay, near Walsall. The fossils were found 
in two thin bands of red marl in a disused sand-— 
quarry. 4 
The flora and fauna of the Upper Keuper Sand- 
stones of Warwickshire and Worcestershire formed 
the subject of a communication by Messrs. L. J. 
Wills and W. Campbell Smith. They described for — 
the first time from the English Trias examples of the — 
foliage and scales of the female cone of a Voltzia, 
closely resembling V. heterophylla, of the Bunter of — 
the Vosges, and recorded new occurrences of Voltzia, 
Schizonema, Carpolithus, and, possibly, Yuccites, — 
The fauna includes Phaebodus brodiei, Semionotus, 
and Ceratodus, also the lamellibranch Thracia? — 
brodiei, and the authors conclude “that we are not 
dealing with a pre-Rhztic incursion of the sea, but 
with a littoral facies of the Keuper Marls, formed 
where the water was at times sufficiently fresh to 
support a small fish-fauna and in sufficient motion to — 
move coarse sediments.”’ . a 
Nodules from the Basal Ordovician conglomerate at 
Bryn Glas, Ffestiniog, were exhibited by Prof. W. G. — 
Fearnsides, and some discussion as to their nature 
and origin took place. P 
Dr. A. Vaughan made a communication on the 
division between the Lower and Upper Avonian with — 
a view to the discussion of several important questions 
of nomenclature. Sa 
Mr. F. G. Meachem contributed a paper on the ~ 
progress of the coal-mining industry of the South — 
Midlands since the year 1836, from which the follow- — 
ing figures are quoted :— 


Areas of the Known Coalfields of the Area in Square — 


Miles, 
1836 1913 
South Staffs 70 360 
Leicester ee 20 88 
Warwick mie are) 222 
Salop .... Ae 20 096 
Total S20 -66 


NovEMBER 20, 1913] 

Output in Millions of Tons. 
1865 1912 
South Staffs... Fe PLO a 7k 
Leicester Reet Kid ERGs pa 22 
Warwick ron ae  Aaedarey 43 
SAlOper. osk a5) eas |, ler, x 
Total, ~ .... cot TRE Nae 153 


Dr. E. A. Newell Arber gave a preliminary note 
on the fossil floras of the South Staffordshire Coal- 
field, which include both petrifications and impres- 
sions, and expressed the hope that in course of time 
it will be possible to trace the floras systematically 
from the lowest to the highest beds of the Coal 
Measures of this coalfield. 

In a paper on the correlation of the Leicestershire 
Coalfield, Mr. R. D. Vernon stated that it had been 
found impossible to use either the sandstones or the 
seams of coal in the correlation even of the eastern 
and western portions of the Leicestershire Coalfield 
itself, and that fossil plants had also proved of rela- 
tively little value, and the fresh-water lamellibranchiata 
were equally unsatisfactory. For these reasons a 
search was made for marine beds. The thickest 
marine bed occurs about 260 yards above the Moira 
Main coal, and its outcrop has been mapped on the 
it is comparable with the Gin Mine marine bed of 
that in stratigraphical position and in faunal contents 
it is comparable with the Gine Mine marine bed of 
North Staffs, the Mansfield marine bed of the York- 
shire and Nottinghamshire field, and the Pennystone 
Ironstone marine bed of Coalbrookdale, and therefore 
serves as a means of correlating the Measures of 
Leicestershire with those of neighbouring areas. 

On systems of folding in the Palazozoic and newer 
rocks, by G. Barrow. The author is of opinion that 
many so-called systems of folding are due to series of 
resisting masses with parallel margins, and cites as 
examples the great lenticular masses of thermally 
altered rocks of the Highlands. 

In a paper on the Harlow Boulder Clay and its 
place in the glacial sequence of eastern England, Dr. 
A. Irving dealt with the sequence of the various 
deposits of Pleistocene age in the eastern counties of 
England. 

The discovery of Lower Carboniferous Grits at Lye, 
in South Staffordshire, was recorded by Mr. W. W. 
King and Mr. W. J. Lewis. 

Mr. E. A. Walford read a paper on some of the 
basement beds of the Great Oolite and the Crinoid 
beds, and suggested the following subdivision of the 
Great Oolite :— 

Uprer Great Ootire.—(1) Terebratula maxillata 
beds; (2) Calcaire a Echinodermes. 

Lower Great OoritE.—(1) Striped Limestones; (2) 
Rhynchonella concinna beds; (3) Stonesfield Slate. 

Sus-BaTHoNIAN.—(1) Striped Limestone and Crinoid 
beds; (2) Nezeran series; (3) Striped Crinoid Marls; 

(4) Chipping Norton Limestones. 

_ Mr. A. R. Horwood directed attention to the value 
of a knowledge of the rock soil distribution of plants 
in tracing geological boundaries, and pointed out the 
consequent importance of the new ccological surveys 
to the geologist. 

The geology of the district between Abereiddy Bay 
and Pen Caer, Pembrokeshire, formed the subject of 
a paper presented by Dr. A. H. Cox and Prof. O. T. 
Jones, in which it was shown that not only Llandeilo 
and Bala rocks, as previously supposed, but Arenig 
and even Cambrian rocks form large areas on the 
coast. The authors propose to map the area in detail. 

“The Relation of the Rhiwlas and Bala Limestones 
at Bala,” by Dr. Gertrude L. Elles. The Rhiwlas 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


359 


Limestone is an impersistent limestone at the base of 
the Hirnant Series, and is found only in the northern 
part of the area. The Bala Limestone is not developed 
as a calcareous bed in the northern part of the area. The 
true relation of these horizons to each other is seen 
at Gelli Grin, where the Bala Limestone at its maxi- 
mum thickness is overlain by light-coloured, pasty 
mudstones, containing a typical Rhiwlas Limestone 
fauna. 

The work of excavation of critical sections in th» 
Cambrian rocks of Shropshire has been continued, 
and has furnished paleontological proofs of the pro- 
longation of the Lower and Middle Cambrian rocks 
of Comley into the Cwms area to the south, and a 
description of excavations Nos. 53, 54, 55, and 56 
formed the subject-matter of a communication by 
Mr. E. S. Cobbold, who has been carrying on the 
work. 

Dr. A. Irving furnished a contribution to the much- 
discussed question of ‘* Flint and its Genesis.”’ Silicifi- 
cation of calcareous fossils can be understood as a 
‘*mass-reaction’’ of the allxaline silicates in the pre- 
sence of a large excess of water :— 

nH,0+CaCO,+K,Si0,=K.CO, + Ca(OH), + 

(aissolved) 
SiO, +(n—1)H,O. 
(precipitated) 

Plant petrifactions in chert and their bearing on 
the origin of fresh-water cherts was discussed by 
Dr. Marie C. Stopes, who directed attention to the 
recent ‘“‘sapropel’’ observed by Potonie, and the like- 
ness it has to the débris in certain cherts from Asia 
Minor, and concluded that the chert may be taken 
as practically pure petrified ‘‘ sapronel.”’ 

Dr. Vaughan Cornish directed attention to the 
conditions which govern the transport and accumu- 
lation of detritus by wind and water. 

In a communication on the shelly and graptolitic 
faunas of the British Ordovician, Dr. Gertrude L. 
Elles showed that there are two main types of 
“shelly”? faunas of Ordovician age in the British 
Isles, and that each of these can be further sub- 
divided into a number of subfaunas, which can be 
correlated by reference to associated graptolite-bear- 
ing beds. The main shelly types were described as 
(a) Asaphid-Trinucleid-Calymenid fauna; (b) Cheirurid- 
Lichad-Encrinurid fauna. It was suggested that 
fauna (b) is an exotic fauna, possibly southern in 
origin, which migrated into the British area. Becom- 
ing early established in south Scotland, it soon spread 
west into Ireland, but did not dominate the whole 
British area until Ashgillian times. Correlation tables 
were given showing the relations of the various faunas 
of the groups (a) and (b) to the graptolite zones of 
the series. , 

“A First Revision of the British Ordovician 
Brachiopoda, by Clara E. Sylvester. The author gave 
a summary of the present stage of her researches 
among the British Ordovician Brachiopoda, and pre- 
sented a table of the known species, with their range 
and geological and geographical distribution. The 
species in each genus were grouped around well- 
known forms selected as types. 

Mr. W. D. Matthew gave a paper on discoveries in 
the American Eocene. 

In further notes on Paleoxyris and other allied 
fossils, with special reference to some new features 
found in Vetacapsula, Mr. L. Moysey directed atten- 
tion to several features which had been found in cer- 
tain new material collected since the publication of 
his paper in the Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., 
vol. Ixvi., Igto. 

Mr. Frank Raw gave a paper on the occurrence 
of a wind-worn rock surface at Lilleshall Hill, Salop. 


360 


NATURE 


[NOVEMBER 20, 1913 


The author directed attention to certain surfaces of 
Uriconian rocks which have been ground smooth, 
and where hardest highly polished. 

Mr. V. C. Illing directed attention to certain 
recent discoveries in the Stockingford Shales near 
Nuneaton, which tend to show that the Cambrian 
succession in that area is almost, if not quite, com- 


plete. The author correlates the beds as follows :— 

Merevale Shales. Lower Tremadoc. 

Rena 
.c A | Ffestiniog. 

Oldbury Shales | Maentwrog. 
Menevian. 

Upper Purley Shales | ; 

Middle Purley Shales | Menevian ? 

Lower Purley Shales | 


Hartshill Quartzite | Taconian. 


The same author, under the title of ‘‘Notés on 
certain Trilobites found in the Stockingford Shales,” 
described numerous forms, representing young stages 
in the development of certain trilobite genera, includ- 
ing Liostracus, Holocephalina, and Paradoxides, to- 
gether with certain new forms of Agnostus. 

The classification of igneous rocks formed the sub- 
ject of a communication by Dr. H. Warth. The 
classification proposed was a chemical one, and was 
based, not upon the proportions of individual bases, 
but upon the respective sums of bases of equal valency. 
Tables and diagrams were shown in illustration of 
the paper. 

Copper in the sandstones of Exmouth was recorded 
by Mr. C. Carus-Wilson. Copper-carbonate was 
found in certain sandstones between the Exmouth 
golf links and the High Lands of Orcombe. Its pre- 
sence is due to copper pyrites, which is one of the 
constituents of the sandstone, and is undergoing 
decomposition. : 

Dr. A. Hubert Cox and Prof. O. T. Jones described 
several occurrences of pillow lavas in Wales. The 
lavas were in some cases associated with chert and 
jasper. 

Dr. A. Hubert Cox described certain igneous rocks 
of Ordovician age, and suggested that the Ordovician 
igneous rocks would appear to afford a favourable 
ground for ascertaining whether the connection be- 
tween rock-types and types of earth-movement holds 
good to a greater extent than has been hitherto sug- 
gested, and we may perhaps expect that further re- 
search will show some constant difference between 
the facies of the igneous rocks in areas where subsi- 
dence was continuous, and the facies in areas where 
subsidence was interrupted by uplift. 

Prof. W. S. Boulton described and exhibited a new 
form of machine for cutting thin sections of rocks. 
The machine is electrically-driven, and can be con- 
nected with any ordinary incandescent lamp-carrier 
on the house circuit. A special arrangement for auto- 
matic lubrication of the cutting edge is provided, and 
also a new device for arming the disc. 

Mr. C, H. Cunnington read a paper on the Carbon- 
iferous Limestone at the head of the Vale of Neath, 
South Wales. 

A special series of Excursions was organised by 
Prof. Lapworth, Prof. Boulton, and Mr. Frank Raw, 
and many places of geological interest were thus 
thrown open to the members. The excursions in- 
cluded the Licky Hills and the Clents, under the 
leadership of Prof. Lapworth; Nuneaton and Ather- 
stone, Prof. Watts and Mr. Illing; The Wrekin, 
Prof. W. S. Boulton; and Witley and the Lutley 
Valley, Mr: H. Kay and Mr. W. H. Foxall. There 
was also an excursion to Cheltenham in conjunction 
with the Cheltenham Natural Science Society, under 
the leadership of Mr. L. Richardson. 


NO, 2299, VOL. 92] 


| 


| structure. 


post, and the premier coal-producing country in thea 


At the conclusion of the meeting, Prof. Lapwort! ; 
conducted a three days’ excursion into South Shrop- 
shire, and a number of members availed themselves _ 
of the opportunity of visiting this classic district unde 
the guidance of one who has done so much to elucidate 
its complex structure and the relationship of its older 
sediments. AS Ros 


AND ITS 


Zi 
PALAEOBOTANY: ITS PAST \h 
FUTURE 


Pees ObOTANY has already passed through three ~ 
main phases of its development: the first, when — 
fossil plants were supposed to be the spontaneous 
ornamentations of stones by an exuberant nature 
which blindly disported itself. The second, when they 
were realised as being the remains. of extinct life, — 
but were described without the light of a fundamental — 
and unifying hypothesis; and the third, when a scien- 
tific knowledge of their structure made comparison — 
with recent plants possible, and it was realised that 
they threw light on the evolution both of the living — 
plants and the existing continents. In this phase we 
are now at work. 

Even at a time when the true nature of animal — 
fossils was realised, and their occurrence causing — 
much discussion, references to plants were few. John — 
Ray wrote in 1693 :—‘‘ Yet I must not dissemble, that — 
there is a Phawnomen in nature, which doth some- — 
what puzzle me to reconcile with the prudence obsery- — 
able in all its works, and seems strongly to prove, — 
that nature doth sometimes ludere, and delineate 
Figures, for no other end but for the Ornamentation 
of some Stones, to entertain and gratifie our Curio- 
sitie or exercise our Wits. That is, those elegant ~ 
Impressione of the Leaves of Plants upon Cole-Slate.”” 

The lecturer read quotations from a number of — 
little-known books written between 1693 and 1781,, — 
illustrating the importance of fossil plants to those — 
authors who took the flood as a fact, and were — 
puzzled to account for the existence of plants at all on 
the earth—for only the animals had been preserved — 
in Noah’s Ark. Among pioneers of Palzobotany, it 
is interesting to discover the mystic Swedenborg, who — 
published the first plates of fossil plants in Sweden, a 
country now famous in palzobotany through Prof. — 
Nathorst’s work. 
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, palzo- 
botany suddenly became scientific. The works of 
Brongniart, Sternberg, Schlotheim, and others created — 
a new epoch in the science. In 1828 Sprengel de- — 
scribed silicified fern stems from their anatomical — 
In 1833 Witham published his book on — 
“The Internal Structure of Fossil Vegetables,” and ~ 
this was shortly followed by a large work giving Re 
beautiful drawings of the anatomy of Psaronius and 
other fossils by Corda. F 

As a forerunner of the newer type of work which — 
crystallised round Williamson, one may here place ~ 
Sir Joseph Hooker, who was much interested in and — 
published several valuable papers on the structure of — 
fossil plants, and who held from 1846 to 1848 the : 
official post of botanist to the Geological Survey. — 
The post has lapsed for all these years, and to-day, — 
when the surveys of other civilised countries have — 
their official paleobotanists, it would be interesting 
to know why England, the first to originate the — 


world, should be minus so valuable a servant. Con-— 
cerning the extreme value and originality of Prof. 
Williamson’s work, little need be said. He may justly 


1 From an inaugural lecture delivered at University College (University 
of London) on October 17, by Dr. Marie C. Stopes. é 


NovEMBER 20, 1913] 


be described as the father of botanical palzobotany. 
It was Williamson who, in face of the opposition of 
every living botanist of his day, propounded the fact 
that the lower vascular plants could develop secondary 
wood without, as the French school of, paleeobotanists 
maintained, thereby qualifying for inclusion among 
the Angiosperms. Writing on Williamson’s work on 
~ Cambium, Solms Laubach said :-—‘‘ This is a general 
botanical result of the greatest importance and the 
widest bearing. In this conclusion paleontology has, 
for the first time, spoken the decisive word in a 
purely botanical question.”’ 

The anatomical structure of plants was also receiv- 
ing attention at the hands of other brilliant men, 
about the same time, chief among whom were 
Renault and Solms Laubach. 

The more geological side of palazobotany was at 
that time growing rapidly as a result of the researches 
of Saporta, Heer, Ettingshausen, Lesquereux, and 
others. Heer in particular was doing work of world- 
wide fame in his discoveries of Arctic floras which 
indicated a once warmer climate for those now frozen 
zones. Nevertheless to some of Heer’s work, and 
to many monographs published at the end of the nine- 
- teenth century, one might apply the following words, 
which, curiously enough, were published a hundred 
years before such work appeared. In 1784 Francis- 
Xavier Burtin said :—‘‘ Malheureusement ceux qui 
découvrent un fossile, s’empressent trop de le nommer, 
et le mot je l’ignore paroit avoir été de tout temps 
dur A prononcer. De 14 cette quantité de noms 
_absurdes, dont la science oryctologique parvient si 
difficultment A se débarrasser.”’ 

To-day palzobotany has three sides; or rather, the 
new science slowly reaching out from the shelter of 
its step-parents botany and geology, is already a 
growth with three main branches, each of which 
bears fruits of value to three sections of the com- 
munity. 

First, to botanists. Reference has been made to some 
of the recent work of palaeobotany as being indispensable 
to the science of modern botany. This is now recog- 
nised by every leading botanist, and Sir Joseph Hooker 
in a letter to Dr. Scott in 1906 wrote of our ‘‘ know- 
ledge of botany as it advances by strides under a 
study of its fossil representatives.’’ From the student 
of the fossils, one learns not only of whole genera, and 
even families’ of extinct plants, which help us to 
comprehend the relationships of existing types, but 
_ often the fossils exhibit complexities and novelties of 
character which not the most vivid imagination could 
have foreseen. For instance, what modern botanist, 
even in a delirious dream, could have conceived of a 
cone for the Lower Carboniferous Pteridophytes so 
complex as Cheirostrobus, the demonstration of the 
actual structure of which we owe to Dr. Scott? 
Then the existence in the past of the Pteridosperms, 
demonstrated by Prof. Oliver and Dr. Scott, is of 
profound importance to all botanists. 

The modern botanist’s conceptions of morphology, 
his definitions even of an organ like the seed, have 
undergone profound modification through the intro- 
duction of ideas based on fossils. Only from the 
_ fossils can we learn the actual facts of evolution. 
Connecting the botanist with the geologist is the 
plant-geographer. The history of Ginkgo, now an 
_ isolated species only found native in Japan and eastern 
_ China, but in Tertiary to Oolitic times widely distri- 
buted over Europe and America, illustrates with a 
single instance, the importance of the palzeobotanical 
record for those who deal with the distribution of 
modern plants. 

_ Asa Gray said :—‘‘ Fossil plants are the thermo- 
_ meters of the ages, by which climatic extremes and 
_ climate in general through long periods are best 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 361 


measured’’; and Charles Darwin, in 1881, wrote to 
Hooker :—‘‘The extreme importance of the Arctic 
fossil plants is self-evident.” 

Through the paleogeographer we come to the 

geologist. To what extent is he indebted to palzo- 
botany? In this country, it has been so arranged 
by nature that there are no immense tracts of land 
composed of strata in which the only fossils are 
plants; had there been, possibly that survey post held 
by Hooker in 1846 would not have lapsed. If our 
geologists think they can get along without palzo- 
botanists, let us hear what the Americans have to 
say. 
There are twelve paleontologists altogether in the 
United States Geological Survey, and of these four 
are paleobotanists. Take the record of one of these 
geological palzobotanists, Dr. Knowlton; he says :— 
“For the past five years I have annually studied and 
reported on from 500 to 700 collections, each of which 
embraced from one to hundreds of individuals, and 
with them have helped the geologists to fix perhaps 
fifty horizons in a dozen states.”’ 

Now let us turn to the third branch of my science. 
This is the practical side, and deals specially with 
coal-mining. In their rough and ready way, miners 
have ‘‘muddled along” without much help from 
palzobotanists. But with a collaboration between the 
two great advantages to both would accrue, and are 
to be looked for in the future. Palaeobotanical informa- 
tion, to be of any value to the miner, must be very 
detailed and accurate. It represents the ultimate 
refinement of the stratigraphical work just men- 
tioned as being the province of geological palzo- 
botany. Fine and accurate zoning by plants has 
already been successfully carried on, however, par- 
ticularly in France, where Prof. Zeiller, of Paris, or 
M. Grand’ Eury, is called in consultation before most 
mining operations of importance are undertaken. 
Palzobotany is an intricate and independent science, 
which is now much vaster than is realised by more 
than a few people. To illustrate the enormous mass 
of detail with which a conscientious palaobotanist 
has to cope, it is only necessary to turn to Dr. Jong- 
mans’s résumé of the publications for the year on the 
subject. It is 569 pages long, and on each page are, 
on an average, twenty-one entries. But this invalu- 
able work has only been published for the last three 
years. For everything before that we have no cen- 
tralisation of results. 

What will the paleobotanist of the future 
demand ? 

That in at least one institution in each civilised 
country there shall be a recognition of his science 
and adequate accommodation for it. This institution 
would form the headquarters, the centralising bureau, 
for all the branches of work in which the individual 
palzobotanists may be specialising whether as geo- 
logical palzobotanists, botanical palzobotanists, or 
practical miners. In this central department should 
be kept standardised collections of fossil plants. In 
this central department also should be available her- 
bariums and immense series of sections of modern 
plants with which to compare the fossils while work- 
ing on the botanical elucidation of their structure. 
As things are to-day in any new branch of palzo- 
botany, the modern botanists do not provide exactly 
the kind of data wanted for comparison by the palzo- 
botanist. This is noticeably the case, for instance, 
in the study of early fossil Angiosperms. No modern 
botanist can show us the preparations of living Angio- 
sperms that are essential for our researches. 

Then, too, in this central department of the science 
would be collected together, not only all the literature 
on palzobotany, but this literature would all be 
indexed, analysed, and made available on several 


362 


series of card catalogues. The work done by Dr. 
Jongmans for the last three years must be done for 
the last 150 years, and put in the handiest form for 
reference, which is, of course, a card catalogue. 
Then there must be a complete card index of all the 
names ever given to fossil plants. At present, most 
palzeobotanists, all indeed, save a very few, tend to 
despise questions of nomenclature, but our science is 
in a very bad way owing to the immense numbers 
of names given on insufficient or wrong grounds. 
One cannot emphasise too strongly the urgent neces- 
sity for palzobotanists to reduce order from the chaos 
of their present nomenclature, and this can only be 
done by some centralising institution or committee, 
who are sufficiently grounded in the science to realise 
the special needs of palzeobotany. 

Beyond all this it must not be forgotten that the 
collections of fossil plants at present made are trivial 


in comparison with those which will have to he | 


made from all parts of the earth before we can com- 
pletely unravel the histories of the ancient continents, 
solve questions of past climates, restore the details of 
innumerable extinct floras, and reconstruct the tree of 
plant evolution through the ages. 

In spite of all the discoveries of palzobotany 
immense problems still lie unsolved. Darwin said, in 
a letter to Hooker, ‘‘The rapid development, so far 
as we can judge, of all the higher plants within 
recent geological times is an abominable mystery.” 
To-day it is an abominable mystery still, and an 
abominable mystery it will remain until palazobotany 
is recognised as an independent science, and housed, 
endowed, and equipped so that she has the tools she 
needs for her work. 


- UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


Campripce.—The Board of Agricultural Studies 
reports that the number of students receiving instruc- 
tion in the school of agriculture is 320. The number 
of senior students, exclusive of members of the staff, 
engaged in research during the past year was nine- 
teen, In view of the large number of research 
students working in the school of agriculture, the 
University has constituted a degree committee of the 
Board of Agricultural Studies, which has already 
recommended one research student for the B.A. 
degree. ‘The extension of the school of agriculture 
is now practically completed, and will be fully occu- 
pied during the present term by the transference of 
most of the research work from the original building. 
In this way more laboratory accommodation is pro- 
vided for teaching. 

Under a general scheme for research worl: in 
forestry, the Board of Agriculture in July, 1912, 
offered a grant to the University to enable investiga- 
tions to be undertaken on questions relating to the 
structure of timber, &c. The forestry committee 
appointed Mr. Burdon as investigator, and Mr. A. P. 
Long as assistant-investigator. The work com- 
menced on- January 1, and rapid progress has been 
made. In addition to two interim ‘ progress reports,” 
a bulletin, the first of a series, on ‘‘Scots Pine in 
Great Britain,” has already been issued by the Uni- 
versity Press, while a second bulletin is now in the 
press. In addition to field investigations of the 
nature dealt with in the bulletin issued, several in- 
vestigations and experiments of a different nature 
have also been started. In April last, the Great 
Northern Railway Company asked the investigator to 
undertake-certain inquiries relative to the preserva- 
tion of sleepers, and their subsequent immunity from 
fungal attacks. An experiment with some thirty 
sleepers is’ now in progress. Under the grant of 
5ool. a year from the Board of Agriculture for advi- 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


“a 


) 


sory work the committee has, in accordance with 
conditions of the grant, appointed Mr. C. Hank 
who took up duties on Aprile1 of this year. Th 
has already been a large demand for advice on 
management of woodlands, from landowners in- 
eastern counties. 


By the will of the late Mr. G. W. Palme 
Reading, a bequest of 10,000/. is made to Univers 
College, Reading. s 

Mr. Arexanper McKenziz, head of the chemis 
department of Birkbeck College, London, has b 
appointed professor of chemistry in University C 
lege, Dundee, in succession to the late Prof. Mi 
Marshall. “a 

Ir is announced that a large bequest, stated to 
approximately 250,o00l., is made in the will of 
late Mr. W. Gibson, of London and Belfast, to inst 
tute a scheme for providing sons of farmers of cout 
ties Down and Antrim with educational advantag 
No details of the scheme are yet available, 

A Reuter message from Cape Town on Novembe 
14 announces that Prof. John Perry, F.R.S., h 
been appointed a member of the University Comm 
sion which is to investigate matters connected wi 
higher education and to consider the conditions und 
which the Wernher and Beit donations and bequest: 
for the purposes of the proposed University of South 
Africa may best be utilised. The other members of 
the Commission are Sir Perceval M. Laurene 
formerly Judge President of the Supreme Court 
South Africa, who is the chairman, ex-Justice Meli 
de Villiers, and the Rev. Mr. Bosman. Prof. Perry 
views upon university education were stated by hi 
clearly in an address delivered at Oxford just te 
years ago and published in full in Nature of Decen 
ber 31, 1903 (vol. Ixix., p. 207); and in many paper 
and addresses he has described the useful functions 
of great schools of science and technology. Ri 

Tue annual general meeting of the Association o' 
teachers in Technical Institutions was held on Novem- 
ber 15, at St. Bride’s Foundation Institute, London, 
E.C., when the retiring president, Mr. P. Coleman, 
was in the chair. The annual report of the council — 
was adopted; it shows that the association has con- 
tinued to progress in strength and influence, and has 
maintained the reputation it has earned for energy 
and activity. The increase in membership continues — 
to be satisfactory, and is now about 1200, Two new 
branches were formed during the year, namely the — 
I:eicester Branch and the South of Ireland Branch. 
National councils have now been formed in Scotland 
and Ireland, and the organisation and development 
of these will engage the attention of the council 
during the present session. In the early part of the 
year the council had under consideration the situation — 
which has been created by the abandonment of certain — 
examinations of the Board of Education and the 
general adoption of internal examinations. The 
council finally determined to urge local authorities to— 
form advisory boards in various localities for thé pur- 
pose of assisting in the coordination of examinations — 
within a district. The council feels that the present 
position with regard to the salaries of technical 
teachers is unsatisfactory. Although the cost of 
living has increased considerably, the salaries of 
teachers have not appreciably increased. The council — 
hopes that in a very short time it will be able to — 
report that important steps have been taken to obtain 
a satisfactory solution of this matter. The desire for 
cooperation between. the different associations of | 
teachers continues to increase, and this association, | 
as representing technical teachers, has, during the 
past year, lost no opportunity of joint action with 
other professional bodies. Mr. P. Abbott, Regent 


NovEMBER 20, 191 3] 


NATURE 


393 


Street Polytechnic, was elected president, Mr. J. Paley 
Yorke honorary secretary, and Mr. C. Harrap 
honorary treasurer. 

On November 15 Dr. David Starr Jordan, president 
of the Leland Stanford Junior University, delivered a 
lecture at Birkbeck College on the American univer- 
sity. He said that the words of Emerson, ‘‘ America 


' means opportunity,’’* supplies the basal idea of the 


American university. American university institutions 
are not intended to maintain any kind of tradition 
or system; they are intended to meet the people’s 
needs. What is best for one may not be best for 


another, and it is not for any educational board to 


say that this study is more valuable than that. It is 
for the student to find out which things are worth 
most to him. Scholarship, he said, depends on the 
thoroughness of our knowledge in its relation to the 
affairs of human life. In tracing the development of 
the universities in the United States, Dr. Jordan said 
that about 1868 the Act was passed which allowed for 
the gift to every State of a large amount of land on 
condition that a university was established, which was 
to teach, among other subjects, agriculture and the 
mechanic arts, and that brought engineering and 
agriculture into the very centre of their university 
system. The work of the university is to bring 
scholars together, and if he were to offer a word to 
London upon the university question he would say : 
“Above everything bring together all the fragments 
that are scattered over the City.’’ The university is 
not the place for men who neglect work, and in the 
United States they are moving more and more to- 
wards testing a man’s work as he goes on and 
sending him home to think about it if it was un- 
satisfactory. Dr. Jordan himself once sent away 
131 men in one day. American authorities have 
generally agreed that prizes do not help scholarship, 
and most American institutions have discarded 
honours for the same reason. He thought, he said, 
that the abuse of fellowships and scholarships has 
been greater on the whole than the good results. In 
most American universities, if those under the old 
influences are excepted, men and women are admitted 
on the same terms, and nothing will induce the 
Western institutions to change that system. One 
result of reaching out for all kinds of talent is an 
enormous increase of students. In California, where 
the population numbers 2,000,000, there are 8000 
university students. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


LONDON 

Royal Society, November 13.—Sir Archibald Geikie, 
K.C.B., president, in the chair.—Sir William Crookes : 
The preparation of eye-preserving glass for spectacles 
(see p. 356).—Prof. A. W. Porter: An inversion point 
for liquid carbon dioxide in regard to the Joule- 
Thomson effect.—Prof. A. W. Porter and Dr. F. W. 
Edridge-Green. Negative after-images and successive 
contrast with pure spectral colours. This paper is a 
rejoinder to the criticisms made by Prof. Burch to a 
previous paper. The authors have repeated their ex- 
periments, taking the most minute precautions to 
avoid all stray light, with the same results as before. 
The most important result is that a negative after- 
image of an approximately complementary colour is 
obtained in the total absence of stimuli which would 
cause such colour.—Prof. O. W. Richardson: The 


positive ions from hot metals.—G. W. Walker: The 


diurnal variation of terrestrial magnetism. The 
paper deals with observational data with regard to 
the diurnal variation of terrestrial magnetism col- 
lected from nine observatories. The data are pre- 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92] 


sented in terms of the Fourier coefficients of the 
24-hour and 12-hour terms for the geographical com- 
ponents to north, west, and vertical (downwards). 
It is noted that the data give strong support to Dr. 
Schuster’s formulz (Phil. Trans., 1go8) for the mag- 
netic potential of diurnal variation as derived from 
the west component; but the magnetic potential so 
determined does not give the proper numerical values 
for the north component as observed. The data for 
vertical force are shown to be in general agreement 
with Schuster’s conclusion that the primary source 
of variation is of epigene origin.—G. W. Walker: A 
suggestion as to the origin of black-body radiation. 
The paper first shows that a function of dynamical 
form can represent the data with regard to radiation 
quite as well as the formula proposed by Planck. 


Royal Anthropological Institute, November 4.—Prof. 
Arthur Keith, F.R.S., in the chair.—J. Reid Moir : 
The striation of flint surfaces. The paper dealt with 
the scratches to be observed upon flints found upon 
the present land surface. Flint was shown to be a 
material of variable hardness, the black unchanged 
variety being the most resistant. Specimens from the 
surface which had been “patinated’’ were much 
softer, and it was shown how these can be scratched 
by passing a flint point over their surfaces under 
pressure. It was also demonstrated that a hardened 
steel point will also have this effect. The depth and 
nature of a scratch depend largely upon the hardness 
of the surface to be scratched. Examples of scratched 
glass found upon the surface of the fields were 
exhibited, and the scratches upon them shown to be 
of various kinds and similar to those developed upon 
surface flints. The specimens of scratched glass 
demonstrated that certain movements, such as would 
be brought into play by agricultural operations on 
the present land surface, were sufficient to imprint 
scratches upon scratchable objects lying on that sur- 
face, and as it has been demonstrated that some 
flints can be scratched by steel it seems probable that 
certain of the scratches seen upon surface flints can 
be assigned to the same cause. The ‘ weathering 
out’’ of scratches upon flints was next dealt with. 
It was shown that when a moving point passed over 
a flint under pressure the area upon which the point 
impinged was shattered, and small plates of flint 
formed along the line of movement. 
flint in time weather out and leave a clean-cut groove 
behind. If the theory of the weathering out of 
scratches Was correct, then what in many cases had 
been looked upon as deep glacial stria might pos- 
sibly be simply weathered-out “shattered” scratches, 
the initial stage of which would not require any very 
great pressure to produce. 


Geological Society, November 5.—Dr. Aubrey 
Strahan, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—J. A. 
Douglas: Geological sections through the Andes of 
Peru and Bolivia. The geological structure is dealt 
with of the South American Andes, as illustrated by 
a horizontal section from the port of Arica in the 
north of Chile across the ‘Cordilleras’’ to 
the forested region of the Amazon slopes, following 
the route of the Arica-La Paz railway. The general 
physiography of the Peruvian Andes and the topo- 
graphical features of the country traversed by the 
railway are discussed. Its geological structure is 
described under three headings :—(1) The Mesozoic 
sediments of the coastal region with their contem- 
poraneous igneous, rocks; (2) the volcanic rocks of the 
Mauri River, the Mesozoic and Palzeozoic sediments 
of the “Altaplanicie’’ and the Titicaca district; (3) 
The Paleozoic rocks and granitic core of the eastern 
Cordillera and the Amazon slopes. The Mesozoic 
stratified rocks are well exposed in the ‘Morro de 


These plates of 


364 


NATURE 


[ NOVEMBER 20, 1913 


Arica,’ where fossils occur which indicate an Upper ' generally recognised, has to some extent been obscured 


Jurassic (Callovian) age. They are interbedded with 
thick sheets of basic enstatite-andesite. The erosion 
of the river-valleys that has brought to light the 
Jurassic sediments has also laid bare the underlying 
plutonic mass of granodiorite, which may be regarded 
as the deep-seated core of the western ‘‘ Cordillera.” 
The western Cordillera is essentially a volcanic range. 
The enormous amount of volcanic material emitted 
has almost completely concealed the underlying rocks. 
The lavas can be resolved into three main groups, 
characterised by their dominant ferromagnesian 
mineral, succeeding one another in age according to 
a law of increasing basicity. The ‘ Altaplanicie,” is 
almost entirely covered by horizontal sheets of volcanic 
ash, tuff, and pumiceous lava, described as the Mauri 
Volcanic Series. The occurrence in an interbedded 
layer of gravel, of a fragment of a jaw of ‘* Nesodon,” 
almost identical with specimens from the Miocene 
beds of Santa Cruz, affords a clue for an estimation 
of their age. They are overlain on the east by 
gravel-deposits of the Desaguadero River, the highest 
terrace of which was found to contain remains of 
Mastodon, Megatherium, Scelidotherium, and other 
Pleistocene vertebrates. From beneath these super- 
ficial deposits crops out a series of unfossiliferous red 
sandstones and conglomerates. These are divided 
into two groups—a younger series of Cretaceous 
age resting with pseudoconformity on an older Permo- 
Carboniferous group. The Carboniferous formation 
is nowhere exposed along the line of section. The 
eastern Cordillera is composed chiefly of steeply- 
dipping Devonian slates and quartzites. 


Linnean Society, November 6.—Prof. E. B. Poulton, 


F.R.S., president, in the chair.—H. Hamshaw 
Thomas and Miss Nellie Bancroft: The cuticles of 
some recent and fossil Cycadean fronds. The inves- 


tigation was undertaken with the view of determining 
the probable relationships of the modern group to the 


Mesozoic Cycadophyta.—Prof. W. A. Herdman: 
Spolia Runiana II. Results of the past season’s 
dredging. The author described the course taken by 


the yacht off the west coast of Scotland, and showed 
a long series of slides displaying the scenery and 
bird-life of the unfrequented regions visited. 


Mineralogical Society, November 11.—Anniversary 
meeting.—Dr. A. E. H. Tutton, F.R.S., president, in 
the chair.—A. Hutchinson and A. M. MacGregor: A 
crystalline basic copper phosphate from ‘Rhodesia. 
The mineral occurs at the Bwana M’Kubwa copper 
mines as a crust of minute, brilliant, peacock-blue, 
orthorhombie crystals, associated with malachite. 
Axial ratios a:b:c=0-394:1:1-01; forms 110, 011; 
hardness 4-5; specific gravity 41. Chemical com- 
position, determined by an analysis of a small quantity 
of carefully selected material, approximates to the 
formula 2Cu,(PO,),..7Cu(OH),; no water is lost on 
heating to 190°. Although it has much the same 
composition as some minerals included in the pseudo- 
malachite family, it differs widely in its physical char- 
acters from dihydrite, the only well-defined crystalline 
member of the group, and is probably a new species.— 
Dr. G. T. Prior: The meteoric stone of Wittekrantz, 
South Africa. The stone, which fell on December 9, 
1880, at the farm, Wittekrantz, Beaufort West, Cape 
Colony, is slightly chondritic, and consists of the 
usual aggregate of olivine and bronzite, with particles 
of nickeliferous iron and troilite. In chemical and 
mineral composition it is very similar to the Baroti 
meteorite previously described.—Dr. G. T. Prior: The 
remarkable similarity in chemical and mineral composi- 
tion of chondritic meteoric stones. The close similarity 
presented by most chondritic meteoric stones, although 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92] 


by the unduly elaborate classifigations which have been 
devised. A review of the quantitative mineral com- 
position of forty-two chondritic stones and a critical 
examination of the published analyses of others lead 
to the conclusion that almost all those at present 
known are, except for some variation in the amount 
of nickeliferous iron, practically identical in chemical 
and mineral composition, the identity extending even’ 
to the chemical composition of the individual con- 
stituents. They approximate to the type with the’ 
following percentage mineral composition :—Nickel- 
iron (Fe: Ni=10), 9; troilite, 6; olivine (Mg : Fe=3), 
44; bronzite (Mg: Fe=4), 30; felspar, 10; chromite, 
&c., 1.—Arthur Russell: Notes on the minerals oceur- 
ring in the neighbourhood of Meldon, near Okehamp- 
ton, Devonshire. The principal species are datolite, 
in crystals sometimes 23 cm. in length, sea-green in 
colour, and nearly transparent, polysynthetically de- 
veloped, and showing a cleavage parallel to oor; 
apophyllite, in three types—square, tabular, and pyra- 
midal; pyrrhotite, in thin hexagonal plates; tour- 
maline, in black, brown, green, blue, and pink 
crystals, sometimes zoned; garnet, in colourless cubo-. 
dodecahedra, and trapezohedra, sometimes including 
wollastonite hairs; wollastonite, abundantly in pure 
white, fibrous masses.—J. B. Scrivenor: A calcium- 
iron-garnet from China. It is interesting on account 
of its unusually easy solubility in hydrochloric acid 
without ignition. 


Mathematical Society, November 13.—G, T. Bennett : 
The skew-isogram mechanism.—G. H. Hardy and 
J. E. Littlewood: Tauberian theorems concerning 
power series the coefficients of which are positive.— 
G H. Hardy: Lambert’s theorem.—J. E. Campbell : 
(1) The connection between surfaces the lines of curva- 
ture of which are spherical and surfaces the inflec- 
tional tangents of which belong to linear complexes. 
(2) Surfaces the systems of inflectional tangents of 
which belong to systems of linear complexes.—W. H. 
Young: Integration with respect to a function of 
bounded variation.—W. W. Johnson: The computation 
of Cotes’s numbers, and their values up to n=20.— 
S. G. Soal: Some ruler constructions for the co- 
variants of a binary quantic.—T. C. Lewis: Analogues 
of orthocentric tetrahedra in higher space. 


Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, November 10.—M. F. Guyon 
in the chair.—Emile Picard: Remarks concerning an 
integral equation considered by M. Charlier.—H. 
Deslandres and L. d’Azambuja: The action of a mag- 
netic field on the ultra-violet band spectrum of water 
vapour. A new property of the regular series of lines 
forming the band. The third group of the nitrogen: 
bands shows the Zeeman effect; under similar con- 
ditions the water vapour band is not doubled by the 
magnetic field, but all the lines constituting the band 
are displaced.cArmand Gautier: Fluorine as a con- 
stant element in the emanations from the earth’s 
crust. Fluorine (probably as hydrofluoric acid) has 
been detected and estimated in the gases from a 
fumerolle at Vesuvius, in the proportion of about 
one part in 10,000. Fluorine has also been found in 
the fumerolles of Tuscany.—E. Jungfleisch and Ph. 
Landrieu; Researches on the acid salts of dibasic 
acids. The dextrorotatory camphorates: the 
potassium camphorates.—C. V. L. Charlier: Terres- 
trial refraction and the constitution of the atmosphere. 
—M. Fessenkoff: The equatorial acceleration of the - 
sun.—MM. Chipart and Liénard: The sign of the real 
part of the roots of an algebraic equation.—Georges 
Pélya: An algorithm always convergent to obtain 


polynomials with the best approximation of Tcheby- 


NovEMBER 20, 1913] 


NATURE 305 


chef for any continuous function.—E. Goursat : Some 
singular integral equations.—R, Boulouch: Homo- 
graphical relations between systems of centred 
spherical dioptres. Singular stigmatic points.—Emile 
Baud: Relation between the heat of formation of 
binary liquid mixtures and their composition. For 
mixtures of cyclohexane and ethylene bromide the 
relation g=kx(1—x) is shown to hold good, in which 


q is the quantity of heat evolved, x and (1—x) are |, planatiGn' Ge Sheet oz: 


| and Petrological Notes by Dr. J. J. H. Teall. Pp, 


the fractions of the gram-molecule of each consti- 
tuent for a gram-molecule of the mixture. k varies 
only from 1-30 to 4-35.—L. C. Maillard : The origin 
of the cyclic bases of coal tar. Amino-acids combine 
with sugars giving humus bodies which yield pyridine 
bases on dry distillation. These facts are applied to 
the formation of coal and to explain the products of 
its pyrogenic decomposition.—Marcel Sommelet - A 
mode of decomposition of the halogen alkylates of 
hexamethylene-tetramine. An aqueous solution of 
the chlorbenzylate of hexamethylene-tetramine when 
boiled gives benzaldehyde as the main product of its 
decomposition. The homologous toluic aldehydes are 
formed in a similar manner. The course of the 
reaction cannot be readily followed.—C. Gaudefroy : 
The dehydration figures of potassium oxalate.—G. 
André: The displacement of potassium contained in 
certain felspathic rocks by some substances employed 
as manure. Various salts, triturated in aqueous solu- 
tion with felspar, bring into solution notably larger 
quantities of potassium than would be obtained with 
Water alone, ammonium sulphate, and calcium acid 


phosphate producing the greatest effect.—A, Maublanc | 


and E. Rangel: Stilbum flavidum, a Parasite of the 
coffee plant, and its place in classification.—G. 
Barthelat: The fruit of Mesembryanthemum and its 
dehiscence.—P, Chaussé: The determination of the 
minimum infectious dose in tuberculosis by inhala- 
ticn.—C. Levaditi: Presence of the treponeme in the 
blood in general paralysis. The living organism was 
definitely proved to be circulating in the blood of 
patients suffering from general paralysis. The blood 
in these cases gave a positive Wassermann reaction.— 
Y. Manouélian: The existence of Negri’s corpuscles 
in the nerve ganglia of the salivary glands in animals 
Sections of the salivary glands 
showed large numbers of Negri’s corpuscles in the 
cytoplasm of the nerve cells only ; no other constituent 
of these glands showed the corpuscles.—Maxime 
Ménard: A certain means of avoiding Réntgen-ray 
burns. A description of special screens and gaunt- 
lets, together with a proof of the real immunity from 
‘-ray burns obtained by their use.—M. Dantan: The 
edulis.—A, Trillat and M. 
Fouassier: The conditions of 


materials.—Sabba 
Stefanescu : The ramification of the dental tubercles of 
the molars of Elephas, Stegodon, and Mastodon. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Die Wissenschaft. Band 48. Die Entwicklung 
des Temperaturbegriffs im Lauffe der Zeiten. By K. 
Meyer. Uebersetzt aus dem Danischen by I. Kolde. 
Pp. 160. Band 49. Das Leuchten der Gase und 
Dimpfe. By Dr. H. Konen. Pp, XiV+ 384. 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92] 


| Vorlesungen. 


| edition. 


(Braunschweig: F. Vieweg und Sohn.) 4 and 12.50 
marks respectively. 

Lehrbuch der Meteorologie. By Dr. J. Hann. 
Unter Mitwirkung von Prof. R. Siiring. 3 Auflage. 
Lief. 1. (Leipzig: C. H. Tauchnitz.) 3.60 marks. 


Memoirs of the Geological Survey, Scotland. The 
Geology of the Fannich Mountains and the Country 
around Upper Loch Maree and Strath Broom. (Ex- 
By B. N. Peach and others, 


127+vi plates. Also Sheet g2. (London ; H.M.S.O. ; 
E. Stanford, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. each, 

Elemente der exakten Erblichkeitslehre mit Grund- 
ziigen der biologischen Variationsstatistil. By Dr. 
W. Johannsen. Zweite Deutsche Ausgabe in 30 
Pp xi+723. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 13 
marks. 

The Holiday Natare-Book. By S. N. Sedgwick. 
Pp. 355. (London: C. H. Kelly.) 3s. 6d. 

The Courtship of Animals. By W. P. Pycraft. 
Pp. xvi+318+40 plates. (London: Hutchinson and 
Co.) 6s. net. 

Farm Gas Engines. By Prof, C. F. Hirshfeld and 
T. C. Ulbricht. Pp. Viit+239. (New York: J. Wiley 
and Sons; London - Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 6s. 6d. 
net. 

Underground Waters for Commercial Purposes. By 
Dr. F. L. Rector. Pp. iv+98. (New York: qT: 
Wiley and Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 
4s. 6d. net. 

The Government of Man: an Introduction to 
Ethics and Politics. By G. S. Brett. Pp. xiv+318. 
(London G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 3s. 6d. net. 

British and Colonial Dairying for School, Farm, 
and Factory. By G. S. Thomson. Pp. xi+464. 


| (London: Crosby Lockwood and Son.) 5s. 


Transactions of the Rochdale Literary and Scientific 
Society. Vol. xi., 19gt2-13. Pp. 1344xxii. (Roch- 
dale.) 

Vorlesungen iiber landwirtschaftliche Bakteriologie. 
By Dr. F. Lohnis. Pp. viii+398+ plates. (Berlin : 
Gebriider Borntraeger.) 16 marks. 

Koninklijk Nederlandsch Meteorologisch Instituut. 
No. 104. Oceanographische en Meteorologische 
Waarnemingen in den Indischen Oceaan. December, 
January, February (1856-1910). Tabellen. Pp. 222. 
Kaarten. . Plates 25. (Utrecht: Kemink aand Zoon.) 
6.50 florins. 

Regenwaarnemingen jn Nederlandsch-Indié. 
en Dertigste Jahrgang 1911. Deel ji. 
Pp. xi+214. (Batavia: Landsdrukkerij.) 

Desert and Water Gardens of the Red Sea. By 
C. Crossland. Pp. xv+ 158+ plates. (Cambridge 
University Press.) 10s. 6d. net. 

The “Wellcome” Photographic Exposure Record 
and Diary, 1914. Pp. 280. (London: Burroughs, 
Wellcome and Co.) 

Mildews, Rusts, 


Drie 
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DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 
THURSDAY, NoveEMBER 20. $ 

Rovat Society, at 4.30.—Medullosa Pusilla: Dr. D. He Scott.—Neuro- 
muscular Structures in the Heart: Prof. A. F. S. Kent.—The Alleged 
Excretion of Creatine in C rbohydrate Starvation: G. Graham’and E. P. 
Poulton.—The Origin and Destiny of Cholesterol in the Animal Organism. 
XI. The Cholesterol Content of Growing Chickens under Different Diets: 
J. A. Gardner and P. E. Lander.—Contributions to the Biochemistry of 
Growth—The Lipoids of Transplantable Tumours of the Mouse and the 
Rat: W. E. Bullock and W. Cramer. 

INSTITUTION OF MINING AND METALLuRGY, at 8.—The Treatment of Tin 
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The Occurrence of Goldin Ontario: J. B. Tyrrell. 

LinnEan Society, at 8.—The Travels of Sir Joseph Hooker in the Sikkim 
Himalaya: H. J. Elwes. 


FRIDAY, NovemMBeER 21. 
INSTITUTION OF MEcHANICar. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Cutting Power of Lathe 
Turning Tools: Prof. W. Ripper and G. W. Burley, 
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MONDAY, NoveEmMBER 24. 
Roya GEOGRAPHICAL SociETY, at #.30.—Explorations on the Eastern 
Karakoram: Mrs. Bullock Workman and Dr. Hunter Workman. 
INSTITUTE OF ACTUARIES, at 5.—Approximate Valuation of Endowment 
Assurances: W. P. Elderton. 


TUESDAY, NovEMBER 25- 

Zoovocicat Society, at 8.30.—The External Characters and Biology of 
Bryde's Whale, a New Rorqual from the Coast of South Africa: @rjan 
Olsen.—A New Species of Trematodes of the Genus Lechriorchis from the 
Dark Green Snake (Zamenis gemonensis): Miss M. V. Lebour.— 
Cirripedes from ‘the Cenomanian Chalk Marl of Cambridge: T. H. 
Withers.—The Peroneal Muscles in Birds: Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell. 

InsTITUTION OF Civil. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Further Discussion: The Con- 
struction of the ‘‘ White Star" Dock and adjoining Quays at South- 
ampton: F. E. Wentworth-Sheilds. 


WEDNESDAY, November 26. 

Rovat Society oF ARTS, at 8.—Zoological Gardens: Dr. P. Chalmers 
Mitchell. 

RovaL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 5.—The Tuareg: M. Fr. de 
Zeltner. 

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ton), at 8.—The Research Chemist in the Works, with Special Reference 
to the Textile Industry : W. P. Dreaper. 


NO. 2299, VOL. 92] 


THURSDAY, November 27. " 


Roya Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: A Method of Measuring the 
Pressure Produced in the Detonation of High Explosives or by the Impact 
of Bullets: Prof. B. Hopkinson.—Gravutational Instability and the 
Nebular Hypothesis : J. H. Jeans —The Diffraction of Light by Particles 
comparable with the Wave-length: B. A. Keen and Prot. A. W. Porter.— 
Note on the Colour of Zircons, and its Radio-active Origin: Prof. R. J. 
Strutt,—The Influence of the Constituents of the Crystal on the Form of 
the Spectrum in the X-ray Spectrometer: Prof. W. H. Bragg.—The 
Analysis of Crystals by the X-ray Spectrometer: W. L. Bragg.—dad 
other Papers. 

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 
Insulation Resistance: S. Evershed. 

Concrete InsTITUTE, at 7-30.—Steel and Reinforced Concrete Chimneys: 
H. Cane. 


8.—The Characteristics of 


FRIDAY, NoveMeEER 28. 


Junror InstituTION OF ENGINEERS, at 8. - Patent Protection: A. Abbey. 
Puysicat Society,’ at 5.—l'he Expansion of Silica: Prof. H. L. Callendar- 
—The Thermal Expansion of Mercury and Fused Silica: F. J. Harlow. 
—An Experimental Method for the Production of Vibrations on Strings - 
Prof. J. A. Fleming.—A Double-fibre String Galvanometer : W. Apthorpe- 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
Modern Physical Ideas and Researches. By 

Frederick Soddy, F.R.S. -) ..cte.us) ic = 6 
The Threshold of Science—and Beyond. By Prof. 

J. Arthur Thomson. .........+++ + + 340 
Practical Mathematics . - .. . . |}. 2 = eee 
Laboratory Experiments in Aéronautics. ByR.S.B. 342 
Our Bookshelf MPRA IC Cec 
Letters to the Editor :— 

Distance of the Visible Horizon.—Dr, John Ball; 
Capt. T. H. Tizard, 'C.B., FRiS, |) eee 

The Piltdown Skull and Brain Cast. (/Vith Dia- 
grams.)—Prof, Arthur Keith, F. RS... . 345 


Work of Natural Forces in Relation to Time.—Dr. 
G, Frederick Wright... «ss -) -eu sae 
The United States Territory of Hawaii.—Dr. Wm, T. 


Brigham ; Prof, J. Stanley Gardiner, F.R.S. 346 
International Conference on the Structure of 
Matter. By Prof. E. Rutherford, F.R.S. ... . 347 
Alfred Russel Wallace. ByE. P.B. ......-. 347 
Dr S. J. P. Thearle. .. 2 sce = =, *) 3) 2p 
Wotes) 2... wb ie seco stint ce bel le) pac 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Comet News... . siecle js + © #5 Sits ae 
Magnifying Powers Used by Double-star Observers . 354 
Stellar Classification 2-5. 20 2) >) = sr 354 
International Conference on the Safety of Life at 
CTT PPR SG MAI SS 
Agricultural Entomology in the University of Man- 
chester. (J//ustrated.) By Prof, S, J. Hickson, 
) i a rs EMP OPARPMrIMOr ery 
The Passivity of Metals. .......++.+% - 356 
University Education in London .. . 356 


The Preparation of Eye-preserving Glass for Spec- 

tacles. By Sir William Crookes, O.M.,F.R.S.. . 357 
Geology at the British Association. ByA.R.D.. . 
Paleobotany: Its Past and Its Future. By Dr. 

Marie C. Stopes $a ai ae ade «ane Srey 
University and Educational Intelligence. .... .- 
Societies'and Academies .......- «+ e+e 
Books Received @ Le ee ay Joe 
Diary of Societies! )..!04.-.) sa } tee 


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NOVEMBER 20, 1913] 


MINERALOGY —CRYSTALLOGRAPHY— 
PETROGRAPHY—GEOLOGY. 


Ask for our new 


CATALOGUE XVIII. 

(2nd Edition) 

for the use of Middle and High Schools and Universities. 
Part I, 260 pages, 110 Illustrations. 


This catalogue has been prepwed with the view of making an exhaustive 
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of Mineralogy and Geology [from a scientific as well as from 
a practical pv-int of view. All the subjects are treated typically, and 
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Sition it gives the opportunity of procuring the most complete outfit for the 
various schools for instruction in and the study of the subjects named, 


Catalogue No. 18, Part I, will be sent free on application. 
Part II will appear within the course of the year. 


(Collections and single specimens of Minerals and Fossils, 
Meteorites bought and exchanged.) 


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Established 1833. Established 1833. 


ROCK SECTIONS FOR THE MICROSCOPE 


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THE MICROSCOPE. 


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MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 
OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 
THE LABORATORY, PLYMOUTH. 

The following animals can always bejsupplied, either living 

or preserved by the best methods :— 

Sycon ; Clava, Obelia, Sertularia; Actinia, Tealia, Caryopbyllia, Alcy- 
onium; Hormiphora (preserved); Leptoplana; Lineus, Amphiporus, 
Nereis, Aphrodite, Arenicola, Lanice, Terebella; Lepas, Balanus, 
Gammarus, Ligia Mysis, Nebalia, Carcinus; Patella, Buccinum, Eledone, 
Pectens Bugula, Crisia, Pedicellina, Holothuria, Asterias, Echinus, 
Salpa (preserved), Scyllium, Raia, &c., &c. 

‘or prices and more detailed lists apply to 
_ Biological Laboratory, Plymouth. 


THE DIRECTOR 


NATURE 


CXXV 


WATKINS & DONCASTER, 


Naturalists and Manufacturers of 


FUR COLLECTORS OF INSECTS, BIRDS' EGGS AND SKINS. 
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A LARGE STOCK OF INSECTS, BIRDS’ EGGS AND SKINS. 


SPECIALITY.—Objects for Nature Study, 
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All Books and Publications (New and Second-hand) on Insects, 
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X-RAY TUBE, 
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66 Hatton Carden, 

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Now on view, some choice specimens of 


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lot that will be found in this district. 


A large number of other choice Cornish 
specimens. 
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CXNVI1 es 


NATURE 


[NOVEMBER 20 913 


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. 


CXXVili NATURE 


UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. 


THIS IS TO GIVE NOTICE that the Senate will shortly proceed to 
elect Examiners in the following subjects for the year 1914-15. 

The Examiners appointed may be called upon to take part in the Exam- 
ination of both Internal and External Students, Full particulars of the 
remuneration of each Examinership can be obtained on application to the 
Principal. 

HIGHER EXAMINATIONS FOR MEDICAL DEGREES. 
Present EXAMINERS. 


Norman Da'ton, M.D., F.R.C P- 
Humphry Davy Rolleston, M.A., M.D. 


EXAMINERSHIPS. 


Four in Medicine B.C, F.R.C.P. 
W. B. Warrington, M_D., Ch.B., F.R.C.P. 
Vacant. 
Henry Russell Andrews, M.D., B.S., 
Two in Obstetric Medicine ... M.R.C.P. 
Nivacadt . 
Twolin Patholony en { Beat sour Muir, M.A., M.D., F.R.S. 
Frédéric F. Burghard, M.D., M.S., 
Wilifan F Fiaslam, M.B., Cb.B., F-R.C.S 
: : illiam F. Haslam, M.B. -B., F.R.C.S, 
Four in Surgery se | Henry Betham Robinson, M.D., M.S. 
F.R.C.S. 
Vacant. x 
Two in 7vrofical Medicine..{ Vern, M. Sandwith, M.D., F.R.C.P. 


The Examiners above named are re-eligible, and intend to offer them- 
selves for re-election. 


N.B.—Attention is drawn to the provision of Statute 124, whereby the 
Senate is required, if practicable, to appoint at least one Examiner who 
is not a Teacher of the University. 

Candidates must send in their names to the Principal, with any attes- 
tation of their qualifications they may think desirable, on or before 
“MONDAY, DECEMBER 15. (lt is particularly desired by the Senate 
that no application of any kind be made to its individual Members.) 

If testimonials are submitted, three copies at least of each should be 
sent. Original testimonials should not be forwarded in any case. It 
more than one Examinership is applied for, a separate complete applica- 
tion, with copies of testimonials, tf any, must be forwarded in respect 
of each, 

University of London, 

South Kensington, S.W., 
November, 1913. 


UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS. 


APPOINTMENT OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORSHIPS. 


The Syndicate of the Madras University: invites applications for the 
following Professorships in the University :— 


(1) A University Professorship in Indian Economics. 

(2) A University Professorship in Indian History and Archeology. 

(3) A University Professorship.of Dravidian Philology. 

(4) A University. Professorship of Comparative Philology, with 
special reference to Sanskrit and the Sanskritic languages 
of Southern India, including Urdu. 


The first appointment will be for a term of five years on a salary of 
Rs10,000/- (4656 135. 4d.) fer annum. The main duties of the Professor 
will be to investigate and lecture on the special problems of Indian Eco- 
nomics, and to train students in the methods of Economic Study and 
Research. 

The second appointment will be for a term of five years on a salary of 
Rssoo/- (£33 6s. 8d) fer mensem. rising by an annual increment of Rsso, 
and in case of renewal to Rs1,000 (£66 13s. 4d.) fer mensem. The duties 
of this Professor will be to supplement the ordinary instruction afforded in 
affiliated colleges by advanced lectures of a specialised character. 

The third and fourth appointments will be each for a term of five years— 
the term being renewable, on a salary of Rsg,o0o/- (£600) each, fer annum. 
These two Professors may be required to deliver courses of lectures, and 
any work calculated to further the advanced study of the languages with 
which they are concerned will fall within the sphere of their legitimate 
duties. 

All Professors will be required to devote their whole time to the duties 
of their offices, and not to absent themselves from their duties without the 
permission of the Syndicate. 

Applications from candidates for the appointments should be sent in by 
December 31, 1913, in the case of the first two Professorships, addressed 
to E. W. Middiemast, Esq., M.A., c/o the India Office, London, S.W., 
and in the case of the last two by March 1, 1914, addressed to the Rev. 
E. M. Macphail, M.A., B.D., Harlaw Hill House, Prestonpans, Scotland. 

The selected candidates will be required to bind themselves by agree- 
ments, the details of which will be settled later, 

The University will be prepared to pay each selected candidate a single 
first class passage to Madras. 


(By Order) 


By Order of the Senate, 
HENRY A. MIERS, 
Principal. 


W. H. JAMES, 
Senate House, Ag. Registrar. 
November 5, 1013. 


a 


BIRKBECK COLLEGE. 


HEAD OF CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT. 
This post is vacant owing to the appointment of Dr. ALex. MCKENZIE 
as Professor of Chemistry at University College, Dundee, 
The Council invite applications. 
Commencing salary £400. Candidates should state their academic and 
other distinctions, age, and experience, and should enclose testimonials. 
Apply to the Principat, Birkbeck College, Breams Buildings, E.C. 


[ NOVEMBER 27, I913 


SWINEY LECTURES ON GEOLOGY, 
1913. 


UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE British Museum. 


A-Course of Twelve Lectures on “ THe Naturat History oF 
Mrnera.s anv Ores" will be delivered by T. J. JEHU, M.A., M.D. 
F.R.S.E., in the Metallurgical lecture Theatre of the Imperial College of 
Science and Technology, Exhibition Road, South Kensington (by per- 
mission of the authorities of the College), on Mondays and Tuesdays at 
5 p.m., and Saturdays at 3 p.m., beginning Saturday, November 29, and 
ending Tuesday, December 23. The Lectures will be illustrated by 
Lantern Slides. Admission Free. 

By Order of the Trustees, 
L. FLETCHER, Director. 


i i 


British Museum (Natural History), 
Cromwell Road, London, S.W. 


BEDFORD COLLEGE FOR WOMEN 
(UNIVERSITY OF LONDON), 


YORK GATE, REGENT’S PARK, N.W. 
SECONDARY TRAINING DEPARTMENT. 
Head of the Department Miss Sara MeEtuuisu, M.A. 


_ The Course, to which Students are admitted in January and October, 
includes full preparation for the Examinations for the Teaching Diplomas 
granted by the Universities of London and Cambridge. 


Applications for Entrance Scholarships, Grants, &c., for the Course 
beginning January, 1014, should be sent to the Head of the Department 
not later than December 6. 


ESSEX EDUCATION COMMITTEE. 


APPOINTMENT OF PRINCIPAL, EAST ANGLIAN INSTITUTE 
OF AGRICULTURE, CHELMSFORD. 


The Essex Education Committee invite applications for the appointment — 
of PRINCIPAL of the East Anglian Institute of Agriculture, Chelmsford. 
The person appointed must have a thorough knowledge of Science, both 
on the Physical and Biological sides, and, above all, he must have practical 
Agricultural experience to enable him to teach and direct with the require- 
ments of the farmer constantly in his mind, and will be required to devote 
the whole of his time to the Committee's work. 
The salary will be at the rate of £500 per annum. 2 
oe appointment will be determinable by six months’ notice on either — 
Side, 
Further particulars and Forms of Application may be obtained from me, — 
the undersigned, and applications, accompanied by a full statement of the 
qualifications of the Candidate and copies of Testimonials (not exceeding 
three in number) must be sent in addressed to me on or before December 6, © 


1913. 
J. H. NICHOLAS, Secretary. 
County Offices, Chelmsford. 


ESSEX EDUCATION COMMITTEE. 


LECTURER IN AGRICULTURAL BIOLOGY. EAST ANGLIAN 
INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE, CHELMSFORD. 


WANTED, a LECTURER IN AGRICULTURAL BIOLOGY who 
should be fully qualified in Botany and Zoology. Experience in advisory 
work among Farmers ts desirable. P 

Salary, 4150 to £200 per annum according to qualifications and 
experience. 

Application must be made in accordance with the printed Application 
Form, which can be obtained from me, the undersigned, and must be sent 
in, accompanied by copies of three testimonials, so as to arrive by Decem- 


ber 6, 1913, at the latest. 
. A. MALINS SMITH, Principal. 
East Anglian Institute of Agriculture, 
Chelmsford. 


INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF 
AGRICULTURE. 


The International Institute of Agriculture invites applications for an 
additional post on the English Scientific Staff of the Bureau of Agricul-— 
tural Intelligence and Plant Diseases. Salary L.190 (4.800 lire) per annum 
payable monthly. Second Class Fare. Vacation 40 days. Candidates 
must have taken a good Agricultural degree and possess a thorough know- 
ledge of French. 4 

Selected candidate to enter on his duties on January 1, 1914, or as soon 
as possible after that date. 

Applications, accompanied by copies of testimor‘als, should be sent to 
the SECRETARY GENERAL of the International I ute of Agriculture, 


Rome. 
— ee 0 0 0y0 


UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, 
NOTTINGHAM. 


DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING. 
Head of the Department .., Professor’'C. H. Butterp, M.A. 


Applications are invited for the post of LECTURER AND DEMON- 
STRALOR IN CIVIL ENGINKERING. Ability to teach Building 
Construction to evening students will be an additional qualification. Salary 
4150 per annum. Forms of application may be obtained from the REGIS 
TRAR, to whom they must be returned not later than December 9. 


NATURE 


367 


THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1913. 


A LESSON FOR ENGLAND. 
Japan’s Inheritance. The Country, Its People, 
and Their Destiny. By E. Bruce Mitford. Pp. 

384+ plates. (London: T, Fisher Unwin, n.d.) 

Price ros. 6d. net. 

HE author of .this account of the country 
‘Q of Japan has not only travelled through 
it with the observing eye of a geographer, but 
he has consulted the best papers which have been 
published by geologists and experts in seismo- 
logy. He gives what seems to be a true account 
_ of the position of Japan among the nations, and 
of her ambitions. Travellers will find the book 
_ a useful addition to the books which give the im- 
pressions of the globe-trotter, but the author can- 
not be said to have made more than a superficial 
_ study of the social phenomena exhibited by Japan 
in the last forty-five years. 

The Mikado was a combination of a roi-faineant 
and a god; the Shogun was the ruler of a feudal 
state; religion was Confucianism or Buddhism, 
permeated by Shintoism, which in a few words 
may be said to be really patriotism and ancestor 
teachers of ancient classics. The structure was 
in many ways beautiful, but it proved to be with- 
out physical strength. Its extreme weakness 
Proved its salvatiomr. Even the teachers of 
‘classics saw that for a poor nation to be strong, 
“scientific method must permeate the thought of 
the whole population. And now, at the end of 
the first chapter in Japan’s modern history we 
find a nation which can not only defend itself, but 
which retains all of its religion that was beautiful. 
Every unit of the population can not only read 
and write, but it is fond of reading, and its educa- 
tion did not cease when it left school. — It is get- 
ting an increased love for natural science, so that 
‘it can reason clearly; it is not carried away by 
‘charlatans; it retains its individuality. One result 
of this is that in time of war Japan has scientific 
armies. Not only are its admirals and generals 
Scientific, but also every officer, every private 
is scientific. The accounts of many of our Euro- 
‘pean wars must seem to a Japanese like a Gilbert 
ind Sullivan opera. The country is naturally 
very poor, and its finance requires twenty times 
the wisdom which has been found sufficient for 
iny European **sancellor of the Exchequer, but 
such wisdom is now obtainable in Japan. Every- 
ing in the whole country is being developed 
ientifically, and we Europeans, hag-ridden by 
t edantry in our schools and universities, refuse 
e learn an easy lesson. 


Japan’s present. aim is quickly to make herself 
NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


strong in war. She has other aims. The 
Japanese knows that his ancestors were highly 
civilised when our ancestors were savages in the 
Baltic forest, but Japan forgoes her higher aims 
until she is strong enough to be respected. 


feces 
MOLECULAR PHYSICS. 
Die Existens der Molkule. Experimentelle 
Studien. By Prof. The Svedberg. Pp. viii+ 


243+iv plates. (Leipzig: Akademische Ver- 
lagsgesellschaft m.b.H., 1912.) Price 12 marks. 
HE molecule, originally conceived as the 
basis of chemistry, and apparently firmly 
established as the foundation of the kinetic theory, 
was at the end of last century no longer the centre 
of progress. When, therefore, W. Ostwald sug- 
gested that it no longer played an essential part in 
chemical theory, he found many German chemists 
ready to deny its existence. About this time Prof. 
Svedberg began the experimental researches 
which are described in this book. It is therefore 
not surprising that he takes the proof of the 
reality of molecules as the central idea, to which 
all his experimental work is referred. 

The volume serves chiefly as a record of the 
author’s own work, but includes brief references 
to the results obtained by others in the same field, 
and also an enumeration of the various methods by 
which molecules have been made manifest in the 
last few years. It has been divided into two 
sections. The first section deals with phenomena 
which concern molecules in the aggregate. Here 
experiment must usually be interpreted in terms of 
the kinetic theory. The author’s work on the 
diffusion of colloids gives in this way a remarkably 
good estimate of the weight of a molecule, while 
from the diffusion of some true solutions a guess 
may be made at the shape of the molecules con- 
cerned. The absorption of light by colloids pro- 


| vides complicated, but very interesting results of 


which the most important ‘rom the author’s psint 
of view is the fact that the behaviour of the smallest 


| colloid particles approximates to that of a true 


molecular solution. 

In the second section the molecules are dealt 
with singly. The word molecule has here been 
liberally interpreted, for the Brownian movements 
of colloid particles have been included under this 
heading. Prof. Svedberg was the first to prove 
experimentally that these movements agree with 
the calculations made by Einstein and Smolu- 
chowski from the kinetic theory, and half the book 


{ 
| 
' 
' 


is devoted to this subject. | By marshalling his 

own results, and those of others, he shows 

what a fine proof is thus provided of the 
10) 


368 


truth of the kinetic theory. When a colloid 
suspension in water is observed with an ultra- 
microscope, the number of particles in the field of 
view is constantly fluctuating, because the particles 
are moving haphazard. By observing the extent 
of the fluctuations, the author has been able to 
test how far the behaviour of the colloid is in 
agreement with the simple gas laws. He has 
also invented a most ingenious method of measur- 
ing the concentration fluctuations in a molecular 
solution. A solution of a polonium salt in water 
‘is used, and the rate at which a particles are 


shot off provides a measure of the con- 
centration of the solution. Unfortunately 
radio-active change is just as haphazard 
as the movements of molecules, so that the 


fluctuations in the emission of a@ particles are due 
to the two causes combined. Experimental difh- 
culties have been overcome, and the two effects 
separated, the result being in agreement with the 
kinetic theory. 

This book is not merely a collection of reprints, 
for the original papers have been re-written into 
a connected whole, while some of the material had 
not previously been published. | Unfortunately, 
however, the author has made no attempt at con- 
densation, and the very interesting subject-matter 
is at times lost in a plethora of numerical results. 
Considerable tracts, such as pp. 152-164 and 
183-195, resemble a laboratory note-book, and 
even the lucid descriptions of experimental 
arrangements leave too little to the reader’s 
intelligence. In a smaller book the importance 
and ingenuity of the experimental work would 
have held the reader’s interest. H. G. J: ME 


FLIGHT PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE. 

(1) The Flight of Birds. By F..W. Headley. 
Pp. x+163+xvi plates in text. (London: 
Witherby and Co., 1912.) Price 5s. net. 

(2) The Mechanics of the Aéroplane. A Study of 
the Principles of Flight. By Capt. Duchéne. 
Translated from the French by J. H. Ledeboer 
and T. O’B. Hubbard. Pp. x+231. (London: 
Longmans, Green and Co., 1912.) Price 7s. 6d. 
net. 

(1) R. HEADLEY is well known, in the 

Aéronautical Society and. outside it, for 
his interesting studies of bird flight. If he has 
not much that is novel to say about the more 
controversial points on which some difference of 
opinion still remains, he is yet able to write very 
pleasantly and instructively, and often from his 
own observation, about all the main features of 
bird flight; and the series of the author’s photo- 
graphs selected for reproduction makes one wish 
for more. 

NO. 2300, VOL. 921 


NATURE 


[| NOVEMBER 27, 1913 

The point of view throughout is that of the 
interested and intelligent observer, describing and 
so far as possible explainifg his observations. — 
The explanations are given in the simplest pos- 
sible manner, and are as clear as need be. The 
opening chapter on gliding flight might perhaps” 
be improved in the light of the most recent know- 
ledge, but the criticism is of no importance; the 
book is written for the lover of nature, not the 
technical expert. The questions dealt with include 
stability and steering, starting and alighting, — 
soaring, pace and endurance, varieties of wing 
and of flight, flight machinery and some accessory 
characteristics. It is a volume which will be read 
with pleasure by those interested in flight, and in 
birds. ; 

(2) The purpose of this book, in the words of 
the translators’ preface, is “to explain in terms 
as simple as possible, and with a minimum ‘of — 
formule, the main principles of dynamic flight; 
to give the ordinary reader an insight into the 
various. problems involved in the motion and 
equilibrium of the aéroplane; and to enable him ~ 
to calculate in the simplest possible manner the 
various elements and. conditidns of flight.” 
Judged from this point of view, the book is one 
which can be cordially commended to the “ordinary — 
reader,” for whom it is written. The elementary 
principles of aérodynamics applicable to the aéro- 
plane as expressed by the usual formule derived 
from experimental observation, are given in their 
simplest, approximate, form; and the logical 
deductions which can be made from these formula 
are explained with care and conciseness. All the 
main points of importance can be brought out 
in this manner, and the result will enable the 
reader who is prepared to take the small amount 
of trouble required to follow the argument to 
obtain an intelligent grasp of the conditions under 
which the flight of an aéroplane can be sustained. 

The reader new to, the subject will probably be 
surprised to find how simple and how few in 
number are the fundamental formule and ideas 
required. These comprise the formule expressing 
the “lift” and “drift” in terms of the velocity 
and angle of incidence; a little information as to 
the movement of the centre of pressure; and some 
general ideas as to the effect of camber, and of 
aspect ratio. With this apparently slender equip- 
ment, and some acquaintance with the laws of 
elementary mechanics, a tolerably complete dis- 
cussion is given of the main principles of flight, 
including even a chapter on the screw-propeller. _ 

The apparent simplicity thus obtained is, 
indeed, from another point of view, one of the 
main defects of the book. The simple law 
assumed for the variation of lift with angle of 


‘solution. 


NOVEMBER 27, 1913] 


NATURE 369 


re) 


incidence might well have been illustrated by the 
reproduction of a curve showing this variation 
for some common type of aéroplane wing, giving 
instructive. information as to the limits within 
which the simple law may be taken to hold. 


Other similar experimental results available at 


the time the volume was written might well have 
been made use of. 

Part IJ. of the work is devoted to consideration 
of the equilibrium and stability of the aéroplane in 
still air. These two questions of equilibrium and 
stability are not kept as distinct as they should 
be, and we fear some confusion in the mind of 
the reader must necessarily result. The ideas put 
forward on the subject of stability are of interest, 
but the experimental basis is, of course, too 
slender for any satisfactory examination into this 
question, which cannot be dealt with in so elemen- 
tary a manner. 

The merits of the original work of Captain 
Duchéne are well preserved by the translators, 
both of whom, from their intimate association, 
both practical and literary, with aéronautics, have 


Special qualifications for their task. The lucidity | 


and terseness of the French are reproduced in the 
English version, and the choice of equivalents for 
technical terms is particularly happy. 


OUR BOOKSHELF, 


The Archaeology of the Anglo-Saxon Settlements. 
By E. Thurlow Leeds. Pp. 144. (Oxford: 
Clarendon Press, 1913.) Price 5s. net. 


Tuis book is suggestive, in the sense that while 
it raises many interesting problems, the material 
at present available does not admit their complete 
Dealing with a period of about 200 
years, from the first coming of the Saxon invaders 
down to the cessation of the evidence furnished 
by the pagan interments, Mr. Leeds attempts, 
from a survey of the archzological remains, to 
supplement and correct the literary record. These 
historical sources are admittedly much later than 
the events of the early invasions which they profess 
to) record—Prosper Tiro, Gildas, Procopius, and 
Zozimus belonging to the fifth and sixth centuries, 
followed by Bede and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 

Mr. Leeds’ method is to study the remains dis- 


covered in interments both in Great Britain and 


on the Continent, and to discuss their bearing on 
the historical record. The chief difficulty lies in 
the comparative scarcity of remains in the period 
which he is investigating, and, in the case of 
objects of art, like jewelry and metal-work, of 
discriminating between objects which may have 
passed from one tribe to another in the course of 


‘trade, and those which can with certainty be attri- 
‘buted to certain races or areas. 
_ the marks of rigid compression. 
Narrative, a larger amount of illustration, better 


The book bears 
A more extended 


maps, and occasional summaries of conclusions, 
NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


, would make it easier reading. 


| restricted to some specific point. 


It may be hoped 
that he will be encouraged to treat the subject in 
more detail, and that the publication of the book 
will lead to more active search for remains of the 
Anglo-Saxon pagan age. 

Even with these reservations, the book is a 
useful contribution to archeology. In some cases, 
as regards the early history of the West Saxons 
and the occupation of the Isle of Wight, the 
evidence of archeology is in direct conflict with 
current history. Among many intersting conclu- 
sions we may note that the distribution of the 
early settlements is based on the English river- 
system, and that the invaders avoided Roman 


| roads and cities, partly with deliberate strategical 
| intent, partly from a desire to place water between 


them and the ghosts. supposed to haunt places 
destroyed by fire and sword. The female inter- 
ments, as might have been expected, provide more 
interesting remains, in the form of jewelry and 
other ornaments, than those of males. 

On the whole, the book is a valuable contribu- 
tion to the early history of these islands, and its 
conclusions will deserve the serious consideration 
of future writers on this obscure period. 


The Romance of Scientific Discovery. By C. R. 
Gibson. Pp. 318+plates. (London: Seeley, 
Service, and Co., Ltd., 1914.) Price 5s. 


Tue title of this book covers an extremely large 
field, and anyone who attempts to deal with the 
manifold discoveries in so many branches of 
science undertakes a difficult task. In spite, how- 
ever, of the many pitfalls, the author of this 
work has been fortunate in avoiding them. Mr. 
Gibson is a well-known writer of popular and non- 
technical works, and the present volume brings 
out his faculty of stating facts clearly and making 
the subjects he deals with interesting. To write 
about the romance of scientific discovery success- 
fully must necessarily indicate that the author is 
well versed in the literature of many sciences, and 
that this is the case is shown by a perusal of 
the present volume. He has nevertheless taken the 
opportunity of consulting his many scientific 
friends who have read in manuscript the particular 
portions which deal with their special subjects. 
The subjects dealt with are most varied, and 
are treated in twenty-three chapters, each 
To mention a 
few, there are essays on discoveries concerning our 


| planet, how the crust of the earth was formed, 


living creatures of past .ages, microbes, dis- 
coveries in botany, chemistry, electricity, &c., and 
discoveries concerning the universe. Care has 
been taken not to burden the reader with a host 
of names and. dates, and an appendix is given 
in which further details are mentioned and can 
be referred to if needed. A capital index is given, 
and the book is well illustrated with numerous 
excellent plates. The frontispiece illustrates the 
larve refracting telescope at Treptow, near Berlin, 
and is described as the largest telescope in the 
world. The actual largest refractor in the world 
is that at the Yerkes Observatory, in the United 
States. 


379 


The Bacteriology of Diphtheria. Including Sec- 
tions on the History, Epidemiology, and Patho- 
logy of the Disease, the Mortality caused by it, 
the Toxins and Antitoxins, and the Serum Dis- 
ease. By Drs. F. Loeffler, A. Newsholme, 
F. B, Mallory, G. S. Graham-Smith, G. Dean, 
W. H. Park. and C. F. Bolduan. Edited by 
Prof. G. H. F. Nuttall and Dr. G. 5. Graham- 
Smith, Re-issue with Supplementary Biblio- 
graphy. Pp. xx+718. (Cambridge Univer- 
sity Press, 1913.) Price 15s. net. 

Tue first edition of this exhaustive work was re- 
viewed in the issue of Nature for April 29, 1909 
(vol. Ixxx., p. 243). The editors point out in the 
present edition that the conclusions arrived at in 
the papers which have been published since the 
first appearance of the volume have mainly con- 
firmed the opinions advocated in it; and conse- 
quently they decided only to add a supplementary 
bibliography of eight pages, recording the most 
important work published since 1908. In many 
instances the contents and conclusions of the 
papers included in the bibliography are indicated 
sufficiently in their titles; in other cases a brief 
summary of their contents has been added. 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Narurr. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. | 


Migration Routes. 


Tue experience gained from flights on aéroplanes 
and from the behaviour of airships may throw some 
light on why migratory birds follow certain routes. 
Pilots in aéroplanes can easily see rivers and ponds, 
and these form better guides than roads and railways; 
main roads, now usually tar-coated, are not con- 
spicuous, while the lighter coloured by-roads are more 
easily seen. There is evidence that migration routes 
are often along coast lines and river valleys; these 
are most conspicuous features in an uninhabited 
country, and birds when flying in the daytime below 
the clouds could have no difficulty in following them 
by sight. 

When flying at night, or above the clouds, birds 
would be able to follow the coast-line by the sound of 
the waves breaking on the shore. Dr. Gadow be- 
lieves, both from theoretical considerations and from 
his observations, that birds have very acute power 
of hearing faint sounds. Thrushes apparently are 
able to detect earthworms by the noise they make 
just before they come out of their holes in the earth. 
Owls have remarkably well-developed ears, both ex- 
ternal and internal, and the silence of their flight 
perhaps has been partly developed to enable them to 
detect slight sounds. Birds no doubt appreciate the 
songs of their mates, and parrots have the power of 
reproducing sounds with great exactness. Dr. Gadow 
adds, that judging from the structure of the ear, most 
anatomists think that the power of hearing in birds 
is much inferior to that of mammals. He does not, 
however, agree with this opinion. 

Observations on sound from an aéroplane are impos- 
sible because of the noise of the engine and propeller. 
But from a balloon sounds can be heard easily. 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[| NOVEMBER 27, 1913 


have been heard at 4500 ft.; a gun at 
8200 ft.; a dog barking at two miles; a band playing 
at 11,800 ft.; a railway traim at 4900 ft.’ Other 
observers have noticed the barking of dogs, the crow- 
ing of cocks, and the bleating of sheep when high up. 

Mr. Griffith Brewer heard on one occasion the sound — 
of the sea breaking on the shore. He was over the 
English coast with an offshore wind and a calm sea — 
underneath him, and the sound he heard came from — 
the breaking of the waves on the French coast at least — 
twenty-five miles away. He was amongst the clouds 
in falling snow, and could see nothing. As the wind — 
carried him along over the sea the sound of the waves — 
gradually increased, and this was the only assurance 
of his continued approach to the French coast. 

Even in calm weather the sound of the waves would 
be easily heard by birds when at a considerable height. — 
Those who have lived a short distance inland are 
familiar with the sound from the shore on calm 
nights. When there is much wind the waves break-. — 
ing are not heard because of the sounds produced by 
the wind in the trees or buildings near, The intensity 
of the sound from a single source, such as a dog 
barking, will vary inversely as the square of the 
distance, but it the sound comes from a line instead 
of a point its intensity will only vary inversely as the — 
distance. Mr. Mervyn O’Gorman has pointed out — 
that this is one of the reasons which accounts for — 
the great distance to which the sound from the sea 
breaking on the shore will carry. 

Osborne Reynolds has discussed the refraction of 
sound caused by wind and also by the variation of the 
temperature of the air at different heights above the — 
ground.2. The refraction caused by wind reduces the 
carrying power of the sound to a place on the earth's: 
surface to windward. Usually the temperature of © 
the air falls with increasing height, and this reduces — 
the carrying power of the sound in all directions to 
places on the earth’s surface. When the direction of — 
the sound makes a large angle to the surface of the 
earth the intensity of the sound will not be reduced. — 
On one occasion during his experiments the calls — 
from the occupants of a boat were heard on a yacht 
more than five miles distant. In this case the direc-— 
tion was horizontal, and no doubt the conditions were — 
exceptionally favourable for the transmission of sound, — 
but we should expect the conditions generally to t 
good for the transmission of sound in an upward — 
direction, where there are no solid objects to make 
sound shadows. 

It seems then that birds can have little 
in following coast-lines by day or night. wae 

Migrating birds, however, can only follow rivers 
by sound when these are so wide as to have waves 
breaking on their shores or so rapid that sufficient 
noise is made by the water tumbling over rocks. 

Mr. Griffith Brewer tells me that at sight ponds 
and rivers are indistinguishable from grass fields even 
in bright moonlight, except that the surface of the 
water acts as a mirror in which the brilliant reflec- 
tion of the moon or even of a star is seen. This can 
only be an efficient guide to migrating birds on moon- 
light nights with a clear sky and when they are 
flying in such a direction that the image of the moon 
in the water is within their field of vision. Mos 
birds have their eyes at the sides of their heads,* and 
this would give them the power of watching the 
reflection of the moon in a river or sea when it is 


1 Report on Eight Balloon Ascents in 1862 by James Glaisher, F.R.S. 
B.A. Report, 1862, p. 490. “ . 

% See ‘‘ Papers on Mechanical and Physical Subjects," by Osborne= 
Reynolds, F.R.S., pp. 9 and 157. % 

3 Certain carnivorous birds have their eves more in front; birds follow 
the same general rule as other animals ; the eyes of the hunter are in front 
which must help him to see his prey, and the eyes of the hunted are at the 
side of the head to enable him to watch his pursuer. De 


People shouting 


difficulty 


NOVEMBER 27, 1913] 


almost behind them, whereas man could only see the 
reflection when flying more or less towards it. 

In following these routes birds may also be able to 
travel with less exertion. When the sun is shining, 
land is warmer than water; the reverse is the case at 
night. This difference of temperature causes a down- 
ward air current over water on sunny days, and in 
calm weather this is most markedly felt even when 
pe over as small a piece of water as the Fleet 

ond near Farnborough. This pondis about 1000 yards 
long and about 7oo yards wide at its widest point, 
and is very shallow. Mr. O’Gorman tells me that 
on a sunny day a balloon drifted slowly over the pond 
and at once began to fall with considerable rapidity 
through a distance of perhaps 2000 feet, and ballast 
had to be thrown out to preyént it reaching the water. 
Aéroplanes are sensitive to’ the down current over 
quite small ponds on sunny days, and drop in passing 
over them. We thus have direct evidence of a down- 
ward current over a small sheet of water on a sunny 
day, and this must mean an updraught over the land 
near the water. 

Coast-lines are often marked out by cumulus clouds 
during the daytime. Dr. Shaw tells me that this is 
an indication of local rising air currents, and that 
the bases of clouds of this type are assigned to a 
height of from 4000 to sooo ft. 

If birds make use of these upcurrents they should 

‘fly over the land near the water in the daytime, and 
if there is a wind they should fly on the windward 
side of a river. Observations on this point would be 
of great interest. In windy weather the upcurrent 
would be much reduced, and perhaps would be in- 
appreciable. 
_ At night we should expect the opposite effect to be 
produced, but I know of no evidence on this point, 
and the upcurrent over water may be inappreciable. 
To take advantage of it, if it exists, birds should fly 
over water at night, or if there is a wind on the lee 
side of a river. 

' An on-shore wind striking against the cliffs pro- 
“duces an upcurrent, and this also birds would find 
advantageous. : 

There may be other advantages in valley routes, 
‘such as perhaps better conditions with regard to 
wind, and Dr. Gadow has pointed out to me that 
_ many of the birds that follow coast-lines and rivers 
‘are aquatic or semi-aquatic, and that even the more 
terrestrial birds will find Letter stores of food in river 
valleys than along the bordering hill ranges. 

' The foregoing throws very little light on the difficult 
ems involved in the migration of birds. It is 
oped, however, that other and more important obser- 
vations will be made from aéroplanes and airships, 
and that these will enable us to understand a little 
more about the mystery of the migration of birds. 
‘ Horace Darwin. 

November, 1913. 


tr The Elephant Trench at Dewlish. 


In the hope of finding an explanation as to the 
origin of the so-called elephant trench at Dewlish, 
Mr. Clement Reid (Nature, vol. xcii., p. 96), asks 
if. under desert conditions, there is any tendency for 
winds to cut trenches with rounded blind ends in 
soft limestone deposits. Having travelled in the 
Egyptian and other deserts, and having camped for 
some months on soft Tertiary limestones in the stormy 
region at the mouth of the Gulf of Suez, a few 
_remarks from my pen may be of interest in this 
connection. 

The only desert locality where I have seen trenches 
at all resembling that at Dewlish is in the Jemsa area 
near the mouth of the Gulf of Suez. On the low 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


371 


flat isthmus which joins the headland of Ras Jemsa to 
the mainland there are cracks or openings in the soft 
“Raised Beach” deposits which cover the Tertiary 
Gypseous limestone formation of this area. The 
cracks are usually directed N.E.-S.W., and are 
parallel to the slip-planes which have disturbed the 
underlying deposits. The prevailing wind, which is 
strong and persistent, blows from the N.W. off the 
plain behind the Gebel Zeit range. Part of the sand 
and dust which it carries is dropped when its velocity 
decreases, namely in any hollow or wind-shadow that 
may occur. The cracks above-mentioned, which may 
be likened to crevasses in glaciers, form one of the 
receptacles for this wind-borne material, and being 
thus partially filled and obliterated, are not easily 
observed, and men and camels have been known to 
flounder into them. The fact that they are only 
partially filled shows that they are in process of 
formation now, and their origin would seem to be 
due to the solution of both series of deposits along 
such lines of weakness as joints or slip-planes. 

The infilling of hollows is typical of the desert and 
we know that an artificially excavated hole is not 
deepened, but, on the contrary, tends to be obliterated 
by wind-driven sand. 

If a rock of uniform texture but containing hard 
nodules, such as flints, is abraded by sand, the sur- 
face is fluted, and small hollows are scoured round 
the nodule. Mr. Reid’s letter does not suggest the 
presence of such hollows, and their absence must be 
regarded as another point against the wind-erosion 
theory. 

From the description of the trench, I gather that 
it occurs, not on the edge of a plateau, but on the 
surface of the open downs, and thus resembles, as 
Mr. Reid suggests, the well-known swallow-holes of 
the Great Scar Limestone, which frequently engulf 
sheep and other denizens of the plateaux. Mr. Reid 
writes in the singular number, as if only one end 
of the trench was rounded. This again is a feature 
common to swallow-holes, where the detritus carried 
by the disappearing stream abrades only the upstream 
end of the hole. Is this rounded end so situated with 
regard to the surrounding chal'k topography that it 
would be possible for a stream of water to have 
entered the trench from that end? Mr. Reid tells us 
that open trenches in the chalk are unknown else- 
where; are not the deep and narrow holes in the 
chalk, now filled with red clay, which are to be seen 
in the railway cuttings between Cambridge and Lon- 
don, supposed to have the same origin as the sinks 
of the Yorkshire wolds? 

As cracks and joints in the chalk are conspicuous 
by their absence, perhaps the point or line of weak- 
ness, which originally determined the position of the 
trench, has been eroded away completely. The ques- 
tion arises—Is there any relation between the direction 
of the trench and the direction of the joints in the 
country rock? 

The nature of the bottom of the trench and the 
relation of the trench to the surrounding topography 
should tell us something definite as to its possible 
origin, but in the meantime I think we may regard 
the wind-erosion hypothesis as untenable. 

H. T. Ferrar. 

Survey Department of Egypt, November 5. 


On a Habitat of a Marine Ameba. 


As our knowledge of marine Amcebe is very scanty 
it is worth while recording what appears to be a 
common habitat of one of these animals. 

At various times from May to October this year 
Amcebz were observed casually in the water obtained 


: by squeezing out the contents of the gastral cavity 


372 


of Sycons. Occasionally they were obtained in this 
way in fair quantity. It was therefore thought prob- 
able that a more careful examination of a number of 
these sponges would be interesting in determining 
whether this habitat is a usual one. Accordingly 
twenty specimens of Sycon coronatum, varying in 
length from about 2 to 4 cm., were examined. The 
contents of the gastral cavities of these specimens 
were squeezed on to a slide and a careful search for 
Amoeba made. 

Of the twenty specimens thus examined one or 
more Amcebz were found in all except three. Usually 
about three or four specimens were obtained from 
each sponge; only one Amoeba, however, was found 
in a few of the squeezings, but. from one sponge 
nineteen of these animals were counted, and doubtless 
not all those present were seen. It is therefore 
evident that these sponges are a common habitat of 
marine Amoebee, whence these lowly animals may be 
obtained fairly easily. 

There is no likelihood that this habitat is an exclu- 
sive one; doubtless Amcebze occur in a great many 
other situations in the sea, from which, however, they 
can only be obtained with some difficulty, 

The Amoebz obtained from the sponges were rather 
small, Specimens when measured in one common 
phase were found to be about 80 » long and 40 b 
broad, being, however, in this phase almost uniform 
in breadth, and having only slightly rounded ends, 
but when creeping such specimens stretch out to a 
length of more than 90 #. The animals move quickly, 
progressing often in a straight line and flowing with 
a motion somewhat like that of planarians; at other 
times thick, blunt, and—at first—hyaline pseudopodia 
may be extruded from one or more parts of the body. 
So far as has been observed, the animals appear to 
have a definite posterior end. The protoplasm is 
highly and coarsely granular, except at the periphery, 
and in some specimens ingested diatoms and other 
inclusions were to be seen. The contractile vacuole 
has not been made out definitely, but a stainable 
vesicle of constant size visible through a high power 
of a microscope in the anterior region of the living 
animal appears undoubtedly to be the nucleus. The 
absence of an easily visible nucleus and nucleolus 
males it easy to distinguish the Amcebe from the 
more or less amceboid forms of some sponge cells, 
which, moreover, are mostly spherical, and do not 
show anything like the active movement of the 
Amcebee. 

In their general characters these Amoeba resemble 
the species described by Gruber (Zeits. fiir Wiss. Zool., 
vol. xli., 1885, Leipzig, ‘Studien tiber Amében,” 
p- 219) as Amoeba crystalligera, but further investiga- 
tions are necessary to establish their identity with 
that species. J. H. Orroy. 

The Laboratcry, Plymouth. 


A Remarkable Meteor on November 24. 

Last night, November 24, at 8.47 p.m., a very 
remarkable meteor was seen in the northern sky. 
It moved slowly in an east to west direction, describ- 
ing a straight path of about 10° in length, which 
made a small angle (of some 20°) with the horizon, 
the eastern end being the lower, and remained visible 
for four or five seconds. 

It presented a comet-like appearance, having a 
bright nucleus surrounded by a less intensely luminous 
envelope, which streamed out behind, forming a kind 
of double tail. Conspicuous blue (or green) flares 
were visible in the “tail,” but the appearance lasted 
such a short time that I am unable to state exactly 
how they were distributed. It vanished as suddenly 
and as silently as it had flashed out. 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[ NOVEMBER 27, 1913 


The northern sky being overcast at the time, it was, 
of course, impossible to lay down its track relatively _ 
to the stars, but its position Was referred to some — 
tree-tops, which were silhouetted against the sky, and — 
from observations made next morning I am able to 
state that the middle point of the apparent track was — 
situated at an altitude of about 17° above the horizon, — 
and at about 7° or 8° east of the north point. 

Although seen through clouds which were sufficient — 
to obscure all stars in its neighbourhood, including — 
the conspicuous constellation of Ursa Major, the meteor — 
appeared far more luminous than the planet Venus 
even at its brightest. In fact, with one exception, it 
was the brightest meteor I have ever seen. The one — 
exception was the splendid daylight meteor of — 
February 8, 1894, which appeared in full sunshine — 
within a few minutes of noon, but was still bright — 
enough to attract the attention of thousands of people 
at various places over an extended tract of country, 
from London to Whitby, and from Chelmsford, in 
Essex, to Ballinasloe, in the west of Ireland. ‘ 

Artuur A. Rampaur. 

Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, November 25. 


Darwinism 100 Years Ago. 


In reference to Dr. Gadow’s interesting quotation — 
from Tiedemann (Nature, November 13), may I 
remind your readers that the principle of sexual 
selection was clearly enunciated by Erasmus Darwin — 
in his *‘ Zoonomia,”’ first published in 1794? I quote 
from an edition of 1800. ‘‘A great want of one part 
of the animal world has consisted in the desire of 
the exclusive possession of the females; and these — 
have acquired weapons to combat each other for this — 
purpose. . . . So the horns of the stag are sharp to 
offend his adversary, but are branched for the pur-— 
pose of parrying or receiving the thrusts of horns 
similar to his own, and have therefore been formed 
for the purpose of combating other stags for the 
exclusive possession of the females; who are observed, 
like the ladies in the times of chivalry, to attend — 
the car of the victor. ... The final cause of this 
contest amongst the males seems to be that the 
strongest and. most active animal should propagate — 
the species, which should thence become improved.” — 

ARTHUR Denby. 

University of London, King’s College, 

November 19. 


Intra-atomic Charge. 
In a previous letter to NATURE (July 20, 1911, p. 78) 
the hypothesis was proposed that the atomic weight — 
being equal to about twice the intra-atomic charge 
“to each possible intra-atomic charge corresponds a 
possible element,”’ or that (Phys. Zeitschr., xiv., 1912, 
p- 39), “if all elements be arranged in order of in 
creasing atomic weights, the number of each element 
in that series must be equal to its intra-~atomic 
charge.” il 
Charges being known only very roughly (probably 
correct to 20 per cent.), and the number of the last” 
element Ur in the series not being equal even approx 
mately to half its atomic weight, either the number of 
elements in Mendeléeff’s system is not correct (tha 
was supposed to be the case in the first letter), or 
the intra-atomic charge for the elements at the end 
of the series is much smaller than that deduced from 
experiment (about too for Au). 
Now, according to Rutherford, the ratio of the 
scattering of « particles per atom divided by the 
square of the charge must be constant. Geiger and — 
Marsden (Phil. Mag., xxv., pp. 617 and 618, notes” 


' ordinary course of business routine, 


NOVEMBER 27, 1913| 


NATURE 


373 


1 and 2), putting the nuclear charge proportional to 
the atomic weight, found values, however, showing, 
not constancy, but systematic deviation from (mean 
values) 3-825 for Cu to 3-25 for Au. If now in these 
values the number M of the place each element occu- 
pies in Mendeléeff’s series is taken instead of A, the 
atomic weight, we get a real constant (18:7+0:3); 
hence the hypothesis proposed holds good for Men- 
deléeff’s series, but the nuclear charge is not equal to 
half the atomic weight. Should thus the mass of the 
atom consist for by far the greatest part of @ particles, 
then the nucleus too must contain electrons to com- 
pensate this extra charge. 


Table of the Ratio of the Scattering per Atom 
Divided by A* Compared with that Divided by M?. 


M 

I I Mean |. ee ni ae M 
EM 9s Bo kas) BIOS 2523 Gls eee BENS ess 2 
TGS Rs cee Horne 9 abc i - 189 18°4 ... 47 
CIES Sg 2c emo We aS es pes 4 181 EGG: i... 50 
th. a. SiS... d0 314 Atom o B7sont ts 10'6)..5' 82 
Au. s. oy aaa oe i 3°25 oemelga 18"4 ... 83 

Means.) 344. ..<3°45 +--+. 34d 5 ave oOuser 10'O 


A. VAN DER BROEK. 
Gorssel, Holland, November to. 


The Stone Implements of the Tasmanians. 


In reply to Mr. J. P. Johnson’s letter on Tasmanian 
stone implements in Narure of November 13, atten- 
tion may be directed to the paper read by M. Exsteens 
before the International Prehistoric Congress at 
Geneva last year, and destined to appear in vol. ii. 
of the Compte-rendu. It seems that the common 


‘opinion in Europe as to the culture represented by 


these relics of a recently extinct race was based prin- 
cipally on rejects from a large collection; and an 


inspection of the better worked specimens is sufficient 


to upset their eolithic origin in favour of a later 


‘stage, viz. Le Moustier-Aurignac, which is precisely 


Mr. Johnson’s view. In 1906 the Rev. C. Wilkinson 
and Mr. Anthony presented a small but typical series 
of that character to the British Museum. 
‘ REGINALD A. SMITH. 
Society of Antiquaries of London, 
Burlington House, W., November 18. 


Museum Glass. 
_ In connection with a worl I am writing on ‘‘ The 


_ History of Anatomy," I have been induced to trace 
' the rise of the anatomical museum, and this appears 
- to have depended to a larger extent than one would 
- have suspected on the price of spirit and museum 


jars. In the second half of the eighteenth century 
John Hunter was using about 5000 museum jars for 
his spirit preparations. It would be interesting to 
learn whether these were made specially to his order, 
as I suspect, which firm he dealt with, and how 


continuous records of the prices of circular and rect- 
angular glass jars used in museum work, and also 


the period when they were first manufactured in the 


From 1750 to 

1850 is the period of most importance. 

; PL J.. Core. 
University College, Reading, November 15. 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92| 


‘much he was charged. Perhaps some old-established | 
‘glass manufacturers can give me some isolated or 


| of interest apart from its position. 


CAPTAIN SCOTT’S LAST EXPEDITION. 

Cas SCOTT’S last journal has the deep 

interest of one of the most tragic documents 
in the history of exploration, for the fate of his 
party on its return from its magnificent and suc- 
cessful journey will surround his name with the 
romance that immortalises those of Franklin and 
of Burke and Wills. The human interest of 
Captain Scott’s journals is greater than the geo- 
graphical, for his-route by the Beardmore Glacier 
was the same as that of Shackleton to one hundred 
miles from the Pole, and the remainder of the 
route was over a plateau with no special features 
The reader 
therefore naturally hurries through the accounts 
of the voyage out, the landing on the middle of the 
western coast of Ross Island, the depét laying in 
the first season, the happy life at the winter 
quarters, and the reports of enthusiastic scientific 
investigation by the staff. He will read with 
pleasure the eulogies of Dr. Wilson and the 
tributes to the capacity and enterprise of all the 
members of the expedition; and he may note, too, 
that Captain Scott started greatly preferring 
ponies to dogs, and that the old Discovery hut 
was used as an intermediate station on the way 
to the Barrier; the remarks that it was cold is not 
surprising, since half its heating apparatus had 
been left in New Zealand, and the insulating 
material on which its warmth depended was not 
inserted. , 

The Southern Party, with its various supporting 
parties, started between October 24 and November 
3, with sledges drawn by motors, ponies, and 
dogs; and this part of the narrative inevitably 
recalls the old maxim against mixed transport. 
The transport was, however, gradually unified by 
the failure of the motors and the shooting of the 
ponies, the flesh of which was used as food, mainly 
for the dogs. After the fateful return of the dogs 
from the lower end of the Beardmore Glacier on 
December 12, the journey was continued with 
man-hauled sledges, with the aid of two supporting 
parties, which returned later. Eighteen miles 
from the Pole came the discovery of a camp and 
many dog tracks, followed by finding Amundsen’s 
tent and letters, which have given conclusive 
evidence that both parties reached their goal. 

The interest increases in the story of the return 
march, maintained with heroic persistence in spite 
of the ever-growing difficulties and weakness, 
which led to the final tragedy only eleven miles 
from the ample store of food and fuel at One Ton 
Depot. Thereis no direct statement as to the real 
cause of the disaster. Dr. Wilson’s diary may be 
expected to contain more explicit evidence; but 
though various extracts from Dr. Wilson’s diary 
are quoted on comparatively unimportant details, 
there-is none regarding the main problem. The 

1 “Scott's Last Expedition.” In 2 vols. Vol. i., Being the Journals of 
Captain R. F. Scott, R.N., C.V.O. Pp. xxvi+633+plates. Vol. ii., Being the 
Reports of the Journeys and the Scientific Work undertaken by Dr. E. A. 
Wilson and the Surviving Members of the Expedition. Pp. xv-+534+plates. 


Arranged by Leonard Huxley. With a Preface by Sir Clements R. Markham, 
K.C.B., F.R.S. (London: Smith, Elder and Co,, 1913.) Price 42s. net. 


374 


NATURE 


[ NOVEMBER 27, I9I3. 


gradual collapse of Evans with his shed finger 
nails, burst blisters, suppurating wounds, and 
mental lethargy, the swelling of the feet which 
gradually affected the whole party, and the few 
other symptoms stated, and those which may be 
read between the lines, all indicate scurvy as the 
cause of the gradual weakening of the party; and 
as the provisions had been cut down to a minimum, 
the slow progress rendered necessary the reduc- 
tion of the daily rations. The fall which is said 
possibly to have injured Evans is apparently hypo- 
thetical, and would have happened so late in his 
illness that it would be an effect, and not a cause. 
The explanation that the party was finally stopped 


[sees 


Photo.) 


by a ten days’ blizzard is inadequate, for though 
meteorological observations are not given for all 
the days between the arrival at the final camp 
and Capt. Scott’s last entry, the weather to the 
north during part of the time is described as cold 
but fine; and though blizzards may be local, it 
seems most improbable that one should have lasted 
sufficiently long to have prevented the last march 
of eleven miles to One Ton Depét, unless the men 
had been incapacitated by weakness. 

Dr. Wilson’s journals may contain more precise 
information, but from the general evidence in 
Captain Scott’s, it appears probable that scurvy 
was responsible for the disaster. The last pages 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


Fic, 1.—Amundsen’s tent at the South Pole. 


in the journal are ennobled by the magnificent 
courage with which the men awaited their slow 
but inexorable doom. - 

The second volume consists of the narratives 
of the subsidiary expeditions and _ preliminary 
statements of the scientific work accomplished, 
and thus. calls here for longer notice. It would 
have been convenient if the names of the authors 
had been given in the list of contents. The volume 
opens with an account of the arduous journey by 
Dr. Wilson, Lieut. Bowers, and Mr. Cherry- 
| Garrard in the mid-winter of 1911 to the Emperor 
| Penguin rookery on the edge of the Barrier. This 
| bird nests in the coldest season of the year, and 


From ‘‘Scott’s Last Expedition.” [Lieut, Bowers. 
as knowledge of its embryology might give very 
interesting results, an expedition was made to 
collect the young eggs. According to the opinion 
quoted in vol. ii., p. 77, Captain Scott considered 
this journey to have been the hardest which has 
ever been done. The temperature recorded of 
—77° F. has only been exceeded in Siberia. 

The narrative of the Northern Party is given by 
Commander Campbell, who, with Dr. Levick, Mr. 
Priestley as geologist, and three men, were sent 
in the Terra Nova to reach King Edward Land, 
east of the Barrier. The steamer was unable to 
penetrate the pack ice, and according to the 
alternative instructions from Captain Scott, the 


NOVEMBER 27, 1913] 


party was landed at Cape Adare at the winter 
quarters of the Southern Cross Expedition. 
therefore became the Northern 
Eastern Party. Cape Adare proved an unsatis- 
factory base, as the effort to explore the coast to 
the west proved impos- | 


sible owing to the un- 
favourable condition of 
the ice. The party was 
confined to a more de- 
tailed survey of Robert- 
son Bay. In the follow- 
ing spring the six men 
were _ transferred to 
Terra Nova Bay for a 
summer’s work in that 
district. The Terra Nova 
was unable to relieve 
them in the autumn, 
owing to the thickness of 
the pack ice. and, as they 
had been landed with 
only stores and equip- 
meat for the summer, 
they had to live through 
the winter on the re- 
sources of the country. 
Seais and penguins pro- 
vided their food and fuel; 
they dug a dwelling 
house in a snowdrift, and 
after a winter of great 
privations they sledged 
down the coast to 
McMurdo . Sound; they 
found a food cairn just in 
time, and were’ shortly 
afterwards rescued by 
the Terra’ Nova. It 
appears from Commander 
Campbell’s narrative that 
they began the winter 
with very slight hope of 
living through it, and 
their survival reflects the 
highest credit on their 
courage, resource, and 
good comradeship. 

The remaining narra- 
tives are the record of the 
ascent of Mt. Erebus by 
Mr. Priestley, of the last 
year’s life at Cape Evans 
and the search for the 
Southern Party by Dr. 
Atkinson, and of the vari- 
ous voyages of the Terra 
Nova by Commanders 
Evans and Pennell. 


The last section of the 
general sketches of the scientific work undertaken 
during the expedition, but most of these are mainly 
statements of the work undertaken, for it is of 
course too early to know the results. 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 295 


obviously prove very important. Two of the most 
complete sections are those on the geological work 
on the: mainland west of McMurdo Sound by Mr. 
Griffith Taylor and Mr. Debenham. Mr. Taylor 
reproduces an interesting diagram by Prof. David 


3. 2.—The ramparts of Mount Erebus, From “ Scott's Last Expedition.” [(/7. H. G. Ponting. 


showing the striking resemblance in structure 
between the coast of South Victoria Land and the 
Pacific coast of Australia. The geological collec- 
tions and observations have not yet been worked 
out, but sufficient is announced to show that very 


376 


NATURE 


WG 


[NOVEMBER 27, 1913 


important results were secured. According to the 
first accounts, this coast includes granites of two 
ages. Prof, David and Mr. Priestley, during the 
Shackleton Expedition, referred all the granites to 
one period; according to the present volume 
(p. 433), the granites are of infinite variety, and 
probably belong to many ages. The majority are 
assigned to the interval between Cambrian times 
and the deposition of the Beacon Sandstone; and 
perhaps the most important contribution that is 
promised by this expedition is the determination of 
the age of these sandstones owing to the discovery 
of some fossil plants, which are said to be much 
better than the indefinite remains collected by the 
two previous expeditions. The specific identifica- 
tion of the fossils is expected, and they are said 
to indicate a late Paleozoic age. Further details 
are given of the great dolerite sill intruded into 
the Beacon Sandstone, and from the description 
it appears to be strikingly like that which forms 
the most conspicuous feature on the central high- 
lands of Tasmania. Some copper ore was found 
on the cliffs at Cape Bernacchi. 

Mr. C. S. Wright describes the nature of his 
observations on the properties of ice, and briefly 
discusses the cause of the northward flow of 
the Barrier. It is now universally agreed that 
the Barrier is due to the accumulation of snow, ‘as 
first suggested in Nature, and as the ice is afloat 
close to its landward end, it can only flow north- 
ward; and if the snowfall is continuous across it 
the velocity is necessarily greatest along its 
northern edge. Mr. Wright has also described the 
magnetic, electrical, and pendulum observations, 
and the measurements of the radioactivity of the 
air. 

The biologist, Mr. Lillie, has given a short 
summary of the zoological work, and as fifteen rich 
trawl hauls were made, many new species may be 
expected. He remarks, however, while though 
there is an extraordinary wealth of individuals, 
the variety of forms is not very great, whereas 
the one Antarctic haul of the Challenger contained 
the highest proportion of new forms. But Mr. 
Lillie’s result is what would have been expected, 
especially in the shallower waters. 

The meteorological report by Dr. Simpson, 
though he says it will take years to work out the 
full results, contains some interesting suggestions. 
One passage illustrates the malicious irony of fate. 
He points out “one can now say definitely that 
the blizzards which have been so fateful to British 
Antarctic exploration are local winds confined to 
the western half of the Ross Barrier” (vol. ii., 
p. 463). He adds: “If this had been known pre- 
viously, the history of the conquest of the South 
Pole would have been very different.’’ Dr. Simp- 
son was originally selected as the physicist for the 
expedition of the Discovery, but he was rejected 
on the grounds of health by the naval .medical 
authorities. If he had gone on that expedition 
its observations on its chief meteorological problem 
would not have been set aside as unintelligible, and 
his conclusion would no doubt have then been so 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


Colorado (Montrose and San Miguel counties), — 


clearly recognised that the great Antarctic tragedy — 
might never have occurred. va 
Both volumes are superbly illustrated by photo- 
graphs by Mr. Ponting, including one in natural _ 
colours, and by coloured plates after the beautiful 
sketches by Dr. Wilson. J. WeGi 


RADIUM RESOURCES. 

N address to the sixteenth annual convention — 

of the American Mining Congress, Philadel- 
phia, October 20-24, by Mr. C. L. Parsons, of 
the Division of Mineral Technology, Bureau of — 
Mines, is published in Science of October 31, — 
dealing with the present’ commercial situation as 
regards radium and its ores, the available sources 
of radium in America and elsewhere, the prospect- 
ing for, concentration, and costs of mining carno- 
tite, and the probable future of radium in the 
treatment of disease. A bulletin is about to be 
issued by the Bureau of Mines, and an advance 
statement was issued in April directing attention 
to the fact that in 1912 nearly three times as much ~ 
radium in the form of carnotite deposits was pro- 
duced from Colorado as from all the rest of the 
world put together, and was exported almost — 
entirely to Europe. a 
The publication of this statement has already 
resulted in a considerable increase in the selling 
price of the material, and has rendered ores con- — 
taining less than 2 per cent. of uranium oxide sale- 
able, whereas before they were worthless. Ameri- 
can carnotite is found in several districts in — 


the Paradox Valley being described as the richest 
known radium-bearing region of the world, an 
in Utah, north-west of these counties, the deposits — 
of which are of lower grade, but cost less in 
transportation than those of Colorado. In the 
latter case (Paradox Valley) mining costs 
28 dollars to 4o dollars, and hauling charges to — 
the railway 18 dollars to 20 dollars. The costs — 
in the European markets average 70 dollars, and — 
a 2 per cent. ore at Hamburg now sells at — 
95 dollars per ton. Mechanical concentration has 
been successfully employed, and it appears can — 
save at least one-half of the material now wasted. — 

The equilibrium amount of radium (element) in — 
a 2 per cent. U;O, ore is about 5°25 milligrams — 
per ton. The actual amount present in carnotite 
may safely be reckoned to be at least 4 mg., 
which, when extracted, sells for about rool. — 
Of this sum 2ol. represents cost of raw material, 
leaving Sol. per ton margin for the cost of extrac- — 
tion and profits of the manufacturer and sales- — 
man. ; 

Efforts are being made to foster the produc- — 
tion of radium ,in the U.S.A., for although the 
total value of the world’s output is insignificant, 
compared with that of commoner materials, being 
estimated for 1912 as 1,000,000 dollars, its poten- 
tialities in work for the public knowledge and — 
public weal cannot be measured in cash. A — 
National Radium Institute has been formed, work- 
ing in conjunction with the Bureau of Mines, for 


” 


NOVEMBER 27, 1913] 


NATURE 377 


the performance of experiments and publication | 


of results in concentration of carnotite ores, re- 


sufficient radium for extensive trial in the treat- 
ment of cancer. 

From a point of view nearer home, it is clear 
that, as in the case of the Austrian deposits, so 
also everywhere where radium is found, the ques- 
tion of its supply will be regarded more and more 
as of national importance, and a nation trusting 
to the equitable operation of the laws of supply 
and demand is likely to be squeezed out. The 
situation for this country is a sufficiently serious 
one. Nothing is more certain than that, if radium 
is to be of use in the treatment of cancer, small 
quantities are not merely worthless, but may even 
do harm rather than good. Grams of radium in 
each large centre of population, kept in operation 
every minute of the twenty-four hours, alone will 
meet the impending development. Whence is it 
to be obtained? Austria and America have the 
radium, Germany the mesothorium raw material. 
A future source of supply for this country is a 
question of national concern, though we have not, 
like the Bureau of Mines in America, a ministerial 
department likely to move in the matter spon- 
taneously. In the public interest the matter 
should be lifted once for all above the plane of 
private venture and financial speculation. Will 
not the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy fulfil 
this public duty in lieu of a Bureau of Mines, and 
appoint an expert committee, mainly of practical 
mining authorities, but with representatives of 
technical chemistry and medicine, to consider the 
situation and take energetic steps to meet it? 

FREDERICK Soppy. 


PRESENTATION OF 


THE BUST OF SIR 


HENRY ~ROSCOE TO THE. CHEMICAL 
SOCIETY. 
HE former students of the Right Hon. 


Sir Henry Roscoe decided some time back to 
commemorate the celebration of his eightieth 
birthday in January, 1913, by presenting his bust 
to the Chemical Society of London. With this 
object in view a committee was formed, of which 
Sir Edward Thorpe has acted as chairman, and 
on which many prominent chemists who were 
students of Sir Henry’s during the long period 
he occupied the Chair of Chemistry at Owens 
College, now the University, Manchester, were 
associated. The formal presentation of the bust, 
a photograph of which is here reproduced, was 
made at the Rooms of the Chemical Society on 
Thursday last, November 20. 

Among those present, in addition to Sir Henry 
Roscoe, were Miss Roscoe, Mr. and Mrs. Mallet, Mrs. 
Edward Enfield, Mr. E. W. Enfield, Sir Edward 
Thorpe, Sir Archibald Geikie (president of the Royal 


Society), Prof. W. H. Perkin (president of the 
Chemical Society), Prof. H. E. Armstrong, Prof. 
H. B. Dixon, Prof. P. F. Frankland, Dr. Hugo 


Miller, Prof. W. Odling, Prof. Emerson Reynolds, 

Sir William Tilden, Sir Thomas and Lady Barlow, 
Sir J. Rose Bradford and Lady Bradford, Sir Henry 
Miers, Dr. Aubrey Strahan (president of the Geo- 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


: *< c f | Cain, Dr. 
duction of present wastage, and the extraction of | j. Kane 


| with the commemoration had now 


logical Society) and Mrs. Strahan, Mr. Harry Baker, 
Mr. E. J. Bevan, Dr. Horace T. Brown, Dr. J. C. 
H. G. Colman, Prof. A. W. Crossley, Dr. 
Dr. Dobbie, Mr. J. M. Fletcher, Prof. 
Harden, Mr. A. J. King, Dr. C. Martin, Dr. 
Rudolph Messel, Dr. E. J. Mills, Mr. Pattison Muir, 
Dr. J. C. Philip, Mr. Rupert Potter, Prof. Schuster, 
Dr. Alexander Scott, Mr. Evelyn Shaw, Dr. S. Siniles, 
Mr. Watson Smith, Dr. A. Smith Woodward, and Dr. 
Charles A. Keane (secretary to the committee). 


Sir Edward Thorpe first presented to Sir Henry 
Roscoe the following address from his former 
students, which had been given him in a_ pre- 
liminary form on the actual day of his birthday, 
and to which the signatures of those associated 
been added. 


On April 22, 1904, the jubilee of your doctorate of 


| Heidelberg University, it was the privilege of 300 
of your friends and pupils to express to you their 


Bust of the Right Hon. Sir Henry Roscoe. 


appreciation of your services to chemical science, and 
especially their gratitude to you for vour stimulating 
influence as their teacher, and for ‘your personal 
interest in their progress and welfare which has 
endéared you so lastingly to one and all. 

To-day, on the attainment of your eightieth birth- 
day, we gladly welcome a further opportunity of 
recording our continued appreciation of your long 
life and work. We extend to you our most sincere 
and heartfelt congratulations, and rejoice to know 
that you have been granted health and strength thus 
to prolong your successful labours and activities, and 
to add to the large debt of thanks that is your due 
from your pupils, your science, and your country. 

Although it is now twenty-seven years since you 
resigned the chair of chemistry at Owens College, 
your influence as our teacher and friend has continued 
with us. Amongst your former pupils there are many 
who, thanks to the teaching they received at your 
hands, have been enabled to contribute to the ad- 
vancement of science, and who in their turn, both in 


378 


NATURE 


[NOVEMBER 27, 1913 


academic work and in industry have been privileged to 
train a second generation of men—your chemical 
grandchildren—whose labours it is hoped may add 
further testimony to the. inestimable value of your 
guidance and example. 

As a permanent tribute of our gratitude and affec- 
tion towards you and in grateful remembrance of all 
your kindnesses and encouragement to us, we desire, 
on this occasion, to present your bust to the Chemical 
Society of London. We trust this proposal will com- 
mend itself to you, and that it will be some pleasure 
to you and your children to know that such an asso- 
ciation with the representative Chemical Society of 
this country will be established for all time. 

We sincerely wish that you may be spared to enjoy 
further years of good health, happiness, and activity. 


The address had been signed by about 140 of 
Sir Henry’s former students, many of whom now 
occupy responsible positions both in academic 
work and in association with chemical industries, 
and are to-day distributed not only in all parts 
of the United Kingdom, but also in Germany, 
Russia, Canada, the United States of America, 
Australia, South Africa, and Japan. 

Sir Edward Thorpe then unveiled the bust of Sir 
Henry Roscoe, and on behalf of the subscribers 
asked the president of the Chemical Society to 
accept it as a permanent memento from Sir 
Henry’s former students of his lifelong association 
with, and interest in, the welfare of the society. 
Sir Edward also extended to Mr. Albert 
Drury, R.A., the thanks of the committee for the 
excellent and striking likeness that he had secured. 
He also asked Sir Henry to accept as a further 
memento from his students a replica of the bust 
for himself and the members of his family, which 
was in course of preparation, 

The gift to the Chemical Society was acknow- 
ledged by the president, Prof. W. H. Perkin, 
F.R.S., who said he feit sure that it would be a 
great pleasure to the members of the council and 
to the fellows of the society to place the bust in a 
fitting position, in their rooms, where they would 
always value it as a token of the great admiration 
and affection they all had for Sir Henry Roscoe. 
He also expressed to Sir Henry Roscoe the appre- 
ciation of the fellows of the society for his con- 
tinued interest in the society, and for the valuable 
donations that he had given them, especially in 
connection with their library. 

Sir Henry Roscoe, in acknowledging the gifts 
both to himself personally and to the Chemical 
Society, expressed the great pleasure that it gave 
him to be present, and to say how deeply touched 
he was by this renewed expression of esteem and 
affection thus shown to him by his old pupils. 

““No honours, no rewards, can, I think,’’ he said, 
“compare with this, and to these men, whom I like 
to look upon as my scientific sons, come my heartfelt 
thanks. To their kindness rather than to my own 
deserts is this fresh recognition due, for looking back 
over my fourscore years of life, 1 see how small the 
deeds, great though the will may have been. To 
you, Sir Edward Thorpe, as chairman of the com- 
mittee, as well as to Dr. Charles Keane, the secretary, 
and to the other members of the committee, my 
special thanks are due. I thank the Chemical Society 
through you, Mr. President, for the great honour it 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92| 


has done me by placing my effigy in its library. I _ 
cannot flatter myself that the coming generation of — 
fellows of the Chemical Society, will look upon my 
face with the veneration with which they will gaze on 
the features of the great masters whose busts adorn — 
your walls, but if the sight of this one recalls to their — 
memory that this was a man who loved his science, 
his teaching, and his students, and if that sight helps — 
to imbue them witha like love, then perhaps my bust in 
your library may be of some use. Now, my friends, I 
thank you all, and wish you all God-speed.” 


NOTES. 


We regret greatly to announce that Sir Robert S. — 
Ball, F.R.S., Lowndean professor of astronomy and 
geometry in the University of Cambridge, and director 
of the Cambridge Observatory, died on ‘Tuesday, 
November 25, at seventy-three years of age. 


Tue Home Secretary has appointed a Committee 
to inquire what acticn has been taken under the Wild 
Birds Protection Acts for the protection of wild birds, 
and to consider whether any amendments of the law 
or improvements in its administration are required. 
‘The members of the Committee are:—The Hon. E. S. 
Montagu, M.P., Under-Secretary of State for India 
(chairman); Lord Lucas, Parliamentary Secretary to 
the Board of Agriculture; Mr. Frank Elliott, of the 
Home Office; Mr. E. G. B. Meade-Waldo, Mr. W. R. 
Ogilvie Grant, and Mr. Hugh S. Gladstone. The 
secretary to the Committee is Mr. H. R. Scott, of 
the. Home Office, to whom any communications on — 
the subject of the inquiry may be made. ' 


Tue death is announced, at fifty-one years of age, — 
of Mr. H. F. B. Lynch, well known by his extensive _ 
travels in the Middle East for purposes of scientific, — 
political, and commercial research, 


AN exhibition of one hundred and forty of the 
remarkable series of photographs, greatly enlarged, 
taken by Mr. H. G. Ponting during the British 
Antarctic Expedition of 1910-13, will be opened on 
Wednesday next, December 3, at the Fine Art Society, 
148 New Bond Street, London, W. 


Tue death is announced, in his fortieth year, of 
Dr. Ora W. Knight, who had been consulting chemist 
and assayer to the State of Maine since 1903. He 
had previously been assistant chemist at the Maine 
experiment station for several years. Dr. Knight — 
was known as an ornithologist and a botanist; he — 
was the author of a standard book on the birds of 
Maine, and his herbarium contained a nearly com- 
plete collection of the plants of that State. 


Tue death is announced of the veteran Italian 
geologist, Prof. Igino Cocchi, of Florence. He was 
born in 1828, and was one of the most active pioneers 
in stratigraphical geology in Italy. In 1867 he became 
the first president of the committee directing the 
Geological Survey of Italy, which he had been mainly 
instrumental in founding. Some of his studies were 
made in England, and he was elected a foreign corre- 
spondent of the Geological Society of London in 1874. 


THE Smithsonian Institution announces the follow- 
ing changes in the personnel of the department of 


NOVEMBER 27, 1913] 


NATURE 


379 


geology, United States National Museum :—Dr. E. T. 
Wherry, late assistant professor of mineralogy at 
Lehigh University, has been appointed assistant 
curator of mineralogy and petrology in succession to 
Mr. Joseph E. Pogue, transferred to the United States 
Geological Survey; Dr. J. C. Martin has been ap- 
pointed assistant curator of physical and chemical 
geology in succession to Mr. C. G. Gilbert, appointed 
curator of mineral technology. 


A MEETING of the council of the Zoological Society 
of Scotland has just been held, at which a very satis- 
factory report was made on the working of the 
Zoological Park for the period during which it has 
been open. Since the end of July, when the park 
was opened to the public, 102,233 visitors have entered, 
while the receipts at the gate for the three and a half 
months have resulted in a surplus of about roool., 
after paying the expenses of upkeep for five months. 
The number of specimens received during the period 
was 420; the health of the stock is excellent, and the 
death-rate has been very light. Twenty new fellows 
were admitted, and the number of fellows on the roll 
now exceeds 2000. 


WE are glad to see that the scale of charges for the 
services of the official guide appointed a short time 
ago to conduct parties of visitors round the collections 
contained in the garden, plant-houses, and museums 
of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and to point 
out objects of particular botanical interest, has been 
greatly reduced. Hitherto the scale of charges has 
been 2s. 6d. for each person attending a morning 
tour, and 1s. for each person attending an afternoon 
tour, but in future these charges are to be 6d.°and 
3d. respectively. These charges are so low that no 
one need now be deterred from participating in the 
instructive tours around the gardens taken by the 
Suide daily. 


Dr. H. Bayon, research bacteriologist to the Union 
Government of South Africa, gave a lecture at the 
Royal Society of Medicine on November 20, on the 
leprosy problem in the British Empire. He pointed 
out that the latest returns showed that in India the 
leper population had increased from 100,000 to 110,000. 
Dealing first with treatment, Dr. Bayon stated that 
in selected cases a vaccine prepared with certain cul- 
tures had given promising results. He finally urged 
that it is the duty of every Government to prevent 
the further spread of leprosy by the use of all the 
means of preventive medicine, and, in particular, by 
the institution of a system of universal segregation of 
all lepers. 


IN connection with a suggested removal of the 
statue of Charles I. at Charing Cross, The Field of 
November 15 directs attention to the interest attaching 
to the ‘‘great horse’’ on which the King is mounted. 
These ‘‘ great horses,” one of which is represented in a 
picture by Vandyke in Buckingham Palace, executed 
from an animal in the Royal stables, “were the direct 
descendants of the Italian horses Altobello and 
Governatore . . . sent over to the stud at Hampton 
Court by the Marquis of Mantua as a present to King 
Henry VIII., and the breed was still further improved 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


by the two splendid Spanish horses sent to King 
Edward VI. by Charles V. in 1552, which were of the 
type shown in the well-known sketches by Rubens.” 


Particutars of the Pierre J. and Edouard Van 
Beneden prize of 2800 francs are given in the Bulletin 
of the Royal Academy of Belgium (Classe des 
Sciences, 1913, No. 7). The prize is to be awarded 
every three years to the Belgian or foreign author 
or authors of the best original work of embryology 
or cytology written or published during the three 
years preceding the date on which competing theses 
must be received. For the first competition this date 
is December 31, 1915. The manuscript works may 
be signed or anonymous, and the French, German, 
or English language may be employed. Authors 
should send their contributions, duly stamped, to the 
permanent secretary of the Academy, Palais des 
Académies, Brussels, inscribed ‘‘Concours pour le 
Prix Pierre-J. et Edouard Van Beneden." 


Tuanks largely to the kindness of the Percy Sladen 
Trust, an expedition left Perth, West Australia, a 
few days ago, for the Abrolhos Islands. The group 
is situated about torty miles out in the Indian Ocean 
from the coast of Western Australia, and roughly 
300 miles north of Perth. The expedition has been 
organised by Prof. W. J. Dakin, of the new Univer- 
sity of Western Australia, and accompanying him is 
Mr. W. B. Alexander, of the Perth Museum. From 
many points of view this little group of islands is of 
great interest. The wreck of the Dutch East India 
Co.’s ship, The Batavia, under the command of Capt. 
Pelsart, in 1629, is said to have led to the first re- 
corded discovery of Australia. Whether true or no, 
the mutiny of part of the wrecked crew and the story 
of their final capture is worthy of any fiction. Plutonic 
rocks occur in one of the island groups, but the others 
are coral formations. It is said that not only does the 
terrestrial fauna bear interesting relations to the 
mainland, but that the intervening forty miles of sea 
separate two totally distinct marine faunas. Whilst 
the coastal fauna at this latitude is temperate, the 
island marine fauna is understood to be tropical. 
The members of the expedition intend making a close 
investigation of the fauna and flora of the islands and 
surrounding reefs. The material collected will be 
reported upon in the usual way by specialists. 


Dr. ANTON Fritscu, director of the natural history 
departments of the Royal Bohemian Museum, and for 
many years professor of zoology in the Royal Bohe- 
mian University, died after a brief illness at Prague 
on November 15, aged eighty-one. Dr. Fritsch’s first 
published work (1851) was a list of the Bohemian, 
German, and Latin names of the birds, found in 
Bohemia; and throughout his life he took the deepest 
interest in the local fauna, making many contributions 
to knowledge, especially of the birds and fishes. In 
1891 he founded a small station for the special study 
of the fresh-water fauna of the Bohemian lakes. Dr. 
Fritsch will be best remembered, however, by his 
numerous researches on the fossils of the Permian and 
Cretaceous formations of Bohemia, the results of 
which were published in several volumes. His 
“Fauna der Gaskohle " (1879-1901) will always remain 


380 


NATURE 


a-standard work of reference on the early Labyrintho- 
dont Amphibia, and it forms a monument to his 
patient industry. Most of the fossils described were 
pyritised and unfit for study and preservation in the 
ordinary manner. Dr. Fritsch therefore cleaned 
away all the petrified material, leaving only the casts 
in the shale, from which he took clear impressions 
by an electrotype process. He was thus able to make 
good use of specimens which at first sight appeared of 
little value. His enthusiasm made him an inspiring 
teacher, and he has left several pupils who are dili- 
gently prosecuting the researches he suggested to 
them. Dr. Fritsch was a foreign member of the 
Geological Society of London, from which he received 
the Lyell medal in 1902. 


Naturat philosophy in general and paleontology 
in particular have lost an ardent disciple and a zealous 
worker by the death of Henry Potonié at Berlin on 
October 28. He was born November 16, 1857, in 
Berlin, where from 1878-81 he studied botany, becom- 
ing in 1880 assistant in the Botanic Garden, and scien- 
tific ‘‘ Hilfsarbeiter’’ in the museum. His association 
with the garden is marked by a descriptive account 
of the plant-geographical arrangement of its contents 
by Prof. Engler, which Potonié published in 1890. 
A more important botanical work was the “ Illustrated 
Flora of North and Central Germany,” issued in 1885, 
and subsequently in several enlarged editions. In 1885 
Potonié became associated with the Prussian Geo- 
logical Survey, and from that time onwards palzo- 
botany claimed the greater share of his activities. 
In 1887 he published a comparative anatomical study 
of recent Pteridophytes and of Cycas revoluta, with 
the view of the determination of the fossil species of 
the older formations. This was the first of a long 
series of important papers bearing on fossil botany 
published by the Geological Survey. In 1891 he be- 
came professor of palzeobotany at the School of Mines 
(Bergakademie), and in 1897-9 appeared the well- 
known text-book, ‘‘Lehrbuch der Pflanzenpalzeon- 
tologie,” on a new edition of which he was working 
immediately before his last illness. His valuable 
work, ‘“‘On the Origin of Coal and other Combustible 
Minerals,’ is based on a course of his lectures. In 
1901 he was appointed ‘‘ Landesgeologe,’’ and also 
joined the teaching staff of the University. He was 
the founder of the Naturwissenschaftliche Wochen- 
schrift, with which he was associated for twenty-four 
years, and of which he was editor at the time of his 
death; a recent number has a short appreciation and 
good portrait. During his last illness he received 
the honour of Geheim-Bergrat. 


Tue October issue of The National Geographic 
Magazine is largely devoted to an article, illustrated 
by a fine collection of photographs, of a journey by 
Mr. G. Kennan through the eastern portion of the 
province of Daghistan, in the south-eastern corner 
of European Russia, between the Black Sea and the 
Caspian. He describes the splendid mountain 
scenery, the result of the intrusion of igneous rocks 
on the sedimentary strata, the whole worn down and 
torn into precipitous ravines by subsequent denuda- 
tion. The population is of the most varied character 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92| 


| Royal Geographical Society on November 20, indicat- 


[NOVEMBER 27, 1913 


—Aryan, Arab, Tartar, Crusader, and refugees from | 
the adjoining regions have left their mark. Many z 
individuals, if dressed in the ¥costume of western 
Europe, would certainly be taken for Englishmen, 
Scotchmen, Bavarians, or Saxons. The homes often — 
assume the character of the pueblos or cliff-dwellings 
of New Mexico. The peoples speak some thirty — 
languages, with numerous dialects. The prevailing — 
religion is Islam. Many archaic customs and a 
primitive tribal organisation survive, but Russian 
domination and the extension of education tend to 
promote the growth of uniformity. 


Caprais H. G. Lyons brought the subject of relief 
in cartography before the research meeting of the 


ing that British contributions to this important 
branch of cartography arenot numerous. He discussed 
the relative value of contours, hachures and coloured 
shading, and their utility as measured by their ap- 
plicability to different kinds of map. He summarised 
the limits of scale within which each method best — 
serves its purpose, and showed reasons why, outside 
these limits, one method or another fails to fulfil its 
function properly. Such a summary should form a 
valuable guide to cartographers, although when the 
author stated that hachuring becomes ‘‘ conventional '” 
on a scale smaller than about 1: 500,000, because this 
this scale so compresses ridge and valley in moun- — 
tainous regions, he might have been taken to task 
by the artist of such a map as the Swiss sheets in ~ 
“ Stieler”’ (1: 925,000), who might have suggested — 
that convention is to be distinguished from careful — 
generalisation. The author also brought out the — 
limitations of contour systems in portraying gently — 
undulating ground—a point which the student often — 
has need to remember. He dealt at length with 
various systems of colouring used in conjunction with — 
contours, and discussed the basis of ‘ physiological — 
optics,” on which the selection of colours for this 
purpose ought to rest. ie 


Dr. AND Mrs. WorkMAN gave the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society, at its meeting on Monday, Novem- — 
ber 24, an account of their further explorations, 
conducted last year, among the Karakoram Hima- 
layas. Their objective on this occasion was the ~ 
Siachen or Rose Glacier. Mrs. Workman indicated _ 
the course of their journey, and gave an account of 
their additions to the map of the region, incidentally 
controverting the views of previous visitors on several "4 
points. The surveyor who accompanied the party was — 
Mr. C. Grant Peterkin. To the pass at the head of 
the Bilaphond Glacier Mrs. Workman applies the 
name of the glacier itself, and not that of Saltoro. 
attached to it as ‘traditional’ by Dr. Longstaff. 
She dealt with the same explorer’s high peak of 
Teram Kangri, which he gave as 27,610 ft. high, 
while Mr. Peterkin made it only 24,560 ft. She — 
observed for the first time a group of lofty peaks 
behind the east Siachen wall, on the Turkestan side, 
which form additions to the map, and others from — 
the Silver Throne plateau, to the highest of which 
(24,350 ft.) the name of Queen Mary was given. The 
possibility of the Siachen glacier having provided an 


* 


NOVEMBER 27, 1913] 


old route into Chinese Turkestan was considered and 
dismissed, in spite of the discovery of remains of rude 
buildings at high altitudes. Dr. Workman dealt in 
detail with the geology of the region and the char- 
acter and work of the glaciers; his paper was perhaps 
of most notable interest in the paragraphs which 
described the junction of ‘probably the largest exist- 
ing valley tributary outside the polar regions .. . 
with the largest known valley glacier." These are 
the Tarim Shehr (two milés wide) and the Siachen, 
which is 22 miles wide just above the junction. The 
two are compressed into the width of the main valley 
below the junction. 


To the October number of the American Museum 
Journal Mr. R. C. Murphy communicates a graphic 


‘and richly illustrated account of his experiences among 


thé petrels, penguins, and sea-elephants of South 
Georgia during a visit to that desolate island under- 
taken on behalf of the museum and the Brooklyn 
{nstitute, much interesting information being also 
given with regard to the eight whaling stations on 
the island. One of the most interesting photographs 


A king-penguin incubating its egg. 


(here reproduced) shows a king-penguin incubating its 
single egg, which is supported on the instep, where 
it is covered by a fold of the skin on the under sur- 
face of the body, the bird standing all the time in the 
upright posture, and the two sexes relieving one 
another in the duties of incubation. Although the 
whales are stated not to show at present serious signs 
of diminution in. number, in spite of the rapid rate 
at which they are being killed off, the prospects of the 
sea-elephants appear deplorable. ‘‘ Slow, unsuspicious, 
gregarious, they can be hunted profitably until the last 
one has gone to his ancestors, and the calamity of 
the Antarctic fur-seal is repeated.” The fate of these 
gigantic seals depends, then, it would seem, on the 
results of the investigation now being conducted on 
behalf of the Colonial Cffice. 

In The American Naturalist for October (vol. xlvi., 
p- 577) Dr. R. Pearl discusses the measurement of 
the intensity of inbreeding. He points out the prin- 

NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


381 


ciples which must govern such an attempt, and shows 
that it is possible to find a coefficient by which the 
amount of inbreeding can be represented, so that 


| different cases can be compared. The coefficient is 
_ based on the ratio of the actual to the possible number 


of ancestors in any generation, and therefore indicates 
the amount of inbreeding for a given number of 
generations back. The latter part of the paper dis- 
cusses the differences between close inbreeding in 
bisexual reproduction and self-fertilisation of herma- 
phrodites, and shows that in some important respects 
the two are not comparable. An abstract, with some 
new material, is published in Bull. 215, Maine Agri- 


| cultural Experiment Station. 


A criricaL study of the conditions connected with 
the preparation of plantation para rubber has been 
made by Mr. B. J. Eaton, and the results of the 
inquiry are presented in Bulletin No. 17 of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, Federated Malay States. The 
endeavour of the author has been to collect as much 


| trustworthy information as possible on the quality of 


rubber prepared by different methods and under 
different conditions so that such knowledge can be 
applied in indicating the causes underlying defects of 
rubber samples coming on the market. The effect of 
various coagulants and of dilution of the latex, period 
of coagulation, inhibitive substances, metal salts, light, 
and of micro-organisms on the quality of the rubber 


| is dealt with at length. The use of sodium bisulphite 


as a means of inhibiting the action of oxidases and to 
ensure the production of light-coloured rubber has been 


| found to be effective and profitable. 


_ and glazed with a felspathic glaze. 


In the current Bulletin de la Société d’Encourage- 


| ment pour l’Industrie Nationale, A. Granger gives an 


interesting outline of the rise and fall of the manu. 
facture of porcelaine tendre, usually called “ fritted "’ 
or “soft”? porcelain. It seems to have been first 
made in Rouen, about 1673. The body of soft porce- 
lain in its best days appears to have been made from 
an artificial glass (frit) mixed with a marl from 
Argenteuil; and after the body was fired it was 
covered with a plumbiferous glaze. This ware lent 
itself to particularly pleasing decorative effects, and 
the Sevres factory made this variety of porcelain 
famous. The ‘narrow margin of safety” in manu- 


| facture led to a particularly large percentage loss. 
| Possibly owing to changes in the character of the 
| raw materials, &c., the losses finally became so great 


that the manufacture had to be abandoned, and soft 
porcelain was ousted by the regular type of ‘‘con- 
tinental porcelain ’’—the so called porcelaine dure, or 
“hard” porcelain. The body of this type of ware 
is made from a mixture of felspar, clay, and quartz, 
Unlike soft porce- 
lain, the glaze and body of hard porcelain are fired 
in one operation. Mr. Granger gives some old recipes 


‘and describes some interesting recent attempts to 


revive the manufacture of soft porcelain at Sévres, 


We have received several further letters from Mr. 
S. L. Walkden complaining about the’ statement. in 
our review of his ‘‘Aéroplanes in Gusts,’ which was 
corrected by him in his letter to Nature of October 30. 


_In reference to this matter the reviewer writes :—‘I 


282 
i 


should have thought that Mr. Walkden’s letter, to- 
gether with my lengthy quotation from his book, 
would have been more than sufficient to remove any 
injustice that might have arisen through a statement 
of claim being made in the reviewer’s and not the 
author’s words. At the same time, it is necessary to 
warn readers that the amended claim contained in 
Mr. Walkden’s letter must be read in conjunction 
with the lengthy quotation in Narurr, or better with 
the contents of the book itself, otherwise a false idea 
may be formed of the author’s treatment. The only 
accelerations which the air can be said to impress 
on an aéroplane in the recognised Newtonian mean- 
ing of the term, are those due to the pressures of the 
air on its supporting surfaces, and are measured by 
the accelerations which the aéroplane would undergo 
if no other forces acted on it, their direction being in 
the direction of the corresponding impressed forces. 
In these circumstances a gust having a downward 
velocity would impress a downward, not an upward, 
acceleration on the aéroplane. It will be seen that 
the quotations from his book in my letter contain no 
reference to accelerations impressed by air pressures 
on the plane in this sense, and, while I am quite 
willing to accept the author’s amended statement of 
his claims, I should not feel justified in stating these 
claims in this form without his written authority.” 


Six years ago Prof. O. Knoblauch, of the Technical 
High School at Munich, determined the specific heat 
of superheated steam, at constant pressures, for tem- 
peratures up to 662° F., and pressures up to 124 |b. 
per sq. in. These experiments were conducted on a 
scale which directly appeals to the engineer, and the 
results, which Prof. Knoblauch obtained in con- 
junction with Dr. Max Jakob, are accepted largely 
by engineers. Engineering for November 7 contains 
an account, with drawings of the apparatus em- 
ployed, of further experiments by the same investi- 
gators. Knoblauch has extended the range to 
1020° F., up to pressures of 114 Ib. per sq. in., and 
the experiments are being continued at higher pressures 
up to twenty atmospheres. Jakob has attempted to 
check the results by calculating the specific volume 
of steam, for the same high range of pressures and 
temperatures, from the experiments of Knoblauch and 
his collaborators, and also from the deductions of 
H. N. Davis, and by comparing these volume results 
with those directly determined. The research shows 
that the specific volume can be calculated from the 
specific heat, and the experimental values for the 
specific heat are thus confirmed. The general result 
is that the specific heat of steam at constant pressure 
increases with pressure, especially near the saturation 
line, though much less so, and scarcely at all finally, 
as the degree of superheating is raised. As the tem- 

perature rises, the specific heat, c, decreases to a 
“minimum, to increase again slightly. 


Tue Cambridge University Press has recently made 
further additions to the ‘‘Cambridge Manuals of 
Science and Literature.’ The series now numbers 
eighty volumes, and its general excellence, to which 
attention has been directed on former occasions, 
well maintained by the half-dozen books which have 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


reste 


NATURE 


just been received. Three of the new volumes deal 
with biological subjects. Prof. G. H, Carpenter tells 
“The Life-Story of Insects,’ and provides an outline 
sketch of the facts and meaning of insect transforme 
tions. Prof. W. J. Dakin, in his little book on 
“Pearls,” give a summary of the most important 
facts about pearls, pearl fishing, and pearl formation. 
The third biological topic is handled by Mr. H. 
Russell, who writes on ‘“‘The Flea,”’ and his book, 
which is, he thinks, the first in English devoted 
wholly to the subject, will prove particularly useful 
now that it is known that fleas are the active agents 
in spreading plague. Dr. E. J. Russell contributes — 
a book on ‘The Fertility of the Soil,” which is — 
addressed to all who are keenly interested in the — 
soil they are cultivating and want to know something 
more about it. Prof. A. H. Gibson, under the title, — 
“Natural Sources of Energy," discusses the problem — 
of forecasting the conditions of life and activity in — 
future centuries. The sixth book, on ‘‘The Peoples of — 
India,” is by Mr. J. D. Anderson, who gives a popular — 
account of the race and caste, the languages, and the 
religions of the various peoples in our Indian Empire. 


Mr. Recinatp Cory has received permission of the 
King to dedicate to his Majesty the volume, entitled — 
“The Horticultural Record,’ which is to be published — 
next month by Messrs. J. and A. Churchill. The 
work will contain numerous plates, coloured and half-_ 
tone, reproduced from photographs taken at the Royal ~ 
International Horticultural Exhibition, 1912. Several — 
well-known writers contribute articles on the progress _ 
of horticulture since the first international exhibition 4 
in 1866. 


Messrs. LoncMans, GREEN AND Co. have in pre- 
paration ‘“‘Chemistry of the Radio-Elements, Part ii., 
The Radio-Elements and the Periodic Law,” by Mr. 
Frederick Soddy, F.R.S. This is an extension of the 
original monograph, and covers recent generalisations — 
connecting the radio-active disintegration series with | rs 
Mendeléeff’s table. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES FOR DECEMBER :— 


Dec. 1. 22h. 1m. Uranus in conjunction with the 

Moon (Uranus 3° 9’ N.). 

2. 3h. om. Mercury stationary. 

», 8h. 5m. Mercury in conjunction with 
Venus (Mercury 1° 34’ N.). 

6. 21h. om. Saturn at opposition to the Sun. 

10. 12h; om. Mercury at greatest elongation 
W. of the Sun. _t a 

12. 15h. 58m. Saturn in conjunction with the — 
Moon (Saturn 6° 45’ S.). 

15- gh. 57m. Mars in conjunction with the — 
Moon (Mars 0° 59' S.). 

peeten., 36m. Neptune i in conjunction with the 
Moon (Neptune 4° 29! S.). : 

20. gh. 44m. Variable star, Algol, at mini- — 
mum. 

21. 22h. 35m. Sun enters sign of Capricornus. 
Solstice. 

23. 6h. 33m. Variable star, Algol, at mini- 
mum. 

25. 20h. 23m. Mercury in conjunction with 


the Moon (Mercury 5° 26’ N.). 


NOVEMBER 27, 1913] 


26. 5h. 57m. Venus in conjunction with the 
Moon (Venus 5° 13/ N.). : 
12h. 32m. Jupiter in conjunction with the 
Moon (Jupiter 3° 46’ N.). i 
29. gh. 45m. Uranus in conjunction with the 
Moon (Uranus 2° 53' N.). 


A New Hitt Astronomicat Orpservatory.—M, H. 
Perrotin, writing in the Revue Générale des Sciences 
(November 15, No. 21), records the foundation of a 
new hill observatory on Mont Saleéve, at an elevation 
of 1250 metres. This new observatory owes its origin 
to the fact that M. Schaer, of the Geneva Observatory, 
having completed the construction of a Cassegrain 
telescope of 100 cm. in diameter, looked for a suit- 
able spot in the canton of Geneva where an observa- 
tory could be built in order to make the best use of 
this telescope. The plain of Geneva, bounded by the 
Jura, the Saléve, and the lake, was always found to 
be invaded by the mist during the fine season and 
by fog in winter. Such bad observing conditions are 
nearly always associated with low-lying stations, and 
hence the general tendency of either moving old or 
creating new observatories on elevated sites vemoved 
from large rivers, lakes, and towns. M. Schaer’s 
work has always been encouraged by M. Honegger, 
and it is due to the latter that this high site can be 
utilised. The observatory will be used both for astro- 
nomy and meteorology, and the chief astrophysical 
work will be the study of the spectra of the stars of 
the second and third magnitude with very great dis- 
persion. An astrophysical laboratory will be attached, 
and an electric current of 500 volts will be available ; 
spectroheliographic work will also be done. M. Schaer 
invites French astronomers or meteorologists to maixe 
use of the site either by using the observatory’s in- 
struments or any instruments they may like to bring 
with them. 


28. 


MEASUREMENT OF RapiAL VELOCITIES BY OBJECTIVE 
GratinG SpEecTROGRAPH.—The determination of the 
velocities in the line of sight of the fainter stars is 
becoming an urgent necessity in astrophysics, and 
consequently efforts are being made to replace the 
slit spectrograph by other arrangements capable of 
utilising a greater proportion of the light available. 
To this end M. Maurice Hamy explains in a note 
in No. 17, Comptes rendus, a method by which. an 
objective grating spectrograph may be employed for 
this purpose. The grating, preferably one giving 
under normal incidence only two symmetrical spectra, 
must be mounted so that these spectra may be photo- 
graphed in two separate cameras. A collimator fixed 
to the same base is used to furnish comparison spectra 
from a terrestrial light-source. To eliminate the 
effects of variations of the angle of incidence the 
exposures on the star and comparison have to be 
intermittent and alternate. The reduction is based 
on a rigorous relation between directions of incident 
and diffracted beams, wave-length, constant of the 
grating, and order used. Two methods are given for 
the measurement of the plates. 


Sun-spor AREAS FOR 1912.—Dr. Dyson communi- 
cates the usual annual summary relating to the areas 
and positions of sun-spots for the past year to the 
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 
(vol. Ixxiii., No. 9), and its chief interest lies in the 
fact that that year and the present one includes the 
epoch of a minimum. In 1912 the mean daily spotted 
area was only thirty-seven millionths of the sun’s 
visible hemisphere, while the values for 1910 and 
1gII were respectively 264 and 64 millionths. Com- 
parison is made between the years of minimum of 
the three preceding cycles; the values for 1878 gave 
an area of twenty-two, for 1889 an area of seventy- 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


83 


ioe) 


eight, and for 1901 an area of twenty-nine, so that the 
low value in the last-mentioned year is not quite 
attained in 1912. 

Attention is directed to the fact that, up to Septem- 
ber 12 of the current year, a ‘‘ much feebler condition 
of sun-spot activity even than 1912"’ has been ex- 
perienced, so that the sun-spot minimum now in 
progress is probably going to turn out an unusually 
low and prolonged one. Minima of this character 
have generally been followed by a slow rise to a low 
maximum. ‘The fact that some small spots have been 
observed in high latitudes suggests the commence- 
ment of a new period of activity. It is interesting 
to note that since 1905, and including that year, the 
number of days on which photographs of the sun 
were taken have been either 364 or 365. 


CURRICULA OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS.) 
THE recently issued memorandum on the curricula 

of secondary schools displays with remarkable 
clearness the attitude of the Board towards educa- 
tional problems. It is to be hoped that it will be 
widely read outside as well as inside the scholastic 
profession. Inevitably the influence of the Board on 
the work of the schools gets greater year by year, and 
it is vital to national. progress that this influence 
should be exercised in a broad and enlightened spirit. 
We may state at once that we have never read an official 
document which gave us more reason to hope that 
the dangers of bureaucratic control will be avoided, 
while the opportunities for removing inefficiency and 
for coordinating and economising our educational 
resources will be watchfully grasped. 

In the introduction we read:—‘The present 
memorandum ... is not intended to contain any 
dogmatic exposition of educational doctrine . . . the 
problems of education have to be re-stated for each 
generation . . . the Board could do no greater dis- 
service than by attempting to check the spirit of 
exploration, experiment, and inquiry which should 
exist in every school. . . . Organisation alone cannot 
make a good school. The real success of the work 
depends on the harmonious activity of a well-equipped 
staff, and also—a fact not always sufficiently taken 
into account—on the cooperation of the parents.” 

Turning from these expressions of opinion, which, 
however excellent, are platitudes unless translated into 
practice, we find that the Board regards as cardinal 
and essential subjects ‘‘ English language and litera- 
ture, at least one language other than English, geo- 
graphy, history, mathematics, science, and drawing." 
Provision must be made for training in singing and 
manual work, and for promoting the physical de- 
velopment of the pupils. The memorandum lays 
emphasis on the fact that it is impossible for boys 
and girls to profit adequately if the duration of school- 
life be curtailed. The suggestion is put forward that 
some of the work hitherto restricted to technical 
schools may wisely be attempted in connection with 
the general education of the older boys and girls in 
the secondary school. The report truly states that, 
at present, time is often wasted in the middle and 
higher forms through the inefficiency of earlier 
teaching, through the absence of coordination (e.g. 
in the syllabuses for mathematics and science or for 
science and geography), and through the inclusion in 
the syllabuses of much that is trivial and unessential, 
to the neglect of what is of capital importance. 

The question of insistence on Latin is left in a 
curious position. If only one foreign language be 
offered, the school is free to propose any language 
which is suited to the needs of the pupils and for 


4 Board of Education Circular 826, Price 2d. 


384 


which the instruction is efficient. If two languages 
are taken (other than English), one of the two must 
be Latin unless ‘tthe Board are satisfied that the 
omission of Latin is for the educational advantage 
of the school.” This regulation has done injury to 
the study of German, and the British Science Guild 
and several teachers’ organisations have objected. 
The Board now state that Latin will not be demanded 
if instruction therein is available in other accessible 
schools. The Board fear that the prospects of the 
pupils will be prejudiced if Latin is omitted, as they 
may be debarred from entry into professions and from 
university work in literary subjects. To the present 
writer it appears prejudicial to national progress that 
the education of thousands of boys and girls should 
be made less efficient because certain chartered cor- 
porations hold antiquated views regarding school 
curricula (on which subject they are seldom qualified 
to advise), or because those corporations may regard 
the exclusion of the un-Latined as a convenient social 
precaution. 

The memorandum contains many useful sugges- 
tions with reference to the work of the more 
advanced pupils, and, so far as science is concerned, 
the recommendations will be approved by most of 
those who have had practical experience. Modified 
specialisation is the keynote—thus pupils specialis- 
ing in science and mathematics should take 
English literature and composition and one foreign 
language, ‘“‘which for those who have already spent 
some years in the study of French should by prefer- 
ence be German."’ Specialisation in art, economics, 
and domestic courses are also contemplated by the 
Board as permissible in selected schools, but with 
provision for the continuance of general education. 
As regards the main portion of the school, the study 
of science (including practical work) should extend 
continuously over four years. ‘‘This will be required 
in all schools unless special reasons to the contrary 
can be given.’’ Boys who are working in preparation 
for an advanced course in classics may have a science 
course for three years (instead of four) between the 
ages of twelve and sixteen, if this course be supple- 
mented by the inclusion of science among the sub- 
sidiary subjects taken at the specialising stage. This 
and similar statements in the memorandum should 
strengthen the resistance of enlightened headmasters 
to the injuriously narrow specialisation which still 
appears requisite for winning a scholarship at the 
older universities. G. F. Dante.u. 


THE SPREAD OF THE METRIC SYSTEM. 


IN a circular letter, dealing with the world-wide 

spread of the metric system, the Decimal Associa- 
tion points out that the time is soon coming when 
metric usage, instead of being regarded as a hindrance 
to British trade with the Far East, will have to be 
adopted as a necessity in our dealings with China, 
Japan, and Siam, which have each taken definite 
steps to establish that system. Already the Advisory 
Council of China has passed the first reading of a 
law to that effect, and two Chinese gentlemen are 
now in Paris studying the technical details of the 
subject. Japan has for the present four legal systems 
of weight and measure, but the Government has 
declared its preference for the metric system by 
making it obligatory for the services of the customs 
excepting a few articles. The metric system is taught 
in all the public schools of Japan, and is prescribed for 
the army, for medicine, and for electrical work. Siam 
has employed the system with success on its railways 
and public works for some years, and last year joined 
the Internationak Convention of the Metre, from 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


‘ the wild gallinaceous birds, by introducing species 


[NovEMBER 27, 1913 in 


which it has received the apparatus needed for 
Central Bureau of Standards at Bangkok. Siam pi 
poses not to make metric reform compulsory at one and 
the same time in all parts of “the kingdom, 'but to 
deal with each province separately at convenient 
times. Russia alsot has adopted the metric systen 
for several purposes, and has announced to th 
Decimal Association that the metric system i 
favoured, but has to await the necessary arrangement 
of control and inspection throughout the Russian 
Empire. This conversion of Russia is notable as com. 
pleting the solidarity of all Continental Europe in 
metric reform. All South and Central America are 
either metric or tending to be so. The Australasian 
Dominions of Great Britain have urgently pressed 
the question; and last, but most important of all, are 
the United States of America, which have gone far 
in preparing for reform, and will act with vigour 
when the time comes. - 


ZOOLOGY AT THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION. 


ECTION D presented a full programme, the large 

number of communications rendering necessary — 
morning and afternoon sessions. Interest in the pro-— 
ceedings was well maintained, good audiences being _ 
present throughout the meetings. A striking feature 
of this year’s programme was the large number of 
papers dealing with vertebrate anatomy and 
morphology. ; 


Some Aspects of the Sleeping Sickness Problem. 


A lecture on this subject was delivered by Prof. 
E. A. Minchin. He referred briefly to the chief signs — 
and symptoms of sleeping sickness, and described — 
the main features of trypanosomes, remarking that 
the tendency of natural evolution appeared to be for 
the pathogenic species to adapt themselves to certain — 
species of hosts, to which they become quite harmless. 
Trypanosoma brucei, gambiense, and rhodesiense, 
however deadly to domestic cattle and man, are harm- 
less to the wild game, which appear to be their 
natural hosts. There is evidence that T. rhodesiense 
is a newly arisen strain of T. brucei, which has 
recently acquired the power of living in human blood, 
and, as a “new” parasite of man, is extremely viru- 
lent. Prof. Minchin pointed out the principal char- 
acters of tsetse-flies (Glossina), and the part played — 
by certain species in transmitting the trypanosomes of 
sleeping sickness. In about 5 per cent. of the flies 
fed on infected blood, the trypanosomes ingested go 
through a complicated developmental cycle, multiply- 
ing in the fly’s digestive tract, and, after a time, — 
migrating forwards and passing into the salivary 
glands, where they establish themselves, multiplying 
constantly so long as the fly lives. It has been pro- 
posed to exterminate the wild game on a large scale 
in order to remove this ‘reservoir’ of the disease, 
but Prof. Minchin considered it to be doubtful whether 
this would bring about the desired effect. Destruc- 
tion of the game would remove only a_ portion of 
the reservoir, for ruminants generally, including 
domestic stock, can harbour the trypanosomes in 
question, and, further, such destruction, by removing 
the natural food of the flies, might cause the flies 
to move closer to human habitations, and hence in- 
crease the transmission of the disease among human 
beings and domestic stock. He hoped, therefore, that — 
if game is to be destroyed, this will be done in limited 
areas only, until more accurate knowledge of the 
results has been acquired. He suggested that reduc- 
tion of tsetse-flies might be effected, (1) by protecting 


NovEMBER 27, 1913] 


not indigenous, and by encouraging the natives to keep 


domestic fowls round their villages, for such birds, 
when scratching up the ground, would find and 
destroy the pupze of Glossina; and (2) in areas where 
G. morsitans is common, by tarring or stopping up 


in some way all holes in trees near the villages. 


Bionomics of Amphidinium operculatum. 


Mr. R. Douglas Laurie described observations, 
made chiefly on the Cheshire coast, on this Peridinian, 
which occurs in such numbers as to form brownish- 
green patches on the sand, just below high-water 
mark of spring tides. The organism exhibits three 

eriodicities. (1) A daily periodicity; during the latter 

alf of February the patches were very evident on 

the surface of the sand until 10 a.m., then the 
organisms retired below the surface, reappearing 
shortly after noon, and reaching a maximum from 
2 to 4 p.m., after which they again disappeared. Ex- 
periments indicate that light and tide are the deter- 
mining factors, temperature being apparently unim- 
portant. (2) A lunar periodicity, “spring’’ periods of 
activity, alternating with “‘neap”’ periods of inactivity, 
being correlated with the amount of water in the 
sand, for the neap tides do not reach the region 
inhabited by Amphidinium. (3) An annual periodicity, 
a strongly marked maximum from February to the 
end of April being followed by decrease during May 
and June. The patches have not been seen on the 
sand since the first week of July, though microscopic 
examination showed that a few Amphidinium were 
still present. Mr. Laurie described a large and more 
elongate form of Amphidinium, which he is inclined 
to regard as a distinct species. 


Influence of Osmotic pressure on the Regeneration 
of Gunda. 


Miss Jordan Lloyd described observations on the 
small marine triclad Turbellarian, Gunda ulvae, which 
lives in great numbers at Plymouth, between tide- 
marks, and near the course of a small stream. The 
specimens employed in the experiments were about 
55 mm. long, and were cut transversely into two 
equal parts. The regeneration of the posterior region 
only was considered. Whole worms can live in water 
having an osmotic pressure between 2 and 33 atmo- 
spheres. Regulation of an anterior portion of Gunda, 
resulting in the production of a complete worm, takes 
fifty days in water having an osmotic pressure be- 
tween 15 and 22:5 atmospheres (the latter being that 
of ordinary sea-water). Lowering the osmotic pres- 
sure below 15 atmospheres retards the rate of regula- 
tion proportionately, and below 5 atmospheres no 
regulation occurs. Raising the osmotic pressure 
above 22-5 atmospheres retards the rate of regulation, 
and above 30 atmospheres no regulation occurs. The 
new posterior region is formed by the migration of 
large numbers of parenchyma-cells to the region of 
the wound, where they aggregate and build up the 
hew organs. Inhibition of regulation seems to be due 
to some factor which checks the migration of the 
parenchyma-cells. In examples showing retarded 
regulation, irregularities in the mitotic divisions of 
the parenchyma-cells have been noticed. 


Habits and Building Organ of the Tubicolous Poly- 
chaete, Pectinaria koreni. 


As the result of his observations on living Pectinaria, 
Mr. Arnold T. Watson considers that the process of 
tube-building is as follows :—A working space is first 
cleared, the sand around the lower, wider end of the 
tube, which is well below the surface, being removed 
by a very strong upward current, created within the 
tube by peristaltic action of the body-wall of the 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92]| 


NATURE 


385 


worm. This current causes the sand to pass rapidly 
through the tube, between it and the dorsal body- 
wall of the worm, and to be ejected through the small 
upper end of the tube, forming a mound on the sur- 
face of the sea-floor. A supply of sand is then carried 
by the tentacles to the head of the worm; one portion 
of this sand is swallowed for food and passes through 
the body of the worm, a second portion is carried 
by papilla, which form a track from the ventral edge 
of the peristomium to the bilobate building organ just 
below, on reaching which, each grain accepted for 
building purposes is received and held between the 
two lobes. These lobes apply the sand-grain to the 
free edge of the tube, where it is fixed by the cement 
poured out by the underlying cement-gland. 


Eelworms. 


Mr. Gilbert E. Johnson described some of the more 
recent work on eelworms (Anguillulide), a group of 
microscopic round-worms which, besides purely free- 
living forms, includes species living saprozoically in 
decaying substances, while others are parasitic in 
animals and plants. The saprozoic forms (Rhabditis, 
&c.) find their nourishment and multiply rapidly 
among the swarms of bacteria flourishing in sub- 
stances decaying in the soil and elsewhere, though 
whether the worms feed on the bacteria or on the 
products of their action is not yet known. The few 
species inhabiting animals, and regarded as parasites, 
are well exemplified by Rhabditis pellio, the larve 
of which inhabit the ccelom and nephridia of the 
earthworm. Mr. Johnson traced the life-history of 
this species, showing that the active forms in the 
nephridia, and the encysted forms in the coelom, re- 
main larval until the earthworm-host dies and decays 
in the soil. Then the eelworms feed in its decaying 
carcase, grow rapidly, become mature, and reproduce. 
When the nourishment from the dead earthworm is 
exhausted, the larvae wander into the soil and infect 
another worm, entering by the nephridiopores into the 
nephridia, and by the dorsal pores into the coelom. 
The larve entering the coelom are attacked as foreign 
bodies by the amcebocytes, and encyst. It is doubtful 
whether the term parasite should be used for this 
species, since the mode of nourishment is saprozoic. 
Other well-known eelworms—Tylenchus, Aphelenchus, 
and Heterodera—pierce the cellular tissue of plants 
by means of the hollow stylet protrusible from the 
mouth-cavity, and absorb the cell-sap. There are also 
numerous ‘semiparasitic'? forms, which occur round 
the roots of ordinary healthy plants, and apparently 
do no damage, but it would be interesting to ascertain 
what would be the result of their absence on the 
health of the plant. 


The Larva of the Star-fih, Porania pulvillus. 


Dr. J. F. Gemmill has traced the development of 
this star-fish. The eggs are small, and the general 
larval history is, similar to that of Asterias rubens. 
The late larva is a brachiolaria with a well-marked 
sucker, and numerous small papilla on and between 
the brachia. The features of special interest presented 
by the larvae were :—(1) The presence, in early larve, 
of possible rudiments of a posterior enterocoelic out- 
growth; (2) the occurrence, among the later larvee, of 
several specimens with double hydroccele formation ; 
and (3) the presence, in normal and in double-hydro- 
coele larva, of a ‘‘madreporic”’ vesicle, the floor of 
which contracted rhythmically during life. 


Observations on Artemia salina. 


Mr. T. J. Evans recorded observations made on 
this Crustacean, in graded strengths of sea-salt solu- 
tion from 4 to 25 per cent. It was found that, the 


386 


NATURE 


| NOVEMBER 27, I913 


Artemia, in 8 and 10 per cent. solutions, attained 
maturity without the introduction of extraneous food. 
The food supply was Chlamydomonas sp. in various 
stages of its life-cycle. The nauplius stages of 
Artemia die unless the brine contains a supply of free- 
swimming monads, but the adults live on the resting 
stages of the monads. The food supply present in 
the surface film is so great that Artemia spends much 
of its time feeding there, and it is probable that the 
habit of swimming on its back was adopted by 
Artemia as an adaptation for feeding in the surface 
film. In 4 and 5 per cent. and in 20 and 25 per cent. 
brine-solutions, either the eggs did not hatch or the 
young nauplii died as soon as the eggshell burst. 
Adults transferred from the optimum solutions (8 and 
Io per cent.) lived in the weaker and stronger brines, 
and the eggs laid by them lived. It was found that 
eggs would hatch in any brine solution in which 
they had been produced. No variation of the order 
described by Schmankewitsch was found; the tail- 
lobes were of uniform size in all strengths, and 
possessed the same number of spines. 


Pseudohermaphrodite Examples of Daphnia. 


Dr. J. H. Ashworth directed attention to four 
abnormal female examples of Daphnia pulex, in each 
of which the antennule of one side resembled that of 
a male. No other male secondary sexual character 
Was present, except that in one case the margin of 
the carapace presented almost the configuration of 
that of a male. The reproductive organs of all the 
specimens were normal ovaries, and were not para- 
sitised. The offspring of two of the specimens were 
examined and found to be all normal. 


Position of the Order Protura. 


Mr. R. S. Bagnall discussed the position of the 
order Protura, to the ‘‘abdominal feet” of which he 
did not attach so much importance as some authori- 
ties have done. While recognising the affinities of 
the Protura to the Chilopoda, he considered the 
relationship with the Insecta to be closer. 

Mr. Bagnall also gave a brief account of the hymen- 
opterous parasite, Thripoctenus russelli, found in the 
larve of the bean thrips, Heliothrips fasciatus. He 
also recorded Thripoctenus found in association with 
various thrips in several English localities, and com- 
mented on the economic importance of these parasites 
of thrips. 


Oviposition of a Fly on Centaurea. 


Prof. Hickson communicated a paper by Mr. ja 
Wadsworth on the oviposition of the Trypetid fly, 
Urophora solstitialis, on Centaurea nigra and allied 
composites. This fly possesses a highly developed 
piercing ovipositor, which, when fully extended, is 
nearly twice the length of the fly. During oviposition 
the abdomen of the fly is pushed down between the 
bases of the lowest and outermost bracts of the 
flower-head, and the piercing portion of the ovipositor 
is forced downwards and inwards towards the axis of 
the flower-head, and then gradually bends upwards 
until its tip is finally in the space between the young 
florets and the overlying bracts, in which space the 
ova are deposited. The larva, after hatching, bur- 
rows through the corolla of a young floret, travels 
down to the ovary, and feeds there, its presence 
causing the growth of a ‘ gall.” 


Observations on a West African Wasp. 


Prof. Poulton recorded observations by Mr. W. A. 
Lamborn, in’Southern Nigeria, on the wasp, Synagris 
cornuta, in the males of which there is remarkable 
difference in the grade of mandibular development. A 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


male with very large mandibles terrorised four others — 
with smaller mandibles, and was thus successful in 
capturing a female (the case being one of marriage 
by capture), which emerged from a nest under Mr. 
Lamborn’s observation. Prof. Poulton suggested 
that the immense horn-like mandibles are a disadvan-— 
tage in obtaining food and perhaps in other ways 
in the struggle for life, and that the emergence of the 
females covers a period long enough for this struggle 
to tell, so that the males with small or rudimentary 
““horns"’ have the advantage in the end through the — 
operation of natural selection, while the others have 
the advantage at the beginning through sexual selec- 
tion in the form of battles between the males. 


Heredity of Melanism in Lepidoptera. 


Mr. W. Bowater described experiments on various 
melanic Lepidoptera. He pointed out that in Amphi- 
dasys betularia the melanic form is now more common 
than the typical form, and stated that a breeding 
experiment seemed to point to the Mendelian domin- 
ance of melanism in this species. He also recorded 
the results of pairings of typical and melanic examples 
of Odontoptera bidentata. He found that distinct 
segregation occurred, that homozygous and _hetero- 
zygous melanic forms were indistinguishable, that 
extracted types bred as true homozygotes, and that 
two heterozygous blacks, when paired, gave, in eight 
families, 75 per cent. black and 25 per cent. type. 
Mr. Bowater claimed that the specimens bred, 1800 
in number, proved that melanism in this species is a 
simple Mendelian dominant. 


Pseudacraeas and their Acraeine Models on Bugalla 
Island, Victoria Nyanza. 


Dr. G. D. H. Carpenter found that on Bugalla 
Island, in the Sesse Archipelago, Victoria Nyanza, 
there abounds a species of Nymphaline butterfly, 
Pseudacraea eurytus, which has several forms closely 
mimetic of various species of the Acrzine genus 
Planema. The 356 specimens of Pseudacrea caught 
by him in 1912-13 were excessively variable, inter- 
mediates between the various forms being as common 
as the types. Such intermediates are of the rarest 
occurrence on the mainland shore of the lake at 
Entebbe (twenty-five miles N.E. of Bugalla), but the 
typical forms abound there. On Bugalla Island the 
model Planemas are very scarce, probably from 
scarcity of the food-plant, so that their presence can 
be of little protective value to the Pseudacrzeas; hence 
any specimen which exhibits variation away from the 
type of the model has as much chance of escaping 
enemies as a form which closely resembles the model. 
On the mainland, however, Planemas are plentiful, 
so that their presence is of definite selective value for 
the mimics; consequently variations of the mimic are 
at a disadvantage in the struggle for existence, and 
are rarely found on the mainland, but the typical 
mimetic forms are abundant. It was claimed that 
this case afforded strong evidence of the reality of 
mimicry, and of the power of natural selection-to 
keep up the mimetic likeness. 


Geographical Relations of Mimicry. 


Dr. F. A. Dixey pointed out that certain definite 
schemes of colour and pattern in the wings of butter- 
flies are characteristic of certain definite geographical 
regions and even of smaller districts, and cited in 
illustration the well-known combination of red, black, 
and yellow Ithomiine, Heliconiine, Nymphaline, and 
Pierine butterflies in Central and South America. He 
remarked that it was natural to seek for an explana- 
tion in the direction of a common influence exercised 
by the geographical environment, but that this ex- | 


: 
: 


NovEMBER 27, 1913] 


be practically put out of court. The interpretation 
which at present holds the field is that which attri- 
butes the resemblances in colour, with their correlated 
geographical modifications, to the action of mimicry, 
either Batesian or Miillerian. 


Mimicry. 

Prof. Poulton opened what was intended to be a 
discussion on mimicry, but the opposition did not 
appear to be present in force, and there was not a 
real debate. Prof. Poulton directed attention to the 
injuries actually seen to be inflicted on butterflies by 
wild birds, and laid stress on disabling injuries, such 
as the loss of a whole wing or the head, indicating 
that the insect had not escaped, but was abandoned 
by the enemy. Such injuries are especially charac- 
teristic of the great groups which supply the models 
for mimicry, e.g. the Danainz and Acreinz in Africa. 
The crops of enormous numbers of birds have been 
examined and stated to contain no remains of butter- 
flies, but Prof. Poulton contended that the force of 
this requires reconsideration in the light of the recent 
work of Mr. C. F. M. Swynnerton in south-east 
Rhodesia. Pellets thrown up by captive insectivorous 
birds had been collected by Mr. Swynnerton, and were 
exhibited at the meeting, together with examples of 
butterflies belonging to the same species as those 
devoured. These pellets, when broken up, would 
have come under the well-known classification, ‘‘ insect 
débris, unrecognisable,"’ but Mr. Swynnerton has 
shown that no safe conclusion as to the nature of 
the pellets can be drawn except after microscopic 
examination sufficiently minute to detect the presence 
of lepidopterous scales and their sockets. The objec- 
tion against the origin of mimicry by small variations 
was met by the exhibition of mimetic females of 
Acraeaalciope, from the west coast of Africa and from 
western and eastern Uganda. In the first series the 
female Acrazeas mimic the brown male (and in some 
species the female also) of the Acrzine genus 
Planema, in eastern Uganda, they mimic the male of 
P. macarista, and the male and female of P. poggii, 
with an orange bar across the fore-wing and a white 
bar across the hind-wing. In western Uganda the 
transitional forms are found, some of the female 
Acrzas exhibiting a pattern similar to that of the 
west coast form, while others show an incipient white 
bar across the hind-wing, but the fully formed eastern 
mimic is not known to occur in this locality. In the 
intermediate zone of country the intermediate varia- 
tion is met with, connecting the western mimic with 
the eastern. Prof. Poulton cited examples of mimicry 
between the genera of certain African Nymphalines, 
pointed out the development of secondary resemblances 
between the mimics, and exhibited series of models 
and mimics taken in one sweep of the net in Lagos, 
thus showing that the mimics actually fly in the com- 
pany of their models. He also showed illustrations 
and specimens of a few cases of mimicry in temperate 
North American butterflies, and pointed out what he 
believed to have been the evolutionary history. If 
this history be correct, then it is impossible to explain 
the resemblance as due to the influence of environ- 
ment, because recent invaders from the Old World 
into this region have caused the mimetic modification 
of indigenous species. According to the theory of 
environment the invaders and not the residents ought 
to have been modified. 

Prof. van Bemmelen remarked that mimetic re- 
semblances required to be very carefully analysed. 
He had attempted to show that some of the patterns 
on the wings of butterflies were old and others new, 


NATURE 


387 


planation is attended by such extreme difficulty as to | traceable to a pattern existing far back in phylogeny, 


and that the subject should be further investigated 
from this point of view. 


Other Papers on Lepidoptera. 


Sir George Kenrick discussed the classification of 
the Pierines, and Mr. G. T. Bethune-Baker exhibited, 
with the aid of the epidiascope, specimens showing 
changes in pattern, colour, and structure (e.g, the 
genitalia) in the Ruralidze which lead him to conclude 
that pattern is very generally correlated with structure. 
Mr. G. D. H. Carpenter communicated observations 
on the enemies of “‘protected’’ insects with special 
reference to Acraea zetes. Such insects, “ protected," 
for instance, by their distastefulness from the attacks 
of vertebrates, are preyed upon by predaceous insects 
and parasites. 


The Ascidian Diazona violacea. 


Prof. Herdman exhibited specimens of this com- 
pound Ascidian, which he had dredged recently in the 
Hebrides. When alive the colony was bright green, 
but when preserved in alcohol it became violet in 
colour. Other specimens preserved in formalin re- 
tained their green colour. Green specimens dredged 
from deep water changed their colour in sunlight, 
and finally acquired a violet tint. The green colour 
is not due to chlorophyll, but to an allied pigment 
which has been named syntethein. The green 
Hebridean and the violet Mediterranean form are un- 
doubtedly the same species. 


Early Evolution of the Amphibia. 


Mr. D. M. S. Watson destribed the osteological 
characters of the Amphibia of Carboniferous, Per- 
mian, and Triassic formations, and concluded that, 
taken as a whole, the rhachitomous Amphibia of the 
Permian are intermediate in their structure, as they 
are in time between the embolomerous Carboniferous 
and the stereospondylous Triassic types, and it would 
seem that each of the three groups is to be regarded 
as ancestral to that which follows it. The almost 
absolute identity of the skulls of Pteroplax, an embolo- 
merous Amphibian of Carboniferous type, and Sey- 
mouria, which has the most primitive skull of any 
known reptile, seems to show definitely that the 
reptiles did arrive from that group of Amphibia, pre- 
sumably in early Carboniferous or Upper Devonian 
time. Mr. Watson suggested that the development 
of the bi-condylar articulation of the skull of Amphibia 
is to be correlated with the increasing depression of 
the skull, and is a characteristic Amphibian feature. 

Prof. Elliot Smith referred to the difficulty presented 
by the Amphibian cerebral cortex in regard to the 
phylogeny of the mammalia. He pointed out that in 
Petromyzon the cerebral cortex is rudimentary, in 
Selachians it is more highly developed, and in Dipnoi 
is almost as well developed as in reptiles, but in 
Amphibia is degenerate and feebly efficient. But 
Amniota must have gone through some Amphibian 
ancestry. It is now evident that the retrogression 
of the Amphibian cortex must have taken place since 
the reptiles branched off the Amphibian stem. 


Metamorphosis of the Axolotl. 


Mr. E. G. Boulenger gave an account of the experi- 
ments which he had recently conducted on the meta- 
morphosis of the Mexican axolotl (Amblystoma 
tigrinum). He concluded that the axolotl will, with 
a few exceptions, transform if placed under special 
conditions which force it to breathe air more fre- 
quently than usual; that starvation, irregular feed- 
ing, and temperature have no influence on the meta- 


and he suggested that some resemblances might be j morphosis; that elimination of oxygen from the water 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


388 


has likewise no bearing on the point, as, in these 
circumstances, the animal will not rise’ to the surface 
and use its lungs at more frequent intervals than 
animals placed under normal conditions. Mr. 
Boulenger stated that up to a certain point only could 
the shrinking gills and fins of the animal be made 
to undergo renewed development (when transferred 
from shallow to deep water). 


Homology of the Gills. 


Prof. H. Braus described the results of a number 
of transplantations carried out on tne larve of Rana, 
Hyla, and Bombinator by Dr. Ekman. The gill- 
ectoderm was detached before the gills had formed, 
and was transplanted to some other parts of the tad- 
pole. Such gill-ectoderm gave rise to gill-filaments, 
but not to gill-clefts; circulation of the blood was 
also wanting, and the filaments soon perished. If 
the gill-ectoderm was raised, turned round through 
180°, and replanted on the same area, gill-filaments 
were formed with circulation and gill-clefts, the latter 
being turned 180° from the normal position. It is 
concluded, therefore, that the ectoderm alone is able 
to produce gills, and determines their position and 
form, but the further development of the gills is 
dependent on the ingrowth of mesoderm (vascular 
system). ‘Foreign’? ectoderm, i.e. ectoderm which 
under ordinary circumstances does not develop gills, 
behaves differently according to the part of the 
organism from which it is taken. That taken from 
the trunk or the dorsal part of the head and planted 
in the position of the gill-ectoderm does not give rise 
to gills, but if ectoderm be taken from the region 
above the embryonic ‘heart and transplanted to the 
position of the gill-ectoderm, there are formed gill- 
filaments and clefts as in the normal animal. It is 
not yet certain what factors induce this ectoderm to 
imitate the gill-ectoderm, but Prof. Braus regards this 
imitation as of fundamental importance in relation to 
theories of homology. 


Cultures of the Embryonic Heart. 


Prof. Braus exhibited by the microkinematograph 
the beating heart of a tadpole (6 mm. long), which 
had been in the culture-medium seven days when the 
photographs were taken. He demonstrated the regu- 
lar rhythm, about eighty beats per minute, the sus- 
pension and irregularity due to the chemical rays of 
light, also typical “refractory’’ periods, and _ the 

rowth of the pigment cells. At this period of 
evelopment the heart has no ganglion cells and 
nerves are not present, nor are muscle-cells distin- 
guishable; it seems therefore that the protoplasmic 
links between the cells must be the conductors of the 
stimuli which pass along the heart. 


Phylogeny of the Carapace and Affinities of the 
Leathery Turtle. 


Dr. Versluys directed attention to the special char- 
acters exhibited by the carapace of the leathery turtle 
(Dermochelys coriacea), pointing out that in other 
Testudinata the carapace is formed by a relatively 
small number of plates firmly united to the vertebrz 
and ribs, but in Dermochelys the carapace is composed 
of a number of small thin plates, forming a mosaic, 
separated from the inner skeleton by a thick cutis. 
Dermochelys is not primitive, for its cervical vertebra 
show that it is derived from a Cryptodiran ancestor. 
That this ancestor possessed the typical carapace is 
shown by the fact that parts of it are still found in a 
reduced state in Dermochelys represented by the 
deeper or ‘‘thecal’’ layer of the dermal skeleton. 
Prof. Dollo has maintained that the ‘epithecal"’ 
skeleton is a new formation, but Dr. Versluys is in- 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[NOVEMBER 27, 1913 


* 


clined to assume that, in the ancestors of the Testu- — 
dinata, there were rows of epithecal elements (though — 
feebly developed) beginning in the neck ond continu- — 
ing over the thecal shell’to thé base of th. ‘ail, and — 


that the ancestors of Dermochelys reduced their heavy — 
thecal shell and replaced it by the new mosaic shell — 


formed by a proliferation of the marginals and other 
epithecal elements. ; 

Prof. Dollo discussed Dr. Versluys’s conclusions, 
and stated the reasons which led him still to regard 
the mosaic carapace of Dermochelys as an entirely 
new structure. He held that a study of fossil Chelo- 
nians permitted no other interpretation. He did not 
consider Archelon (Upper Cretaceous) as an ancestor 
of Dermochelys, but rather Eosphargis (Lower 
Eocene), because of the nature of the plastron. 

In reply Dr. Versluys said that whether or not 
Archelon was an ancestor of Dermochelys, both 
possessed an epithecal mosaic carapace, of which the 
marginals formed part. 


Unilateral Development of Secondary Male Characters 
in a Pheasant. 


Dr. C. J. Bond exhibited the skin of the white- 
ringed Formosan variety of the Chinese pheasant, 
the plumage on the left side of which was roughly — 
that of the adult male. The left leg showed a spur, 
but there was no spur on the right leg. The white- 
ringed neck feathers occurred in a half-circle on the 
left side only; the wing primaries and coverts were 
female in character, except for a few male feathers 
on the left side; the tail coverts were of the male 
type. 
left side, and a sexual organ was in the usual position 
of the left ovary, but sections showed that it consisted 
of ovarian elements undergoing pigmentary degenera- 
tion and testicular elements in active growth. Dr. 
Bond pointed out that such a case presented a diffi- 
culty if the ordinary or hormonic explanation of the 
origin of secondary sex characters were accepted. 
He suggested that two factors at least are concerned 
in the origin and development of secondary sex 
characters: one, a gametic factor—the primary sex 
gland, and the other a somatic factor, and that the 
two factors may vary independently of each other 
under certain conditions of abnormal hereditary 
transmission. 


A Mammal-like Dentition in a Cynodont Reptile. 


Dr. W. K. Gregory exhibited, for Dr. R. Broom, 
upper and lower jaws of a small species of Diadem- 
odon, from a study of which Dr. Broom concludes 
that the Cynodonts had deciduous incisors, deciduous 
canines, and four deciduous premolars, exactly as in 
mammals. As there is no evidence, in any specimen, 
of a dental succession after maturity has been 
reached, he concludes that the two sets of teeth corre- 
spond to the mammalian milk set and permanent set. 


Notharctus, an American Eocene Lemur. 


Dr. W. K. Gregory exhibited a skeleton of Noth- 
arctus rostratus, an Eocene lemur, the discovery of 
several partial skeletons of which in Wyoming, by 
the American Museum of Natural History, affords 
material for a fairly complete knowledge of the skull, 
dentition, limbs, and vertebrae. The material shows that 
Notharctus is a primitive lemur, more primitive than 
any now living, and possibly ancestral to the Indrisine 
lemurs. The correspondence in the details of limbs, 
&c., between Notharctus and modern Lemuridz is 
remarkably close, but the front teeth of the former 
are more primitive and have not assumed the lemurid 
characters; the molars are in pattern ancestral to 
those of Propithecus. 


A well-developed oviduct was present on the ~ 


- experiments 


NOVEMBER 27, 1913] 


NATURE 389 


_—— 


Dr. Gregory discussed the phylogeny of the 
primates, which he divided into three series :—(1) 
Lemuroidea, including Prolemures (Notharctide, 
Adapidz), Lemures, and Nycticebi; (2) Pseudo- 
Jemuroidea; (3) Anthropoidea. The Prolemures are 
the lowest and most generalised, and contain the 
ancestors of the Lemuridz and Indriside. Neso- 
pithecus and other ape-like lemurs with enlarged 
brain-case are closely allied to the Indrisidze, and their 
resemblances to the Anthropoidea are demonstrably 
convergent,not genetic. The oldest known platyrrhine, 
Homunculus, of the Patagonian Santa Cruz forma- 
tion, is definitely a Cebid. The oldest Anthropoidea 
are those described by Schlosser from the . Upper 
Eocene of Egypt, and they show no special approach 
to the platyrrhines. The Hominide are linked 
securely with the Simiidz, not only by the abundant 
evidence of anatomy and physiology, but also by recent 
paleontological discoveries. 


Morphology of the Mammalian Tonsil. 


Miss M. L. Hett gave an account of the principal 
types of tonsil found in mammals. Tonsils are 
normally present, and do not atrophy until extreme 
old age (except in man), in most of the mammalian 
orders, but they are wanting in many rodents, some 
insectivores, and most bats. The gross anatomy of 
the tonsils is very distinctive for each group of mam- 
mals, being always characteristic of the order, and 
frequently also of the family, or even, in some cases, 
of the genus. Miss Hett remarked that it was not 
easy to show, in the case of this organ, an actual 
correlation between structure and habit, but it was 
worthy of note-that the tonsils of carnivorous marsu- 
pials bear a remarkable resemblance to those of 
Eutherian carnivores. 


Several other papers were read, which, however, 
do not lend themselves to the purpose of a summary. 
Prof. Poulton pointed out that the term mutation has 
been employed in three different senses, and sug- 
gested that it should be restored to its original use 
and that new terms be employed for the other two 
uses of ‘“‘mutation,’’ and for the two kinds of ‘ fluc- 
tuation.” Mr. R. H. Whitehouse discussed the 
evolution of the caudal fin of fishes, and the morpho- 
logy of the elements of the fin. Prof. R. J. Anderson 
presented notes on the skull and teeth of Tursiops 
and on the skeletal elements of vertebrate limbs; 
the Rev. Dr. Irving exhibited teeth and limb bones 
of the Solutré type of horse from the Stort valley; 
Mr. Forster Cooper gave an account of Thaumasto- 
therium, a new genus of Perissodactyles; Dr. W. S. 
Bruce exhibited a series of photographs of the new 
zoological gardens near Edinburgh, and Mr. F. 
Coburn submitted observations on the migration of 
birds over the midland district. 

By the courtesy of Major C. C. Hurst, about eighty 
members of Sections D, K, and M were invited to 
inspect the Burbage Experimental Station for applied 
genetics. Attention was particularly directed to six 
series of exhibits, of each of which Major Hurst gave 
a brief explanation and demonstrated the special 
features shown :—(1) garden races of Antirrhinum, 
illustrating the inheritance of minute variations in 
tint, height, and habit of growth; (2) segregation of 
specific characters in F, hybrids of Berberis; (3) 
breeding experiments with racing pigeons, with the 
view of investigating the transmission of homing 
powers; it is interesting to note that feeble-minded- 
ness behaves as a recessive in birds; (4) breeding 
with Dutch rabbits, with respect 
to the inheritance of coat-colour and markings; (5) 
the colt of a pure-bred shire mare and a thoroughbred 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92| 


stallion ; (6) breeding experiments with poultry, which 
suggest that both the male and female parents trans- 
mit to their daughters factors for egg-size and egg- 
colour, that the smaller grade egg is dominant to 
the larger grade, and the darker tint dominant to the 
lighter. J. H. AsuworrtnH. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


CampripcE.—In a paragraph last week (p. 362) it 
was stated that the number of students receiving in- 
struction in the school of agriculture was 320. Prof. 
T. B. Wood, Drapers Professor of Agriculture, in- 
forms us that the correct number is about one-third of 
that stated. The mistake arose by adding together 
the number of students in each of the three terms. 


Tue Swiney lectures on geology in connection with 
the British Museum (Natural History) will be given 
this year by Dr. T. J. Jehu, his subject being ‘The 
Natural History of Minerals and Ores.’ The lectures 
will be delivered in the Metallurgical Lecture Theatre 
of the Imperial College of Science and Technology, 
Exhibition Road, South Kensington, on Mondays and 
Tuesdays, at 5 p.m., and Saturdays at 3 p.m., begin- 
ning Saturday, November 29, and ending Tuesday, 
December 23. Admission to the lectures is free. 


Ir is announced in Science that complete plans for 
the new home of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
nology have now been made public. There are to be 
nine contiguous buildings, each devoted to a separate 
department. Building operations have already been 
started. The principal buildings are expected to be 
ready for occupancy in two years. Of the 2,000,000l. 
necessary, 1,460,o00l. has been already promised. 
From the same source we learn that the Chamber of 
Commerce of New York City has received a gift 
from a donor whose name is withheld of 100,o000l. 
for a building for a college of commerce. Gifts have 
also been received of 10,o00l. from four other sub- 
scribers. The Chamber of Commerce proposes to 
provide a building and to install a commercial and 
civic museum on condition that the City of New York 
provides the working expenses. 


THE conditions of admission to the new Register 
of Teachers were approved finally at the meeting of 
the Teachers’ Registration Council held on November 
21. The conditions of registration are set out in 
the text of the regulations which was published in 
full in The Times of November 22. The register will 
contain the names of all registered teachers in alpha- 
betical order in one column, with the date of regis- 
tration, and a further statement of attainments, train- 
ing, and experience. Among the conditions approved 
under which entries may be made on the register 
the following may be mentioned:—The candidate 
must have obtained one of a number of the qualifica- 
tions specified, produce satisfactory evidence of having 
completed successfully a year’s course of training, 
and of having had a three years’ period of experience 
as ateacher. In addition, applicants must be twenty- 
five years of age, and pay a fee of one guinea. 
Teachers not satisfying these conditions may, up to 
December 31, 1918, apply for registration if they have 
had five years’ approved experience of teaching, or 
ten years’ not mainly or solely employed in teaching. 
The period of experience will be reduced if evidence 
of a year’s training can be given. The certificate of 
registration is valid for nine vears, and can then be 
renewed without fee. 


’ WE have received an interim report of the Book 
Production Committee of the Library Association. 


590 


NATURE 


[NOVEMBER 27, 1913 


The inquiries of the committee began in 1905, and 
have resulted in the formulation of a number of recom- 
mendations, which, however, are published as ‘‘ under 
revision.’’ With most of the recommendations all 
who have to use books will cordially agree. Thus 
the committee advise that the title-page should be 
dated in the case of all copyright books with the 
dates of previous impressions on the back or on the 
half-title. Each book should contain a list of con- 
tents and an index, and the headlines should be 
descriptive of the contents of the page. One of the 
most important and difficult parts of the inquiry 
related to the quality of the paper used in books, and 
a classification into four types was adopted : (1) papers 
of light, spongy character, or featherweight; (2) 
printing papers with a moderate finish or surface, con- 
taining not more than 15 per cent. mineral matter; 
(3) highly surfaced printing papers; (4) so-called ‘‘ art” 
papers surfaced on both sides with mineral matter. 
Class (2) is recommended for books intended to resist 
a normal amount of wear, papers in classes (1) and 
(4) being quite bad from the point of view of 
durability. Class (3) is a compromise between (2) and 
(4), and the committee evidently prefers to use class (2) 
for reading matter and for illustrations also where 
the use of half-tone blocks can be avoided. When the 
illustrations are of a kind which demands a surfaced 
paper, ‘‘it seems reasonable to suggest that the 
letterpress should be printed on ordinary paper and 
the illustrations on a thin art paper coated on one 
side only, the illustrations being guarded into the 
book.’’ There are recommendations with reference 
to printing, book-illustration, and binding, and the 
report is the result of careful work by experts in the 
subjects dealt with. The establishment of the London 
County Council classes in book production was an 
indirect result of their earlier labours, and we shall 
look forward to a further report, when we hope that 
the question of legibility will receive more considera- 
tion, especially the influence upon eyesight of the 
surface, thickness, and texture of the paper used for 
printing. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
Lonpon. 


Royal Society, November 20.—Sir Archibald 
Geikie, IKX.C.B., president, in the chair.—Dr. D. H. 
Scott: Medullosa pusilla. Medullosa is a genus of 
fossil plants, with structure preserved, from the 
Carboniferous and Permian. Only one British species 
has -so far been known, Medullosa anglica, from the 
Lower Coal.Measures, the oldest and simplest mem- 
ber of the genus, with three uniform vascular 
cylinders. Medullosa pusilla from Colne, Lanes., is a 
closely allied form of remarkably small size and some- 
what simplified structure——Prof. A, F. S. Kent: 
Neuro-muscular structures in the heart. The paper 
deals .with the relations .of the structures at the 
auriculo-ventricular junction. Nerve fibres and nerve 
cells, the exact functions of which are open to con- 
jecture, are numerous in the neighbourhood of the 
junction. The present work shows that these nervous 
elements are associated with structures which lie in 
the connective tissue between the auricular muscle 
and the ventricular muscle.—George Graham and 
EP. Poulton: The alleged excretion of creatine in 
carbohydrate starvation.—J. A, Gardner and P. E. 
Lander: The origin and destiny of cholesterol in the 
animal organism. Part xi., The cholesterol content of 


growing chickens under different diets —W. E. 
Bullock and- W. Cramer: Contributions to the bio- 


chemistry of growth—the lipoids of transplantable 
tumours of the mouse and the rat. 


* “NO. 2300, VOE.@2i 


| 


Physical Society, November 14.—Prof. C. H. Lees, 
F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—H. R. Nettleton ; 
The thermal conductivity of megcury by the impressed 
velocity method. The paper gave an account of the 
determination of the thermal conductivity of mercury 
at the ordinary temperature of the room by the im- 
pressed velocity method first described by the author 
in the Proceedings of this society, vol. xxii., 1910. 


A mean value of 0-0201 c.g.s. units at 15-5° C. is- 


obtained for the thermal conductivity—Dr. A. W. 
Ashton; Polarisation and energy losses in dielectrics. 
The object of the paper is to discuss the relations 
which should exist between the coefficients in Pellat’s 
equation (as modified by Schweidler), giving the dis- 
placement in a viscous dielectric as a function of the 
time of charge and the P.D.—F. J. Harlow: A lecture 
experiment to illustrate ionisation by collision and to 
show thermo-luminescence. A method of demonstrat- 
ing to an audience both ionisation by collision and 
the reduction of the sparking potential by the presence 
of initial ionisation is described in the paper. 


Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, November 17.—M. F. Guyon 
in the chair.—Charles Moureu and Emile André: The 
thermochemistry of acetylene compounds. ‘The heats 
of combustion and formation of thirty-three acetylene 
derivatives have been determined, and compared with 
the analogous ethylene and saturated compounds. The 
addition of a molecule of hydrogen to acetylene deriva- 
tives evolves about 80 calories in the fatty series, rather 
less in the aromatic series.—A. Laveran; Macacus and 
dogs are affected similarly by Indian and Mediter- 
ranean kala-azar. An experimental proof of the 
identity of these two diseases.—Georges Charpy and 
André Cornu: The influence of silicon on the solu- 
bility of carbon in iron. As the silicon increases, 
the solubility of carbon in iron decreases, becom- 
ing practically nil at goo°, for 4 per cent. silicon, 
and at r1000° C., with 7 per cent. of silicon.—M. 
Gosselet was elected a non-resident member.—M. 
Giacobini: The return of the Giacobini comet 
(1900 III.). The comet 1913e is shown to be identical 
with the Giacobini comet (1900 III.).—E. Keraval: A 
family of triply orthogonal systems.—M. Tzitzéica : 
Conjugated networks.—Zodrd de Georce: The quad- 
rature of varieties—Kampé du Fériet; The ultra- 
spherical polynomials Vee y» Léon Brillouin - 
The propagation of a luminous signal in a dispersive 
medium.—Pierre Weiss and Auguste Piccard: The 
magnetisation of nitric oxide and magneton.—E. 
Ariés : Remarks on the coefficients of thermo-elasticity- 
—M. Billon-Daguerre, ,, Medard, and H. Fontaine: A 
new arrangement of the mercury lamp. A description 
of a quartz mercury-vapour lamp, giving about 3000 
candles for an expenditure of 1250 watts. The lamp 
causes practically no heating effects, and the light can 
be condensed on a celluloid film without danger. The 
point of light is absolutely fixed, and requires no 
adjustment in use.—G, Moreau; Electric couples in 
flames. An account of some electrical effects noticed 
when two platinum plates, one bearing a trace of a 
salt and the other clean, are heated together in a 
flame.—M. de Broglie: A new method giving photo- 
graphs of line spectra with R6ntgen rays.—F. O. 
Germann; Revision of the density of oxygen. The 
density of the air of Geneva. The oxygen in these 
experiments was prepared by heating potassium per- 
manganate, passed over solid potash, phosphoric 
anhydride, and mercury, and further purified by frac- 
tional distillation. Using four different density 
globes, eleven observations gave a mean density of 
1-42904 (extremes 1-42815 and 1-42941). A second set, 
in which the oxygen was not distilled, gave a mean 
value 1-42923; a third set, similar treatment to first 


NovEMBER 27, 1913]| 


NATURE 391 


series, but gas passed in addition over heated platinised 
asbestos, gave I-42905. The final mean of the fifteen 
observations of the first and third series was 1-42906. 
—Eug. Wourtzel: The decomposition of hydrogen 
sulphide by the radium emanation. The amount of 
gas decomposed was studied with respect to the effects 
of temperature and pressure.—Paul Pascal : Complex 
salts of uranium.—N. D. Costeanu: The action of 
carbon dioxide upon boron sulphide. The reaction 
was found to correspond to the equation 


B.S,+3CO.=B.0,+3CO+3S. 


—Albert Granger: The colorations arising in glasses 
‘containing copper. A satisfactory blue colour is 
obtained in a glass containing only 0-05 CuO for one 
molecule of the base. A larger proportion of copper 
gives a greenish shade, especially in glass with a 
high proportion of alkalies.—F, Bodroux : The catalytic 
esterification in aqueous solution of some primary 
alcohols of the C,,H,,,,.O series——H. Mech: The pro- 
ducts of condensation of the nitro-benzyl chlorides with 
acetylacetone, methylacetylacetone, and the cyanacetic 
esters.—Roger Douris: The action of mixed organo- 
magnesium derivatives upon the dimeric aldehyde from 
crotonaldehyde.—MM. Desgrez and Dorléans: The 
antagonism of the properties of guanine and adrena- 
line. The toxicity of adrenaline is diminished to a 
certain extent by the action of guanine, the adrena- 
linic glycosuria being notably reduced—R. Fosse: 
The identification of urea and its precipitation in 
extremely dilute solutions. The reagent proposed is 
xanthydrol. This precipitates dixanthylurea, of high 
molecular weight.. In a solution containing one- 
millionth part of urea, oor mgr. can be detected 
microscopically. From 0-03 to 0-05 gram of urea 
can be separated and identified by analysis. Details 
of the technique are given.—Henri Piéron: The 
mechanism of the chromatic adaptation of Idotea 
tricuspidata.—Albert Michel-Lévy : The limiting age of 
the granite in the Maconnais and Beaujolais moun- 
tains.—O. Mengel: The eastern termination of the 
synclinal of Mérens-Villefranche—G. Depape: The 
presence of Ginkgo biloba (Salisburya adiantifolia) in 
the Lower Pliocene of . Saint-Marcel-d’Ardéche.— 
Arthur L. Day and E. S. Shepherd: Water and mag- 
matic gases. It has been stated that the gases 
emitted by the crater of Kilauea do not contain 
water. Gas samples were taken directly from a lava 
fountain at the bottom of the crater, and proved to 
contain steam in considerable quantity, in addition to 
large proportions of sulphur dioxide and carbon 
dioxide. Carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and nitrogen 
were also present in these gases. Analyses are also 
given of the solid matter contained in the water 
deposited from the gas samples. 


Care Town. 

Royal Society of South Africa, October 15.—The 
president in the chair.—R. Marloth: A new mimicry 
plant (Mesembrianthemum lapidiforme). 
the plant consists only of two fleshy bodies (the 
leaves), which are half buried in the sand. Each 
leaf is about 1 in. to 1} in. in length and width, 
shaped like a tetrahedron with blunt edges and angles, 
and brownish-red in colour, like the angular frag- 
ments of stone among which the plant grows. It is 
consequently very difficult to detect even in localities 
where its occurrence is known. In spring the plant 
produces two flowers, ome at each side, which are 
joined to the parent plant by a very thin connection. 
The ripe seed vessel is consequently easily detached 
at this spot and can be carried away by the wind— 
a mode of dispersal unique among the nearly 400 
species of the genus Mesembrianthemum. The plant 
was discovered in the Ceres Karoo by Capt. Edward 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


In summer | 


Alston._—J. P. Dalton: An experimental modification 
of van der Waals’s equation. The a of van der 
Waals’s equation is considered to be a function of the 
temperature only, and the b to be independent of the 
temperature. The function is then determined for a 
typical normal substance (isopentane) from the ex- 
perimental isothermals, and it is shown that the law 
loga=a+AT is accurately obeyed. The equation is 
modified accordingly. The new saturation constants 
are obtained, and the modified vapour pressure curve 
is found to represent experimental, results for both 
normal and abnormal substances much more closely 
than the original. The new values agree well with 
the van der Waals vapour pressure formula, and the 
value of the constant at the critical point is prac- 
tically equal to that which is given by carbonic acid 
and by isopentane. The modified equation is also 
used with quite satisfactory results for the calculation 
of latent heats and also for obtaining the curve of 
inversion of the specific heat of saturated vapours.— 
J. R. Sutton : Barometric variability at Kimberley and 
elsewhere. An attempt to determine working con- 
stants which shall represent the ‘‘cylonic activity” 
at various places in South Africa and such other 
places outside as have available information regarding 
the barometer. Tables are given showing the monthly 
mean constants, with maximum and minimum values, 
or barometric variability. One deduction is that the 
‘‘equinoctial gales,"’ so far as barometric changes can 
represent them, have no existence in fact. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Les Zoocécidies des Plantes d’Europe et du Bassin 
de Ia Méditerranée. By C. Houard. Tome Troisiéme. 
Supplément 1909-12. Nos. 6240 a 7550. Pp. 1249- 
15360. (Paris: A. Hermann et Fils.) 10 francs. 

Die Stammesgeschichte der héheren Pflanzen. By 
Dr. W. Breitenbach. Pp. 77. (Brackwede i.W.: 
Dr. W. Breitenbach.) 1.50 marks. 

Vergleichende Physiologie und Morphologie der 
Spinnentiere unter _besonderer Beriicksichtigung der 


Lebensweise. By Prof. F. Dahl. Erster Teil. Pp. 
vit113. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 3.75 marks. 
Handbuch der Vergleichenden Physiologie. Edited 
by H. Winterstein. Band iii. Erster Heft. (Jena: 
G. Fischer.) 5 marks. 
Handworterbuch der Naturwissenschaften. Edited 
by E. Korschelt and others. 62 and 63 Lief. (Jena: 


G. Fischer.) 2.50 marks each Lief. 

The Romance of the Newfoundland Caribou. By 
A A. Radclyffe Dugmore. Pp. viiit+191+plates. 
(London: W. Heinemann.) 12s. 6d. net. 

The Waters of the North-Eastern North Atlantic : 
Investigations Made During the Cruise of the Frith- 
jof, of the Norwegian Royal Navy, in July, r910. By 
F. Nansen. Pp. 139+xvii plates. (Leipzig: Dr. W. 
Klinkhardt.) 

The Nummulosphere. By R. Kirkpatrick. Part 2. 
The Genesis of the Igneous Rocks and of Meteorites. 
Pp. xv+plate. (London: Lamley and Co.) esvanett 

Principles and Methods of Teaching Geography. 
By F. L. Holtz. Pp. xii+359- (London: Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd.) 5s. net. 

Practical Surveying and Elementary Geodesy. By 
Prof. H. Adams. Pp. xii+276. (London : Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd.) 4s. 6d. 

Manures and Fertilizers. By Dr. H. J. Wheeler. 
Pp. xxi+389- (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 


7s. net. 
Lepidoptera Indica. By Col. C. Swinhoe. 
Part exxii. Pp. 313-336+plates. part cxxiii. Pp. 


-337-364+x. (London: L. Reeve and Co., Ltd.) 10s. 


plain; 15s. coloured; and 15s. respectively. 


392 


NATURE 


[NOVEMBER 27, 1913 


Die Oekologie der Pflanzen. By Dr. 
Pp. x+308. 
10 marks, 

A National System of Education. 


O. Drude. 
(Braunschweig : F. Vieweg und Sohn.) 


By J. H. White- 


house. Pp. 92. (Cambridge University Press.) 
2s. 6d. net. 

Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. Vol 61, 
No. 1, The White Rhinoceros. By E. Heller. Pp. 


77+31 plates. 
tion.) 

Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the 
Smithsonian Institution for the Year Ending June 30, 
1912. Pp. xii+780+plates. (Washington: Govern- 
ment Printing Office.) 

Text-Book of Paleontology. 
Eastman. Adapted from the German of Karl A. von 
Zittel. Second edition, revised and enlarged. Vol. i. 
Pp. x+839. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 
25s. net. 

The Snakes of Europe. 
Pp. xi+269+xiv plates. 


(Washington: Smithsonian Institu- 


Edited by Prof. C. R. 


By Dr. G. A. Boulenger. 
(London : Methuen and Co., 


Utd!) 16s: 
A First Numerical Trigonometry. By W. G. 
Borchardt and the Rev. A. D. Perrott. Pp. xit159+ 


Xvii+ xvii. (London: G, Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. 
Icones Orchidearum Austro-Africanarum Extra- 
Tropicarum; or, Figures, with Descriptions of Extra- 


Tropical South African Orchids. By H. Bolus. 
Vol. iii. Pp.+plates 1-100. (London: W. Wesley 
and Son.) 


Die Atome. By Prof. J. Perrin. Mit Autorisation 
des Verfassers Deutsch herausgegeben yon Dr. A. 
Lottermoser. Pp. xx+196. (Dresden and Leipzig: 
T. Steinkopff.) 5 marks 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, Novemnrr 27. 

Roya Society, at 4.30.—A Method of Measuring the Pressure Pro- 
duced in the Detonation of High Explosives or by the Impact of Bullets : 
Prof. B. Hopkinson,—Gravitational Instability and the Nebular 
Hypothesis : J. H. Jeans.—The Diffraction of Light by Particles com- 
parable with the Wave-length: B. A. Keen and Prof. A. W. Porter,— 
Note on the Colour of Zircons, and its Radio-active Origin: Prof. R. J. 
Strutt.—The Influence of the Constituents of the Crystal on the Form of 
the Spectrum in the X-ray Spectrometer: Prof. W. H. Bragg.—The 
Analysis of Crystals bythe X-ray Spectrometer: W. L. Bragg.—Ship 
Resistance : The Wave-making Properties of Certain Travelling Pressure 
Disturbances: Dr. T. H. Havelock.—‘lhe Mathematical Representation 
of a Light Pulxe: Dr. R. A. Houstoun. 

InsTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Characteristics of 
Insulation Resistance: S. Evershed. 

Concrete Insti Ture, at 7.30.—The Differential and Integral Calculi for 
Structural Engineers : W. A. Green. 


FRIDAY, Novemeer 28. 
Junior Institution oF ENGINEERS, at 8,— Patent Protection: A. Abbey. 
Puysica. Sociery, at 5.—lhe Expansion of Silica: Prof. H. L. Callendar. 
—The Thermal Fxpansion of Mercury and Fused Silica: F. J. Harlow. 
—An Experimental Method for the Production of Vibrations on Strings, 
Prof. J. A. Fleming.—A Double-fibre String Galvanometer ; W. Apthorpe. 


SATURDAY, Novemser 20. 

Essex Fietp Cxun (at the Essex Museum of Natural History, Stratford) 
at 6.—Autumn Botany at Clacton: C. E. Britton —Report of Club's 
Deleg&te at the Meeting of the British Association at Birmingham, 1013: 
J. Wilson. —A Demonstration on the Nano-Plankton of Freshwater Ponds 
and Lake , as Revealed by the Use of the Centrifuge: D. J. Scourfield. 
The Occurrence of Rhaxyella-chert in the Epping Forest Gravels: P. G. 
Thompson.—N otes on the Plant-seeds found during Excavation of the 
Romano-British Barrow on Mersea Island: S. Hazzledine Warren. 


MONDAY, DECEMBER t. 

Society of ENGINEERS, at 7.30—The Corrosion and Rusting of Iron: 
E. K. Rideal. 

ARISTOTELIAN SocieTy, at 8.—Feeling: Pror. J. A. Smith. 

Society or Cyemicat InpustrRy, at 8.—Use of Antiseptics for Soil 
Sterilisation Purposes: Dr. E. J. Kussell and Mr. Buddin. 

Roya Society or Arts, at 8.—Cantor Lecture—The Measurement of 
Stresses in Materials and Structures: Prof. E. G. Coker. 


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2. 

RGNTGEN Society, at 8.15.—Sterilisation of Milk by Electrified Gas: Dr. 
Hampson, Prof. W. G. Duffield, and T. Murray.—Radium-emanation 
Applicators: C. E. S. Phillips 

Royat ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—Japanese Minor Magic 
connected with the Propagation and Early Infancy of Children: W. L. 
Hildburgh. = | 

InstiruTion oF Civit ENGINEERS, at 8,—The Transandine Railway : 
B. H. Henderson, 


NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 


WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3. 4 

AERONAUTICAL SociETy, at 8.30.—The Coming Airship: Captain C. M. — 

Waterlow. i 4 te 
Grotosicat Society, at 8.—(1) A Contribution to our Knowledge of she 
Geology of the Kent Coalfield; (2) ‘he F@ssil Floras of the Kent Coal- 

field: Dr. E, A. Newell Arber. : 3 

| Rovat Society or Arts, at 8.—Perfumery: J. C. Umne 
8.—Sulphuretted 


| Society oF Pusrtic ANAaLysTs, at tactader from 
Artificial Graphite : W. H. Woodcock and B. Blount.—The Determina~ 
tion of Strychnine in the Presence of Quinine : C. Simmonds.—The Rate 
of Liberation of Hydrocyanic Acid from Linseed : S. Collins and H, Blair. 
—The Composition of Palm-Kernel Oil: G. D. Elsdon. 
Entomotocicat Society, at 8.—New South American 
W. F. H. Rosenberg and G. Talbot. / 
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4. : 
Rovat Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: (1) A Method of Studying 
Transpiration ; (2) ‘he Effect of Light on the lranspiration of Leaves: 
Sir Francis Darwin.—Dimensions of Chromosomes considered in Relation 
to Phylozeny: Prof. J. B. Farmer and L. Digby.—The Process of Caleifi- 
cation in Enamel and Dentine: J. H. Mummery.—The Optimum Tempera~ 
ture of Salicin Hydrolysis by Enzyme Action is Independent of the Con- 
centrations of Substrate and Enzyme: A. Compton.—The Ratio between 
Spindle Lengths in the Spermatocyte Metaphases of Heliae Pomatia : 
C. F. U, Meek.—Egyptian Blue: Dr. A. P. Laurie, W. F. P. McLintock 
and F, D. Miles. a ; 
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Electricity Supply in 
Large Cities: Dr. G. Klingenberg. z. 
Linnean Society, at 8.—Wild Wheat from Mount Hermon, 7?7?ficumr 
dicoccoides Koern: Prof. J. Percival.—Neurotes, a New Genus of 
Mymarida, from Hastings: F. Enock.—A Contribution to the Study of 
the Evolution of the Flower; with Special Reference to the Hamameli- 
dacez, Caprifoliaceze and Cornacez: A. S. Horne. —The Mollusca of the 
River Nile: Mrs. Longstaff. : 
#RIDAY, DECEMBER 5. 

InsTiTUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Thomas Hawksley 
Lecture ; Water as a Mechanical Agent: E. B. Ellington. : 
Junior InstiruTion oF ENGINEERS, at 8.—Presidential Address: Sir 
Boverton Redwood, Bart. i 5 
INSTITUTION OF CrviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Liverpool Street Extension 

of the Central London Railway: H. V. Hutt. 


CONTENTS. PAGE 

A\Gesson for England. By J.P: : 3... ea 
Molecular Physics, By H.G.J.M......... 367 
Flight Principles and Practice .......... 3j08 
Gur-Bookshelf .... «sve nite) io) + eel 
Letters to the Editor:— : 
Migration Routes.—Horace Darwin, F.R.S. 37° 
The Elephant Trench at ewlish.—H. T, Ferrar . 371 

On a Habitat of a Marine Ameeba.—J. H. Orton. . 371 
372 


' Butterflies = 


A Remarkable Meteor on November 24.—Dr. Arthur 
PA. Rambaut, FO RiSe eee 
Darwinism 100 Years Ago.—Prof. 
RS...) a ee ee 
Intra-atomic Charge.—A. van der Broek _. . 
The Stone Implements of the Tasmanians. —Reginal 
Arescnith)..... Vantin = hielo) she, sen 
Museum Glass.—F, J. Cole. 
Captain Scott’s Last Expedition. 
Radium Resources. By Frederick Soddy, F.R.S. . 
Presentation of the Bust of Sir Henry Roscoe to 
the Chemical Society. (J//ustrated.) ....... 
Notes, (Zi/ustrated.).. 5. “ss aS 1s) a) 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Astronomical Occurrences for Derember . . ... . 
A New Hill Astronomical Observatory... . 383 
Measurement of Radial Velocities by Objective Grating 
Spectrograph. . . . onan 
Sun-spot Areas for 1912 Oo a a 
Curricula of Secondary Schools. By G. F. Daniell 
The Spread of the Metric System. ..... .. 
By Dr. J. H. 


‘Arthur Dendy, 


" (Zlustrated.) By 


Zoology at the British Association. 
Ashworth Re Carib © sce c 
University and Educational Intelligence. ..... 


Societies.and Academies): 3): ~ : (4%, >n-sneeeee 
Books Received ool og WSN Sr s.d Coats) ces ee 
Diary of Societies see 392 
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NOVEMBER 27, 1913] 


NATURE 


CXXXV 


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FOSSIL COLLECTION. 


JAMES R. GREGORY & CO. having purchased the well-known 

Collection of Silurian and Coal Measure Fossils. formed by 

the late Henry Johnson, of Dudley, are prepared to sell the 
Collection either separately or as a Whole. Apply to 


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NATURE 


THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1913. 


ANTARCTIC METEOROLOGY. 
National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-1904. 
Meteorology. Part ii. Comprising Daily Syn- 
chronous Charts October 1, 1901, to March 31, 
1904. Prepared in the Meteorological Office, 
under the superintendence of M. W. Campbell 
Hepworth, C.B. Pp. 26+charts.. (London: 
The Royal Society, 1913.) Price 21s. 
J HIS work completes the series of meteor- 
ological investigations which were begun 
after the return of the National Antarctic Expedi- 
tion in the year 1904. While the first volume, 
which appeared in the year 1908, dealt with the 
meteorological observations of the Discovery 
station and of the sledge journeys carried out 
from there, the second volume now published gives 
the results of the International Meteorological 
Cooperation, which existed from 1901 to 1904, 
in order to discuss, in a summarised form, the 
weather conditions of the higher southern latitudes 
during that period of investigation. For this 
purpose it was from the first arranged, at the 
instigation of the German authorities, to construct 
daily synoptic weather charts of the higher southern 
latitudes for the period October 1, 1901— 
March 31, 1903. The data for these charts were 
to be supplied by the land stations on the southern 
continents, and by ships of all nationalities which 
were during that time further south than 30° S. 
latitude. These were requested to take observa- 
tions daily at the time of Greenwich noon, relating 
to air-pressure, temperature of the air and sea, 
amount and motion of clouds, precipitation, and 
other noteworthy phenomena. 
As the ship Discovery remained fixed in the ice 
a second year, it was agreed to extend the Inter- 
national Cooperation for another year, viz., to 
March 31, 1904. The data thus obtained, which 
covered a period of two and a half years, were, 
after the termination of the cooperation, collected 
at the Meteorological Office in London, and at 
the Bureau of the German South Polar Expedition 
in Berlin, and at both places the plan of con- 
structing weather charts was then further con- 
sidered. The result of the English discussion, 
prepared under the superintendence of Com- 
mander Hepworth, is contained in the volume now’ 
under review. The German discussion, which was 
handed over by the leader of the German South 
Polar Expedition, Dr. von Drygalski, to myself 
and Mr. Mecking, is under publication. A first 
part, which dealt with the monthly isobaric charts 
from October, 1901, to March, 1904, and the 
climatic conditions of Cape Horn, was published 
NO. 2301, VOL. 92| 


393 


in the summer of 1911. The continuation in the 
course of next year will include the daily syn- 
chronous weather charts, together with their 
discussion. 

In the work under review the weather charts 
of the south polar region are drawn on the polar 
projection on the scale of about 1: 130 millions 
for the period in question. Of the elements re- 
lating to the weather only wind-direction and 
force, air-pressure (without correction for gravity), 
air-temperature at individual stations, and at the 
ships’ positions, are given; not sea-temperature, 
cloud, and hydrometeors, which are probably 
omitted for want of space. With the aid of air- 
pressure and wind observations, isobars are 
drawn, but are apparently limited essentially to 
simultaneous observations at Greenwich noon only, 
without regard to changes of weather from day to 
day. Consequently the run of the isobars on the 
charts between positions of far-distant ships is 
practically disconnected and uncertain. By the 
addition of the regular four-hourly ships’ observa- 
tions a much better basis for drawing the isobars 
might have been obtained; this will be done in 
the German publication. 

It is also noticeable that the isobars between 
neighbouring places of observation are not 
brought into harmony and connection, which in 
many cases might have been easy, and would 
appear to be necessary. Compare, for instance, 
the isobars of November 4, 1902, southward of 
Australia and eastward of South America. In 
these circumstances one could not, in most cases, 
accurately locate “High” and “Low’”’ on the 
charts and identify them from day to day. It 
therefore seems hazardous to use the charts for 
systematic investigations relating to the velocity 
of translation of anti-cyclones and cyclones. In 
the brief text which accompanies the charts, the 
author has restricted himself to noting the 
amount of progression of nine depressions only, 
which could be identified on the charts after about 
every eight days. From these he has drawn the 
following conclusion :—‘If the centres of the re- 
spective cyclonic depressions have been correctly 
located, the average daily rate at which they 
progressed was nearly 300 nautical miles.”’ 

As regards anticyclones the case was only more 
favourable in the area of the Australian and South 
American continents. But there is no detailed 
information in the text as to what new results 
could be deduced from the charts in question; 
generally speaking only the older investigations 
of Hepworth, Russell, Lockyer, and Rawson are 
referred to, and the general remark made that the 
views of the first-named are confirmed by the new 
publication. Commander Hepworth especially ob- 

P 


394 


jects to Russell’s deduction that the southern 
sub-tropical anticyclones have a daily west-east 
movement of 460 nautical miles; this figure is 
thought to be much too high, and not confirmed 
by ships’ observations. It would appear more 
likely that the depressions travelled quickly, and 
determined the alternation of weather conditions 
on the south border of the sub-tropical anti- 
cyclones, the movements of which, according to the 
weather charts, are shown to be erratic and slow. 

The average paths followed by the depressions 
are, so far as possible, deduced from the daily 
charts and entered on unpublished charts. Un- 
fortunately, only general information on the results 
of this investigation is contained in the text to 
the atlas. The following are the principal con- 
clusions :-— 

“The average path of all central areas of de- 
pressions charted for the entire period, October, 
igor, to March, 1904, is found to have been in 
about the 52nd parallel. Between the meridians 
of 20° E.-and 150° E., that is to say, over the 
South Indian division of the Southern Ocean, it 
was between the 49th and 5oth parallels; and 
between 150° E. and 70° W., the South Pacific 
division, in about the 55th. . . During the 
summer months the 53rd was the average parallel 
along which the centres travelled eastward in the 
Indian division, and they followed a path between 
the 56th and 57th in that of the Pacific. During 
autumn and winter the paths were confined to 
zones between 48° S. and 409° S. in the South 
Indian division, and between 55° and 56° S. in 
the Pacific.’’ 

For the south-western Atlantic Ocean it is 
shown that the paths of the depressions eastward 
of 56° W. take the direction towards E., S.E., 
or N.E. In autumn and winter the paths in all 
parts of the Southern Ocean are more scattered 
than in spring and summer. But, in my opinion, 
these statements of the mean geographical latitude 
of the tracks require an essential limitation. It is 
plainly not a question of the paths of the centres 
of the depressions as there stated. Moreover, in 
the circumstances, the determination of these 
centres in the Southern Ocean was really not 
possible, as the range of the area of weather 
charts in the Indian and Pacific Ocean does not 
extend far enough to the south. In the Indian 


Ocean vessels rarely go beyond 50°, or in the | 


Pacific Ocean beyond 55° S. 

On the charts, so far as these latitudes, the 
isobars in low-pressure regions usually show no 
closed form; on the contrary, they are open to- 
wards the south, a sign that the centres of the 
depressions usually lie more southerly than those 
latitudes. In fact, it is already known from the 
observations of the South Polar expeditions that 
the zone of west winds has its southerly limit 

NO. 2301, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


| easterly winds at the south polar stations. 


| cyclonic air-currents, which bring their warmth 
| and moisture with them from low latitudes. 


[DECEMBER 4, 1913 


beyond 60°, and consequently the mean paths of 
the depressions are also to be looked for in this — 
high latitude. The writer has determined this 
latitude as 63° S. for the meridian of the Gauss 
station (go° E.). South of Cape Horn, 62° S. 
may be assumed, while eastwards in the Weddell 
Sea the depressions draw still more to the south- 
ward. The latitudes above indicated, therefore, 
only refer to those northerly offshoots of the de- 
pressions which extend to the regions represented 
by synoptic charts, and which often have the 
character of secondary depressions. As a matter 
of fact, therefore, those figures furnish no answer 
to the important question as to where the depres- — 
sions of the southern temperate zone are to be 
looked for. On this point only the discussion of © 
the results of the synchronous South Polar 
Expeditions, in conjunction with the weather 
charts, can give information. 

In the text accompanying the charts the results 
of the expeditions are only referred to briefly. 
The author there restricts himself essentially to 
some general remarks on the character of the 
He 
rightly holds them to be of cyclonic origin, which 
agrees with the writer’s views in the discussion 
of the wind observations at the Gauss station — 
(1905), and subsequently stated in more detail. — 
And the warm, stormy, south-easterly winds at 
the Discovery station are also indicated as 


The 
occurrence of corresponding storm periods at the 
Kerguelen and Gauss station is shown in twelve 
cases, proving that a connection exists between — 
them, as had also been remarked by the writer. | 
The publication of hourly observations at both — 
stations in the German South Polar work allows — 
the comparison to be still more thoroughly and — 
forcibly demonstrated. ; 

In the discussion of the weather conditions of — 
the Weddell Sea, the important investigations of — 
Mossman and Mecking were certainly worthy of 
being mentioned. The explanatory text of the 
work now in question contains in the smallest— 
space only general facts about those conditions © 
which have long been known and fully established 
by the investigators named. 

In addition to the daily weather charts there 
are monthly charts of air-pressure and air-tem- 
perature for the period in question (October, 
1g01—March, 1904), and opposite to these are 
placed the normal charts for comparison. From 
these some general conclusions are drawn upon 
the deviations of the individual seasons and years, — 
but without detailed comparison; and a precise — 
account of the method on which these monthly 


LOS, 


. 


DECEMBER 4, 1913] 


charts are drawn is not given in the text. The 
monthly isobaric charts published by the German 
South Polar Expedition, and partly discussed in 
detail, are not referred to. 

The daily weather charts are also utilised in 
determining the frequency of winds and storms 
in the different 10° zones of latitude; these are 
given in tabular form, but no conclusions are 
drawn from them. 

In the preface to the volume the president of 
the Royal Society, Sir Archibald Geikie, makes 
some very useful corrections to volume i. of the 
Meteorology of the National Antarctic Expedition. 
These refer specially to the question whether on 
the sledge journeys of the Discovery expedition 
the wind-directions were noted by true or magnetic 
bearings. W. Mernarvus. 


THE GROUP-ORIGIN OF SPECIES. 


Gruppenweise  Artbildung, unter  spezieller 
Beriicksichtigung der Gattung Oenothera. By 
Prof. Hugo de Vries. Pp. viiit+365+22 


coloured plates. Figs. 121. (Berlin: Gebrii- 
der Borntraeger, 1913.) Price 22 marks. 
T may be said at once that the facts in this 
volume represent perhaps the most compen- 
dious and extensive experimental treatment of 
hereditary phenomena which has yet been accom- 
plished in one limited group of organisms, and 
as such it deserves careful study by all students 
of genetics, The book is an outgrowth and further 
development of the views expressed by de Vries in 
“Die Mutationstheorie”’ (1901-03). Those views 
were, as is well known, founded chiefly upon the 
author’s experiments with Oenothera, the muta- 


_tion theory of sudden germinal changes being also 


based to some extent upon his conception of intra- 
cellular pangenesis. 

The present volume, therefore, marks not only 
an important advance in our knowledge of the 
hereditary behaviour in the ‘evening primroses, 
but also coordinates, and develops to a remarkable 
degree the views of the author on the general 
subject of heredity and its relation to mutation. 
The strength of this present work lies in the fact 
that the new empirical results all receive their in- 
terpretation in terms of the earlier theory. And it 
must be said that the enormous mass of experi- 
mental data with Oenothera has been coordinated 
and rendered intelligible in a striking way by the 
application of the author’s earlier conceptions. 

De Vries adheres to the view that characters 
which are independently inherited must be repre- 
sented by separate structures (pangens) in the 
cell, and one of the basic conceptions of the book 
is that these pangens are not simply present or 

NO. 2301, VOL. 92]. 


NATURE 


395 


absent from the cell, but may exist in one of three 
conditions: (1) active, (2) inactive, or (3) labile. 
On this basis the whole explanation, not only of 
several different types of hereditary behaviour in 
wild species and mutants, but also of the mutation 
phenomena themselves, is worked out. A theory 
which can bring into harmonious relation such a 
vast body of evidence is of much service, even 
though its validity may not be final. 

Since the phenomena of heredity occupy such 
an important part of the book, a few of the 
general results of crossing may be mentioned. By 
series of interspecific crosses it is shown that 
various wild species, including O. biennis L., 
O. muricata L., and O. cruciata Nutt., carry en- 
tirely different characters in their male and female 
germ cells. Such species are called heterogam- 
ous. The pollen grains usually carry a type corre- 
sponding nearly with the external characters of 
the species, while the egg cells may carry a very 
different type. Other species of Oenothera, such 
as O. Hookeri, O. strigosa, and O. Lamarckiana, 
are, like most wild species, isogamous, i.e., bear- 
ing the same qualities in their eggs and pollen 
grains. In heterogamous species the reciprocal 
crosses are, of course, unlike. 

In the subsequent crosses, several distinct types 
of hereditary behaviour are recognised, e.g. 
(1) twin hybrids—two types unlike either parent, 
and which subsequently breed true or split, being 
produced in the F,; (2) the formation of inter- 
mediate hybrids, which remain constant; (3) split- 
ting in F, into the two parent types, which after- 
wards breed true; (4) Mendelian splitting, in Fo. 
The mutations from O. Lamarckiana are thus 
classified according to the type of behaviour they 
exhibit. 

These types of behaviour again are discussed in 
terms of pangens. Why, for instance, does O. 
Lamarckiana x O. mut. nanella give dwarfs in the 
F,, while in O. mut. rubrinervis x O. mut. nanella 
dwarfs first appear in Fj? This is because the 
former cross represents a labile x inactive pangen, 
while in the latter we have the active x inactive 
condition. In this way many of the hereditary 
peculiarities of the Oenotheras are “explained ”’ 
by the same theory which explains the mutations 
themselves. It is considered that a mutation con- 


| sists in the change of a pangen from one condition 


to another, and sometimes in the formation of 
new pangens. These conceptions are largely in 
harmony with the cytological facts. 

Aside from these theoretical matters, one of the 
most important contributions of the work is to 
show by many instances that new and constant 
races frequently result from crossing—races the 
characters of which, moreover, are not Mendel- 


396 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 4, 1913 


ian recombinations, but in which many of the 
characters have been modified. The most pro- 
minent achievements of the book appear to be in 
showing (1) that mutation as a process is not 
to be confounded with the mere recombinations 
of unit-characters, and (2) that various types of 
hereditary behaviour exist, only occasional char- 
acters showing the Mendelian type of segregation. 
Ro RAG. 


THE NEW PSYCHOLOGY. 
(1) Man and His Future. Part ii., The Anglo- 


Saxon: His Part and His Place. By Lieut. Col. ; 


William Sedgwick. Pp. 217. (London: Francis 
Griffiths, 1913.) Price 6s. net. 

(2) The Fate of Empires: being an Inquiry into 
the Stability of Civilisation. By Dr. A. J. Hub- 
bard. Pp. xx+220. (London: Longmans, 
Green and Co., 1913.) Price 6s. 6d. net. 


(3) The Science of Human Behaviour: Biological 


and Psychological Foundations. By Dr. 
Maurice Parmelee. Pp. xvii+443. (New York: 
The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd.) Price 8s. 6d. net. 

(4) Die Neue Tierpsychologie. By Georges Bohn. 
Autorisierte deutsche Ubersetzung von Dr. Rose 
Thesing. Pp. viiit+183. (Leipzig: Veit and 
Co., 1912.) Price 3 marks. — 

T may be stated as a truism that every new 
development of science modifies opinion as to 

the meaning and destiny of man himself. Well- 
intentioned sentimentalists, like the late Henry 

Drummond, try to “reconcile”’ science and reli- 

gion by a metaphorical interpretation of both. 

Such attempts illustrate the popular instinct for 

unification, which is itself a part of religion and 

the kernel of metaphysical philosophy. Such a 

volume as Lieut.-Colonel Sedgwick’s ‘Man and 

his Future ” (1) is thus a sociological phenomenon, 
illustrating the vitality and variation of popular 
philosophy. The Anglo-Saxon, he says, has insti- 
tuted the Age of Machines and Instruments; by 

‘means of these he is beginning to separate the 

component bricks of the universe (Clerk Maxwell’s 

metaphor)—the atoms. Man is therefore on the 
eve of a great development, which is the integra- 
tion of the whole universe (Herbert Spencer’s 
metaphor)—whatever that may mean—by the em- 
ployment of the forces of attraction against those 
of repulsion. The former and the men using them 
are, says this author, guided by Christ; the latter 
by Satan. A pre-occupation with the periodic 
theory of Mendeléeff and his school is the basis of 
these lucubrations. 

On a higher but equally metaphorical plane is 

Dr. Hubbard’s “The Fate of Empires” (2). This 

NO. 230I, VOL. 92| 


work, both in substance and in style, is an echo _ 
of Kidd’s “Social Evolution.”, The author is — 
struck by the simultaneity in civilisation of social- 
istic phenomena and a declining birthrate. First- 
hand acquaintance with the intensive population — 
and the family instinct (hiao) of China has inspired — 

an investigation into the causes of the fall of — 
Greece and Rome. The cure of the fate of em- 
Pires is religious motive, which, says our author, 
is the final social impulse, superseding reason, as 
reason superseded instinct. But, as has been done 
before, he confuses “reason” with the acquisi- 
tive instinct. 

The scientific student of man and his meaning, 
fate, or place in the universe may be thoroughly 
recommended to Dr. Parmelee’s study of his be- 
haviour, or, rather, introduction to the subject (3). 
The work of men like Jennings, Loeb, and Bohn 
has revolutionised animal psychology, and is now 
influencing human. “Animal Behaviour ” has in- 
spired “Human Behaviour.” Dr, Parmelee gives 
a clear and up-to-date account of the facts of 
tropism, sense of difference (Unterschiedsempfind- 
lichkeit of Loeb, sensibilité différentielle of Georges 
Bohn), ‘‘instinct,’” and the associational intelli- 
gence. His judgment is discriminating, and the © 
general student could not have a better introduc- 
tion to comparative psychology in its application to 
man and society. His anthropological discussion 
is confined to the impulses behind the social “in- 
stinct.” Preceding this is a good account of 
animal “societies.” 

The scope of the book may be illustrated by the 
following :— : 

“Tn all study of behaviour it is necessary to 
begin with the structural form upon which is 
based the action-system which determines the be- 
haviour... . Then were studied the direct reac- 
tions of the lower animals to external forces. But — 
when the nervous system developed, these reac- © 
tions became more or less indirect, so that we find 
new types of behaviour appearing. The funda- 
mental type of behaviour determined by the 
nervous system is the reflex action. These actions 
become in course of time combined into complex 
forms, which are usually called instincts. . . . 
There has been a tendency on the part of many — 
writers to regard instinct as a form. of 
behaviour which is not mechanically determined. 
The attempt has therefore been made in this book 
to render the conception of instinct more precise. 
... Intelligent behaviour . .. marks a new stage — 
. . . determined by individual experience.”’ 


Consciousness and mind are then discussed, 
Sherrington’s work being largely used. 
The second of Bohn’s classic handbooks to — 
modern animal psychology has now (4), like his 
“La Naissance de 1’Intelligence,” been translated 
into German. “La Nouvelle Psychologie animale ” 


OS eee 


a 


published at a popular price. 


DECEMBER 4, 1913] 


NATURES 397 


was published two years ago, and the two together 
are already standard introductions to the modern 
developments of the study of mind. He prefixes 
as a motto the words of Giard—“ L’idée de science 
est intimement liée a celle de mécanisme et de 
déterminisme.’’ But, as students are aware, the 
point of view is not a temperamental or senti- 
mental aversion from the “finalists”; it merely 
represents the extraordinary precision which the 
new methods have introduced into what was once 
the vaguest and most fantastic of studies. Both 
account and criticism are excellent, as of selection 
of movements, the theory of trial and error, the 
incompleteness of adaptation. 

The analysis of some special “instincts,” viz., 
feigning death, return to rest, the search for food, 
mimicry, social “instincts,” is a valuable part of 
the book. Equally valuable and especially in- 
teresting is the discussion of methods, such as the 
Dressurmethode (the training of animals), Vexier- 
kasten (puzzle boxes), labyrinths, &c. One of the 
newest is that of Pawlow, to which is devoted the 
largest section. The chief work of the great 
Russian physiologists, Pawlow, Zéliony, and 
Orbéli, is based on their remarkable tests of 
psychical saliva-reaction, as yet not so well known 
in England as they deserve. 

A, E. Craw ey. 


POPULAR BOTANICAL PUBLICATIONS. 

(1) Plant Life. By Prof. J. Bretland Farmer. 
Pp. viiit+255. (London: Williams and Nor- 
gate, n.d.) Price rs. net. 

(2) Toadstools and Mushrooms of the Country- 
side. By Edward Step. Pp. xvi+143+136 
plates. (London: Hutchinson and Co., 1913.) 
rice, (Sse net. 

(3) Wild Flower Preservation. By May Coley. 
Pp. 181+29 plates. (London: T. Fisher 
Unwin, n.d.) Price 3s. 6d. net. 

(3) N this welcome addition to the well-known 

“Home University Library,” Prof. Farmer 
has produced a work which, owing to its fresh- 
ness of treatment of various problems of plant 
life, will be useful to students of botany, besides 
fulfilling admirably the object of the series of 
which it forms part—namely, the popularising of 
knowledge and the creation as well as the satis- 
faction of a desire among general readers for 
really authoritative and accurate, though simpli- 
fied, treatises on various branches of knowledge, 

The keynote of the 

book is the presentation of the main features of 

plant form from the viewpoint of function, and 

the author has touched upon various matters not 

usually discussed in works of this limited size, 
NO. 2301, VOL. 92] 


instead of simply going over ground already 
covered in numerous books of this scope. 

Of the twenty chapters into which the book is 
divided, the first five deal mainly with the lower 
green alge, and it would be difficult to devise a 
better starting-point than that afforded by these 
simple types, which serve as an admirable intro- 
duction to the study of the fundamental facts 
of plant life. Following an account of the work 
of the green leaf and the root, in which emphasis 
is rightly laid on the manner in which the whole 
conformation of the plant is dominated by the 
leaf or other equivalent green surface, there is an 
admirable chapter on mechanical problems and 
their solution. A large section is then devoted to 
the adaptations shown by climbing and aquatic 
plants and epiphytes, as well as the relations of 
plants in general to water supply. Subsequent 
chapters deal with fungi, fungal and flowering- 
plant parasites, various cases of symbiosis, vege- 
tative and sexual reproduction, and finally the 
nucleus and the process of fertilisation. An 
appendix gives a short but well-chosen biblio- 
graphy. 

(2) Mr. Step’s handy guide to the larger fungi 
is a marvel of cheapness, the excellent photo- 
graphic illustrations being alone well worth the 
price of the book. The cap-fungi lend them- 
selves so well to “popular” treatment, owing to 
the absence of technical terminology in their 
description, that it is perhaps a matter for sur- 
prise that a work of this kind has not been 
published earlier, and there can be little doubt 
that the author’s reputation for the production of 
readable accounts of our native plants, illustrated 
by skilful photographs, will ensure for the present 
work a wide sale. Mr. Step has purposely re- 
frained from dealing with the classification of the 
plants dealt with, but the book would certainly 
have been rendered more useful if he had supplied 
a simplified key for enabling the beginner to 
identify the species described and depicted in the 
book. 

(3) One is inclined to look askance at a book 
the main object of the author of which appears 
to be the advocacy of extensive collecting and 
drying of wild flowers, root and all, rather than 
the other aspect of “wild flower preservation” 
concerning which much has been written recently 
by those who deplore the raids made upon our 
native flora by collectors of various kinds. To be 
quite fair, it must be admitted that the author 
does deprecate greedy and destructive gathering, 
and that her book is written in a pleasant and 
enthusiastic style which to a large extent disarms 
criticism; while her suggestions on the keeping 
of records in a note-book, &c., are likely to prove 


398 


useful to young botanists. In fact, this work 

would be all that is desirable for the attraction of 

new adherents to nature study if the author 
were either to omit entirely the portions dealing 
with the preparation of herbarium specimens, or 
to exhort the reader to keep on the safe side 
of “wild flower preservation” by refraining from 
digging up any except the very commonest plants ; 
after all, the roots of plants are so uniform in 
morphology that the collector, young or old, would 
lose little by letting them remain in the soil and 
contenting himself with taking samples from the 
upper portions of the plants—if it is considered 
necessary to make a herbarium collection at all. 

BIG: 

OUR BOOKSHELF. 

A Medley of Weather Lore. Collected by M. E. S. 
Wright. Pp. 144. (Bournemouth: H. G. 
Commin, 1913.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 

“Or the making of many books there is no end,” 

and the natural result is that some books remind 

us that better books have already been written 


which tell us what the new ones have to 
tell. There is scarcely a weather proverb in 
the present book which is not given in 


Inward’s “Weather Lore,” a book with which 
the author claims no acquaintance; there are a 
number of beautiful quotations which make one 
long for summer when summer is not here; and 
there are, in addition, a few sayings, such as “If 
boys be beaten with an elder stick it hinders their 
growth,” whose association with the weather is 
remote Perhaps they are essential to a “ Medley.” 

And yet the book has a charm; I saw it picked 
up and read with the greatest pleasure by a visitor 
to a meteorological library; I myself have re- 
newed my acquaintance with old friends scattered 
through its pages, and wondered at the genera- 
tions of experience which went to the production 
of such sayings as :— 


Maayres taails an’ mackerel sky, 
Not long wet nor not long dry. 
or, 


In the middle ot May comes the tail of the winter. 


Some of the sayings quoted are frankly untrue, 
and ought, I suppose, to be omitted on that 
account. Such are :— 


There is never a Saturday in the year 
But what the sun it doth appear. 
or, 
No weather is ill 
If the wind be still. 


but perhaps this latter is intended for use by sea- 
sick folk. 

Possibly the appearance of the book may stimu- 
late some meteorologist to select the better-known 
and representative sayings from the large num- 
bers available, and to bring the light of modern 
physical and meteorological knowledge to bear 
upon them. A short article of this character was 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


“Tue displacement of Latin by the national lan-— 


published two years ago by Prof. Humphreys in — 
the Popular Science Monthly; it might with ad- — 
vantage be consulted by anygne interested in the — 
subject. EG 


Weltsprache und Wissenschaft. By Prof. L. 
_ Couturat, Prof. O. Jespersen, Prof. R. Lorenz, — 
Prof. W. Ostwald, and Prof. L. von Pfaundler. 
Zweite Auflage. Pp. vit+154. (Jena: Gustav 
Fischer, 1913.) Price 2 marks. 


guages in scientific publications since medieval 
times is one of the few phenomena at variance 
with the general tendency to internationalise the 
means of “intellectual communication, such as we — 
find it in musical and algebraic notation, the Morse — 
alphabet, the metric system, and the flag-signal- 
ling code. The reaction against this separatist 
tendency in language is found in the three main 
attempts to devise an international pee lan-— 
guage, viz. Schleyer’s “ Volapik ” (1879), Zamen- 
hof’s “Esperanto” (1887), and the “Ido” of the _ 
International Delegation of Academies (1908). 

The present work is a powerful plea for the 
adoption of the last, and it must be acknowledged _ 
that a very strong case is made out in favour of © 
this improved form of Esperanto, in which mos 
of the beauty and flexibility of Zamenhof’s master-_ 
piece is retained, and the changes are directed ' 
towards facilitating the printing and improving — 
the logical structure of the auxiliary language. It 
is interesting to note that biological and mathe- 
matical vocabularies for Ido, English, German, | 
French, and Italian are already published, and — 
that some twenty journals are devoted to the new | 
international idiom. ; 


Physics: an Elementary Text-book for University 4 
Classes. By Dr. C. G.. Knott. Pp) wiepazom 
(London: W. and R. Chambers, Ltd., 1913.) 


Price 7s.-6d- 7 
Tue first edition of Dr. Knott’s text-book of — 
physics was reviewed in the issue of Nature for 
April 15, 1897 (vol. lv., p. 557). Since its first 
appearance radium has been discovered, and the — 
demand for a new edition of his work has pro- 
vided Dr. Knott with the opportunity to add a 
new chapter on the electron theory and radio-— 
activity, to indicate recent advances in other lines — 
of physical research, and to amplify and revise 
the book as a whole. 


How to Enter the Civil Service: a Practical Guide — 
to State Employment for Men and Women. 
By Ernest A. Carr. New edition. (London: 
Alexander Moring, Ltd., 1913.) Price 2s. 6d. — 
net. 


Tuis useful compendium provides the essential 
facts as to the conditions of entry to the Civil 
Service, the various appointments, the subjects of 
examination, and the prospects of persons enter- 
ing the service of the State. Specimen examina- 
tion papers and hints to students are provided 
also. The present edition will be found to be 
fully up-to-date and to provide an account of — 
present conditions. 


a 


-~ 


. 


DECEMBER 4, 1913] 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


{The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


Synthesis by Means of Ferments. 


THE short article on the synthesis of glucosides 
by means of ferments in Nature for Novem- 
ber 6 (p. 304) contains the statement, ‘‘hitherto it 
has not been proved that enzymes have anything but 
an analytical action.” ‘‘Prof. Bourquelot . . . has, 
however, obtained results which justify the conclusion 
that the decomposing action continues up to a certain 
point only, and that at this point synthetic action 
begins.”” Prof. Bourquelot’s discovery is by no 
means new, because in 1898 Dr, Croft Hill, in a paper 
on reversible zymolysis in the Transactions of the 
Chemical Society for 1898 (vol. Ixxiii., part 2, p. 634) not 
only showed that the products of fermentation arrested 
the action of the enzyme which caused it, but also 
that if these products reached a certain concentration, 
the enzyme instead of producing further hydrolysis 
began to reverse its action into a synthetic one, and 
built up instead of breaking down. These experiments 
were further extended and described in the Trans- 
actions of the Chemical Society for 1903 (vol. Ixxxiii., 
part 1, p. 578), where he also gives an account of 
experiments made by other authors, and concludes 
(p. 597) with the words: ‘‘These observations, to- 
gether with my own more recent results, make it 
increasingly more probable that the view I put for- 
ward in 1898 is a correct one, namely that all ferment 
actions are reversible.” LauDER BRUNTON. 

to Stratford Place, Cavendish Square. 


Amehocytes in Calcareous Sponges. 


I THINK there can be little doubt that the Amcebz 
referred to by Mr. Orton in Nature of November 27 
are not independent organisms, but constituents of the 
sponge from which he obtained them. I have been 
working for some time past at the problem of the 
origin of the germ cells in the common Grantia com- 
pressa, and have often found the flagellate chambers 
of the sponge crowded with amoeboid cells, which 
can sometimes be seen actually squeezing themselves 
through the layer of collared cells. According to my 
observations, these amcebocytes are immature germ 
cells—oogonia and spermatogonia—and they can often 
be seen undergoing mitosis in the chambers. 
similar phenomena has been described in Sycon by 
Jérgensen. Possibly the ameeboid cells squeezed out 
from the gastral cavity of Sycon by Mr. Orton were 
either of the same nature or else metamorphosed 
collared cells. The latter are very readily detached 
from their proper position in the sponge, and may 
then put out pseudopodia and come to resemble 
Amecebz, as has long been known. 

As it is likely to be some time before my results 
can be ready for publication, I may take this oppor- 
tunity of mentioning that I find that in Grantia com- 
ipressa the amoeboid germ cells arise in the first 
instance from the metamorphosis of collared cells, 
and not, as is sometimes stated, from primitive 
_ amecebocytes, or archzocytes. 

I spent a fortnight in April, 1912, at the Plymouth 
Laboratory in the investigation of these problems, and 
in collecting and preserving the material necessary 
for continuing the work. I have now an almost com- 
plete series of stages of the oogenesis, the most in- 
teresting feature of which is perhaps the feeding of the 


NO, 2301, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 399 


growing ova by nurse cells, the latter being phago- 
cytes which capture other cells and stuff them into the 
ova. I have also a number of stages of spermato- 
genesis. The sponge (G. compressa) is hermaphrodite, 
and sperm morule are to be found (in April), enclosed 
in cover-cells, wedged in between the collared cells in 
the lining of the flagellate chambers. Haeckel de- 
scribed and figured the sperm morulz in this situation 
in various calcareous sponges so far back as 1872, but 
his results do not seem to have been generally accepted. 
The character of the nucleus, to which Mr. Orton 
refers as a means of distinguishing his supposed 
Amoebe from sponge cells, varies greatly according to 

circumstances, and cannot be regarded as conclusive. 

ARTHUR DENDy. 

University of London, King’s College, 
November 27. 


‘Intra-atomic Charge. 


Tuar the intra-atomic charge of an element is deter- 
mined by its place in the periodic table rather than by 
its atomic weight, as concluded by A. van der Broek 
(Nature, November 27, p. 372), is strongly supported 
by the recent generalisation as to the radio-elements 
and the periodic law. The successive expulsion of one 
a and two B particles in three radio-active changes in 
any order brings the intra-atomic charge of the element 
back to its initial value, and the element back to its 
original place in the table, though its atomic mass is 
reduced by four units. We have recently obtained 
something like a direct proof of van der Broek’s view 
that the intra-atomic charge of the nucleus of an atom 
is not a purely positive charge, as on Rutherford’s 
tentative theory, but is the difference between a posi- 
tive and a smaller negative charge. 

Fajans, in his paper on the periodic law generalisa- 
tion (Physikal. Zeitsch., 1913, vol. xiv., p. 131), 
directed attention to the fact that the changes of 
chemical nature consequent upon the expulsion of 
a and 8B particles are precisely of the same kind as in 
ordinary electrochemical changes of valency. He 
drew from this the conclusion that radio-active changes 
must occur in the same region of atomic structure as 
ordinary chemical changes, rather than with a distinct 
inner region of structure, or ‘‘nucleus,’’ as hitherto 
supposed. In my paper on the same generalisation, 
published immediately after that of Fajans (Chem. 
News, February 28), I laid stress on the absolute 
identity of chemical properties of different elements 
occupying the same place in the periodic table. 

A simple deduction from this view supplied me with 
a means of testing the correctness of Fajans’s con- 
clusion that radio-changes and chemical changes are 
concerned with the same region of atomic structure. 
On my view his conclusion would involve nothing else 
than that, for example, uranium in its tetravalent 
uranous compounds must be chemically identical with 
and non-separable from thorium compounds. For 
uranium X, formed from uranium I by expulsion of 
an a@ particle, is chemically identical with thorium, as 
also is ionium formed in the same way from uranium 
II. Uranium X loses two 6 particles and passes back 
into uranium II, chemically identical with uranium. 
Uranous salts also lose two electrons and pass into 
the more common hexavalent uranyl compounds. If 
these electrons come from the same region of the 
atom uranous salts should be chemically non-separable 
from thorium salts. But they are not. 

There is a strong resemblance in chemical character 
between uranous and thorium salts, and I asked Mr. 
Fleck to examine whether they could be separated 
by chemical methods when mixed, the uranium being 
kept unchanged throughout in the uranous or tetra- 
valent condition. Mr. Fleck will publish the experi- 


400 


NATURE 


ments separately, and I am indebted to him for the 
result that the two classes of compounds can readily 
be separated by fractionation methods. 

This, I think, amounts to a proof that the electrons 
expelled as 8 rays come from a nucleus not capable of 
supplying electrons to or withdrawing them from the 
ring, though this ring is capable of gaining or losing 
electrons from the exterior during ordinary electro- 
chemical changes of valeacy. 

I regard van der Broek’s view, that the number 
representing the net positive charge of the nucleus is 
the number of the place which the element occupies 
in the periodic table when all the possible places from 
hydrogen to uranium are arranged in sequence, as 
practically proved so far as the relative value of the 
charge for the members of the end of the sequence, 
from thallium to uranium, is concerned. We are left 
uncertain as to the absolute value of the charge, 
because of the doubt regarding the exact number of 
rare-earth elements that exist. If we assume that all 
of these are known, the value for the positive charge 
of the nucleus of the uranium atom is about go. 
Whereas if we make the more doubtful assumption 
that the periodic table runs regularly, as regards 
numbers of places, through the rare-earth group, and 
that between barium and radium, for example, two 
complete long periods exist, the number is 96. In 
either case it is appreciably less than 120, the number 
were the charge equal to one-half the atomic weight, 
as it would be if the nucleus were made out of a par- 
ticles only. Six nuclear electrons are known to exist 
in the uranium atom, which expels in its changes six 
B rays. Were the nucleus made up of « particles 
there must be thirty or twenty-four respectively nuclear 
electrons, compared with ninety-six or 102 respectively 
in the ring. If, as has been suggested, hydrogen is a 
second component of atomic structure, there must be 
more than this. But there can be no doubt that there 
must be some, and that the central charge of the atom 
on Rutherford’s theory cannot be a pure positive 
charge, but must contain electrons, as van der Broek 
concludes. 

So far as I personally am concerned, this has re- 
sulted in a great clarification of my ideas, and it 
may be helpful to others, though no doubt there is 
little originality in it. The same algebraic sum of the 
positive and negative charges in the nucleus, when the 
arithmetical sum is different, gives what I call 
‘isotopes’? or ‘‘isotopic elements,’’ because they 
occupy the same place in the periodic table. They are 
chemically id-ntical, and save only as regards the 
relatively few physical properties which depend upon 
atomic mass directly, physically identical also. Unit 
changes of this nuclear charge, so reckoned algebraic- 
ally, give the successive places in the periodic table. 
For any one ‘‘place,” or any one nuclear charge, 
more than one number of electrons in the outer-ring 
system may exist, and in such a case the element 
exhibits variable valency. But such changes of num- 
ber, or of valency, concern only the ring and its 
external environment. There is no in- and out-going 
of electrons between ring and nucleus. 

FREDERICK SopDDy. 

Physical Chemistry Laboratory, 

University of Glasgow. 


Philosophy of Vitalism. 


In Nature of November 6 Prof. E. W. MacBride 
has made some critical remarks with regard to my 
proof of vitalism as discussed in the first of the four 
lectures which I had the honour to deliver before the 
University of .London in October. Will you kindly 
permit me to explain in how far I feel unable to 
accept Prof. MacBride’s criticism? 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92| 


I fully agree with him that vitalism has nothi 
do with the progress of zoology as a pure science 
the narrower sense of the word. As I have sai 
my ‘Biologie als selbstandige Grundwissenschi 
(second edition, 1911, p. 24): ‘‘The problem of the 
method of biology remains unaffected by the 
troversies between vitalism and mechanism.” 

But I cannot accept Prof. MacBride’s opinion abo 
the theoretical, or, if he would choose to say so, 
philosophical importance of the concept of entelechy. 
He believes ‘‘that at the best the conception of 
entelechy is of quite limited application.” He speaks 
of the fact that, under special experimental conditions 
a lizard may regenerate two tails instead of one, that — 
the egg of Ascidians (he might have added that of 
Ctenophores, a case well known to me from my own 
experiments) possesses a very limited faculty of regu-— 
lation, &c. But, has it not been for the very reason | 
of the fact that there are ‘‘limits of regulability” — 
that I have invented a rather complicated theory of © 
the possible relations between entelechy and matter — 
(see my Gifford lectures, vol. ii., p. 178ff., and the 
second of my London lectures)? Thus it appears, so 
I hope, that I have never neglected the limited char- 
acter of regulability and the dependence of the effects” 
of what I call entelechy on matter. Entelechy is not — 
omnipotent. But it seems to me that limitation does 
not mean non-existence. q 

For, on the other hand, there are very many cases — 
(development of isolated blastomeres or parts of the 
blastula of Echinoderms, &c., into small but complete — 
organisms, restitution of Clavellina, Tubularia,. &c.) 
where entelechy acts, so to say, in quite a pure 
manner. And it is on these cases, of course, that the 
concept of entelechy was founded in the first place. — 
Would not also a physicist whose aim it is to study — 
the laws of the reflection of light, prefer for his experi- — 
ments such materials, which do well reflect rays 
and do not show the phenomenon of absorption, or — 
only in a very small degree? Logically, in fact, one — 
single case of what I call harmonious equipotentiality 
would suffice to establish vitalism. But there are 
many cases. 

Prof. MacBride does not attack my analysis of har- © 
monious equipotentiality as such. And, in fact, the 
theory of organ-forming substances, which he advo- 
cates, cannot account at all for the differentiation of 
‘““harmonious-equipotential systems,” though we 
might accept it, perhaps, if there were only eggs, such 
as those of Ascidians, Ctenophores, &c. Organ-form-— 
ing substances have to be ordered or arranged during 
ontogeny; now this could only happen on the basis — 
of a machine, if we believe that it happens on a 
physico-chemical foundation altogether. But just a 
““machine’’ is excluded by the phenomenon of har- 
monious equipotentiality. j 

Thus I believe that, even if we concede to Prof. 
MacBride that the conception of entelechy is “of — 
quite limited application,’ we are entitled to say: In 
the theory of the harmonious-equipotential system the 
concept of entelechy must necessarily be applied. 

Hans Driescu. 

Heidelberg, November 12. 


THE courteous reply of Prof. Driesch to my letter © 
on vitalism which was published in Nature of Novem- 
ber 6 calls for only a few remarks from me. If — 
Prof. Driesch and I were discussing questions of — 
epistemology or of consciousness, questions in which — 
as an amateur I have taken an interest for many — 
years, it is possible that our points of view might not 
be so far apart; it would certainly be possible to — 
arrange a modus vivendi between them. But for me 
the value of a conception in zoology is its fruitfulness 


DECEMBER 4, 1913] 


in connecting facts and in leading to the discovery of 
new facts; and my objection to the conception of 
entelechy is not that it is idealistic, but that it is 
barren. f 

Prof. Driesch now candidly admits that if he had 
only eggs like those of Ascidians and Ctenophores to 
deal with the theory of organ-forming substances 
might suffice, but that in order to account for what 
he calls a “‘ harmonious-equipotential system,” and for 
what I call an undifferentiated tvne of egg (or bud) 
an entelechy must be postulated. Now if the inver- 
sion of the two-celled stage in the development of the 
frog’s egg will produce such a rearrangement of 
materials that two embryos and not one result, is it 
not just possible that the closing up of a fragment 
of a blastula of Echinus may lead, under the stress 
of forces which we may picture to ourselves as surface 
tension, &c., to such a rearrangement of materials as 
may issue in a perfect larva of reduced size instead of 
in a half larva? That organ-forming substances 
limited to special regions do exist in the later embryo 
of Echinus Prof. Driesch has himself shown in one 
of the most exquisite of his earlier researches. At 
any rate, if we adopt this hypothesis we shall be 
urged on to further researches as to the conditions 
of this rearrangement, whereas if we adopt the 
theory of an entelechy about the ideas or methods of 
working of which we know nothing, all future research 
is stopped. : 

The eggs of Asteroids and Echinoids show great 
resemblances in their earlier stages of development 
coupled with subsequent divergences. On Prof. 
Driesch’s theory these divergences are due to differ- 
ences in the indwelling types of entelechy, and no 
further explanation is possible. But when Prof. 
Driesch’s friend and colleague, Prof. Herbst, shows 
that an Asteroid egg can be made to develop into 
something like the Echinoid blastula by immersing it 
in a solution of KCNS, then we are led to speculate 
as to the nature and origin of the chemical differences 
between these two types of egg, which cause the 
differences in their development. 

Prof. Driesch refers to the case of the physicist who 
selects “‘pure material’ for his experiments. I may 
reply by citing the case of the physiologist who in 
investigating nervous phenomena, chooses clearly 
differentiated nerve for his material, and would never 
dream of beginning by examining the phenomena of 
conduction in Amceba. I contend that eggs with 
organ-forming substances definitely localised are far 
“purer material’ for the analysis of the forces of 
development than the undifferentiated eggs of 
Echinus. E. W. MacBripe. 

Imperial College of Science, November 15. 


The Kathode Svectrum of Helium. 


\ NUMBER of articles have recently appeared in 
scientific journals dealing with a spectrum frequently 
associated with the spectrum of helium and by some 
attributed to impurities in the helium. A few words 
relative to this interesting and very beautiful spectrum 
will, I think, clear up the question of the source of 
the spectrum. 

If a helium tube be prepared with disc electrodes, 
carefully freed from impurities, and operated on a 
transformer or continuous current (not on an induc- 
tion-coil discharge), the region about the kathode will 
be filled with a bright pink glow. The spectrum of 
this kathode glow is the spectrum in question. It 
is simply the kathode spectrum of pure helium. If 
care be taken to avoid stray light from the anode 
column it may be obtained quite free from the 
ordinary (anode) spectrum of helium. | When the 
disruptive discharge from an induction coil is used 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


‘to a bright pink. 


401 


to excite the tube or the tube is viewed end on 
through a cylindrical electrode, the two spectra appear 
mixed in various proportions. 

During the writer’s several years of work at the 
Bureau of Standards on the helium tube as a primary 
light standard, scores of helium tubes were prepared 
and operated as above described. It was noted that 
the kathode glow was pale and greyish until the last 
traces of impurities has disappeared, when it turned 
In fact, the appearance of the 
kathode glow is an infallible criterion for the purity 
of the helium, a spectroscope being unnecessary. The 
kathode spectrum of helium, viewed witha large, high 
intensity spectroscope, will be recalled by many who 
have visited the bureau during the last four years. 
Goldstein’s spectrogram reproduced in the Physika- 
lische Zeitschrift, July 15, 1913, is a very good one 
considering the photographic difficulties. 

It is well known that most gases exhibit two and 
a few three quite distinct spectra. These are the 
anode (primary) and kathode spectra, and the 
secondary spectrum obtained with a disruptive dis- 
charge. Nitrogen is a familiar example of a gas 
having all three spectra. Helium is one of the few 
gases and vapours the primary and secondary spectra 
of which are alike, but the anode and kathode spectra 
of which are quite different. P. G. Nuttine. 

Rochester, N.Y., November 7. 


Observation of the Separation of Spectral Lines by an 
Electric Field. 

Tue effect of the electric field upon spectral lines 
is a problem which has caused much discussion with- 
out being solved by experiment until to-day. Applying a 
very intense electric field in an incandescent gas, and 
using suitable optical arrangements, I succeeded in 
separating several spectral lines into components. 
These are polarised rectilinearly in relation to the 
axis of the electric field in the transversal effect 
(radius of vision normal to the electric field). With 
the dispersion used, the hydrogen lines H8 and Hy 
are resolved by the electric field into five components. 
The three located in the middle are in electric oscilla- 
tion normally to the electric field, the two outer ones 
parallel to it. My first paper on the new pheno- 
menon will soon be published in the Berichte der 
Berliner Akademie der Wissenschaften. 

J. STark. 

Aachen, Technischen Hochschule, November 21. 


Phosphorescence of Mercury Vapour. 

Last July I published in the Proceedings of the 
Royal Society an account of a persistent fluorescence 
of mercury vapour produced by excitation of > 2ha05. 
light, obtained from a quartz-mercury arc lamp. I 
have recently placed the fluorescent vapour in a strong 
magnetic field, and find that when the mercury lamp 
is cooled and consequently the ‘'2536” line is sharp, 
the magnetic field increases the intensity of the 
fluorescence several times. If the lamp is allowed to 
warm up so that the ‘2536"’ line becomes broadened 
and reversed, the opposite effect is obtained, i.e. the 
phosphorescence decreases in intensity with the field. 
In this latter case the field strength that produces the 
greatest diminution in intensity increases with the 
temperature of the quartz-mercury lamp. The ordinary 
fluorescence produced by the light from the cadmium 
spark is not affected by the magnetic field. I am at 
present working with the idea of obtaining a satis- 
factory explanation of the persistent fluorescence and 
the various phenomena connected with it. 

F. S. Puivurps. 

Imperial College of Science and Technology, 

November 24. 


A Remarkable Meteor on November 24. 


I was much interested in seeing Dr. Rambaut’s 
letter describing a brilliant meteor seen at Oxtord 
on the evening of November 24. I was travelling 
along the London to Oxford road at the time, and 
when passing through Stokenchurch (seventeen miles 
from Oxford) was suddenly aware of a pale green 
light of sufficient intensity to be quite noticeable even 
when looking down at the road. On looking up I 
saw the meteor just as it disappeared. It presented 
the appearance of a luminous green ball of about 
one-quarter the sun’s diameter, though this can only 
be regarded as quite an approximate estimate. My 
first impression was that the phenomenon was an 
unusual type of meteor, but on account of the brilliant 
green colour | immediately afterwards came to the 
conclusion that it must have been a rocket, and there- 
fore did not unfortunately note the exact time or 
careful particulars as to the position. I should esti- 
mate that the meteor lay about N.N.E. when I saw 
it, but that the altitude was somewhat greater than 
the 17° given by Dr. Rambaut. The agreement in 
time and ‘place was, however, sufficiently close to leave 
no doubt that it must have been the same pheno- 
menon. The intensity of the illumination may be 
judged from the fact that the light was quite notice- 
able to one not looking up towards the sky at the 
time. J. S. Dives. 

Meteorological Office, South Farnborough Branch, 

December 1. 


I REGRET to have to have to point out a mistake 
in my letter printed in Nature for November 27 
(p. 372). The altitude of the meteor should have 
been given as 27°, not 17°, as there stated. 

As the error appears in my copy, I fear I must bear 
all blame for it. ArtHUR A. RAMBAUT. 

Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, December 1 


THE BRITISH RADIUM STANDARD. 


AS account of the preparation and testing of 
an international radium standard was given 
in the issue of this journal for April 4, 1912 (vol. 
Ixxxix., p. 115). It will be remembered that a 
radium standard containing 21°99 milligrams of 
pure radium chloride was prepared by Mme. Curie 
for the International Committee. At a meeting in 
Paris the standard of Mme. Curie was compared 
with another independent standard prepared in 
Vienna by Professor Hénigschmidt, and the two 
were found to agree well within the limits of ac- 
curacy of measurements by the y ray method. The 
preparation of Mme. Curie was accepted by the 
Committee as the International Standard, and 
was deposited in the Bureau du Poids et Mesures 
at Sévres, near Paris. At the same time it was 
arranged that the Vienna preparation should be 
retained in Vienna as a secondary standard. 
Arrangements were made to allow Governments to 
obtain duplicates of the international standard. 
lor this purpose the Austrian Government gener- 
ously offered to provide the radium required at 
a considerable reduction in price. It was 
arranged that duplicate standards should be 
prepared and tested in Vienna in terms of their 
secondary standard, and then sent on to Paris 
to be tested again in terms of the international 
standard. In all six duplicate standards have 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


be in Pea ahiy good agreement. 
parisons of the quantities of radium is made | 
means of the penetrating y rays, and it is” 
Striking testimony to the accuracy of this meth 
that the independent measurements have agreed 
so closely, ee widely differing oe 
places. 

It will be remembered that Dr. Beilby, F.R. Sif 
very generously defrayed to Mme. Curie the cost — 
of the radium forming the international standard, 
and thus relieved the International Committee of 
the necessity of collecting special funds for this — 
purpose. Immediately after the fixing of the 
international standard, arrangements were made 
in this country to obtain a duplicate standard to 
be placed in charge of the National Physical 
Laboratory at Teddington. Dr. Beilby again 
stepped in in a very generous manner and 
agreed to defray the expense of acquiring the 
British radium standard, which was delivered to 
the National Physical Laboratory a few months 
ago. The British radium standard does not differ 
much in radium content from the international 
standard, containing about 20 milligrams of pure 
radium chloride. 

A circular has now been issued by the National _ 
Physical Laboratory, stating that they are pre- 
pared to standardise preparations of radium and 
mesothorium in terms of the international 
standard, and a detailed list of testing charges 
has been issued. In the beginning, the Labora- 
tory has very wisely confined itself to undertaking — 
the standardisation of strong preparations of | 
radium and mesothorium only. The comparison 
with the British standard will be made by y ray 
methods. Tests on radio-active minerals, radio- 
active waters and other materials of weak activity, 
will not be undertaken at the moment, though, 
no doubt, arrangements will be made as the new 
radio-active department progresses to undertake 
some work of this character in the future. The 
Laboratory sends. out a certificate that the active 
material under examination shows a y ray ac- 
tivity equivalent to a certain weight of metallic 
radium, but no guarantee is given of whether 
the activity is due to radium itself, for it is well 
known that it is not easy to distinguish without 
special tests between preparations of radium and 
mesothorium. Preparations of the latter are 
standardised by expressing their y ray activity 
at the time of testing in terms of a definite weight 
of metallic radium in radio-active equilibrium. 
Both the Reichsanstalt and the National Physical 
Laboratory express the activity of their pre- 
parations in terms of metallic radium, and not in 
terms of bromide or chloride. This appears to me 
a very wise step, for it is obviously more definite 
and scientific to express the results in this 
form. It is also very desirable that all radium 
should be bought and sold in terms of metallic 
radium, thus avoiding the uncertainty that some- 


‘ 


eS 


DECEMBER 4, 1913} 


times arises as to whether the preparation is 
being sold as anhydrous radium bromide or 
radium bromide with its water of crystallisation. 

The radio-active department in the Reichs- 
anstalt has now been in operation for more than 
a year, under the charge of Dr. Geiger, whose 
radio-active researches in the University of Man- 
chester are well’ known. The creation of this 
department has been found to fill a much-needed 
want, and it is not too much to say that prac- 
tically all the radium and mesothorium that is 
bought and sold in Germany requires to-day the 
certificate of the Reichsanstalt. The number of 
standardisations required have increased very 
rapidly, and several assistants have been added 
to the department in charge of this work alone. 
There can be no doubt that the institution of a 
radio-active department in the National Physical 
Laboratory will prove of great service to this 
country, not only for scientific, but also for com- 
mercial purposes. It is well known that the 
buying and selling of radium in the past has been 
a very uncertain and risky procedure, for in most 
cases the radium content has not been expressed 
in terms of any authorised standard. This diffi- 
culty is removed by the present arrangement, and 
we should strongly recommend that those who 
wish to buy radium or mesothorium, whether for 
scientific or for medical purposes, should do so 
conditional on the certificate of standardisation 
from the National Physical Laboratory. 

It is understood that the work of testing and 
standardisation will be under the supervision of 
Dr. W. G. C. Kaye, of the National Physical 
Laboratory, whose pioneer work on the produc- 
tion and distribution of X-rays is well known to 
all physicists. The ability and skill in measure- 
ments which he has shown both in his work in 
the Cavendish Laboratory and in the National 
Physical Laboratory, afford the best of guarantees 
that the work of the new department will be 
carried out in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. 

E. RUTHERFORD. 


SIR ROBERT BALL, F-.R.S. 


OBERT STAWELL BALL was born in 
Dublin on July 1, 1840, the eldest son of 

Dr. Robert Ball, director of the Natural History 
Museum in the University of Dublin and secre- 
tary of the Queen’s University in Ireland. After 
attending school at Abbott’s Grange, Chester, 
he entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 1857. He 
became a mathematical scholar in 1860, Lloyd 
exhibitioner the same year, and graduated in 1861 
as gold medallist in mathematics, first gold 
medallist in experimental and natural sciences 
and University student in mathematics. To- 
wards the end of 1865 he went to Parsonstown 
as tutor to the three younger sons of the third 
Earl of Rosse and observer with the great six- 
foot and three-foot telescopes. When Ball began 
to use the six-foot reflector in February, 1866, 
nearly all the larger and more interesting nebule 
had been frequently observed and carefully drawn, 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92] 


© 


NATURE 


and he therefore chiefly devoted himself to work 
with the micrometer, a difficult task, since the 
telescope at that time had not yet been provided 
with a clock motion. He was the first observer 
with the instrument who corrected the measured 
position angles for the error due to the telescope 
not being equatorially mounted, but supported 
at the lower end on a universal joint. His obser- 
vations were included in the “Observations of 
Nebule, 1848-78,” published by the late Lord 
Rosse in 1879-80. 

In the autumn of 1867, shortly before the death 
of the maker of the great telescope, Ball was 
appointed professor of applied mathematics and 
mechanism at the newly established Royal College 
of Science for Ireland, in Dublin. He was sin- 
gularly well fitted for this post, as he was not 
only an excellent mathematician and had the 
power of elucidating even abstruse subjects in 
simple and clear language, but also possessed 
great skill in experimental work. In addition to 
his regular class work, he also sometimes gave 
evening lectures on mechanics in a more elemen- 
tary form, and in 1871 he published his first 
popular book, ‘‘ Experimental Mechanics,” which 
was very well received and showed his great 
aptitude both as a popular lecturer and as a 
writer. It led to his being much sought after 
as a lecturer; and as lectures on mechanics re- 
quired a large amount of apparatus, he preferred 
to lecture on popular astronomy, and by degrees 
he became the most successful lecturer on this 
subject, not only in this country, but in after 
years also in America. 

In January, 1870, Ball read a paper before the 
Royal Irish Academy on the small oscillations of 
a rigid body about a fixed point under the action 
of any forces. Out of this investigation grew 
the long series of memoirs which he published on 
the theory of screws in the course of the next 
thirty-four years, nearly all in the Trans. Roy. 
Irish Academy. This remarkable extension of 
theoretical dynamics, perhaps the most important 
contribution to that science since the introduction 
of couples by Poinsot, combines Poinsot’s force 
and couple into the single conception of a wrench 
on a screw, the latter being regarded merely as 
“4 directed straight line with an associated linear 
magnitude called the pitch.” The capabilities of 
the theory were gradually shown to be very great, 
as all the results of modern algebra and geometry 
appear to be applicable to it. Ball published a 
separate book on the subject in 1876, and in 
1889 Dr. Gravelius wrote a text-book in German, 
founded on Ball’s first eight memoirs. Finally, 
Ball’s great “Treatise on the Theory of Screws” 
appeared at Cambridge in 1900, but even after 
that date several succeeding memoirs showed that 
the author of the theory continued to devote his 
mind to its extension. 

The growing fame of Ball as a mathematician 
and the warm interest he was kaown to take in 
astronomy naturally led the Board of Trinity 
College to appoint him to the Andrews professor- . 
ship of astronomy in the University of Dublin, 


404 


when it became vacant in 1874. Ball threw him- 
self into his new duties at Dunsink Observatory 
with his usual energy, and decided to continue 
the investigations on the annual parallax of stars 
carried out by his predecessor, Briinnow, by 
means of micrometer observations. In addition 
to working on a few stars throughout the year 
in the usual way, he broke fresh ground by 
attempting to find stars with a large parallax by 
what he called “reconnoitring observations.” He 
observed a great number of stars only twice, with 
an interval of six months, at the time of greatest 
parallactic displacement. In a very few cases 
the measures seemed to indicate that the star 
might be within a measurable distance from us, 
and he therefore took a regular series of observa- 
tions of these stars. For two stars he found in 
this way parallaxes of a third of a second and 
half a second, which, however, were not subse- 
quently confirmed, and the rapid rise of astro- 
nomical photography has led to the complete 
abandonment of visual observations in work on 
annual parallax. But Ball’s experiment in 
search of stars with a large parallax is an in- 
teresting one all the same. For three or four 
years he devoted his whole time to this work, 
which he arranged and carried out in the most 
businesslike and methodical manner, often ob- 
serving till 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning, and the 
results were published in Parts III. and V. of 
the Dunsink Observations, the latter of which 
appeared in 1884. After that time he seems to 
have done very little observing, probably on 
account of renewed trouble with one of his eyes, 
which had been accidentally injured in his youth, 
and later (in 1897) had to be removed. 

In 1884 Ball was appointed scientific adviser to 
the Commissioners of Irish Lights, and in 1886 
he was knighted by the Lord Lieutenant of 
Ireland. In February, 1892, he was elected 
Lowndean professor of astronomy and geometry 
and director of the Observatory at Cambridge, 
leaving Dunsink to take up the appointment in 
the following autumn. At Cambridge he con- 
tinued as previously to divide his time between 
his official duties, his mathematical researches, 
and his activity as a popular lecturer and writer 
of popular astronomical books and articles. He 
was president of the Royal Astronomical Society 
in 1897-99. In 1908 he published his last book, 
“A Treatise on Spherical Astronomy,” more in- 
tended for the use of college students than for 
practical astronomers, but written in his usual 
clear and concise style. 

Sir Robert Ball died on November 25, after 
a long and lingering illness. His genial and 
hearty manner, his fund of wit and his enthusiasm 
for any subject which had taken hold of his mind, 
made him a favourite wherever he went. Anyone 
who has worked under him will not forget his 
readiness to allow his subordinates to carry out 
any special work in their own way and to reap 
therefrom whatever credit they could. 

I 35 Baal Dp BP 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


eae 


[DrecEMBER 4, 1913 
ie 


THE ANNIVERSARY MEETING OF 
ROYAL SOCIETY: 

ic anniversary meeting ofthe Royal Socie 

was held on Monday, December 1, when 1 
report of the Council was presented and t 
retiring president, Sir Archibald Geikie, deliver 
an address. Sir William Crookes was elect 
president of the society, and the other offi 
and members of council, whose names were g 
in Nature of November 13 (p. 324), were als 
elected. 

The council reports that a critical period has been 
reached in the development of the work of the 
committee on the Catalogue of Scientific Papers. 
Since 1901 the sum of 21,1511. 15s. 2d., mainly 
contributed by the late Dr. Ludwig Mond, has | 
been expended on the preparation of the 
Catalogue, and with the exception of the income ~ 
of the Handley Fund, now amounting to about 
1gol. a year, there are no funds available for 
continuing the work after the end of this year. 

The whole of the tenth annual issue of the 
International Catalogue of Scientific Literature 
has been published, with the exception of the 
volumes of physiology and bacteriology. A meet- — 
ing of the International Council will be held in fe 
1914. At this meeting the question of continuing 
the Catalogue beyond the first fifteen issues will — 
be taken into consideration. . 

In the course of the year the treasurer received — 
from the executors of the late Lord Lister, 
securities and cash to the value of 8995]. gs. 10d., — 
on account of a legacy left by Lord Lister to the 
society for its general purposes. > 

The financial position of the National Physiaatie 
Laboratory has been a cause of anxiety to the 
Council. In consequence mainly of the strikes — 
and general disturbance of trade at the begine & 
ning of 1912, the receipts for the year were less” 
than the expenditure, and but for a considerable 
revival at the end of the year would have been 
much less. The responsibility for any deficit rests — 
with the society; and the council, while ready to 
advance by all means in its power the national 
work of the Laboratory, considers that the society — 
should be freed from this serious liability. It is — 
in communication with the Treasury on the : 
question. Much valuable work is at a standstill — 
for want of funds. 

In his presidential address, Sir Archibald Geikie 
referred to some of the subjects in the report — 
presented by the council, and particularly to the — 
national activities of the society and the inade- i 
quacy of the financial provision necessary for the — 
carrying out of important work. He pointed out 
that five years ago at the request of the Home — 
Office the council appointed a committee to in- 
vestigate the physical and physiological a 
presented by the disease known as glassworkers’ 
cataract. In proposing this inquiry, the Home — 
Office made no provision for the cost of the 
numerous experiments and examinations that — 
obviously would be required, while the Royal q 
Society has no funds at its disposal for meeting 


DECEMBER 4, 1913] 


such expenditure. As only a small sum has been 
contributed by the Treasury, the work of the 
committee has been seriously delayed. The society 
has acquired the character of a kind of central 
council of science, and may legitimately claim 
that few scientific problems could arise affecting 
modern life for the solution of which the most 
extensive experience and the most authoritative 
opinion would not probably be found within its 
own representative ranks. The public recognition 
of this serviceableness has greatly increased the 
range of the society’s activities, but there has not 
been a corresponding increase of financial 
support. Continuing, the president said :— 


There is unfortunately a prevailing but mistaken 
impression that a society which can thus freely place 
its knowledge and experience at the disposal of the 
State must be a wealthy body. It is true that we 
administer every year a considerable sum of money; 
but almost the whole of this:sum is earmarked for 
certain definite objects, and cannot be diverted to 
anything else. Even the annual Parliamentary grant 
of 4oool. for scientific investigation, which is placed 
in the hands of the society, is not a contribution to 
the society’s own operations. The whole of it, except 
the trifling sum required for clerical assistance and 
necessary printing, is allocated to applicants from all 
parts of the country for their individual researches. 
. . . There is a second annual Parliamentary grant 
of toool. made to the Royal Society to assist in defray- 
ing the expenses of publication. But it is understood 
that a portion of this sum is to be set aside for the 
purpose of aiding the adequate publication of scientific 
matter through other channels and in other ways. 
Thus the whole of the subvention which the society 
receives annually from the State for its own require- 
ments amounts to only a few hundred pounds towards 
the cost of its publications, together with the use of 
its rooms in Burlington House, where it sits rent free, 
but subject to expenditure for internal upkeep and 
REPAITS.. ws 

When we consider the amount and value of the 
gratuitous service given at the request of the various 
public departments, it is abundantly obvious that the 
Government of this country is under special obliga- 
tions to the Royal Society, which, were they expressed 
in the plain language of professional practice, would 
be indicated by a considerable sum of’ money... . 
We claim that our disinterested action deserves to be 
recognised by at least a generous and sympathetic 
attitude on the part of the Government towards our 
aims and objects, and a disposition to help us when 
our means prove inadequate to carry out the work 
which we have undertaken for the furtherance of the 
progress of science. 


Sir Archibald Geikie announced that since his 
address was written Sir James Caird, Bart., of 
Dundee, so well known for his munificent bene- 
factions to science, had sent him a cheque for 
5000]. to be expended in yearly disbursements 
of about s5o0o0l. for the furtherance of physical 
research. Subjoined are summaries of the descrip- 
tion of the work of the medallists given in the 
address. h 

The. Copley medal is this year assigned to Sir 
Edwin Ray Lankester, in recognition of the value of 
his original researches in zoology and of the import- 
ance of his personal influence in stimulating the in- 
vestigations of his pupils and others, which have 
materially extended the boundaries of our knowledge 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92] € 


NATURE 


405 


of the animal kingdom. His own work, which has 
been in large measure morphological, has thrown 
light on the mutual relations of living animals and 
also on the. structure and affinities of long extinct 
organisms. His researches in the comparative em- 
bryology of the higher Mollusca and of the anatomy 
of the Nautilus gave him an assured place among 
the zoologists of his day. His early papers on the 
Ostracoderm fishes of the Old Red Sandstone afforded 
a memorable example of palzontological acumen. In 
addition to his original investigations, he has laid 
zoology under a debt of gratitude to him for his 
luminous general articles in some of the larger de- 
partments of the science. 

The council’s awards of the two Royal medals 
annually presented by the King have received his 
Majesty’s approval. The medal on the physical side 
has been adjudged to Prof. Harold Baily Dixon, to 
mark the society’s appreciation of the importance of 
his long-continued investigations of the phenomena 
of gaseous explosion. His important observations on 
the. theory of combustion have shown that water- 
vapour acts as a carrier of oxygen during the oxida- 
tion of carbon, and undergoes a cycle of changes 
wherein it gives up its oxygen to carbon monoxide. 
From the further study of the explosion of this 
monoxide and oxygen, in the presence of other gases, 
he concluded that any substance capable of producing 
steam will determine the explosion. By the introduc- 
tion of photography into his studies of the explosive 
wave he has been able to throw light on the mode 
of burning of carbon and its compounds. 

The Royal medal on the biological side is bestowed 
on Prof. Ernest Henry Starling, as a mark of the 
society’s high appreciation of the wide range of his 
contributions to the advancement of physiology. By 
his inquiry into the relation of lymph production, and 
the absorption of fluids from the peritoneal cavity and 
the cavity of the eye-ball, he showed the dependence 
of these processes upon the osmotic pressure Of the 
blood and tissue fluids and the hydrostatic pressure 
in the blood-vessels. In his excellent studies of the 
mammalian heart he has greatly improved the tech- 
nique. By much reducing the volume of blood needed 
to maintain a circulation through heart and lung, he 
has -increased the sensibility: of the preparation to 
variations of state, and by introducing into the circuit 
of the blood a readily adjusted resistance to the flow 
he can ascertain the effects of the obstacle upon the 
heart’s action. He has discovered that the normal 
heart of the dog will consume 4 mgrm. of sugar per 
gram muscle per hour, but that if the animal is 
diabetic, the heart is incapable of consuming sugar— 
an observation of singular value in the light it throws 
upon the cause of diabetes. 

The Davy medal has been awarded to Prof. Raphael 
Meldola, in acknowledgment of the distinction of his 
contributions to . synthetical organic chemistry, 
especially in the series of aromatic compounds. He 
discovered the first representative of the oxazines, a 
group which has since been developed into one of 
great importance. He has contributed to the chem- 
istry of naphthalene derivatives, and carried out ex- 
tensive researches upon the azo- and diazo-compounds, 
with results which have an important bearing upon 
the question of the constitution of these compounds. 
He has likewise added to our knowledge of the 
chemistry of other groups of nitrogen-containing com- 
pounds, notably the triazines and the iminazoles. Of 
late years he has shown the synthetical value of com- 
pounds containing a mobile nitro-group, and has dis- 
covered a remarkable new class of quinone-ammonium 
derivatives. 

The Sylvester medal is conferred this year on the 
veteran mathematician, James Whitbread Lee 


406 


NATURE 


- 
_ 


[DECEMBER 4, 1913 


Glaisher. His prominent career in mathematical 
science, which began at an early age, has been con- 
tinued down to the present day without remission, not 
only in the production of original papers, but in uni- 
versity teaching, and in the careful editorship of 
most of the special mathematical journals in this 
country. To these journals he has constantly con- 
tributed much of his own work, such as his papers on 
the theory of numbers, on elliptic functions, and many 
other departments of pure mathematics. 

In considering the bestowal of the medals this year 
the council has determined to award the Hughes 
medal to one who has spent his days in the applica- 
tion of scientific discovery to practical life—Alexander 
Graham Bell. Although he has been resident for 
many years on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, 
we remember that he was born in Edinburgh, and 
was educated there and in London, so that we claim 
him as a fellow-countryman. His preponderating 
share in the invention of the telephone, now so long 
ago as 1876, and his practical investigations in 
phonetics, have laid modern civilisation under deep 
obligation to him, while his numerous other inven- 
tions and experiments show the fertility of his genius. 


The anniversary dinner of the society was held 
on Monday evening at the Hétel Métropole. Sir 
William Crookes presided and responded to the 
toast of “The Royal Society,” proposed by the 
American Ambassador. The toast of “The Retir- 
ing President” was proposed by Sir Joseph 
Larmor and acknowledged by Sir Archibald 
Geikie. Sir Ray Lankester and Prof. Harold 
Dixon responded to the toast of ‘‘ The Medallists,” 
Sir David Gill proposed the toast of “The Guests,” 
and Lord Sumner responded to it. 


NOTES. 


A CORRESPONDENT points out that the list of the new 
members of the council of the Royal Society published 
in Nature of November 13 (p. 324), contains the 
names of ten fellows of the society who have not 
served on the council before, out of the total of six- 
teen ordinary members of the council. In the council 
elected in 1912, there were only five members who 
had not served in previous years; and the list for 1911 
included eight fellows who had served before and the 
same number of fellows who had not done so. This 
year’s list contains, therefore, a larger number of 
completely new members of the council than is usual. 
Ten members of the new council, and nine of the 
retiring council, are Cambridge men. 


Dr. Henr1 DESLANDRES, Paris, has been elected an 
honorary member of the Royal Institution. 


A LECTURE on the properties and uses of radium 
will be delivered at the Cancer Hospital (Free), Ful- 
ham Road, London, S.W., by Mr. C. E. S. Phillips, 
honorary physicist to the hospital, on Wednesday, 
December 10, at 5 p.m. 


As announced already, the Physical Society’s annual 
exhibition is to be held on Tuesday, December 16, at 
the Imperial College of Science, South Kensington. 
In the afternoon, the Hon. R. J. Strutt, F.R.S., will 
give a discourse on spiral electric discharges, and in 
the evening Mr. Louis Brennan, C.B., will show 
some experiments with soap films. About thirty firms 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92] 


of scientific instrument-makers will be exhibiting, and 
there will also be certain experimental demonstrations. 


Tue gold medal of the Apothecaries Society was i 
™~ 


awarded on November 28 to Mr. J. E. Harting, in 
recognition of his services in preparing and editing 
the catalogue of the library in Apothecaries’ Hall. 


The society was founded in 1617, and the library, " 


which chiefly consists of medical and botanical works, 
contains a number of rare old “Herbals,” including — 


a copy of Johnson’s edition of ‘‘Gerarde’s Herbal,” — 


published in 1633, presented by the author. 


Tue Board of Trade has appointed a committee to 


consider the causes of explosions which have occurred 


in connection with the use of bitumen in laying electric 
cables, and to report as to any steps which should be 
taken to prevent explosions in future from the use of 
bitumen or similar substances. The members of the 
committee are :—Sir T. Edward Thorpe, C.B., F.R.S. 
(chairman); Mr. R. Nelson, of the Home Office; Mr. 
W. Slingo, of the General Post Office; Mr. J. Swin- 
burne, F.R.S.; and Mr. A. P. Trotter, of the Board 
of Trade. Mr. M. J. Collins, of the Board of Trade, 
will act as secretary to the committee. 


An International Dairy Congress is to be held at 
Berne, Switzerland, in June next. It will be the sixth 


congress organised and held under the auspices of thea 
Federation Internationale de Laiterie, a body having — 


its head office in Brussels, and a committee com- 
posed of representatives of all the leading countries 
in the world. The secretary of the British Dairy 
Farmers’ Association, Mr. F. E. Hardcastle, 12 Han- 
over Square, W., is acting as secretary to the British 
Section, and will give full information to any who 
may be interested. The sections under which papers 
will be read and _ subjects discussed are :—l., 
Hygienics; II., Chemistry and Bacteriology; III., 
Theory of Management; and IV., Trade. 


Tue death is announced, in his seventy-sixth year, 
of the Rev. J. A. Gilfillas, who, with Mr. W. W. Cooke, 
made important explorations between 1880 and 1890 
around the head-waters of the Mississippi. They 
contributed largely toward fixing Elk Lake, instead 
of Lake Itaska, as the chief source of that river. Mr. 
Gilfillas was also an expert in ethnology and in the 
Indian languages. 


An interesting collection of photographs from 


Hungary, Germany, Sweden, and New Zealand is — 


now on view at the house of the Royal Photographic 
Society, 
to the public on presentation of visiting card, daily 
from If a.m. to 5 p.m., until December 20. The 
collection includes a remarkable series of twenty-seven 
marine studies taken by flashlight in the Biological 
Marine Aquarium of Heligoland, by Mr. F. Schensky. 
The great technical merit of these photographs of 


fishes, crustacea, sea anemones, molluscs, &c., will be 
obvious even to the superficial observer; it is very 


rarely that one has the opportunity of seeing such 
fine work of this class. The rest of the hundred or so 
photographs claim attention chiefly because of their 
pictorial merit. 


35 Russell Square, W.C., and will be open — 


“< 
. 


i” 


¢ 


> 


EE —<— 


ee EEE OOOO EEE OOO eee 
‘ 


DECEMBER 4, 1913| 


NATURE | 


407 


Tue following are among the lecture arrangements ‘hear of any interesting relics which may be found, 


at the Royal Institution, before Easter :—Prof. H. H. 
Turner, a course of experimentally illustrated lectures 
en a voyage in space, adapted to a juvenile auditory, 
to begin on December 27; Prof. W. Bateson, six 
lectures on animals and plants under domestication ; 
Sir John H. Biles, three lectures on modern ship- 
building; Mr. A. H. Smith, two lectures on landscape 
and natural objects in classical art; Dr. W. 
McDougall, two lectures on the mind of savage man; 
Sir Thomas H. Holland, two lectures on types and 
causes of earth-crust folds; Prof. C. F. Jenkin, three 
lectures on heat and cold; Dr. C. W. Saleeby, two 
lectures on the progress of eugenics; Dr. J. A. 
Harker, two lectures on the electric emissivity of 
matter; and Sir J. J. Thomson, six lectures on recent 
discoveries in physical science. The Friday evening 
meetings will commence on January 23, when Sir 
James Dewar will deliver a discourse on the coming- 
of-age of the vacuum flask. Succeeding discourses 
will probably be given by Mr. H. Wickham Steed, 
Dr. H. S. Hele Shaw, Prof. J. Norman Collie, Prof. 
W. A. Bone, Sir Walter R. Lawrence, Bart., the 
Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, Prof. J. A. Fleming, Sir 
J. J. Thomson, Prof. A. Keith, and other gentlemen. 


Wirn the ordinary issue of The Times on Monday, 
December 1, appeared a special Fuel Supplement of 
sixty pages, in which the various aspects of the whole 
subject of fuel are dealt with. The appearance of 
this supplement to our leading daily journal and the 
general trend of all the articles, is evidence that the 
immense importance of the future supplies of fuel 
must be brought home to the public. Many perhaps 
still fail to realise the rapid depletion of our resources 
which is taking place daily, and the necessity for 
economy in production and economy in application. 
The first step to economy is wider knowledge, and 
whether for the lay reader (if there is such a person 
in this connection), or for the fuel expert, the series 
of articles is admirably adapted to give a general and 
sufficiently detailed account of the whole question. 
The various forms of fuel are described from the 
economic point of view: their production, distribution, 
properties, and the best methods of utilisation detail21. 
Such minor issues as smoke prevention, safety in coal 
mines, the scientific purchase of coal, and other com- 
plementary subjects are dealt with adequately. Nor 
is the future overlooked, when man will have to manu- 
facture his fuel from materials obtainable from exist- 
ing natural sources; and the claims of alcohol, which 
up to the present is but a very minor fuel, are dis- 
cussed at some length. People more particularly in- 
terested in fuel and its commercial application will 
most certainly welcome the appearance of the supple- 
ment, and for others who take an intelligent interest 
in a subject of such general and economical import- 
ance, it furnishes a comprehensive account of the 
whole question. 


Mr. J. Reip Morr, of Ipswich, has forwarded a 
typed letter and printed notices asking for careful 
treatment of ancient remains, to all the brickfields 
and other places in Suffolk where continual excava- 
tions are in progress. By this means he hopes to 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92] 


and for want of knowledge be overlooked or thrown 
away as being of no value. 


In a letter published in Nature of November 13, 
Prof. D. Waterston referred to some excellent radio- 
grams of the Piltdown mandible, and that of a chim- 
panzee which appeared in an October issue of The 
British Journal of Dental Science. There was an 
article upon the radiograms in the same issue, but 
Prof. Waterston was concerned only with his inter- 
pretation of the radiograms themselves. Mr. A. S. 
Underwood, the author of the article, writes to say 
he considers it misleading to state ‘‘that the molar 
teeth in the fragment not only approach the ape form, 
but are in some respects identical. These two molar 
teeth are absolutely human, the difference between 
them and those of the anthropoids in the arrangement 
of the enamel alone being quite unmistakable.” Any 
fresh evidence bearing upon the problem of the man- 
dible is of importance, and it is to be hoped that Mr. 
Underwood will publish at an early date, with illus- 
trations, the evidence he has obtained of ‘‘ unmistalk- 
able’’ characters in the arrangement of the enamel. 


AccorDING to the report for 1912, the authorities 
of the Rhodesia Museum, Bulawayo, are considering 
a scheme for the erection of a new west wing to the 
building, at an estimated cost of about 1400]. The 
curator reports that as much progress as could reason- 
ably be expected, when the funds at his disposal are 
taken into consideration, has been made in the de- 
velopment of the museum during the year under 
review. 


WE have received No. 39 of Dr. Schulze’s Das 
Tierreich, a fasciculus of 210 pages, devoted to that 
group of mialacostracous crustaceans known as 
Cumacea or Sympoda. The author is the Rev. 
T. R. R. Stebbing, who has already contributed to 
this work the memoir on the gammarid amphipods 
(No. 21), and who, as in that fasciculus, writes in 
English. In deference to the usage in the rest of the 
work, Mr. Stebbing surrenders his favourite practice 
of treating all generic names as masculine, and on 
similar grounds he retains the older name Cumacea 
for the group in place of Sympoda. The objection to- 
the use of the former is based on the cancelling of the 
generic term Cuma; but although this bars the 
employment of the family name Cumaide, it does not, 
in our opinion, entail the abolition of the ordinal 
designation. On the other hand, it is a pity that 
some objection could not have led to the abolition of 
such a name as ‘‘ Vaunthompsoniide.”’ The work is 
worthy of the high reputation of its author as a 
specialist in the group of animals with which it deals. 


We have received a prospectus of an interesting 
publication to be issued by the naturalists of the 
Biological Station in Heligoland. The proposal is to 
issue a series of plates of instantaneous photographs 
illustrating the living marine animals and plants of 
the North Sea. The specimen proof that has been 
forwarded with the prospectus is an extremely beau- 
tiful photograph of the jelly-fish, Cyanea lamarcki, 


showing the numerous delicate tentacles in their 


408 


natural position during life. Other photographs of 
the series were exhibited at the International Con- 
gress of Zoology at Monaco, and created much interest 
and admiration. Each plate will be accompanied by 


six pages of description, and the publication will be | 


of quarto size. The price, 8 marks for each part of 
ten plates, is not excessive. The series will be pub- 
lished by Werner Klinkhardt, of Leipzig, with tbe 
title, ‘‘ Tier- und Pflanzenleben der Nord See.” 


Ir is well known that the loss of life during earth- 
quakes in Italy, which in some towns has amounted 
to more than half the population, is largely due to 
the faulty construction of the houses. Prof. Omori 
indeed estimates that 998 out of every thousand per- 
sons killed in Messina in 1908 were victims of such 
defects. The construction of new buildings in the 
seismic districts is governed by stringent regulations 
both as regards site and design. Dr. Agamennone, 
however, suggests in a recent paper (Rivista di Astro- 
nomia, September, 1913) that these regulations should 
be supplemented by periodic inspection, and, if neces- 
sary, strengthening, of all existing houses. 


The Times for November 25 contains an article 
from its Panama correspondent on the recent earth- 
quakes felt in the canal zone. The strongest shock 
of the series was that which occurred on October 1, 
but it seems to have caused little damage except at 
Los Santos, which is about a hunderd miles from the 
canal. The writer considers the effects of a fault- 
displacement through the Gatun dam or the locks at 
the ends of the canal, and shows without difficulty 
that the result in either case would be disastrous. It 
seems unnecessary, however, to take into account a 
contingency so remote. The danger, if danger there 
be, is more likely to arise from the secondary effects 
of a strong shock occurring within a comparatively 
short distance from the canal. So long as the epi- 
centres remain in a region a hundred miles or more 
from the canal, the risk of such damage must be 
small. 


ALTHOUGH the crest of the Appalachian chain has 
long been known to form a line of division between 
two more or less distinct fresh-water faunas on its 
opposite flanks, the fact that a similar condition, in a 
more pronounced degree, holds good in the case of 
the Alleghenies has been to a great extent overlooked. 
In order to fill this gap in our knowledge, 
Dr. A. E. Ortmann has undertaken an investigation 
of the faunas of the various streams, based chiefly on 
the fresh-water mussels or naiads, but also including 
certain other groups, such as crustaceans, the results 
of which are published in vol. lii., No. 210 (pp. 287- 
390), of the Proceedings of the American Philosophical 
Society. It is considered that the Allegheny system 
forms an ancient and well-marked boundary between 
the fresh-water fauna of the interior basin and that 
of the Atlantic slope. In the former area the fauna 
of the upper Ohio basin is characterised by its uni- 
formity—a feature acquired in post-glacial times; but 
on the western side there are indications of a pre- 
glacial faunistic differentiation. On the other hand, 
the marked distinctness of the Atlantic. fauna is held to 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 4, 


justify the foundation of two faunistic prov 
Mississippian and Atlantic—despite the fact 
fauna of the latter is a derivative from that 
former area. The Atlantic fauna is divisible 
northern and a southern group; and a disp 
directed both north and south is recognisab 
Atlantic slope. Finally, a few cases in the mow 
point to a crossing of the divide; while on the 
side there occur certain instances of abnorma 
tribution which demand special explanation. 


Tue synoptic weather maps for November 
included in the first issue of the Meteorological ( 


chart of the North Atlantic for December 
hibit a very striking feature of the dist 
tion of atmospheric pressure. The useful 


which accompany the maps explain that 
extensive and deep cyclonic system lay almost 
tionary athwart the Transatlantic steamer routes, ; ar 
remained there persistently for some days. Phe 
was a complete wind-circulation, but only few recor 
of gales. Another deep disturbance lay over 1 
American Lake region, and exceptionally violent ga 
were reported there. The abnormally mild type 
weather over this country and western Europe w 
due to the ocean depression above referred to. * 
two disturbances were separated by a ridge of hi ) 
pressure, extending across Newfoundland towards 
Davis Strait. . 


DurinG the ice season of this year patrols in th 
North Atlantic were undertaken by the U.S. revenu 
cutters Seneca and Miami, and very interesting re- 


by Pace ae duced the cruises of the for me 
vessel. All the ice seen on or near the Grand Bar 
was of the Greenland type, in berg form. 
berg seen was about 400 by 300 ft., 
the water being 7o ft.; as to shape, no two bore an 
striking resemblance to each other. The only type 
not seen was the kind popularly pictured in school 
books, with overhanging, craggy pinnacles. 
greatest distance at which ice was observed w 
eighteen miles, on a clear day. With the searchlig 
a berg could pe seen about three miles on a dimly 
moonlight night, but owing to the blinding effect on 
the observer, its general use for a vessel under w. 
is not recommended. A berg may or may not give 
an echo; about 90 per cent. of attempts made were 
without result, so that the absence of an echo pro\ 
nothing. Sudden changes of sea temperature mi 
nothing so far as bergs are concerned, and as a ru 
little or no change was found in the air temperatt 
near a berg. In Capt. Johnston’s opinion, the only 
safe way to navigate regions of icebergs is to sl 
during thick weather and to run very slowly on de 
nights. 


see for 1910 Mn . B. Ritchie showed hae t 
amplitude of the nth torsional oscillation of a weigh 
supported by a thin wire was inversely proportional — 


DECEMBER 4, 1913] 


NATURE 


409 


to a power of n+n,, where n, is a constant depending 
on the material of the wire. In the Proceedings for 
1912-13 Prof. W. Peddie carries the investigation of 
the problem a step further by showing how the oscil- 
lations themselves are performed. To do this he 
provides the lower surface of the oscillating’ body 
with a number of pins, which make contact with 
mercury placed in slits in the top surface of an ebonite 
disc. The resulting currents operate the recorders of 
an electrical chronograph. He finds that the period 
of the motion towards, is distinctly greater than that 
away from, the equilibrium position, and that through- 
out the whole of the former and the first part of the 
latter path the motion is of the simple periodic type. 
Both these results, he shows, can be explained on the 
assumption that the motion when it exceeds a certain 
magnitude breaks up molecular groups in the sus- 
pending wire. 4 

An important paper on the phenomena occurring 
in solutions of radio-active products was read by Dr. 
T. Godlewski before the Academy of Sciences at 
Cracow on June 2, and also published in Le Radium 
for August last. In the experiments described a solu- 
tion of radium emanation with its disintegration pro- 
ducts in pure water was electrolysed. Radium A 
appeared at the anode and radium B at the kathode, 
while radium C was deposited in about equal quan- 
tities at both the anode and kathode. The nature of 
this deposition points strongly to the supposition that 
the products are present in the colloidal state and 
not as ions, the radium A forming negative, radium B 
positive, and radium C both negative and positive 
suspensions. This assumption was verified by experi- 
ments on the effect of adding small amounts of 
different electrolytes, such as HCI, NH,OH, AI,(SO,),, 
and K,C,H,O,, which are known to affect the speed 
and direction of transportation of such suspensions. 
For instance, the H ions obtained by adding HC! in 
very small concentration (0-00003 normal) were shown 
to diminish the number of negative suspensions of 
radium A, and increase the number of positive sus- 
pensions of radium B. With further increase in con- 
centration of HCl the radium A atoms begin to appear 
at the kathode. The action of basic ions was also 
shown to be very pronounced, and in the opposite 
direction to that of acids. The assumption that the 
products in neutral solution are present as colloids is 
also supported by recent experiments of Paneth, who 
has shown that polonium can be separated from lead 
by allowing the latter to diffuse through an animal 
membrane. 


Parts 1 and 2 of the Science Reports for 1913 of 
the University of Sendai, Japan, contain a series of 
papers by Prof. Honda and his pupils on the magnetic 
properties of ferro-, para-, and dia-magnetic substances 
and the effects of temperature upon them. For ferro- 
magnetic substances the observations cover the effect 
of temperature on the intersity of magnetisation at 
various fields, the temperature at which magnetic 
changes occur and the heat developed or absorbed 
during the process. A magnetometric method was 
used. Soils were investigated by the torsion balance 
method, the specimen being placed in a magnetic field 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92] 


for which HdH/dx was known. The susceptibilities 
were found to decrease as the temperature rose and 
to reach a value nearly zero between 500° and 600° C. 
They decreased also with increasing magnetic fields. 
Many alloys of antimony, lead, aluminium, zinc, 
tellurium, tin, and bismuth were investigated by the 
same method to test the influence of composition on 
susceptibility. In no case does it appear possible to 
calculate the susceptibility of such alloys from those 
of their constituents, and in almost all cases the 
alloys having their constituents in simple atomic 
proportions display characteristic magnetic proper- 
ties. 


CircutaR No. 42 of the Bureau of Standards, 
Washington, deals with metallographic testing, and 
contains a concise account of the scope of the subject, 
thermal analysis, and microscopic analysis, followed 
by full directions for preparation and forwarding the 
samples. Circular No. 25 of the same bureau con- 
tains general information regarding standard analysed 
samples. Details are given of the precautions taken 
in manufacture to secure pure and homogeneous 
samples. Before the final bottling, samples for 
analysis are removed from the jars and sent, one 
each, to a number of analysts. In general three 
types of analysts are chosen—commercial chemists, 
works chemists, and chemists of the bureau. When 
all the analytical results have been received they are 
inspected, and, if not sufficiently concordant, analysts 
are sometimes requested to repeat the determinations 
without knowing the direction from the mean in 
which their value lies. The standard samples include 
various steels, zinc ore, iron ores, naphthalene and 
sugar for calorimetric standards, benzoic acid, for 
calorimetry and for alkalimetry, and sodium oxalate. 
The prices are moderate, averaging two dollars for 
quantities of 50 to 150 grams. 


Tue Transactions of the American Institute of 
Chemical Engineers (vol. v.) contains a paper by A. S. 
Cushman and H. C. Fuller, of the Institute of Indus- 
trial Research, Washington, upon a chemical investi- 
gation of Asiatic rice. So far as the results of 
analysis can be interpreted in the light of the informa- 
tion at hand, the authors conclude that there appears 
to be no reason why the white milled rices from one 
section of the world should be held more responsible 
for malnutrition than similar rices from other parts. 
In the same volume J. C. Olsen and A. E. Ratner 
contribute a paper upon the decomposition of linseed 
oil during drying. While oxygen is absorbed, water 
and carbon dioxide are given off, the effect upon the 
weight of the oil being shown. The opacity and hiding 
power of pigments forms the subject of investiga- 
tion by Mr. G. W. Thompson. For the purposes of 
these experiments an apparatus was devised consist- 
ing of a photometer which brings two fields of light 
into juxtaposition, so that they can be compared by 
the eye. This photometer is placed on top of two 
tubes, the lower ends of which have lenses. Paint 
placed between one set of lenses can be compared with 
a standard paint or with pieces of paper which have 
been tested on a photometer bench. Mr. M. C. 
Whitaker contributes a paper on the chemical 


410 


engineering course and laboratories at Columbia 
University. The course provides for post-graduate 
students who have taken a university degree. It has 
been observed that for several years more than 20 per 
cent. of the students of engineering at Columbia have 
possessed the college degree at entrance. 


A copy of Merck’s annual report on recent advances 
in pharmaceutical chemistry and therapeutics has 
recently reached us. Lecithin is taken as the subject 
of the special monograph this year, and some seventy 
pages are devoted to it. In these are given «in 
account of the chemistry and physiology of the 
lecithins, a discussion of the réle which they are 
believed to play in the phenomena of metabolism and 
nutrition, and a summary of the results obtained with 
them in therapeutical experiments. A large amount 
“of work has been done on these bodies, and students 
will find this account a convenient bird’s-eye view of 
the subject. An extensive bibliography of Jecithin 
literature is appended; both this and the description 
of the analytical tests will be found useful. Another 
special feature of the report is a supplement giving 
a detailed account of the methods used for the physio- 
logical standardisation of digitalis preparations in the 
Pharmacological Institute, Erlangen University. 
Gratusstrophanthin is used as the standard toxic sub- 
stance for comparison, the subjects being frogs, mice, 
rabbits, and cats. Among the ordinary records may 
be mentioned as of special medical interest those on 
salvarsan and neo-salvarsan, chineonal, mesothorium, 
hypophysis preparations, and nucleinic acid; whilst the 
attention of analysts may be directed to those on 
cobalt-sodium nitrite, hydrazine sulphate, blood tests, 
uranium acetate in the determination of albumen, and 
the use of dimethyl-glyoxal as a reagent for nickel 
and ferrous iron. 


In his second lecture to the Institute of Chemistry 
on ‘The research chemist in the works, with special 
reference to the textile industry,’ Mr. W. P. Dreaper 
directed attention to the importance of a knowledge 
of theory, and illustrated this point by a reference 
to the work done in connection with the presence of 
stains and loss of strength experienced on the storage 
of certain sill goods. These faults were found to be 
due to the free sulphuric acid. Only a knowledge 
of theory could suggest why this acid could be present 
in cases where it had never been used in any process 
of manufacture. The so-called ‘‘neutral salt re- 
action”? had offered a solution to this problem, and 
has relieved the dyer from constant blame. Con- 
tinuing, he said the British aniline dye industry has 
recently made remarkable progress, and its products 
are even being sold in Germany. The future will 
see considerable expansion in this reviving industry. 


In an address recently delivered before the Calcutta 
Chemical Club Prof. P. C. Ray emphasises the extra- 
ordinary progress made by chemical research in 
Bengal during recent years; in the session 1912-13 
alone more than sixty contributions were published 
from the chemical laboratory of Presidency College 
by Prof. Ray and’ his students. Owing to the recent 
munificent gifts of Sir T. Palit and Dr. Rashbehary 


NO, 2301, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 4, I9T, 


Ghosh, it has become possible to found a Universit 
College of Science in Bengal, which it is hoped 1 

bring about a renaissance of the scientific sp 
India. It is noteworthy that Dr. Ghosh has expr 
the opinion that the higher academic degrees sho 
be conferred only on those who have done ori 
research work. He would abolish examinations 
these degrees and make research work the onl 
qualifying test, and Prof. Ray cites a case in w 
one of his recent students who was “ plucked" in 
B.Sc. examination, has since shown conspicuous ability 
in research, and is deserving of the highest degree. 


The Engineering Magazine for November contains 
an illustrated article by W. Wilson, dealing with the 
development of Auckland Harbour, New Zealand. — 
Nine years ago, when the present engineering staff — 
took up their duties, a wooden wharfing scheme was 
in existence. Various timbers had been used in its 
construction, but every available wood was destroyed 
by an energetic species of Teredo. Even wood that — 
is nearly impervious in Australian waters is attacked a 
here. Ferro-concrete construction has been adopted, — 
and after about seven years’ trial has proved an entire _ 
success; while the prevailing mudstone on the shores 
of the harbour is riddled with molluscs, the concrete 
is quite proof against attack. The article has several 
photographs showing the condition of the old wooden 
piles; inspection of these illustrations indicates that 
the Auckland Harbour Teredo does its work in a most 
thorough fashion. Often only three years is required 
to honeycomb even the hardest timber. 


Tue seventh part of Dr. Koningsberger’s Java is 
devoted to the faunas of open fallow lands and of 
fields which have been long under cultivation, the 
last chapter, dealing with the fauna of cacao planta- 
tions. On p. 311 the author speaks of the black- 
necked Lepus nigricollis, which haunts the fallows, as 
the Javan hare, whereas, according to Blanford, it is 
naturally restricted to southern India and Ceylon, 
whence it has apparently been introduced into Java. 


We have received from Washington a catalogue 
giving prices and carefully worded descriptions of the 
publications of the Carnegie Institution. Copies of 
each of the works, except the ‘‘ Index Medicus,”’ are 
sent gratuitously to a limited number of the greater 
libraries of the world, while the remainder of the 
edition is sold at a price sufficient only to cover the 
cost of publication and of transportation to purchasers. 
The catalogue concludes with an index of authors 
with condensed titles of their works. Copies of the 
catalogue may be obtained on application to the 
Carnegie Institution. at Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 


Tue issue for 1914 of The Scientists’ Reference 
Book and Diary, has been received from the pub- 
lishers, Messrs. Jas. Woolley, Sons, and Co., Ltd., 
of Manchester. The reference book contains useful 
chemical and physical consti nts, glossaries of scien- 
tific and technical terms, and a miscellany of useful 
information. The diary is compact and conveniently 
arranged. The volumes are contained in a neat 
leather case of pocket size. The price of this popular 
diary is 2s. 


DECEMBER 4, 1913]| 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Tue Rapiat VELocITy OF THE ANDROMEDA NEBULA. 
Lowell Bulletin (No. 58) contains an important com- 
munication by Mr. V. M. Slipher, which gives a first 
approximation to the radial velocity of the Andromeda 
nebula. Mr, Slipher used the 24-in. of the Lowell 
Observatory, with a camera of very short focus, a 
wide slit, and a very dense prism of 64°. The first 
of the series of spectrograms was exposed for 6h. 50m., 
but no mention is made as regards the lengths of the 
exposures of the other plates. The observations re- 
corded are as follows :— 


1912 Velocity 
September 17 ae = « —284 km. 
November 15-16... eee eee 200° ,, 
December 3-4 aS —308 ,, 


December 29-30-31 —301 ,, 


Mean velocity ... —300 ,, 


Mention is made that tests for determining the 
degree of accuracy of such observations have not been 
completed, but the mean value is stated to be within 
the accuracy of the observations. As the Andromeda 
nebula is typical of a very great number of nebulz it 
will be interesting toknow whether other spirals have 
a movement of the same order, and thus exceed as a 
class the velocities of stars. The faintness of spiral 
nebulz renders the accumulation of data on this point 
a very slow process, but an attack on a few of the 
brighter ones would be of great importance and might 
indicate the general tendency of the velocity mag- 
nitude. 


PHOTOGRAPHIC MAGNITUDES OF COMPARISON STARS IN 
CERTAIN OF THE HaGEN Fie_ps.—It was with the object 
of establishing the photographic magnitudes of stars 
which might be used as standards for comparison in 
the Hagen fields that Mr. C. H. Gingrich undertook 
the research which he describes in the October number 
of The Astrophysical Journal, The instruments avail- 
able at the Yerkes Observatory for the research were 
a 6-in. Zeiss ultra-violet camera and a 2-ft. reflector; 
the former instrument was used for the bright stars, 
and the latter for faint stars, though in this case the 
exposures were considerably lengthened owing to the 
necessity of having to cut the aperture down to rift. 
Mr. Gingrich describes in some detail the programme 
of exposures and the methods of measurement and 
reduction. The results are summed up in ten tables, 
each including a field. 


THe HarMonic ANALYSER APPLIED TO THE SUN-SPOT 
CycLte.—In a recent number of The Astrophysical 
Journal (October, vol. xxxviii., No. 3) Prof. A. A. 
Michelson gives the results of a determination of 
periodicities by the harmonic analyser with an appli- 
cation to the sun-spot cycle. The method employed 
is to obtain the values of the coefficients of a Fourier 
series by a mechanical integration by the harmonic 
analyser. The function to be treated is copied «n the 
machine, which then draws a curve the ordinates of 
which at given distances along the axis of abscissas 
are proportional to the coefficients of the correspond- 
ing Fourier series. In the present paper he gives a 
few test illustrations of the performance of the 
machine, and refers to a similar treatment of the 
sun-spot curve, as furnished in the paper by Hisashi 
Kimura, entitled ‘On the Harmonic Analysis of Sun- 
spot Relative Numbers,”’ printed in the Monthly 
Notices, R.A.S., May, 1913, p. 543. Prof. Michelson 
concludes his paper with the statements that it would 
seem that with the exception of the eleven-year period 
and possibly a very long period (of the order of 100 
years) the many periods found by previous investi- 


NO. 230I, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


4II 


gators are illusory. He adds that it will probably be 
found that even the eleven-year period is, in fact, not 
constant, but is subject to secular change. 


R.Z. Casstopr1a.—A research by Herr K. Graff on 
this important short-period eclipsing binary system is 
published in No. 13, Mitteilungen der Hamburger 
Sternwarte. It is pointed out that this system is 
pre-eminently fitted for study with small instruments 
since it is circumpolar, occupies a_ well-marked 
position lying in the prolongation of the line 
e to . Cassiopeiz, the range of magnitude is important 
(6-36 to 7-69 in the course of rather less than three 
hours), and it has a very short period, 1-19525d. 


Tue NssiruckeT OpseRvaAToRY.—The new 73 in. 
photographic telescope has been placed in position in 
the Memorial Observatory of the Nantucket Maria 
Mitchell Association. The observatory has, in addition, 
a 5-in. Alvan Clark visual telescope, a filar micrometer, 
and a micrometer for measuring stellar spectra, The 
Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association has awarded | 
the fellowship of 20o0l. for the year beginning June 15, 
1914, to Margaret Harwood. In order that the ob- 
servatory may be provided for from June 15, 1915, 
to December 15, 1915, the association offers a second 
fellowship of rool. for the quadrennial year under 
conditions similar to those which have governed the 
2ool. fellowship. The committee reserves the right to 
withhold the second rool. fellowship in case the work 
presented to the examiners should not in their judg- 
ment be of sufficient merit to deserve the award. 


CONVERGENCE IN THE MAMMALIA. 


CBs discussion on convergence in mammalia in 
Section D at the recent meeting of the British 
Association was, to some extent, a consideration of 
matters kindred to several dealt with by Dr. Gadow 
in his presidential address. In his prefatory remarks 
Dr. Gadow referred to the importance of perceiving 
convergent resemblances, and said it was of more 
value to understand how and why, for instance, even 
a small but essential Cetacean feature had been 
brought about than to refer it back to some “ Ur- 
Cetacean,” which would still remain a mystical con- 
ception. 

Prof. Dollo discussed a new case of convergence, 
namely Balzna and Neobalena. He pointed out that 
Neobalzna, a whale with long whalebone, and found 
in the southern hemisphere, had been considered 
hitherto either as a true right-whale or as intermediate 
between the right-whales and the fin-whales. He held 
that Neobalzena does not belong to the right-whales, 
and that all the characters which it possesses in common 
with them are adaptations. Nor is Neobalzena inter- 
mediate between the right-whales and the fin-whales, 
but belongs to the latter group, for all the features 
which it has in common with the fin-whales are 
hereditary characters. Rhachianectes is not a primi- 
tive fin-whale; it is very specialised and secondarily 
adapted to littoral life and to its mytilophagous habit. 
Its hyperphalangy bears witness to its former pelagic 
life, and its shortened whalebones to its former 
plankton-feeding habit. The Mystacoceti should be 
divided into (1) Balznoidea, including a single family 
—the Balenidz, with long whalebones, and (2) 
Balznopteroidea, comprising three families—Balzeno- 
pteride, with short whalebones, Rhachianectide, 
with regressive whalebones, and Neobalenidz, with 
long whalebones. Neobalzena is an example of posi- 
tive convergence with Balzna by independent acquisi- 
tion of the longibarbous character, and, on the other 
hand, is an example of negative convergence with 
Rhachianectes by reason of the loss of the throat- 
grooves. 


412 


, | : ee ad 
Prof. van Bemmelen cited cases of convergence and ! survival value of small variations, and the problem 


then proceeded to discuss the relationship between 
the hare and the rabbit. Having compared these, as 
well as the different subgenera of Lepus with each 
other, he felt obliged to assume that the adaptation 
of a free-living, hare-like duplicidentate to a fossorial 
mode of life had taken place several times in different 
parts of the world and in different geological epochs. 
All rabbit-like members of the family did not form 
one well-circumscribed group, as opposed to the hare- 


like members, but they represent a number of side- | 


branches emerging on different levels from a_ stem 
which itself leads from primitive hares like the Suma- 
tran Nesolagus to the most highly developed species, 
Lepus europaeus. He pointed out that Ornithorhyn- 
chus and Echidna, especially the latter, are highly 
specialised forms, the more generalised ancestors of 
which have disappeared. The similarities between 
these two animals in many points are consequences of 
convergence and not of homology, e.g. the loss of 
teeth, the retrogression of the internal nares and corre- 
sponding elongation of the bony palate. This similar 
structure of palate has arisen in spite of the different 
diets of these animals. The factor in the case of 
Ornithorhynchus was the necessity of breathing while 
partially submerged (cf. the crocodiles and Cetacea), 
and in the case of Echidna, as in other ant-eaters, 
the necessity of preventing the living prey from enter- 
ing the nasal passages. 

Dr. Versluys discussed the subject from the philo- 
sophical aspect. He pointed out that convergence is 
so common in mammals that we are inclined to look 
for some special cause. Why does adaptation nearly 
always follow the same lines, as if no other way were 
possible? Is it because the power of natural selec- 
tion is unlimited so that it can modify any original 
structure until in every case the one best adaptation 
is reached, or is the reverse true, i.e. is the possi- 
bility of modification so limited that, though several 
adaptations might be equally effective, yet only one 
can be followed, pre-indicated either by a_ limited 
variability or by some hereditary tendency? Nowhere 
is this similarity of adaptive structure more striking 
than in the teeth of mammals, and Osborn concluded 
that there must be operating here some law of pre- 
disposition—the influence of hereditary kinship. If 
such a law be accepted the great abundance of 
parallel adaptation might be referred to a tendency 
inherited from a common ancestor, and natural selec- 
tion could foster these tendencies only where they 
become useful. Sometimes, however, an astonishing 
convergence is found in distantly related mammals, 
e.g. the Eocene primate Notharctus exhibits a tooth- 
pattern closely resembling that of Eocene horses. If 
we assume some hereditary tendency in this case it 
must have been present in the very primitive mam- 
mals which were the common ancestors of both those 
forms, and from which also a large proportion of 
placental mammals must have sprung. It would 
further be necessary, however, to accept a primitive 
tendency to form several other tooth-patterns, which 
became useful and developed only a long time after- 
wards. If we refuse to accept the presence of some 
hereditary tendency in the case of Notharctus, why 
should we accept it in other cases where the parallel 
modification of structure in more closely related 
animals would not constitute so difficult a task for 
natural selection? If we do not accept the hereditary 
tendency it is necessary to ascribe a very great modi- 
fying power to natural selection. 

Dr. Versluys pointed out in conclusion that the 
study of convergence brings us into contact with 
some of the most important problems of the doctrine 
of evolution (which it may assist in solving), the 
problem of the power of natural selection and the 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 4, 1913 _ 


Re 
By 


7 


of the presence of hereditary tendencies in variation 
and adaptation. , 
Dr. W. K. Gregory exhibited and commented upon 
several groups of specimens illustrating convergence. — 
He pointed out that in many cases of convergence 
there is a likeness of material or a general homology 
to begin with, as in the evolution of the carnassial — 
teeth in the Hyzenodontide and Canide, where, — 
although the evolution had taken place in different 
teeth (the fourth upper premolar in the Canidz and 
the second upper molar in the Hyzenodontida), yet 
the tissues involved were the same in the converging 
groups. Sometimes, however, convergence took place 
between structures formed from quite different tissues, 
as in the dentition of Thylacoleo and the not dis- — 
similar shearing structures of Dinichthys—in the 
former case true teeth, in the latter sharpened edges 
of bone. Dr. Gregory pointed out finally that great 
advances have been made in the detection of cases 
of convergence, e.g. among the extinct Patagonian 
Sparassodonts. : j. Eas 


' 


ANTHROPOLOGY AT THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION. 


| [% a retrospect of the proceedings of Section H at 

Birmingham, first place must be given to the dis- 
cussion on the practical application of anthropological 
teaching in universities, which was opened by the 
president, Sir Richard Temple, who, speaking with 
the authority of an old administrator as well as an 
anthropologist, pointed out the advantages which 
would follow did the future administrators of our sub- 
ject races receive some training in anthropology before 
taking up their duties. He suggested that the 
organisation of a school for this special purpose, well 
equipped with library and museum, might well be 
undertaken by one of the newer universities, such as 
Birmingham. Sir Richard, at the close of his re- 
marks, quoted extracts from letters received from Sir 
R. Wingate, Sir F. Swettenham, Sir George Scott, 
Prof. Seligmann, and others, in which his proposals 
received strong support. In the discussion which 
followed, Sir Everard im Thurn, late High Commis- 
sioner in the Pacific, Mr. W. Crooke, and Colonel 
Gurdon of Assam, endorsed the president’s views as 
to the desirability of the proposal from the adminis- 
trative point of view, while Dr. Haddon, of Cam- 
bridge, Dr. Marett, of Oxford, and Prof. P. Thomp- 
son, of Birmingham, made suggestions as to the 
general lines upon which such a school might be 
organised, and gave a brief account of the anthropo- 
logical instruction already given by their respective 
universities. The discussion has aroused much in- 
terest, and it may be hoped that the committee which 
has been appointed to consider the question will make 
some practical proposal to which effect can be given 
by one of the existing schools or a school still to be 
established. 

Turning to the other proceedings of the section, _it 
may be said that the general level af interest of the 
papers was high. The programme was exceedingly 
long, so much so that on two occasions it was neces- 
sary for the section to divide, the joint discussion 
with the Section of Educational Science on the educa- 
tional use of museums being attended by part of the 
section only, including the president and Dr. Haddon, 
while the papers on physical anthropology were pre- 
sented to a subsection over which Sir Edward 
Brabrook presided. The papers in physical anthro- 
pology, which were followed with close interest by 
a large audience, included a group of three papers 
of a somewhat speculative character on the evolution 


— 


DECEMBER 4, 1913]| 


of man from the ape, the first by Prof. Carveth Read, 
dealing with the consequences—physical, mental, and 
social—following from the preference for a meat diet, 
which differentiates man from the other primates; 
a second by Dr. Harry Campbell on the essentially 


_ mental character of man’s evolution, the pre-human 


anthropoid, being only imperfectly equipped as a 
beast of prey, and having in consequence been com- 
pelled to rely upon the development of his intelli- 
gence; and a third by Dr. L. Robinson on the rela- 
tion of the jaw to articulate speech and its effect on 
the development of the chin. In the discussion which 
followed, Prof. Elliot Smith briefly referred to his 
own position with regard to the part played by the 
brain in the evolution of man, as set forth in his 
presidential address at Dundee, and with special refer- 
ence to Dr. Robinson’s paper, said that, in his view, 
it was not the conformation of the jaw which made 
speech possible, but the acquisition of speech which 
developed the jaw; the absence of the genio-glossal 
muscle and the chin in the Piltdown skull proved 
nothing as to the power of speech. Prof. Fleure and 
Mr. T. C. James then gave an account of the further 
results of their anthropometric survey of Waies, 
especially in relation to the distribution of racial types, 
and Prof. Petrie described the early Egyptian skele- 
tons discovered in his excavations, with special refer- 
ence to the traces of racial admixture discernible in 
skeletal remains of the early dynasties found at Tark- 
han and due to an invading minority race of the first 
dynasty. 

Among the ethnographical papers, considerable in- 
terest was aroused by Mr. T. W. Thompson’s paper 
on the tabus and funeral customs of the gypsies, in 
which, as the result of a close analysis of the customs 
of both English and Continental gypsies, he was able 
to show that these were distinctly gypsy in character, 
while the marriage customs tend to conform to the 
customs of the country of habitat. Dr. Rivers and 
the Rev. J. Hall, in a joint communication on a 
gypsy pedigree, that of the Heron family, were able 
to demonstrate a number of facts of sociological and 
biological interest as to the gypsy family and mar- 
riage. Prof. W. J. Sollas, in a communication on 
the relative age of the patrilineal and matrilineal 
tribes of south-east Australia, discussed the evidence— 
physical, linguistic, and cultural—which appeared to 
point to the increasingly primitive character of the tribes 
from north to south—a conclusion which, as might 
be expected, was in agreement with the usual assump- 
tion that Australia and Tasmania had been peopled 
from New Guinea—and suggested further that the 
evolutional change had been from Kurnai through 
Kulin to Narrinjeri. Mr. E. S. Hartland put forward 
a warning against the uncritical acceptance of the 
historical traditions of the Baganda and the natives 
of the Congo, while Mr. Crooke in like manner was 
able to show by an examination of marriage customs 
that there was less stability in the caste and tribal 
systems of India than Risley had supposed when con- 
sidering these aggregates as affording an unequalled 
opportunity for the application of anthropometric 
methods. 

Nearly the whole of one morning’s session was 
devoted to papers dealing with seasonal customs in 
various parts of the world; Dr. Rivers, in a com- 
munication on sun cults and megaliths in Oceania, 
pointed out the coincidence in the distribution in this 
region of these monuments and the existence of secret 
societies, the rites of which might, either by direct 
evidence or by inference, be connected with the sun 
cult, an exception, however, being found in the island 
of Tonga, where there was no evidence for the sun 
cult. Miss Burne dealt with the seasonal customs of 
“souling,” ‘“‘catterning,” and ‘“‘clementing” in the 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


4i3 


western Midlands, which she connected with the 
beginning of the. Celtic year in November, and Mr. 

H. Powell suggested that the custom of hook- 
swinging in India, which he assigned to a Dravidian 
origin, was a commutated form of human sacrifice. 
Miss M. Murray discussed the evidence for the prac- 
tice of killing the king in ancient Egypt. In her 
view the evidence for human sacrifice was conclusive, 
and so far Dr. Frazer’s theory of a vegetation spirit 
was the only one which covered the facts. Mr. W. J. 
Perry, in a communication dealing with the practice 
of orientation of the dead in Indonesia, pointed out 
that in all cases the direction indicated lay towards the 
home of the dead, and suggested that in this direction 
lay the place of origin of each people in question. 
Dr. G. Landtman described the ideas of the Kiwai 
Papuans regarding the soul, which this people look 
upon as separable from the body in life as well as in 
death; in the former case its appearance constitutes 
an omen, sometimes foretelling misfortune to the 
owner; and Miss Czaplicka demonstrated the effect 
of environment upon the religious beliefs of the in- 
habitants of north-east Siberia, the tundras of the 
north producing a religious dualism in which a belief 
in ‘‘black spirits” prevails, family shamanism is more 
important than professional shamanism, and want of 
light and suitable material produces a poor shamanistic 
apparatus and a poor myth ritual; while in the more 
open and more favoured steppe country a belief in 
“white spirits’ and an anthropomorphic and imagina- 
tive mythology are found. Major Tremearne supple- 
mented the studies of the Hausas which he had sub- 
mitted to the section at the Portsmouth meeting of 
the association by a description of Hausa magical 
practices and an account of the Bori, or spirit cult, of 
the Hausas of Tunis and Tripoli. Mrs, Charles 
Temple, in her analysis of the social customs of the 
pagan tribes of Northern Nigeria, which was drawn 
largely from official reports, gave an object-lesson of 
the work, valuable both to the man of science and 
to the official, which is possible under an intelligent 
and enlightened administration. 

Archeology usually takes a prominent place in the 
proceedings of the section, and this year was no 
exception to the rule. Prof. Petrie’s account of ex- 
cavations at Tarkhan, on a site near Gerzeh, and at 
Memphis, of remains of the first, the twelfth, and the 
eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties, carried out by 
the British School of Archeology in Egypt, attracted 
a large and appreciative audience. His discoveries of 
Tarkhan, where the preservation of the tombs is 
remarkable, have revealed much of the civilisation of 
the people, apart from the king and court, while, as 
he pointed out, this site may be regarded as of the 
highest importance in the study of the meeting of the 
prehistoric and earliest historic races of Egypt. Prof. 
G. Elliot Smith traced the dolmen to the typical 
Egyptian tomb of the pyramid period, imperfectly 
copied in a degraded form in a foreign land where 
skilled workmen were unobtainable. 

Prof. J. L. Myres’s valuable contribution to the 
archeology of Cyprus was based upon a recent re- 
examination of the Cesnola collection in New York 
Metropolitan Museum, which had enabled him to 
extend the upward time limit of the great series of 
votive statues to a period when Assyrian influence 
was not yet fully developed, and Syro-Cappadocian 
affinities were discernible, and to show that the 
Minoan costume extended in ceremonial, possibly in 
common, use, well into historical times, while the 
Cretan syllabary was found to contain elements link- 
ing it on to the Minoan script. Mr. G. A. Wain- 
wright, in discussing the origin of the Keftiu, usually 
identified with the Cretans, demonstrated by a de- 
| tailed analysis of the evidence of the Egyptian monu- 


414 


ments, that their culture was more nearly allied to 
the Syrian than the Aigean type. Mr. R. Campbell 
Thompson explained his system of decipherment of the 
Hittite inscriptions, and in another communication 
described a large number of ancient Assyrian medical 
charms and remedies from inscribed tablets still un- 
published. The evidence bearing upon the character 
and powers of the female magician in Semitic magic 
was analysed and discussed by Prof. T. Witton Davies. 
Dr. T. Ashby, director of the British School at Rome, 
described the successive systems of aqueducts in 
ancient Rome, and gave an account of a _ recent 
attempt to trace the Via Appia, in the course of which 
he discovered four menhirs near Bari not hithérto 
described. 

The archeology of western Europe was covered by 
communications from Dr. Marett, describing recent 
discoveries of Palzolithic and Neolithic age in the 
Channel Islands, and from Mr. Cantrill on stone 
boiling in the British Isles; from Mr. H.’ Peake on 
the Bronze age in the Rhone Valley, and Mr. O. G.S. 
Crawford on trade between England and France in the 
Neolithic and Bronze ages. Mr. W. Dale, in describ- 
ing an exhibit of flint implements found in the county 
of Hampshire, raised the question of the dating of 
the rough ‘‘celt’’ usually assigned to the Neolithic 
period, but unfortunately owing to lack of time no 
discussion was possible. Mr. J. P. Bushe-Fox de- 
scribed the excavations on the site of the Roman 
town of Viroconium, which are being carried out 
under the auspices of the Shropshire Archeological 
Society and the Society of Antiquaries, and Dr. Wil- 
loughby Gardner gave an account of his further 
excavations of the Romano-British hill-fort in Kinmell 
Park, near Abergele. Dr. T. J. Jehu and Mr. A.J. B. 
Wace described their discoveries in excavating the 
Kinkell Cave, near St. Andrews, which had _ been 
inhabited in Roman and early Christian times. These 
included a slab of red sandstone with incised crosses, 
which the authors held to be probably one of the 
earliest relics of Christianity yet found in Britain. 
Papers by the Rev. F. Smith, on Palzolithic trap 
stones, and by the Rev. Dr. Irving, on the prehistoric 
site at Bishops Stortford, brought to a close one of 
the most successful meetings of recent years. 


OCEAN TEMPERATURES NEAR ICEBERGS. 
ewe Journal of the Washington Academy of 

Sciences for September 19 contains, inter alia, 
an account by Messrs. C. W. Waidner, H. C. Diclsin- 
son, and J. J. Crowe, of the Bureau of Standards, of 
observations on ocean temperatures in the vicinity of 
icebergs and in other parts of the ocean taken by 
them on board the United States’ steamships Chester 
and Birmingham. 

The party, which left Philadelphia in the Chester 
on June 2, 1912, and was subsequently transferred to 
the Birmingham, registered continuous observations 
from June 19 until its return to Philadelphia on July 11 
of the same year. 

The temperature equipment carried consisted of a 
surface electrical resistance thermometer, a Leeds and 
Northrup recorder suitable for use with the resistance 
thermometer, deep sea thermometers, and several 
mercurial standard thermometers. 

Several small bergs were seen on the horizon from 
the Chester on June 17, and almost simultaneously 
the temperature record indicated a sudden fall from 
87° to 73° C. The fall continued while the berg was 
approached, and at a distance from it of about 500 
yards the temperature was 57° C. 

At a distance of about 150 yards from the berg, the 
mass of which was estimated at about 1200 tons, the 


surface temperatures taken from a boat ranged from 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[DEcEMBER 4, 19] 


58° to 67° C. Other observations taken gav 
following temperatures: 20 ft. from the berg, 
35 ft., 4:90°; 50 ft., 5:0°; 75 ft.5%-4°; 200 ff., 5egm 
At a depth of five fathoms, when 50 ft. fror 
berg, the temperature was 36° C., and at 20 fath 
33° C. At some miles distant from the berg, 
ever, the temperatures taken were as low as 
observed a few feet from it; moreover, an exam 
tion of temperature records, which were obtai 
under a variety of conditions, in the region of 37° 
43° 30’ north latitude and 43° to 53° west longit 
demonstrated the difficulty of separating large 
sudden variations of sea temperature, so freque 
met with, from variations that might be caused 
the proximity of icebergs. be 
In some parts of the ocean, temperatures were — 
recorded that were constant to a few tenths of a degree 
for many hours, whereas in other parts the variations 
were as large and sudden as any observed in the neigh- 
bourhood of icebergs. a 
The variation in the salinity of sea-water in the 
vicinity of bergs, resulting from the melting of the 
ice, were so small as to be masked by the ordinary 
variations found in sea-water. ; 
Experiments with the foghorn, sounded when in- 
the vicinity of icebergs, with the object of detecting — 
their presence in a fog by the echo from them, were — 
tried without success; but a few experiments made — 
with a bell sounded under water to ascertain whether — 
an echo from the submerged portion of a berg could — 
be detected by means of the ship’s submarine signal — 
telephones were attended with more hopeful results. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


BirMinGHAM.—The Huxley lecture for this year is to — 
be delivered by Sir Arthur Evans, F.R.S., who has — 
chosen as his subject, ‘‘ The Ages of Minos.” : 


CAMBRIDGE.—The Vice-Chancellor gives notice that 
the Lowndean professorship of astronomy and geo- 
metry is vacant by the death of Sir Robert Ball. The 
electors will meet for the purpose of electing a pro- 
fessor on Monday, December 22. Candidates are re- 
quested to send their names, with ten copies of such — 
testimonials, if any, as they may think fit, to the 
Vice-Chancellor on or before Monday, December 15, 
1913. 

Mr. N. Cunliffe has been appointed to the office of 
assistant to the superintendent of the museum of 
zoology for one year as from October 1, 1913. 

The Walsingham medal for 1913 has been awarded 
to Mr. F. Kidd, for his essay entitled, “‘“On the Action 
of Carbon Dioxide in the Moist Seed in Maturing, 
Resting, and Germinating Conditions.” 

Mr. H. S. Jones, formerly foundation scholar, Isaac 
Newton student 1912, Smith’s prizeman 1913, has been 
elected to a fellowship at Jesus College. 


Lonpon.—Dr. W. T. Gordon has been appointed 
lecturer and head of the geological department at — 
King’s College, in succession to Dr. T. F. Sibly, 
appointed professor of geology at the University of 
South Wales, Cardiff. Dr. Gordon has been lecturer 
in paleontology and assistant in geology at the Uni- 
versity of Edinburgh since 1910, and has made exten- 
sive researches in palaobotany, and some investiga- 
tions in stratigraphical geology. 


MaNcHESTER.—A_ very interesting and _ pleasant 
ceremony was held in the University on Thursday, 
November 27, when the portrait of Prof. Horace 
Lamb, F.R.S., was presented by subscribers to the 
University to be hung in the Whitworth Hall., Prof. 
Lamb has filled the chair of mathematics in the Uni- 


DECEMBER 4, 1913]| 


NATURE 


415 


versity of Manchester since 1885, or a period of twenty- 
eight years, and is now senior professor. An unusual 
feature of interest lay in the fact that the portrait of 
Prof. Lamb was painted by his son, Mr. Henry Lamb, 
a rising young artist. The gathering was well attended 
by the friends and colleagues of Prof. Lamb, and the 
presentation of the portrait was made by Prof. Tout 
and Prof. Rutherford on behalf of the subscribers. 
Reference was made to the remarkable success of 
Prof. Lamb as a teacher of mathematics, and to the 
importance of his original contributions to mathe- 
matical physics. The portrait was accepted on behalf 
of the University by Sir Frank Forbes Adam, the 
chairman of the council, and very appreciative refer- 
ences were made by Prof. Weiss, the Vice-Chancellor, 
and by all the speakers, to the esteem and affection 
in which Prof. Lamb is held by all his friends and 
colleagues. Letters were read from Dr. Schuster, Sir 
Joseph Larmor, the Vice-Chancellor of Leeds, and 
others, who were unable to be present at the presenta- 
tion, in which they expressed their warm appreciation 
of the services of Prof. Lamb to the University and 
to science as a teacher and original investigator. The 
hope was expressed by all the speakers that Prof. 
Lamb would long continue to carry on his work in 
the University which he has served with so much 
distinction. 


Dr. G. Owen, lecturer and demonstrator in physics 
at Liverpool University, has been appointed professor 
of physics at Auckland University College, New 
Zealand. 


Ir is stated in Science that a gift of 870,000l. to the 
Cornell Medical School has been officially announced. 
The name of the donor is withheld, but he is believed 
to be Colonel O. H. Payne, of New York City. 


Str Tuomas H. Extiorr, K.C.B., Deputy Master 
and Comptroller of the Royal Mint, will distribute 
prizes and certificates at the Sir John Cass Technical 
Institute, Aldgate, E.C., on Wednesday next, Decem- 
ber 10, and will deliver an address. There will be an 
exhibition of students’ work and apparatus in the 
laboratories and workshops. 


In the issue of Science for October 24, Prof. 
F. C. Ferry, writing under the title, ‘‘ Some Tables of 
Student Hours of Instruction,”’ gives some interesting 
facts as to the amount of work done in various 
American universities in the different faculties. By a 


*“‘student hour of instruction’’ is meant the taking | 


of a course of one hour a week by one student through 
one session. The tables included in the article show 
that in the order of the relative amount of work 
done in science and mathematics certain of the 
American universities stand in the following order :— 


Leland Stanford Junior, Princeton, Cornell, Wis- 
consin, Johns Hopkins, Dartmouth, Wesleyan, 
Amherst, and Columbia. In general, the eastern 


universities show a greater amount of work in the 
foreign languages than the western, while the western 
show much larger numbers in science. 


In a note last week attention was directed to the 
beginning of the new buildings for the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology. We notice in The Boston 
Evening Transcript of November 8, a copy of which 
has been received, that two of its large pages are 
devoted to particulars and illustrations of the new 
buildings. | Our contemporary speaks with natural 
pride of the part taken by old students of the institute 
in making it possible to provide the new buildings. 
The engineer, the architect, and many other experts 
engaged upon the work of construction are old 
students, many of whom are giving their services. 
To quote from the article :—‘ Throughout the whole 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92] 


process the institute has been aided by its own best 
product. For every portion men technically trained 
in its own departments have come to its aid, and here 
it should be understood these men are giving liberally 
what would be exceedingly costly under ordinary com- 
mercial rules.” Since the fiftieth anniversary of the 
founding of the institute, in April, 1911, 1,506,000!. 
has been received in gifts, and a considerable part of 
the money has come from old students. 


An examination of the calendar for the current 
session of the University College of North Wales 
shows that the Court of Governors spares no pains 
to keep in close touch with the special needs of the 
areas from which it more particularly draws its 
students. As typical of the arrangements made to 
demonstrate the value of higher educational institu- 
tions, it may be stated that the calendar points out 
that an important new departure has been taken by 
the authorities of the college in the appointment of 
two “advisers,” who will devote themselves to the 
investigation of special problems affecting agricul- 
ture, and the giving of scientific advice to farmers and 
others who may refer to them questions for solution. 
These appointments have been made possible by a 


| special grant made by the Board of Agriculture out 


of a sum from the Development Fund which has been 
placed at the disposal of the Board for this particular 
purpose. In addition to the instruction given in the 
college itself, a scheme of ‘out-college agricultural 
instruction"’ has been organised, and is now being 
carried out throughout the greater part of North 
Wales. This scheme is maintained by means of 
annual grants, amounting altogether to 1100l., which 
are voted by the County Councils of Anglesey, Car- 
narvonshire, Denbighshire, and Flintshire. It is in- 
teresting to record that the total sum subscribed for 


| all purposes since the establishment of the college is 


230,748l. 

THERE is perhaps no more healthy and hopeful sign 
of the increasing interest in education, whether 
elementary, secondary, technological, or university, 
than is to be found in the numerous conferences 
which are held from time to time by associations of 
teachers and administrators to discuss questions, not 
only concerning the administration of education and 
the relative responsibility of the central and local 
authorities, but also the subjects most suitable to the 


| various grades of education and the best methods of 


presenting them. Of these conferences that of the 
annual congress of the Irish Technical Instruction 
Association, the report of which has been recently 
issued, deserves a high place having regard to the 


| interest of the subjects considered and the high quality 
| of the papers read. 


It is especially gratifying to note 
that in Ireland, hitherto so much neglected as com- 
pared with the rest of the United Kingdom, a vigorous 
educational life has been awakened as a result of the 
efforts of enthusiasts like Sir Horace Plunkett, the 
founder of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society, 
to whose zeal and intelligence is also due the estab- 
lishment of the Department of Agriculture and Tech- 
nical Instruction, which has done so much through 
the enlightened and vigorous efforts of its chief 
officials, Mr. IT. P. Gill and Mr. G. Fletcher, to 
develop technical education in Ireland. The proceed- 
ings of this, the twelfth congress, held in May last, 
under the presidency of Mr. F. C. Forth, the principal 
of the Belfast Technical Institute, extended over three 
days, and was attended by representatives from all 
parts of Ireland, including members of technical in- 
struction committees, principals and teachers of tech- 
nical schools, members of chambers of commerce, 
and officials appointed by Government departments. 
Amongst the important papers read and discussed 


416 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 4, I913 


were :—‘‘ Citizenship and Technical Instruction" (a 
subject almost entirely ignored in schemes of tech- 
nical instruction), by Mr. T. P. Gill; ‘‘ Apprenticeship 
Classes,” by Mr. B. O’Shaughnessy; ‘‘ Technical In- 
struction: its Achievements and Possibilities,’’ by the 
Rev. Canon Arthur Ryan; and ‘‘ Domestic Economy : 
the Family Budget,’ by Mr. G. Fletcher. The 
method of treatment and the importance of the sub- 
jects considered give the report a high value, and 
make it worthy of the serious attention of educationists 
on this side of the Irish Sea. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


Lonpon. 

Royal Society, November 27.—Sir Archibald Geikie, 
K.C.B., president, in the chair.—Prof. B. Hopkinson : 
A method of measuring the pressure produced in the 
detonation of high explosives or by the impact of 
bullets. A steel shaft about 14 in. diameter and 4 ft. 
long is suspended horizontally from strings so that 
it can swing in a vertical plane as a ballistic pendulum. 
At one end it carries an end-piece of the same diameter 
and several inches long. The end-piece is held on by 
magnetic attraction; the surfaces of the joint are care- 
fully faced. If a bullet be fired at the other end a 
wave of pressure travels along the shaft, the length 
of which represents the duration of the blow on the 
scale 1 in.=5x10~-° second approx. The wave passes 
the joint without change and is reflected as a tension- 
wave from the free end. If length of wave exceeds 
twice that of end-piece, the tail of pressure-wave will 
have passed the joint when the head of tension-wave 
reaches it and the piece will fly off, having trapped 
within it the whole momentum of the blow, leaving 
the shaft at rest. By experimenting with different 
lengths of end-piece and finding that which is just 
long enough to stop the shaft, the duration of blow 
can be determined. The end-piece is caught in a 
ballistic pendulum and its momentum measured; thus, 
knowing the time, the average pressure is determined. 
Applied to investigation of the blow given by a lead 
bullet, the method gave results in close accord with 
those expected on the assumption that the bullet be- 
haves as though it were liquid, the measured duration 
of blow being nearly that required by the bullet to 
travel its own length. Measurements by the same 
method of pressures produced by detonation of a 1-oz. 
dry guncotton primer showed that, at a distance of 
= in. from surface of cotton, the pressure is practically 
all gone in 1/50,000 second, the average pressure 
during that period being about 25 tons per sq. in., and 
the maximum of the order of 45 tons per sq. in.— 
J. H. Jeans: Gravitational instability and the nebular 
hypothesis. The work of Maclaurin, Jacobi, Poincaré, 
and Darwin on rotating fluids has applied only to the 
abstract case in which the mass is considered perfectly 
incompressible and homogeneous. To estimate the 
bearing of their results on astronomical problems, it 
is important to know to what extent these results 
remain valid for actual, compressible, heterogeneous 
masses. The result of the present investigation is 
summed up concisely by saying that the ideal mass 
of incompressible fluid has been found to supply a 
surprisingly good model by which to study the be- 
haviour of the more complicated natural systems con- 
sidered in astronomy.—B. A. Keen and A. W. Porter: 
The diffraction of light by particles comparable with 
the wave-length. A suspension of finely-divided sul- 
phur, obtained by precipitation from a solution of 
thiosulphate of soda by the addition of acid, ordinarily 
diffracts an excess of blue light, so that a white source 
of light seen through it looks red. One of the authors 
discovered that if the particles be allowed to grow 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92] 


the red image gradually changes over in colour, be- 
coming at one stage a deep indigo blue, and after- 
wards passing through various shades of green to 
white. The present investigation was undertaken to 
obtain quantitative information in regard to this 
phenomenon.—Prof. R. J. Strutt: Note on the colour 
of zircons, and its radio-active origin.—Prof. W. H- 
Bragg : The influence of the constituents of the crystal 
on the form of the spectrum in the X-ray spectrometer. 
The energy of the pencil of X-rays which falls on the 
crystal of the X-ray spectrometer is in part spent 
within the crystal through absorption, which implies 
the production of kathode and characteristic X-rays, 
and in part is scattered, producing the reflected ray 
when circumstances are favourable. It is found that 
where there is much absorption there is little reflection. 
The best reflectors are therefore those crystals of which 
the absorption coefficients are smallest in comparison 
with their weights or their scattering powers. For 
this reason alone the diamond must be a very good 
reflector.—\W. L. Bragg: The analysis of crystals by 
the X-ray spectrometer. By a quantitative comparison 
of the intensities of the successive orders of reflection 
by various crystal faces, it is shown that the X-ray 
spectrometer can be made to give a very complete 
analysis of the crystal structure. The structures par- 
ticularly investigated in the paper are those of the 
isomorphous sulphides, pyrites, and hauerite, and of 
the series of compounds which compose the calcite 
family of minerals. By a study of these last com- 
pounds, it is concluded that the diffracting power of an 
atom is proportional to its atomic weight.—Dr. T. H. 
Havelock : Ship resistance: the wave-making proper- 
ties of certain travelling pressure disturbances. The 
paper contains a theoretical comparison of the wave- 
making resistance associated with certain distributions 
of surface pressure. Various inferences are drawn in 
regard to variation of resistance with speed, and the 
speeds at which typical interference effects occur. In 
particular, types are examined which are similar in 
general form to those associated with the motion of 
ship models in recent work at the William Froude tank 
in the National Physical Laboratory.—Dr. R. A. 
Houstoun : The mathematical representation of a light 
pulse. The object of this paper is to direct attention 
to a new series of expressions representing the initial 
form and dispersion of a light pulse. They have been 
suggested by one of Kelvin’s hydrodynamical papers, 
and are derived from his instantaneous-plane-source 
solution in the conduction of heat. 


Zoological Society, November 11.—Dr. S. F. Harmer, 
F.R.S., in the chair—Dr. W. T. Calman: Fresh- 
water Decapod Crustacea (families Potamonide and 
Palzmonidz) collected in Madagascar by the Hon. 
Paul A. Methuen. One new species of Potamon and 
five varietal forms of P. madagascariense were de- 
scribed. It is suggested that the river-crabs of Mada- 
gascar may have had an autochthonous origin from 
some form resembling P. madagascariense. No clear 
affinities can be traced with the Potamonidz of Africa 
or of Peninsular India, but it is pointed out that in 
the present state of knowledge the river-crabs appear 
to be a hazardous subject for zoogeographical specula- 
tion.—G. A. Boulenger: A collection of reptiles and 
Batrachians made by Dr. Spurrell, in the Colombian 
Choco. The series of specimens was of great interest, 
and contained several new species.—C. Tate Regan: 
A revision of the Cyprinodont fishes of the subfamily 
Peeciliine. A number of new genera were defined 
and several new species were described; the structure 
of the intromittent organ was found to be of great 
systematic importance.—Prof. W. N. Parker: Investi- 
gations on a growth of Spongilla lacustris in the 
Cardiff Waterworks system. The author described 


FOE 


EE 


DECEMBER 4, 1913] 


NATURE 


417 


the methods adopted to eradicate the sponge from the 
infected areas.—Prof. J. Playfair McMurrich: Two 
new species of Actinians from the coast of British 
Columbia. These specimens probably represented 
stages of a single species, and belonged to a group 
hitherto not recorded from the west coast of America. 


Paris. 
Academy of Sciences, November 24.—M. F. Guyon 


in the chair—aA. Haller: The alkylation of thujone | : 
| nitrogen collected contained no argon.—Remarks by 


and isothujone by means of sodium amide. An 
account of the preparation of dimethyl-, diallyl-, and 
triallylthujone, and of dimethylisothujone and _ allyl- 
isothujone.—A. Miintz and H. Gaudechon: Contribu- 
tion to the study of clays. Experiments on the sedi- 
mentation of clays under the action of gravity alone, 
or the combined action of gravity and an electric field. 
—Edmond Perrier: The international protection of 
nature. On the initiative of M. Paul Sarrasin and 
the Swiss Government a conference was held at Berne 
at which it was decided to form a permanent com- 
mission to deal with the question of the preservation 
of rare animals and birds.—A. Verschaffel: Remarks 
on the communication of A. Claude and L. Drien- 
court concerning a new impersonal coincidence micro- 
meter.—A. Guntz and A. A. Guntz, Jr.: The hydrates 
of silver fluoride. Details of the conditions necessary 
for the isolation of the three hydrates, AgF,4H.O, 
AgF,2H.O, and AgF,H,O.—A. Calmette and V. 
Grysez: Experimental demonstration of the existence 
of a generalised lymphatic stage, preceding localisa- 
tions, in tuberculous infections. It is shown that no 
local lesion is produced at the point of penetration of 
the bacillus.—Michel Petrovitch: The minimum 
modulus of an analytical function along a circum- 
ference.—G. Kenigs: Doubly decomposable move- 
ments and surfaces which are the seat of two families 
of equal curves.—R. Fortrat: Groups of real and 
apparent lines in band spectra.—L. Margaillan: The 
neutralisation of chromic acid. The neutralisation of 
chromic acid has been studied by means of the 
hydrogen electrode. The curve of electromotive force 
shows two points of inflection corresponding to the 
change of colour of methyl orange and phenolphthalein 
respectively.—Lucien Daniel: A new graft hybrid.— 
Robert Douin: The arrangements for the absorption 
of water in the female capitule and male disc of the 
Marchantiacee.—A. Guilliermond: New cytological 
researches on the formation of anthocyanic pigments. 
These pigments and the colourless phenolic com- 
pounds are always the product of the activity of the 
mitochondria.—Raoul Combes : The experimental pro- 
duction of an anthocyanine identical with that formed 
in red leaves in autumn, starting with a compound 
extracted from green leaves. The red compound was 
shown to be identical with the colouring matter 
extracted from red leaves. Contrary to the views cur- 
rently held, it is a reduction, and not an oxidation 
product.—P. Nottin: The influence of mercury on 
alcoholic fermentation.—F. Bordas: The transmission 
of typhoid fever by the air. Remarks confirming the 
conclusions drawn in a recent paper by A. Trillat and 
M. Fouassier.—Ch. Nicolle and L. Blaizot : Stable and 
atoxic antigonococcus vaccines.—MM. Variot and 
Lavialle: The effects of sweetened milk in the treat- 
ment of dyspeptics with gastric intolerance. The 
special eupeptic properties of sweetened milk appear 
to be entirely due to the high proportion of cane 


sugar.—J. Bergonié: Posology in physiotherapy.—Ch. | 


Gravier ; Some results of the second French Antarctic 
Expedition: Alcyonaria.—R. Anthony and L. Gain: 
The development of pterylosis in the penguin.—M. 
Fauré-Fremiet: Erythropsis agilis—J. Wolfi: The 
influence of iron in the development of barley and 
the specific nature of its action. Neither nickel nor 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92] 


chromium can replace iron in the development of 
barley.—Em. Bourquelot and M. Bridel: The bio- 
chemical synthesis of the glucosides of polyvalent 
alcohols: the eglucosides of glycerol and glycol.— 
Arthur L. Day and E. S. Shepherd; Conclusions to be 
drawn from the analysis of the gases from the crater 
of Kilauea. The gases are undergoing chemical inter- 
action as they rise in the crater, with marked develop- 
ment of heat. Water vapour is present in large quan- 
tity, and chlorine in a negligible proportion only. The 


A, Lacroix and A. Gautier on the preceding paper.— 
Ph. Glangeaud: The characteristics of the spring 
waters in the volcanic formations of Auvergne.—Ph. 
Négris: The discovery of the Eocene above the 
Cristallophyllian of the Cyclades and the genesis of 
the Cristallophyllian facies in Greece—G. Valsan: 
The evolution of the Roumanian plain between the 
rivers Olt and Arges. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Outlines of Chordate Development. By Prof. W.E. 
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Das Mittelmeergebiet: seine Geographische und 
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The Scientists’ Reference Book and Diary, 1914. 
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Practical Cinematography and its Applications. By 
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The Diseases of Tropical Plants. By Prof. M. T. 
Cook. Pp. xi+317- (London: Macmillan and Co., 
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Alternating Currents and Alternating Current 
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Jackson. New edition. Pp. viii+968. (London: 
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Vigvakarma: Examples of Indian Architecture, 
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Influenza: Its History, Nature, Cause, and Treat- 
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Modern Rationalism as Seen at Work in its Bio- 
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Butterflies and Moths in Romance and Reality. By 
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Canada. Department of Mines. Geological Sur- 
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Lode Mining. By D. D. Cairnes. Pp. ix+ 129+ xxxii 
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Handbuch der Hygiene. Edited by Profs. M. 
Rubner, M. v. Gruber, and M. Ficker. III. Band, 
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Die Anatomie des Menschen. Teil. v. Nervensystem 
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Pp. 82. (Leipzig and Berlin: B. G. Teubner.) 1.25 
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418 


The Year-Book of the Scientific and Learned 
Societies of Great Britain and Ireland, 1913. Pp. vi+ 
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Yorkshire Type Ammonites. Edited by S. S. Buck- 
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“Squaring the Circle’’: a History of the Problem. 
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the Bureau of Standards. No. 16, Manufacture of 


Lime. By W. E. Emley. Pp. 130+plates. (Wash- 
ington : Government Printing Office.) 
Survey of India. Professional Paper No. 14, 


Formulz for Atmospheric Refraction and their Appli- 
cation to Terrestrial Refraction and Geodesy. By 
J. de G. Hunter. Pp. v+114. (Dehra Dun: Office 
of the Trigonometrical Survey.) 

Mitteilungen der Prahistorischen Kommission der 
K. Akademie der Wissenschaften. II. Band., No. 2, 
1912. Pp. 127-227. (Vienna: A, Hélder.) 

City and Guilds of London Institute. Department 
of Technology, Exhibition Road, London, S.W. Re- 
port of the Department for the Session 1912-13. Pp. 
x+467. (London: J. Murray.) 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, DecEMpPER 4. 

Rovat Society, at 4.30.—(r) A Method of Studying Transpiration ; 
(2) The Effect of Light on the Transpiration of Leaves: Sir Francis 
Darwin.—Dimensions of Chromosomes considered in Relation to 
Phylogeny: Prof. J. B. Farmer and L. Digby.—The Process of Calcifi- 
cation in Enamel and Dentine: J. H. Mummery.—The Optimum Tempera- 
ture of Salicin Hydrolysis by Enzyme Action is Independent of the Con- 
centrations of Substrate and Enzyme: A. Compton.—The Ratio between 
Spindle Lengths in the Spermatocyte Metaphases of Helix Pomatia: 
C. F. U. Meek.—Egyptian Blue: Dr. A. P. Laurie, W. F. P. McLintock 
and F, D. Miles. 

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Electricity Supply in 
Large Cities: Dr. G. Klingenberg. 

Linnean Society, at 8.—Wild Wheat from Mount Hermon, 7 7ificum 
dicoccoides Koern: Prof. J. Percival.—Neurotes, a New Genus of 
Mymarida, from Hastings: F. Enock.—A Contribution to the Study of 
the Evolution of the Flower; with Special Reference to the Hamameli- 
dacez, Caprifoliaceze and Cornacew: A. S. Horne.—The Mollusca of the 
River Nile: Mrs. Longstaff. 


FRIDAY, D&cEMBER 5. 

INsTITUTION OF MrcHaNical. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Thomas Hawksley 
Lecture : Water asa Mechanical Agent: E. B. Ellington. 

Junior InstiruTION oF ENGINEERS, at 8.—Presidential Address: Sir 
Boverton Redwood, Bart. 

InstiTuTION oF Civic ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Liverpool Street Extension 
of the Central London Railway: H. V. Hutt. 

Gerotocists’ Association, at §8.—Evolution and Palxobotany: Dr. 


Marie C, Stopes. 
MONDAY, Decemorr 8. 
Rovat GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at $.30.—Is the Earth Drying Up?: Prof. 
J. W. Gregory. 
Royat Society or Arts, at 8.—The Measurement of Stresses in Materials 
and Structures: Prof. E. G. Coker. 


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9. 

Institution oF Civit ENGtnrers, at 8.—/urther Discussion: The 
Transandine Railway; B. H. Henderson.—Probadle Paper: Cyclical 
Changes of Temperature in a Gas-engine Cylinder: Prof. E. G. Coker 
and W, A. Scoble. 


WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10. 


Royar Society or Arts, at §8.—The application of Electricity to Agri- 

culture and Life: T. Thorne Baker. 
THURSDAY, Decemper 11. 

RovaL Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: Intermittent Vision: A. 
Mallock.—The Relations between the Crystal-symmetry of the Simpler 
Organic Compounds and their Molecular Constitution. III. : W. Wahl. 
—The Selective Absorption of Ketones: Prof. G. G. Henderson and 
J. M. Heilbron.—Absolute Measurements of a Resistance by a Method 


NO. 2301, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


based on that of Lorenz: F. E. Smith.—A Determination of the E! 
motive Force of the Weston Normal Cell in Semi-absolute Volts. (1 
a Preface by Prof. H. L. Callender, F.R.S.); A. N. Shaw.—Blasi 
Hysteresis in Steel: F, E. Rowett-—A Simple Form of Micro-balay 
Determining the Densities of Small Quantities of Gases: F. W. ‘Asfoas 
A Second Spectrum of Neon: T. R. Merton. we 
MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, at 5.30.-—The Linear Integral Equation > Pro 
E. W. Holson.—Generalised Hermite Functions and their Connect! 
with the Bessel Functions: H. E. J. Curzon.—-Limiting Forms of r 
Period Tides : J. Proudman.—The Number of Primes of Same Residt 
acity: Lieut -Col. Cunningham.—Some Results on the Form a 
Infinity of Real Continuous Solutions of a Certain ‘lype of Second Ord: 
Differential Equations ;: R. H. Fowler.—The Potential of a Homogeneot 
Convex Body and the Direct Integration of the Potential of an Elie 
S. Brodetsky.—The Dynamical Theory of the Tides in a Polar ee 
o a Goddsbrough. —Proof of the Complementary Theorem : Prof. 
jelds. ; 
aoe INSTITUTE, at 7.30.—Some Fallacies in Testing Cement: L. 
add. - = 
Rovat Society or Arts, at 4.30.—The Cultivation and Manufacture o} 
Indian Indigo: Prof W. P, Bloxam. , 
InsTITUTION OF ELEcTricaL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Continuation of Dis 
“heey on Dr. Klingenberg's Address on ‘‘ Electricity Supply in Large 
ities.” 


FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12. 

RovaL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5.— A 
MALacotocicat Society, at 8.—Descriptions of Various New Species of 
Mollusca: G. B. Sowerby.—Synonymy of the Family Veneride: A. J. 
Tukes-Browne, F.R.S.—Descriptions of New Species of Land and Marine 
Shells from the Montebello Islands, Western Australia: H. B. Preston. 
ALCHEMICAL Society, at 8.15.—Alchemy in China: Prof. H. Chatley.. 


z 


CONTENTS. 


Antarctic Meteorology. By Prof. W. Meinardus. . — 
The Group-Origin of Species, By R.R.G.... . 
The New Psychology. By A. E. Crawley. .... 
Popular Botanical Publications. By F.C. ... .° 
Our Bookshelf... ./ + +. .5.ma \erkepien We 
Letters to the Editor :— site 
Synthesis by Means of Ferments.—Sir Lauder — 
Brunton, Bart., FORiSt_, 0) + «els eee 
Ameebocytes in Calcareous Sponges.—Prof, Arthur 
Dendy, F.R.S. . paydiy3 NY 2c ee a 
Intra-atomic Charge.—Frederick Soddy, F,R.S. . 
Philosophy of Vitalism.—Prof. Hans Driesch ; 
Prof, E. W. MacBride, F.R:S. .. 2 eae 
The Kathode Spectrum of Helium.—Prof. P. G. — 
Nutting . . ._s «TCR Be) os 
Observation of the Separation of Spectral Lines by an 
Electric Field.—Prof. J. Stark ©. . ) 2. a6 
Phosphorescence of Mercury Vapour. —F., S. Phillips 
A Remarkable Meteor on November 24—J. S._ 
Dines; Dr. Arthur A. Rambaut, F.R.S. ... 
The British Radium Standard. By Prof. E. 
Rutherford, F.R.S.  . . sigh a Lo ee r, 
Sir Robert Ball, F.R.S. By J. L.ED). eee 
The Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Society . . 
Notes MM > - . 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
The Radial Velocity of the Andromeda Nebula. . . 
Photographic Magnitudes of Comparison Stars in 


Certain of the Hagen Fields . . hae 
The Harmonic Analyser Applied to the Sun-spot 
Cycle . saw whee AOS oi toy a Me 
R:iZ..Gassiopeize . ss 2s, s) eyis) <0) 5) ils ee 
The Nantucket Observatory. A 


Convergence in the Mammalia. By J.H.A.... 
Anthropology at the British Association ..... 
Ocean Temperatures Near Icebergs .......- 
University and Educational Intelligence. ..... 
Societies and Academies: . . - = | )) (aijgme 
Books Received oo Oia, SEP stesso ea 

Dianyiof Societies . 4/200) enon) oe penn 


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Editorial Communications to the Editor. 
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DECEMBER 4, 1913] 


MINERALOGY —CRYSTALLOGRAPHY— 
PETROGRAPHY —GEOLOGY. 


Ask for our new : 


GENERAL CATALOGUE XVIII. 


(2nd Edition) 
for the use of Middle and High Schools and Universities. 


Part I, 260 pages, 110 Illustrations. 


This catalogue has been prepared with the view of making an exhaustive 
compilation of all educational appliances for the teaching 
of Mineralogy and Geology from a scientific as well as from 
a practica2! p-int of view. All the subjects are treated typically, and 
instructive specimens have been selected with the greatest care. A close 
examination of the catalogue will show, that owing to its careful compo- 
sition it gives the opportunity of procuring the most complete outfit for the 
various schools for instruction in and the study of the subjects named, 

Catalogue No. 18, Part I, will be sent free on application. 
Part II will appear within the course of the year. 
(Collections and single specimens of Minerals and Fossils, 
Meteorites bought and exchanged.) 


Dr. F. KRANTZ, 


RHENISH MINERAL OFFICE, BONN-ON-RHINE, GERMANY, 
Established 1833. Established 1833. 


METEORITES 


Meteorie Iron and Stones in all sizes and prices. 
Apply stating requirements, &c., to 
JAMES R. GREGORY & CO., 
MINERALOGISTS, &c., 
139 FULHAM ROAD, SOUTH KENSINGTON, S.W. 


Telegrams: ‘‘ Meteorites,” London. Telephone: 2841 Western. 


LIVING SPECIMENS FOR 
THE MICROSCOPE. 


Volvox, Spirogyra, Desmids, Diatoms, Amoeba, Arcella, Actinospherium, 
Vorticella, Stentor, Hydra, Floscularia, Stephanoceros, Melicerta, and many 
other specimens of Pond Life. Price 1s. per Tube, Post Free. Helix 
pomatia, Astacus, Amphioxus, Rana, Anodon, &c., for Dissection purposes. 


THOMAS BOLTON, 
25 BALSALL HEATH ROAD, BIRMINGHAM. 


MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 
OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 
F THE LABORATORY, PLYMOUTH, 

The following animals can always be supplied, either living 
or preserved by the best methods :— 

Sycon; Clava, Obelia, Sertularia; Actinia, Tealia, Caryopbyllia, Alcy- 
onium; Hormiphora (preserved); Leptoplana; Lineus, Amphiporus, 
Nereis, Aphrodite, Arenicola, Lanice, ‘'erebella; Lepas, Balanus, 
Gammarus, Ligia Mysis, Nebalia, Carcinus; Patella, Buccinum, Eledone, 
Pe:tens Bugula, Crisia, Pedicellina, Holothuria, Asterias, Echinus, 
Saipa (preserved), Scyllium, Raia, &c., &c. 


for prices and more detailed lists apply to 
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cexlvi NATURE [DECEMBER 4, I913. 


Atunpum MurFLes 


In furnaces heated by electricity Alundum 

Muffles will stand many more heats than the 

ordinary clay muffles and give the furnace 

greater efficiency in operation because of 
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NOW READY. 


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ISENTHAL & CO. Sole Agents, in the United Kingdom, — 


(Department 1), F 
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Contractors to the Admiralty, War, India, and : \ 
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IDEAL FOR SCHOOL-ROOMS. 
SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS) | Watt Diagrams of Zoologia 
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is Sek and Botanical Specimens. 

SPECTROMETER. Each Diagram measures about 3} x 24 

s feet. The subjects are reproduced 
true to nature, the colouring is bold, 
and the figures stand out clearly on 
the matt black background. Each 
diagram represents one species only, 
and includes a view of the complete 
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its development and sectional struc- 
ture. An illustrated descriptive Key 
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Since announcing these splendid dia- - 
grams in our Catalogue No. 52 of : 


A cheap and reliable Instrument specially designed tor me Rey a Se 
Students’ use. Charts and Maps (1909), seven have 


Very strongly constructed so that it may be used by : 
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PRICE £2: 10:0 Each Net. twenty to the Botanical section. 
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DECEMBER 1, 


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STUDY 
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It is the Key to Success in Photography. 


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350 pages, 44 plates, numerous diagrams and 
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This Electroscope, with paraffin 
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ex] viii NATURE 


[DECEMBER II, 1913 


ROYAL INSTITUTION OF 
GREAT BRITAIN. 


ALBEMARLE STREET, PICCADILLY, W. 
LECTURE ARRANGEMENTS BEFORE EASTER, 1914. 


Christmas Lectures. 
EIGHTY-EIGHTH COURSE (ADAPTED TO A JUVENILE 
AUDITORY). (Ltlustrated). 


Professor H. H. Turner, F.R.S.—Course of Six Lectures on “‘A 
Vovace in Space: THe Startinc Point—Our Eartu; Tue STart 
THROUGH THE AIR; JOURNEYING BY TELESCOPE; VISITS TO THE 
Moon anv Pranets ; Our Sun; Tue Stars.” On December 27 (Satur- 
day), December 30(Tuesday), January 1 (Thursday), January 3 (Saturday), 
January 6 (Tuesday), January 8 (Thursday), at Three o'clock. 


COURSES OF LECTURES. 

Professor WiLt1AM Bateson, F.R.S.—Six Lectures on ‘‘ ANIMALS AND 
PLants UNDER Domestication... On Tuesdays, January 20, 27, Feb- 
ruary 3, 10, 17, 24, at Three o'clock. 

Professor Sir JoHN H. Bires, M.Inst.C.E, Three Lectures on 
**Movern Suies.” On Tuesdays, March 3, 10, 17, at Three o'clock. 

Artuur H. Situ, Esq., F.S.A. Two Lectures on ‘“‘ LANDSCAPE AND 
NaTuRAL Opjects 1n Crassicat ArT.” On Tuesdays, March 24, 31, at 
Three o'clock. 

Wittram McDoucatt, Esq., F.R.S. Two Lectures on ‘‘ THE Minp 
or SavacGE Man” (Illustrated by the Pagan Tribes of Borneo). On 
Thursdays, January 22, 29, at Three o'clock. 

Professor Sir THomas H. Hotranp, K.C.I.E., F.R.S. Two Lectures 
on ‘Types AND Causes or EartTH Crust Fotps.” On Thursdays, 
February 5, 12, at Three o'clock. 

Professor I. Gottancz, F.B.A. Two Lectures on ‘‘ HAMi.ET IN LEGEND 
anp Drama." On Thursdays, February 19, 26, at Three o'clock. 

Professor C. T. Jenkin, M.Inst.C.E. Three Lectures on ‘‘ HEAT AND 
Coup.” On Thursdays, March 5, 12, 19, at Three o'clock. 

Cates Wiiiiams SALEEBY, Esq., M.D. Two Lectures on ‘‘ THE Pro- 
GRESS OF EUGENICS.” 

Professor FREDERICK CorvEeR. ‘Three Lectures on 
Musicat Composers” (with Musical Illustrations). 
January 24, 31, February 7, at Three o'clock. 

Joxun ALLEN Harker, Esq., F.R.S.—Two Lectures on ** THE ELECTRIC 
Emissivity oF Matrer” (with Experimental Illustrations). On Satur- 
days, February 14, 21, at Three o'clock. 

Professor Sir J. J. Tomson, O.M., F.R.§. Six Lectures on ‘‘ RECENT 
Discoveries In Puysicat Science" On Saturdays, February 28, March 
7, 4, 21, 28, April 4, at Three o'clock. 


““ NEGLECTED 
On Saturdays, 


Subscription (to Non-Members) to all Courses of Lectures, Two Guineas. 
Subscription to a Single Course of Lectures, One Guinea, or Half-a-Guinea. 
Tickets issued daily at the Office of the Institution, or sent by post on 
receipt of Cheque or Post-Office Order. 

The Fripay EveninGc Mgetincs will begin on January 23, at 9 p.m., 
when Professor Sit James Dewar will give a Discourse on THE CoMING 
or AGE oF THE “ VacuuM FLask.’’ Succeeding Discourses will probably 
be given by Mr. H. Wickuam STEED, Dr. H. S. HELE-SHAw, Professor 
J. Norman Co tie, Professor ARTHUR KEITH, Professor W. A. Bong, 
The Rev. Canon J. O. Hannay, (‘' GEorGE BIRMINGHAM"), Sir WALTER 
R. LAwrENceE, Bart., The Right Hon. Lord RAyYLEicH, O.M., Professor 
J. A. FLEMING, Professor Sir J. J. THomson, O,M., and other gentlemen, 

Members are entitled to attend: 

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Persons desirous of becoming Members can obtain a Prospectus and 
further information at the Office of the Institution, 21 Albemarle Street, W. 


ES 


COLLEGE, = 


OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 


SOUTH KENSINGTON, LONDON, S.W. 


The following Special Courses of Advanced Lectures will be given, 
commencing in January next :— 
Sudbject— Conducted by— 

The Pathology of Plants { rue KR M.A., Sc.D., 
Cytology - \ Prof. H. Maxwett Lerroy, M.A., 
Advanced Entomology/ F.L.S. 


For further particulars of these and other Courses to follow application 
should be made to the REGISTRAR. 


On Thursdays, March 26, April 2, at Three o'clock, - 


THE SIR JOHN CASS TECHNICAL INSTITUTE, 


Jewry Street, Aldgate, E.C. 


The following Special Courses of Instrnction in 
FUEL AND POWER. 
will be given during the Tent a d summer Terms, rorg :— 
ELECTRICAL SUPPLY AND CONTROL, 
By Dovuctas Betts, A.M.I.E.E. 
A Course of 5 Lectures, Monday evenings, 7 to 8 p.m., commencing 
Monday, January 12, 1914. 
THE TRANSMISSION OF POWER. 
By H. B. Ransom, M_Inst.C,E., M.Inst.Mech.E. 
A Course of 5 Lectures, Monday evenings, 7 to 8 p.m., commencing 
Monday, February 16, 1914. 
FUEL ANALYSIS. 
By J. S.S. Brame. 
A Course of Laboratory Work, Wednesday evenings, 7 to 10 p.m., 
commencing Wednesday, lanuary 14, 1974. 
TECHNICAL GAS ANALYSIS. 
By Cuarves A. Keane, D.Se., Ph.D., F.1.C. 
A Course of Laboratory Work, Wednesday evenings, 7 to 10 p.m., 
commencing Wednesday, April 22, 1914. 


Detailed Syllabus of the Courses may be had upon application at the 
Office of the Institute, or by letter to the Principat. 


THE SIR JOHN CASS TECHNICAL INSTITUTE, 
Jewry Street, Aldgate, E.C. 
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS. 

The following Special Courses of Instruction will be given during the 
Tent Term, 1914 :— 

THE CONSTRUCTION AND USES OF PHYSICAL INSTRUMENTS 
IN THEIR APPLICATION TO PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. 
By F. J. HARLOW, B.Sc., A.R.C.S. 
_ A Course of 10 Lectures with associated laboratory work, Friday even- 
ings, 7 to 10 p.m., commencing Friday, January 16, 1914. 

This Course is arranged especially for these who desire to become ac- 
quainted with the construction and uses of the instruments employed in 
the study and applications of Physical Chemistry. Full opportunity will 
be provided in the laboratory for practice in the use of the instruments 
dealt with in the lectures. 

CONDUCTION IN GASES AND RADIO-ACTIVITY. 
By R. S. Wittows, M.A., D.Sc. 
_ A Course of 10 Lectures, fully illustrated by experiments, Friday even- 
ings, 7 to 8 p.m., commencing Friday, January 16, 1914. 

This Course is intended for those who have a good general knowledge of 
Physics and who desire to become acquainted with the modern develop- 
ments of this important branch of the subject. 

Detailed Syllabus of the Courses may be had upon application at the 
Office of the Institute, or by letter to th= PrincipaL. 


INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF 
AGRICULTURE. 


The International Institute of Agriculture invites applications for a 
additional post on the English Scientific Staff of the Bureau of Agricul- 
tural Intelligence and Plant Diseases. Salary L.190 (4 800 lire) per annum 
payable monthly. Second Class Fare. Vacation 40 days. Candidates 
must have taken a good Agricultural degree and possess a thorough know- 
ledge of French. 

Selected candidate to enter on his duties on January 1, 1914, or as Soon 
as possible after that date. 

Applications, accompanied by copies of testimonials, should be sent to 
ae Secretary GENERAL of the International Institute of Agriculture, 

ome, 


THE SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOL OF MINES 
AND TECHNOLOGY, JOHANNESBURG. 


WANTED, an ASSISTANT LECTURER FOR _PHYSICS 
DEPARTMENT. Commencing salary, £300 per annum. Engagement 
one year certain ; thereafter three months’ notice either side. Commence 
duties Johannesburg early March. Allowance for travelling expenses, 
437 10s. Half Salary during voyage out. Mostly day work, but some 
evening class work. Applications and testimonials, which should be sent 
in duplicate where possible, will be received until 24th December by 
Cuatmers, Guturie & Co, Ltd., 9, Idol Lane, London, E.C. Health 
certificate will be essential if application is entertained. 


COUNTY BOROUGH OF SALFORD. 


MUNICIPAL SECONDARY SCHOOL FOR BOYS. 


APPLICATIONS INVITED for the APPOINTMENT of HEAD- 
MASTER of this School. Commencing salary £350 per annum. Candidates 
must be graduates of a British University. Further particulars and form 
of application may be obtained from the undersigned. Applications must 
be received not later than the first post on the 15th instant. 


OGILVIE DUTHIE, Director of Education. 
Education Office, Salford, 
December 1, 1913. 


CAPABLE EXPERIMENTER RE- 


QUIRED for the Research Laboratory of the scientific instrument 
making factory of Adam Hilger, Ltd. The applicant should have a 
general knowledge of physics and fairly wide experience in research, 
which experience should include some branch of radiation problems. 
In addition to the above qualifications he should have a familiar 
acquaintance with the usual laboratory and workshop arts, such as 
simple glass blowing, &c.—Apply by letter to 75a Camden Road, N.W. 


NALTURE 


1913. 


THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 


THE NEW PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. 
Physikalische Chemie der homogenen und hetero- 
genen Gasreaktionen. By Dr, Karl Jellinek. 

Pp. xiv+844.. (Leipzig: S. Hirzel, 1913.) 

Price 30 marks. 

HIS stout volume witnesses in a remarkable 
manner to certain recent developments in 
physical chemistry—developments which bid fair 
to mark the opening of a period of fundamental 
and fruitful research, comparable in importance 
only with the years following the enunciation of 
the laws of solution and of electrolytic dissocia- 
tion. We refer, of course, to the third principle 
of thermodynamics due to Nernst, and to the 
theory of energy quanta, first deduced by Planck 
as an integral part of his radiation theory, and 
then later applied with great success by Einstein, 
Nernst, and Lindemann to the development of a 
theory of specific heats. The Nernst principle and 
the Planck theory are closely connected by the 
Boltzmann conception of entropy as a statistical 
and probability magnitude, and the changes which 
their introduction has already brought about in 
physical chemistry can be well appreciated by 
comparing Haber’s “Thermodynamik technischer 
Gasreaktionen” (published in 1905) with the 
present. book, which has been essentially written 
from the point of view of these new theories. The 
possibility of the prediction of the course and 
extent of a chemical reaction from purely thermal 
data, combined with a knowledge of certain 
physical constants, is now well within reach. 

Dr. Jellinek has not himself been directly con- 
cerned in any of the advances with which he chiefly 
deals. He is, however, favourably known both 
as a former pupil of Nernst’s, and as the author 
of some recently published elaborate and excellent 
physico-chemical investigations on hyposulphites. 
And although this volume contains no original 
work, it nevertheless deserves much praise as a 
very good exposition of the subject with which 
it deals. 

We have, at the outset, a discussion of the first 
and second laws of thermodynamics. Gaseous 
equilibria are then carefully treated, using rever- 
sible cycles, as well as entropy and the thermo- 
dynamic potential functions. The Nernst theorem 
is introduced in connection with the indeterminate 
constants occurring in the integrated form of the 
reaction isochore equation, and also, again, in 
connection with the entropy conception. A con- 
sideration of entropy and the second law from the 
statistical point of view follows. Then comes a 
detailed treatment of the theory of radiation, cul- 

NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


419 


minating in a discussion of Planck’s formula, and 
of the properties of his oscillators and resonators. 

The next very interesting section contains much 
material previously unavailable in book form. It 
expounds a theory of specific heats founded on the 
assumption that molecules can be regarded as 
oscillating systems of definite frequencies, similar 
in properties to Planck’s oscillators, and that their 
energy content can only change by means of 
definite energy quanta or units. The methods 
(compressibility, melting point, abnormal dis- 
persion, selective emission, absorption and reflec- 
tion, photo-electric effect) by which these frequen- 
cies can be determined are reviewed, and the ex- 
cellent agreement between specific heats calculated 
on this basis and the experimental values shown. 
Other applications of the theory of quanta are 
considered (e.g., that by Haber to the heat effect 
of a chemical reaction), and the section closes with 
an excellent discussion—in a sense the keystone 
of the whole book—of the close connection be- 
tween the Nernst theorem and the theory of 
quanta. The name of Sackur is here prominent. 

The author then deals with the experimental 
side of the foregoing subjects. The technique of 
radiation measurements (more particularly in the 
infra-red region) is described, and we are given 
reviews of the methods used for specific heat deter- 
minations (several of them, e.g., the beautiful 
explosion method of Pier, developed in Nernst’s 
laboratory) and for the investigation of gaseous 
equilibria. The section dealing with the kinetics 
of the subject is short, and, with the exception 
of the reaction-velocity theories of Kriiger and of 
Trautz, contains little new. Finally come two 
brief but interesting sections dealing with the 
electrochemistry and photochemistry of gas reac- 


tions, in which the views and researches of 
Kriiger, Haber, Warburg, Einstein, and others 
find a place. 


The book is written with great enthusiasm, and 
the author is obviously well acquainted with the 
literature of his subject. Everything is admirably 
knit together and co-ordinated, and the latest 
publications are noted and given their place in the 
general scheme. The only criticism we feel in- 
clined to make concerns, not the manner in which 
the author has done his work, but the advisability 
of doing it at all in the form he has chosen. His 
\oiume contains material for at least four or five 
books. Two of these have already been written 
by Planck and one by Haber, whilst his most 
interesting chapters deal with a subject at present 
in a state of very rapid development—a subject, 
moreover, on which we may perhaps shortly 
expect an authoritative pronouncement from 
Nernst himself. The author has further, from 

Q 


5 


420 


want of space, been sometimes compelled to omit 
or skim over certain points in a very arbitrary 
fashion, at the same time using material which 
plainly interests him, but is less germane to 
the matter in hand. This is distinctly a fault 
in so all-comprehensive a book, and indicates that 
a more modest programme would have been 
better. There is no doubt, however, that he has 
essentially succeeded in giving unity to the sub- 
jects treated, and his volume, with the above quali- 
fications, is strongly to be recommended. As to 
the wisdom of the choice of his particular point of 
view, there can be little doubt. Haber has been 
credited with the remark that the basis of physical 
chemistry in the future will be one part thermo- 
dynamics and three parts theories of radiation and 
quanta. And when one considers the manifold 
ways in which these theories have already been 
applied—to specific heats, photo-electric effect, 
Roéntgen rays, y-rays, radioactive changes, the 
emission of free electrons during chemical changes, 
thermoelectromotive force, electrical resistance, 
&c.—one will not feel inclined to dispute his pro- 
phecy. The growing importance of atomic and 
molecular mechanics in comparison with classical 
thermodynamics is undoubtedly the outstanding 
feature of physical chemistry at the present 
moment. 


VETERINARY PHYSIOLOGY. 
A Manual of Veterinary Physiology, Fourth edi- 
tion. By Major-General F. Smith, C.B., C.M.G. 


Pp. xii+808; 259 illustrations. (London: 
Bailliere, Tindall and Cox, 1912.) Price 18s. 
net. 


S pointed out by the author, this work is 
essentially a veterinary, and not a compara- 
tive, physiology, and an endeavour has been made 
to render it of service, not only to the student of 
theoretical veterinary physiology, but also to the 
clinician. Throughout the book the author has 
taken every opportunity of pointing out the clinical 
application of various physiological facts, and 
further indicating how various pathological con- 
ditions are purely derangements of physiological 
conditions. 

The work as a whole is excellent, and this 
edition must rank as the standard text-book on 
the subject in English. If any sections of the 
book stand out from the others, they are probably 
those on “locomotion” and on “the foot.” The 
chapter on the former is really a masterly exposi- 
tion of the subject; all paces are carefully con- 
sidered, and the text is made very easy to follow 
by means of several series of excellent notations. 
There is also a very interesting discussion on the 

NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER II, 1913 


influence of age on the capacity for work, and 


attention is directed to the apparent considerable 
difference between man and #the horse in this 
respect. 

There are some features, however, which call 
for criticism. On referring to the paragraph on 
blood platelets, the author says: “It is probable 
they are distinct elements.’’ Other authorities, 
however, do not agree with this view, Buck- 
master and others going so far as to state that 
there are no blood platelets in circulating blood. 
The question is dismissed too shortly in one small 
paragraph. On p. 152 the author refers to 
“broken-wind ’’ in horses, and after admitting 
that the condition is one in which the lungs lose 
their power of elastic recoil, he states that ‘* one 
of the fundamental errors in veterinary pathology 
is to attribute this condition to emphysema or 
asthma.’’ Here we join issue with the author, 
and while agreeing that the condition is not 
asthma, would point out to him that a suitably 
prepared section of the lung of a broken-winded 
horse shows quite clearly that the loss of elastic 
recoil in a chronic case is due to the rupture of the 
vesicular walls, and is, in fact, ‘chronic vesicular — 
emphysema.” 

A list of corrigenda has been inserted at the 
front of the book, but one mis-spelt word has been 
overlooked on p. 192, ‘‘ attendihg ’’ appearing for 
““attending.’’ There is also an exhaustive index 
and a list of authorities quoted in the text, The 
printing and binding and general make-up of the 
book are in Messrs. Bailliére’s usual good style. — 


POPULAR ASTRONOMY. 


Astronomy. By G. F. Chambers. Pp. xxiv+ 
335+cxxxv plates. (London: Hutchinson and 
Co., n.d.) Price 5s. net. 

Daytime and Evening Exercises in Astronomy. 
For Schools and Colleges. By Dr. Sarah F. 
Whiting. Pp. xv+104. (Boston and London: 
Ginn and Co., n.d.) Price 3s. 6d. 

The Ways of the Planets. By M. E. Martin. 
Pp. v+273+Vvi plates. (New York and London : 
Harper and Brothers, 1912.) Price 5s. net. 

(1) J N this volume Mr. Chambers has aimed at 

giving the man of ordinary education— 
too often, alas, deficient of any precise ideas re- 
garding the fundamental truths of the oldest of 
the sciences—a clear and simple insight into the | 
astronomy of to-day; and he has accomplished his — 
part of the task with characteristic success. 

Abstruse problems are not sprung upon the young 

astronomer, nor are they obviously evaded, but 

at all times is he encouraged to observe phenomena 
for himself, and thereby to grasp more thoroughly 


DECEMBER II, 1913] 


NATURE 


421 


the lucid explanations. Sun, moon, and planets; 
tides, time, and eclipses; meteors and comets, 
and then the constellations, stars, and nebule, 
with their spectroscopic characteristics, are all 
dealt with in turn. Nor is the practically-minded 
neophyte neglected, for he will find some useful 
hints as to how to obtain and house his instru- 
ment, with some idea of the probable cost, based 
on actual accomplishments. The beginner should 
find little to confuse, and much that will enlighten 
him, although in the very brief survey of astro- 
spectroscopy he may wonder what such terms as 
“minimum-deviation ”’ (p. 303) mean, and it is to 


be hoped that he will proceed to make further in- | 


quiries into this most fascinating branch of the 
subject. The book is very well and profusely 
illustrated, some of the plates being in colour, and 
can be recommended as an excellent work for the 
serious beginner. In the copy under review the 
transposition of the top line on p. 24 to the top 
of p. 25 makes the text much simpler. 

(2) While Mr. Chambers aims at curing ignor- 
ance, Dr. Whiting seeks to prevent it, and to this 
end has compiled a set of educative, practical 
exercises in astronomy. The general aim of the 
author has been to formulate a set of exercises, 
e.g., the use of globes, plate-measuring, spectrum 
observing and plotting, the plotting of epheme- 
rides, sunspot numbers, &c., such as could be 
performed in day-classes independently of local 
weather conditions. In the hands of an enthu- 
siastic and imaginative teacher we can conceive 
that the book would be extremely useful, but we 
fear that in the hands of the ordinary student 
the exercises might easily tend to become more 
automatic than is desirable. Such an aim neces- 
sarily restricts the scope of the work it is possible 
to do, but in places, for example, in the exercise 
on spectroscopic work, we feel that the author 
has missed many opportunities where actual 
manipulation on the part of the student would add 
exceedingly to the interest and the educative in- 
fluence of the work. Our experience with students 
is that the reduction of a spectrum taken by them- 
selves is likely to awake far wider interests than 
is the copying, even in colour, of a chart from 
some text-book. The mere statement of “prin- 
ciples ” relating to such matters as velocity- and 
pressure-shifts, and the action of a magnetic field 
on radiations, savours of “cram,” and should, 
we think, find no place in such a book. 

(3) This is a charming book, telling the novice 
all that it is necessary for him to know, first about 
the planets in general and then in particular, and 
telling him in such language that he should never 
have to pause for a single definition or explanation 
that is not in the text. For each planet the 

NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


family features are compared or contrasted, the 
physical condition explained, with the points 
where definite explanation is not yet forthcoming 
set out in clear and moderate language, and the 
ephemeris for a number of the coming years is 
very carefully interpreted; thus we find that on 
August 5, 1914, Mercury will be at western 
elongation, and “favourable for viewing,” while 
we shall have “splendidly brilliant oppositions ” 
of Mars in July, 1939, and early October, 1941, 
respectively. The author makes one feel at 
home with the planets by giving a very full intro- 
duction to every member of the solar family. and 
where figures are necessary, she robs them of all 
their awe by her familiar and easily-employed 
standards, leaving the reader of ordinary intel- 
ligence with a very fair idea of their significance. 
There is some repetition of facts in the book, but 
the forms in which they are stated are ever new 
and always interesting. Such a book, for its 
fund of information, its ease of. comprehension, 
and its delightful style, should be found in every 
school library and (astronomically) youthful circle. 
WituraM E. Rorston. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


Flies in Relation to Disease. Non-Bloodsucking 
Flies. By Dr. G. S. Graham-Smith. Pp. xiv+ 
292+xxiv plates. (Cambridge: University 
Press, 1913.) Price 1os. 6d. net. 

Tus is just the book for students who either are, 
or are to be, occupied with questions of public 
health; it is careful, well-digested, precise, and 
clear. Dr. Graham-Smith has practical know- 
ledge of the things that he writes about, having 
already published numerous experiments on the 
transmission of bacteria by flies. His book is 
freely illustrated by excellent plates and text- 
figures by Mr. Edwin Wilson. 

The evidence which convicts the common house- 
fly of causing heavy mortality in military camps 
seems to be complete; the same insect is also 
strongly suspected of being a chief agent in 
spreading typhoid, summer-diarrhcea, and other 
infectious diseases of cities. Visible proofs are 
here given that house-flies deposit vomit or faces 
wherever they settle, and this of itself shows how 
dangerous they may be when any disease pro- 
pagated by microbes is prevalent. It is to be 
hoped that the disgust which chapter vii., on the 
habits of flies, is sure to excite may rouse our 
sanitary authorities to root-out the breeding-places 
of the “busy, curious, thirsty fly,” which is at 
present treated with far too much: indulgence. Dr. 
Graham-Smith’s facts, handled by a newspaper 
writer not unversed in biological studies, might 
furnish telling articles, such as rendered good ser- 
vice in the campaign against malarial insect- 
infection, and in America (not as yet in England) 
against bacterial insect-infection as well. We 


422 


hope to see them deeply impressed on the public 
mind. 

The instructive descriptions before us are accom- 
panied by excellent figures; nevertheless we have 
a suggestion to make about the determination of 
the house-flies. Dr. Graham-Smith has eighteen 
species of house-frequenting Diptera to deal with 
(p. 15). Most of them present no serious diff- 
culty, but students unpractised in entomology will 
find a few hard to distinguish. Would it not be 
well to lighten their labours by a discrimination- 
table, which would concentrate attention upon the 
decisive characters? A single character (e.g. the 
tubercle on the middle tibia of Fannia scalaris), is 
sometimes a certain mark of the species. Or the 
really decisive characters might be italicised. The 
student should afterwards compare his fly with 
the description in every point; identification is 
not the only purpose of descriptions. 

Non-piercing strikes us as a neater phrase than 
non-bloodsucking. 


The Ideals and Organisation of a Medical Society. 
By Dr, J. B. Hurry. “Pp. 51. (Mondon: J, 
and A. Churchill, 1913.) Price 2s. net. 

THE name of Reading, at the present moment, 

is mostly associated with political excitement; 

but Reading has many interests, and, among 
them, it is the home of one of the best of all the 
provincial medical societies. Dr. Hurry has done 
well to write an account of the work, purposes, 
and constitution of a medical society. He is a 
good friend to Reading; he loves its history, its 
old buildings; he has made many gifts to the 
town; he has been, for years, its chief chronicler; 
and the Reading Pathological Society is an 
example of all that a medical society ought to be. 
Indeed, a good medical society is a very great 
help to a town. It raises the level of things; it 
promotes the spirit of science; it ensures the 
efficiency of the town’s hospital; it is a bond of 
union among’ practitioners; it adds dignity, dis- 
tinction, and modernity to their art, and friend- 
ship and ambition. The interchange of know- 
ledge, the comparison of experiences, the criti- 
cism, the honourable competition, all tend to 
achievement. Of course, there are difficulties; 
the hard-worked doctor cannot easily find time 
to attend meetings or to prepare papers. Waste 
of time, repetition, overlapping of subjects, are 
to be avoided, but are not always easy of avoid- 
ance. But a good medical society, such as the 

Reading Pathological Society, is an excellent help 

to men in practice, and to the town in which they 

practise. 


A Day in the Moon. By the Abbé Th. Moreux. 
Pp. vili+199. (London: Hutchinson and Co., 


1913.) Price 3s. 6d. net. 


Ix these pages the Abbé Moreux chats on the 
moon and all that is related to it, and the reader 
will find not only that the matter is displayed in 
a very readable form, but that he will have learnt 
numerous facts, and have had a very instructive 
lesson, by the time he has finished the volume. A 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER II, I913 


day in the moon refers actually to a lunar day, and 

the reader is transported to the moon and treated — 
as if he were an inhabitant of that body. The 
author in this way introduces him to the mountain 
ranges and craters, and other conspicuous high | 
and low lands which are brought into view as the 
solar rays illuminate them. Here and there are 

brought in incidentally interesting side issues, 
such as the probable use of lenses before ever 
Galileo or the inventor, a certain Dutchman, came 
to re-invent and use them. Bringing the reader 
back to earth again, he introduces him to such 

themes as the tides, possible weather changes due 
to the moon, action of the moon on vegetation and 
organic life, and on men and animals, and finally 

concludes with a list of objects shown on a map of 
the moon, those to be studied on each day of a 
lunation, and the lunar elements. Numerous illus- 
trations from photographs and the author’s draw- 
ings accompany the text. The translator has done 
his work well, and has, in the form of footnotes, 

made many statements more clear to British 
readers, such as when references were made to the 
metric system of measurements, and to distances 
between French towns. 


Recent Physical Research. An Account of some 
Recent Contributions to Experimental Physics. 
By D. Owen. Pp. iii+156. (London: The 
Electrician Printing and Publishing Co., Ltd., 
Meds), Price 35. 6d, snet- 

A PUBLICATION dealing with some of the most 
important recent developments of physics is sure 
to be of use if written with sufficient knowledge 
and a pleasing style. This book has both those 
advantages. The subjects include positive rays 
(with Thomson’s new method of chemical 
analysis), the magnetic work of Curie, Weiss, 
and Heusler, new theories of the aurora (Stérmer 
and Birkeland), Brownian movements (Einstein 
and Perrin), the pressure of light, the narrowing 
gap between the longest heat-waves and the 
shortest electromagnetic waves (Rubens, Lebedef), 
and the application of the electron theory to 
metallic conduction. The blocks are particularly 
good. One could wish for rather fuller refer- 
ences, and for a fuller treatment of the modern 
radiation problem (on p. 106 Planck’s and Wien’s 
formule are presented without directing attention 
to the importance of the “action constant”). But 
in view of the limited space at the author’s dis- 
posal, a large amount of new information is 
attractively displayed. : 


Lip-reading: Principles and Practice. A Hand- 
book for Teachers and for Self-instruction. By 
Edward B. Nitchie. Pp. xiv+324. (London: 
Methuen and Co., Ltd., n.d.) Price 5s. net. 

Tue hard-of-hearing will be able to study lip- 

reading from this book without the aid of a 

teacher, if such a course is found necessary. The 

book is arranged also for use, under a teacher’s 
guidance, by the semi-mute and the congenitally 
deaf who have acquired speech and language. 

The first part of the book is explanatory and direc- 

tive, and the second gives exercises for practice. 


——; — = °&«xOF ss. 


DECEMBER II, 1913] 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


{The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


The Structure of the Atom. 


In a letter to this journal last week, Mr. Soddy has 
discussed the bearing of my theory of the nucleus 
atom on radio-active phenomena, and seems to be 
under the impression that I hold the view that the 
nucleus must consist entirely of positive electricity. 
As a matter of fact, I have not discussed in any 
detail the question of the constitution of the nucleus 
beyond the statement that it must have a resultant 
positive charge. There appears to me no doubt that 
the a particle does arise from the nucleus, and I have 
thought for some time that the evidence points to the 
conclusion that the 8 particle has asimilarorigin. This 
point has been discussed in some detail in a recent paper 
by Bohr (Phil. Mag., September, 1913). The strongest 
evidence in support of this view is, to my mind, (1) 
that the 8 ray, like the « ray, transformations are 
independent of physical and chemical conditions, and 
(2) that the energy emitted in the form of 6 and 
y rays by the transformation of an atom of radium 
C is much greater than could be expected to be 
stored up in the external electronic system. At the 
same time, I think it very likely that a considerable 
fraction of the 6 rays which are expelled from radio- 
active substances arise from the external electrons. 
This, however, is probably a secondary effect result- 
ing from the primary expulsion of a 6 particle from 
the nucleus. 3 

The original suggestion of van der Broek that 
the charge on the nucleus is equal to the atomic 
number and not to half the atomic weight seems to 
me very promising. This idea has already been used 
by Bohr in his theory of the constitution of atoms. 
The strongest and most convincing evidence in sup- 
port of this hypothesis will be found in a paper by 
Moseley in The Philosophical Magazine of this 
month. He there shows that the frequency of the 
X radiations from a number of elements can be 
simply explained if the number of unit charges on 
the nucleus is equal to the atomic number. It would 
appear that the charge on the nucleus is the funda- 
mental constant which determines the physical and 
chemical properties of the atom, while the atomic 
weight, although it approximately follows the order 
of the nucleus charge, is probably a complicated 
function of the latter depending on the detailed 
structure of the nucleus. E. RutHERFORD. 

Manchester, December 6, 1913. 


The Reflection of X-Rays. 


In view of the great interest of Prof. Bragg’s and 
Messrs. Moseley and Darwin’s researches on the dis- 
tribution of the intensity of the primary radiation from 
X-ray tubes, it may be of interest to describe an 
alternate method which I have found very convenient 
(Comptes rendus, November 17, 1913). 

As we know, the wave-length of the reflected ray 
is defined by the equation nA=2dsin 6, where n is a 
whole number, d the distance of two parallel planes, 
and @ the glancing angle. If one mounts a crystal 
with one face in the axis of an instrument that turns 
slowly and regularly, such as, for instance, a register- 
ing barometer, the angle changes gradually and con- 
tinuously. 


NO, 2302, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


423 


| If, therefore, one lets a pencil of X-rays, emerging 
from a slit, be reflected from this face on to a photo- 
graphic plate, one finds the true spectrum of the 
X-rays on the plate, supposing intensity of the primary 
beam to have remained constant. (This can be tested 
by. moving another plate slowly before the primary 
beam during the exposure.) 

| The spectra thus obtained are exactly analogous to 
| those obtained with a diffraction grating, and remind 
one strongly of the usual visual spectra containing 
continuous parts, bands, and lines. 

So far I have only identified the doublet, 11° 17’ and 
11° 38', described by Messrs. Moseley and Darwin. 
The spectra contain also a number of bright lines 
about two octaves shorter than these, and the continuous 
spectrum is contained within about the same limits. 
These numbers may be used in the interpretations of 
diffraction Roéntgen patterns, as they were obtained 
with tubes of the same hardness as those used for 
producing these latter. 

The arrangement described above enables us to dis- 
tinguish easily the spectra of different orders, as the 
interposition of an absorbing layer cuts out the soft 
rays, but does not weaken appreciably the hard rays 
of the second and higher orders. 
| It is convenient also for absorption experiments; 
thus a piece of platinum foil of o-2 mm. thickness 
showed transparent bands. The exact measurements 
will be published shortly, as well as the result of 
some experiments I am engaged upon at present upon 
the effect of changing the temperature of the crystal. 

Maurice DE BRoGLir. 

29, Rue Chateaubriand, Paris, December 1. 


As W. L. Bragg first showed, when a beam of soft 
X-rays is incident on a cleavage plane of mica, a 
well-defined proportion of the beam suffers a reflection 
strictly in accordance with optical laws. In addition 
to this generally reflected beam, Bragg has shown 
that for certain angles of incidence, there occurs a 
kind of selective reflection due to reinforcement be- 
tween beams incident at these angles on successive 
parallel layers of atoms. 

Experiments I am completing seem to show that a 
generally reflected beam of rays on incidence at a 
second crystal surface again suffers optical reflection ; 
but the degree of reflection is dependent on the 
orientation of this second reflector relative to the first. 

The method is a photographic one. The second 
reflector is mounted on a suitably adapted goniometer, 
and the photographic plate is mounted immediately 
behind the crystal. The beam is a pencil 1-5 mm. 
in diameter. When the two reflectors are parallel 
the impression on the plate, due to the two reflections, 
is clear. But as the second reflector is rotated about 
an axis given by the reflected beam from the first and 
fixed reflector, the optically reflected radiation from the 
second reflector—other conditions remaining constant— 
diminishes very appreciably. As the angle between 
the reflectors is increased from 0° to go°, the impres- 
sion recorded on the photographic plate diminishes in 
intensity. For an angle of 20° it is still clear; for 
angles in the neighbourhood of 50° it is not always 
detectable; and for an angle of 90° it is very rarely 
detectable in the first stages of developing, and is 
then so faint that it never appears on the finished 
print. 

These results, then, would show that the generally 
reflected beam of X-rays is appreciably polarised in a 
way exactly analogous to that of ordinary light. 
Owing to the rapidity with which the intensity of 
the generally reflected beam falls off with the angle 
of incidence of the primary beam, it has not. been 
| possible to work with any definiteness with angles of 


424 


incidence greater than about 78°, and this is unfor- 
tunately a considerably larger angle than the probable 
polarising angle. Experiments with incidence in the 
neighbourhood of 45° should prove peculiarly decisive, 
for whereas ordinary light cannot as a rule be com- 
pletely polarised by reflection, the reflection of X-rays, 
which occurs at planes of atoms, is independent of 
any contamination of the exposed crystal surface, and 
polarisation, once established, should prove complete 
for radiation reflected at the polarising angle. The 
selectively reflected X-rays seem to show the same 
effects as does the generally reflected beam. Selec- 
tively reflected radiation is always detectable after 
the second reflection, but this seems due to the selec- 
tively reflected radiation produced at the second 
reflector by the unpolarised portion of the beam gener- 
ally reflected at the first reflector. 

The application of a theory of polarisation to 
explain the above results is interestingly supported 
by the fact that in the case of two reflections by 
parallel reflectors, the proportion of X-rays reflected 
at the second reflector is invariably greater than the 
proportion of rays reflected at the first; that is, the 
ratio of reflected radiation to incident radiation at the 
second reflector is always greater than the same ratio 
at the first reflector. This might be expected if vibra- 
tions perpendicular to the plane of incidence are to be 
reflected to a greater extent than those in the plane 
of incidence. The proportion of such vibrations is 
larger in the beam incident on the second reflector 
than in the original beam, and a greater proportion 
of radiation would be reflected at the second reflector 
than could be at the first. For the case of parallel 
reflectors and incidence of a primary beam on the 
first at the polarising angle, the reflection at the 
second should be complete. E, Jacor. 

South African College, Cape Town, 

November 14. i 


Residual lonisation in Gases. 


From observations made by Simpson and Wright, 
the writer, and others, it is now known that the 
ionisation in air confined in airtight clean zinc vessels 
is about 8 or g ions per c.c. per second when the 
observations are made on land where the soil contains 
only such minute traces of radio-active substances as 
are found in ordinary clays or loams. 

On the other hand, when the observations are 
made on the ocean or on the surface of large bodies 
of water, such as Lake Ontario, the ionisation in the 
same air confined in the manner indicated above drops 
to about 4 ions per c.c. per second. This reduction 
in the number of ions per c.c. per second has been 
shown to be due to the absorption of the earth’s 
penetrating radiation by the water of the ocean and 
by that of the lakes. 

On a recent voyage from England to Canada, I 
thought it would be interesting to see what the drop 
in the ionisation would be when the air in a zine 
vessel was replaced by hydrogen. The observations 
were made on the ss. Megantic, a vessel of about 
14,000 tons burden. On this boat the ionisation in 
air confined in a Wulf electrometer made of zinc was 
found to be 4-65 ions per c.c. per second, while in 
hydrogen it was 1-8 ions per c.c. per second. On 
reaching Toronto the experiment was repeated in a 
building which was free from any radio-active im- 
purity, and in this case the ionisation in air was found 
to be 88 ions per c.c. per second, while in hydrogen 
it was 2-0 ions per c.c. per second. 

The ionisation of the air on land was _ there- 
fore 4-15 ions per c.c. per second more than it was 
upon the steamship, while the ionisation in hydrogen 
on the land was only o-2 ion per c.c. per second 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER II, 1913 ~ 
more than on the sea. From this it follows that the 
ionisation produced in air by the penetrating radia- 
tion at the surface of the earth at Toronto was about. ay 
twenty times as much as that prOduced by the same — 
radiation in hydrogen. a, 

Since the residual ionisation in hydrogen on_ the 
ocean was nearly 40 per cent. of that in air, it 
evident that the residual ionisation in these two gasi 


could not have been due to a radiation of the type 1 


origin in a disruption of the molecules occurring either 

spontaneously or through the agency of collisions. 

J. C. McLennan. 

The Physical Laboratory, University of Toronto, 
November 13. 


The Nile Flood of 1913. 

For some years past the Meteorological Office of 
the Egyptian Survey Department, under the direction 
of Mr. J. I. Craig, has carried out researches on the 
question of the possibility of forecasting the Nile flood, 
and he has put forward the theory that the rain which 
falls in Abyssinia comes from the South Atlantic (see 
“England, Abyssinia, the South Atlantic: a Meteoro- 
logical Triangle,’ Quarterly Journal Royal Meteoro- — 
logical Society, October). a 

There is much evidence to support this, and cor- 
relations have been established between the flood, 
and pressure and wind velocity at St. Helena, and 
pressure in South America. So far the best pre- 
diction which can be based on these correlations is for 
the mean height of the Nile at Halfa, between July 16 — 
and August 15, that is, in normal years for the middle 
of the rising stage. The probable error of a pre- 
diction based on this is +033 metre, whereas a 
prediction which assumes that the river will be normal 
in any given year would have a probable error of 
+055 metre. This result is sufficiently encouraging 
to make further work promising, and the writer is 
pursuing the investigation. 

The flood of this year has been the lowest of which 
there is authentic and complete record. Records of — 
the maximum and minimum of the flood as recorded 
on the Roda Nilometer (Cairo) go back to very early 
times, but naturally the early ones are less trustworthy 
than those of more recent date. The following figures, 
taken from ‘‘ Egyptian Irrigation,’ by Sir William 
Willcocks and Mr. J. I. Craig, give the lowest 
recorded floods in recent times :— 


Lowest maximum No. of years 
Period recorded on Roda of period 
Ni lometer recorded 
Metres 

1701-1725 17-35 18 
1726-1750 18:58 24 
1751-1775 18:08 25 
1776-1800 15:49 (1 
1801-1825 13°14 (2 ‘oes 
1826-1850 18-15 25 
1851-1875 18-30 25 
1876-1900 a8 17-65 462 25 
IQOI-I913 ; 17-17 (1913) -.- 13 


(2) Is almost certainly an error of to pics. (the 
divisions on the gauge), and it seems very probable 
that (1) is also an error, as at the present day in the 
low stage the river is artificially kept at a level of 
about 15 metres by the Delta Barrage and the Aswan 
Dam, and the average level in the low stage before 
the Barrage became effective was about 13 metres. 

During the last twenty-four years calculations of 
the discharge at Halfa heve been made, and as the 


~ 


” 


DECEMBER II, 1913] 


NATURE 425 


result of these it appears in the period July to October, 
which is usually taken as the flood period, the dis- 
charge of 1913 is between 50 and 60 per cent: below 
the average. In early times the effect of such a 
flood would have been disastrous, but the recent rais- 
ing of the Aswan Dam, the reservoir being filled to 
its full capacity for the first time this year, and the 
construction or strengthening of the four barrages 
on the Nile, have removed the possibility of extensive 
loss and enabled the deficiency, due to the late arrival 
of the flood, to be tided over. 

There is no need to point out the importance to 
Egypt of a knowledge of the causes of the Nile flood, 
and of the value of a prediction which could be given 
with fair accuracy a month beforehand. The flood 
of this year having been so exceptional, there is every 
possibility that useful clues may be obtained to its 
detailed causes, and to further this object I should be 
glad to have copies of any meteorological observations 
made in Central and South Africa, and the South 
Atlantic in this and previous years. 

H. E. Hurst. 


Meteorological Office, Survey Department, 
Giza (Mudiria), Egypt. 


Pianoforte Touch. 

I po not think that Prof. Bryan will find any diffi- 
culty in sounding a single note of the same loudness 
a sufficient number of times for the test suggested, 
if he eliminates, as I did, those which are perceptibly 
louder or softer than the average; and the task for 
the listener is a very different one from sipping blind- 
fold coffee and tea, where the two different tastes 
persist for a long time, and soon become hopelessly 
superposed. Certainly the problem as to whether a 
difference is caused by the nature of the blow given 
to the strings cannot be solved by playing a succession 
of notes, instead of a single one, for such a succession 
at once introduces a number of other factors. 

The instrument which I used was an Erard grand 
of the latest type. Such an instrument, owing to the 
fact that the hammer strikes the string twice for each 
blow on the keys, is specifically favourable for produc- 
ing differences which might be impossible in other 
cases. SPENCER PICKERING. 


Mr. PickeErinG tells us that in his latest Erard piano 
“the hammer strikes the string twice for each blow 
on the keys.” If this is really the case the statement 
will go a long way towards clearing up the theoretical 
difficulties which have arisen in the attempt to explain 
the possible production of variations of tone quality by 
differences of touch. It is very difficult to obtain 
any definite information regarding the action of piano- 
forte hammers. Both Helmholtz’s and Kaufmann’s 
theories are inadequate, and an investigation recently 
started with one of my pupils seems to show that the 
action is much more compiex than is usually supposed. 
But inquiries in other directions have merely elicited 
the dogmatic statement that the whole object of the 
check action is to prevent the hammer striking the 
string twice. In my Collard horizontal piano of 1892 
the arrangement ot the check action is distinctly 
favourable to a muitiple impact, for when the action is 
removed and the hammer projected into the air it 
certainly rebounds considerably. Granting such an 
action to take place. we are no longer thrown back 
on the vibrating-shaft theory as the only possible ex- 
planation. The extent to which such effects are or 
are not noticed must necessarily be a matter of per- 
sonal opinion, although I hope shortly to repeat the 
experiment described by Mr. Pickering when I can 
obtain a music-roll cut with the necessary repetitions. 

G. H. Bryan. 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


Alfred Russel Wallace Memorials. 


May we appeal through these columns to men of 
science, both here and abroad, to contribute to a 
fund which we are raising for the purpose of placing 
a suitable memorial to the late Dr. Alfred Russel 
Wallace in Westminster Abbey? We should like also 
to be able to offer to the Royal Society a posthumous 
portrait of the late distinguished naturalist, and Mr. 
J. Seymour Lucas, R.A., has consented to execute this 
work. It is further contemplated that a statue or 
bust should be offered to the trustees of the British 
Museum (Natural History) if the necessary fund is 
subscribed. In view of the great services to the cause 
of science rendered by Darwin’s contemporary and 
colleague, the duty of handing down to posterity a 
memorial worthy of the man and his work obviously 
devolves upon those of the present generation who 
have in so many diverse ways benefited both by his 
teaching and by his example. The whole sum asked 
for to enable us to carry out all the objects which we 
have in view is comparatively modest, viz. 110ol., and 
we hope that this amount will be reached. The pre- 
liminary list of subscribers is sufficiently weighty to 
convince us that in undertaking the organisation of 
this movement we have not only the sympathy of the 
scientific world, but also the approbation of leaders 
of thought and of culture in other spheres of activity. 
Thirty fellows of the Royal Society, including the 
present and past presidents, have already given their 
adherence, and among those representative of other 
interests will be found the names of Mr. Arthur Bal- 
four, Lord Haldane, Dr. Warren, the president of 
Magdalen, and the Dean of Westminster. We have 
only to add that permission to place the memorial, 
which it is proposed should be in the form of a 
medallion with a suitable inscription, in Westminster 
Abbey, has been cordially given by the Dean and 
Chapter. 

We shall be willing to receive and acknowledge 
subscriptions, but it will be most convenient if these 
are sent directly to the manager, Union of London 
and Smith’s Bank, Holborn Circus, E.C., in the form 
of cheques made payable to the ‘‘ Alfred Russel Wal- 
lace Memorial Fund.” 

RapHaEL MELDOLA, 
6 Brunswick Square, W.C. 

Epwarp B. Poutton, 
Wykeham House, Oxford. 

James Marcuant, 
(Secretary), 42 Great Russell Street, W.C. 


Tue family of the late Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace 
having invited me to arrange and edit a volume of 
letters and reminiscences, they would be thankful if 
those of your readers who have letters of reminiscences 
would kindly send them to me for this purpose. The 
letters would be safely and promptly returned. 

Will provincial American, Colonial, and foreign 
newspapers kindly republish this letter? 

James Marcuant. 

Lochnagar, Edenbridge, Kent. 


Distance of the Visible Horizon. 
Asout forty years ago I learnt a formula which I 
have used ever since. It was 7x=4y?; x=height of 


| observer in feet, y=distance of horizon in miles. I 


do not now know where I found this formula, but it 
will be seen, if a few examples are worked out, that 
it agrees very closely with that given in your issue 
of November 20. At tooo ft., for instance, the dis- 
tances are 42 and 41-9 miles respectively. 
R. Lancton Corr. 
Sutton, Surrey, November 30. 


426 


THE PROBLEM OF THE UNIVERSITY OF 
LONDON. 
K Fe University of London problem is still un- 
solved. Within the memory of most of us 
there have been three Royal Commissions on 
the University, and some of us are beginning to 
think that the problem is insoluble. 

It will be remembered that the present consti- 
tution of the University was based upon the 
report of the Gresham Commission in 1891. The 
recommendations of the Gresham Commission 
were not adopted fully and completely, but, from 
many important points of view, were modified 
by the terms embodied in the schedule to the 
Act of 1898. The Act of 1898, under which the 
University now works, and under which it became 
a teaching as well as an examining university, was 
frankly a compromise, and few who were intim- 
ately connected with university organisation anti- 
cipated that the compromise afforded a lasting, 
much less a permanent, solution. 

The 1898 Act took effect in 1900, so that the 
University has been working under its present 
constitution for a period of thirteen years. It 
started on its new career as a teaching university 
with a list of “recognised” teachers that had 
been drawn up for it by the Statutory Commis- 
sion. It had no real control over teaching, nor 
did it own or possess any teaching institution. 

It was not until 1907 that the University be- 
came in any real sense of the word a “teaching 
university.” This was brought about by the 
incorporation of University College. In order to 
aid and promote the aims of the reconstituted 
University, the old corporation of University 
College agreed to be dissolved, and to transfer its 
powers and property to the Senate of the Uni- 
versity. By this means the University became 
possessed of land, buildings, and educational 
appliances of great value, and acquired a teach- 
ing staff of high distinction, and an academic 
organisation of proved efficiency and honourable 
tradition. 

The step taken by University College was 
followed, so far as circumstances permitted, by 
King’s College, which was incorporated in the 
University two-and-a-half years later. Since that 
time the development of the teaching side of the 
University has been rapid. It would have been 
more rapid, but for the hindrances of the present 
constitution. But for those hindrances, the 
Imperial College of Science and Technology, 
which was constituted about the same time as 
University College was incorporated in the Uni- 
versity, would also, from the first, have been part 
and parcel of the University. As things stand, 
the Imperial College is only linked to the Univer- 
sity by the slightest of all links—that which is 
implied by the style and title of a “school” of the 
University. 

The rapid progress of the organisation of teach- 
ing and research, the desirability of incorporating 
the Imperial College, and the need for a constitu- 


NATURE. 


[DECEMBER II, I993 


the present, led to the appointment of a new 
Royal Commission in 1910. The report of that 
Commission was issued last April. This report 
has been generally acclaimed by educational ex- 
perts as setting forth in an admirable fashion the 
aims and needs of a university placed in a great 
city such as London. € 

‘he report contains detailed suggestions for the 
reconstitution of the University, and at the same 
time suggests far-reaching educational reforms, 
for which it will take many years to prepare. It 
is this blending of proposals that may be im- 
mediately effective with schemes that cannot 
mature for many years to come that makes the 
report leave in some respects a doctrinaire im- 
pression. It appears to us, therefore, that the- 
President of the Board of Education has taken 
the only possible practicable step in the circum- 
stances in appointing a departmental committee 
“to consult the bodies and persons concerned, and 
to recommend the specific arrangements and pro- 
visions which may be immediately adopted.” 

In a recent speech at the Mansion House, the 
Minister for Education laid down the principles 
upon which immediate action might, in his 
opinion, be taken. He has confirmed those 
principles in a letter dated November 12 addressed 
to the vice-chancellor of the University, and pub- 
lished in our issue of November 20. We agree 
with him in the view that the five principles he 
lays down are the essential principles. If they 
were once adopted, the main difficulties that at 
present exist would undoubtedly disappear. Under 
these principies, the supreme governing body of 
the University will be a senate, small in size, 
predominantly lay in composition, and in no way 
representative of special interests. Its supreme 
business will be to guide and direct the high policy 
of the University, especially so far as that is 
affected by finance. It will not be overloaded, 
as the present Senate is, with every imaginable 
detail. A reference to the agenda paper of the 
present Senate will show that it concerns itself 
with everything and anything, from the wages of 
a lift-boy up to the appointment of a university 
professor. 

The composition of the Senate that is proposed 
would only be possible if it were assisted in its 
work by a number of well-organised bodies. 
Among these, the most important are the faculties, 
consisting in the main of the University professors 
and University readers, all of whom in future will 
be appointed by the University Senate. To these 
faculties will be committed very great powers. 
They will, of course, be subject to the general 
control of the Senate, and to the statutes and 


| ordinances existing for the time being. Subject 


to those, the faculties will determine the courses 
of study, the subjects of study for degrees, and 
all the details of educational work. It is clear 
that if the faculties are to do their work effectively 
they must be composed of teachers of the highest 
rank, and those teachers must be able to meet 
frequently and easily. The more directly and 


tion more adapted to university government than , completely those teachers are controlled by the 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


DECEMBER II, 1913] 


NATURE 


427 


Senate, the more effective will be the unity of 
the University organisation. 

This being the case, the Commission recom- 
mends a considerable extension of the policy of 


‘incorporation, to which we have referred already. 


It recommends the extension of the principle of 
incorporation to the Imperial College of Science 
and Technology to Bedford College, and possibly 
to the East London College. It recommends that 
the Birkbeck College be incorporated, and be made 
an “evening school” of the University; and 
further, that some (possibly three) of the medical 
schools become incorporated medical colleges. 
The incorporated institutions will be the pro- 
perty of the University; they will be under its 


‘educational and financial control; but the property 


will be so vested as not to preclude the earmarking 
of capital or income by donors and benefactors 
for particular institutions or specific purposes. 
All institutions thus incorporated will be known 
as ‘‘constituent colleges.” The details of manage- 
ment of such institutions will be in the hands of 
college committees or delegacies, as, under exist- 
ing conditions, is the case at University and 
King’s Colleges. 

Such being the general programme of the 
Commission, it follows as a matter of necessity 
that ‘“‘as much of the University work as possible, 
together with the University administration, 
should be concentrated in a central University 
quarter.” This brief statement by the Minister 
of Education ought to do much to clear away the 
confusion raised by what has been called “The 
Battle of the Sites.”” The Minister’s statement, 
taken in conjunction with the report of the Com- 
mission, makes it perfectly clear that a site that 
merely provides the administrative offices of the 
University will not, in any circumstances, meet 
the needs of the case. If administrative offices, 
and administrative offices only, are sought, then 
there is small reason for removing from the 
present quarters in the Imperial Institute. To 
move the administrative offices from there to some 
costly site on the south side of the river, as has 
been suggested, would be wasteful and futile. It 
would be wasteful because it would require a very 
large sum of money even to move the administra- 
tive offices from South Kensington to the south 
side of the river; it would be futile because, when 
the removal was achieved, the University adminis- 
tration would not be nearer to any teaching centre 
than it is now. 

It has been suggested that the Government 
should be asked for Somerset House for University 
purposes; and this proposal has been reported 
upon favourably by the Higher Education sub- 
Committee of the London Education Committee. 
At the meeting of the latter Committee on 
November 26, a report was adopted asking that 
the London County Council should join with the 
Senate of the University in a deputation to the 
Government to set forth the advantages of Somer- 
set House as a university centre. If Somerset 
House were given to the University, it would 
undoubtedly be possible to effect a much-needed 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


extension to King’s College, and to provide for 
the housing of the administrative offices; but 
it would accomplish little, if anything, more; and 
this would be done at enormous cost, because the 
whole of Somerset House would need to be gutted. 
It is almost inconceivable that permission would 
be given for the alteration of the elevation of this 
building. The University would again be put 
into a house built for other purposes, and bearing 
another name; and, instead of a_ university 
quarter, all that would be achieved would be the 
bringing together of the University administration 
and one of its constituent colleges. 

The report of the Commission gives strong 
reason for the establishment of a university quar- 
ter; such a quarter should be large enough to com- 
prise at least two of the main constituent colleges 
of the University. King’s College is undoubtedly 
cramped for space, and needs room for expansion ; 
its removal is advocated. University College, on 
the other hand, has fine and permanent build- 
ings; it occupies a site approaching seven acres, 
while immediately to the south of it, and lying 
between it and the British Museum, there is an 
area of some nine acres—or, if roads be included, 
of some eleven acres—that could, it appears, be 
acquired for the development of the University. 
It has been suggested that here could be placed 
new buildings for King’s College, for the admini- 
strative offices, for the great hall of the University, 
and for students’ clubs and societies. Here, at 
least, could be the beginning of a “university 
quarter’ in the real sense of the word, starting 
with an area of between fifteen and sixteen acres 
of land: here, too, are possibilities for expansion 
and development. 

In these two colleges all the faculties except 
that of music are represented, and they may be 
appropriately associated in a University quarter. 
The scheme of the Commissioners provides also 
for the establishment of “constituent colleges ” 
in other parts of London. The report suggests 
the incorporation of Bedford College and the East 
London College, and in a special way that of the 
Imperial College. With regard to this, there seems 
to be some doubt as to the practicability of the 
details of the scheme proposed. The Commission 
suggests the formation of a “committee for tech- 
nology,’ which shall at the same time be the 
deleg'acy of the Imperial College and the coordinat- 
ine authority for technology throughout the 
University; but there is a feeling that these two 
functions should be kept separate, and committed 
to different authorities. The idea of a committee, 
or council, for technology coordinating the techno- 
logical work throughout the University, and keep- 
ing it in touch with the representatives of the 
great industries, is, however, a sound one. 

In conclusion, then, it seems to us that the 
action of the Minister of Education should lead to 
a solution of this long-standing problem. It is 
time that it should be solved. We cannot think 
that the question of the external degree ought to 
be allowed to stand in the way of providing 
London with the University that the capital of 


428 


the Empire requires. It may be, and we are in- 
clined to think that it is, necesary that the external 
degree should be continued and maintained. It 
ought to be easy to devise a machinery for doing 
this that is not inconsistent and incompatible with 
the ideals laid down by the Commissioners. 

All those concerned in the work of higher edu- 
cation in London—and, indeed, in the country 
generally—should combine to help in this scheme. 
There must be give and take. The incorporation 
principle already adopted by University and King’s 
Colleges was in itself a surrender of autonomy, 
and other institutons must be prepared to make 
similar sacrifices if the University is to be a reality. 
The Minister puts this point well when he says, 
“Some acquiescence or even sacrifice on individual 
points will be necessary for all concerned if a 
scheme worth-having is to be carried out.” 


THE PLUMAGE BILL, 


N the great question of fauna preservation the 
newspaper-reading public is at present occu- 
pied with the section concerning birds. It is 
announced by the Royal Society for the Protection 
of Birds that Mr. Hobhouse will, when Parliament 
reassembles, bring forward a Bill for restricting 
the import of plumage into the United Kingdom, 
and that this Bill will be backed by the President 
of the Board of Trade and the Under Secretary for 
India. In its monthly journal, the aforesaid 
society publishes what purports to be the text 
of this Bill. It is a very mildly worded measure 
which will not satisfy root-and-branch reformers, 
for it exempts from supervision personal clothing 
worn or imported by individuals entering this 
country from abroad. Consequently—unless I 
totally misunderstand the drift of the Bill— 
worded, like all Bills, with as much legal obscurity 
as possible—a woman resolved to have head- 
dresses and robes of forbidden plumage has only 
to purchase such abroad and stick it into her 
apparel or her hat, and she passes our Customs 
houses unchallenged. If my reading is correct, 
then the results of this Bill will be very slight in 
stopping the destruction of rare and beautiful 
wild birds in the British dominions and_ the 
colonial empires of France and Holland. But I 
agree with the R.S.P.B. in welcoming any legisla- 
tion rather than none, as the thin end of the 
wedge. We must remember that the first anti- 
slave trade measure (fought and delayed for many 
years by spiritual ancestors of the type of plumage- 
trading firms) was a poor and ineffective thing. 
But as soon as its justification was grasped by the 
public it was reinforced by much more drastic 
legislation. 

Mr. James Buckland is quite right to direct 
attention in vigorous language to the disgraceful 
amount .of beautiful-bird destruction which is 
going on in Nipal. This quasi-independent 
Himalayan State has—unhappily—been placed by 
fate in charge of the most interesting faunistic 
region of Asia, a country not many years ago 
famous for the variety and superb beauty of its 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92} 


NATURE 


| to man or man’s interests be killed, except where 


| harmless bird life, notably its pheasants. 


[DECEMBER II, 1913 


Origin- 
ally the Nipalese respected almost religiously the 

fauna of their native land, like most Indian — 
peoples. But of late they have become infected 
with a truly British love of life-destruction. They — 

are incited to this by the agents of the plumage 
trade at Calcutta and other places, and, of course, __ 
find it a lucrative business. As in all things but 
foreign relations we acknowledge the state of 


Nipal to be an absolutely independent kingdom, it — Boa 


is permitted to import and export goods through ~ 
British India under its own Customs’ seals, intact 
and unquestioned. 

Consequently, though the laws of British India 
forbid on paper the export of wild birds’ plumes 
or skins, the State of Nipal monthly exports from 
Calcutta to the feather markets of the world— 
principally London—thousands of bird skins. The 
Nipalese have nearly exterminated the Monal 
pheasant, the Tragopan, and several other gal- 
linaceous marvels. The few people who know and 
protest on this side are told that Nipal is an inde- 
pendent state and cannot be coerced. But there is 
no need for coercion. We regulate with Nipal the 
arms traffic and the opium traffic, and we can 
easily add to the list of prohibited traffics that in 
the plumage of rare birds or the skins and trophies 
of rare mammals. The Nipalese Government, 
after all, is civilised and can easily be brought to 
understand that we make our request in the in- 
terests of Nipal itself. We have many ways of 
obliging and disobliging Nipal without resort- 
ing to “coercion” in what is really—rightly 
viewed—a matter of religion. 

But of course the weakness of our case and 
cause is that the present Cabinet—and past 
Cabinets—and all our Government departments 
care little or nothing about fauna preservation. 
They, owing to the faulty education of their 
component personalities in the preceding century, 
are unable to view the question from its esthetic 
as well as its economic point of view. Conse- 
quently few of our London-governed colonies have 
adequate bird-preservation regulations; while the 
whole attitude of British India and Burma towards 
its wonderful and fast-disappearing fauna is one 
of the scandals of the age. If it were not that the 
Native States of the Indian Empire have and 
enforce, so far as they dare, game preservation 
and bird preservation laws, the Indian peninsula 
would be now almost lacking in all the more note- 
worthy types of wild bird and beast. The game 
regulations drafted by the Viceroy-in-Council for 
British India were published last year by our own 
Zoological Society, and forthwith so laughed at 
for their inadequacy and old-fashioned “game- 
preserving ” character, that they seemingly found 
their way into the waste-paper basket. At any 
rate, no far-reaching regulations for fauna pre- 
servation have since been published and put in 
force. 

Let scientific men take a broad and lofty view 
of this question of fauna preservation. Why 
should any beasts or birds not actively harmful 


DECEMBER II, 1913] 


NATURE 


429 


they are required to provide palatable food for 
hungry humanity? Why should any more ibexes, 
markhur, deer, wild sheep, antelope, bear, and 
such like wonders of creation be destroyed in 
India, at any rate till by increase in numbers they 
are prejudicial to the agriculturist? Why should 
they be killed merely to provide trophies for 
British officers or tourists, when their life-history 
is of profound interest and can be studied through 
the camera, and their presence in the landscape 
is a source of delight to the eye? Why, similarly, 
should any beautiful birds that are not harmful 
to crops be killed anywhere for the ridiculous 
purpose of adorning already-sufficiently-adorned 
woman? We would-be bird preservers do not 
object to the unlimited use of ostrich plumes, 
because such use is supported by the domestica- 
tion of the ostrich; we do not include the eider 
duck on our prohibition lists because its down 
feathers can be obtained without killing the pro- 
ducer; we do not refuse to the trade or the lover 
of beautiful objects the plumage of several kinds 
of duck and pheasant, because such can be obtained 
without bringing these particular types of bird 
near to extinction. In short, there is enough 
plumage in quantity and variety to supply all 
the needs of milliners, dress-makers-and-wearers, 
upholsterers, and even the purveyors of artificial 
flies for fly-fishing, without trenching on the rare 
and specially marvellous birds of the world, or 
the birds that are of incalculable use as insect 
destroyers and guano producers. 

The apologists of the trade in forbidden birds’ 
skins, or the defenders of the unchecked slaughter 
of interesting mammals by the rifle, are of a sadly 
limited type of mentality, so limited that an edu- 
cated naturalist is not on the same mental plane. 
Though he can easily parry their arguments, he 
cannot get them to understand his. But perhaps 
the foes of Mr. James Buckland who attend to 
harass him at his lectures are, together with 
their salesmen-colleagues at London auctions, 


remarkable beyond others of their class for 
their want of knowledge of the article they 
trade in and the local methods of their 
trade. They do not know for the most part 


the right name in English or Latin or the ap- 
proximate habitat of the birds they deal in. As 
to how the skins are procured, they probably only 
know that they bought them in Antwerp, Paris, 
Havre, Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Marseilles, Trieste, 
Port Said, Calcutta, or Port-of-Spain. They have 
no knowledge of and no responsibility for the 
actual half-caste or native agents who do most 
of the killing or snaring. Occasionally, some 
specially important firm undertakes a commission 
for a rich curio-collecting client, and sends out 
an agent to some distant region to get into touch 
with the native hunters, but such a firm would 
scarcely take as much trouble over the bulk of 
its business—the supply of the millinery houses. 

As an illustration of the foregoing remarks, I 
should like to insert a passage from the writings 
of Mr. W. Emery Stark, which appeared a few 
months ago in The Times of Ceylon :— 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


The Trade in Birds of Paradise. 


The Papuans (of Dutch New Guinea) are engaged 
by the traders to act as ‘“‘hunters.’’ The season, 
which begins in April, lasts for six months, and for 
the remaining six months of every year the Papuan 
spends his time in paddling about, and his money in 
buying ornaments and luxuries. There is a regular 
and well-organised trade in birds of paradise. The 
centre of the trade is at Ternate, where the traders 
live, and from where they start every year in March 
for New Guinea. The traders are chiefly Chinese, 
but there are two or three Dutch trading companies. 
The Government issue licences for hunting at 
25 guilders, or about 2/. a gun, and, in addition, the 
Government charge a heavy export duty on the birds. 
This year there were 4000 applications for licences, 
of which 1870 were granted, and one trading com- 
pany alone secured 240 licences. The traders engage 
the natives as “hunters,” paying the licence and 
finding guns and ammunition. Each “hunter” is 
expected to bring in for the season 20 skins of the 
“great bird of paradise’’ and 50 to 60 of the ordinary 
and less valuable sort. The former command at their 
first price from 1000 to 1200 guilders, or roughly 
tool. per ‘‘corge,”’ i.e. 20 birds. In the home market 
a “corge”’ realises from 150l. to 170l., and a single 
bird of extra fine plumage has been known to fetch 
as much as 4ol. or more. A rough calculation of the 
1870 licences issued this year, show that they are 
likely to result in the production of about 200,000 
skins. 


I wish the Government had received a steadier 
backing in the matter of fauna-preservation from 
the Zoological Society and the British Ornitho- 
logists’ Union. The attitude of the latter 
seems to be that so long as museum shelves 
are stuffed with specimens, birds may be iin the 
landscape or not. The last thing I desire to do is 
to fetter the researches of professional science. 
But I would remind fellow ornithologists that it 
is not only the skin of the bird for classification 
that is needed, but still more the bones, the 
muscles, and the viscera, and the living creature 
itself. This is not the material supplied by the 
trade collector. Yet, as a concrete example, look 
at the remarkable deductions in biology which 
have followed the illustration of the ceca and 
intestinal tracts in birds and mammals by Dr. 
Chalmers Mitchell; or the work of A. H. Garrod 
and F. E. Beddard in myology and windpipes. It is 
this material which is wanted by the biologist more 
than an endless multiplication of empty skins— 
this and the life-study through the camera and the 
note-book; and all such food for systematists and 
expounders of the New Bible could be supplied 
by game-wardens and those who should be placed 
in control of the wild fauna of our dominions. 

H. H. Jounston. 


Since the foregoing article was written, there 
has been placed in my hands a copy of a Govern- 
ment notice recently issued in Egypt—we may be 
sure not without Lord Kitchener’s knowledge and 
approval—referring to the shooting of animals. 
Lord Kitchener is no sentimentalist; but alike in 
his reports and his acts he has continuously used 
his influence for the preservation of bird-life in 
Egypt. 


430 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER II, 1913 


NOTES. 


Tue council of the British Association, acting 
under authority of the general committee, has made 
the following grants out of the gift of 10,oool. made 
to the association for scientific purposes by Sir J. K. 
Caird at the Dundee meeting of the association last 
year :—(1) sool. to the committee on radio-telegraphic 
investigations; (2) an annual grant of rool. to the 
committee on seismological investigations, which is 
carrying on the work of the late Prof. John Milne, 
F.R.S.; (3) an annual grant of rool. to the committee 
appointed to. select and assist investigators to carry 
on work at the zoological station at Naples; (4) 250l. 
towards the cost of the magnetic re-survey of the 
British Isles, which has been undertaken by the Royal 
Society and the British Association in collaboration. 


For the Australian meeting of the British Associa- 
tion in August next year, under the presidency of 
Prof. W. Bateson, F.R.S., the following presidents 
of sections have been appointed:—A (Mathematics 
and Physics), Prof. F. T. Trouton, F.R.S.; B (Chem- 
istry), Prof. W. J. Pope, F.R.S.; C (Geology), Sir 
T. H. Holland, K.C.1.E., F.R.S.; D (Zoology), Prof. 
A. Dendy, F.R.S.; E (Geography), Sir C. P. Lucas, 
K.C.M.G.; F (Economics), Prof. E. C. K. Gonner; 
G (Engineering), Prof. E. G. Coker: H (Anthro- 
pology), Sir Everard im Thurn, K.C.M.G.; I (Physio- 
logy), Prof. C. J. Martin, F.R.S.; K (Botany), Prof. 
F. O. Bower, F.R.S.; L (Educational Science), Prof. 


J. Perry, F.R.S.; M (Agriculture), Mr. A. D. Hall, 
F.R.S. 
Sir Pure Warts, K.C.B., F.R.S., has received 


the Order of the Rising Sun (Second Class) from the 
Emperor of Japan. 


Tue Royai Society announces that the studentship 
on the foundation of the late Prof. Tyndall for scien- 
tific research on subjects tending to improve the con- 
ditions to which miners are subject has been awarded 
for the ensuing year to Mr. J. I. Graham, of Bentley 
Colliery, Doncaster, for an investigation into the cause 
of spontaneous combustion of coal, with special refer- 
ence to. gob-fires. 


Ar the annual general meeting of the Faraday 
Society, held on November 26, the following officers 
and council were elected to serve for the year 
1913-14 :—President, Sir Robert Hadfield, F.R.S.; 
Vice-Presidents, Dr. G. T. Beilby, F.R.S., Prof. K. 
Birkeland, W. R. Bousfield, K.C., Prof. Bertram Hop- 
kinson, F.R.S., Prof. A. K. Huntington, Dr. T. 
Martin Lowry, and Alexander Siemens; Treasurer, 
Dr. F. Mollwo Perkin; Council, R. Belfield, Dr. H. 
Borns, W. R. Cooper, Prof. F. G. Donnan, F.R.S.; 
Emil Hatschek, Dr. R. S. Hutton, Prof. A. W. 
Porter, F.R.S., E. H. Rayner, Dr. R. Seligman, 
and Maurice Solomon. 


Ir is proposed to establish a permanent memorial to 
the late Sir William White, K.C.B., F.R.S. The In- 
stitution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Mechanical 
Engineers, Institution of Naval Architects, Iron and 
Steel Institute, Royal Society of Arts, Institution of 
Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, North-East 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92| 


Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders, In- 
stitute of Marine Engineers, and Institute of Metals, 
are stipporting the scheme, and jhave inyited their 
members to contribute. A general committee (under | 


the chairmanship of Lord Brassey) has been formed — % 


representing the engineering profession, the Navy anee : 
Merchant Service, and some Government Depart- — 
ments. The form which the memorial is to take in i 
depend upon the support which is given to tf 
scheme. It is requested that all cheques be crossed 
“Coutts and Co.,’’ and made payable to ‘*The ‘Sir 
William White Memorial Fund,’ and sent to Dr. — 
J. H. T. Tudsbery (hon. treasurer), Institution me 
Civil Engineers, Great George Street, Westminster, 
S.W. The general committee is thoroughly repre- 
sentative, and includes the president of the Royal 
Society, and other well-known men of science. The 
fund already amounts to 13681. 


Dr. R. T. Giazesroox, director of the National 
Physical Laboratory, asks us to supplement the article 
on the British radium standard contributed to our 
columns last week by Prof. Rutherford, with a refer- 
ence to the directions which have been issued for 
sending radium to the laboratory. In the case of 
radium it is necessary to be particularly careful as 
to its transmission. It is stated, therefore, in the 
circular describing the work undertaken by the labora- 
tory, that anyone wishing to send radium for test 
must advise the laboratory of his intention at least 
one day previous to sending the specimen. The letter 
of advice should state approximately the value of the 
specimen and the method by which it is being sent. 
All communications and specimens should be addressed 
to the Director, the National Physical Laboratory, 
Teddington, Middlesex, and all packages containing 
specimens should be marked clearly, ‘‘R. Depart- 
ment.” The laboratory takes no responsibility for the 
sample until it has actually arrived and a formal 
receipt acknowledging its arrival has been transmitted 
to the sender. Samples will be returned ordinarily 
by registered post, the sender being charged postage 
and registration fee. 


Ir has already been fully recognised that Capt. 
Scott’s second Antarctic Expedition was better served 
in the department of photography than any of its 
predecessors. The public should therefore welcome 
the opportunity of inspecting some 150 enlargements 
of Mr. H. G. Ponting’s exquisite photographs—and 
not the public alone, but those interested in zoology 
and the study of ice also. These photographs are on 
exhibition in the gallery of the Fine Art Society, 148 
New Bond Street. Some of the ice photographs are 
of extraordinary beauty and interest, such as the illus- 
tration of pressure ridges (No. 81) and that of the 
cliffs of the Barne Glacier (No. 109). The studies of 
seals and penguins are wonderful, and must represent 
the result of infinite patience in securing them. Many 
of the photographs are known from lectures and the 
book of the expedition, but in their present form they” 
allow of closer inspection and fuller appreciation. It 
need scarcely be said that the familiar figures» of 
members of the expedition frequently appear, and add 
to the interest of the collection. 


enn a 
os 


— eS 


DECEMBER II, 1913] 


News is to hand, through the Rome correspondent 
of The Times, of the successful initiation of the gravi- 
metric, magnetic, meteorological, and aérological 
work of the Italian Expedition to the western Hima- 
laya and Karakoram, under Dr. F. de Filippi. Pre- 
liminary observations were made and work done at 
the Royal Hydrographical Institute in Genoa, and, on 
arrival in India, at Simla and at Dehra Dun, the 
headquarters of the Indian Survey. The expedition 
has a wireless telegraphic equipment, and has already 
successfully made use of it for time signals, not only 
between Simla, Delhi, and Lahore, but also between 
Skardu, in Baltistan, and Lahore. This indicates the 
utility of this method for field work, even though the 
receiving station be situated near high mountains, 
and the determinations of differences of longitude 
based on these signals, together with latitude observa- 
tions, will enable observations to be made for the 
deviation of the plumb-line. When the expedition is 
at work in districts previously unworked, these signals, 
if equally successful, will be of high value. The in- 
vestigation of the upper atmosphere has been begun 
by means of balloons and theodolite observations on 
them. A station has been established on the Deosai 
plateau at a height of 14,000 ft., where pendulum and 
magnetic work will be done, and solar radiation 
investigated. Geological excursions are also being 
made: The expedition will winter, carrying on such 
work as is possible, at Skardu. 


A summary of the weather for the past autumn, 
issued by the Meteorological Office, shows the pecu- 
liarities of the season. The mildness of the weather 
was the chief peculiarity, and the quiet character of 
the wind and absence of gales was very striking 
considering that the temperature was so persistently 
high, due solely to the prevalence of southerly and 
south-westerly winds from the Atlantic. The mean 
temperature for the whole period of the three months 
—September, October, and November—was 4° in 
excess of the average in the east of England and in 
the midland counties, and it was 2° or 3° in excess of 
the average in all other districts of the United King- 
dom. The maximum temperature was 79° in the 
north-east and north-west of England, and in the 
midland counties, and the minimum temperature was 
22° in the midland counties and in the east of Scot- 
land. The rainfall was in excess of the average in 
Ireland and over England, except in the north-eastern 
and north-western districts. The largest rainfall was 
1471 in. in the north of Scotland, and the least fall 
in any district was 6-58 in. in the north-east of Eng- 
land. The highest percentage of rain was 129 per 
cent. of the average in the south of Ireland, and in 
the south-east of England the aggregate rainfall was 
1g per cent. of the average. In the east of Scotland 
the rain was only 78 per cent. of the average, and in 
the west of Scotland 80 per cent. In the midland 
counties the rainfall was 110 per cent. of the average, 
and in the east of England 106 per cent. 
The rainy days were in excess of the average 
in England and Ireland. The. duration of 
bright sunshine was generally in fair agree- 
ment with the normal. At Greenwich the mean tem- 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


431 


perature for the autumn was 54°, which is 3° above 
the average. There were seventy days out of ninety- 
one with the temperature above the average, and frost 
occurred on only one day. The bright sunshine was 
seventy hours more than the average. 


THE annual general meeting of the Royal Agricul- 
tural Society of England was held on December to at 
the Royal Agricultural Hall, Islington, From the 
report of the council of the society presented on this 
occasion we notice that the work at the Woburn 
Experimental Station continues to expand. This has 
so far been recognised that a grant of 500]. was made 
during the year from the Development Fund in aid 
of the experimental and research work carried on. 
As regards the field experiments, in addition to those 
on continuous wheat barley, the rotation and green- 
Mmanuring experiments have been further carried on, 
as well as work on varieties of oats, varieties of 
lucerne, clover, and grass mixtures, linseed, soya 
bean, &c. At the pot-culture station, in addition to 
a continuation of the work on lime and magnesia, the 
principal fresh research was on the action of copper, 
zinc, and manganese salts on the wheat plant, and 
of lithium salts on tomatoes. The practical demon- 
stration of the eradication of wild onion by the grow- 
ing of deep-rooting grasses and plants was clearly 
shown at Chelsing, Herts, the results of the system 
adopted being this year very marked. During the 
year 196 complete analyses, that is for purity and 
germinating capacity, and seventy-four rough 
analyses and comparisons of bulks with samples, were 
made. Eight prescriptions for mixtures for the forma- 
tion of permanent pasture were drawn up, and three 
analyses of mixtures made. One of these mixtures, 
said to be a cheap one, was found to contain about 
I per cent. of seeds useful for the purpose, the re- 
maining being weeds and the screenings of a wheat 
crop. The experiments which were begun at Woburn 
early in rg1r for the purpose of demonstrating that 
by means of ‘isolation it is possible to rear healthy 
stock from tuberculous parents have been brought to 
a close. One of the experimental animals was killed 
in December last and the others in the course of the 
present year. After slaughter a searching _ post- 
mortem examination was made, but no evidence of 
tuberculosis was found in any case. A full account of 
the experiments will be published later, 


Puystcat anthropologists are unwearied in their 
search for anatomical characteristics which may serve 
as tests of race. The last essay of this kind is that 
of Mme. Bertha de Vriese, under the title of ‘‘ La sig- 
nification morphologique de la rotule basée sur des 
recherches anthropologiques,” published in Bulletins et 
Mémoires de la Société @’Anthropolgie de Paris (6th 
series, parts 3-4), in which the writer has collected 
numerous measurements of the patella among various 
races. The article commends itself as an important 
contribution to comparative anatomy. 


In the November issue of Man Mr. J. W. Scott 
Macfie describes a collection of curiously carved 
wooden staves from West Africa. They are 
used in the cult of Shongo, god of thunder and light- 


432 NATURE 


ning. Childless women pray to Shongo for offspring, 
and when a son is born he is dedicated to the god. 
He is taken to the shrine, a ram is sacrificed, and the 
boy is given a staff, with directions to keep silent for 
a period which may extend to three months. Adults 
also carry these staves, and make a vow of silence 
for recovery of health. In the course of this rite, the 
patient pours the blood of a sacrificed ram on some 
stone celts, believed to be thunderbolts sent by Shongo. 
A smaller variety of staff is kept in houses to repre- 
sent Shongo. Sacrifices are made before them, and 
thus they are regarded as Ju-ju, or sacred, and the 
owners are very unwilling to part with them. 

PaLzOLiTHic natural history forms the title of an 
interesting article by Mr. R. I. Pocock in The Field 
of November 29. It is illustrated by reproductions of 
prehistoric sketches of various animals, together with 
photographs of their nearest existing representatives. 

To Mr. A. E. Cameron, the author, we are indebted 
for a copy of a paper, published in the September 
issue of the Transactions of the Entomological 
Society, on the life-history of Lonchoea chorea, a fly 
which, in the larval stage, does a certain amount of 
damage to diseased beet crops. 

Mr. W. Junk, the well-known Berlin publisher, 
announces the issue of a reprint of H. Loew’s ‘ Die 
Europaeischen Bohr-Fliegen (Trypetida),” at a sub- 
scription price of 61., to be raised after publication to 
7l. 10s. Although this fine folio was originally pub- 
lished so long ago as 1862, it is still the basis of our 
knowledge of this family of Diptera. The reproduc- 
tion of the photographs will, it is stated, be superior 
to that in the original edition, in which the prints have 
become faded and stained. In another circular the 
same firm directs attention to the ‘‘ Coleopterorum 
Catalogues,” of which fifty-five parts have been 
already, issued. 


Tue very remarkable vertebrate fauna of the Permo- 
Carboniferous beds of north-central New Mexico forms 
the subject of a fully illustrated memoir by Messrs. 
Case, Williston, and Mehl, issued, as Publication 
No. 181, by the Carnegie Institution of Washington. 
The species from this horizon at present identified 
include a shark akin to Pleuracanthus, five amphi- 
bians, and ten reptiles of a low, although in some 
cases specialised, type. The most remarkable of the 
amphibian remains is a skull described as a new 
genus and species under the name of Chenoprosopus 
milleri, the generic designation referring to the curious 


superficial resemblance of the specimen to the skull 


of ‘a goose. The genus is believed to belong to the 
temnospondylous amphibians, in spite of certain indi- 
cations of affinity with reptiles. Among undoubted 
reptiles special interest attaches to the restoration of 
the skeleton of the pelycosaurian described by O. C. 
Marsh as Ophiacodon mirus, on account of the enor- 
mous size of the skull as compared with that of the 
trunk. According to the figures, the shoulder and 
pectoral girdles of this and certain allied forms present 
a striking- resemblance to the corresponding elements 
of African anomodonts. 

In the course of a lecture on zoological gardens 
delivered before the Royal Society of Arts on Novem- 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92| 


[DECEMBER II, 1913 


ber 27, Dr. Chalmers Mitchell, secretary of the Zoo- 
logical Society directed attention to the tastes 
of the general public in regard to  establish- 
ments of this nature, pointing out that much greater 
interest is taken in watching the gambols and other 
habits of well-known animals than in observing rare 
species, or in contrasting one species with another. 
This, of course, is only natural, and as the members” 
of the public supply the greater part of the funds by | 
which menageries are maintained, it is only right and 
proper that their tastes should be consulted andi 
catered for. Not that the lecturer was by any means 
unmindful of the scientific value of menageries. On 
the contrary, he pointed out that such establishments 
afford practically the only means of obtaining a know- 
ledge of the comparative psychology of animals—a 
subject of which we are still profoundly ignorant. “T 
have no doubt,” he observed, ‘‘if we made use of the 
opportunities that menageries can afford, that we 
should find groups differing in structure equally 
different in natural disposition, in mental and 
emotional quality, in the power of forming new habits, 
in the quality of their intelligence.’’ Attention was 
also directed to the improvement in the condition of 
menagerie animals, and their increased longevity, as 
the result of the open-air treatment, as contrasted with 
the old ‘‘cossetting’’ system; while a considerable — 
portion of the discourse was devoted to a description 
of the new ‘‘ Mappin Terraces,” and the ‘‘Caird Insect 
House,”’ and the advantages which will accrue to 
the menagerie as a popular resort when the former 
are in full working order. 3 a 
Tue first number of The Indian Journal of Medical am 
Research, published in July of this year, consists of 
more than 200 pages, with fourteen plates, and con- 
tains a number of important contributions. First in 
order is a memoir by Capt. W. S. Patton and Capt. — 
F. W. Craig on certain hamatophagous flies of the 
genus Musca. These are congeners of our common 
English house-fly, and, like it, have the proboscis soft 
and not adapted for piercing. Being unable, there- — 
fore, to puncture the skin of man or animals, they 
obtain the food they require, namely blood, by asso- 
ciating themselves with common biting flies, such as 
Stomoxys, Tabanidz, &c. When one of these biting 
flies has put its proboscis through the skin the Musca 
approaches it, and will endeavour to thrusf its pro- — 
boscis into the wound, and to oust the first ‘eae s 
Sometimes several crowd round the same o and — 


when they have succeeded in dislodging it, or when — 
it has completed its meal, they suck up the blood — 
from the wound. It is possible that these flies may — 
play a réle, hitherto overlooked, in the transmission — ee. 
of disease. Four species, two of them new, are de-— 
scribed in detail with the help of excellent figures — “~ 
drawn by Mrs. Patton. 

Major H. G. J. pE Lorsinitre has contributed to 
The Quarterly Review for October (No. 437) a con- 
cise and valuable paper on the principal forest re-— 
sources of the world and the steps which have been 
taken in Britain and elsewhere to provide for the 
future. He points out that before many years the 
timber cut in Russia—our main source of supply, and 
the only important reserve left to draw upon—will 


5 eee™ 


DECEMBER II, 1913] 


NATURE 


433 


exceed the annual growth, so that exports will decline ; 
that in the majority of other timber-producing coun- 
tries the forests are, or soon will be, insufficient to 
meet the rising demand for local consumption; and 
that the only forest reserves of coniferous timber as 
yet untouched are in regions difficult of access, in 
Siberia, British Columbia, and the Andes. The posi- 
tion so far as this country is concerned is serious, but 
not yet hopeless, for Britain is admirably adapted for 
timber-growing, though it will take years of industry 
to bring the soil back to forest conditions. The author 
makes a number of timely and practical suggestions 
regarding the lines on which a scheme of afforestation 
for suitable portions of the sixteen million acres of 
mountainous and heath land in Britain should be 
prepared, and strongly urges the necessity for imme- 
diate action. 


Tue Journal of the Department of Agriculture of 
South Australia contains, amongst many interesting 
articles, brief reviews of the proceedings of the agri- 
cultural bureau meetings. The bureau, which 
possesses more than 150 branches, is essentially carried 
on to provide facilities for papers on subjects of agri- 
cultural interest being read by the farmer members, 
and to encourage mutual help. Without wishing to 
imply that the English farmer is endowed with these 
attributes for imparting and receiving information, as 
is his Australian cousin, it would appear natural that 
he should be prepared to attach more importance to 
advice obtained from a practical man than from a 
stranger in the form of an agricultural adviser. The 
adoption of farmers’ bureaus in this country might 
be productive of much good work by stimulating the 
practical man to compare and to analyse yariations in 
practice and profitability and to arouse greater interest 
in the daily routine. 


AN interesting article by Mr. A. O. Walker, on 
weather fallacies, is contained in Symons’s Meteoro- 
logical Magazine for October and November, from 
experience gained as an observer for more than forty 
years. The first subject of attack is the Meteoro- 
logical Office weather forecasts, but the criticisms 
do not imply any censure of the staff of that office, but 
are written from an agricultural point of view. Select- 
ing two or three of the author’s remarks: during 
hay harvest, e.g. a farmer wants to know what the 
weather will be two or three days after the hay is cut. 
Thunderstorms will occur independently of calculations 
as to exact time and place, and neighbouring stations 
are differently affected. Monthly averages of rainfall 
are often misleading; at Ulcombe (near Maidstone) 
for the years 1900-9 February had the lowest average, 
1-62 in., and October the highest, 3-10 in. But in 
1g00 the two months changed places ; October 1-76 in., 
and February 3-75 in., the wettest month of the year. 
Monthly mean temperatures are also apt to mislead, 
as they give little idea of the intensity of cold or 
warm spells. It is a common belief that temperature 
falls as height increases, within such limits as, for 
example, are found in south England; it is generally 
true as regards day temperature, but not as to night 
temperature. This is shown by the greater immunity 
of tender shrubs half-way up a hill from injury by 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


frost compared with those at the foot. Snow is 
believed by some to have a special fertilising effect, 
but all that can be said of it is that in times of severe 
frost it protects the roots of plants. 

Tue Journal de Physique for October contains a 
paper by M. R. Détrait describing his researches on 
the slipping of liquids at the surfaces of solids. The 
accuracy with which the flow of a liquid through a 
capillary tube can be represented by the fourth power 
of the radius is a sufficient guarantee that at the 
velocities usual in such tubes the slip, if it exists at 
all, is small. To put the question to a severe test, M. 
Détrait has compared the times of flow of equal 
volumes of water and petrol through tubes of glass, 
which both liquids wet, and through tubes of sulphur, 
which the petrol alone wets. The experiments show 
that there is a measurable slip of a liquid past a solid 
it does not wet, which in the case-of water flowing in 
a sulphur capillary tube leads to an excess flow 
equivalent to an increase of radius of the tube by about 
one-thousandth of a millimetre. 

Tue nature of the gases liberated by the autolysis of 
different organs and tissues forms the subject of a 
paper by Mr. F. Traetta Mosca in the Gazzetta 
Chimica Italiana (vol. xliii., ii., 144). Striking differ- 
ences are shown by the different tissues, pointing to 
wide differences of enzymic activity; the liver, kidneys, 
brain, and suprarenal capsules liberate mixtures of 
carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and hydrogen in different 
proportions, whilst the intestines give in addition 
carbon monoxide and oxygen; from the pancreas, 
spleen, lung, and heart it is remarkable that nitrogen 
alone is evolved. In the majority of other cases also 
the relatively high proportion of nitrogen and 
hydrogen is a striking phenomenon of the protein 
degradation; thus in the case of autolysing calves’ 
brain, 71-6 per cent. of the gas evolved consists of 
nitrogen and 22-4 per cent. of hydrogen, whilst from 
the suprarenal capsules 4o per cent. of the gas is 
nitrogen and 50-4 per cent. hydrogen. 


Tue Department of Mines of New South Wales has 
issued a pamphlet on mercury or quicksilver in New 
South Wales, with notes on its occurrence in other 
colonies and countries (Mineral Resources, No. 7), by 
J. E. Carne. The occurrence of mercury, in the 
native state or in the form of cinnabar, has been 
indicated in some ten localities, but the quantities 
produced hitherto are very small, one of the most 
favourable localities having yielded only about 10 cwt. 
of metal to the company which attempted for a time 
to exploit it. The general reader will, however, find 
that much interesting information has been brought 
together in the present report with reference to the 
production of mercury in other countries. An account 
is given of the wonderful mines at Almaden, in 
Spain, which are known to have yielded some four 
million flasks, or 140,000 tons of metal, whilst the 
Californian mines have given about half this quan- 
tity. It is pointed out that wet-concentration has 
proved useless, in spite of the high density of the 
mineral, and that efficient working of the ordinary 
low-grade ores (yielding 0-5 to 2 per cent. of mercury) 
is only to be effected by careful attention to economical 


434 NATURE [DECEMBER I1, 1913. 


working of the furnaces; the gases must escape at 
the lowest temperature which will retain the mercury 
as vapour, and the hot spent ore must be used to heat 
the air-supply of the furnaces. As illustrating the 
difficulty of retaining the metal, it is mentioned that 
at the New Almaden mine in California, 2000 flasks 
(135,000 Ib.) of mercury were taken from the ground 
under one of the furnaces, the metal having pene- 
trated 27 ft. to bedrock. 


The Engineer for December 5 contains an account 
of the motor ship Arum, launched last week from the 
yard of the builders, Messrs. Swan, Hunter and Wig- 
ham Richardsons, Ltd. ‘This vessel is an addition to 
the comparatively small number of motor ships of 
which both hull and engines have been built in this 
country. Her dimensions are 360 ft. length over all, 
by 47 ft. beam, by 27 ft. moulded depth; she is to 
carry about 5600 tons dead weight on a draught of 
21 ft. 6 in. The main engines, built by the same 
firm, consist of a pair of four-cylinder two-cycle rever- 
sible Diesel engines, designed for 1150 brale-horse- 
power at 135 revolutions per minute; the speed will 
be about 105 knots. The vessel has been built to 
the order of Sir Marcus Samuel for the carrying of 
general cargo, and is to trade to the Persian Gulf. 
Oil from the Persian oil wells is to be employed, a 
favourable ten years’ contract having been secured for 
the supply of Sir Marcus Samuel’s fleet. 


An illustrated article in Engineering for December 5 
on the channel steamer Paris gives some up-to-date 
information regarding the development of geared 
turbines. Absence of wear, freedom from noise, 
durability, and low frictional loss have been achieved. 
The loss due to transmission and reduction with 
double helical wheels is under 2 per cent., whereas 
in the hydraulic and electrical systems it is quite five 
timesas great. It has been contended that the windage 
loss in the running idle of the astern turbines partly 
nullifies this advantage; as the astern turbines revolve 
in the vacuum of the condenser, the losses for them 
amount to only o-5 per cent. Accounting also for the 
loss due to the thrust-block associated with geared 
turbines, the mechanical gearing gives an efficiency of 
about 97 per cent. as compared with about 90 per 
cent, in other systems. In the Paris, the power 
transmitted through two gear-wheels is 14,000 shaft- 
horse-power. It is but four years since the first use 
of such gearing, and to-day there are 435,450 horse- 
power completed or under construction. 


THE 1913 issue of ‘“‘The Year-Book of the Scien- 
tific and Learned Societies of Great Britain and Ire- 
land”’ has been published by Messrs. Charles Griffin 
and Co., Ltd., at the price of 7s. 6d. It will be 
remembered this useful annual publication is compiled 
from official sources, and it is appropriately described 
on the title-page as a record of the work done in 
science, literature, and art during the session 1912-13 
by numerous societies and Government institutions. 
We notice*in the case of the British Association that 
though particulars are given of the meeting held at 
Dundee in September, 1912, no information about the 
Birmingham meeting of September last is included. 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


THE STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE.—The November 
issue of Scientia contains an article by Prof. J. C. 
Kapteyn, entitled ‘‘On the Structure of the Universe,” 
which should be read by all those who wish to obtain 
the most modern view of this most fascinating 
problem. It was Prof. Kapteyn who, in 1904, first 
determined the elements of the two star streams, and — 
since then a great advance has been made in extend- 
ing our knowledge in this direction. In the present — 
article, and, it may be added, it is written in a very 
clear and concise manner, he places before the reader 
the general nature otf the problem, and step by step 
he points out how the various researches of many _ 
observers are coordinated and brought to bear in 
concentrated form on the question of the structure of — 
the universe. The subject being so vast, he confines 
himself here mainly to that portion concerned with 
star-streaming, and considers the questions, What has 
the discovery of star-streaming done, and, What does 
it promise to do for the solution of the problems (1) 
that of the distance, and (2) that of the history or 
evolution of the stellar system, Prof. Kapteyn utilises 
a modified form of Secchi’s stellar classification, and 
states that there is much evidence to show that this 
classification is a natural one, and that the order of 
evolution is as follows :—The helium stars being those 
of recent birth, while we come to older and older stars 
in passing from the helium stars to the stars of the 
first, then to those of the second, and finally to those 
of the third type. 

In speaking of the spectra of such groups of stars — 
as the Hyades, Pleiades, Ursa Major group, &c., he 
says:—'‘The groups that do not now contain any 
helium stars must have contained them formerly in 
great numbers. Going back in time still further, these 
helium stars must have been generated from some other 
matter, probably nebulous matter. Therefore in a 
remote past the groups of the Hyades and Ursa Major 
must have been full of nebula. So far as I know there 
is no trace of nebulosity now. So there must have 
been an epoch in the past that nebulous matter was 
exhausted, had probably all gone to the formation of 
stars.” 


JourNAL OF THE RoyaL AsTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF 
Canapa.—In the September to October number of the 
Journal of the R.A.S. of Canada, Mr. H. B. Collier 
writes on meteorites, and after giving a brief sum- 
mary of early falls, he refers in greater detail to the 
“Cape York’’ meteorites brought by Peary from 
Greenland, and to the ‘‘ Williamette ’’ meteorite found — 
nineteen miles south of Portland, Oregon. A very 
excellent translation from Ciel et Terre of a most 
interesting article by G. van Biesbroeck on the astro- ~ 
nomical works of Olaus Roemer, the discoverer of — 
the velocity of the transmission of light, is printed. 
The fire at Copenhagen in 1728, destroyed most of 
Roemer’s manuscripts, but a portfolio bearing the 
inscription ‘‘ Adversaria,”” survived, and has recently 
been published by the Danish Society of Sciences. 
Valuable historical facts were contained in it, and 
are here described. The subject of the boundary sur- 
vey between Canada and the United States east of © 
the St. Lawrence is dealt with by Mr. T. Faweett, 
and he describes the part Airy took in the arrange- 
ments for the carrying out of the necessary astro- 
nomical work which such a survey demanded. A 
description is also given of the methods employed on — 
that occasion (1842) by the British and American 
parties. 


New NEBULA: AND’ VARIABLE Stars.—In No. 4697 
of the Astronomische Nachrichten, Mr. C. R. 
! D’Esterre describes an object the abnormal behaviour 


’ DECEMBER II, 1913] 


NATURE 


435 


of which marks it as one of exceptional interest. He 
describes it as a new variable star or nova, and its 
positions for two epochs were (1855), R.A. 22h. 56-3m., 
dec. +58° 52'; (1900), 22h. 58-1+59° 6-3'. The long 
period of brightness of the star and rapid decline 
suggest, as he says, that ‘‘we may be dealing with 
the later stages in the history of a nova.” Two charts 
taken on September 3, 1911, and August 25, 1913, 
exhibit marked changes in its magnitude. The same 
writer directs attention to some new nebulz in the 
region of I Cassiopeia. Dr. R. Furuhjelm, of the 
Helsingfors Observatory, describes two new variables, 
both of which have amplitudes of at least three mag- 
nitudes. He proposes to continue to observe these 
objects to secure correct determinations of their 


. periods. 


Warts’s INDEX oF SpEcrRa.—Yet another series of 
appendices to this most valuable compilation of wave- 
length data has been commenced by the publication of 
Appendix V. This part begins with the spectrum of 
the electric spark in air and extends to that of chlorine. 
The additions include measures of the spectra of the 
elements Aldebaranium, Cassiopeium, and Beryllium 
(band spectrum). Among spectra of compounds Olm- 
sted’s data for calcium hydride and Fowler’s carbon 
oxide spectra find a place. Perhaps it is not too late 
to make the suggestion that the policy of giving, in 
the briefest possible manner, an indication of the con- 
tents of the papers referred to be extended to include 
all references in forthcoming appendices. 


SECULAR DESICCATION OF THE EARTH. 


oy Monday, December 8, Prof. J. W. Gregory 
read a paper before the Royal Geographical 
Society, entitled “‘Is the Earth Drying Up?” The 
question is naturally one to which a definite affirma- 
tive or negative answer cannot be given owing to the 
relatively short period during which exact scientific 
measurements of precipitation have been made. The 
evidence is principally archeological, botanical, and 
geological, supplemented for some countries by historic 
records of population. Prof. Gregory put before the 
society the views of different investigators, and sub- 
jected them to a critical examination, confining him- 
self to changes in historical times, and making no 
pretence at dealing with the great changes of climate 
of geological epochs, other than to indicate the glaciers 
of north-west Europe as the probable cause of the 
moister Mediterranean climate of prehistoric times. 
There are, roughly speaking, three forms of the 
desiccation theory. Prince Kropotkin maintains that 
there is a world-wide tendency towards drought. 
Prof. Ellsworth Huntington believes that the most 
important changes are pulsatory, the climate being 
now drier, now moister, but in the long run becoming 
generally drier. Mr. R. Thirlmere holds that the 
climate varies in great cycles, each of which may 
extend over 2000 years or more, and that we are at 
present in a cooling world. Prof. Gregory examined 
the evidence from different countries in its bearing on 
these theories, and showed the results of his examina- 
tion on a map, from which it appears that there has 
probably been desiccation in historic times in Central 
Asia, Arabia, Mexico, and South America; increased 
precipitation in the United States of America, Green- 
land, Sweden, Roumania, and Nigeria, and no appre- 
ciable change in Palestine, northern Africa, China, 
Australia, and by the Caspian Sea. He deduces that. 
though there may be local variations, there is no 
progressive world-wide change to support the theory 
of a universal drought. A priori it might be affirmed 
that no appreciable universal change could occur with- 
out a corresponding considerable change in the dis- 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


tribution of land and water, or in the intensity of 
solar radiation. The changes in the former have been 
small in historic times, and though no direct evidence 
of solar intensity is available, the records of tempera- 
ture and of plant life indicate that its fluctuations 
are probably confined to the short period variations 
found by the observers of the Smithsonian Astro- 
physica! Observatory. 

The strongest support for the desiccation theory is 
derived from Central Asia, where the evidence, though 
not conclusive, largely owing to the alternative ex- 
planation of blown sand, is sufficiently convincing to 
have won over the majority of the travellers who have 
visited that region. E. G 


ASTRONOMY IN SOUTH AFRICA. 


VERY interesting address was given by 

Dr. A. W. Roberts, as president of the South 
African Association for the Advancement of 
Science, at Lourenco Marques on July 7. Dr. 
Roberts dwelt for the main part on the progress made 
in astronomy by South African workers during the 
past century, but he claims pardon for omissions when 
such a large scope of work has to be considered. He 
sums up the work of astronomical science in late 
years as circling round three great problems, namely 
the distance of the stars, the movements of the stars, 
and the structure and evolution of the stars. These 
three lines, he points out, all converge in one great 
question, namely the constitution, history, and cosmo- 
graphy of the universe as a whole. In reading his 
address, which is published in The South African 
Journal of Science (vol. x., No. 2, October) one is 
struck by the great part that has been played by 
astronomers in South Africa. To use the president’s 
own words :—‘‘It was at the Cape that a sounding 
line was first thrown across the stellar space. It was 
at the Cape that the idea of stellar photography was 
born, grew up, and reached maturity. It was at the 
Cape, or perhaps by the results obtained at the Cape, 
that the first vision was got of those wonderful 
streams of stars that sweep majestically through our 
universe. It was at the Cape that the classical dis- 
tance of the sun was reached... that the first 
accurate parallax of the moon, and, later on, its 
weight, was determined ... that the most refined 
measures of stellar distance have been secured.’ Dr. 
Roberts tells the story of how—twenty years ago—he 
had in purpose the determination of the position of 
the solar apex from the proper motions in Stone’s 
catalogue. ‘‘I went,’ he said, ‘over my postulates 
with Gill, and was vehemently assured I was basing 
my equations on wrong premises. ‘How do you 
know that the stars move haphazard?’ he demanded. 
I did not know! ‘They may be moving in streams; 
the whole universe may be a big whirlpool! ’" The 
record of the past work of South Africa in astronomy 


) is great, and a high standard has been set for the 
| present and future astronomers there. 


THE ORIGIN OF ARGENTINE HORSES. 


1 ie the Anales of the Buenos Aires Museum for IgI2 

(vol. xii.) Sefior Cardoso adduced evidence to show 
that the story of the origin of Argentine horses from 
Spanish horses imported by Don Pedro de Mendoza 
in 1535 Or 1536 is a myth, and that the former are 
really descended from the Pleistocene Equus rectidens 
and E. curvidens, and existed in the interior of the 
country at the time of the Spanish conquest. This 
opinion is disputed in the Revue générale des Sciences 
of October 15 by Dr. Trouessart, who points out that 
the statement of wild horses having been seen by 
Sebastian Cabot in 1531 is based on the figure of a 


436 


horse introduced by that navigator in a map of the 
world in the region now known as Argentina. This, 
it is urged, is no evidence at all, but merely’ an 
indication that the country was suitable for horses. 
Historical evidence is cited to prove that horses were 
unknown to the Indians of Mexico, Panama, Peru, 
and Brazil at the time of the visits of Columbus (1498 
and 1502), and of the opening up of the country by 
his successors. It is then shown that there is a 
hiatus between the beds containing remains of E. 
rectidens and those with bones of modern horses, 
while it is argued that the ancient indigenous perisso- 
dactyles became extinct as the result of climatic and 
other physical changes. That the historical evidence 
in the case of the countries mentioned is decisive may 
be admitted, but the statements of Senor Cardoso 
with regard to the existence of large numbers of 
horses in Argentina in 1580 and the lack of fear of 
these animals exhibited by the Indians, as well as 
certain structural peculiarities alleged to be peculiar 
to Argentine horses and E. rectidens, are not referred 
to by Dr. Trouessart, who had not seen the original 
paper when writing his own article. A summary of 
Senor Cardoso’s views will be found in The Field of 
July 20, 1912. 


FRENCH HYDROLOGY.} 


‘TRE operations of the French Hydrological Service 
in the Alps have been so often the subject of 
notice in these columns that the issue of a fresh 
volume (tome vi.), bringing the record of results down 
to the end of the year 1911 for the service in the 
southern region, does not appear to call for more than 
passing notice. As is customary, the volume, which 
is mainly devoted to numerical tables of discharges 
and other statistical information, commences with a 
brief description of certain special features in regard 
to methods of gauging and their adaptation to local 
conditions. This is followed by a chapter of explana- 
tory remarks on the longitudinal sections and levels 
contained in the annexe—a case of forty-three plates. 
Somewhat fresher ground is opened out by the first 
volume relating to operations of the same service in 
the Pyrenees, and detailing the results obtained in 
the basin of the Adour. In a brief, but very effec- 
tive, résumé of the circumstances which preceded and 
led up to the establishment of the hydrological service 
in the south-west, M. Tavernier, who is in charge of 
this section of the work, records that the hydrology 
of the Pyrenees has been in the past the subject of 
greater research and more numerous observations than 
that of the Alps; and he adds that, while the material 
thus accumulated is fairly plentiful, it has brought 
with it the attendant difficulty of its evaluation and 
coordination, so as to admit of its utilisation in con- 
nection with future operations, which are naturally 
destined to be of a more precise and systematic char- 
acter. He narrates, in seven successive subsections, 
the progress of investigation and the nature of the 
observations made before the inauguration of the 
departmental service of the Ministry of Agriculture, 
dating back to a period anterior to the year 1850, 
and including the records of certain services specially 
formed, from time to time, to study the phenomena 
of floods. 

When he comes to discuss the relative merits of 
the regimen of the watershed of the Pyrenees and 
that of the Provencal Alps, he has some interesting 
remarks to make on the importance of lakes, which 
may be rendered as follows :—- 

The true wealth of the Pyrenees is to be found in 
close proximity to the summits, where numerous lakes 


1 Ministére de l’Agriculture: Direction générale des eaux et foréts, 
Service des grandes forces hydrauliques. (a) Région des Alpes: Compte 
rendu et résultats, Tome vi. et Annexe (nivellements), 1913. (4) Région du 
Sud-Ouest : Comptes rendus et résultats obtenus. Tomes 1 et 2, 1912. 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


q SFe4. eal 
“a 


[DECEMBER II, 1913 


exist, and where artificial reservoirs can be formed. 
It is quite otherwise in the Provengal Alps, where 
lakes are scarcely to be found, and where reservoir 
basins are rare. The lakes of the Pyrenees replace 
advantageously the glaciers of the Alps, since, in the 
former case, the outflow can be regulated to meet 
requirements, whereas the discharges arising from the 
melting of glaciers are intermittent and irregular, 
often proving a source of inconvenience because they 
cannot be controlled. aie 5 

The second volume of this series is purely statistical 
and diagrammatic, and deals with the results obtained 
in the basin of the Garonne down to the end of 1910 1 


. . . 


ECONOMIC GEOLOGY OF PAPUA.! 
HE Commonwealth of Australia has begun the — 
issue of ‘‘The Bulletin of the Territory of 
Papua,” of which the first number consists of a valu- 
able report by Mr. J. E. Carne, of the Geological 
Survey of New South Wales, on the coal, petroleum, 
and copper ores of part of British New Guinea. Mr. 
Carne visited the district to the north of the Gulf 
of Papua in 1912 in order to investigate the value of 
the coal discovered on the Purari River near the 
northern foot of Mt. Favenc. The coal proved to be 
only a brown coal of Cainozoic age, and Mr, Carne 
regards it as of no present economic value. He 
visited the Vailala River to inspect a series of gas 
springs, of which the first was discovered by G. A. — 
Thomas at Opa in 1911. Mr. Carne’s samples from — 
these gas springs have been analysed by Mr. Mingaye, 
who shows that they contain petroleum. The: dis- 
charge of natural gas is in sufficient quantity to indi- — 
cate the probable occurrence of considerable supplies 
of oil in the underlying beds, and Mr. Carne regards _ 
the geological conditions as so promising that he — 
recommends the prospecting of the area by adequate — 
boring. 5 
In discussing the relations of this oilfield he gives — 
a valuable summary of the present stage of develop-— 
ment of the New Zealand oilfields, and the most 
recent information regarding the gas well at Roma, in 
Queensland, and of that at Grafton, in New South 
Wales. Mr. Carne also visited the Astrolabe copper 
field to the east-north-east of Port Moresby. Only 
three of the ore occurrences there were available for 
inspection at his visit, and mining in the field is at 
present dormant. Mr. Carne, however, regards the — 
prospects of the field as encouraging, though no final 
opinion can be formed without further prospecting. — 
His account of one or two of the mines indicate that 
there are considerable bodies of low-grade ores avail- 
able. Mr. Carne’s memoir contains full references to 
the earlier literature on the economic geology of the 
districts visited, and it forms a valuable contribution — 
to the geology of New Guinea. 


METEOROLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS AT 
THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 
A MOST important contribution was made by Mr. 
J. I. Craig, who was unfortunately unable to 
be present at the meeting. The abnormal warmth of 
1gt1 in Europe prompted Sir Edward Fry to ask in 
Nature if the phenomenon was world-wide. Mr. Craig 
was able to reply for Egypt in the negative, inasmuch 
as the summer there had been cooler than usual, but — 
he was struck by the definiteness of the opposition, — 
and began to investigate the relation between tem- 
peratures in Egypt and southwest England, based 


on values for the past thirty-four years. He found 
that the departures from the normal in the two 


1 J. E. Carne: Notes on the Occurrence of Coal, Petroleum, and Copper 
in Papua. Bulletin of the Territory of Papua, No. 1, 1913, vill. Pp. r16-+ 
xxix plates+-3 sections +1 map. 


DECEMBER 11, 1913] 


NATURE 


437 


countries were in opposite directions in all seasons, 
as indicated by the correlation coefficient, but the 
results were much more definite for the first and last 
quarters of the year, when the values of r were 
—o'72 and —o43 respectively. Mr. Craig then pro- 
ceeded to calculate the values of r between Egypt and 
other European stations, and by using the values 
found he drew lines of equal correlation. A little 
thought shows what a powerful method he has in- 
augurated for dealing with the problem of centres of 
action and for localising the centres in a definite 
manner. It will be for each country in the future to 
work out the monthly or seasonal iso-correlational 
lines with itself as base, and to use the charts ob- 
tained in determining what information will be useful 
to it in making its own seasonal forecasts. 

Mr. E. Gold and Mr. F. J. W. Whipple showed some 
curves of frequency of temperature for Kew and 
Valencia Observatories, which exhibited a double 
maximum in the annual curve. Roughly speaking, 
the year may be divided as regards temperature into 
three seasons, winter, summer, and equinoctial, each 
season including four months. If the temperature of 
a particular day of the year were always the same in 
different years, we should get a relatively large 
number of warm days at the time of the summer 
maximum, when temperature changes but slowly from 
day to day and of cold days at the time of the 
winter minimum. Actually, the temperature of a 
particular day of the year varies considerably, and 
the result is that the temperatures occurring most 
frequently are not the extremes, but are closer to the 
mean, and it may happen that they meet and give one 
single temperature of most frequent occurrence if 
the annual variation is small enough compared with 
the variability of a particular day. It may be noted 
for places similar to Kew in their temperature varia- 
tions, that in order to experience the largest number 
of days of temperature 60° F., say, it is necessary to 
select a place with a mean maximum temperature, 
either 4° or 5° above 60° F. or 4° or 5° below 60° F. 

Dr. J. S. Owens discussed the conditions to be ful- 
filled by an approved method of measuring atmo- 
spheric pollution, and considered in turn nine different 
methods, none of which were entirely free from 
objection. One of the simplest, that of collecting the 
deposit from the atmosphere ip a gauge of known 
area, has been adopted by the Committee for the 
Investigation of Atmospheric Pollution. 

Dr. Vaughan Cornish described a simple method of 
determining the period of waves at sea by observing 
the interval between the times when a patch of spent 
foam is on the crest of successive waves. The 
method appears to be an excellent one, and ought to 
be brought to the notice of marine meteorologists, but 
it is desirable that observations should be made, in 
connection with the method, to determine what cor- 
rection is necessary owing to the effect of wind on 
the foam. 

Prof. H. H. Turner, in presenting the report of 
the seismological committee, referred to the great loss 
which seismology had sustained through the death 
of Prof. Milne, who had invariably given some account 
of the year’s work and progress at the annual meet- 
ing of the association ever sincs the committee was 
formed nearly twenty years ago. Since his death the 
committee had had an anxious time; it was agreed 
that the work must be carried on, and the committee 
had decided that for the present it could not do better 
than arrange for the collection and discussion of 
records to be carried on at Shide so far as possible 
without alteration. Mr. J. J. Shaw, who gave a 
description of his instrument which was working in 
the basement of the building, had succeeded in 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


making a satisfactory damping arrangement for the 
Milne seismograph; this removed the most serious 
objection which had been raised to the Milne instru- 
ment, and it was hoped that the network of stations 
reporting to Shide would be able to add a “damped” 
instrument to their equipment. 

The Rev. H. V. Gill, S.J., read a paper on the dis- 
tribution of earthquakes in space and time. He con- 
cluded that at least 60 per cent. of recorded earth- 
quakes were associated with others in their neigh- 
bourhood. 

The Rev. W. O’Leary, S.J., discussed the sources of 
disturbance of seismometers which are especially 
sensitive to convection currents. A statement that 
certain periodic variations were due to the beating 
of the waves on the west coast of Ireland was chal- 
lenged by Dr. Vaughan Cornish, who pointed out 
that the resultant effect of the waves on an irregular 
coast-line would not have the wave-period; it would 
probably not be periodic at all. 

The Rev. A. L. Cortie, S.J., discussed the connection 
between sun-spots and terrestrial magnetic disturb- 
ances, and suggested that the equatorial rays of the 
solar corona might represent the stream lines of the 
solar influence, active in magnetic storms. 

Dr. S. Chapman gave an account of an investiga- 
tion into the periodic variations of magnetic force, 
by which he sought to test and extend Schuster’s 
suggestion that the changes are due to the motion 
of ionised air across the vertical magnetic field. He 
dealt particularly with variations of lunar period, and 
found that he got eight complex curves for different 
phases of the moon, which could be resolved into a 
semi-diurnal variation, and a diurnal variation of 
which the epoch changed during the month—a change 
which he attributed to variation in the ionisation of 
the upper atmosphere due to the variation in the 
solar-hour angle. 

In a joint meeting with Section E, important 
geodetic questions were discussed. An account of this 
discussion is given in the report of the proceedings of 
Section E. 

On Monday the meteorologists and other cosmical 
physicists met together for the annual ‘‘ meteorological 
luncheon,”’ and taking to heart Sir Joseph Larmor’s 
comment on the results achieved at the Mount Wilson 
Solar Observatory, that ‘tif the meteorologists were 
not careful we should soon know more about the 
sun’s atmosphere than we did about the earth’s,” 
the meteorologists accorded the place of principal 
guest to Prof. Hale’s representative, Mr. C. E. 
St. John, who promised to remember them at his 
mountain shrine. 


GEOGRAPHY AT THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION. 
ye the conclusion of the president’s address in 
Section E (Geography), Dr. W. S. Bruce pre- 
sented his newly completed map of Prince Charles 
Foreland, Spitsbergen—an island of about 250 square 
miles, half of which is below the too-foot contour line 
and one-fifth covered by glaciers. The rest consists 
of mountains and huge moraines. The height of 
Saddle Mount was fixed at 1406 ft., and the Devil’s 
Thumb at 2602 ft. Ona later day he gave an account 
of the economic resources of Spitsbergen, chief among 
which is an excellent steam coal bordering a splendid 
harbour, at present mined chiefly by Americans. In 
view of negotiations from Russia for the purchase of 
these coal measures, lying only fifty-three hours by 
cruiser from our coasts, he urged the immediate 
annexation of the island by the British Government. 
Mr. N. Dracopoli described his journey across 


438 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER II, 1913 


Jubaland to the Lorian Swamp, and Dr. C. A. Hill 
the exploration of the limestone caverns of Gaping 
Ghyll, in Yorkshire. 

Friday morning was devoted to local geography. 
After Miss C, A. Simpson’s paper, which dealt in 
detail with the physical and human circumstances of 
ihe Rugby district, Prof. W. W. Watts analysed in 
masterly fashion the geography of Shropshire. Con- 
trasting the lowlands north and east of the Severn 
with the uplands of the south and west, he exhibited 
graphically the influence on rivers, roads, and place- 
names of the forested Edges and the wooded barrier 
of the Severn Gorge. The more immediate’ neigh- 
bourhood of Birmingham furnished material for three 
papers. Mr. P. E. Martineau showed how thé Mid- 
land Plateau, an upland area of 1000 square miles, 
sharply limited to the south by a steep escarpment, 
had marked the meeting of the English invaders from 
the Humber with the Saxons from Wessex. Mr. 
W. H. Foxall traced the growth of the city from a 
market at the convergence of trackways; and Mr. H. 
Kay contrasted the Black Country, which owed to 
its varied minerals a population of 1,750,000, a density 
exceeded on an equal area only in London, with the 
historical scenery of its borderland. 

On Monday, before Dr. Bruce’s paper on Spits- 
bergen, Mr. C. B. Fawcett contributed an anthropo- 
geographic study of fiord lands in relation with the 
physical conditions of Norway, the north-west coast 
of North America, and Magellanes. In each region a 
narrow strip of coast was backed by barren highlands; 
each had a damp climate unfavourable to agriculture, 
with an ice-free sea; in each, expansion took place 
along the waterways. Social development depended 
on skill in navigation, local and limited among the 
Magellanes, confined to dug-out canoes among the 
Amerinds, but highly developed where the Norsemen 
were in touch with the shipbuilding nations of Europe. 
Mr. A. G. Ogilvie investigated the origin and growth 
of two remarkable promontories which screen the 
Inverness Firth from the Moray Firth, partly through 
geological changes, partly through tidal and wind 
currents. Prof. J. W. Gregory gave a lantern lecture 
on Australia, in preparation for the coming visit of 
the Association to that continent. 

On Tuesday morning the section divided into two 
parts, one joining with members of Section A to 
receive papers on geodesy, the other discussing natural 
regions of the world, the topic being introduced by 
Prof. A. J. Herbertson. In the latter the most in- 
teresting points arose in connection with the place of 
man in the region. Some speakers held that human 
interests formed the only satisfactory principle of 
division; others that the title ‘‘ natural” excluded man 
from consideration; and others that man and his 
environment were so mutually interactive as to be 
indivisible in such relations. 

At the joint meeting with Section A, Capt. H. S. L. 
Winterbotham, R.E., read a paper on the accuracy 
of the principal triangulation of the United Kingdom. 
He said that the work having been carried out in the 
years 1783 to 1853, the precision of the angular 
measurements was less than that of most of the 
continental worl, which is of later date. The probable 
error of an observed angle as calculated from the 
triangular errors is 123", as against 0°54” for the 
mean of all national systems up to 1892. These facts 
had led to the expression of doubts whether the 
British work was sufficiently accurate for incorpora- 
tion with the more modern European work. This 
question was discussed at the British Association 
meetings in 1906 and 1908, and in the latter year a 
letter was written on behalf of the Council of the 


ture and Fisheries, suggesting the remeasurement 
of a small portion of the triangulation remote from 

the old bases. This has now been done, and there 

are available as checks six bases in the British Isles 
(including three measured before |1820 with steel 
chains), and also a connection across the Channel to — 
the new French meridional arc. The greatest dis-— 


crepancy found was 1/42000 between the new base 


= 


at Lossiemouth and the new Paris base. 
The accuracy of a triangulation depends not only 


on the precision of the angular measurements, but “9 

In this latter 
respect the British triangulation has a considerable 
In order to get — 
a rough idea of how far this had compensated for — 


” 


also on the ‘‘strength”’ of the figure. 


advantage over most other work. 


the inferior angular measurements a comparison was 
made with seventy-seven pairs of bases in all parts of 
the world. On the assumption that the error 
generated varied as the square root of the distance 
from the base it was found that the mean discrepancy 
for too miles of triangulation was o’0000044 in the 
logarithm, or 1/g9000. Taking the six pairs of bases 
available for the British Isles, the mean discrepancy 
was 00000029 in the logarithm, or 1/152000. It 
would appear, therefore, that the principal triangula- 
tion is sufficiently accurate for incorporation with 
the more modern work on the continent, and that if 
funds became available for remeasuring the British 
ares, they would be better employed for other geodetic 
work. 

Capt. H. G. Lyons, F.R.S., read a short paper on 
the terms used in triangulation, directing attention to 
the great and confusing differences in the terms 
adopted. He recommended that the terms first order, 
second order, third order, and fourth order should 
be adopted, the order depending on the average tri- 
angular error. The discussion showed that the feeling 
of the meeting was very much in favour of the pro- 
posal, and the question was brought up at the meeting 
of the general committee, and finally referred to the 
council, with a view to the whole question being 
brought to the notice of those concerned. M. Ch. 
Lallemand, in the discussion, stated that the subject 
was being considered by the International Geodetic 
Association. 

A paper by Mr. E. B. H. Wade, read by Mr. Keeling, 
gave particulars of some longitude observations in 
Egypt along a line Helwan—Dagsur to investigate the 
local attraction in that district. There is a difference 
in the local attraction between the places named of 
about 8". ae 

Mr. B. F. E. Keeling read a paper on the precision 
of field latitudes in Egypt. The latitudes were observed 
with a 10-inch Repsold theodolite. The probable error 
of a single night’s observations worked out at about 
oi", but the agreement between observations on 
different nights was not as good as this would indi- 
cate. To investigate this, a series of monthly observa- 
tions for latitude were carried out in the grounds of 
the Helwan observatory, using a procedure identical 
with that followed in the field. The results were 
much less accordant than was to be expected from 
the individual probable errors. A comparison of the 
different monthly sets of observations (11 in all) gave 
a probable error for one set of 05”, and this would 
appear to be the correct probable error to assign to 
the field latitudes of the Egyptian Geodetic Survey. 

It was pointed out in the discussion that as these 
discrepancies were not found at permanent observa- 
tories, they must either be due to some peculiarity in 
Egypt, or more probably to the methods and instru- 
ments employed. Among those who took part in the 
discussions were M. Ch. Lallemand, Col. C. F. Close, 


Association to the President of the Board of Agricul- | and Prof. H. H. Turner. 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


ry 


“Ss, 


= 


DECEMBER II, 1913 


NATURE 


439 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 
CampripGz.—Mr. F. Horton,.of St. John’s College, 
has been approved by the General Board of Studies 
for the degree of doctor of science. 


Science announces that an anonymous gift of 
20,000l. has been made to Wellesley College. The 
money was given towards the 200,0001. fund which 
the college is trying to raise as an endowment. The 
total amount obtained thus far is go0,60ol. 


AmonG the scientific lectures arranged for advanced 
students of the University of London during the spring 
term of 1914 are a course of four lectures on carbo- 
hydrate fermentation at King’s College, by Prof. A. 
Harden, University professor of biochemistry, at 4.30 
p-m., on Mondays, beginning on January 26; and a 
course of eight lectures on physiological effects of 
anesthetics and narcotics, at Guy’s Hospital, by Dr. 
M. S. Pembrey and Mr. J. H. Ryffel, at 4 p.m., on 
Thursdays, beginning on January 22. The lectures, 
which will be illustrated by experiments, are addressed 
to advanced students of the University and to others 
interested in the subjects. Admission is free, without 
ticket. 


Tue annual report for the session 1912-13 of the 
Royal Technical College. Glasgow, has now been 
circulated. The total number of individual students 
enrolled was 5069, of whom 610 were day students. 
The higher work of the college continues to grow in 
volume and in standard. The roll of students included 
135 graduates of the four Scottish universities and of 
the Universities of Cambridge, London, Manchester, 
Allahabad, and Calcutta. The arrangements for the 
affiliation of the college to the University of Glasgow 
have been completed, and the ordinance of the Univer- 
sity Court giving effect to the affiliation received the 
approval of his Majesty in Council on March 7, 1913. 
The report gives particulars of twenty-nine works and 
papers published during the session by members of 
the college. Details are supplied of the extensions 
and developments in the various departments of the 
college and of the continued interest shown by the 
manufacturers and merchants of the district in the 
work of the college. 


Tue Institute of Chemistry has issued in pamphlet 
fcrm a full report of a conference of professors of 
chemistry held on October 17 last to consider the 
relation of the qualifications of the institute to those 
of other educational institutions; the general question 
of the training of professional chemists; and the work 
of the institute in matters of professional interest in 
all branches. The members of the conference in- 
cluded the officers and members of the council of the 
institute, the board of examiners, professors of chem- 
istry in universities and colleges recognised for the 
training of candidates for the associateship of the 
institute, and in other well-known colleges and tech- 
nical schools. The pamphlet contains a preliminary 
statement by the president of the institute, Prof. R. 
Meldola, submitted as a basis for discussion and 
circulated among members before the conference, 
notes received from members before the day of the 
conference, the report of the conference itself, and 
expressions of opinion since received. The symposium 
is of great interest to chemists as bringing, together 
- authoritative views on the training and qualifications 
of professional chemists. 


Own Friday, December 5, the London Teachers’ 
Association held a meeting to discuss a report to be 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


made by its education committee on the child and the 
kinematograph. The report will be based on the per- 
sonal observations of the members of the committee 
of visits to picture palaces, on the results of their 
experience with children, and on the written composi- 
tions of 1300 children of Standard III. and upwards 
on the picture palace. Mr. Albert Smith, chairman 
of the education committee, considered the subject as 
regards its moral, physical, and educational effects on 
the child. Its physical effect was to produce a great 
frequency of headaches and to increase the number of 
children demanding eye treatment; its effect on char- 
acter building was bad; the educational aspect showed 
that the results in a child’s mind was “utter, hope- 
less, desperate confusion.’’ Two things were needed, 
an efficient film censorship for all films shown to 
children and the establishment of educational condi- 
tions so that teachers should control films to be used 
in school work. In Germany the drawbacks of the 
kinematograph were minimised by proper restrictions. 
Dr. Garnett said that the London County Council 
had postponed consideration of this matter for six 
months. He had doubts whether the kinematograph 
would be of use in the teaching of history, geography, 
and industries, but he certainly thought it was of 
considerable use in the teaching of science, on account 
of the time-control. 


Tne annual prize distribution of the Northampton 
Polytechnic, London, E.C., was held on Friday, 
December 5, when the prizes were distributed by Mr. 
Cyril S. Cobb, the chairman of the London County 
Council. In his report, the principal, after giving 
details of the work of the institute, referred particu- 
larly to the delay in the erection of the technical optics 
annexe and its serious effect upon the unique work 
of the polytechnic in this subject. Mr. Cobb, in his 
address to the students, expressed his regret at the 
scheme having been apparently pigeon-holed at the 
Education Office of the council, and promised to 
unearth it with a view to a definite answer being 
given to the requests of the governing body in view 
of the great importance, both to the metropolis and 
the nation, of carefully planned developments in tech- 
nological education in optics. Mr. Cobb also dwelt 
upon the necessity for employers, the apprenticeship 
system being practically dead, giving facilities for 
their apprentices and younger workmen to attend 
technical classes, remarking that if such facilities 
were not given the time might not be far distant when 


| attendance at such classes might be made compulsory. 


In the laboratories of the polytechnic an interesting 
scientific development in electric furnace work was 
the subject of a lecturette given by Mr. S. Field, the 
head of the technical chemistry department, with prac- 
tical demonstrations by Mr. E. Kilburn Scott, another 
member of the staff, and the inventor of a new type 
of electric furnace. The furnace is a flame are fur- 
nace, working at high voltages, the three arcs of a 
three-phase system being produced at the same point 
in one furnace. Air under pressure is blown, as 
usual, through the arc, and the nitrous oxide pro- 
duced is absorbed in appropriate towers, but incident- 
ally the furnace is so arranged that the waste heat of 
these products can be utilised for steam raising. A 
still more important feature of the furnace is that the 
are can be started and stopped by means of discharges 
in an auxiliary circuit not part of the high-pressure 
power supply. This gives a very efficient and con- 
venient form of control. Other and older tyes of elec- 
tric furnaces were described, and, to some extent, 
demonstrated. Many interesting details of the work 
and equipment of the polytechnic were also on view, 
some of them involving novel features of both educa- 
tional and scientific interest. 


440 


NATURE 


‘at Sa 
i 


[DECEMBER II, 1913 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


Lonpon. 

Royal Society, December 4.—Sir William Crookes, 
O.M., president, in the chair.—Sir Francis Darwin : 
A method of studying transpiration. The method is 
to close the stomata by coating the surface of the 
leaf with vaseline or some other grease, and then to 
place the intercellular spaces in connection with the 
outer air by cutting the leaf into strips. It is found 
by experience that such leaves transpire at rates com- 
parable to those observed in natural leaves, and that 
they appear to behave normally in relation to external 
influences. In the present paper the effect of the 
relative humidity of the air is considered.—Sir Francis 
Darwin: The effect of light on the transpiration of 
leaves. The object of the research was to get a 
general idea of the differences in transpiration pro- 
duced by alternate periods of diffused light and dark- 
ness. The experiments were made on the laurel 
(Prunus laurocerasus) and the ivy (Hedera helix), 
either by weighing or with the potometer. The 
results proved variable, and only by taking an average 
of a considerable number of experiments were figures 
of any sort of value obtained. For Prunus the average 
transpiration-rates in light and darkness are as 
132: 100; for ivy the figures are 136: 100.—Prof. 
J. B. Farmer and L. Digby: Dimensions of chromo- 
somes considered in relation to phylogeny. It is not 
possible to maintain that the width of chromosomes 
is a feature constant for the large phyla of the animal 
kingdom, inasmuch as not only are there appreciable 
individual differences, but in closely related species, 
e.g. lobster and prawn, this difference amounts to at 
least 60 per cent.—J. H. Mummery: The process of 
calcification in enamel and dentine. Although much 
has been written on the calcification of teeth, the 
actual mode of deposition of the lime salts has been 
very little investigated. The author shows that both 
in dentine and enamel the lime salts are deposited in 
the globular form, despite the chemical composition 
of the finished tissues——A. Compton: The optimum 
temperature of salicin hydrolysis by enzyme action is 
independent of the concentrations of substrate and 
enzyme. The optimum temperature of the enzyme in 
question is independent alike of the concentration of 
the substrate and of the concentration of the enzyme. 
—C. F. U. Meek: The ratio between spindle lengths 
in the spermatocyte metaphases of Helix Pomatia.— 
Dr. A. P. Laurie, W. F. P. McLintock, and F. D. 
Miles: Egyptian blue. The purpose of the research 
is to decide the exact conditions under which the 
blue, manufactured and used in Egypt from the fourth 
dynasty to classical times, is produced, and to clear up 
the doubts as to its nature and constitution. The 
results of the investigation are to confirm the con- 
clusion come to by Fouqué that the blue is a double 
silicate consisting principally of calcium and copper, 
but in which these metals can be partially replaced by 
alkalies. When soda, lime, and copper carbonate are 
heated with an excess of sand, a green glass is formed 
round the quartz particles at about 800° C. At about 
840° the double silicate begins to crystallise out of 
this magma, again completely dissolving to form a 
green glass at 890° C. The discovery.of this com- 
pound by the Egyptians is doubtless due to their 
practice of glazing small articles carved out of sand- 
stone with a green copper glaze. 

Royal Meteorological Society, November 19.—Mr. 
C. J. P. Cave, president, in the chair—W. H. Dines : 
The daily temperature change at great heights. When 
‘observations by means of registering balloons were 
first started in England in 1907, it was soon found 
that the effect ‘of solar radiation upon the thermo- 
graph was a matter that must be reckoned with. To 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


avoid the trouble, balloons were mostly sent up a little 
before sunset, and this policy continued until the 
meeting of the International Committee at Monaco in 
the spring of 1909. At that mé@eting the time of 
7 a.m. was fixed for the international ascents, 7 a.m. 
being the time for which the morning weather chart — 
is drawn. Since then, ascents have been made in — 


England at the specified time, viz. 7 a.m., on the 
But other — 
ascents have also been made on the international days 
ry 
ae 


twenty-three specified days per annum. 


and on days of special meteorological interest, such 


as the occurrence of thunder, or of a very high or — 


very low barometer, and such ascents are mostly 


made in the evening. Some 200 good observations 
have been made in the British Isles, reaching to about 
16 kilometres, concentrated into two nearly equal 
groups, one with its centre two hours after sunrise, 
and the other about a quarter of an hour after sunset. 
Mr. Dines has carefully discussed these records, and 
finds that above two kilometres and up to the iso- 
thermal column, the daily range of temperature, if it 
exists at all, does not exceed 2° C., and that the 
maximum is in the afternoon or evening.—H. 
Harries: The eddy winds of Gibraltar. The Rock 
rises to 1400 ft., and is very exceptionally situated at 
the entrance to the Mediterranean, and consequently 
gives rise to great eddies of wind. Mr. Harries on 
two visits to Gibraltar made some observations on 
these eddies at the summit signal station, 1310 ft., 
by means of small balloons and pieces of wadding and 
wool. As the observations were carried out under 
nearly calm and also very windy conditions the results 
are both curious and interesting, and may help to- 
throw light on some of the atmospheric disturbances 
which are a source of trouble to aviators. 


Linnean Society, November 20.—Prof. E. B. Poulton, 
F.R.S., president, in the chair—H. J. Elwes: The 
travels of Sir Joseph Hooker in the Sikkim Himalaya. 
Hooker received in all r1ool. from Government, and 
the return was marvellous in comparison with that 
modest subsidy. The first year, 1849, was devoted to 
work to the westward, including a part of Nipal, as 
far as the Yangma valley, and ending in late autumn; 
the second year was spent in northward exploration 
as far as the Tibetan boundary at the Donkia pass. 
Besides the collection of a vast number of plants, 
Hooker observed the geology and meteorology of the 
country traversed, and plotted the map which was 
published in his ‘‘ Himalayan Journals.’’ A subordinate 
part was the despatch of more than 1000 packets of 
seeds to the elder Hooker, by whom they were dis- 
tributed to many private gardens and nurseries, by 
which means European cultivators became possessed, 
amongst other things, of the Himalayan Rhododen- 
drons. Of the literary results of these investigations 
may be mentioned the two volumes of the ** Himalayan 
Journals,”’ 1854, the splendid ‘Illustrations of Hima- 
layan Plants,”’ 1855, and the noble ‘‘ Rhododendrons 
of the Sikkim Himalaya,” brought out in 1849-51 by 
Sir William Hooker during his son’s absence in India. 


Zoological Society, November 25.—Prof. E. W. Mac- 
Bride, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—Orjan 
Olsen: A new Rorqual from the coast of South Africa. 
A detailed account was given of external characters, 
biology, and distribution.—Miss Marie V. Lebour: A 
new species of Trematodes of the genus Lechriorchis. 
The species was found in the body-cavity of a dark 
green snake (Zamenis gemonensis) that had died in 
the society’s gardens.—T. H. Withers: Cirripede re- 
mains from the Cenomanian Chalk Marl in the neigh- 
bourhood of Cambridge. The greater number of the 
specimens are referred to two species of the family 
Pollicipedidze, and add materially to our knowledge of 
the phylogeny of the pedunculated Cirripedes. Both 


DECEMBER II, 1913] 


forms are remarkable for their advanced form of 
scutum, in which the umbo is subcentral, and show 
that the transition of the scutal umbo from an apical 
to a subcentral position was acquired independently 
by unrelated forms in distinct lines of development.— 
Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell: The peroneal muscles in 
birds. The author had dissected these muscles in 
more than 300 birds, and believed that he was able 
to give a nearly exhaustive account of the varieties 
of form presented by these structures. The paper 
described the peroneal muscles in Chauna chavaria, 
and gave a systematic account of the conditions in 
the different avian groups which could all be repre- 
sented as derivatives of the Chauna condition by loss 
of certain portions and increased development of other 
portions. 


Royal Anthropological Institute, November 26.—Prof. 
A. Keith, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—M. Fr. de 
Zeltner : The Touareg. The Touareg inhabit a region 
from the 7th degree of W. longitude to the 6th degree 
of E. longitude, and the author had explored the whole 
of this territory from east to west, reaching as far north 
as Aoudéras, about 150 km. north of Agadez, the 
capital of Air. The main object of the author’s expe- 
ditions in 1910-11-12 was the anthropological study of 
the southern Touareg, of whom he measured 145 
individuals, three being women. He was able to dis- 
cover that, despite a certain amount of intermixture, 
the race presented a great homogeneity, and that it 
differed distinctly from the neighbouring groups— 
negroes, Hausa, Peulh, and Moors. Its cus- 
toms were exclusively feudal, and women played 
a very important rédle amongst the Touareg, 
while they were treated with but little con- 
sideration amongst their neighbours. Although the 
Touareg were warriors above everything, yet one 
could conclude that they were commencing to adapt 
themselves to a settled life. As their pillaging ex- 
peditions became from day to day more difficult, a 
number of them were beginning to devote themselves 
to agriculture, forcing their captives to work, and 
obtaining good results therefrom. Internally there 
was absolute tranquillity in the Touareg country. 


December 2.—Prof. A. Keith, F.R.S.,_presi- 
dent, in the chair.—Dr. W. Hildburgh: Japanese 


minor magic connected with the propagation 
and infancy of children. The lecturer prefaced 
-his paper by describing the kind of magic 


to be dealt with as principally non-professional, and 
performed by the ordinary man or woman as distin- 
guished from the professional magician. Starting 
with various magical cures for, or means for avoiding, 
barrenness, Dr. Hildburgh showed how some of these 
depended upon the transference of the soul of a living 
or dead person to the barren woman, while others 
depended upon the simulation of a birth, or other 
mimetic means. Passing then to pregnancy, he dis- 
cussed the magical means for assuring the safety of 
the unborn child by protecting it from the attacks of 
malignant demons and from the effects of inadvertent 
acts of the mother, and those for predicting its sex 
and for assuring that the sex should be as desired. 


Faraday Society, November 26.—Mr. W. R. Bous- 
field, vice-president, in the chair—E. Vanstone: The 
electrical conductivities of sodium amalgams.—A. C. 
Rivett and E. I. Rosenblum: The influence of a second 
solute on the solubility of ortho-phthalic acid. 


Society of Chemical Industry, December 1.—Dr. W. R. 
Hodgkinson in the chair.—Dr. E. J. Russel and W. 
Buddin; The use of antiseptics in increasing the 
growth of crops in soil. The action of antiseptics on 
the soil is shown to be complex, but the most impor- 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


44i 


tant for the present purpose is that the micro-organic 
population of the soil is very considerably simplified. 
The higher forms of life are killed when sufficient 
antiseptic is added, and the bacteria are greatly 
reduced in numbers. If the antiseptic is Volatile or 
easily removed from the soil a remarkable result is 
obtained shortly after it has gone. The bacterial 
numbers do not remain low, but they begin to rise, 
and finally attain a level much exceeding that of the 
original soils. Simultaneously there is an increase in 
the rate of ammonia production in the soil; the 
evidence shows that this is the direct result of the 
increased numbers of bacteria. The increased 
ammonia production, however, does not set in if a 
large amount of ammonia and nitrate is already pre- 
sent in the soil. This increased production of 
ammonia induces a larger growth than in the un- 
treated soils; antiseptics, therefore, tend to have the 
same action as nitrogenous fertilisers, and could be 
used to supplement them in practice. The antiseptics 
used should be destructive to disease organisms, pests, 
and organisms detrimental to the ammonia-producing 
bacteria, be capable of being removed from the soil 
either by volatilisation, oxidation, or decomposition, be 
convenient in application, and not be absorbed too 
readily by the soil, or proper distribution cannot take 
place. Of the various compounds tried during the 
last three years formaldehyde is the best; then comes 
pyridine, and then cresol, phenol, carbon disulphide, 
toluene, and others. None of these are so good as 
steam, but the subject is yet in its infancy, and there 
is no reason to doubt that suitable antiseptics will yet 
be found. 


CAMBRIDGE. 


Philosophical Society, November 17.—Dr. Shipley, 
president, in the chair.—Dr. Doncaster: A possible 
connection between abnormal sex-limited transmission 
and sterility. In a previous paper it was shown that 
the rare tortoiseshell male cat probably arises by a 
failure of the normal sex-limited transmission of the 
orange colour by the male. The present communica- 
tion gives evidence that the tortoiseshell male exhibited 
is sterile. Two females of the moth Abraxas grossu- 
lariata in which the normal sex-limited transmission 
of the grossulariata pattern had failed were also 
sterile; it is therefore suggested that the sterility may 
be correlated with transmission of a character to a 
sex which does not normally receive it—E. Hindle; 
The flight of the house-fly. The paper contains a 
description of experiments on the range of flight of 
the house-fly, conducted in Cambridge during the 
summer of 1912. The results obtained indicate that 
flies tend to travel either against or across the wind. 
The chief conditions favouring their dispersal are fine 
weather and a warm temperature. The maximum 
flight in thickly housed localities seems to be about a 
quarter of a mile, but in one case a single fly was 
recovered at a distance of 770 yards. It should be 
noted, however, that part of this distance was across 
open country.—H. H. Brindley: Sex proportions of 
Forficula auricularia in the Scilly Islands. In view 
of collections of the common earwig obtained from 
two of the islands in 1911 showing as considerable 
differences in the proportions of the sexes as had 
been previously observed in collections from various 
localities in England and Scotland (Proceedings, 
vol. xvi., part 8, 1912, p. 674), a visit was made to 
the Islands in August last year. Collections were 
made in all the five inhabited and seven of the un- 
inhabited islands. There are great differences in the 
proportions of the sexes in the various islands. The 
range for different localities on a single island is not 
great. The evidence that the characters of the soil 
and vegetation show any relation with the sex propor 


442 


tions is very slight. 
Isles show very slight relation with the positions of 
the islands as regards each other. 


MANCHESTER. 


Literary and Philosophical Society, November 4.—Mr. 
Francis Nicholson, president, in the chair.—Prof. 
Edmund Knecht and Miss E. Hibbert: Note on some 
products isolated from soot. The authors gave an 
account of the laborious work involved in isolating 
definite organic compounds from soot collected from 
household chimneys round Manchester. Three of 
these were obtained, and were described. One such 
compound is an unsaturated solid hydrocarbon, cero- 
tene, which was isolated in 1783 by Kénig and Kiesow 
from hay, this being the only other known source. 
Another substance, obtained in the form of a pure 
yellow oil, appears to be of the nature of a higher 
alcohol, and a solid organic acid was also isolated.— 
Prof. H, C. H. Carpenter; The crystallising properties 
of electro-deposited iron. Specimens of  electro- 
deposited iron sheet of a high degree of purity have 
been found to exhibit remarkable recrystallisation 
effects when heated above the Ac3 change, and then 
cooled below the Ar3 change. In this way relatively 
enormous crystals are formed in three seconds after 
cooling below Ar3. The coarse crystals are sometimes 
“equi-axed’’ and sometimes “radial.” Frequently 
both types occur on the same specimen. ‘There is no 
reason for thinking that they are constitutionally 
different, and they are most probably « iron. These 
crystallisation effects are only obtained when _ the 
thickness of the iron sheet or strip does not exceed 
a certain critical figure, which is between o-o11 and 
0-012 of an inch. The coarse crystals once formed can 
only be destroyed either by mechanical work or by 
heating above Ac3 followed by quenching, or by very 
prolonged heating above Ac3 followed by ordinary 
cooling rates. The same heat treatment which pro- 
duces coarse crystals in the electro-deposited iron 
refines wrought-iron and very mild steel that have 
been rendered coarsely crystalline by *‘* close-anneal- 
ing”? between 700° and 800° C. On the other hand, 
annealing at 700° to 800° C. has no effect in coarsen- 
ing the structure of the electro-deposited iron which 
has been refined by cold mechanical work. In these 
respects, therefore, the behaviour of electro-deposited 
iron is precisely the opposite of that of wrought-iron 
and mild steel. 

EDINBURGH. 

Royal Society, November 17.—Prof. J. Geikie, 
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Dr. F. Kidston Fossil 
flora of the Westphalian Series of the South Stafford- 
shire Coalfield. More than 150 species were de- 
scribed, some of them being recorded for the first 
time as British. A few mew species were also 
described.—Prof. Margaret J. Benson: Sphaerostoma 
ovale (Conostoma ovale et intermedium, Williamson), 
a Lower Carboniferous Ovale from Pettycur, Fife- 
shire. The paper also contained the description of a 
seed referable to Pteridosfernis, and possibly belong- 
ing to Heterangium Grievii, Williamson.—Prof. C. R. 
Marshall: Studies on the pharmacological action of 
tetra-alkyl-ammonium compounds. I., The action of 
tetra-methyl-ammonium chloride. This substance pro- 
duces paralysis of the myoneural junctions in mam- 
mals and frogs. In anzsthetised mammals the intra- 
venous injection of certain doses causes temporary 
cessation of the respiration, which was found to be 
synchronous with the paralysis of the nerve-endings 
in the muscles of the anterior end of the body. The 
respiratory paralysis was also found to occur after 
division of both fifth cranial nerves, and therefore 
could not be due, as has been stated, to stimulation of 


NO, 2302, VOL: 92] 


NATURE 


The sex proportions in the Scilly \ the endings of these nerves. 


fluorescein at great distances. 


[DECEMBER II, I913 


It was further shown 
that the effect was not synchronous with the action 
on the circulation.—Dr. T. Muir: The theory of bi- 
gradients from 1859 to 1880. 


Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, December 1.—-M. F. Guyon in 
the chair.—Paul Appell: The development of (x—y)-* 
in series proceeding according to the inverse of given 
polynomials.—M. Righi was elected a correspondant 
for the section of physics in the place of the late M- 
Bosscha, and M. Grignard a correspondant in the 
section of chemistry in the place of M. Sabatier, 
elected non-resident member.—André Broca and Ch. 
Florian: A practical level with a damped mercury 
bath. The movements of the sheet of mercury are 
deadened by covering with a thin layer of glycerol, 
the latter being covered by a sheet of plane glass. 
Numerous possible applications of the instrument are 
suggested.—Henri Chrétien ; Statistical analysis of star 
clusters.—A. Demoulin: A characteristic property of 
the families of Lamé.—E. Vessiot: The reducibility 
of differential systems.—Serge Bernstein: Some 
asymptotic properties of polynomials.—F. La Porte ; 
Modifications of the coast of Brittany between Pen- 
march and the Loire. Near Morbihan the coastline 
is the same as in 1821; elsewhere the coast-line has 
retreated, except at Carnac, where 80 to 100 metres 
have been gained from the sea.—A. Korn; The origin 
of terrestrial magnetism.—F. Croze: The peculiarities 
of the Zeeman phenomenon in the series spectra of 
oxygen and hydrogen.—A. Cotton, H. Mouton, and P. 
Drapier : The optical properties of a mixed liquid sub- 
mitted simultaneously to an electric and a magnetic 
field.—G. Ribaud: The quantitative study of the 
absorption of light by the vapour of bromine in the 
ultra-violet. From the results of the experiments the 
kinetic theory of light absorption does not hold for 
the large bands; for five lines the theory is in good 
agreement with observation.—L. Dunoyer: An experi- 
ment in optical resonance on a gas in one dimension. 
—G, Moreau: Couples consisting of two flames. Two 
Bunsen flames burn vertically in contact, one con- 
taining the vapour of an alkaline salt. In each flame 
is a platinum electrode, from which, under conditions 
detailed in the paper, a current amounting to several 
microamperes can be obtained.—R. Boulouch ; Systems 
of centred spherical diopters : ordinary stigmatism and 
aplanetism.—E. Aries: The laws of displacement of _ 
chemical equilibrium at constant temperature or at 
constant pressure.—P. Teilhard de Chardin: A forma- 
tion of carboro-phosphate of lime of the Paleolithic 
age.—A, Prunet: The fungi which cause in France 
the disease (piétin) of cereals. This name is applied 
to diseases due to the attacks of three different species 
of fungi.—J. Stoklasa and V. Zdornicky: The infiu- 
ence of the radio-active emanations on vegetation. 
In small amounts, the radium emanations favour 
plant growth, but above a certain quantity the con- 
trary effect is observed.—E. J. Hirtz: A new reaction 
in electrodiagnosis.—Philippe de Vilmorin: The here- 
ditary characters of tailless and short-tailed dogs.— 
Y. Manouélian: Histological study of the destruction 
of the acini in the salivary glands in rabic animals.— 
Adrien Lucet : Experimental researches on coccidiosis 
of the domestic rabbit——L. Gaumont ; Contribution to 
the study of the black fly of the beet.—F. Duchacek : 
A supposed biochemical variation of the Bulgarian 
lactic bacillus. A criticism of some conclusions of 
Effront on the variation of the Bulgarian bacillus.— 
Auguste Lumiére and Jean Chevrotier: A new culture 
medium very suitable for the development of the 
gonococcus.—C, Bruyant : The peat bog's of the massif 
of Mont Dore.—E. A. Martel: Experiments with 
In connection with the 


i 


DECEMBER II, 1913] 


use of dyestuffs with great tinctorial properties, such 
as fluorescein, in tracing the path of underground 
water-courses, it is shown that the dye need not be 
previously brought into solution if the water is flow- 
ing, and that very large quantities of the colouring 
matter must be employed if erroneous conclusions are 
to be avoided. One hundred kilos. of fluorescein were 
used in one successful experiment. 


CAaLcutTta. 


Asiatic Society of Bengal, November 5.—H. B. 
Preston: A molluscan faunal list of the Lake of 
Tiberias with descriptions of new species. The paper 
deals in the first instance with a large collection made 
by Dr. Annandale at and near Tiberias in October, 
1912. A remarkable feature of the molluscan fauna 
of the Lake of Tiberias is the thickness of the shells 
of most of its constituent species and the almost com- 
plete absence of thin-shelled forms. This is probably 
due to the large amount of mineral matter held in 
suspension in the water. The distribution of the 
different species is discussed under the heading of 
each, and several new species and varieties are 
described. With the exception of a species of Unio, 
these are for the most part minute shells.—R. H. 
Whitehouse ; The Planarians of the Lake of Tiberias. 
Three species of Planaria were taken in the immediate 
vicinity of the Lake of Tiberias, from which no repre- 
sentative of the group has hitherto been identified 
specifically —Dr. G. Horvath: Aquatic and semi- 
aquatic Rhynchota from the Lake of Tiberias and its 
immediate vicinity. The collection made includes 
seventy-nine specimens of aquatic and -semi-aquatic 
Rhynchota, representing twenty-one species, of which 
three are new to science.—Dr. N. Annandale, J. C. 
Brown, and F. H. Gravely: The limestone caves of 
Burma and the Malay Peninsula. This paper is 
divided into three portions. The first is introductory 
and gives a general account of the caves of Burma 
and the Malay Peninsula, a history of the literature 
which has ground up around them since the early 
days of the eighteenth century, and particulars of 
their archeology and folklore. Part i. is by J. 
Coggin Brown, and deals with the geology of the 
cave-bearing limestones of Burma and the Malay 
Peninsula. The opinion is expressed that on thorough 
examination many of the limestone caves of Burma 
and the Malay Peninsula will be found to contain 
deposits with recent or subrecent fossil remains. 
Part ii. is by N. Annandale and F. H. Gravely, and 
consists of an account of the fauna of the caves. 
Although both blind and purblind species are included 
in the list, no animal as yet recorded from these caves 
has reached the height of specialisation sometimes 
developed by a_cavernicolous existence; such, for 
example, as is found in the case of certain species 
from the caves of Europe and North America. An 
appendix contains notes by Ch. Duroiselle and B. B. 
Binyabinode on clay votive tablets from the caves. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Studies in Career and Allied Subjects. Pathology. 
Vol. ii. Pp. vi+267+xxxii plates. Vol. iv. Contri- 
butions to the Anatomy and Development of the 
Salivary Glands in the Mammalia. Pp. v+364+c¢ 
plates. (New York: The 
Each 5 dollars net. 

Les Inconnus de la Biologie déterministe. By 
A. de Gramont Lesparre. Pp. 297. (Paris: F. 
Alcan.) 5 francs. 

Das Relativitatsprinzip. By L. Gilbert. Pp. 124. 
(Brackwede i.W.: Dr. W. Breitenbach.) 3 marks. 

Einfiihrung in die Tierpsychologie auf experiment- 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


Columbia University Press.). 


NATURE 443 
elle und ethnologischer Grundlage. By G. Kafka. 
Erster Band. Die Sinne der Wirbellosen. Pp. xii+ 


504. (Leipzig: J. A. Barth.) 18 marks. 

Report of the Interstate Conference on Artesian 
Water. Sydney, 1912. Pp. xv+207+ 68; maps and 
plates. (Sydney: W. A. Gullick.) 

Société Frangaise de Physique. Recueil de Con- 
stantes Physiques. By Profs. H. Abraham and P. 
Sacerdote. Pp. xvi+753. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars.) 
50 francs. 

Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Vol. xxxi. 
Clare Island Survey. Part 64. Foraminifera. By 
E. Heron-Allen and A. Earland. Pp. 188+ 13 plates. 
(Dublin: Hodges, Figgis and Co., Ltd.; London: 
Williams and Norgate.) 5s. 6d. 


Annals of the Transvaal Museum. Vol iv., part 2. 


(Pretoria: Government Printing and _ Stationery 
Office.) 7s. 6d. 
The Bodley Head Natural History. By E. 


(oY 
Cuming. Vol. ii., British Birds. Passeres.” Pp. 122. 
(London: J. Lane.) 2s. net. 

Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club. 


No. exe. (1) Guide to Selborne. (2) Synopsis of the 


Life of Gilbert White. By W. H. Mullens. Pp. 27. 
(London: Witherby and Co.) 2s. 6d. net. 
A Pilgrimage of British Farming, 1910-12. By 


Ay Dre all: Murray.) 
5s. net. 


Annals of the South African Museum. Vol. vii.; 


Pp. xiii+542. (London: J. 


vol. xii., part 3. (Cape Town: South African 
Museum; London: West, Newman and Co.) 1s. 
and 14s. 


Linne’s Fo6relasningar 6fser Djurriket. Med Under- 
st6d of Svenska Staten for Uppsala Universitet. By 
E. Lénnberg. Pp. xiii+607. (Uppsala: A. B. 
Akademiska Bokhandeln; Berlin: R. Friedlander und 
Sohn.) 

The Fungi which Cause Plant Disease. By Prof. 
F. L. Stevens. Pp. viiit754. (London: Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd.) 


Quantitative Analysis by Electrolysis. By A. 
Classen, with the cooperation of H. Cloeren. Trans- 
lated by W. T. Hall. Pp. xiv+308+2 plates. (New 


York: J. Wiley and Sons; London : 
Hall, Ltd.) ros. 6d. net. 

Logging: the Principles and General Methods of 
Operation in the United States. By Prof. R. C. 
Bryant. Pp. xviiit+590. (New York: J. Wiley and 
Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 15s. net. 

Outlines of Theoretical Chemistry. By Prof. F. H. 
Getman. Pp. xi+467. (New York: J. Wiley and 
Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 15s. net. 

Constructive Text-Book of Practical Mathematics. 
By H. W. Marsh. Vol ii., Technical Algebra. Part i. 
Pp. xvii+ 428. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons; Lon- 
don: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 8». 6d. net. 

Marsh’s Mathematics Work-Book. Designed by 
H. W. Marsh. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons; Lon- 
don: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 3s. net. 

Der Gerbstoffe: Botanisch-chemische Monographie 
der Tannide. By Dr. J. Dekker. Pp. xiii+636. 
(Berlin : Gebriider Borntraeger.) 20 marks. 

Prehistoric Times. By the late Rt. Hon. Lord Ave- 
bury. Seventh edition, thoroughly revised. Pp. 623. 
(London: Williams and Norgate.) tos. 6d. net. 

The British Journal Photographic Almanac, 1914. 
Edited by G. E. Brown. Pp. 1496. (London: H. 
Greenwood and Co.) 1s. 6d. net. 

Traité de Géographie Physique. By Prof. E. de 
Martonne. Deux. édition. Pp. xi+922. (Paris: A. 
Colin.) 22 francs. 

The Sampling and Assay of the Precious Metals. 
By E. A. Smith. Pp. xv+460. (London: C. Griffin 
and Co., Ltd.) 15s. net. 


Chapman and 


444 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER II, 1913 


Photo-Electricity : the Liberation of Electrons by 
Light. By Dr. H. S. Allen. Pp. 219. (London: 
Longmans and Co.) 7s. 6d. net.. . 

Modern Seismology. By G. W. Walker. Pp. xii+ 
88+ plates. (London: Longmans and Co.) 5s. net. 

Heredity and Sex. By Prof. T. H. Morgan. Pp. 
ix+282. (London: Oxford University Press.) 7s. 6d. 
net. 

The Life of the Mollusca. By B. B. Woodward. 
Pp. xi+158+xxxii plates. (London: Methuen and Co., 
Ltd.) 6s. 

Ordnance Survey. Professional Papers. New series. 
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Capt. H..St. J. L. Winterbotham. Pp. 20+v plates. 
(London: H.M.S.O.; Wyman and Sons, Ltd.) 2s. 

Rays of Positive Electricity and their Application 
to Chemical Aralyses. By Sir J. J. Thomson. Pp. 
vi+132. (London: Longmans and Co.) 5s. net. 

Plant Physiology. By Dr. L. Jost. Authorised 
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DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 
THURSDAY, DeEcemeer 11. 

Roya Society, at 4.30.—Intermittent Vision : A. Mallock.—Attempts to 
Observe the Production of Neon or Helium by Electrical Discharge : 
Hon. R. J. Strutt.—The Relations between the Crystal-symmetry of the 
Simpler Organic Compounds and their Molecular Constitution : W. 
Wahl.—The Selective Absorption of Ketones : Prof. G. G. Henderson and 
I. M. Heilbron.—Absolute Measurements of a Resistance by a Method 
based on that of Lorenz: F. E. Smith.—A Determination of the Electro- 
motive Force of the Weston Normal Cell in Semi-absolute Volts, (With 
a Preface by Prof. H. L. Callendar, F.R.S.): A. N. Shaw.—Elastic 
Hysteresis in Steel: F, E. Rowett.—A Simple Form of Micro-balance for 
Determining the Densities of Small Quantities of Gases: F. W. Aston.— 
A Second Spectrum of Neon: T. R. Merton. 

MATHEMATICAL SocieTy, at 5.30.—The Linear Integral Equation : Prof. 
E. W. Holson.—Generalised Hermite Functions and their Connection 
with the Bessel Functions: H. E. J. Curzon.—-Limiting Forms of Long 
Period Tides ::J. Proudman.—The Number of Primes of Same Residu- 
acity: Lieut -Col. Cunningham.—Some Results on the Form Near 
Infinity of Real’Continuous Solutions of a Certain Type of Second Order 
Differential Equations : R. H. Fowler.—The Potential of a Homogeneous 
Convex Body and the Direct Integration of the Potential of an Ellipsoid ; 
S. Brodetsky.—The Dynamical Theory of the Tides in a Polar Basin: 
o a Goddsbrough.—Proof of the Complementary Theorem : Prof. J. C. 

1elds, 

Gale InstTITUTE, at 7.30.—Some Fallacies in Testing Cement: L. 

add. 

Roya Society or Arts, at 4.30.—The Cultivation and Manufacture of 
Indian Indigo: Prof W. P. Bloxam. 

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Continuation of Dis- 


ae on Dr. Klingenberg's Address on ‘‘ Electricity Supply in Large 
ities.” 


FRIDAY, DeEcEMBER 12. 

Rovat Asrronomicat Society, at 5.—The “Kinetic Theory” of Star 
Clusters; J. H. Jeans.—Distribution of Sun-spots in Heliographic Lati- 
tude, 1874-1913: FE. W. Maunder.—Results of Micrometer Measures of 
Double Stars made with the 28-inch Refractor at the Royal Observatory, 
Greenwich, in the Year 1912: Royal Observatory, Greenwich.—Probable 
Pagers: An Explanation of Sun-spots, of the Fluctuations of the Moon's 
Motion, and some other Puzzles of the Solar System : H. H. Turner.— 
The Spectra of the Wolf-Rayct Stars: J. W. Nicholson.—The Equatorial 
Current of Jupiter: Rev. T. E. R. Phillips. 

Mavacotocicat Society, at 8.—Descriptions of Various New Species of 
Mollusca: G. B. Sowerby.—Synonymy of the Family Veneride: A. “i 
Jukes-Browne — Descriptions of New Species of Land and Marine 
Shells from the Montebello Islands, Western Australia: H. B. Preston. 

ALCHEMICAL Society, at 8.15.—Alchemy in China: Prof. H. Chatley. 


MONDAY, DECEMBER 15. 
Royat Society oF Arts, at 8.—The Measurement of Stresses in Materials 
and Structures : Prof. E. G. Coker. 


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16. 

Roya. ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—A Rough Survey of the 
Tribes of Western Papua: W. Beaver.—The Nomenclature of Clans in 
the Pueblo Area: Miss B. Freire Marreco.—Arctic Hysteria in Northern 
Asia: Miss M. A. Czaplicka. 

Royat Geocrarnicat Society, at 4.30.—Further Explorations in the 
N.W. Amazons Valley: Dr. Hamilton Rice. 

Royat. Sraristicat Socigry, at 5.—Cooperative Live Stock Insurance in 
England and Wales: Sir James Wilson.—Some Material for a Study of 
Trade Fluctuations: D. H. Robertson.—The Deteriination of Size of 
Family, and Incidence of Characters in Orders of Birth from Samples : 
M. Greenwood and G. Udny Yule. 

ILLUMINATING ENGINEERING SociEry, at 8.—Some Problems in Daylight 
Illumination, with Special Reference to School Planning: P. J. Waldram 

InstiTuTION OF Civit ENGINEERS at 8.—Cyclical Changes of Temperature 
in a Gas-engine Cyliuder: Prof. E. G. Coker and W. A. Scoble. 


NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 


WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17. s 

RovaL METEOROLOGICAL Society, at 7.30.—The Great Rain Storm at 
Doncaster, September 17: R. C. Mossman and C, Saltet.—Recent 
Studies of Snow in the United States: Dr, J. E. Church, Jun.—The 
Meteorological Conditions of an Ice-Sheet, amd their Bearing on the 
Desiccation of the Globe: C. E. P, Brooks. : : 

AERONAUTICAL SocIETY, at 8.30.—The Science of Fast Flying: C. T 
Weymann. 

Rovat Society oF Arts, at 8.—The Channel Tunnel : A. Fell. 

GEOLOGICAL Society, at 8.—Supplementary Note on the Discovery of a 
Palzeolithic Human Skull and Mandible at Piltdown (Sussex) : C. Dawson 
and Dr. A. Smith Woodward. 5 

Royat Microscoricat Society, at 8.—The Binocular Microscopes of the 
Past and a New form of the Instrument: Conrad Beck. 


THURSDAY, DeEcEMpER 18. 

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Employment of 
Power in H.M. Post Office: H. C. Gunton. “a 

Roya GroGRaAPHICAL Society, at 5.—The Standardising of Colours and 
Symbols representing Geographical Data, especially on Small Scale Maps: 
Prof. A. J. Herbertson. ; 

Linnean Society, at 8.—The Evolution of the Inflorescence: J. Parkin. 
—Hypericum desetangsiz, Lamotte, a New British Plant: C. E. Salmon. 
—The Mouth-parts and Mechanism of Sucking in Schizoneura lanigeva: 
J. Davidson. 

INSTITUTION OF MINING AND METALLURGY, at 8. 


FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19. Z = F 
INsTITUTION OF MecHanicat. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Mechanical Engineering 
Aspects of Road Construction: Col. R. E. B. Crompton. iA. 
INSTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Air-filtration and the Cooling 
and Ventilation of Electrical Machines: W. E. Gurry, : 


CONTENTS. 


The New Physical: Chemistry 24:55 ys «cee 
Veterinary Physiology .... 3.5. 1.2). see 
Popular Astronomy. By William E, Rolston . . . 420 
Gur; Bookshelf... yo) -<. ya) au aiale ot =) ive tat 
Letters to the Editor :— i : 

The Structure of the Atom.—Prof. E. Rutherford, 


PAGE 
419° 


BOR... ss oie og se gt ee 
The Reflection of X-Rays.—Maurice de Broglie ; 

BE. Jacot. . 2 604.) 2%) hee ia ee 
Residual Ionisation inGases.—Prof. J.C. McLennan 424 


The Nile Flood of 1913.—H. E. Hurst. ...  . 
Pianoforte Touch.—Spencer Pickering, F.R.S.; 

Prof. G. H. Bryan, F;R:S. \\. ©. Cie 
Memorials.—Prof. R. 


Alfred Russel Wallace 
Meldola, F.R.S., Prof. E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., 
and Rev, James Marchant 3 sta” 0) ie ao 
Distance of the Visible Horizon.—R. Langton Cole 425 
The Problem of the University of London ... . 426 
The Plumage Bill. By Sir H. H.. Johnston, 
GICiM.G., K.C.B. <<) 4) es ia-te co) +) ) oe 
INGEER 6. scsi a la, het Rotem aie ck ann 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
The Structure of the Universe ..... . . . 0. 434 
Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada 434 
New Nebulz and Variable Stars ......+. + + 434 
‘Watts’s Index of Spectra .>. 2 © « .) = ese 
Secular Desiccation of the Earth. By E.G. .. . 435 
Astronomy in South Africa 2... . 2). . 4 Sieur 


The Originof Argentine Horses ......... 
French Hydrology. ByB.C...... 
Economic Geology of Paptia.. .< 9 >): 0am 


Meteorology and Geophysics at the British Asso- 
ciation... © 8 ayes 


Geography at the British Association ....... 437 
University and Educational Intelligence. ..... 
Societies and Academies’. ...: . «5. - = 
Books, Received . 2 2a 'j)ei a 4 ik cho beeen 
Diaryior Societies: ....\\5.\5, sesame: uae 


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NATURE 


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clvi NATURE [DECEMBER II, 1913. 


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No. 2303, VOL. 92] | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1913 


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elviii 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 18, 1913 


COLLEGE 


OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 


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eee eee — 
RUTHERFORD 
MUNICIPAL TECHNICAL COLLEGE, 
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. 
Principal—C. L. EcLAIrR-HEATH, Wh.Sc., A.M.I.M.E. 


APPOINTMENT OF A SENIOR LECTURER IN 
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December 11, 1913+ 


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ig NATURE 


445 


THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 10913. 


PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICS. 
Principia Mathematica. By Dr. A. N. White- 
head, F.R.S., and Bertrand Russell, F.R.S. 
Vol. iii. Pp. x+491. (Cambridge: University 

Press, 1913.) Price 21s. net. 

HE third volume of this work has followed 
very closely upon the second, which was 
only published last year, and is in every respect 
a worthy successor to it. It is mainly concerned 
with the theory of series, which was begun in the 
second volume, and then proceeds to the theory 
of measurement. A further and final volume will 
deal with geometry. To some extent the treat- 
ment has been influenced by the coming volume, 
especially in the section devoted to the theory of 
measurement. For the same reason, a special 
section is included, containing the theory of cyclic 
families, such as the angles about a given point 
in a given plane. 

That the monumental task which the authors 
have undertaken should already have reached this 
stage is almost incredible. For they are in effect 
creating a new science, with a symbolism of its 
own, quite foreign to mathematics, which develops 
naturally as the work proceeds. It is scarcely 
necessary to point out that the Principia does 
not concern itself with the development of mathe- 
matics, as understood by the mathematician, but 
solely with the logical deduction of the proposi- 
tions of mathematics from merely logical founda- 
tions. It represents, in one aspect, the culmina- 
tion of the movement, which has swept over 
mathematics of late years, towards a rigorous 
examination of its fundamental premises. To such 
a work there is always the disadvantage inherent 
in a new symbolism, but a symbolism is essential 
to its development, and the authors employ the 
method which inflicts the minimum of labour on 
the reader: no symbol or abbreviation is em- 
ployed until it becomes essential, and then its very 
recurrence fixes it in the mind of the reader. 

The general scope of the volume has been indi- 
cated already, and it only remains to consider the 
detailed treatment adopted. Well-ordered series 
are considered first, as possessing many impor- 
tant properties not shared by series in general. 
In particular, they obey a process of transfinite 
induction, which is an extended form of mathe- 
matical induction, differing, however, in the fact 
that it deals with the successors of classes instead 
of single terms. On the whole, Cantor’s’ treat- 
ment is followed closely, but an exception is made 
in dealing with Zermolo’s theorem, and in the 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


cases where Cantor assumes the multiplicative 
axiom. The writers emphasise the dubious char- 
acter of much of the ordinary theory of trans- 
finite ordinals, depending on the fact that it is 
founded on a proposition requiring this axiom. 
Ordinal numbers are defined as the relation- 
numbers of well-ordered series, after Cantor, 
serial numbers being the relation-numbers of series 
in general. Products of an ordinal number of 
ordinal numbers are not in general ordinal num- 
bers, although the sums are. The treatment of 
sums and products contains much new matter. 
Perhaps the most interesting part of the work is 
the authors’ solution of the paradox proposed by 
Burali-Forti in 1897, relating to the greatest 
ordinai number. It appears that in any one type 
there is no greatest ordinal number, and that all 
the ordinal numbers of a given type are exceeded 
by those of higher types. 

An important section is concerned with the dis- 
tinction of finite and infinite as applied to series 
and ordinals. The distinguishing properties of 
finite ordinals are then established. It does not 
appear that a proof can be found of the existence 
of alephs or ’s with infinite suffixes. For the 
type increases with each successive existence- 
theorem, and infinite types appear to have no 
meaning. The treatment of the theory of ratio 
and measurement is quite new. The quantities 
are regarded as “vectors” in a generalised sense, 
so that ratios can hold between relations. The 
hypothesis that the vectors concerned in any con- 
text form a group is not prominent. The theory 
of measurement is a combination of two other 
theories, one a pure arithmetic of ratios and real 
numbers, and the other a pure theory of vectors. 
If the axiom of infinity is assumed, great diff- 
culties in connection with the existence-theorems 
are avoided. But the authors have endeavoured to 
get rid of the assumption, for, as they point out, 
it does not seem proper to make the theory of a 
simple ratio like 2/3 depend on the fact that the 
universe contains an infinite number of objects. 

The theory of ratio and measurement is actually 


| the most important part of the volume, but it is 


impossible in a brief review to do justice to it. 
Yet it must be said that the publication of this 
volume is a landmark in the theory, and the 
authors have earned the sincere thanks of all 
mathematicians who are interested in the logical 
foundations of their subject. The printing must 
have been a peculiarly difficult task, on account 
of the nature of the symbols, and the Cambridge 
University Press is to be congratulated on, the 


| manner in which this work, like its predecessor, 


has been produced. 


Kk 


446 


NAFURES <" 


[DecemMBER 18, 1913 


NEW BOOKS ON CHEMISTRY. 

(1) Preliminary Chemistry. By H. W. Bausor. 
Pp. 106. (London: W. B. Clive, 1913.) Price 
1s. 6d. 

(2) Manual of Qualitative Analysis. Reagent and 
Combustion Methods. By W. F. Hoyt. Pp. 
vi+35-. (New York: The Macmillan Co. ; 
London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 
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(3) A Course in General Chemistry. By Prof. W. 
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vili+556. (Boston and London: Ginn & Co., 
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(4) Treatise on General and Industrial Organic 
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don: J. & A. Churchill, 1913.) Price 24s. net. 

(5) Qualitative Analyse vom Standpunkte der 
Ionenlehre. By Dr. W. Béttger. Dritte 
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(6) Chemie. Unter Redaktion von E. v. Meyer. 
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O. Wallach, and others. Pp. xiv+663. (Leip- 
zig und Berlin: B. G. Teubner, 1913.) Price 
21 marks. 

(1) HE “Preliminary Chemistry” by Mr. 


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Each chapter is furnished with a summary, a set 
of questions, and some practical exercises. The 
experiments are simple in character so as to be 
well within the capacity of a schoolboy, and the 
sequence is so arranged as‘to illustrate funda- 
mental ideas in a clear and logical fashion. For 
the most part they run on familiar lines. It may 
be pointed out that the definition of one term 
by using another, which is left undefined, does not 
leave the matter much clearer. ‘‘If by its conver- 
sion into ice or into vapour a new body had been 
produced differing in constitution from the water, 
we should no longer have been dealing with a 
physical change.’’ No doubt the orthodox way of 
beginning a book on practical chemistry is to 
direct attention to the fundamental distinction 
between chemical and physical changes; but is it 
really essential to start with it? Could not the 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


question be more easily answered after a certain 
number of chemical changes had been observed? 

(2) Mr. Hoyt’s manual of qualitative analysis is 
a small volume of 36 pages. Though small and 
cheap, it is crammed with facts, so crowded, 
indeed, that the author has recourse to a kind of 
shorthand in addition to the ordinary chemical 
formule in order to compress his materials. To 
take one example, the confirmatory test for iron 
by the action of potassium hydroxide is expressed 
thus: conf. 2=sol+KOH=precip. white to dirty 
green (if Fe”) or brown (if Fe’’). 

There are few or no explanations, and the 
whole compilation is that of a mere mechanical 
guide-book interspersed with a few moral and 
practical precepts. No one can grumble with the 
statement that “most laboratory accidents are 
avoidable ”’ or the advice to be “cleanly in person 
and work ”’; but what precise meaning is conveyed 
by “Nature thinks in the molecule only, and you 
should learn to do the same” it is difficult to say. 
The student is further enjoined to “ask himself. 
constantly what? how? and why?” We can 
only trust that he will have something more sub- 
stantial than the manual for supplying the 
answers. 

(3) The course on general chemistry by McPher- 
son and Henderson forms an excellent introduction 
to a more elaborate study, or, in terms of the 
usual examination standards, would be a useful 
text-book for a student at the intermediate stage 
of his chemistry course. 

Although the subjects are treated in an elemen- 
tary fashion, no facts or theories of real import- 
ance are omitted, whilst at the same time the text 
is not overloaded with the description of an un- 
necessary number of compounds. 

The book is written in a clear and simple style, 
the illustrations, though not so abundant as are — 
sometimes found in American chemical books for 
elementary students, are well and neatly drawn, so 
that all the essential details are apparent, an effect 
partly due to the excellence of the paper. It has 
evidently been compiled by thoughtful and ex- 
perienced teachers, who have spared no trouble in 
the treatment of their subject. It is, in short, a 
book that may be safely recommended as a text- 
book for a first year college course. 

(4) Molinari’s organic chemistry is mainly de- 
scriptive of the organic industries, that is to say, 
theoretical considerations are largely subordinated 
to the industrial applications of this branch of the 
science. For example, tautomerism occupies half 
a page, and stereoisomerism five pages, whereas 
the manufacture of explosives and the sugar in- 
dustry cover about 4o pages each, the brewing 
of beer and the gas manufacture extend to more 


DECEMBER 18, 1913] 


NATURE 


447 


and R. Griessbach. The chapters on oxidation and 


than 20 pages each, and many other technical 
processes, such as the manufacture of soap, starch, 
and paper, are treated in the same detailed 
fashion. We have no desire to underrate the value 
of a book which devotes the greater part of its 
space to technology. On the contrary, the excel- 
lent and copious illustrations of plant and ma- 
chinery, the clear exposition of the processes and 
the carefully compiled statistics will appeal to 
many students of organic chemistry, who will look 
in vain for practical information of this character 
in the ordinary text-book. 

But they must bear in mind that the description 
of operations, which are often merely mechanical 
and in no sense chemical, cannot replace the prin- 
ciples of the science, which should be carefully 
studied and assimilated in advance. 

Whilst, therefore, strongly recommending the 
book to the English student, we must warn him 
that he cannot afford to neglect the theoretical 
side, and that details of any technical process, 
however elaborate, will not make him a techno- 
logist. We must also point out that he is placed 
at some disadvantage by reason of the book having 
been written by an Italian for Italians. The appar- 
atus and methods of technical analysis are often 
not those recognised as standard methods in this 
country. Moreover, the rather indiscriminate 
mixing of English and foreign weights and 
measures is a little confusing. 

Thus, we are told on page 69 that in desulphur- 
ising petroleum 4500 kilos of iron oxide are mixed 
with 200 tons of petroleum; on page 72 it is stated 
that the value of Bakoum petroleum is about 
7s. 2d. per quintal; on page 532 the quantity of 
tar treated in England is given in tons; whilst that 
of creosote oil extracted from it is put down in 
hectolitres. Moreover, the ton is the metric ton 
{1000 kilos) and not the English weight. If, in 
a future edition, the technology could be edited 
by the translator and English money, weights, and 
measures introduced so as to conform with 
English practice, the utility and interest of the 
volume for English readers would be greatly en- 
hanced. As it is, the volume is a distinct addition 
to chemical literature, and the translator, Mr. 
T. H. Pope, may be congratulated on the ability 
with which he has carried out a task which must 
have entailed an enormous amount of assiduous 
application. 

(5) Dr. Béttger’s qualitative analysis based on 
the ionic theory is too well known to need a special 
notice. The present volume is the third edition. 
The principal changes are corrections and emenda- 
tion of the text and the addition of microchemical 
reactions, which have been specially studied for 
the new edition by his collaborators, R. Heinze 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


reduction have been thoroughly revised, and a 
section on autoxidation has been added. 

Qualitative analysis is a branch of practical 
chemistry which is so frequentiy presented in the 
form of small books adapted for examination use, 
that it is a satisfaction occasionally to meet with 
one in which the subject is raised to something like 
its proper dignity; and no justification for such a 
book is needed. It is interesting, nevertheless, to 
read Dr. Béttger’s apologia; for it expresses views 
in which many teachers of chemistry will entirely 
concur. The following is a rough translation :— 
“The preference for short and elementary text- 
books, whereby a working mastery of analytical 
technique can be achieved, stands in direct oppo- 
sition to the views attached to other branches of 
study in institutions for higher education and to 
the system of instruction current in the higher 
secondary schools. It is obvious that so large 
a mass of material as that included in analytical 
chemistry cannot be mastered in the short time 
devoted to the study of qualitative analysis. But 
it is unquestionably more important and educative 
for the beginner to learn to use at the outset a 
book which may act as a guide in his later re- 
searches, even if it involves a little more labour, 
than to study analysis from elementary books 
which must fail him when more difficult problems 
present themselves.”’ 

(6) The volume under review is on chemistry 
and crystallography, and is one of nineteen, which 
include mathematics, the natural sciences, and 
medicine. They form together one section of a 
series, which, when completed, will comprise up- 
wards of sixty volumes dealing with what is 
termed “Modern Culture.” 

The present volume contains an account of the 
development of different branches of chemical 
science, such as inorganic, organic, and physical 
chemistry, thermochemistry, photochemistry, elec- 
trochemistry, physiological chemistry, agricultural 
chemistry, and crystallography, all within the 
space of 650 pages. 

The names of the contributors are sufficiently 
well known in the chemical world to ensure that 
each subject is adequately treated so far as space 
permits. E. von Meyer has written a general, 
historical introduction, and among other writers 
are Wallach, Luther, Nernst, Le Blanc, Kossel, 
Witt, &c. Each subject is introduced by a brief 
historical review, with an account of its later pro- 
gress and development. The book is, in short, a 
history of the science brought down to modern 
times. 

It is not quite easy to determine for what class 
of readers the book is intended. It is far beyond 


448 


NATURE 


| DECEMBER 18, 1913 


the grasp of the scientific tyro, and a well-informed 
chemist would probably find little that was new 
to him. Nevertheless it is not without a certain 
fascination, if only by the mere perusal of a record 
which exhibits in a striking manner the wonderful 
fertility of the science and its extraordinary growth 
in recent years. Moreover, it is well written, well 
printed on good paper, and handsomely bound. 
Anyone who succeeds in assimilating a fraction 
of the contents of the other fifty-nine volumes, in 
addition to this, may indeed claim to have reached 
a condition of modern culture of unexampled 
thoroughness. J Bae. 


GAS, LIGHT AND AIR. 

(1) Gas Testing and Air Measurement. By C. 
Chandley. Pp. vii+77. (London: Methuen and 
Co., Ltd., n.d.) Price 1s. 6d, 

(2) Light, Radiation, and Illumination.  Trans- 
lated from the German of Paul Hégner by 
Justus Eck. Pp. xii+88. (London: The 
Electrician Printing and Publishing Co., Ltd., 
n.d.) Price 6s. net. 

(1) HE title of the first of these books is 

somewhat misleading. In these days 
of high-pressure gas and the use of burners in 
which the adjustment of the induced air is of the 
first importance, it is very natural to suppose that 

a work entitled ‘‘Gas Testing and Air Measure- 

ment ’’ has something to do with gas burners. 

This is not the case. By gas is meant fire-damp 

in mines, and the air measurement refers to the 

ordinary practice in mines of measuring the venti- 
lating currents. 

The author deals with the indications of the 
safety lamp as an indicator of the proportion of 
fire-damp if this is not outside the limits of 2 and 
5 or 6 per cent., and of the effect of quantities 
above the explosive limit in putting out the flame. 
He does not refer to any of the devices that have 
been used for showing smaller quantities, as, for 
instance, Prof. Clowes’s hydrogen lamp or 
Liveing’s fire-damp indicator. The book is in- 
tended primarily for candidates for certificates 
under section 15 of the Coal Mines Act, 1911. It 
should serve this purpose well, as the discussion 
of the all-important cap of the flame of the safety 
lamp is very clear; some attention is given to the 
legal requirements and official regulations relating 
to coal mines, and the methods used for measuring 
ventilating currents are very fully explained. 

(2) ‘‘ Light, Radiation, and Illumination ’’ is 
an admirable exposition of the science which forms 
the basis of the practice of the illuminating” en- 
gineer. It is the object of the members of this 
recently organised profession to apply light so as 
to obtain economical and satisfactory illumination, 

NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


and not merely to place so many hundred candle- 
power of illuminating means ina room or a street. 
The scheme of the book is not unlike that of 
Euclid, but using the methods of trigonometry 
and the calculus and geometrical illustrations of a 
series of propositions following in logical sequence 
the demonstrations are as clear as any in Euclid, 
but the time and space required are vastly less 
than that which would be necessary with a purely 
geometrical method. 

Beginning with a flat element of surface of a 
given luminous intensity, the author shows that 
the light radiated in different directions in space 
is proportional to the chords of a sphere to whiclr 
the flat surface is tangent at the element. Then 
gradually sources of other geometrical forms are 
considered, and such real sources of light as fila- 
ments and arc light carbons. The illumination of 
surfaces and spaces, the effect of light-coloured 
walls, the curves of illumination from different 
sources, the uniformity of illumination with many 
lamps, and many other branches of the subject 
are treated fully and convincingly, and numerous 
tables for facilitating calculations in real cases are 
found as they are required. 

While the forms of the illumination curves given 
by incandescent electric lamps and three kinds of 
are lamps receive their full share of attention, no 
reference whatever is made to gas lighting. Now 
that the most beautifully lighted streets in London 
-——Victoria Street, Pall Mall, and other streets in 
the West End, covering some miles—are lighted 
by high-pressure incandescent gas, it seems rather 
an omission not to have any statement even of the 
nature of the illumination curve of this type of 
burner. While the publishers may persuade 
themselves that electric illumination now is, after 
daylight, the only kind that matters, this is not 
the fact, and the author might with advantage 
have given the illumination curve of one type of 
high-pressure gas burner. In spite, however, of 
this omission, the book is a splendid example of 
science applied to an art which has been too long 
neglected. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. = 


The Place of Climatology in Medicine: being the 
Samuel Hyde Memorial Lectures, 1913. By Dr. 
W. Gordon. Pp. v+62. (London: H. K. 
Lewis, 1913.) Price 3s. 6d. net. 

Ar a time when the broad features of the climate 

of civilised countries are well established through 

long series of exact observations, it is well to be 
reminded that an accurate knowledge of the local 
variations, especially of wind and rainfall, are of 
vital importance in medical climatology. We have 
yet to produce properly contoured large-scale 
maps of climate, even for well-populated districts, 


DECEMBER 18, 1913] 


449 


and these are necessary for the medical expert in 
those investigations which are essential if the 
practising physician is to be enabled to base his 
prescription of climate upon knowledge rather 
than hearsay and hypothesis. Dr. Gordon gave 
a new impetus to such research by his inquiry into 


the effect of rain-bearing winds upon the preval- | 


ence of phthisis, and in these lectures he empha- 
sises the need for further detailed investigations 
of this character; he instances in particular cancer 
and rheumatic fever as suitable subjects owing to 
the considerable local variations which he has 
observed in the distribution of these diseases. 
The information to be derived from such re- 
searches would be useful to the physician in diag- 
nosis and prognosis, as well as in its more obvious 
applications. 

The main thesis of the lectures is the explana- 
tion of the origin of the theory that altitude, 
per se, affected the prevalence of phthisis, and the 
elucidation of the real factor. If the crude death- 
rate from phthisis is considered, it appears usually 
that up to about 5000 feet the disease becomes 
continuously less prevalent as the height in- 
creases, even if only an agricultural population is 
considered. Dr. Gordon has re-examined the 
statistics in detail, and has arrived at the conclu- 
sion that the decrease is mainly due to the more 
sheltered situations sought by the mountain- 
dweller for his habitation. He finds that for places 
exposed to rain-bearing winds the death-rate may 
even increase with altitude. The differences in the 
death-rate between places with different exposures 
are remarkable; in the Grisons the rate is three 
to four times as great in places exposed. to 
W. winds as in sheltered places, and two to 
three times as great as in places exposed only to 
E. winds. Such results are of the first import- 
ance, and Dr. Gordon is to be congratulated on 
the success of an arduous piece of research. 

E. G. 


The “ Wellcome” Photographic Exposure Record 
and Diary, 1914. (London: Burroughs Weli- 
come and Co., 1913.) Price 1s. 

Tuis neat, handy, and useful little pocket-book 

contains the concentrated essence of photographic 

practice, and anyone who has used it once will 
no doubt, like the writer, continue to secure it 
annually. The issue for 1914 does not materially 
differ from that published last year, except that 
everything is brought up to date. The great 

success of the tabloid form of developers, &c., 

is acknowledged by its most general use, and this 

issue gives, among others, one illustration of Mr. 

H. G. Ponting using the ‘‘Rytol” developer in 

the hut at the winter quarters, and another by 

him of the Terra Nova off Cape Evans. The 
special device attached to the cover, which tells 
the correct exposure at one turn of the disc and 
the light tables for each month, and factors for 
plates, films, &c., are special and valuable 
features of the publication. Ample space is pro- 


vided for logging the details of each plate or film 


exposed, and the usual diary portion obviates 
the necessity of having to carry any other pocket- 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


book for other memoranda, engagements, &c., 
Three editions are published, one for the North- 
ern hemisphere, another for the Southern, and a 
third for the United States. The price of one 
shilling brings it within the reach of everyone, 
and the book is well worth the money. 


Chemical Technology and Analysis of Oils, Fats, 


and Waxes. By Dr. J. Lewkowitsch. Fifth 
edition, entirely re-written and _ enlarged. 
Vol. i. Pp. xxiii+668. (London: Macmillan 


and Co., Ltd.) 


Tue well-known work of the late Dr. Lewkowitsch 
was reviewed at some length in these columns 
on the appearance of the fourth edition some 
four years ago (NaTuRE, August 19, 1gog). In 
view of the stage of transition through which 
the subject of fat analysis is now passing, the 
author would have preferred to wait a little 
longer before bringing out the present edition, 
but the exhaustion of the previous issue precluded 
further delay. 

The arrangement of the subject-matter remains 
much as before, but its bulk has increased con- 
siderably, in spite of every endeavour to compress 
it and eliminate what has become antiquated. 
Due note has been made of recent progress in 
the chemistry and technology of fats and oils, so 
far as the scope of the present volume allows. 
Attention may be directed, for instance, to the 
discussions upon the causes of rancidity, the 
limitations of colour reactions in the examina- 
tion of oils, the synthesis of glycerides, the 
hydrolysis of fats by ferments and by chemical 
catalysts, and the production of ‘‘hardened” or 
“hydrogenised ”’ fats by the reduction of various 
oils. In short, there is evidence that the volume 
has undergone a thorough revision in bringing 
it up to date. 

It is to be hoped that the lamented decease of 
the author will not necessitate any considerable 
delay in the completion of the new issue. The 
work was his magnum opus, and will remain a 
worthy memorial of his industry and knowledge. 


Price 25s. net. 


The British Empire Universities Modern English 
Illustrated Dictionary. Revised under the chief 
editorship of Edward D. Price and Dr. H. 
Thurston Peck. Pp. Ixxx+1o08. (London: 
The Syndicate Publishing Co., 1914.) | Price 20s. 


Tue illustrations form a noteworthy character- 
istic of this dictionary ; for, as the title-page states, 
there are coloured plates, monotones, duograph 
charts and maps. The dictionary proper is pre- 
ceded by a number of articles by well-known 
writers designed to promote the intelligent use of 
the volume; and at the end of the book are many 
useful and interesting addenda. The type of the 
dictionary itself is excellent, making reference to 
it easy and pleasant. With readers indifferent to 
the price of books the dictionary is likely to 
become popular, for it is not only trustworthy 
and exhaustive, but its handsome appearance will 
make it an ornament to the library table. 


450 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


Reflection of Light at the Confines of a Diffusing 
Medium. 

I suppose that everyone is familiar with the beau- 
tifully graded illumination of a paraffin candle, extend- 
ing downwards from the flame to a distance of 
several inches. The thing is seen at its best when 

- there is but one candle in an otherwise dark room, 
and when the eye is protected from the direct light 
of the flame. And it must often be noticed when a 
candle is broken across, so that the two portions are 
held together merely by the wick, that the part below 
the. fracture is much darker than it would otherwise 
be, and the part above brighter, the contrast between 
the two being very marked. This effect is naturally 
attributed to reflection, but it does not at first appear 
that the cause is adequate, seeing that at perpendicular 
incidence the reflection at the common surface of wax 
and air is only about 4 per cent. 

A little consideration shows that the efficacy of the 
reflection depends upon the incidence not being limited 
to the neighbourhood of the perpendicular. In con- 
sequence of diffusion! the propagation of light within 
the wax is not specially along the length of the candle, 
but somewhat approximately equal in all directions. 
Accordingly at a fracture there is a good deal of 
“total reflection.”” The general attenuation down- 
wards is doubtless partly due to defect of transparency, 
but also, and perhaps more, to the lateral escape of 
light at the surface of the candle, thereby rendered 
visible. By hindering this escape the brightly illu- 
minated length may be much increased. 

The experiment may be tried by enclosing the candle 
in a reflecting tubular envelope. I used a square 
tube composed of four rectangular pieces of mirror 
glass, 1 in. wide, and 4 or 5 in. long, held together 
by strips of pasted paper. The tube should be lowered 
over the candle until the whole of the flame projects, 
when it will be apparent that the illumination of the 
candle extends decidedly lower down than before. 

In imagination we may get quit of the lateral loss 
by supposing the diameter of the candle to be in- 
creased without limit, the source of light being at the 
same time extended over the whole of the horizontal 
plane. 

To come to a definite question, we may ask what 
is the proportion of light reflected when it is incident 
equally in all directions upon a surface of transition, 
such as is constituted by the candle fracture. The 
answer depends upon a suitable integration of Fres- 
nel’s expression for the reflection of light of the two 
polarisations, viz. :— 


deel ae ar 
sin*(@+ 6’) tan*(6+ 6’) 

where 6, 6’ are the angles of incidence and refraction. 
We may take first the case where @>6', that is, when 
the transition is from the less to the more refractive 
medium. 

The element of solid angle is 27 sin 6¢6, and the 
area of cross-section corresponding to unit area of the 
refracting surface is cos @; so that we have to consider 


rhe 
2 | sin Ocos 6 (S* or T?)d0, . . . (2) 
uD: 
1 To what is the diffusion due? Actual cavities seem improbable. Is it 
chemical heterogeneity, or merely varying orientation of chemically homo- 
geneous material operative in virtue of double refraction ? 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[|DecEeMBER 18, 1913 


the multiplier being so chosen as to make the integral 
equal to unity when S* or T* have that value through- 
out. The integral could be evaluated analytically, at 
any rate in the case of S*, but the result would 
scarcely repay the trouble. An estimate by quad- 
ratures in a particular case will suffice for our pur- 
poses, and to this we shall presently return. 
In (2) @ varies from o to $m and @' is always real. 
If we supppose the passage to be in the other direc- 
tion, viz. from the more to the less refractive medium, 
S? and T*. being symmetrical in @ and 6’, remain as 
before, and we have to integrate \ 
2 sin 6 cos 6’ (S* or T*)dé’. 
The integral divides itself into two parts, the first 
form o to a, where a is the critical angle corresponding 
to @=47. In this S*, T? have the values given in (1). 
The second part of the range from 6’=a to @=47r 
involves ‘total reflection,’ so that S? and T? must be 
taken equal to unity. Thus altogether we have 


2 sin 6' cos 6'(S? or T?) db’ +2 [sin 6' cos 6'd6', (3) 
0 EM 
in which sin a=1/, » (greater than unity) being the 
refractive index. In (3) 
2sin 6’ cos 6'd6’=d sin °6’=y~*d sin °6, 
and thus— 
(3)=n-2x (2)+1—p-? 


chr 
Sl Pe + |” sin 20 (S? or T?) d6\, (4) 
pl 0 
expressing the proportion of the uniformly diffused 
incident light reflected in this case. 
Much the more important part is the light totally 
reflected. If ~=1°5, this amounts to 5/9, or 0°5556. 
With the same value p, I find by Weddle’s runle— 


‘hr 

| sin 26. S*¢d@=0'1 460, 
Thus for light vibrating perpendicularly to the plane 
of incidence— 

(4) =0:5556+ 0:0649 =0:6205 ; 
while for light vibrating in the plane of incidence— 

(4) =0-5556 + 0:0151=0:5707. 

The increased reflection due to the diffusion of the 
light is thus abundantly explained, by far the greater 
part being due to the total reflection which ensues 


when the incidence in the denser medium is somewhat 
oblique. RAYLEIGH. 


dr 
“ *" sin 20. T2d0=0'0339. 
0 


The Pressure of Radiation. 


Tue theory of radiation at present accepted is based 
on Maxwell’s result that the pressure of any com- 
ponent frequency is one-third of its energy density, 
which appears to result from an assumption analogous 
to Boyle’s law, according to which the excess pressure 
due to vibration, in the case of a gas, would be one- 
third of the energy density of the vibration. 

Lord Rayleigh (Phil. Mag., 1905) has shown that 
this cannot be true in the case of a gas, since the 
vibrations are adiabatic, and Boyle’s law does not 
hold. For a monatomic gas, where the reasoning 
based on the kinetic theory is fairly certain, he deduces 
that the excess pressure should be two-thirds of the 
energy density. 

In a recent note on radiation and specific heat (Phil. 
Mag., October, 1913) I gave an outline of a new 
theory, showing good agreement with experiment, 
from which I deduced the result that ‘‘the total pres- 
sure of full radiation should be one-third of the in- 


| trinsic energy density, but this could not be true for 


DECEMBER 18, 1913] 


the partial pressure of each component taken 
separately.” So many of my correspondents, including 
Lord Rayleigh, have questioned the grounds of this 
statement, which is the crux of the whole problem, 
that it may be of interest to explain my reasons more 
fully. 

Arguing on the analogy of a gas, it is evident that 
the vibrations of radiation must be regarded as 
adiabatic, and cannot satisfy pu=constant, unless 
the value of the index y (the ratio of the total energy 
E+ pv to the intrinsic energy E) is equal to unity, 
which is impossible. We conclude either that the 
analogy is false, or that, if the vibrations are adiabatic, 
the ratio may have different values for different fre. 
quencies. Since the index y is equal to (E+ pv)/E, it 
is obvious that, to be consistent, we must have 
b=(y—-1)E/v, which agrees with Lord Rayleigh’s 
result for monatomic gases, and may be true generally 
4 for the pressure of adiabatic vibrations. 

According to my theory, radiation consists of the 
: vibration of equal elementary units (Faraday tubes 
. associated with ionic pairs) each possessing the same 


angular momentum, but having intrinsic energy pro- 
portional to the frequency » and independent of the 
temperature T. The pressure is assumed to be equally 
divided between the molecular units according to the 
gas law pu=RT, because this gives the simplest 
_ possible explanation of the exponential term e-*™ in 
_ the radiation formula as a direct consequence of 
= ©Carnot’s Principle, and because equipartition of 
pressure is the most universal condition of equilibrium 
; in physics. 
4 It follows that the ratio of the pressure to the energy 
_ density, denoted by y—1, must be of the form T/ dv, 
which is different for different frequencies at the 
| Same temperature, but gives the mean value 1/3 for 
full radiation. The possibility of having different 
_ values for this ratio is explained by the fact that the 
_ vibrations are adiabatic, and the correction thus intro- 
be duced into the theory of radiation is in this respect 
analogous to that introduced by Laplace into the 
Newtonian theory of the propagation of sound. 

The assumption here made admits of a fairly simple 
experimental test, such as the following. Divide the 
radiation from a source, such as an arc light, into 
two parts of different frequencies. Compare the total 
energies and pressures by suitable means. The ratio 
of the pressure to the energy should be the same for 
each part on Maxwell’s theory. On my theory, the 
part of lower frequency should have the higher pres- 
sure in a determinate ratio. I hoped to be able to 
_ try this crucial test before publishing even an outline 
of my theory, but the rapid extension of the Imperial 
College in recent years has left me insufficient leisure 
for so exacting an experiment, though it might not 
present serious difficulty to an expert in the measure- 
ment of radiation pressure. 

There are many other points in so brief a sketch 
which may require further elucidation, but these must 
be postponed. In the meantime I hope I have suc- 
_ ceeded in demonstrating at least the possibility, if not 

the probability, of the fundamental assumption of my 

theory. H. L. Carrenpar. 
Imperial College of Science, S.W., December 10. 


Scattering in the Gase of Regular Reflection from a 
Transparent Grating: an Analogy to the Reflection 
of X-Rays from Crystals. 
: - 1. The Phenomenon.—No doubt the following 
phenomenon has been noticed before, but I have seen 
, no description of it. If a vertical sheet of white light 
L from a collimator is reflected from the two faces 
_ of a plateglass grating, having about 10,000 or more 
lines to the inch, g being the ruled face, the two 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


451 


beams b and y going to the opaque mirror N are 
respectively vividly blue and brownish-yellow. In 
other words, more blue light is regularly reflected 
from the ruled surface than is transmitted, and more 
reddish light transmitted than is reflected. Since the 
plate grating is not 
quite plane parallel, two 

of the four he: b* and MN 74 
y', are seen in the same 
colours in the telescope. 
This is a great conveni- 
ence in adjusting the g 
displacement _interfero- 
meter, where the spectra 
from b alone are 
wanted, and the y ray 
may be screened off at 

N, while the other y! 
has no spectrum. 

The transmitted rays, t, after reflection show very 
little difference, the one reflected at g being perhaps 
slightly yellowish as compared with the other. 

The spectra from b and y, if compared one above 
the other, are practically identical. The difference is 
not sufficiently marked to be discerned by the eye. 
Multiple reflection from the two faces gave no further 
results. 

Finally, to be coloured blue, the beam must be 
reflected from the air side and not from the glass 
side, where but little appreciable effect is produced. 
If the grating is turned 180°, both the b and y rays 
are nearly white, while the ¢ rays now correspond to 
the b and y rays, and are vividly coloured. 

Outside the ruled surface and with any ordinary 
unruled plate of glass, all images are, of course, 
white. I mention this merely since one might sup- 
pose the absorption or colour of the glass to have 
something to do with the experiment. The film grat- 
ing, where sharp reflection takes place from the glass 
and not appreciably from the film, does not show 
the phenomenon. 

2. Explanation.—Scattering is usually and perhaps 
essentially associated with diffuse reflection. The 
present phenomenon, however, is strictly regular re- 
flection—i.e. there is a wave front, for the blue and 
yellow slit images are absolutely sharp in the tele- 
scope. This is the interesting feature of the pheno- 
menon, which associates it at once with the recent 
famous discovery of Friedrich, Knipping, and Laue 
relative to the reflection of X-rays from the mole- 
cules of crystals, and it is for this reason that I 
direct attention to it. 

In case of the grating the sources of scattered light 
waves are not only identical as to phase, but these 
sources are at the same time equidistant. Hence 
collectively they must determine a wave front of 
somewhat inferior intensity, but otherwise identical 
with the wave front of normally reflected or diffracted 
light—i.e. the wave fronts of regularly reflected and 
scattered light are superposed. 

Moreover, if the grating is turned in azimuth even 
as much as 45° on either side of the impinging beam 
(after which: the many reflections and diffractions 
seriously overlap), the blue and brown colorations are 
distinctly intensified. This also is in accordance with 
anticipations ; for the number of lines which are com- 
prehended within the lateral extent s of the narrow 
beam L, as the angle of incidence i is varied, in- 
creases as s sec 1; whereas the lateral extent of the 
reflected beam is no larger than that of the imping- 
ing beam. Hence there should be increased intensity 
of scattered light in the ratio of sec i, or increasing 
markedly with i from 1 for i=o°, to © for 50a vie 
other words, the scattering lines of the grating are 
virtually more densely disseminated when i increases. 


452 


NATURE 


[DeceMBER 18, 1913 


For the case of light reflected from the inside of 
the glass plate the evidence to be obtained from 
colour is too vague to admit of definite statements. 
I have not therefore attempted it. 

Brown University, Providence, U.S.A. 

Car. Barus. 


Fractured Flints from Selsey. 


I Am astonished to read in the abstract of the Pro- 
ceedings of the Geological Society of London, No. 947, 
giving an account of the meeting held on November 
19. 1913, the following statement :— 

“Prof. Sollas exhibited a series of specimens to 
illustrate the production of ‘rostro-carinate’ forms 
of flint by natural agencies. . . . The great majority 
were obtained by Mr. E. Heron-Allen from the beach 
of Selsey Bill, and it was to these that attention was 
especially directed. If they were all of human work- 
manship—Sir E. Ray Lankester’s contention—there 
would be no difficulty in accounting for the characters 
which they possess in common.” 

I do not know whether Prof. Sollas is responsible 
for these words or not. But, in any case, I must 
state in the most unqualified way that they contain 
an assertion which is absolutely contrary to fact. I 
have never published any “‘contention’’ about flints 
from Selsey Bill, excepting a brief description in my 
paper in the Phil. Trans., Series B, vol. 202 (read on 
November 16, 1911), of one large rostro-carinate im- 
plement and one large pyramidal hammer-stone from 
that locality. To this brief description follows the 
remark : ‘‘ Other specimens of a less decisive character 
have been found.” 

The assertion that it is my contention that any of 
the flints (much less ‘‘all”’?) obtained by Mr. Heron- 
Allen, which I have examined, excepting the two 
briefly described by me, are of human workmanship 
is the creation of Prof. Sollas’s imagination. I should 
be glad if Prof. Sollas would state where and when 
I have been guilty of the contention which, according 
to the Geological Society’s report of his communica- 
tion, he does not hesitate to attribute to me. I, of 
course, do not suppose that Prof. Sollas attributes 
a rash ‘“‘contention ’’ to me in order that he may have 
the satisfaction of showing it to be rash, and such 
as to render what I really have said unlikely to be 
well founded. At the same time, I think I am entitled 
to call upon Prof. Sollas either to cite ‘‘chapter and 
verse’’ in which I have made the specific contention 
which he supposes I have made, or to express some 
regret for a misrepresentation which I can only 
account for by a regrettable lapse of attention on his 
part in the conduct of an important scientific dis- 
cussion. E, Ray Lanxester. 

December 3. 


I HASTEN to express my extreme regret at having 
attributed to Sir E. Ray Lankester an opinion which 
he does not hold. 

In the quotation he gives from his paper in the 
Philosophical Transactions, Sir E. Ray Lankester 
omits the concluding sentence, ‘‘I hope to publish 
figures of the Selsey Bill specimens at no distant 
date." I understood this (naturally it seems to me) 
to apply to all the specimens, and thus concluded that 
the difference between the more and the ‘Tess 
decisive ’’ was not so important as, upon the omission 
of the concluding sentence, it appears to be. 

When [ selected from Mr. Heron-Allen’s collection 
some of his best specimens, by no means all, he 
assured the that they had been examined by Sir E. 
Ray Lankester, and pronounced by him to be of 
human workmanship, a judgment which appeared 
to me so natural and consistent with Sir E. Ray 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


Lankester’s point of view that no suspicion of a 
misunderstanding crossed my mind. Had I been in 
doubt I should have taken the precaution to ascertain 
from Sir E. Ray Lankester his opinion beforehand. ~ 

I am glad that Sir E. Ray Lankester acquits me 
of any intentional unfairness. I thought, and still 
think, that of the alternatives I proposed, the one 
I unfortunately attributed to him was the more logic- 
ally defensible, but in this again I may be mistaken: 

I have written to the secretary of the Geological 
Society requesting him to correct my statement and 
to add an expression of my regret to be published in 
the Quarterly Journal of the society. 

December 7. W. J. SOLtas. ” 


The Structure of the Atom. 


I concur with Prof. Rutherford (Nature, December 
II, p. 423) that the work by Moseley in the current 
number of the Philosophical Magazine, which was 
not published, and was quite unknown to me when 
I wrote my letter (NATURE, December 4, p. 399), is an 
important independent confirmation by new physical 
methods of van der Broek’s suggestion. As, however, 
in a paper published eight months previously (Jahr. 
Radioaktivitat und Elektronik., 1913, X., 193), 1 had 
represented in a diagram the places in the periodic 
table from uranium to thallium, with the mass as the 
ordinate and the charge as the abscissa, showing that 
there is unit difference of charge between successive 
places, I wish to take exception to Prof. Rutherford’s 
statement ‘‘that the strongest and most convincing 
evidence’ in support of van der Broek’s hypothesis 
will be found in Moseley’s paper. The view had 
already been far more simply and convincingly estab- 
lished from the chemical examination of the properties 
of the radio-elements, notably by A. Fleck in this 
laboratory. Moseley’s conclusions are a welcome con- 
firmation, by an independent method, for another part 
of the periodic table. It can only be described as the 
strongest and most convincing evidence if the prior 
chemical evidence is altogether ignored. 

FREDERICK SODDY. 

Physical Chemistry Laboratory, University of 

Glasgow, December 12. 


The Occurrence of Pilchards in the Eastern Half of 
the English Ghannel. 


Ir is now generally recognised by those who have 
been interested in the question, that the inshore migra- 
tion of pilchards in the western fishery area during 
the summer and autumn of the present year, has 
presented certain features, which may possibly be 
attributed to somewhat unusual conditions of food 
supply and other determining factors. It is therefore 
a matter of some importance to note that according 
to the statement of local fishermen, occasional catches 
of some thousands of pilchards have been made in 
drift nets off Brighton, Ramsgate, Deal, &c., for 
several months past. : 

In the early part of September we examined at 
Brighton some specimens taken from a catch of about 
four thousand, and now within the past fortnight, by 
the courtesy of Mr. E. W. Cowley. the superintendent 
of the Brighton Marine Aquarium, we have been 
enabled to ascertain that the fish were still present in 
the same area. For according to the statement of 
this gentleman a catch of three thousand was made 
by a local drifter about two miles off Brighton on 
November 27, three specimens of which we examined 
and found to be males with generative organs in 
“‘half-ripe ’’ condition. Haro_pD SwitHINBANK. 

G. E. BuLien. 

London, December to. 


DECEMBER 18, 1913] 


THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF 
CHEMICAL SOCIETIES. 


ees science of chemistry has some 20,000 
adherents at least. Chemical journals are 
very numerous, and it would be impossible for 
any one man to read current chemical literature, 
were he to read for twenty-four hours a day. The 
investigations of chemists are published, for the 
most part, in transactions of chemical societies, 
and until recently these societies lived apart, 
having merely a bowing acquaintance with one 
another. ‘Union is strength,” and in default of 
union, cooperation lends a strengthening hand. 
Hence a proposal which originated in the winter 
of 1910-11 with Profs. Ostwald and Haller to 
form an association of chemical societies was re- 
garded with favour by the three great chemical 
societies of London, Berlin, and Paris. 

To organise this association, a preliminary 
meeting was held in Paris in April, 1911, at which 
were present three Frenchmen, MM. Béhal, 
Haller, and Hanriot; three Germans, Herren 
Jacobson, Ostwald, and Wichelhaus; and two 
Englishmen, Dr. Percy Frankland and Sir 
William Ramsay, as delegates of the three 
national societies. It was there resolved that all 
chemical societies should have the right to demand 
admission to the association, provided their pro- 
ceedings were published in a journal; and also 
that each country should be represented by only 
one society. 

At this meeting, too, questions in regard to 
which the association might do useful work were 
indicated. Among these are: Nomenclature and 
classification of chemical compounds; atomic 
weights; the unification of the notation of physi- 
eal constants; the editing of indices and sum- 
maries of chemical work; consideration of the 
possibility of utilising a universal language; uni- 
fication of the size of pages of chemical literature; 
means to be taken to prevent the re-publication of 
papers in different journals; and publication of a 
complete record of chemistry. Statutes were also 
drawn up; the object of the association is defined 
as ‘‘forming a link between the chemical societies 
of the world, which shall deal with questions of 
general and international importance for chem- 
istry.’’ The constitution of the council is also 
defined in the statutes; there shall be a president, 
a vice-president, and a secretary, chosen from’ the 
same nation, who shall be an acting committee 
for the period of one year. 

During this preliminary meeting, the chair was 
occupied by each delegate in succession; but Prof. 
Ostwald was elected president for the meeting in 
tg12, Prof. Wichelhaus, vice-president, and Prof. 
Jacobson secretary. 

In April, 1912, the first statutory meeting was 
held in Berlin. The Swiss Chemical Society had 
joined in the meantime, and was represented by 
MM. Fichter, Guye, and Werner; the American 
‘Chemical Society, by Prof. W. A. Noyes; and the 
Russian Chemical Society, by MM. Kurnakow, 
Tschugaeff, and Walden; while M. Marie repre- 


sented the Société de Chimie-physique of Paris; ! 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


433 


‘Hr. Auerbach, the Bunsen-Gesellschaft; Prof. 
Cohen the Netherland Chemical Union; Hr. Gold- 
schmidt, the Norwegian; and Hr. Biilmann, the 
Danish Chemical Society. The Italian societies, 
although they had applied and been received as 
members of the association, were unrepresented 
on this occasion. 

At the first meeting in Berlin, Great Britain was 
chosen as the next place of meeting; and Sir 
William Ramsay was chosen to be president, Prof. 
Frankland vice-president, and Prof. Crossley was 
subsequently appointed secretary. 

During the meeting the projects suggested were 
further discussed, and committees were appointed 
to consider and report on nomenclature, on ab- 
breviated titles for chemical journals, on the size 
of pages of journals, and on means to overcome 
the difficulties caused by a multiplicity of lan- 
guages. It was also announced that the chemical 
societies of Madrid and of Tokyo, and the Union 
of Austrian Chemists had applied for admission 
to the Association. It was arranged that the 
meeting in 1913 should take place in England in 
August or September, so as to suit the conveni- 
ence of American chemists. 

This resolve, however, was changed, for the 
following reason. M. Ernest Solvay, the great 
Belgian chemical manufacturer, declared his in- 
tention of assisting this international movement 
by a large donation. Hitherto, the expenses had 
been defrayed by the participating societies. But 
M. Solvay informed the officers that he wished to 
place unreservedly at the disposal of the associa- 
tion a sum of 250,000 francs, and that he desired 
also to set apart a sum of 1,000,000 francs, under 
such conditions that the capital would be ex- 
hausted in twenty-nine years. He ear-marked 
one-third of the interest of this sum to be devoted 
to scholarships for Belgian students, while the 
remaining two-thirds were to be placed at the 
disposal of the association. This fund is to be 
administered by a commission, consisting so far 
as the scholarships are concerned, of M. Solvay 
himself, or his nominee; of a member nominated 
by H.M. the King of the Belgians; and lastly, by 
a member nominated by the University of Brus- 
sels. These members, together with three repre- 
sentatives of the council of the association, viz., 
MM. Haller and Ostwald, and Sir W. Ramsay, 
are directors of an “International Institute of 
Chemistry.”” M. Solvay also signified his inten- 
tion to provide the association with a secretariat 
at Brussels, which should serve as a permanent 
abode. 

It was therefore thought advisable to abandon 
the intention of meeting in England, and to hold 
the meeting for 1913 in Brussels, so as to have 
an opportunity of thanking Monsieur Solvay for 
his generous gift. A further reason for meeting 
in Brussels lay in the fact that the days appointed 
coincided with the date of M. Solvay’s golden 
wedding, as well as the fiftieth anniversary of the 
foundation of the industry which bears his name. 
The date was accordingly September 19 to 23. 

At this meeting the Chemical Society of Bel- 
gium was represented; there were present besides 


454 


NATURE 


[DeEcEMBER 18, 1913 


delegates from Germany, England, Austria, Den- 
mark, Spain, France, Holland, Italy, Norway, 
Russia, and Switzerland; the United States and 
Japan were unrepresented. In all, seventeen 
chemical societies are affiliated to the international 
association, representing nearly 20,000 members. 
Much valuable assistance was received from M. 
Tassel and from M. Heger in arranging for the 
meetings. 

It was agreed that the place of meeting for 
1914 should be Paris, with M. Haller as president. 
The business done at the Brussels meeting was 
satisfactory; steps were taken to affiliate the com- 
mittee on atomic weights; to unify the methods 
of abbreviating the names of journals; to secure 
publication of important memoirs which have ap- 
peared in one of the less known languages in 
English, French, or German; to open negotia- 
tions to diminish the multiplicity of abstracts, by 
cooperation among the various bodies which 
publish extracts; and some important resolutions 
dealing with nomenclature, and with symbols for 
physical constants, were adopted. 

The need of such an association has now been 
amply shown. - Much can be done to simplify 
methods, and, by cooperation, to diminish labour, 
and increase convenience. «There is still much to 
be done, however, and the usefulness of the asso- 
ciation will doubtless survive the period at which 
Monsieur Solvay’s gift will be exhausted. The 
assembling of chemists from various nations, 
with free interchange of ideas, cannot fail to 
stimulate all working at the science of chemistry, 
and cannot fail to promote cordial international 
relations. ‘‘La Science est sans patrie!” 

WitrrAm Ramsay. 


HEALTH IN INDIA. 


U NDER tthe title, ‘A Modern Miracle,” The 
Pioneer Mail of September 12 gives some 
striking figures of the improvement of health 
among the European troops in India—these figures 
being taken from the Army Medical Report for 
last year. With a strength of more than 71,000 
British troops in India, there were positively only 
328 deaths during the year, equal to 4°62 per 
1000. This is really a remarkable achievement ; 
and the smallness of the death-rate is not due in 
any way to an increase in the invaliding to 
England—as shown by the fact that the invaliding 
also fell markedly during the year to 6-68 per 1000, 
compared with 23 per 1000 in 1892. These are 
by far the lowest rates on record, and are com- 
parable with the great decrease in the death-rate 
and the invaliding among non-native officials in 
West Africa, as disclosed by recent Colonial Office 
Reports. 

Enteric fever, which was once: such a terrible 
pest in India, has now decreased so much that 
there were only 118 admissions to hospital for it 
among the whole British garrison. This is un- 
doubtedly due partly to the very great care now 
exercised in dealing with potential carriers of the 
disease, both human carriers and flies, and also to 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


anti-typhoid inoculation. Malaria also has shown 
a very marked decrease during the year, though, 
as The Pioneer Mail points out, this may possibly 
be partly due to the usual fluctuations in the 
prevalence of the disease caused by variations in 
climate. Cholera and plague have also diminished. 

Those who are interested in the subject would 
do well to compare with this fine record a remark- 
able paper by Sir Charles Pardey Lukis, Director- 
General of the Indian Medical Service, in the 
October number of Science Progress, entitled 
“The Sanitary Awakening of India.” Sir Pardey 
Lukis describes the whole position of sanitation 
in India, and also the very extensive advances 
which are now being made in the investigation 
of disease, and the practical application of pre- 
ventive measures there. Since he has occupied 
his important post, energy has been redoubled in 
all these directions. The whole Indian Medical 
Service, and the Officers of the Royal Army 
Medical Corps now serving in India, must all be 
heartily congratulated for the splendid work which 
they are now doing. Of course, there are ideals 
still before us; but the old apathy which used to 
exist in many quarters seems now to be a thing 
of the past. 

Vaccination in India is also doing extremely 
well. Nearly two million vaccinations were per- 
formed in the Bengal Presidency alone during 
1912—13, and the total number of deaths from 
smallpox in that Presidency during the year was 
only o*21 per thousand of the population—a very 
good figure for a country where vaccination has 
been much opposed on account of “religious ” 
scruples. The lanoline lymph, which I believe 
was originally invented by Colonel King, is prin- 
cipally responsible for this good state of affairs, 
and Colonel King is to be much congratulated 
upon it. Ronatp Ross. 


THE PROBLEM OF THE UNIVERSITY 
OF LONDON. 


~INCE the article in our issue of December 11 
“7 was written, further events of importance 
have taken place. We referred in that article to 
the proposal of the Higher Education Sub-Com- 
mittee of the London County Council to recom- 
mend the London County Council to invite the 
Senate of the University of London to express 
approval of Somerset House as a place for the 
further development of the Univetsity. The re- 
commendation in favour of this site was adopted 
by the Council at Tuesday’s meeting, after 
discussion. The Council agreed, without a divi- 
sion, to an amendment proposing that, if the 
Government could not consent to the Somerset 
House suggestion, the Education Committee 
should be instructed to report on the proposal to 
establish the university. on a site on the south 
bank of the river, “where it would form an 
important feature in the beautifying of London.” 
This proposal has something to be said for it 
from the point of view of the improvement of 


_arrived at Noumea, 


DECEMBER 18, 1913] x 


NATURE 


455 


the amenities of London, but from the point of 
view of university policy it has nothing to com- 
mend it. If the south side of the river were 
chosen, nothing whatever would be | achieved 
beyond the possible erection of a fine building for 
the university offices. No concentration of 
teaching institutions could possibly take place 
there, and, consequently, no university quarter 


could be created. The establishment of a univer- ; 


sity quarter is of the essence of the matter. 

The speech of the Minister for Education at the 
Birkbeck College on December 10 _ further 
strengthens the view that the Government is in 
earnest in carrying through this important educa- 
tional reform. The Minister dealt on that occa- 
sion with the recommendation of the Royal Com- 
mission for the establishment of an evening con- 
stituent university college by the development and 
re-organisation of the Birkbeck College. With 
this proposal we are in full sympathy. 

Considerable care will be required in dealing 
with the question of the continuation of the 
external degree. Signs are not wanting to indi- 
cate that some members of the external party 
conceive that their future would lie in some kind 
of alliance with those institutions that are not 
accepted as constituent colleges. Such a device 
would merely set up a sort of second, and inferior, 
internal side. The only justification for the con- 
tinuance of the external degree is that it should 
be truly and genuinely external. Every care must 
be taken in the efforts that are being made to 
secure agreement not to destroy the well-thought- 
out proposals of the commission. No one would 
think of instituting an external side at the present 
time; it exists and appeals, apparently, to a large 
number of people. If it is to be continued, it 
should be as a purely external and impartial 
examining board, unconnected with any particular 
educational institution. 


NOTES. 


Tue President of the Board of Education has pro- 
moted Mr. G. W. Lamplugh, F.R.S., to the post of 
assistant director of the Geological Survey of Great 
Britain, and Mr. T. C. Cantrill to that of district 
geologist, the appointments to take effect on January 
6, 1914. 

WE notice with much regret the announcement of 
the death on December 15, at thirty-eight years of 
age, of Dr. P. V. Bevan, professor of physics at the 
Royal Holloway College, and formerly demonstrator 
in physics in the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge. 

Dr. R. R. Gates has received from the Royal 
College of Science, South Kensington, the Huxley 
gold medal and prize for research in biology. 

A REUTER message from Melbourne on December 
15 states that the steamer Pacifique, which has 
reports that the volcano in 
Ambrym Island, one of the New Hebrides, has for 
many days been in active eruption. On December 6 
six new craters were formed on the west coast, and 
on the following day Mount Minnie collapsed in the 
centre. 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


Tue Board of Agriculture and Fisheries is engaged 
in an inquiry, through its horticulture branch, into 
the failure of fruit-trees to set properly through in- 
sufficient pollination. The Board will be glad to be 
put in communication with the occupier of any orchard 
of five acres and upward who has reason to believe 
that his trees are bearing less than the normal crop 
over a series of years. Fruit-growers who are plant- 
ing new orchards are also invited to communicate 
with the Board. 


Tue Italian Meteorological Society has decided to 
arrange an international congress to be held in Venice 
in September next. Prominence is to be given to 
the discussion of problems in connection with the 
higher atmosphere, and there are to be sections con- 
cerned particularly with climatology, aérology, and 
pure and maritime meteorology. The price of a 
member’s ticket is to be 10 lire, and special railway 
facilities are to be offered to those attending the 
congress. All inquiries and applications should be 
addressed to the general secretary, Barene Emile D. 
Henning O’Carrel, director of the Patriarchal Ob- 
servatory in Venice. 


AT a meeting of the executive committee of the 
British Science Guild held on December 9, it was 
announced that a permanent paid secretary had been 
appointed. It was resolved to support the movement 
which is being taken to induce the British Govern- 
ment to be represented officially at the San Francisco 
Exposition of 1915. Lord Sydenham, Sir Francis 
Laking, Sir John Cockburn, and others were added 
to the medical committee, and it was decided that 
the subject of reference to the Royal Commission of 
which Lord Sydenham is chairman should be con- 
sidered by the medical committee. The subject of the 
charges made by the Postmaster-General to persons 
using the wireless time-signals sent out from the Eiffel 
Tower in Paris has been considered by the committee 
on the synchronisation of clocks, and it was resolved 
to approach the Government upon the subject. 


By the regulations for the protection of wild birds 
and mammals in Egypt, referred to by Sir H. H. 
Johnston at the end of his article in last week’s 
Natur, the following kinds of birds useful to agricul- 
ture are not allowed to be shot, captured, destroyed, 
exposed for sale, sold, or purchased :—Egrets, larks, 
pipits, wagtails, warblers, wheatears, flycatchers, 
orioles, bee-eaters, hoopoes, green plovers, spur- 
winged plovers, and winged plovers. Permission to 
collect or keep any of these birds for scientific pur- 
poses rests with the discretion of the Minister of 
Public Works. All shooting is forbidden on Lake 
Menzala, and gazelles are protected in certain dis- 
tricts. Governors of cities and Mudirs of provinces 
have the right to refuse to issue game licences, should 
they see fit to do so, and to make regulations within 
the limits of their jurisdiction concerning close seasons, 
reserves, the kinds of animals that may be shot, and 
special conditions. The virtual effect of the pro- 
clamation is that henceforth the killing of any bird 
but a hawk, kite, or crow is illegal throughout the 
Khediviate. It is most satisfactory to note that the 
Egyptian Government protects by these regulations 


456 


NATURE : 


[DEcEMBER 18, 1913 


not only the birds of Egypt, but also the rarer 
mammals. Its example should at once be followed 
in British India, in British Guiana, and in British 
Honduras. 

Mr. Hucu Purriires, The Manor House, Hitchin, 
Hertfordshire, stated in The Times of December 4 
that Newton’s house in St. Martin’s Street, W.C., 
was being taken down carefully, after every detail of 
its construction had been noted and a plan of the 
structure made by a firm of London architects, with 
the view of re-erecting the house elsewhere at some 
future date. In reply to an inquiry, he informs us 
that at present he has not been successful in finding 
anyone who will help him to re-erect the house. He 
says :—‘‘ It would be necessary to spend about 10,0001. 
to rebuild and endow it as a museum, and this sum 
would pay for its upkeep, and its interest would leave 
a small annual purchasing fund for the acquisition 
of relics of Sir Isaac Newton and the other inhabi- 
tents of the house.”’ 


Tue Russian Supplement of The Times for Decem- 
ber 15 contains an account of M. Vilkitski’s explora- 
tion with the ice-breakers Taimyr and Vaigatz. On 
the outward voyage, as the vessels were sailing west- 
wards, a new island some miles in circumference was 
discovered south-east of New Siberia. Nothing was 
seen of Sannikof Land. About thirty nautical miles 
north-east of Cape Cheliuskin the expedition found a 
new island, free of ice, lying along the parallel. Its 
eastern end was seven miles broad. Thirty’ miles 
from the eastern point of this island land was again 
sighted on September 3, and the'explorers: reached the 
shore at lat. 80° 4! N., and long. 97° 12/ E.- They 
raised the Russian flag and gave to the newly dis- 
covered land the name of the Emperor Nicholas II. 
It is of volcanic origin, is lofty, and contains exten- 
sive glaciers. The coast was then traced north-west- 
wards for a distance of twenty miles up to lat. 80° N., 
long. 96° E., when further progress was stopped by 
compact ice. On the way back the expedition called 
at Bennett Island, raised a monument to Baron. von 
Toll, and took on board his collections, weighing 


242 lb. The same publication -reports ‘the discovery 


of prehistoric remains on the shores of. Lake Baikal, 
opposite Olkhon Island. Here M. Petri found eleven 
successive abodes of primitive man. Flint implements 
occurred in the lowest layer, and in the higher pottery, 
with designs becoming more artistic towards the 
upper levels. 


A PROVISIONAL committee, formed of representatives 
of the Illuminating Engineering Society, the Institu- 
tion of Electrical Engineers, the Institution of Gas 
Engineers, and the National Physical Laboratory, 
held a meeting on November 29 at which arrange- 
ments were made for the formation of a National 
Illumination Committee, to be constituted according 
to the statutes of the International Illumination Com- 
mission, with the primary object of affiliating Great 
Britain to that commission. The provisional com- 
mittee recommended that the National Committee 
should consist of five representatives of each of the 
three technical- societies, and two representatives of 


tion has been adopted, and the following have been 
nominated as members of the committee:—By the 
Illuminating Engineering Society: Mr. Leon Gaster, 
Mr. F. W. Goodenough, Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, 
and Mr. A. P. Trotter (this society has not yet 
nominated its fifth representative); by the Institution 
of Electrical Engineers: Mr. F. Bailey, Mr. W. Dud- 
dell, Mr. K. Edgcumbe, ‘Mr. Haydn Harrison, and 
Prof. J. T. Morris; by the Institution ‘of Gas 
Engineers: Mr. E. Allen, Mr. J. Bond, Mr. W. J. A. 
Butterfield, Dr. H. G. Colman, and Mr. H. Watson; 
and by the National Physical Laboratory: Dr. R. T. 
Glazebrook, C.B., and Mr. C. C. Paterson. The first 
meeting of this National Committee tool. place on 
December 2, when the following were chosen as 
officers :—Chairman, Mr. E. Allen; Vice-Chairmen, 
Mr. W. Duddell and Mr. A. P. Trotter; Honorary 
Secretary and Treasurer,.Mr. W. J. A. Butterfield. 
Great Britain is entitled to two delegates on the 
executive committee of the International Illumination 
Commission, and Dr. H. G. Colman and Mr. W. 
Duddell were accordingly appointed by the committee 
as the delegates from this country. om 

Mr. Martin Joun Sutton, who died on Sunday, 
December 14, in his sixty-fourth year, was for 
many years the head of the seed establishment of 
Messrs. Sutton and Sons, Reading. He was a man 
of great energy and sound judgment; he had strong 
convictions and possessed the courage : 
Despite his long connection with the Royal Agricul- 
tural Society, on the council of which he served for 
nearly twenty-five years, he opposed strenuously the 
proposal to substitute a fixed show at Park Royal for 
the perambulating show which had done such fine’ 
service for agriculture. The event justified his oppo- 
sition and approved his foresight. Notwithstanding 
the imperative claims of his business—claims which 
he never ignored—Mr. Sutton found time to take a 
prominent part in the agricultural, educational, and 
religious life of the country, as well as the civic life 
of his native town. Soon after the establishment of 
the-college at Reading he became and remained a 
member of the council of that institution. He watched 
its growth with interest, and helped it with generous 
gifts, but not a few of those engaged in research in 
Reading count the kindly help and wise counsel which 
he bestowed so unstintingly among the greater of his 
gifts to the college. Like his co-partners and his 
successors, Mr. Martin John Sutton was willing 
always to place the vast resources of the Reading 
house and trial grounds at the disposal of those 
engaged in the investigation of plants and their uses. 
Mr. Sutton published several important papers on 
scientific subjects, and his volume on ‘t Permanent and 
Temporary Pastures,” which is a standard work, 
shows the great amount of exact and strictly scientific 
knowledge which may be amassed by men primarily 
engaged in business, and leads the merely scientific 


man to regret that this knowledge is not more often - 


put into general circulation. 


Can any evidence be found of a change in the 
climate of Europe during the last thousand years 


the National Physical Laboratory. This recommenda- | before the Christian era? This question is discussed 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


of them. | 


DECEMBER 18, 1913] 


NATURE 


457 


in the Naturwissenschaftliche Wochenschrift (No. 44, 
pp. 689-93) by Mr. Ernst H. L. Krause. It has been 


“prompted by the attempt of Sernander ‘and others to 


prove that the last marked post-glacial change in the 
climate of Europe, when the mean annual tempera- 
ture was about 5° C. lower than now, set in about 
500 B.c. This era witnessed the Persian invasion of 
Greece, the return of the Jews from captivity, and 
some other national movements, which often are 
consequences of changes in the productiveness of a 
region. But contemporary writers, in their geo- 
graphical descriptions, ought to afford some evidence 
of so considerable a variation of temperature, and on 
this point Herr Krause states the result of his inves- 
tigations. Beginning with Homer, whose age prob- 
ably corresponds with that of the best bronze work 
in the north (in which Sernander holds that the 
climate of Stockholm was dry and. warm), he’ finds 
nothing to imply any difference in the eastern 
Mediterranean from its present mean temperature. 
Hesiod’s writings (perhaps a century later) afford no 
hint of any alteration in the seasons, yet they deal 
with these and their relation to agriculture. Between 
his days and those of Aristotle, the temperature of 
Sweden must have fallen five degrees, yet the writ- 
ings of the latter, though dealing with natural history, 
afford no sign of such a change. Theophrastus, Aris- 
totle’s pupil, writes on botany without giving any hint 
of such an occurrence. Herr Krause therefore con- 
cludes that this hypothesis has no historical basis, and 
that any slight alteration, if such there be, can be 
otherwise explained. 


WE have received a copy of an article by Mr. E. 
Heller, published in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous 
Collections, vol. Ixi.; No. 1, on the northern, or Lado, 
race of the white thinoceros (Rhinoceros simus cottoni), 
based on the large series: of specimens obtained in 
the Lado Enclave during the Roosevelt expedition. 
The author believes that there really is good reason 
for the name “ white’”’ bestowed on the southern race 
of the species by the Boers. Full details of the dis- 
tinctive characters of the skull and teeth are given in 
the article, of which a full summary will be found in 
The Field of November 15. 


To The American Museum Journal for November 
Dr. W. D. Matthew contributes an interesting notice 
of the vertebrate remains found in the well-known 
asphalt-springs of Rancho-la-Brea, California, which 
formed during the later part of the Tertiary period a 
veritable death-trap for the fauna of the adjacent 
country. Even now, when the springs are compara- 
tively inactive, the animal that sets its foot on the 
apparently sound but really treacherous ground is as 
good as lost, but in the Pleistocene matters were ten 
times worse. Remains of more than fifty species of 
birds have been identified, and there were probably at 
least as many mammals. “ Wolves, lions [?=pumas], 
and sabre-toothed tigers, eagles, and vultures are the 
most common of the remains found; next to them 
stand the larger Herbivora, bisons, horses, ground- 
sloths, and larger ruminants and wading-birds; while 
remains of smaller quadrupeds and perching or 
ground-birds are comparatively rare. This is a fact 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


of grim significance, for it indicates that the. larger 
quadrupeds, venturing out upon the seemingly: solid 
surface, and caught in the asphalt, served as a bait 
for animals and birds of prey, luring them from. all 
the country round about, and enticing them within 
the treacherous clutch of the trap; these in their 
turn falling victims, served to attract others of their 
kind.” 


THE latest issue (part 3 of vol. viii.) of Records of 
the Indian Museum is entirely occupied by reports on 
the zoological collections made by Mr. S. W. Kemp, 
assistant-superintendent of the museum, in the course 
of the punitive expedition against the Abors in 1911- 
12. One of the most interesting of Mr. Kemp’s dis- 
coveries in the Abor country—of a species of Reripatus 
—is not, however, here described. Most of the reports 
are merely lists of species with exact records of times 
and places of capture; but several of them are of 
wider interest. Mr. Ekendranath Ghosh contributes 
an excellent and well-illustrated paper on the anatomy 
of slugs of the genera Atopos and Prisma. Mr. 
B. L. Chandhuri, who describes the fishes, brings an 
old controversy regarding McClelland’s Barbus spilo- 
pholus to a satisfactory conclusion. And Mr. Kemp, 
in an interesting account of the river crabs and 
prawns, reiterates the extraordinary difficulty of deal- 
ing with the Potamonide in approved systematic 


fashion. The beautiful plates by A. C. Chowdhary 
and S. C. Mondul are a prominent feature of the 
volume. 


Tuar much-investigated animal, Amphioxus, still 
continues to provide material for elaborate anatomical 
memoirs, and will probably continue to do so for a 
considerable time. It is certainly very desirable that 
our knowledge of this most important type, which 
stands so near to what must have been the origin of 
the vertebrate series, should be as complete as pos- 
sible, and two recently published memoirs set an 
admirable example of thoroughness in dealing with 
special systems of organs. In the first part of a 
memoir entitled ‘‘ Untersuchungen iiber das Gefiiss- 
system der Fische."’ (Mitteilungen aus der Zoologischen 
Station zu Neapel, Bd. 21, No. 4, 1913), B. Mozejko 
demonstrates the existence in Amphioxus of an 
elaborate subcutaneous blood-vascular system. The 
other paper referred to is Miss. H. L. Kutchin’s 
“Studies on the Peripheral Nervous System of 
Amphioxus (Proc. American Academy of Arts and 
Sciences, vol. xlix., No. 10, 1913), in which the author 
describes, with great elaboration, the beautiful results 
obtained by intra vitam staining of the peripheral 
nerves with methylene blue. Both memoirs are ad- 
mirably illustrated, and in both the amount of detail 
observed as the result of very skilful technical mani- 
pulation is highly remarkable. 


AN important further contribution to the series of 
‘Studies in Indian Tobaccos” has been published by 
Gabrielle L. C. Howard, in the Memoirs of the 
Department of Agriculture in India (vol. vi., No. 3). 
The author points out that though most of the 
varieties of tobacco at present grown in India give 
large yields and are therefore very profitable, the 
cured leaf produced from them is usually of very poor 


458 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 18, 1913 


quality, and is coarse and deficient in texture, flavour, 
and aroma, hence only available for Indian consump- 
tion, and bringing a low price. Improvements in 
quality of tobacco may be obtained (1) by the dis- 
covery of new cultivation methods ensuring a larger 
yield and a better quality of leaf; (2) by the intro- 
duction of improved methods of curing; (3) by the 
growth of superior kinds. The present paper deals 
with the third aspect of the question, the immediate 
problem being the production of a good cigarette 
tobacco, and details are given of the extensive experi- 
ments which have been made in the attempt to build 
up, by hybridisation, new kinds of tobacco suited to 
Indian conditions of growth, and possessing the 
qualities necessary to obtain a better price. The 
author has made a thorough investigation of inherit- 
ance in tobacco, with special reference to the morpho- 
logical characters which are of economic importance, 
namely those concerning the habit of the plant and the 
leaf, but points out that it will probably take some 
years to obtain a complete knowledge of the subject, 
which has proved far more complicated than was at 
first supposed. The paper is illustrated by numerous 
plates. 


Tue valuable series of reports issued in connection 
with the Clare Island Survey is now approaching 
completion. We have just received a copy of the 
latest issue, No. 64 of the series. This deals with 
the Foraminifera, and the authors—E. Heron-Allen 
and A. Earland—are to be complimented on the ex- 
haustive character of their report, which is illustrated 
on a most liberal scale. Besides being the longest 
report vet issued in connection with the survey, it is 
the largest single contribution to the literature of 
the British Rhizopoda since the publication of Wil- 
liamson’s monograph in 1858, and pending the issue 
of the new monograph on which the authors are now 
engaged, the Clare Island report should prove a useful 
handbook to workers in this order. No fewer than 
299 species and varieties are recorded from thirty- 
seven shore sands and dredgings made in the Clare 
Island area, a surprising number in view of the 
general uniformity of depth and bottom conditions 
reported. Fourteen species and varieties new to 
science are figured and described in the report, which 
also records thirty-two other forms for the first time 
in Great Britain in the recent condition. Many of 
them are already known in Britain as fossils. Among 
other outstanding features of the report we notice 
with pleasure an exhaustive and up-to-date biblio- 
graphy and an analysis of the important genus Dis- 
corbina, which is illustrated by a diagram of the 
affinities of the principal species. The publication of 
similar analyses as regards other genera would be of 
permanent advantage to the science. 


Tue United States Department of Agriculture has 
sent us the first number of the Journal of Agricultural 
Research, a periodical which will partly supersede the 
bulletins and circulars hitherto issued by the various 
bureaus and offices of the Department. The new 
journal—a” large octavo—is well printed and _ illus- 
trated, affording a worthy channel for the publication 
of valuable researches. The first number contains 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


| 


three papers. Mr. W. T. Swingle describes Citrus 
ichangensis, a new species from south-western China, 
which bears a fruit known as the ‘‘Ichang lemon”; 
it is believed that the plant is hardy and might be 
advantageously introduced into North America. Mr. 
B. H. Ransom describes in detail Taenia ovis (Cob- 
bold), hitherto known only in the cysticercus stage 
from sheep. The adult tapeworm, now discovered 
in the dog, is compared with T. marginata, and other 
allied forms. The concluding paper, by F. M. Web- 
ster and T. H. Parks, deals with Agromyza pusilla, 
Meigen, the maggot of which mines in the leaves of 
clovers and many other plants, both in Europe and 
America, 


In the monthly chart of the Indian Ocean issued 
by the Meteorological Office for December some very 
interesting notes are given relating to the aurora in 
both hemispheres, selected from reports contained in 
ships’ logs and other sources. Among the latter some 
valuable observations by Dr. C. Chree are especially 
noteworthy. Among these he mentions that in the 
north the latitude of maximum frequency is believed 
to vary from 55° in long. 60° W., to fully 75° in 
long. 90° E.; aurora is seen at least five times as 
often in the north of Scotland as in the south 
of England. There seems to be a fairly well-marked 
eleven year period, closely connected with the sun-spot 
period. The phenomenon is generally considered to be 


caused by electric currents in the atmosphere, but — 


opinions differ widely as to the origin of these cur- 
rents. 
quoted. 


In the Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical 
Society (xvii., 3, 1913) Prof. A. C. Dixon applies 
integration by parts to several well-known trigono- 
metric expansions in powers of the sine of an angle, 
and he is thus able to write down the remainders 
after any number of terms. 


In reading a review in the Bulletin of the American 
Mathematical Society (xix., 10) of Dr. Gerhard Kowa- 
lewski’s recent Calculus, we find quoted some interest- 
ing French verses from which, by counting the letters 
of the words, the ratio of the circumference to the 
diameter may be written down to thirty decimals. 
They are as follows :— 

‘Que j’aime a faire apprendre un nombre utile aux 
sages ! 

Immortel Archiméde artiste ingénieur 

Qui de ton jugement peut priser la valeur! 

Pour moi ton probléme eut de pareils avantages.” 
It is much easier to remember these verses than the 
numbers, derived from counting the letters, namely— 

3°141592053589793238462643383279. 

A SEPARATE copy has reached us of Prof. Millikan’s 
paper on the elementary electric charge and the 
Avogadro constant which appeared in The Physical 
Review for August. It deals with an improved series 
of observations of the atomic charge of electricity 
by the method of falling oil drops. The improvements 
consist in a better optical system for observing the 
rates of fall of the drops, an arrangement for working 
in air at different pressures not exceeding atmospheric, 
a better method of eliminating convection in the air, 


Some of the best-known recent theories are 


_ 


DECEMBER 18, 1913] 


NATURE 


459 


and the use of a more trustworthy value of the vis- 
cosity of air. The author also examines the correct- 
ness of the assumptions: that the viscosity effect is 
uninfluenced by the oil drops being charged electric- 
ally, that the drops are spheres, and that their density 
is the same as that of the oil in bulk. Prof. Millikan’s 
final value for the atomic charge of electricity is 
4774. 10-19 electrostatic units, the probable error 
being 1 in 500. From this value of the charge the 
author calculates the following constants: number of 
molecules per gram molecule, 6-062 x 107°; number 
of gas molecules per cubic centimetre at normal tem- 
perature and pressure, 2-705x10'°; kinetic energy 
translation of a molecule at 0° C., 5-621x 10-* ergs; 
coefficient of the absolute temperature in the expres- 
sion for the energy at any temperature, 2-058 x 10-1°; 
coefficient of the logarithm in the expression for the 
entropy according to Boltzmann, 1-372 x 10-'®; mass 
of the hydrogen atom, 1-662x10-*4g; Planck’s 
“quantum” of energy, 6-620x 10-77 ergs; constant 
of the Wien displacement law, 1-447. 


Ar a meeting of the Alchemical Society on Decem- 
ber 12 Prof. Herbert Chatley, of Tangshan Engineer- 
ing College, North China, read a paper dealing with 
alchemy in China. Views similar to those of the 
medieval alchemists of Europe had been current, Prof. 
Chatley said, in China since 500 B.c. or even earlier. 
The Chinese alchemists regarded gold as the perfect 
substance, and believed in the possibility of trans- 
muting base metals thereinto. They also agreed with 
European alchemists in employing bizarre symbols 
in their writings, in using mercury as the basis in 
attempting to prepare the philosopher’s stone, in be- 
lieving in the slow natural development of gold from 
other metals, and in postulating a sexual generation 
for all things. Many interesting particulars concern- 
ing this last tenet of the Chinese alchemists, the doc- 
trine of Yin and Yang, were given, as well as others 
respecting their views concerning the elixir of life, in 
the possibility of obtaining which they firmly believed. 


Engineering for December 12 contains an_illus- 
trated description of the Hamburg-American Co.’s 
T.S.S. Konigin Luise, which is fitted with Féttinger’s 
hydraulic transformer for reducing speed between the 
turbine and propeller shafts. Sir John H. Biles 
attended the trials of this vessel, and his report is 
reproduced in our contemporary. Of special interest 
in the report is a complete table of comparison of 
the results for this ship and those for the Caesarea 
(turbine direct-driven) and for the Normannia (turbine 
mechanical-gear). At full power, the steam used per 
shaft-horse-power per hour, excluding auxiliaries, is 
15*I, 12-2, and 12 lb., for the Caesarea, Normannia, 
and Konigin Luise respectively; the coal consumption 
per shaft-horse-power per hour for all purposes, stated 
in the same order of vessels, is 1-72, 1-34, and 1-31 Ib. 
A special claim for the Féttinger transformer is ease 
in manoeuvring; this claim is fully maintained in Sir 
J. Biles’s report. Thus, in one experiment the 
engines were running at about 430 starboard and 
410 port. In three seconds from delivery of the order 
the engines were stopped; after an interval of some 
seconds they were put to full speed astern, and in four 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


seconds from the time the valve was opened the speed 
Was 370 revolutions per minute. The complete time 
required to stop the ship was 1 minute 17 seconds, 
and she stopped in about a length and a half. It may 
be added that the total orders in hand for Féttingen 
transformers make an aggregate of 245,000 shaft- 
horse-power, including a 20,000 shaft-horse-power 
liner, two cruisers of 45,000 and 30,000, and several 
destroyers, each of 25,000 shaft-horse-power. 

WE have received a copy of the first number of a 
new monthly Italian journal devoted to the automobile, 
under the title, H. P. It is excellently printed, 
copiously illustrated, and contains interesting articles 
of technical and general interest. Amongst these may 
be noted a description of the ‘‘ Fiat’? works at Turin, 
and an article on rubber culture and manufacture. 
At the present moment no similar journal exists in 
italy, and the new venture will doubtless fill a real 
want. 

Messrs. G. ROUTLEDGE AND Sons, Ltp., will pub- 
lish in January a ‘‘ Handbook of Photomicrography,’* 
by H. Lloyd Hind and W. Brough Randles. 

Many old and rare works on mathematics, physics, 
chemistry, and kindred subjects, including a large 
collection of works by Newton and de Morgan, are 
comprised in a catalogue just issued by Messrs. H. 
Sotheran and Co., 140 Strand, W.C. A number of 
copies of Newton’s “Principia”? is included in the 
list, and we notice particularly a copy of the first 
edition of that immortal work offered at the price of 
eighteen guineas. 


Messrs. J. AND A. CHURCHILL are about to publish 
the following new books and new editions :—‘tA 
Manual for Masons,’’ by Prof. J. A. van der Kloes, 
revised by A. B. Searle; ‘‘Modern Steel Analysis,” 
by J. A. Pickard; ‘‘The Story of Plant Life in the 
British Isles,” by A. R. Horwood; “ Materia Medica, 
Pharmacy, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics,” by Dr 
W. Hale White, thirteenth edition; ‘‘ Elementary 
Practical Chemistry,” part i., by Dr. Frank Clowes 
and J. Bernard Coleman, sixth edition; ‘‘ The Medical 
Directory, 1914.” 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


A Rerraction ActinG RaDIALLy FROM THE SuN.—In 
the expression for the variation of latitude, a term 
exists which is independent of the position of the 
observing station and which has a periodic character. 
M. L. Courvoisier has suggested that either the sun 
has an atmosphere which extends to very great dis- 
tances or that the zther is denser nearer the sun, 
causing a small refraction in the light of stars, and 
thus producing this periodic variation in their posi- 
tions. M. L. Courvoisier’s paper, entitled ‘‘ Ueber 
systematische Abweichungen der Sternpositicnen im 
Sinne einer jahrlichen Refraction” (K. Sternwarte, 
Berlin, No. 15), indicated that many series of observa- 
tions pointed towards the existence of this refraction 
varying in amount with the angular separation, 
according to a formula which he deduced. His 
observations included a number of stars at different 
distances, both in right ascension and declination from 
the sun. The amount of this refraction near the sun 
he derived from observations of Venus near upper 
culmination between the years 1858 and 1909. Mr. 
F. E. Ross points out a correction to Courvoisier’s 


460 


yearly refraction in Astronomische Nachrichten, 
No. 4699, due to the observations of Venus being 
compared with an ephemeris computed from Leverrier’s 
tables, which, as he says, are in error in a respect 
important in a discussion of this kind. The result of 
the correction is greatly to increase the refraction in 
the neighbourhood of the sun found by Courvoisier. 
RESEARCHES AT THE ALLEGHENY OBSERVATORY.— 
No. 4, vol. iii., of the Publications of the Allegheny 
Observatory contains an account of the orbit of 
A Tauri by Prof. Frank Schlesinger. The variable 
nature of this star was originally discovered by 
Baxandell in 1848, and it was the second star, Algol 
being the first, that was recognised as an eclipsing 
variable. In this research eighty-nine spectrograms 
of the star were utilised, and from these the definite 
elements are given in the paper with the velocity curve 
corresponding to them. Certain residuals indicate 
the presence of some disturbing element in the system 
the nature of which is unknown. Mr. Frank C. 
Jordan, in No. 5 of the Publications, deals with the 
spectrographic observations of ¢ Persei, a variable 
which has received considerable attention by a great 
number of observers. The special character of the 
spectrum and velocity curve, coupled with the changes 
which take place in the spectrum of this star at 
different parts of its orbit, and in its velocity curve in 
different cycles, presents a problem yet unsolved. Mr. 
Jordan’s investigation adds another research to the 
star’s credit, but he finds that no single orbit or 
combination of orbits will satisfy the conditions re- 
quired. In No. 6 of the Publications Mr. A. H. 
Pfund describes a very satisfactory result to his pre- 
liminary thermo-electric measures of stellar radiation. 
While the conditions under which he had to employ 
his apparatus were by no means very favourable to 
secure the best results, yet the magnitudes of the 
deflections he obtained were very’ promising. In his 
paper he describes the general arrangement of the 
apparatus and the thermal junctions used, and gives 
the deflections due to Vega, Jupiter, and Altair. Mr. 
Jordan suggests the desirability of developing thermo 
junctions of still higher sensitiveness, and galvano- 
meters of greater. sensitiveness, and uses them in 
conjunction with the largest reflectors, so that stars 
down to even the 4th magnitude may be studied. 


ZopiacaL MatTrER AND THE SOLAR ConstantT.—In 
citing four cases where zones of asteroids have been 
hypothecated to explain planetary and cometary per- 
turbations and lunar inequalities, Mr. E. Belot, in 
a note in Comptes rendus (No. 18) points out that he 
published in rg05 a formula to take the place of 
Bode’s law, and that certain of the five zones of 
asteroids this formula predicts supply just the material 
in just the right positions. He proceeds further, and 
makes the suggestion that the transit of these zones 
across the sun’s disc may be found to supply the 
probable cause of variation of the solar constant 
established by the work of Abbot, Fowle, and Aldrich. 


THE PHYSICAL SOCIETY’S EXHIBITION. 


HE ninth annual exhibition of the Physical Society 
of London was held in the Physical Department 
of the Imperial College of Science on Tuesday, De- 
cember 16, and attracted the usual large attendance 
at both afternoon and evening sessions. In addition 
to the short discourses which have for some years 
formed a popular feature of the exhibition, a new 
departure was made by the introduction of several 
interesting experiments illustrative of recent research. 
In the exhibition proper about thirty firms showed 
their most recent forms of apparatus. 
The first discourse was given by Mr. Louis Bren- 
nan, C.B., who exhibited and described a simple 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[DEcEMBER 18, 1913 


apparatus for making large soap films, and demon- 


strated their properties. The film was formed on a 
frame of elastic which was capable of considerable 
extension, thus reducing the thickness of the film 
and showing the consequent change of the colour of 
the reflected light. The second discourse was by 
Prof. J. A. Fleming on the vibrations of loaded and 
unloaded strings. The string was caused to vibrate 
by means of a motor, to the shaft of which one end 
was excentrically attached. The tension could be 
adjusted by moving the pillar to which the other end 
was fixed. The effect of loading was shown by using 
strings twisted together, and also by the addition of 
beads. The reflection which takes place when the 
wave-length is reduced to the distance between suc- 
cessive beads was clearly shown, as was also the 
difference between the effect of a single large load and 
that produced by a load distributed over some dis- 
tance, gradually increasing in amount and then 
diminishing. Prof. Fleming pointed out the applica- 
tion of these experiments to the case of the reflection 
and transmission of light at the boundary of two 
media, and to the more important case of loaded 
telephone cables. 

Among the experiments already mentioned, Mr. 
W. E. Curtis exhibited the band spectrum of helium. 
A vacuum tube at a pressure of several millimetres 
was excited by an induction coil, a condenser and 
spark-gap being included in the secondary circuit. 
With suitable capacity and length of gap, the spec- 
trum shows a number of bands in addition to the 
ordinary helium lines. An experiment illustrating 
ionisation by collision was shown by Mr. F. J. Har- 
low. An electrodeless discharge was excited in a 
spherical bulb and the pressure reduced. 
found that the discharge could be continued at a 
much less pressure than usual if heated lime or 
aluminium phosphate was present to produce ionisa- 
tion. The phosphorescence of mercury-vapour in a 
vacuum excited by light from a mercury lamp was 
exhibited by Mr. F. S. Phillips. Prof. J. T. Morris 
and Mr. J. F. Forrest showed an electric are which 
they suggest for use as a standard of light, the light 
from the positive crater being quite unobstructed. 
Messrs. C. C. Paterson and B. P. Dudding had a 
simple device on exhibition for reducing the glare 
from motor headlights by confining the light to the 


“region below the horizontal on the right-hand side 


as seen from the car. An indicator for use with high- 
speed internal-combustion engines was shown by Dr. 
W. Watson, and also an arrangement for studying 
the spectrum of a burning mixture at different stages 
of the combustion. An experiment on the interfer- 
ence of X-rays by a crystal of rock-salt through which 
they were passed was shown by Dr. G. W. C. Kaye 
and Mr, E. A. Owen, the crystal patterns being visible 
on a fluorescent screen. 

THERE was a large number of interesting features 
among the exhibits of the firms. The Cambridge 
Scientific Instrument Co. had on view an electro- 
static oscillograph designed by Prof. H. Ho and S. 
Koté, of Japan, which possesses important advantages 
over the electromagnetic oscillograph for high-voltage 
work. A contact-breaker for physiological 
which could successively interrupt two circuits with an 
intervening period of from 00002 second to 0-04 
second was also shown. An inexpensive form of 
independent plug contact for resistance boxes was 
shown by Messrs. Gambrell Bros. A simple appa- 
ratus for measuring the pressure of light, designed by 
Mr. G. D. West, was exhibited by Messrs. J. J. 
Griffin and Sons. Mr. R. W. Paul exhibited a large 
number of electrical laboratory instruments, including 
a simple device for projecting an image of the scale 
and pointer of an instrument on a screen for lecture 


It was” 


work + 


DECEMBER 18, 1913} 


purposes. Among the exhibits of Messrs. Isenthal 
and Co. was a collection of pladuram products, a 
form of tungsten specially treated, which it is hoped 
to apply to purposes where a hard, inert metal is 
required. Radio-active preparations were shown by 
Mr. F. Harrison Glew. The principal exhibit of 
Messrs. Muirhead and Co. was a Heurtley magnifier 
for use in cable telegraphy or wireless telegraphy, or 
wherever it is required to magnify the effect of small 
mechanical movements. Instruments connected with 
wireless telegraphy were shown by the Marconi Com- 
pany, the Ludgate Wireless Company, and Messrs. 
Graham and Latham, while very complete exhibits 
of projection apparatus and microscopes for all pur- 
poses were shown by Messrs. Carl Zeiss, Messrs. E. 
Leitz, Messrs. Newton and Co., and other firms. 
The instruments of Messrs. H. Tinsley and Co. for 
cclour measurement and for lens testing, and the 
new miniature precision instruments of the Weston 
Co., are also worthy of mention. 


THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF 
TROPICAL AGRICULTURE. 
HE first International Congress of Tropical Agri- 
culture was held in Paris in 1905, and was 
organised by a number of French men of science 
interested in this subject. At its close the Association 
Scientifique Internationale d’Agronomie Coloniale et 
Tropicale was founded, to promote in every possible 
way scientific work in tropical agriculture. Branches 
of this association were gradually founded in Bel- 
gium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Portu- 
gal, and elsewhere, until at present practically every 
country interested, either on its own account or 
through its colonies, in tropical agriculture, is repre- 
sented on the Central Bureau of the association, 
which has its headquarters in Paris. In 1910 a very 
successful second Congress of Tropical Agriculture 
was held in Brussels. At the close of that congress 
M. de Lanessan, formerly Governor-General of Indo- 
China, who had up till that time been president of 
the association, retired, and was succeeded by Prof. 
Wyndham Dunstan, C.M.G., F.R.S., director of the 
Imperial Institute. 

The International Association has decided to hold 
the third Congress of Tropical Agriculture in London, 
at the Imperial Institute, on June 23-30 next year, 
under the presidency of Prof. Dunstan. A strong 
organising committee, including Sir D. Prain, direc- 
tor of the Royal Gardens, Kew; Sir S. Stockman, 
chief veterinary officer to the Board of Agriculture 
and Fisheries; Mr. Bernard Coventry, Agricultural 
Adviser to the Government of India; Dr. F. Watts, 
Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture for the West 
Indies, and other eminent authorities on tropical agri- 
culture, has been at work for some time in prepara- 
tion for the congress. 

It is proposed to devote the afternoon meetings of 
the congress to papers, and the morning meetings to 
a series of discussions on important problems of 
special interest, such as technical education and re- 
search in tropical agriculture; outstanding scientific 
problems in rubber production; methods of develop- 
ing cotton cultivation in new countries; problems of 
fibre production; agriculture in arid regions; and 
hygiene and preventive medicine, in their relation to 
tropical agriculture. The organising committee will 
welcome contributions on these or allied subjects. 

For further information regarding the arrangements 
for the congress, the communication of papers, &c., 
application should be made to the organising secre- 
taries (Dr. T. A. Henry and Mr. H. Brown), Third 
International Congress of Tropical Agriculture, Im- 
perial Institute, London, S.W 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


461 


PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY OF SOLUTIONS. 


Ae is well known, the progress in the physical 
chemistry of solutions which has been made 
during the last thirty years, though extensive and 
detailed in a certain sense, has nevertheless suffered 
not a little from the fact that fully 90 per cent. of 
the investigations have been restricted to the study of 
the behaviour of substances dissolved in water. At 
the present time, therefore, whilst a very large amount 
of data has been accumulated upon the subject of 
aqueous solutions, our knowledge of the behaviour of 
non-aqueous solutions and solutions formed in mixed 
solvents is deplorably scanty. Of course, here and 
there the subject has been attacked, especially within 
the last decade, and a few general conclusions have 
been laboriously attained. Many of the rules, how- 
ever, which serve as a trustworthy guide in the case 
of aqueous solutions have to be considerably modified 
or even discarded altogether when we come to non- 
aqueous solutions. At the same time, it is clear that 
the problem of solution in general cannot be regarded 
as in a satisfactory state, so long as generalisations 
applicable to a large number of solvents at least are 
wanting. 

It is for this reason that we welcome the mono- 
graph published by Prof. H. C. Jones, entitled ‘‘ The 
freezing point-lowering, conductivity, and viscosity of 
solutions of certain electrolytes in water, methyl 
alcohol, ethyl alcohol, acetone, and glycerol, and in 
mixtures of these solvents with one another ’’ (Pub- 
lication No. 180, Carnegie Institution of Washington). 
The present work is to be regarded as supplementary 
to Publication No. 80 of the same institution. The 
actual experimental work has been carried out by 
several investigators, under the direction of Prof. 
Jones. Each of these investigators, after giving an 
account of the experimental methods and results ob- 
tained for various salts—inorganic salts—in various 
solvents, pure and mixed, makes a very brief sum- 
mary of conclusions, the whole field being finally 
reviewed by Prof. Jones himself in a general dis- 
cussion, which occupies the last dozen pages or so of 
the book. As was to be expected, great stress is laid 
upon the generality of the phenomenon of solvation 
and much of the work is devoted to the elucidation— 
naturally with varying success—of the three funda- 
mental factors:—(1) Change in solvation, which 
changes the mass and size of the ion; (2) change in 
the viscosity of the solution with change in tempera- 
ture thereby affecting the friction of the ions in 
moving through the solution; and (3) change in the 
number of dissolved particles—molecules and ions. 

The publication as a whole is a monument of in- | 
dustry which reflects the greatest credit upon the 
laboratory from which it emanates. It is sincerely to 
be hoped that the systematic accumulation of similar 
data will become much more general than has hitherto 
been the case. 


PHYSIOLOGY AT THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION. 


THs has been a year of congresses for physio- 

logists. The International Congress of Medi- 
cine, the International Congress of Physiology, and 
the British Association all took place during August 
and September. In spite of the fact that the British 


. Association came last, the section of physiology had 


a very successful meeting. 

The president’s address was especially interesting, 
as it gave the views of an organic chemist on the 
physico-chemical aspect of his work. The address 
has already appeared in Narure (October 16, p. 213). 


462 


On Monday morning, September 15, the section 
of physiology held a joint meeting with the section 
of agriculture. A paper by Prof. Sdrensen and a 
discussion on the physiology of reproduction occupied 
the attention of the two sections. 

Prof. Sdrensen dealt with the measurement and 
the significance of the hydrogen ion concentration 
in biological processes. He began by pointing out 
that the hydrogen ion concentration gives more in- 
formation than the statement of the amount of acid 
in the solution. Some of the acid may be neutralised 
or unionised, and hence it does not exert its full acidic 
power. A similar relation holds between hydroxyl ion 
concentration and alkalinity. 

As the product of hydrogen and hydroxyl ion con- 
centrations is constant at a given temperature, the 
most convenient method of expressing acidity or 
alkalinity is in terms of hydrogen ion concentration. 
Owing to the hydrogen ion concentration in biological 
processes being very small, he uses the sign py, to 
indicate the negative exponent of the normality in 
respect to hydrogen ions. Thus 2x 10-*=10~-**; 
therefore Py=5'69. 

The electromotive measurement of hydrogen ions 
is the standard method, but the colorometric indicator 
method is more convenient for many purposes. 

The use of ‘‘ buffers,’’ by which acid or alkali formed 
during a reaction is neutralised without an appreciable 
change in hydrogen ion concentration, enables one to 
study the effect of the hydrogen ion concentration on 
various processes. The cases illustrated were inver- 
tase and other enzymes, haemolysis, and phagocytosis. 

The discussion on reproduction was opened by Mr. 
K. J. J. Mackenzie, who pointed out that the stock- 
breeder was well trained and ready to absorb sound 
knowledge, but that the knowledge was not there for 
him to have. There are many problems of a practical 
nature and of great financial importance in regard to 
stock-breeding, but he spoke mainly about two of 
them. 

The first was the problem of the ‘‘ Free Martin.” A 
heifer born twin to a bull is said to be sterile. Several 
cases were investigated, and it was found that some 
were sterile and others fertile. If it could be pre- 
dicted which are the fertile ones, this knowledge would 
make a considerable difference to the prices obtained 
at sales of pedigree stock. Mr. Mackenzie pointed 
out that twins may result from the fertilisation of two 
eggs or by the division of one fertilised egg into two 
individuals. The former would possess two separate 
amnions, whilst the latter would be contained in a 
common amnion. Observation at birth of the pre- 
sence or absence of two amnions and correlation of 
the observations with the subsequent histories of the 
offspring might solve the problem which heifers 
would be fertile. In reply to a question he said that 
sterility of the bulls was much less important, as they 
were usually castrated. 

The second. problem was that of ‘“‘black belly’ in 
swine. It was considered that this was due to cestrus, 
and that bacon made from such animals was unwhole- 
some. Investigation showed that the pigmentation 
is due to skin pigment, and that cestral changes are so 
slight as to be overlooked in slaughter-houses. If 
the prejudice to the pigment cannot be overcome, the 
remedy is to breed swine without mammary pigment. 

Problems in mill production and sterility in bulls 
and stallions were also quoted as subjects requiring 
investigation. 

Mr. Geofrey Smith sent in an abstract dealing with 
the glycogen and fat metabolism of crabs. The 
males and females present striking differences. Males 
have less fat and more glycogen in their livers than 
do the females. The blood of the male is pink, whilst 
that of the female is yellow. Infection with sacculina 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


” 


NATURE 


[DecEMBER 18, 1913 


causes disappearance of sexual changes, and the 
males become like the females in composition. : 

Dr. L. Doncaster mentioned other cases in which 
the males and females differ. For instance, in cater- 
pillars, by the precipitin test, the two sexes can be 
shown to differ more than the same sexes but of 
different species. He suggested that male and female 
characters are present in both cases, but that some 
factor, by influencing metabolism, determines which 
sex develops. Sacculina apparently causes the same 
type of metabolism as does the female factor. 

A combined meeting with the sections of zoology 
and botany was held on Tuesday morning, September 
16. Prof. B. Moore, F.R.S., gave a communication 
entitled ‘Synthesis of Organic Matter by Inorganic 


| Colloids in presence of Sunlight, considered in rela- 


tion to the Origin of Life.” 

His view is that the first organisms would not con- 
tain chlorophyll, and hence there must have been a 
supply of organic matter before the organisms could 
flourish. He demonstrated that from water contain- 
ing carbon dioxide and colloid, formaldehyde is pro- 
duced by ultra-violet light. 

He then outlined the scheme of development 
whereby increasing complexity causes instability, and 
that regions of stability occur by the formation of a 
new order of substance. As the material becomes 
more complex, its properties alter. Therefore, 
although one can trace the relationships from one to 
another, objects widely separated behave differently. 

“Ether and energy give rise to the electron, and 
the electron to the atom. When the atom becomes 
too large and unstable, the molecule is formed. Com-. 
binations occur between molecules by molecular 
affinities, e.g. 


Na,SO,+ 10H,0—=Na,SO,.10H,O. 


Molecular combinations form colloids, which are un- 
stable substances, resembling the instability of living 
organisms, and finally living cells are formed. Social 
organisation such as that of the hive bees may be 
the next step, when the individual has reached its 
highest possible development. 

Sir Oliver Lodge agreed with Prof. Moore that new 
possibilities enter matter with increase in complexity, 
and that complexity and instability are necessary for 
life. He also stated that the synthesis of potentially 
living matter is not the same as the origin of life. 

Prof. Armstrong stated that it is not possible to 
arrive at the production of life. He gave instances 
of several other ways in which formaldehyde can be 
synthesised in the laboratory. He did not consider 
that colloid was necessary for the synthesis. His 
opinion is that the asymmetry of the chemical com- 
position of living organisms is the only difficult point 
to understand, but that once asymmetry has been 
produced, enzymes can direct the asymmetrical syn- 
thesis. : 

Dr. Hopkins, Prof. Leonard Hill, and Prof. Hartog 
criticised various points, and agreed with Prof. Arm- 
strong and Sir Oliver Lodge in several of their state- 
ments. } c 

Prof. Priestley gave several instances of synthesis 
of formaldehyde without colloids, but he claimed that 
colloids were important for energy changes in cells. 
Sugar can be produced by bubbling carbon dioxide 
through alkali in the light of a mercury lamp. He 
suggested that asymmetry might be produced by the 
action of polarised light which is found in the surface’ 


‘layers of the sea. 


Prof. Rothera said that the discussion took two 
divisions: criticism of details and criticism of 
generalisations. He believed the sequence outlined in 
Prof. Moore’s statement to be quite correct. 

Prof. Moore, in replying, said that he did not claim 


7 
4 
| 

d 
} 


DeEcEMBER 18, 1913] 


that the synthesis is new, but he knew that formalde- 
hyde had been produced by ultra-violet light. Prof. 
Armstrong’s examples were mainly reactions, which 
could be brought about by human agency in the 
laboratory, but that the conditions were unlikely to 
occur naturally at an early stage of the world’s history. 
Because Prof. Armstrong has difficulty in under- 
standing the production of asymmetry, this does not 
obscure the point that energy can be accumulated by 
synthesis without chlorophyll. The problem of asym- 
metry would follow the production of organic matter. 

The new idea is not the synthesis but the point of 
view, and he considers that under the natural condi- 
tions synthesis would be aided by colloids even if the 
colloid were not absolutely necessary. In many cases, 
such as synthesis in presence of uranium, colloid 
would also be present. f : 

Friday, September 12, was devoted to a joint sitting 
with the subsection of psychology, and the proceedings 
will be recorded in the report of that subsection. 

On one of the reports there was a general discus- 
sion, in which Dr. A. D. Waller, F.R.S., Sir Frederic 
Hewitt, Prof. Gilbert Barling, Dr. McCardie, Mr. 
F. J. Pearse, Prof. Saundby, and Prof. Vernon Har- 
court, F.R.S., took part. These speakers unanimously 
agreed that there should be some State regulation of 
anesthesia. 

The present position is that anyone can administer 
anzesthetics such as chloroform, ether, cocaine, &c., with- 
out any restriction. Sir Frederic Hewitt pointed out 
that a railway accident was followed by an inquiry, 
but there was no inquiry after a death from anzsthesia. 
Porters and cloak-room assistants do not drive engines, 
yet anyone can administer an anesthetic to another 
person. The object of this discussion was to urge on 
the Government the necessity of regulating the ad- 
ministration of anesthetics. Motions to this effect 
have been passed by the British Medical Association, 
the Medico-Legal Society, the International Congress 
of Medicine, &c. 

Dr. Duffield explained the report on calorometric 
observations on man, by lantern slides illustrating the 
work done. The carbon dioxide output has been 


_ especially studied. During the early stages of work 


carbon dioxide accumulates in the body, and hence 
the output rises slowly. At the end of ten minutes 
the output becomes uniform, showing that the body is 
sufficiently saturated to give off the carbon dioxide 
as rapidly as it is formed. After the end of the 
work the excess of carbon dioxide must escape, and 
hence there is a slight continuation of the increased 
output. 

Prof. E. Wace Carlier described the histological 
structure of the post-pericardial body of the skate. 
It is a small body the size of a grain of rice. The 
structure resembles that of the carotid gland in 
an and he considers that it is a chromaffin 
gland. 

Prof. Leonard Hill, F.R.S., gave two communica- 
tions. The first was a demonstration of his kata- 
thermometer, which consists of two thermometers 
heated to about 120° F. The time necessary for them 
to cool from 110°-100° F. is recorded; one has a dry 
bulb and the other has a piece of moist cloth round the 
bulb. These give an indication of the physical condi- 
tion of the air, and this physical condition is, in 
ordinary circumstances, of far greater importance to 
well being than the presence or absence of respiratory 
waste products. 

His second communication (with Dr. McQueen) 
was on the pulse and resonance of the tissues. Where 
the arteries are superficial, the blood pressure, as 
measured by the sphygomanometer, is lower than 


NATURE 


| 


where the arteries are surrounded by the tissues. The | 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


463 


tissues resonate with the arterial pulsations, and thus 
the pressure appears higher. 

Prof. A. B. Macallum, F.R.S., and Dr. J. B. Colip 
described the blackening of nerve cells, but not nerve 
fibres, with silver nitrate. The change is not due to 
chloride, phosphate, or protein. It is due to some 
reducing substance which they believe to be an 
oxyphenol allied to adrenaline. The medulla of the 
suprarenal bodies gives a similar reaction. 

Dr. F. W. Mott, F.R.S., read a paper on the bio- 
chemistry of the neurone. He commenced by point- 
ing out that the Nissl granules disappear from the 
nerve cells of animals fed on white bread and from 
cells of which the axons have been cut. These ap- 
pearances can be seen only in fixed cells. Living cells 
suspended in lymph or cerebro-spinal fluid show no 
Nissl granules, but the contents appear like an emul- 
sion. With dark ground illumination the emulsion ~ 
particles appear luminous, but show no brownian 
movement. No particles are visible in the axon where 
it is surrounded by the mycelin sheath. Dilute am- 
monia causes the cells to become irregular, the par- 
ticles to escape, and to show brownian movement. 
Acids and some dyes cause appearances like Nissl 
granules. 

Cells placed in methylene blue stain but show no 
granules. If.deprived of oxygen, the cells do not 
stain blue as the leuco base is formed. On allowing 
oxygen to enter the tube, the cells stain, showing that 
the leuco base had been absorbed by the cells. 

Dr. J. Tait described experiments on blood coagula- 
tion, in which he observed agglutination of corpuscles 
to the edges of the wound in Gammarus and in tad- 
poles. Some crustacea have blood which does not 
coagulate, yet hemorrhage is stopped as rapidly as 
in those whose blood does coagulate. It is difficult to 
understand the advantage of coagulable blood. 

Dr. J. Tait and Miss Macnaughton demonstrated the 
advantages of the heart of the hedgehog for perfusion 
experiments. It can be removed and kept beating by 
perfusion with Ringer solution at any temperature 
between that of the body and ordinary room tem- 
perature. 

Dr. J. Tait and Mr. R. J. S. McDowall: The 
muscles which extend from the skeleton to the skin 
of the back of hedgehogs will contract at tempera- 
tures from 040° C., and they require no oxygen 
supply. A muscle placed in a narrow glass tube filled 
with Ringer’s solution will remain active for hours 
even if repeatedly stimulated. 

Dr. Dawson Turner read a paper describing the 
effect of treating exophthalmic goitre with radium. 
He found that the treatment was beneficial. 

The following three papers are of cognate interest, 
and they are therefore described together. 

Prof. Georges Dreyer and Dr. E. W. Ainley Walker 
read two papers on the relation of organs to the 
general body weight. The normal relation is im- 
portant, as variations are of interest in studying 
abnormal conditions. These authors find that the 
relation of the blood volume to body weight is given 
(body weight)”, 

K 
where n and K are constants. For birds and mammals 
n is approximately 0°72, and for cold-blooded animals 
n is 13. Therefore, for the former, the determining 
factor is the body surface, and for the latter the 
weight of the muscles. Similar relations hold for the 
area of the aorta and of the trachea. 

Altitude affects the blood volume by a variation in 
the constant K. On going to high altitudes the blood 
volume decreases and the haemoglobin content in- 
creases, pointing to concentration by removal of water. 
The hemoglobin is slightly increased after severa? 


by the formula: Blood volume= 


464 


days, and the blood volume also slightly increases. 
On returning to lower levels the blood volume rises 
and the haemoglobin percentage decreases, but neither 
returns to its original level until several days later. 

Dr. H. E. Roaf found, when the weight of the 
kidneys is expressed by a similar formula, that n is 
approximately 1°5, and hence the body surface does 
not regulate the kidney weight. Possibly there is 
some reciprocal relation to the skin; or, like the blood 
volume of cold-blooded animals, the kidneys depend 
upon the mass of muscle in the body. 

In concluding this account of the section of physio- 
logy, we feel that some reference should be made to a 
new feature. The section was strengthened by 
having associated with it the first subsection of 
psychology. H. E. Roar. 


GEODETIC OBSERVATIONS AND THEIR 
VALUE. 
T is not always the greatest inventions, or those 
which come most prominently before the public, 
which effect the greatest revolutions in the field of 
practical science; it is often the perfecting of instru- 
ments that have been long in use which is chiefly 
responsible for progressive results of startling sig- 
nificance. For instance, in the scientific researches of 
chemical investigators, or in matters relating to 
pathology and meteorology, it is seldom that a fresh 
discovery is due to the invention of a new instrument; 
it is almost invariably the development of the power 
of assisting observation already existing in the old 
instruments which has effected new discoveries. This 
is peculiarly the case with modern instruments used 
in connection with geodetic work. It is the perfection 
with which the metal are can now be graduated with 
equal divisions representing degrees, minutes, and 
seconds which has so greatly altered the conditions 
under which geodetic triangulation can be extended. 
The improvements effected in base measuring appa- 
ratus is another factor in the rapid evolution of earth 
measurement and map-making all over the world; 
whilst the improved pendulum for the registration of 
the varying force of gravity, corresponding to the vary- 
ing conditions of density which obtain in the earth’s 
crust, renders investigations into the science of isostasy 
more simple and more certain than could possibly 
have been anticipated, say, fifty years ago. 

These developments in the processes of advancing 
the practice of geodetic measurement over the surface 
of the earth are of more importance than is generally 
recognised, because the direct connection between 
geodesy and geography is not rightly understood. 
Geodesy is not a mere abstract science dealing with 
the shape of the earth and solving mathematical 
problems connected with its eccentricity, or deter- 
mining the variable density of the earth’s crust by 
careful investigations into the force and direction of 
gravity; it furnishes the basis and the framework 
of all that extension of earth measurement of which 
the final outcome is the map. Geodesy offers but 
little field for such form of illustration as will readily 
fix it in the minds of men as a sound practical every- 
day working science essentially necessary for the 
economic and political advancement of civilisation. 

Geodesy began with the measurement of arcs on 
the earth’s surface in various parts of the world by 
the process of extending a series of triangles along 
that arc from a measured base at one end of it. 
Rigorous accuracy was the dominant feature of such 
measurements. The measurement of a base a mile 

1 Abstract of an address ¢elivered at the opening of the réoth session of 


the Royal Society of Arts on November 19, by the chairman of the council, 
Sir Thomas H. Holdich, K.C.M.G. 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[DeEcEMBER 18, 1913 


or so in length was effected formerly by means of 
“compensation bars”’ of a givem length, which were 
designed with infinite care and armed with mechanism 
for longitudinal, vertical, and transverse adjustment, 
and it was a most elaborate and lengthy process. 
The process was repeated at intervals, if the triangu- 
lation series was a long one, in order to ensure results 
as near absolute accuracy in linear measurement as 
was possible. It took months to measure a base. 
Now it is found that by using a wire composed of 
“compensating ’’ metals and stretched along a series 
of cradles or supports, the same result can be obtained 
in about one-tenth the time. The Jaderin apparatus, 
which includes a wire 25 metres in length, affords 
the simplest means of obtaining accurate base 
measurement; but there is still an appreciable defect, 
due to varying conditions of temperature, which 
renders it necessary to compare the wires before and 
after use with a standard measurement. The E6tvés 
torsion balance represents, perhaps, the latest improve- 
ment in apparatus for the measurement of base lines. 

Independently of the base, however, the real secret 
of the facility with which strictly scientific geodetic 
triangulation can be carried over large areas of new 
country lies in the improvement in the art of graduat- 
ing metal arcs, which has rendered the comparatively 
light and portable 12-in. theodolite equal for purposes 
of rigidly accurate observation to the old 2-ft. or 3-ft. 
instrument of the past. In India, where one of the 
first and most perfect systems of geodetic triangula- 
tion has been carried out, it used to be necessary 
to call quite a large number of carriers into the field 
to convey the clumsy old instruments from one 
observing point to the next. Paths had to be cut with 
much labour and patience through the jungle; roads 
had to be smoothed out and carried up the sides of 
the hills. The expense would have been prohibitive 
but that labour was cheap in those days. The time 
occupied over the process of completing observations, 
even at only one station, frequently lengthened out 
into months. Nowadays there is a new generation of 
scientific observers educated in English schools, who 
need lose no time in carrying first-class work through 
the wild tangle of African hills and forests to deter- 
mine a boundary; or in threading their way with 
infinite patience by the rock-bound defiles and snowy 
heights of the Himalayas to a junction with Russian 
| Surveys on the Pamins. 

It has always been the aspiration of English sur- 
veyors to link up the magnificent survey system of 
India with that of Russia. To a certain extent this 
was effected by methods which cannot be accepted as 
scientifically regular during the progress of the Pamir 
Boundary Commission in 1895. The surveyors did, 
however, actually close on a determined point common 
to both surveys (it was the first boundary pillar at the 

eastern end of Lake Victoria) after carrying’an irre- 
| gular triangulation across the great snowy ranges of 
the north-west, and the resulting agreement between — 
the two values was almost too good to be altogether 
satisfactory. The means did not justify the end. It 
was impossible to ascend the gigantic peaks of the 
intervening ranges within the limits of the time avail- 
able, and it was necessary, therefore, to be content 
with seeing across them here and there, under specially 
favourable conditions, instead of observing from them. 
Lately, however, a more regular and _ systematic 
attempt has been made to turn those ranges which 
cannot be crossed, and a direct series has actually 
| been driven round these gigantic buttresses of the 
north on to the Pamirs. The results of this extra- 
ordinary feat are not yet published, but they furnish 
an example of what may be attempted in these days 
by the introduction of an improved class of compara- 
\ tively small instruments. 


q 


oe. 


DECEMBER 18, 1913] 


Reference was made in the address to the wide- 
spread increase of geographical knowledge during the 
last twenty-five years, and to the appreciation of 
geography as a leading subject for education in the 
universities and schools of England. This was not 
to be accepted as entirely due to an appreciation of 
the fact that the study of geography is an absolute 
necessity in face of the world-wide competition for 
commercial supremacy, or of political discussions 
involving the destiny of nations, or even in the field of 
the military campaign where geographical knowledge 
spells success. The effect of new facilities in the 
matter of locomotion counts for much in this stirring 
up of public interest in geography. People move 
rapidly, and they move widely and in ever-increasing 
numbers, and, to a great extent, they now study the 
map to know how and where they are going. The 
motor-car and the bicycle are responsible for much of 
this newly acquired interest in geography, and the 
mapping of the British Isles, and, in a less degree, 
of the Continent, is now familiar to thousands who 
would never have looked at a map fifty years ago. 
It is satisfactory to observe that the widespread know- 
ledge thus distributed amongst the millions has be- 
come specialised with those whose business it is to 
conduct either political or military campaigns. 

The very first element in the acquisition of geo- 
graphical knowledge is the proper and correct use of 
technical geographical terms. In the course of the 
address instances were given of the disastrous results 
_ which may follow the use in political agreements of 

vagueé and loose geographical definitions or of the names 
of places the existence of which was not properly 
authenticated. The Russo-Afghan boundary settle- 
ment of 1884 was cited as an instance of the latter 
error. That boundary commission has become his- 
torical owing to the occurrence of the “regrettable 
incident’ at Panjdeh, when a Russian force displaced 
the Afghans and secured an advance of the Russian 
frontier thereby which was never disputed by our 
Government, in spite of the fact that the joint com- 
mission was to effect a peaceable settlement of an 
international question. The Gladstone Government 
came to an end, and Lord Salisbury became Prime 
Minister just at the critical juncture when the success 
or failure of the mission hung in the balance. The 
Russian Commission took the field, and the settle- 
ment of the boundary proceeded. Then there ensued 
a useless and most expensive hunt, which lasted for 
months, in order to determine where on the Oxus 
a certain ‘‘post” existed, which was rendered an 
obligatory point in the boundary agreement, and 
which was nowhere to be found. Thousands of 
pounds were spent over that futile quest, which ended 
in the discovery that if such a “post’’ as that de- 
scribed in the protocol had ever existed at all it had 
disappeared long ago into the river-bed—so long ago 
as to be beyond the recollection of the oldest local 
authority. |The prolongation of the Commission’s 
stay in Afghanistan was not only expensive; it was 
dangerous, inasmuch as the temper of the Amir at 
that time was most uncertain. Moreover, the Russian 
Government was then to be as little trusted as that of 
Afghanistan. Useless delay was on every account to 
be avoided. F 

A wrong application of elementary geographical 
terms was instanced in the settlement of the eastern end 
of the same Russo-Afghan boundary in 1895. It wasa 
matter of urgent importance that this boundary should 
be settled in the Pamir region in the short season 
which elapsed between the opening of the passes in 
the spring and the closing of them by snow in autumn. 
There was no reason to anticipate delay or difficulty 
arising from the determination of the geographical 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


465 


position set out in the political agreements. As in 
the case of the ‘‘ Penjdeh”’ boundary, a scientific basis 
for that position had been carried from India to the 
scene of action, and the Russian men of science 
accepted the data of the English surveyors. Trouble 


| came only when the boundary as defined in the agree- 


ment was to be carried in an easterly direction from 
a certain ascertained point to the Chinese frontier. 
This was the crucial point of the boundary inasmuch 
as it covered those passes which were supposed to 
lead from Russia Indiawards. It was the ‘easterly 
direction’ which caused the trouble. Was it to be 
accepted as a little east of north, a little east of south, 
or due east? No agreement with the Russian repre- 
sentatives could be arrived at, and business came to 
an end. There was every prospect of a long and 
risky winter sojourn on the ‘“‘roof of the world” for 
the Commission. Luckily the possible deadlock had 
been foreseen, and the political translation of the 
term “easterly direction’? had been requested in ad- 
vance. The answer came just in time to save the 
situation. The Commission was withdrawn (not with- 
out risk) over the passes, and the boundary 
region left to winter solitude. The expression 
“foot of the hills’’ proved to be a_ stumbling- 
block in the way of another important boundary 
settlement. What constitutes the ‘foot of the hills”? 
Is it where steep slopes end and the more gentle 
glacis, or fan, reaching down to the drainage line of 
the valley, commences, or is it that drainage line 
itself where all slopes end? The latter was once 
adopted as the free translation of that term, and so 
great was the indignation stirred up by that trans- 
lation that it seemed likely to end in war. 

Instances of want of appreciation of the slight 
elementary knowledge of geographical definitions 
such as would save similar mistakes might be multi- 
plied, but, after all, the greatest losses in territory, or 
financially, have accrued from the actual want of 
properly authenticated map information when deter- 
mining international boundaries. No instance per- 
haps exists of a more forcible character than that of 
the boundary dispute between the two great South 
American Republics, the Argentine and Chili. Here 
a boundary dispute resulted from the framing of an 
agreement between the political representatives of the 
two countries without any preliminary examination 
of the geographical features of the country concerned. 
The boundary, according to this agreement, was to 
follow the main range of the Cordillera of the Andes 
which parted the waters of the Pacific from those of 
the Atlantic. There are ‘‘main’”’ ranges in the 
southern Andes of quite sufficient importance to justify 
the conditions required, if they did but part the waters 
of the Pacific from those of the Atlantic. But the 
great rivers that emptied themselves into the Pacific 
had their sources in the flat plains of Argentine 
Patagonia, and traversed the Andes from side to side. 
The dispute involved quite a library of learned treatises 
on the subject, and cost the two countries quite 
120 millions in preparation for war before it was 
referred to British arbitration. 

It is therefore of universal national importance that 
means should be provided for the determination of cer- 
tain absolutely fixed positions in their coordinate values 
of latitude and longitude if international boundaries 
are to be preserved. Great and impassable ranges and 
rivers (if the rivers flow through permanent and 
rocky channels), broad deserts, and certain other 
natural features, such as well-marked water partings, 
may stand well enough for the dividing wall between 
contiguous countries, where they exist; but over flat 
and cultivated plains the only lasting artificial 
boundary mark must be one the position of which is 


466 


so determined that there can be no room for dispute 
about it, even if it should be removed or perish 
through age. This is enly to be effected by accurate 
survey work based ultimately on geodetic triangula- 
tion, and it is this work carried out by British officers 
in so many parts of the world, with the aid of modern 
light and efficient instruments, which is gradually 
working out the boundaries of nations, and, incident- 
ally, carrying geographical mapping into the remotest 
regions of the world. The invention of a portable 
receiver for the transmission of signals by wireless 
telegraphy is likely to be of the greatest importance 
to these workers in remote geographical fields. Here 
again the perfecting of a minor form of installation 
for wireless telegraphy is rapidly leading to develop- 
ments of which we are at present only dimly conscious. 

What the Society of Arts can do in this special field 
of activity, after teaching people to believe in science, 
is to foster by all means in its power such aids to 
the progress of knowledge as are to be found in new 
inventions, new developments, and adaptations of 
instrumental means for observation and measurement 
in the endless process of collecting information. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


CamBrRIDGE.—Sir Arthur Evans has presented to the 
museum the last instalment of an interesting set of 
objects selected from the collections of his father, the 
late Sir John Evans. The gift consists of 121 
specimens ranging in date from prehistoric times to 
the eighteenth century. The value of the collection 
is greatly enhanced by the fact that all the specimens 
composing it were found in Cambridgeshire and the 
adjacent counties. ; 

Mr. C. S, Wright has been appointed University 
lecturer in surveying and cartography (Royal Geo- 
graphical Society lecturer). 

Dr. Assheton has been appointed University lecturer 
in animal embryology. 


Tue new Gresham College in Basinghall Street, 
London, E.C., was formally opened by the Lord 
Mayor on December 15. Mr. Sheriff Painter, chair- 
man of the City side of the Gresham Committee, gave 
a history of the Gresham Trust, which, he said, came 
into operation in 1596 after the death of the founder, 
Sir Thomas Gresham, and his widow. Under Gres- 
ham’s will seven lectureships were founded in divinity, 
astronomy, music, geometry, civil law, physic, and 
rhetoric. For the first 200 years those lectures were 
delivered at the mansion of Sir Thomas Gresham, in 
the parish of St. Helen’s, Bishopsgate, where Gres- 
ham House stood. The first Gresham College was 
opened in 1843, and the lectures were delivered there 
until a few years ago, when as it became inadequate 
to present-day uses, it was demolished and the new 
building was erected. The building, which is larger 
than the old college, has a frontage to Gresham 
Street of about 71 ft. and to Basinghall Street of 
58 ft. The lecture hall and gallery will seat about 
430 persons. The hall is lined throughout with oak. 
Provision is made for a complete kinematograph appa- 
ratus for use in the scientific and medical lectures. 
The building has cost about 34,000l. 


SPEAKING at the National Liberal Club on the sub- 
ject of Liberalism and education, Lord Haldane said 
that when this nation came into existence as a great 
industrial nation it had practically no competitors. 
At that time dash and “go” and practical skill alone 
were required. Now the art of manufacture is linked 
with the science of education. 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


.more favoured rivals. 


It is a business which | 


[DEcEMBER 18, 1913 


is controlled by scientific principles, and woe will 
befall the country which is lacking in the scientific 
equipment necessary to enable it’ to compete with its 
In Germany and America great 
progress is being made in the realisation of the truth 
that, not only must young men and women be pre- 
pared from an early age if they are to be made 
experts in their vocations in life, but that in their 
vocational training a large amount of general educa- 
tion must be given. The question will have to be 
faced in this country, and the only point is whether 
the public will give to the educational-movement that 
support without which no Chancellor of the Exchequer 
can make headway. An effort in the direction of 
higher education is necessary if this nation is to 
hold its own. Upon the same occasion Mr. J. A. 
Pease said that the view that education should be 
made compulsory up to the age of sixteen is an 
ideal which it is impossible to attain; but he hopes 
that the present limit may be raised to fourteen years. 


ARRANGEMENTS have been made for a large number 
of educational conferences in London early in the new 
year. Twenty-one educational associations are co- 
operating in a conference to be held in the University 
of London on January 2-10, which will be opened by 
an address by Mr. James Bryce on “Salient Educa- 
tional Issues." Among the associations taking part 
may be mentioned the Geographical Association, of 
which Dr. J. Scott Keltie is the president, whose 
address will be, ‘‘Thirty Years’ Progress in Geo- 
graphical Education”; the School Nature Study 
Society; the Association of Science Teachers; the 
Child Study Society; and the Associations of Teachers 
in Domestic Subjects and in Technical Institutions. 
The London County Council has arranged another 
conference of teachers, to be held at Birkbeck College 
from January 1 to 3.. One of the six meetings is 
to be devoted to a consideration of the subject of 
mental fatigue, another to memory drawing, and 
two others to educational experiments in schools. 
The Mathematical Association will hold its annual 
meeting at the London Day Training College on 
January 7. Among the papers to be read in the 
morning we notice one by Prof. J. E. A. Steggall on 
practical mathematics in school. In the afternoon the 
president of the association, Sir George Greenhill, 
will give an address on the use of mathematics, and 
Dr. W. N. Shaw will spealk on “Principia Atmo- 
spherica.”’ 


THE governors of the Imperial College of Science 
and Technology, at their meeting on Friday last, con- 
stituted two new chairs of chemistry, and ae 
two new professors—Dr. Jocelyn Field horpe, 
F.R.S., professor of organic chemistry, and Dr. 
James C. Philip, professor of physical chemistry. 
Four years ago Dr. Thorpe was elected to the Sorby 
research fellowship of the Royal Society, which he 
has held at the University of Sheffield. He was 
formerly research fellow and lecturer in chemistry 
at the University of Manchester, and received—his 
earlier training partly in London, at the Royal Col- 
lege of Science, and partly in Germany, where, at 
Heidelberg, he studied under Victor Meyer and Prof. 
Auwers. Dr. Philip has been on the staff of the 
Imperial College for some years latterly as an assist- 
ant professor. He is well known for his work on 
physical chemistry, and is now one of the secretaries 
of the Chemical Society. He is a graduate of Aber- 
deen and Gé6ttingen Universities. The department of 
chemistry in the Imperial College has now four pro- 
fessors—Prof. H. Brereton Baker, F.R.S., who is 
professor of chemistry and director of the laboratories ; 
Prof. W. A. Bone, F.R.S., professor of chemical 
technology (fuel and refractory materials), together 


<b ohaell 


DeEcEMBER 18, 1913] ‘ 
with the two new professors. At present there are 
117 students working specially at chemistry, includ- 
ing its technological applications, of which number 
thirty-six are engaged in research. In addition, the 
department provides the subsidiary training in chem- 
istry for about 329 other students. 


THE annual prize distribution of the Sir John Cass 
Technical Institute was held on Wednesday, Decem- 
ber 10, when the prizes were distributed by Sir 
Thomas H. Elliott, K.C.B., Deputy Master and 
Comptroller of the Royal Mint. The chair was taken 
by Sir Owen Roberts, chairman of the governing 
body of the institute. Sir Thomas Elliott, in address- 
ing the students, spoke of the desirability of keeping 
in view the aim of the instruction provided at the 


institute, the object of its work, and the extent to 


which this object was being accomplished. He was 
himself disposed to say that the primary purpose for 
which the institute exists is to assist students to do 
justice to themselves and to those who may be or 
become dependent upon them, to enable them to per- 
form services which the community requires and for 
which the community is prepared to pay, and to pay 
well, to increase their earning powers, and so to help 
them to secure a better livelihood for themselves than 
would otherwise be theirs. He counselled the students 
not to be afraid of selecting a manual occupation and 
in connection with it to endeavour to learn all the 
facts connected with the material used, the machinery 
employed, and the scientific principles upon which 
the work is based. The Rey. J. F. Marr, chairman 
of the institute committee, gave a summary account 
of the work of the institute during the past session, 
in which he referred especially to the increasing num- 
ber of students, the research work that had been 
carried on in the institute, both by students and by 
members of the staff, and the several developments 
in the courses of instruction provided. In the latter 
connection details were given of the work on col- 
loids, on the theory and applications of mathematical 
statistics, on the fermentation industries, on mine 
sampling and valuing, on metals used in the motor- 
car industry, and on the casting of metals, all sub- 
jects which had received the special attention of the 
governing body during the past session. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
Lonpon. 
Physical Society, November 28.—Prof. C. H. Lees, 


F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—Prof. H. L. 
Callendar; The expansion of silica. In attempt- 
ing to deduce the expansion of mercury by 


the weight thermometer method with silica bulbs 
it was necessary to determine the expansion 
of specimens of silica from the same source as 
the bulbs, and to extend the observations of expansion 
over the range o° C. to 300° C. Specimens which 
had been exposed to high temperatures appeared to 
give lower results over the range 0° C. to 300° C. 
than specimens which had not been heated above 
300° C. during the measurements. Specimens of the 
same material, (1) in the form of rods were obtained 
and were heated and tested by the Newton ring method 
over the range 0° C. to 300° C.; and (2) in the form 
of tubes, which were tested by the Fizeau method over 
the range —20° C. to 150° C. The difference be- 
tweer the axial and radial coefficients of the tube 
specimens had also been tested. The expansion of the 
silica rod gave results agreeing with the extrapolation 
of the curve representing the original observations 
between 300° C. and 1000° C. The silica rods showed 
at first some peculiarities due to intrinsic strain, but 
settled down into a cyclic state which could be repre- 


NO. 2303, VOL.- 92| 


NATURE 


467 


| sented over the range 0° C. to 300° C. by the formula 


1o' x mean coefficient 0° to t=78:0—8650/(t+175), but 
the variation of the coefficient with temperature. was 
rapid and peculiar over this range and could not be 
represented by a formula of the usual type. The axial 
expansion of four different specimens had been 
measured, and could be represented between —20° C, 
and 150° C., with a little divergence by the formula, 
1o'x mean coefficient 0° to t=29-:0+0:250t—0-000701", 
which agreed over this range with the formula found 
for the rods, but was inadmissible for extrapolation 
to 300° C. The difference between the radial and 
axial coefficients was tested. Differences of the order 
of 5 or Io per cent. in the expansion in different 
directions appeared to be persistent, and were not 
removed by heating the specimens to 1000° C. or 
cooling in liquid air. It was concluded that the differ- 
ences in the radial coefficient might be due to distor- 
tion of the ring. It was considered that the most 
probable result for the cubical coefficient would be 
obtained by assuming it to be three times the 
linear. Owing to the smallness of the ex- 
pansion of silica, and its comparative freedom 
from hysteresis, the possible uncertainty with 
the silica bulbs was probably less than 1 in 1000, 
in spite of the imperfect annealing.—F, J. Harlow: 
The thermal expansions of mercury and fused silica. 
A more complete set of observations of the relative 
coefficients of expansion of mercury in silica than 
those previously published are obtained by the use of 
an electrically heated oil bath. The observations 
comprise readings at frequent intervals up to 300° C., 
and are in good agreement with the earlier observa- 
tions. Tables are included giving representative ob- 
servations and the final results. From the values of 
the coefficients of expansion of silica determined by 
Prof. Callendar, the coefficients of absolute expansion 
of mercury are calculated.—Prof J. A. Fleming: An 
experimental method for the production of vibrations 
on strings. An apparatus for the production of vibra- 
tions of strings loaded or unloaded was shown. The 
vibrations are produced on a string by attaching one 
end to the shaft of a small continuous-current motor 
of about 3 h.p. The other end of the string is 
attached to a fixed point which can be moved by 
means of a screw, in some cases a spring balance 
being interposed to measure the tension. When the 
motor is started the string has a circular motion given 
to its end which is equivalent to two simple harmonic 
motions at right angles to each other. If the tension 
is adjusted rightly the string then vibrates in sec- 
tions, and the number of sections can be adjusted. 
The distance from node to node can then be measured 
easily, and the frequency determined from the speed 
of the motor. In this way the velocity of the wave 
is measured,, and can be compared with the 
velocity determined by taking the square root of 
the quotient of the tension by the linear density of the 
string. This method is useful in studying the pro- 
perties of loaded strings. When the wave-length 
on the string extends over a distance of more than 
eight or ten loads, the string vibrates as if the loading 
matter were distributed uniformly, but the string 
cannot propagate vibrations when the half wave-length 
approaches equality to the distance between two loads. 
It is possible to show the reflection of a wave at a 
load placed at any point on the string, and also that 
this reflection is reduced by tapering off the loading. 
With this loaded vibrating string all the phenomena 
of inductive loading in telephone cables on the Pupin 
system can be imitated. 

Geological Society, December 3.—Dr. Aubrey 
Strahan, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Dr. E. A. 
Newell Arber: A contribution to our knowledge of 
the geology of the Kent Coalfield. An account of the 


468 


Carboniferous rocks of Kent is given. The Mesozoic 
cover of the coalfield is ignored. The proved area is 
200 square miles. The general strike is about 30° 
south of east and north of west, and the dip of the 
Transition Coal Measures is 2° to 3°. The area is a 
syncline, limited on the north and south by Armorican 
folds, of which the northern has been located. It is 
maintained that the Kent Coalfield is not continuous 
with that of the Pas de Calais. There are reasons for 
believing that the western boundary is a great fault. 
The chief surface-feature of the Coal Measures is that 
of an inclined plane, sloping westwards and south- 
westwards from an elevated region near Ripple and 
Deal. The Lower Carboniferous rocks exceed 450 ft. 
in thickness, and were denuded before the Coal 
Measures were deposited. The Coal Measures consist 
of the Transition Series (1700 to 2000 ft. thick), and 
the Middle Coal Measures (2000 ft.). No Lower Coal 
Measures or Millstone Grit occur. The coals are well 
distributed, and are often of considerable thickness. 
Steam and household coals predominate. The most 
productive portions of the measures are the higher 
part of the Transition and the lower part of the 
Middle Coal Measures.—Dr. E. A. Newell Arber: The 
fossil floras of the Kent Coalfield. The floras of ten 
further borings in Kent are recorded, and the number 
of species known from the Kent Coalfield is raised to 
ninety-six, as compared with twenty-six in 1909. As 
regards the horizons present in Kent, the plant- 
remains indicate that, in the area so far proved, only 
Middle or Transition Coal Measures, or both, occur. 


Linnean Society, December 4.—Prof. E. B. Poulton, 
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Jane Longstaffi: A 
collection of non-marine Mollusca from the southern 


Sudan. With descriptions of three new species by 
H. B. Preston; and notes on Veronicella nilotica, 
Cockerell, by G. C, Robson, This records the 


Mollusca taken during two visits to the Sudan in 
February, 1909 and 1912. About fifty-three species 
were taken, thirty-four Gasteropoda and nineteen 
Lamellibranchiata, the aquatic, of course, having a 
wider range than the terrestrial forms. _The only 
terrestrial gasteropod found alive was a Veronicella 
nilotica, Cockerell, the second recorded example.— 
A. S. Horne: A contribution to the study of the evolu- 
tion of the flower, with special reference to the 
Hamamelidaceze, Caprifoliacee, and Cornacee. 


Mathematical Society, December 11.—Prof. A. E. H. 
Love, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Prof. E. W. 
Hobson: The linear integral equation—H. E. J. 
Curzon : Generalised Hermite functions and their con- 
nection with the Bessel functions.—J. Proudman : 
Limiting forms of long-period tides.—Lieut.-Col. 
Cunningham: The number of primes of the same 
residuacity.—R. H, Fowler: Some results on the form 
near infinity of real continuous solutions of a certain 
type of second order differential equation.—s. 
Brodetsky : The potential of a uniform convex solid 
possessing a plane of symmetry with application to the 
direct integration of the potential of a uniform ellip- 
soid.—G. R. Goldbrough ; The dynamical theory of the 
tides in a polar basin.—Prof. J. C. Fields: Proof of 
the complementary theorem. 


CAMBRIDGE. 

Philoscphical Society, November 24.—Prof. Newall in 
the chair.—Prof. A. S, Eddington: The distribution of 
the stars in relation to spectral type. It is well known 
that the concentration of stars to the galactic plane 
is not shown equally by the different spectral classes. 
Type B is the most condensed, and the others follow 
in the order A, F, G, K, M, i.e. the sequence coin- 
cides with the’ usually accepted order of evolution. 
Formerly it seemed probable that this result was due 


NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[DrcEMBER 18, 1913 


to a progression in. the average distance of these 
classes of stars, for, on the hypothesis that the stellar 
system is of oblate form, the greater the distance the 
greater will be the concentration to be expected. 
Recent determinations by Boss and Campbell of the 
average distances of the stars of different spectral 
types negative this explanation in a most decided 
manner. It appears, for instance, that the M stars 
are on the average more remote and more luminous 
than type A. There is an outstanding question of 
great difficulty. In parallax investigations it is found 
that the M stars are the faintest of all the types; in 
statistical discussions of proper motions, &c., they are 
found to be the brightest except type B. Similar diffi- 
culties occur with the other types. Russell has put — 
forward the theory that tvpe M consists of two divi- 

sions, “ne being the very earliest and the other the 
latest stage in evolution. Against this it may be 
urged that both divisions of type M are characterised 
by very high velocities in space; this seems to indicate 
a close relation between them.—Dr. G. F. C. Searle = 
(1) The comparison of nearly equal electrical resist- 
ances. Four resistance coils, A, B, C, D, are arranged 
to form the four sides of a Wheatstone’s quadrilateral. 
The coils C, D are approximately equal, but, as their 
ratio is eliminated, it is not necessary to know it. A 
balance is obtained by shunting A, B with large 
resistances a,, b,. The coils A and B are then inter- 
changed and a fresh balance is obtained by shunting 
them with a, and b,. (2) An experiment on the har- 
monic motion of a rigid body.—G. T. Bennett: A 
double-four mechanism.—F. E, Baxandall: The pre- 
sence of certain lines of magnesium in stellar spectra. 
In a recent paper on new series of lines in the spark 
spectrum of magnesium, Prof. Fowler gives spark 
lines of magnesium at wave-lengths 4384-86, 4390-80, 
4428-20, 4434-20, which do not fall into series. Weal 
lines in apparently corresponding positions have been 
found in the spectra of a Canis Majoris (type A,) and 
a Cygni (type A,, Pec.), and the suggestion is made 
that the stellar and laboratory lines are identical. It 
is in such stellar spectra as those mentioned that the 
well-known Mg spark line at wave-length 4481-3 
occurs at its maximum intensity. The new lines 
have not been traced in any other types of stellar 
spectra. 

MANCHESTER. 

Literary and Philosophical Society, November 18.—Mr-. 
Francis Nicholson, president, in the chair.—Prof. 
G. Elliot Smith: The controversies concerning the 
interpretation’ and meaning of the remains of the 
dawn-man found near Piltdown. The author ex- 
plained the nature of the controversies concerning 
other bearings of the Piltdown discovery on the history 
of ancient man: (1) the age of the remains; (2) the 
question of the association of the jaw and the skull ; 
(3) the significance of the jaw and teeth and the 
reconstruction of the missing parts; (4) the recon- 
struction of the brain-cast and the nature of the 
brain; and (5) the place which Eoanthropus should 
occupy in the phylogeny of the Hominide. (1) It is 
practically certain that the fragments are of the 
Pleistocene date. (2) There is definite internal evidence 
that the jaw is not really an ape’s; the teeth it bears 
are human, and the skull, although human, is much 
more primitive than any skull assigned to the genus 
Homo. (3) The reconstruction of the jaw and teeth 
has now been practically settled once for all by the 
subsequent discovery of the canine tooth. (4) He 
considered that there was no longer room for doubt 
as to the position the fragments originally occupied 
in the skull; and it is very improbable that the com- 
plete brain-cast could be more than 1roo c.c. in 
capacity. (5) There seems ample justification for 


a 


DercEMBER 18, 1913] 


NATURE 


469 


putting the Piltdown remains into a genus separate 
from all the other Hominid. Eoanthropus must 
represent a persistent and very slightly modified 
descendant of the common ancestor of Homo sapiens 
and H. primigenius. There is no positive evidence 
that the genus Homo, or even Eoanthropus, had come 
into existence in Pliocene times. The fact of E. daw- 
soni being found in a deposit that may perhaps be 
as late as the Mid-Pleistocene does not invalidate the 
conclusion that the genus to which it belonged was 
ancestral to the Heidelberg man. When man was 
first evolved the pace of evolution must have 
been remarkably rapid, and it is quite  pos- 
sible that amidst the turmoil incidental to the 
inauguration of the Pleistocene period a new group 
of anthropoids rose superior to the new difficulties, 
and became ““dawn-men."’ It is almost certain that 
man began to speak when his jaw was in the stage 
represented in that of Eoanthropus. The brain 
already shows considerable development of the parts 
associated in modern man with the power of speech. 


New Soutu WaAtzgs. 


Linnean Society, October 29.—Mr. W. S. Dun, presi- 
dent, in the chair.—Dr. J. M. Petrie : Hydrocyanic acid 
in plants. Part ii., Its distribution in the grasses of 
New South Wales. The existence of hydrocyanic acid 
in the Graminez was discovered by Jorissen, in 1884. 
Since then, about thirty species have been recorded 
as containing a cyanogenetic compound. The 
author’s work is a continuation of investigations into 
the cause of sudden fatalities among sheep in this 
State. More than 200 species of grasses were tested 
systematically. Glucosides, capable of yielding hydro- 
cyanic acid, were detected in twenty species, eleven 
of these being native grasses, the others introduced. 
The acid existed free in only two species, Cynodon 
incompletus and Diplachne dubia; in the rest, it is 
mainly combined as glucoside, and, therefore, only 
liberated by contact with the natural ferment of the 
plant under favourable conditions.—Archdeacon F. E. 
Haviland : Notes on the indigenous plants of the Cobar 
district, N.S.W. No. 2. In this second contribution 
the number of natural orders represented in the Cobar 
district is increased from 64 to 71; of genera, from 
197 to 275; and of species, from 337—504.—E. Turner : 
New fossorial Hymenoptera from Australia and Tas- 
mania. 


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Exercises from A New Algebra. Parts i-iv. By 
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Metallographie. Erster Band. Die Konstitution. 
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Union of South Africa. Mines Department. Annual 
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| 
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DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


_ 
THURSDAY, DECEMEER 18. 
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Employment of 
Power in H.M. Post Office: H. C. Gunton. +: <a 
Rovat. GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—The Standardising of Colours and 
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Prof. A. J. Herbertson. ve: 
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—Hypericum desetangsii, Lamotte, a New British Plant: C. E. Salmon. 
—The Mouth-parts and Mechanism of Sucking in Schizoneura lanigera: 
J. Davidson. * 2 
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CONTENTS. PAGE 
Principles of Mathematics .......... + + 445 
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GurBookshelf « 2: 1 .92es sneer oto eae 


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Reflection of Light at the Confines of a Diffusing 
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‘Transparent Grating: an Analogy to the Reflection 

of X-Rays from Crystals. (W2th Diagram.)— 

Prof. Carl Barus 

Fractured Flints from Selsey. —Sir E. Ray Lankester, 

K.C.B., F.R.S.; Prof. W. J. Sollas, F.R.S. 

The Structure of the Atom,—Frederick Soddy, 
R 


cieties. By Sir William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S. 
Healthin India. BySir Ronald Ross, K.C.B., F.R.S. 
The Problem of the University of London. . . . 


A Refraction Acting Radially fromthe Sun... . 
Researches at the Allegheny Observatory .... . 
Zodiacal Matter and the Solar Constant ...... 
The Physical Society’s Exhibition i 
Third International Congress of Tropical Agricul- 
ture uae 
Physical Chemistry of Solutions 
Physiology atthe British Association. By Dr. H, E. 
Roath se...) .. 2 ae ee 
Geodetic Observations and Their Value, By Sir 
Thomas H. Holdich, K,CsMiGp... |. .s eee 
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NATURE 


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MINERALOGY—CRYSTALLOGRAPHY— 
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_ GENERAL CATALOGUE XVIII. 
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Professor H. H. TURNER, F.R.S., will on Saturday next, December 
27, at Three o'clock, begin a Course of Six Illustrated Lectures (adapted 
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Our Earth; The Start Through the Air, December 30; Journeying by 
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58 Frederick Street, Edinburgh. 


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CAPE TOWN. 


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Applications are invited for the PROFESSORSHIP of ECONOMICS 
at the above College. 
Salary £500 per annum, rising to £800 per annum. 
Applicants must not be more than 35 years of age. 
Full particulars of the position can be obtained on application to 
T. Lovepay, Whiteley Wood Road, Sheffield. 


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CAPE TOWN. 


LECTURESHIP IN APPLIED MATHEMATICS. 


A LECTURESHIP in APPLIED MATHEMATICS (salary £300) 
is shortly to be established. Applications to be sent to Dr. C. G. Knott, 
Edinburgh University, not later than January 1, 1914. 


THE QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY 
OF BELFAST. * 


The LECTURESHIP in PHYSICS will become vacant on February 1, 
1914. The salary attached to the office is £250 per annum. 
Full information as to duties and terms of appointment may be obtained 


from 
JOHN M. FINNEGAN, Secretary, 
N.B.—Direct or indirect canvassing of individual Senators or Curators 
will be considered a disqualification. 


TECHNICAL AND SCIENCE SCHOOL, 
STOREY INSTITUTE, LANCASTER. 
HEADMASTER of the TECHNICAL and SCIENCE SCHOOL 


required. Candidates must possess a University Degree or its equivalent 
in Engineering (Electrical or Mechanical), and have had teaching and 
organising experience. Salary £230 per annum, rising, at the end of two 
years, to £2s0 per annum. Forms of applications and particulars will be 
forwarded, on receipt of stamped addressed envelope, royal octavo size, by 
SECRETARY FOR Epucation, Town Hall, Lancaster. 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 25, I913 


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received not later than December 31, 1913, addressed THE SECRETARY, 
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The LECTURESHIP in APPLIED MATHEMATICS will be vacant 
in January. For particulars apply to the REGISTRAR. 


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NATORE 


THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1913. 
THE PEOPLING OF MELANESIA. 
Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse einer amtlichen 
_. Forschungsreise nach dem Bismarck-Archipel 

im Jahre 1908. III. Untersuchungen iiber eine 

melanesische Wanderstrasse. Von Dr. Georg 

Friederici. [Mitteilungen aus dem Deutschen 

Schutzgebieten. Erganzungsheft Nr. 7.] Pp. 

iii+182. (Berlin: E. S. Mittler und Sohn, 

1913.) Price 3.60 marks, 

N this volume Dr. Friederici has used the re- 
I sults of his personal inquiries into the linguis- 
_tics and ethnology of the Bismarck Archipelago 
in an endeavour to trace the path of the Melanesian 
people from Indonesia to their present settlements 
east and south of New Guinea. 

In the second volume of the “Results” of the 
Hanseatic South Sea Expedition of 1908 Dr. Fried- 
erici gave a compendious account of the ethno- 
graphy and languages of the archipelago, with 
special studies of certain implements and naviga- 
tion. From these he concluded that there was 
evidence of a considerable connection between the 
people of the Bismarck Archipelago and those of 
the region roughly indicated by a line drawn 
from the Southern Philippines across north-east 
Celebes, to the Moluccas in the neighbourhood of 
Ceram and Buru. The present volume deals with 
the evidence in more detail. A comparison of the 
languages of the Barriai and related peoples of 
North New Pommern shows many agreements in 
grammar and vocabulary with the group of lan- 
guages known as the Bahasa Tanah of the Alfurus 
{or inlanders) of Ceram and the adjacent Moluccan 
islands, and Dr. Friederici concludes that the 
Melanesians originally came from that region, 
though they were considerably modified by another 
stream of immigrants from the region included 
between the Southern Philippines, North Borneo, 
and the Minahasa peninsula of Celebes. On reach- 
ing the Bismarck Archipelago a portion of the 
Moluccan swarm passed through Vitiaz Strait and 
settled along the coast of south and south-eastern 
New Guinea. Another portion, after colonising the 
shores of New Pommern and New Mecklenburg, 
passed through Dampier Strait to the northern 
islands of the Louisiades, the Southern Solomons, 
and the New Hebrides. The immigrants from the 
sub-Philippine region took a more northerly. route 
by the Admiralty group to New Hanover, East 
New Mecklenburg, and the Solomon Islands. 

Although his argument is based mainly on the 
languages, Dr. Friederici recognises the difficulties 
in definitely fixing the position of the Melanesians, 
which arise from their great variation in physical 
appearance and culture. But he maintains that a 

NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


471 


close agreement in the fundamental structure of 
the languages and the presence in them of impor- 
tant and. numerous common words is evidence of 
the presence of the carriers of the languages in the 


‘places where they are now found. He points out 


also a number of ethnological facts which support 
the conclusions based on linguistics. 

Dr. Friederici’s book will be found of much 
value to the student of oceanic ethnology. - It 
increases very considerably our knowledge of the 
languages of the Bismarck Archipelago. It affords 
a satisfactory indication of at least one path by 
which the speakers of Melanesian languages en- 
tered the Pacific, though it leaves still unsolved 
the problems of the northern and eastern Pacific, 
and the details of the dispersal of the Melanesian 
swarm after its passage through the Vitiaz and 
Dampier channels. 

The work would have been improved by an 
index, and in the absence of a purely linguistic 
map of the archipelago there is some difficulty in 
locating the languages. The names do not always 
agree with those appearing on maps in former 
volumes of the ‘‘Results.” Sipnry H. Ray. 


REGIONAL AND GENERAL GEOGRAPHY. 
(1) Tirol, Vorarlberg und Liechtenstein. By 
Prof. K. W. von Dalla Torre. Pp. xxiv + 486. 

- (Berlin: W. ‘Junk, 1913.) . Price 6 marks. 

(2) Mittelmeerbilder. Gesammelte Abhandlungen 
zur Kunde der Mittelmeerlander. By Dr. Theo- 
bald Fischer. Zweite Auflage, besorgt von 
Dr. A. Rihl. Pp, vi+472. (Leipzig and 
Berlin: B. G. Teubner, 1913.) Price 7 marks. 

(3) La Région du Haut Tell en Tunisie. (Le Kef, 
Téboursouk,. Mactar, Thala) Essai de Mono- 
graphie Géographique. By Dr. Ch. Monchi- 
court. Pp. xiv+487+plates. (Paris: Librairie 
Armand Colin, 1913.) Price 12 francs. 

(4) Animal Geography: The Fauwnas of the Natural 
Regions of the Globe. By Dr. M. I. Newbigin. 
Pp. 238. (Oxford:. Clarendon Press, 1913.) 
Price 4s. 6d. 

(5) 4 Commercial Geography of the World. By 
O: -J-. Rx. Howarth... Pp. 2362. (Oxford): 
Clarendon Press, 1913.). Price 2s.. 6d. 

(1) —) ROF. VON DALLA TORRE’S contribu- 

tion to Junk’s ‘‘Natur-Fithrer ” is pro- 
duced in the well-known style of “ Baedeker’s 

Guides,” and is a scientific companion for the 

pedestrian or the cyclist. The commonplace 

details as to hotels and meals, railway-tickets, and 

gratuities to custodians, are omitted altogether; 

in their place we find a truly marvellous amount 

of information on natural phenomena, from scenic 

details to botanical species, arranged  topo- 

graphically, just as we come across them on the 
S 


472 


routes. Human antiquities, from Roman times 
back to the cave-dwellers, are also noticed. It 
is impossible to give a fair idea of the personal 
observation and literary research that have re- 
sulted in these crowded pages. Two examples 
may be suggestive; but we must select from small 
places to keep the quotations within bounds. 
Here (p. 218) is Sillian, one of the delightful 
villages in the valley of the Drau :-— 

“t101 m. at the mouth of the Villgratental: 
quartz-phyllite and mica-schist. Minerals: Mis- 
pickel on the Davinealp. Folklore: MHard- 
hearted peasants: black biting dragons ate up 
everything, until in the end they were exorcised; 
still called “Bannhof” to this day. Gunshots 
from a ghost, who had sworn falsely. Earth- 
quakes: 1827, 2, IV., 1 o’clock” (followed by a 
list of seven others). 

Our second example has also some human 
interest (p. 191) :-— 

“St. Valentin auf der Haid, 1470 m., surrounded 
by dense woods; founded 1140 as a_ hospice. 
Geology: huge detrital cone of verrucano and 
gneissic phyllite from the Endkopf. Fauna: 
Osprey, 1896. Anthropology: 21-1 per cent. 
brachy-, 78°9 per cent. hyperbrachy-cephals.” 

The following “modern instance” does not 
seem strictly natural; but its anthropological 
bearing may excuse it (p. 161) :— 

“Tn the Post Hotel stands the famous Schrofen- 
stein vat; more than 4oo years old, which held 
the wine, 400 years old, that once became re- 
nowned. The contents disappeared during the 
Bavarian occupation.” 

No intelligent visitor to Tyrol will grudge the 
moderate price of this new encyclopzdic pocket- 
book. 

(2) Dr. Rithl’s edition of Fischer’s ‘‘ Mittelmeer- 
bilder” renders this series of essays available for 
every traveller. We can imagine no more interest- 
ing companion during a sea-voyage in the Medi- 
terranean. The original dates are assigned to the 
descriptions in all cases. In 1886, Fischer was 
somewhat doubtful about the power of the French 
to pacify Tunisia; but surely the indifference of 
the Mohammedans to the advantages of foreign 
rule lies in the simplicity of their aspirations in 
this world, and not in any special antipathy in- 
spired by the French. The military domination 
to which Fischer refers is at the present time very 
gracefully concealed, and he gives every credit 
to the protectors in a later essay (p. 404). His 
ride through Feriana to the great oasis of Gafsa 
on the desert edge, undertaken in a critical year, 
must have helped to direct attention to a 
country of extraordinary interest. The return 
of Latin influences to North Africa is one of the 
most fascinating themes for a geographer, and 
Hilaire Belloc, in his “Esto perpetua,” has gone 

NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 25, 1913 


shortly to the heart of ‘it. Fischer, of course, 
gives us much more, and in so lucid and balanced 
a style that we read with equal pleasure of the 
olive trade and the folding of the Atlas. Curiously 
enough, it is Belloc that produces the most vivid 
impression of the structure of the country. 

Fischer also penetrated Morocco; he supplies 
good general surveys of Palestine, Italy, Corsica, 
and of Spain, with its contrasts between life on the 
marginal lands and the interior; and he every- 
where lays stress on human interests, to which his 
studies in natural history are subordinate. 

(3) M. Monchicourt’s monograph on a special 
district of Tunisia is an example of the thorough- 
ness brought by French scientific men into the 
study of the protectorate. The Haut Tell is the 
region south-west of Tunis, which stretches from 
Testour to the Algerian frontier, including 
Teboursouk and El Kef as its important towns. 
The word tell is used in Tunisia, not for a geo- 
graphical feature, but for a black or yellow clay- 
land, which maintains a reserve of water for 
cereals, even in dry seasons. The author’s Tell 
country is that in which fell is the common 
soil (p. 13), and it can be fairly limited as a 
northern region, while the Steppe, and finally the 
Sahara, succeed it as we travel south. The 
open and mostly lowland country that one finds 
so freely described as Sahel is attached partly 
to the Tell and partly to the Steppe. 

The railway from Algeria enters the Haut Tell 
along the grand valley of the Medjerda, emerging 
on arich alluvial plain. The beauty of the Roman 
remains at Dougga also attracts visitors from 
Tunis. But the southern area is far less known, 
though one sees brown mule-roads leading into it 
across the hills from Kairouan. The author indi- 
cates (p. 122) how it may be developed by using 
an old trade route. His photographic illustrations 
are excellent, and one feels that the surface- 
features which he so well describes are funda- 
mentally connected with the structure and climate 
of the district. The ethnographic considerations 
bring us to the most important problem of ethno- 
logy, the maintenance of the population in 
harmony with the natural conditions of their 
fatherland. Fa 

(4) Dr. M. Newbigin-has produced another book 
that can be read from cover to cover with grate- 
ful appreciation. The field is a very wide one; 
but the facts and observations are fitted into one 
another so as to produce a broad geographical 
impression. Even children will be attracted by 
the comparison between the jerboa and the horse, 
as animals requiring speed (p. 65), or between 
the birds and mammals of forest regions (p. 115), 
which select either an arboreal or a shelter-taking 


4 


DECEMBER 25, 1913] 


policy. Marine life is treated with the advantage 
of very recent researches ; but we doubt if irregular 
echinoderms are rightly styled “old-fashioned.” 
Is not the author thinking of the extinct but 
regular Paleozoic forms? The illustrations of 
carnivores from paintings by W. Walls are the 
finest in a most interesting book. Teachers of 
geography and lovers of animal life will alike 
rejoice in it. 

(5) Mr. Howarth has undertaken a hard task in 
giving a compressed picture of the commercial 
activity of the world. Such a work, however 
well done, cannot help reminding us of the lists 
of capes and rivers that once posed as lessons 
in geography. It is impossible to correlate all 
the details with the physical conditions of the 
country which they concern. The excellent descrip- 
tion of the industries of Sheffield (p. 95) shows 
what the author would give us in a more limited 
field or in a series of such volumes. Even among 
the mere statements of facts, such as “ Zinc is an 
important mineral product of Germany, Belgium, 
the United States, and elsewhere,” he hits upon 
something that makes us think; why, for instance, 
are precious stones “in great part products of hot 
countries ” ? GRENVILLE A. J. CoLe. 


TEXT-BOOKS OF PHYSICS. 

(1) Mechanics and Heat: an Elementary Course 
of Applied Physics. By J. Duncan. Pp. xiii+ 
381. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) 
Price 3s. 6d. . 

(2) Experimental Science. I., Physics. By S. E. 
Brown. Pp. viii+272. (Cambridge: University 
Press, 1913.) Price 3s. 6d. 

(3) Practical Physics-for Secondary Schools. By 
N. H. Black and Dr. H. N. Davis. Pp. ix +487. 
(New York: The Macmillan Co. ; London: Mac- 
millan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 5s. 6d. net. 

(4) A Text-book of Physics. Edited by A. Wilmer 
Duff. Third edition revised. Pp. xvi+686. 
(London: J. and A. Churchill, 1913.) Price 
ros. 6d. net. 

(5) A Systematic Course of Practical Science for 
Secondary and other Schools. Book II., Ex- 
perimental Heat. By A. W. Mason. Pp. vii+ 
162. (London: Rivingtons, 1913.) Price 2s. 6d. 
net. 

(6) Paul Drudes Physik des Aethers auf Elektro- 
magnetischer Grundlage. Zweite Auflage. Neu 
bearbeitet von Dr. Walter Kénig. Pp. xvit+ 
671. (Stuttgart: F. Enke, 1912.) 

{) HE object of Mr. Duncan’s text-book, 

according to the preface, is to awaken 
interest in the applications of the principles of 
mechanics and heat to engineering and allied con- 
structive arts. The author has compiled a well- 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


473 


arranged course of experimental work and de- 
scriptive matter in mechanics and heat, and, being 
an engineer, the applied side of the subject is kept 
well in the foreground. The first eleven chapters 
are devoted to mechanics, and contain, in addition 
to the more or less academic part of the subject, 
chapters on simple mechanism and hydraulic 
machines. The remaining ten chapters deal with 
heat, the action of the steam engine and the in- 
ternal combustion engine being presented in a 
very simple and lucid manner, and well illustrated 
by clear diagrams. It may be regretted that Mr. 
Duncan could not have included some of the 
more modern methods of thermometry in the 
section on temperature, the principles and con- 
struction of many of the instruments employed 
being quite intelligible to elementary students. 
The subject of thermal conductivity, too, is barely 
touched upon, and as lagging is of extreme im- 
portance to the engineer, the value of the book 
would have been considerably increased by the 
inclusion of a few well-chosen experiments on this 
subject. 

The book can be strongly recommended to first 
year students in technical institutes, and there is 
much in it that the average boy in the upper 
forms of a secondary school will appreciate. His 
interest in physics will certainly be stimulated by 
having the action of the cycle-motor and the 
motor-car engine so lucidly explained. Teachers 
of physics in schools may, however, object to the 
use of British units—Ib., ft., ° F.—and the physi- 
cist does not usually determine the latent heat 
of water by plunging a piece of ice weighing + lb. 
in 4 gall. of water. Objection may also be made 
to this constant being termed the latent heat of 
ice. An excellent feature of the book is the ques- 
tions and exercises appended to each chapter. 

(2) The volume on physics by S. E. Brown is 
the first part of a course on experimental science 
for use in secondary schools; part ii. is to deal 
with chemistry. The present book is divided into 
four sections, viz., (1) measurement, (2) hydro- 
statics, (3) mechanics, (4) heat. The author sup- 
poses a boy to spend from two to three years in 
working through the book, and this, in conjunc- 
tion with the chemistry course, should prepare 
him fully for such examinations as the experi- 
mental science of the Junior Locals or the Army 
Qualifying Examinations. As is now usual in 
books of this character, the manual may be used 
either in the laboratory or the class-room. The 
experiments are well selected, and great care has 
been taken in the preparation of the volume. We 
do not, however, like such statements as that on 
p- 3, where, in explaining how to use a scale for 
measuring lengths, we have the direction: ‘‘ Put 


474 


one end of the object to be measured exactly oppo- 
site to the first unit mark”; the position of both 
ends of the object should be read off, the fraction 
of a division being estimated by the eye. We 
cannot agree with the author’s claim on p. 194 
that the apparatus described for measuring the 
expansion-coefficient of air at constant pressure 
gives better results than any form usually em- 
ployed in schools. He has in the example cited 
a movement of the mercury column of 4°93 cm., 
and it would be very difficult to estimate this 
exactly to more than 1 mm. ‘There is confusion 
in the definition of thermal conductivity, the ex- 
pression “a centimetre cube” would have been 
better than “a cubic centimetre,” and the coefh- 
cients of thermal conductivity in the table on 
p. 245 are not in calories. The large number of 
questions and numerical exercises should prove a 
great boon to many teachers. 

(3) “‘ Practical Physics for Secondary Schools,” 
by Black and Davis, is not a laboratory manual, 
but what in England would probably be termed 
a “Textbook of Elementary Physics.” The 
authors, in the preface, state that in preparing 
the volume they have tried to select only those 
topics which are of vital interest to young people, 
whether or not they intend to continue the study 
of physics in a college course. They believe that 
everyone needs to know something of the work- 
ing of electrical machinery, optical instruments, 
automobiles, vacuum cleaners, fireless cookers, 
&c, It must not be thought, however, that the 
fundamental principles of physics have been ne- 
elected; Messrs. Black and Davis have succeeded 
in producing a very clear and interesting text- 
book. In the chapters devoted to optics we have 
the proof of the mirror formula, 1/D)+1/D,=1/f, 
but in the case of the lens the authors state the 
same formula holds. We should like to have seen 
it made more explicit as to the signs of the terms 
in the various cases which may arise. Fig. 444, 
combining spectral colours into white light by aid 
of a convex lens, is obviously wrong. The book 
contains a large number of questions and numeri- 
cal exercises, and there is much useful information 
in it which should prove of extreme value to a 
teacher, but it is scarcely suitable for adoption in 
English schools owing to its American style. 

(4) The first edition of Duff’s “Text-book 
of Physics” appeared in 1908, and was compiled 
by the collaboration of seven teachers of physics 
in the universities and polytechnic. institutes of 
the United States. In this third edition the sec- 
tions on heat and electricity and magnetism have 
been re-written, and are greatly improved. Prof. 
Mendenhall is responsible for the section on heat, 
and Prof. Carman for that on electricity and mag- 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92} 


NATURE 


, regarded as a text-book for those engaged in 


| ‘Physik des Aethers” was published, the book 


(| DecEMBER 25, 1913 


netism. Prof. McClung contributes a section on 
the conduction of electricity through gases. ‘The 
text-book forms an excellent college course on 
physics, and though, in a single volume, the 
treatment of some points must of necessity be 
meagre, there are references at the ends of each 
section to the various standard text-books deal- 
ing with special branches. 

(5) ‘‘Experimental Heat,” by A. W. Mason, 
is a laboratory course of experiments for second- 
ary schools, and thoroughly covers the syllabus of 
the Matriculation and Senior Locals. The book is 
well arranged, and each exercise is furnished with 
questions bearing on it. The answering of these 
by the pupil will certainly necessitate intelligent 
thought about the experiment he has performed. 

(6) It is more than eighteen years since Drude’s 


j 
. 


being the outcome of a course of lectures on Max- 
well’s Electromagnetic Theory delivered by the 
late Prof. Drude at the University of Géttingen. 
Although the book did not aim at being a com- 
plete treatise on electricity and magnetism, it 
formed an excellent introductory course to the 
standard work of Maxwell. The mathematical 
treatment was simple, no further knowledge than 
the elements of the calculus and differential equa- 
tions being demanded of the reader. In the new 
edition by Prof. W. Kénig, although the scope 
of the book remains the same, considerable modi- 
fications have been made which greatly enhance 
its value as a text-book of electricity. The first 
portion of this second edition is devoted to elec- 
trostatic theory, the treatment of which was ex- 
ceedingly meagre in Drude’s original work. The 
section dealing with Helmholtz’s “Action at a 
distance’ theory has been omitted, and also the 
chapters bearing on optical phenomena from the — 
electromagnetic point of view. These latter have 
been treated by Drude at much greater length in 
bis more recent “Lehrbuch der Optik.” The 
chapters on electrical oscillations have been ampli- 
fied, the theory of coupled circuits being included. 
The author has found it impossible to deal with 
the electron theory within the compass of the 
book. An excellent portrait: of the late Prof. 
Drude forms the frontispiece of the work. — 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


Underground Waters for Commercial Purposes. 
By Dr. F. L. Rector. Pp. v+98. (New York: 
John Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London: Chapman 
and Hall, Ltd., 1913.) Price 4s. 6d. net. 

Tue title of this book is rather misleading. AL 

though the contents are interesting and useful so 

far as they go, the book cannot in any way be 


; 
} 
; 


DECEMBER 25, 1913 | 


NATURE 


475 


advising as to water supply or in carrying out 


works for storage and distribution for domestic 


use or for power purposes. The subjects dealt 
with are the storage and flow of underground 
water in porous soils, and the chemical properties 
of this water, but nothing is said as to how this 
underground water can be made serviceable. 

The chapters into which the book is divided 
relate to:—the source and flow of underground 
water; springs and wells; the chemical, bacterio- 
logical, and microscopical examination of under- 
ground water, together with rules and tables 
relating to water, and a bibliography of books 
bearing on the subjects dealt with. 

The author does not attach much importance to 
the quality of water so far as what is generally 
termed “hardness” is concerned, due to the pres- 
ence of lime, on the ground that the quantity 
contained in the water is so small “that it would 


be necessary to drink gallons of such water at 


a time in order to get enough to have any effect 
upon the system.’’ Whatever may be the case in 
America, the country where the author’s experi- 
ence has been obtained, here it is generally recog- 
nised that water containing lime is very injurious 
to any constitutions subject to complaints such as 
gout or rheumatism. Such water when boiled 
leaves a solid deposit on the bottom of the vessel 
in which it is contained. The effect on domestic 
boilers is very deleterious, and necessitates fre- 
quent scaling to remove the encrustation that 
takes place on the surface in contact with the 
water. The encrustation also of boilers used for 
producing steam for power purposes is a very 
serious objection to the use of hard water when 
it can be avoided. 


Outlines of Mineralogy for Geological Students. 
By Prof. G. A. J. Cole. Pp. viii+ 330. 
(London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1913.) 
Price 5s. net. 


As its name implies, this book is “primarily 
intended for those who are interested in geology, 
and find themselves in need of an introduction to 
the classificatory details of the larger works of 
reference.” Within the limits of 330 pages of 
fairly large type Prof. Cole has produced a text- 
book which, so far as it goes, is trustworthy, 
interestingly expressed, and based upon the now 
firmly consolidated modern ideas of crystal struc- 
ture and symmetry. It has the further recom- 
mendation that it indicates, by footnote references, 
those larger works or original memoirs from 
which further detailed information may be ob- 
tained as regards both theoretical elaborations 
and experimental processes and measurements. 
Moreover, the greater number of these references 
are to works of very recent date, and it is obvious 
that the author has followed the rapid recent 
developments of the crystallographical part of his 
subject with care and keenness. Hence this 
book will form a safe and inspiring guide to 
students embarking on the study of mineralogy 
for the purpose of eventually utilising their know- 


ledge in the field; and although such an object | 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


is not specifically indicated by the author, the 
use of the book can scarcely fail to produce the 
good effect of interesting the. would-be mining 
engineer in the pure science of the subject, and 
possibly of inspiring some original work. 

As regards the half of. the book devoted to 
descriptive mineralogy, a point of special excel- 
lence is the manner in which the phenomena of 
isomorphism and of the periodicity and family 
resemblance in the relations of the chemical 
elements are maintained prominently in view 
throughout. Also the especially able treatment of 
the silicates, so important to the geologist, which 
one would naturally expect from Prof. Cole, is a 
commendable feature of the book. While the 
letterpress is thus of general excellence so far as 
its very limited outlook is concerned, it is to be 
regretted that such illustrations as are new (many 
of the figures being older ones borrowed from 
H. Bauerman’s “Systematic Mineralogy ” issued 
by the same publishers) could not have been of a 
higher character; while perhaps adequate for 
their purpose, they are by no means worthy of so 
well written a book. 


The Elements of Descriptive Astronomy. By 
E. O. Tancock. Pp. 110+xv plates. (Oxford: 
Clarendon Press, 1913.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 


Tuis little book may profitably be placed in the 
hands of boys beginning to take an intelligent 
interest in the heavens. Facts are given mostly 
with accuracy, and stated clearly in simple 
phrasing. There are many half-tone reproductions 
of interesting celestial photographs, and the text 
is helped by numerous instructive line diagrams. 
We may mention No. 13, which excellently ex- 
plains the different noonday altitudes of the sun 
at summer and winter solstices. Efforts are made 
throughout to lead the reader to observe and 
think. <A feature of the book consists in a small 
collection of quotations of an astronomial character 
for the reader to explain. There are some 
blemishes which may perhaps be remedied in 
another edition. Thus the bulk of Saturn is 
incorrectly “deduced,” and its aplatissement is 
much greater than that of Jupiter; also, eight 
significant figures are misleading when employed 
in expressing the distance from the earth to the 
nearest fixed star; and Praesepe might be 
mentioned as suitable for observation with a small 


telescope. Fre BG, 

A National System of Education. By J. H. 
Whitehouse, M.P. Pp. 92. (Cambridge Uni- 
versity Press, 1913.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 


Tuts book is welcome as an indication that our 
legislators are becoming not only more interested 
in national education, but also better informed as 
to English educational needs and shortcomings. 
These brief chapters on all grades of education, 
and on many problems which demand an early 
solution, will serve admirably to instruct ordinary 
citizens as to the duty of the State towards 
education. 


476 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 25, 1913 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


The Plumage Bill. 


I HAVE read with much interest Sir Harry John- 
ston’s article in Nature of December 11 (p. 428) on 
the Plumage Bill proposed to be introduced next 
session into Parliament. I agree in the main with 
him that the Bill does not give as much satisfaction 
as was hoped for to “‘root and branch reformers,” 
for it exempts from supervision personal clothing 
worn or imported by individuals entering this country 
from abroad. Consequently a woman resolved to 
have headdresses and robes of forbidden plumage has 
only to purchase such abroad and stick it into her 
apparel or her hat and she passes our Customs houses 
unchallenged. 

This weakness in the Bill can surely be eliminated 
by making the wearing of wild birds’ feathers in 
England by British subjects as illegal as the importa- 
tion of the feathers. If no feathers can be intro- 
duced, it is obvious that anyone wearing them is 
act and part in their introduction, and the contraband 
is therefore subject to seizure. In any case, the 
Customs officers may examine any luggage suspect 
of concealing contraband plumes, and confiscate the 
feathers in the hat or dress of any subject when a law 
to the effect comes into force, just as they can now 
with any other species of contraband. It seems an 
absurdity to disallow the import of feathers, and yet 
allow them to’be flaunted openly in the street. Of 
course, foreign visitors wearing feathers in England 
could not be legitimately interfered with; but it 
would be illegal for them to sell or dispose of the same 
in this country. Yet it would matter little if the 
wearing of plumes by British subjects were illegal. I 
think the American law, by which feathers worn by 
foreign visitors to the States, in whose country the 
custom is legitimate, are seized, is indefensible. It 
is all right when applied to its own subjects; but to 
foreigners it is nothing short of legalised assault and 
insult. How would a Maori chief, with the huia 
feathers distinctive of his rank in his hair, be dealt 
with ? 

Such a case as the Nipal trade could, as Sir Harry 
Johnston indicates, be easily blocked either at the 
frontier or at the Calcutta Customs House, and regu- 
lated in the same manner as the trade in opium or 
arms is. 

As a British ornithologist, I hope Sir Harry will 
allow me to take exception, if I do not misunderstand 
him, to his charge of lukewarmness against our 
union in respect to this Bill. The union may contain 
a few opponents of the measure—they are chiefly egg- 
harriers—but the attitude of the great majority of its 
members most certainly is not that ‘‘so long as 
museum shelves are stuffed with specimens birds may 
be in the landscape or not.’’ Only a few of the 
members have private collections or are museum 
conservators. At the last largely attended meeting of 
the club, a few days ago, approbation was universally 
extended to one of our members for having, by the 
expenditure of much time and with infinite patience, 
tried to identify by aid of his binocular a rare visitor to 
a certain part of England, instead of ‘‘collecting’’ it, 
which he could easily have done, and so spared him- 
self, at the expense of a charming addition to the 
fortunate locality. 

Is Sir Harry not rather inconsequent in asking 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


' by M? is no longer constant, the values for copper, 


‘ why should there be any more killing of birds and. 


beasts, and relegating their life-study to the camera, 
while reminding his fellow-ornithologists ‘‘that it is 
not only the skin of the bird f6r classification that is 
needed, but still more the bones, the muscles, and 
the viscera and the living creature itself’? I fear 
he cannot get these omelettes without breaking the 
eggs! A long series of skins is, moreover, now con- 
sidered necessary for the real study of species. I 
may associate Sir Harry with myself as men who 
have collected largely, in affirming that the real 
scientific collector and lover of birds, who is also an 
exterminator of species, is a very rare person. Any- 
how, over-destruction of animals for scientific pur- 
poses can be easily regulated by licence. Neither 
plume-hunters nor wardens can replace the scientific 
collector in obtaining materials for investigation. 

The real object desired by the Royal Society for 
the Protection of Birds is the prevention of the great 
cruelty for which the plumage trade is responsible, 
of the extermination, and of the reduction towards 
that point of the beautiful and beneficent fauna of the 
world. America by her draconic law has thé credit of 
beginning the war against extermination on effective 
principles. The evil must be scotched, both at the source 
and at the terminus of the trade. If England and her 
possessions prohibit the export, import, and wearing 
of plumes, assisted by Germany and Austria (and I 
understand they desire to cooperate with this country 
in the matter), the fashion for wearing feathers would 
die out notwithstanding the open market of Paris 
and Antwerp, and with it this nefarious trade. Where 
a species becomes so numerous as to cause loss to 
the agriculturist, it would be easy enough to give 
special licence for its destruction without leave to 
export the skins, for then there would be no induce- 
ment to kill more than might be necessary to “ abate 
the nuisance.” Against “discriminating reasonably ” 
and allowing others so procured to be exported there 
could be no objection, if it were possible; but the Cus- 
toms officers would then require to be trained ornitho- 
logists. The difficulty of determining a scheduled 
species is extremely difficult, and has been the cause 
principally of the failure of our Counties Bird Protec- 
tion Bill. 

All ‘‘root-and-branch reformers” in this matter are 
more than grateful to Sir Harry Johnston for his 
constant advocacy of a Bill that shall be effective to 
preserve the beautiful and useful animals of the world 
in face of the opposition of a ‘‘ barbarous industry.” 

Henry O. Forses. 

Redcliffe, Beaconsfield, December 14. 


ti tt 


Intra-atomic Charge and the Structure of the Atom. 


I am very grateful to Mr. Soddy (Nature, Decem- 
ber 4, p. 399) that in accepting in principle the 
hypothesis that the intra-atomic charge of an element 
is determined by its place in the periodic table, he 
directed attention to the possible uncertainty of the 
absolute values of intra-atomic charge and of the 
number of intra-atomic electrons. Surely the absolute 
values depend on the number of rare-earth elements ; 
but if to the twelve elements of this series, the inter- 
national table contains between cerium and tantalum, 
the new elements (at least four) discovered by Auer 
von Welsbach in thulium (Monatshefte fiir Chemie — 
32, Mai, S. 373), further keltium, discovered by 
Urbain (Comptes rendus d. l’Acad. des Sciences, 152, — 
141-3), and an unknown one for the open place be- 
tween praseodymium and samarium be added, this 
long period, too, becomes regular. Moreover, if only 
twelve instead of eighteen elements existed here, the 
ratio of the large-angle scattering per atom divided 


_DEcEMBER 25, 1913] 


NATURE 


477 


silver, tin, platinum, and gold then being 1-16, 1-15, 
I-Ig, 1°26, and 1-24 respectively, instead of 1-16, 1-15, 
I-19, 1°17, and 1°15; and the same holds for the fol- 
lowing relation concerning the number of intra- 
atomic electrons. 

The irregularities in Mendeléeff’s system—rare-earth 
series, complexity of group VIII., and this group, as 
well as group O being only half-groups—may be 
removed by putting hydrogen and helium (as com- 
ponents) outside the table, and condensing each triad 
of Group VIII. into one place alternating with the 
rare gases, and likewise all elements from cerium to 


tantalum into one place. For this ‘‘condensed”’ | 
system, with a constant period of eight places and a , 
constant long period of sixteen, the relation | 


(A—2M)/kP?=constant, holds as exactly, as for mean 
values of A, the possibility of different components 
taken into account, may be expected. (P is for the 
condensed system what M is for Mendeléeff’s, and k 
is a constant.) If now M is the number of electrons 
of the negative intra-atomic charge, and A/2 (if the 
mass of the atom consists of a particles for by far the 
greater part) the total number of electrons per atom, 
then kP? must be the number of electrons, making 
up, together with the « particles, the positive intra- 


atomic charge (nuclear electrons). 
, , 

C Mg Ar Cr Zn Kr Mo Cd Xe W Hg U 
Ms. 6 12°18 24 30 36 42 48 54 78 84 96 
ees AvnIO, KO)) 22°26). 32) g8e 42 mo. esa 58.70 
&P? Giger =~) 2: 1g A a iGeetmarire eta 16). 23 
A(calc.) 12 24 38 52 66 82 98 112 130 184 200 238 
A(exp.) 12 24 40 52 82 96 112 130 184 200 238 


4 65 
A (cale.)=2(M +P?) ; 4=0'00468. 


I agree with Mr. Soddy that the number of these 
electrons, or the components, or both, must be 
different for different members of the same element, 
and, as atomic weight, a mean value. But it seems 
doubtful whether other components than the « par- 
ticles can be present in atoms in any appreciable 
amount, for of eighty-three elements no fewer than 
thirty-one have atomic weights of the type 4n (from 
3:51+4n to 450+4n), and twenty-nine of the type 
3+4n (from 2-51+4n to 3:50+4n, n being an integer), 
and if all radio-active substances be included (the 
atomic weights of the uranium family being cal- 
culated from those of uranium, radium, and lead, and 
actinium considered as a branch product of the 
uranium family), then from 114 atomic weights forty- 
one belong to the 4n, fifty to the 3+4n series, and 
only twenty-three, instead of fifty-seven, to the two 
other types. Should particles of atomic weight one, 
two, three, or more, or other not being a multiple of 
H—for example, such as proposed by Nicholson 
(Phil. Mag., vol. xxii., 1911, p. 871)—be mixed up 
with the @ particles in comparable amount, then this 
distribution would be very improbable. Perhaps one 
particle of mass 3a (J. J. Thomson’s X,?) only, is 
present in the 3+ 4n series, and none but a particles in 
the 4n series. Of course, other components are not 
impossible, but at least the members of each radio- 
active family must have the same components, and 
if actinium is a branch product of the uranium family, 
then here only members of the two series 3+4n and 
4n are present. The periodic systems proposed pre- 
viously (Physik. Zeits., vol. xii., p. 490, and vol. xiv., 
p- 32) might then be systems not of elements, but of 
all possible atomic substances, 

If then A/2 is the total number of electrons per 
atom, kP*=R, that of the electrons of the intra- 
atomic positive charge, P-that of the electrons 
arranged 5 Seen say in rings of eight electrons 
each, with a rest of electrons of valency, and 
M—P=0Q that of the electrons arranged aperiodically 
(as are the elements excluded from the ‘‘ condensed” 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


system), we get this scheme of electronic distribution, 
in which R is given on the left of P, and Q on the 
right, and the horizontal lines indicate the numbers 
of electrons in each and the atomic weight, while the 
dotted line gives the elements (each dot representing 
an element of the condensed system, and eight a 
period), and at the same time the scale for the num- 
bers of electrons in the horizontal lines, each dot then 
| representing one electron. 


ay \ age 
Se CIT SMS 
aT at ST YT, SD I AGE SAE 


R-electrons| 1-5 rings of 8 electrons each. | Elect. | Q-electrons | 
(nuclear) | of |(aperiodical) 
lvalency 


Distribution of intra-atomic electrons. 


After the foregoing had been written, a letter 
| appeared on the same subject from Prof. Rutherford 
| (NatuRE, December 11, p. 423). My letter was, in- 
| deed, not supposed by me to give any rectification of 
the theory of the positive nucleus as proposed by 
Prof. Rutherford. Nor did I suppose the idea that 
the nucleus might contain electrons to be new. More- 
over, a cluster of « particles only may still be at the 
centre of the atom surrounded by some rings of 
, electrons of a diameter smaller than 3-10-'* cm. These 
rings may have no influence at all on the properties 
of the elements, and for an electron penetrating from 
| without will belong to the nucleus, while for an 
electron ejected from the innermost ring they will not. 
So the characteristic radiation depends on M and not 
on A. This was proved by Moseley (Phil. Mag., 
vol. xxvi., 1913, p. 1024; the first direct proof) to hold 
for the elements from calcium to zinc, but seems to hold 
for all. If the logarithm of »/d(Al) be plotted against 
the logarithm of M, all the points lie on a straight 
line for the ‘‘K,’”’ and on another for the ‘“‘L” radia- 
tion, the two lines being apparently parallel. The 
same holds for the values given by Laub (Physik. 
Zeitschr., vol. xiv., 1913, p- 992) for the “I” radia- 
tion. The Al radiation, »/d(Al)=580 cm.?, g-! seems 
to belong to still another series. 

Likewise, Widdington’s law holds better for 2M.10° 
than for A.1o® cm./sec., though, of course, for 
elements of low atomic weight the difference of M 
and A/2 is small; but for elements from Te upwards 
this difference is 20 per cent. and more. 


Table II. 

Cr Fe Ni Cu Zn Se 
zv min./o‘995 A.to® o'98 1°05 1'05 o'99 0908 0:94 
Masel? heel ekar cas 24 26 28 29 30 34 
v min./2"167 M.108 o'98 1°03 1°01 1°00 0°98 1:00 


But the y radiation for M=86 (lead, &c.) in the 
neighbourhood of the “L” values ranges from 
p/d(Al)=11-4 to p/d(Al)=85 (Rutherford and H. 
Richardson, Phil. Mag., vol. xxvi., p. 946), and is 
different for ‘‘ isotopes.” 

Hence an electron penetrating the atom must pass 
the region of the ‘‘M”’ electrons, to excite, if of the 
required velocity, the outer rings of what, from a 

chemical point of view, might be called the nucleus, 


478 


and, the radiation depending on the charge within the 
ring, and this charge being equal approximately to 
the number of electrons surrounding the ring, both 
will depend on M (see Bohr, Phil. Mag., vol. XXvi., 
1913, p. 476, and Moseley, loc, cit.). But a B particle 
ejected from the innermost ring must pass all other 
rings, and excite radiation different for each ring 
and for each ‘isotope,’ as dependent on the charge 
within, i.e. on nearly A/2, on M, on P, and so on, 
and lose quanta of energy proportional to the square 
of M, P, &c. Indeed, for Ra C (‘‘K” radiation) 
2m.M2?.10!*=0'8 x 10'%e(M.=88), and 
2m. P*10'®=0-4 x 10'*e(P =62), 
in agreement with the quanta, calculated by Ruther- 
ford. (For these velocities m/2V* will nearly give 
the energy of the 6 particle.) Besides, the “L” 
radiation of Bi being about equal to the “K” 
radiation of As (P=29), another quantum 
m/2(58. 10)? =0-09 x 10%e, 
may be expected, and can indeed be calculated from 
Rutherford’s tables (Phil. Mag., vol. xxvi., 1913, 
DS Fon): 
: But even then the nucleus might contain electrons. 
If the particle should, as probable, consist of 4(H+) 
and 2 electrons, and the particle X,+ of 3 (H+) and 2 
electrons, the number of electrons and of H+ par- 
ticles should both be equal to the atomic weight. 
But then the diameter of the positive unit could cer- 
tainly not be greater than the diameter of the electron 
(ro-** cm.), and it might, indeed, be an electron too, 
but in a different state, and be a particle with a net 
positive charge. A. VAN DEN BROEK. 
Gorssel, Holland, December 12. 


Wind Provinces. 


SEVERAL meteorologists have shown recently that 
the wind directions in the neighbourhood of cyclones 
and anticyclones are not of the simple nature that is 
sometimes supposed. Indeed it would seem that at 
any moment, if we consider an area large enough, 
the winds may be separated into distinct provinces 
over which they blow with great steadiness as regards 
direction, 

Fig. 1 shows these wind provinces for the North 
Atlantic and the European and East Asiatic areas for 
October 25. No doubt near the surface of the earth 
the winds are more complex in their distribution 
than they are in the free air. The wind directions and 
isobars are taken from the Weekly Weather Report, 
and the long and short dotted lines separate one wind 
province from another. The greatest irregularities in 
the direction of the wind occur near mountain chains, 
and where rain is falling and producing local currents 
in the lower atmosphere. 

Fig. 2 shows the wind provinces over western 
Europe at 8 a.m. on November 13, 1901. The wind 
directions shown by the arrows are from plate vii. of 
“The Life History of Surface Air Currents,’ by Shaw 
and Lempfert. Here we have the winds of three 
provinces flowing towards or influenced by the 
cyclonic centre. At 6 p.m. the centre had moved 
about one mile to the east, heavy rain fell over 
Europe, and the wind in the rainy area became 
more variable. in direction. The rain of this cyclone 
appears to have been largely due to the wind of the 
south-south-westerly province bunching up against 
and mounting over the wind of the east-north-easterly 
current. Cave is of opinion that rain is very fre- 
quently the result of one wind rising over another in 
this manner. Thus a north-easterly wind may have 
an upper south-westerly rain-bearing wind blowing 
over it, adiabatic expansion and condensation being 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 25,-1913- 


due to the rise of the air and only slightly to the 


lower pressure of the cyclonic centre. : 
From Fig. 1 it would appear,that winds which are 


at the earth’s surface at one place must often be upper 


winds at other places. Occasionally no doubt the 


line separating two provinces is where thé wind 
undergoes a rather sudden change of direction under 
the influence of an advancing depression; for the 


Fic. 1.—Wind Provinces, Oct. 25, 1913. 


cyclone as it advances, although it changes the direc- 
tion of the wind, does not carry any particular mass 
of air very far from the position in which it found it. 
An interval of twenty-four hours is generally sufficient 
to alter very greatly the distribution of pressure, and, 
therefore, also of the wind provinces. 

Shaw and Lempfert, in their ‘‘ Life History of Sur- 


| face Air Currents,’ have shown that the actual path 


Fic, 2,—Wind Provinces, Nov. 13, 1901. 


of the air is not that which might be gathered from 
the wind charts; for the distribution of pressure and 
the arrangement of the wind provinces, change 


| entirely in many cases, long before a mass of air 


could pass from an area of high pressure to one of 
low pressure. However, they prove that there is an 
actual rise of the air near a cyclonic centre capable of 


| producing adiabatic expansion and the fall of rain. 


a 


DECEMBER 25, 1913] 


“It may be that if each day, or, better still, twice 
each day, a more detailed map of the wind provinces 
were drawn, and as much information of the upper 
currents obtained as possible, it would assist to 
elucidate many obscure questions relating to rainfall. 

Of late years the steady improvement of the charts 
given in the Weekly Weather Reports of the Meteoro- 
logical Office has been very noticeable. If the charts 
were twice the size and the evening observations dealt 
with as fully as the morning, a great step in 
advance would be made. R. M. Deetzy. 

_Abbeyfield, Salisbury Avenue, Harpenden, 

November ‘13. 


Amehbocytes in Calcareous Sponges. 


Wuen Prof. Dendy, in Narure of December 4, 
writes that ‘‘the Amcebz referred to by Mr. Orton 
. . . possibly . were . . - metamorphosed collared 
cells,’’ he must have failed to notice the dimensions 
given by Mr. Orton, 

A cell “‘ with slightly rounded ends” “80 » long 
and 40 » broad,” and (say) only 10 thick, would con- 
tain some sixty of even the large collar-cells of Grantia 
compressa. Geo, P, BippeEr. 
Cavendish Corner, Cambridge, December 14. 


Mr. Brpper is perfectly right. The Amcebz de- 
scribed by Mr. Orton are far too large to be meta- 
morphosed collared cells or even young amoeboid germ 
cells. The only cells in the sponge (Grantia com- 
pressa) which compare with them in size are the full- 
grown oocytes, and although these are amceboid and 
put out long pseudopodia, it is scarcely likely that 
they would find their way into the gastral cavity, as 
I have never seen them except in the mesogloea be- 
tween the chambers. My data, from which the actual 
size of the amoebocytes could be calculated, were not 
at hand when I wrote my letter, and as I had been 
working with a magnification of 1650 diameters, my 
ideas of a “rather small’’ Amceba had come to differ 
considerably from Mr. Orton’s. Knowing how 
abundant ameebocytes frequently are in the flagellated 
chambers of the sponge it seemed almost certain at first 
sight that any obtained from the gastral cavity would 
be of the same nature, but evidently I was mistaken, 
and I am much obliged to Mr. Bidder for directing 
my attention to the fact. ArtHUR Denby. 

University of London, King’s College, 

December 16. 


Reversibility of Ferment Action. 


In Nature of December 4 last there is a letter from 
Sir Lauder Brunton, correcting a misstatement in a 
former issue in connection with a paper by Prof. 
Bourquelot on the reversible nature of ferment action. 

Sir Lauder Brunton’s letter points out a mistake that 
might have been prejudicial to me; but your original 
article was not quite fair also to Prof. Bourquelot, for 
he, so far from claiming priority for himself, gave 
me in his paper full recognition. 

Since I first showed that the action of a ferment was 
a reversible one, many observers have done confirma- 
tory work. The earliest to do so were Profs. Kastle 
and Léwenhart, of the United States, and among the 
more recent, Prof. Bayliss in this country has done 

valuable work. 

I am glad that Prof. Bourquelot by his own good 
work has become convinced. 

ARTHUR CRorT Hitt. 

169 Cromwell Road, S.W., December 19. 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


479 


THE ORIGIN OF CLIMATIC CHANGES. 


feo discussion of meteorological observations 
shows clearly that climates undergo varia- 
tions of short duration, but such records as the 
presence of old lake beaches and the existence of 
well-marked glacial moraines, and other geological 
evidence distinctly point to climate changes cover- 
ing long intervals of time. The evidence is not 
sufficient to characterise the variations as periodic, 
but the ice ages are sufficient to point to times 
when the conditions reached were extreme. 

What may reasonably be assumed to be the 
chief established facts about such extensive 
changes may be summed up briefly as follows :— 
Climatic changes were several, and probably many. 
Similar simultaneous changes occurred over the 
whole earth, or, in other words, it was warmer 
or colder over the whole earth simultaneously. 
These times of warmth or coldness were unequal 
in intensity and duration, and of irregular occur- 
rence, and, lastly, they have taken place from 
very early, if not from the earliest geological age 
down to the present. Numerous theories, both 
probable and improbable, have been suggested 
from time to time to account for the origin of such 
world-wide changes, and while each has its ad- 
vocates, perhaps only three may be said to claim 
attention to-day. These may be briefly stated as 
the Eccentricity Theory (Croll), depending on the 
eccentricity of the earth’s orbit; the Carbon 
Dioxide Theory (Tyndall), based on the selective 
absorption and variation in amount of carbon 
dioxide; and thirdly, the Solar Variation Theory, 
on the assumption of solar changes of long dura- 
tion. A new theory, which may be called ‘The 
Volcanic Dust and Solar Variation Theory,” has 
recently been put forward by Prof. W. J. 
Humphreys,! under the guarded heading, “ Vol- 
canic dust and other factors in the production of 
climatic changes, and their possible relation to 
ice ages.” 

The author carefully points out that the idea 
that volcanic dust may be an important factor in 
the production of climatic changes is not new, 
but “though just how it can be so apparently has 
not been explained, nor has the idea been specifi- 
cally supported by direct observation.” He re- 
marks also that while the pioneers regarded the 
presence of volcanic dust in the atmosphere as an 
absorbent of radiation, and so lowered the earth’s 
temperature, modern observation suggests the 
opposite effect, namely, the warming of the earth’s 
surface. 

In putting forward his views of the action of 
dust, Prof. Humphreys proceeds first to indicate 
that the dust that is effective is that which is 
situated in the atmosphere in the isothermal 
region or stratosphere. He then enters into the 
question of the size of the particles and probable 
time of fall, and concludes that particles of the 
size 1°85 microns in diameter would take from 
one to three years to get back to the earth if 

1 Journal of the Franklin Institute. August, 1913, vol. clxxvi., No. 2, 


p; 131; also Bulletin of the Mount Weather Observatory, August, 1913, vol. 
vi,, part 1, p. 1 


480 


they originally had been thrown up by a volcanic 
eruption. 

Considering next the action of the finest and 
therefore most persistent dust on solar radiation, 
he finds that the “interception of outgoing radia- 
tion is wholly negligible in comparison with the 
interception of incoming solar radiation.” 

Prof. Humphreys now turns his attention to the 
observational evidence of pyrheliometric records, 
such readings being functions of, among other 
things, both the solar atmosphere and_ the 
terrestrial atmosphere. He thus introduces a 
curve showing smoothed values of the annual 
average pyrheliometric values, and compares this 
with sun-spot frequency values (representing solar 
atmospheric changes) and number of volcanic 
eruptions (representing terrestrial atmospheric 
changes). The similarity of the last-mentioned 
with the pyrheliometric curve leads him to write 
as follows: “Hence it appears that the dust in 
our own atmosphere, and not the condition of the 
sun, is the controlling factor in determining the 
magnitudes and times of occurrence of great and 
abrupt changes of insolation intensity at the sur- 
face of the earth.’ 

The action of the dust intercepting at times as 
much as one-fifth of the direct solar radiation 
leads him to inspect earth surface temperature 
values to inquire whether they are below normal 
on such occasions. The pyrheliometric and tem- 
perature curves suggest a relationship, but, as 
he states, ‘the agreement is so far from perfect 
as to force the conclusion that the pyrheliograph 
values constitute only one factor in the determina- 
tion of world temperatures.” A better agreement 
is secured when the combined effect of insolation 
intensity and sun-spot influence is considered. 

The avthor then discusses the temperature 
variations since 1750 as influenced by sun-spots 
and volcanic eruptions, and indicates that the 
disagreement in the curves of temperatures and 
sun-spots is in every important instance simul- 
taneous with violent volcanic eruptions. 

Limitations of space will not permit us to remark 
on his references to the action of carbon dioxide 
in slightly decreasing the temperature or to 
probable great changes in level. Enough perhaps 
has been said to show that Prof. Humphreys, in 
his interesting attempt to show “that volcanic 
dust must have been a factor, possibly a very 
important one, in the production of many, perhaps 
all, past climatic changes . . has restarted a 
topic which will no doubt call for criticisms and 
discussions from many quarters. 


BIOLOGY OF THE LAKE OF TIBERIAS.1 


‘Lae natural history had its students among 
the ancient inhabitants of Palestine is clear 
from the book of the Levitical-law and from the 
biography of King Solomon. But during the first 
century of our era there is nothing to show that 
the study excited the slightest interest in that 

1 A Report on the Biology of the Lake of Tiberias. Series I. 


and Proceedings, Asiatic Society of Bengal (New Series), vol. ix., 
1913. 


Journal 
No. 1, 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 25, 1913 


locality. Fishes are mentioned for their economic 
use; mint, anise, and eummin as objects of taxa- 
tion; the stars in the sky and the flowers of the 
field for their superficial beauty; crops are sup- 
posed to spring from dead seeds; pearls of im- 
possible size are made the symbols of celestial 
splendour. It is only in modern times, and even 
now by strangers rather than natives, that a 
striking contrast to this apathy has been brought 
about. If the water of the Jordan is still carried 
westward for religious rites, samples from the 
Sea of Galilee are now collected with equal care 
for chemical analysis; Syrian Entomostraca are 
reared in England from mud out of the pool of 
Gihon at Jerusalem; from the Galilean lake, by the 
use of tow-nets, hand-nets, and special dredges, a 
varied fauna is obtained, such as might have 
excited the interested surprise of Solomon, but 
would probably have been viewed with disgust by 
the ‘Sanhedrim of a later epoch. 

Prof. Théodore Barrois, in his own interesting 
study of the Syrian lakes (1894), explains that the 
scientific exploration of them was begun in 
August, 1847, by Lieutenant Molyneux, R.N. By 
great efforts this officer succeeded in obtaining 
valuable hydrographical details, both in the lake of 
Tiberias and in the Dead Sea, only to succumb 
almost immediately afterwards to the exhausting 
effects of the climate, torrid and unwholesome at 
that season in the valley of the Jordan. In some 
future Dictionary of National Biography his name 
ought surely to find a place. His initial enterprise - 
has been followed by the labours of many eminent 
naturalists. Dr. Annandale’s present contribution 
to the subject was instigated by his desire to trace 
the genera of sponges and some other inverte- 
brates ‘‘characteristic of the fresh waters of India 
and tropical Africa northwards up the Jordan 
valley, should they prove to have a distribution in 
any way similar to that of the Jordan fishes, 
whose African affinities have long been known.” 
He concludes that ‘‘There is no reason to think 
that the sponge-fauna of the Lake of Tiberias is 
closely related to that of any other lake, but its 
affinities lie rather with that of Eastern tropical 
Asia, and possibly with that of the Caspian Sea, 
than with any in Europe and Africa.” 

His investigation of the Galilean fresh-water 
sponges leads Dr. Annandale to divide the 
Spongillide into two subfamilies, the Spongilline, 
in which microscleres are present, and the Pota- 
molepidine, in which microscleres apparently are 
not produced. Of the former subfamily the lake 
of Tiberias provides only one species, the widely 
distributed Ephydatia fluviatilis, var. syriaca, 
Topsent. Of the latter it furnishes four species, 
allotted to two new genera, Cortispongilla barroisi 
(Topsent), only known from this lake, and Nudo- 
spongilla reversa, N. mappa, and N. aster, all 
new. These are described and figured, together 
with other species introduced for the sake of com- 
parison. 

Useful keys are provided for distinguishing the 
Galilean sponges one from the other, and for 
recognising various genera of the Spongillidee. 


DECEMBER 25, 1913] 


The subject is rather intricate, as may be judged 
from the history of the genera Uruguaya, 


Carter, 1881, and Potamolepis, Marshall, 1883. In 


describing the latter, Marshall, it appears, con- 
fessed that its separation from Uruguaya depended 
only on a geographical consideration, one group 
being found in Africa, the other in South America. 
Yet now they are assigned to separate subfami- 
lies. Dr. Annandale, however, admits that the 
recognition of his sub-family Potamolepidine “‘ de- 
pends to some extent on the fact that no gemmules 
have been found in any species that can be defi- 
nitely assigned to the genus Potamolepis,” and 
that if in the future “gemmules be found in an un- 
doubted Potamolepis with specialised gemmule- 
spicules that can be called microscleres, the genus 


would have to be transferred to the Spongillinz.” 


It is evidently a case in dealing with which the 
student must be specialised as well as the spicules. 
It will not interest the water board at Cardiff, 
which is reported to have cleared its pipes of a 
blockading sponge-growth simplv by using a solu- 
tion of common salt, without reference to system- 
atic nomenclature. 

As it is sometimes supposed that the influence 
of environment is all-suficing for the origin of 
species and makes natural selection a needless 
hypothesis, it is worth while to quote Dr. Annan- 
dale’s remark that “it is not unusual for two 
species that live together to adopt diametrically 
opposite means to attain the same end.” This he 
illustrates by the case of Cortispongilla barroisi, 
notable for the possession of a well-defined and 
almost symmetrical central cavity, while Nudo- 
spongilla aster, which inhabits the same environ- 
ment, is a peculiarly compact sponge without any 
trace of a central cavity. The explanation offered 
is, that “if the particularly well-developed exhalent 
system implied in the production of a central cavity 
opening by a large osculum is advantageous in 
getting rid of silt that has entered the sponge, a 
compact structure may be equally efficient in pre- 
venting the silt from entering at all.” 

In separate sections of the report several sub- 
jects besides sponges are discussed by Dr. Annan- 
dale and his collaborators, but to these justice 
cannot be done within the limits of this notice. 

T. R. R. STEpBInc. 


PROF. P. V. BEVAN. 

“eae younger generation of Cambridge physic- 

ists and many others will have noticed with 
regret the announcement in last week’s NATURE 
of the death of Prof. P. V. Bevan at the early 
age of thirty-eight. He had a distinguished scien- 
tific record, and his friends confidently expected 
for him a useful and fruitful career. Entering 
Cambridge University in 1896 he took up the study 
of mathematics, and in 1899 was fourth Wrangler. 
The following year he was placed in the first 
division of the first class in part ii. of the mathe- 
matical tripos. With this equipment he turned his 
attention to experimental physics, and commenced 
research in the Cavendish Laboratory under Sir 
J. J. Thomson. In 1901 he was appointed to a 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92 | 


NATURE 


481 


demonstratorship, to which lecturing duties were 
added in 1904, and in 1908 he became Professor of 
Physics at the Royal Holloway College, a post 
which he held till his death. 

Prof. Bevan’s earliest important research was 
a very complete investigation of the action of light 
on the rate of combination of hydrogen and 
chlorine, but after his removal to London he 
devoted himself to optics. Starting from the work 
of Prof. R. W. Wood on anomalous dispersion in 
sodium vapour, he extended it to the vapours of 
other alkali metals. He made a detailed study of 
the absorption spectra of the vapours of lithium 
and cesium, mapping their principal lines, and 
testing the applicability of the various formule 
suggested by Kayser and Runge, Rydberg, and 
Hicks to the series of lines in these spectra. Both 
at Cambridge and in London Bevan was: keenly 
interested in the religious life of the students. 
He was president of the Cambridge Nonconformist 
Union, and later took an active part in the student 
Christian movement, to the publications of which 
he was a contributor. His was a strong, vigor- 
ous, and genial personality, which won the affec- 
tion of all the students with whom he came into 
personal contact. A. W. 


NOTES. 


For several days Sir David Gill has been suffering 
from double pneumonia at his residence in Kensing- 
ton. As we go to press we learn that though his 
lungs are improving and he maintains his strength, 
his condition is still critical. 


Dr. Trempest ANDERSON, whose death was 
announced in Nature of September 4, has left 50,o00l. 
to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, of which he was 
formerly president, and 20,0001. to the Percy Sladen 
Memorial Fund, established by his sister, Mrs. Sladen, 
in 1904. 


Ir is proposed to present to the Royal Society a 
portrait of the retiring president, Sir Archibald Geikie. 
A small executive committee, with Sir William Ram- 
say as chairman, has been formed to carry out the 
preliminary arrangements and collect subscriptions, 
which it is agreed should range between one and 
three guineas. Promises amounting to about one 
hundred guineas have been received already from fifty 
fellows of the society. Subscriptions may be sent to 
the treasurers of the Geikie Portrait Fund, at the 
Royal Society, or paid direct to Messrs. Coutts and 
Co., 440 Strand, W.C., for the fund. The subscribers 
will constitute a general committee, and they will be 
called together at a later date to consider the choice 
of an artist and other matters. 


TuE valuable services rendered to public departments 
by the Royal Society were referred to by Sir Archibald 
Geikie in his recent presidential address (see NaTuRE, 
December 4, p. 405); but it was pointed out that 
though the society has acquired the character of a 
kind of central bureau of science, there has been no 
corresponding increase of financial support. Sir 
Joseph Larmor, in The Times of December 20, refers 


482 


to two recent matters of national importance in which 
scientific advice was apparently not invited from the 
Royal Society or any. other expert body. One case is 
that of the rearrangement of the lightning conductors 
on St. Paul’s Cathedral. During the structural 
examination made in the past summer the iron bars, 
inserted at the instance of Benjamin Franklin, the 
originator of lightning-rods, were found; and it was 
recalled also that the protection of the cathedral had 
then (about 1780) been unde: the consideration of a 
special committee of the Royal Society. Sir Joseph 
Larmor asks, therefore, whether in the recent re- 
arrangement the Royal Society, or the Institution of 
Electrical Engineers, or other expert public body con- 
versant with electrical matters, was approached, or 
consulted, upon the matter. The other instance men- 
tioned by him relates to the problem of the decaying 
stone in public buildings. It was recently reported 
that funds have been obtained from the Treasury, at 
the instance of the Office of Works, to institute a 
scientific inquiry on this subject, and it was proposed 
to move ‘‘the Foreign Office to inquire of the Govern- 
ments of France, Germany, Italy, Greece, and America 
whether any man of science in those countries had 
evolved any treatment to combat this very serious evil.” 
Here again it does not appear that the Royal Society, 
the Chemical Society, or the Society of Chemical In- 
dustry have been asked for advice on a national matter 
especially within their domain, or to provide the in- 
formation which the Foreign Office proposes to collect 
from various Governments, though in these days of 
intimate international cooperation and rapid spread 
of information in science they could no doubt do so. 


At the meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of 
Scotland on December 8, Mr. A. Henderson Bishop 
read a paper on his recent.excavations in the Island 
of Oransay. The excavation of the MacArthur Cave 
at Oban in 1895 had revealed certain indications which 
seemed to point to the possibility of there having been 
a human occupation on or about the line of the 30-ft. 
beach at-a time when the sea had not permanently 
retired from this level. The evidence, however, was 
much too meagre and insecure to admit of such a 
revolutionary theory being founded upon it, but that 
theory has now for the first time been demonstrated 
from the shell mounds of Oransay. The line of the 
beach was found on a contour of approximately 30 ft. 
round the hill, and the disposition of its constituents 
was exactly what might have been looked for as the 
result of powerful seas washing against the talus of 
food refuse. Very interesting was the attempted re- 
construction of the configuration of the site at the 
time of occupation.. What is now a turf-covered sandy 
hill, some 54 ft. in height, standing about 650 ft. from 
the present high-water mark, was then an elliptical 
peninsula washed round nearly the whole of its circeum- 
ference by the sea and connected by the stone ridge of 
the beach with the rest of the island. Further, the 
excavation supplied exhaustive material for a picture 
of the culture-stage of the inhabitants, and the result 
is a demonstration of the existence in Scotland of a 
culture presenting an extremely close affinity to that 
discovered in thé Pyrenees grottos by the late M. 
Piette, to which he has given the name Azilian. The 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 25, 1913 


characteristic implements of both sites are the same— 

flat harpoons of bone and horn, sometimes with one, 

sometimes with two, rows of barbs, and generally ~ 
perforated near the base; shoe-horn-like chisels of — 
deer horn, and bone pins, along with pieces of pumice- ~ 
stone on which they were fashioned. Very striking 
was the large number of convex faceted chisels—about — 
1000 were found—hitherto unexplained, which are re-_ 
garded as implements worn by gouging the molluse 

of the limpet from the shell, J 


Tue death is announced, in his eighty-seventh year, 
of Mr. J. W. Wilkins, one of the pioneers of the - 
telegraph system in this country. a 


WE regret to see the announcement of the death on — 
December 18, at seventy-two years of age, of the Rev. © 
Edmund Ledger, professor of astronomy at Gresham 
College, London, from 1875 to 1908, and the author © 
of several popular works and articles on astronomical © 
subjects. 


Ir is proposed to place a tablet suitably inscribed 
to commemorate Benjamin Franklin in the Church of 
St. Bartholomew the Great, West Smithfield—the 
parish in which he worked as a printer. Subscriptions 
for this memorial may be sent to Mr. E. A. Webb, 
rector’s warden, 60 Bartholomew Close, London, E.C. 


By the will of Mr. Arnold Friedlander the sum of 
50001. is bequeathed for a Cancer Research Fund, to 
be applied as his executors may direct towards increas- 
ing the knowledge of the cause, characteristics, and 
effects of cancer and allied diseases, and the best means 
of the prevention, alleviation, and cure thereof. 


Pror. E. L. Trouessart, of Paris, and Prof. W. B. 
Scott, New Jersey, U.S.A., corresponding members 
of the Zoological Society of London, have been elected — 
foreign members of the society. Prof. E. Ehlers, 
Gottingen, Mr. J. H. Fleming, of Toronto, and Dr. 
C. Gordon Hewitt, Ottawa, have been elected corre- 
sponding members of the society. wae 


A LEADING article in The Northern Whig of Decem- 
ber 19 reminds us that the day of publication was 
the centenary of the birth of Prof. Thomas Andrews, 
one of the most notable men whom Belfast can claim. 
The article gives an interesting and instructive sum- 
mary of Andrews’s career, and of the scientific work 
which won for him a place among the foremost 
discoverers of the Victorian era. 


Tue twelfth general meeting of the Association of 
Economic Biologists will be held at Liverpool on 
December 30-31.. Among the papers to be presented 
are :-—“‘Some Observations on the Bionomics ~of 
Glossina morsitans in Nyasaland,” Prof. R. New- 
stead, F.R.S.; “The First-stage Larva of Hypoderma 
bovis,” Prof. G. H. Carpenter; ‘‘The Food and Feed- 
ing Habits of Some Game Birds,” W. E. Collinge; 
“Pollination in Orchards,” F. J. Chittenden. 


In Man for December Mr. T. C. Hodson records 
a curious account of silent bargaining from India. 
When the person making an offer for a horse at a 
fair suggests a hundred rupees, he takes one finger. 
of the person’ to whom the proposal is made under 
a sheet spread over both their hands, and whispers 


] 


| 
5 


. 


DECEMBER 25, 1913] 


thé” work pakka, adding another finger for every 
additional hundred. Similarly, the word dana denotes 
five rupees, and sute a single rupee. -It is a gross 
breach of etiquette to disclose the price fixed while 
the fair lasts, and it is a question of honour that 
offers. made in this way should be held final and 
binding. ; 

.Mr. J. Reip Morr has reprinted from The Field 
Club Journal a paper on a flint workshop floor re- 
ecntly discovered at Ipswich. In it were found 
hammer-stones, cores, worked flints, flakes, and “ pot- 


_ boilers,” in great abundance and close association. 


Comparing these ‘“‘finds’’ with specimens of the 
Aurignac type, now in the British Museum, it is clear 


that the Ipswich flints belong to the Palzolithic cave 


period, in the Lower-Middle Aurignacean age. Two 
important results follow from this discovery. In the 
first place, it disposes of the theory that all the people 
of this ‘age were cave-dwellers. Here there is no 
cave, and the settlement was formed in the open. In 
the second place, the abundance of ‘‘ pot-boilers”” indi- 
cates that these people split their flints in the fire, 
and, when possible, used the fragments as imple- 
ments. This is an easy process, as experiments show 
that when a flint is placed in the fire for about five 
minutes, cracks appear in different places, and then 


a sharp blow will shatter the stone into several 


pieces. Mr. Reid Moir infers from this discovery that 
there is no hiatus between the industries of the River- 
Drift and those of Neolithic man, a result of the first 
importance, if it is found to be verified by further 
excavation in eastern England. 


In a paper on fishes from the Madeira River, Brazil, 
published in the October issue of the Proceedings of 
the Philadelphia Academy, Dr. H.-W. Fowler de- 
scribes fifteen species, one of which is made the type 
of a new genus—as new to science. : 


An obituary notice, accompanied by a portrait, of 
Dr. J. W. B. Gunning, late director of the Transvaal 
Museum, Pretoria, appears in vol. iv.; part 2, of the 
Annals of the Museum. Dr. Gunning, who was born 
at Hilversum, Holland, on September 3, 1860, went 
to South Africa in 1884, where he at first practised 
medicine. Appointed director of the museum in 1808, 
he raised the Zoological Gardens, which form a part 
of that institution, to their present high status. 


‘Tue British Ornithologists’ Club has issued a 
“Guide to Selborne”’ and ‘‘A Synopsis of the Life of 
Gilbert White,” by Major W. H. Mullens, and pub- 
lished by Messrs. Witherby as No. exc of the club’s 
Bulletin. Both were prepared in anticipation of a 
visit to Selborne in connection with the twenty-first 
anniversary of the club; but the visit did not take 
place, owing to the death of Dr. P. S. Sclater. In 
the “ guide"’ it is pointed out that on the monument 
to White in Selborne Church it is stated that his 
remains are interred ina grave adjacent to the wall 
to which the monument is affixed. As a matter of 
fact, it lies outside the north-east corner of the 
church, the discrepancy being due to the transference 
of the tablet from the exterior to the interior of the 
building. 

NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


NATURE | 


483 


‘AT a particularly opportune moment, when, as has 
been well said, ‘‘a wave of vitalism has passed over 
society owing to the pervasive eloquence of Bergson 
and other writers,” appears a reprint of an address 
delivered by the late Prof. Emil du Bois-Reymond on 
neo-vitalism (‘‘ Ueber Neo-Vitalismus,” pp, 60; Verlag 
von W. Breitenbach, Brackwede, price 1 mark), be- 
fore the Prussian Academy of Sciences, on the occa- 
sion of the Leibnitz anniversary in 1894, This is a 
strong criticism of the vitalistic theories which du — 
Bois-Reymond himself did so much to undermine in 
Germany, and more particularly of the views of 
Virchow, Bunge, and of Driesch himself, whose 
theories have recently found favour in certain circles 
in this country as a new philosophy, although they 
are but a recrudescence of those which he formulated 
in 1893. The strong condemnation by du Bois-Rey- 
mond of such views may be summarised in Schleiden’s 
phrase, which is made the text of his address :—'t The i 
savage who calls a locomotive a living thing is not 
more unscientific than the investigator of nature who . 
speaks of vital force in the organism.’’ The new 
edition is edited, with the addition of useful notes, 
by Erich Metze. 


AN account, by Mr. S. W. Kemp, of the Crustacea 
Stomatopoda (Squillidz) of the Indo-Pacific region 
constitutes part i. of vol. iv. of the Memoirs of the 
Indian Museum. It is really, so far as the structure 
and relations of the adults are concerned, a mono- 
graph of the entire group, since in addition to a 
review of all the local forms it includes a list, with - 
references and synonymy, of all the species described 
from other regions. Altogether, according to the 
author, 139 species and varieties of adult Stomatopoda 
are known, of which ninety-seven have their being 
in the Indo-Pacific. All these are critically compared 
and succinctly described, the author having investi- 
gated not merely the extensive collection in his own 
charge, but also select loan collections from the 
British Museum and other institutions. No new 
methods of classification are proposed, though em- 
phasis is laid upon the value of the ischio-meral arti- 
culation of the raptorial maxilliped for a primary sub- 
division of recent Squillidze; the characters employed 
in grouping the species. are those furnished by the 
raptorial apparatus, the sculpture of the carapace 
terga and telson, the form of the abdomen, the size, 
form, and inclination of the eye, and to a certain 
extent the presence or absence of a mandibular palp. 
Masterly as is the ‘‘ systematic’ touch, equal skill and 
judgment are shown in the treatment of those larger 
biological problems that always confront the open- 
eyed systematist, and the style throughout is a model 
of lucidity. The ten fine plates by S. C. Mondul that 
illustrate the memoir are part of the Illustrations of 
the R.I.M. Survey Ship, Investigator. 


Tue final part of the “Lepidoptera Indica (Rhopa- 
locera) ’’ has now been published by Messrs. L. Reeve 
and Co., Ltd., completing the tenth volume of this 
important work. The task of describing the whole of 
the butterfly fauna of India was planned and begun 
by the late Dr. F. Moore in 1890, and since his death 
in 1907 it has been carried on by.Colonel C. Swinhoe, 


484 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 25, 1913 


in accordance with the lines originally laid down. 
The families, genera, and species of the Indian region 
are all fully dealt with, and more than sixteen 
hundred species are illustrated by life-sized coloured 
figures. The Indian region, as recognised by Dr. 
Moore for the purposes of this work, is bounded by 
the Himalayas on the north, the Suleiman and Hala 
mountains on the north-west, and Burma on the east. 
It includes Ceylon and the Andaman and Nicobar 
islands. Within these limits is found a_ butterfly 
fauna of great and varied interest, less noteworthy 
indeed than that of Indo- and Austro-Malaya, and 
far less rich than that of South America, but well 
deserving of the exhaustive treatment which it receives 
in the present work. 


Mr. IMMANUEL FRIEDLANDER, of Villa Hertha, 
Vomero, Naples, has published, with Dietrich 
Reimer, Berlin, a small quarto work of 110 pages, 
with nineteen plates and eleven maps, entitled 
“ Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Kapverdischen Inseln.” 
This gives the results of a journey made by him in 
the summer of 1912. After briefly summarising the 
literature and the maps of the Cape Verde Islands, 
giving some details of their history, of the climate, 
inhabitants, health relations, fauna, and vegetation, 
the author gives an account of his geological observa- 
tions on the various islands. A valuable synopsis of 
the rocks collected on the islands by Stiibel, Bergt, 
and Friedlander is contributed by Prof. W. Bergt, of 
Leipzig. The work should be particularly useful to 
anyone proposing to visit these islands, which, 
obviously, are worthy of further study. Mr. Fried- 
lander has long been attempting to establish in Naples 
a Vulcanological Institute under international 
auspices, but since his plans have not met with all the 
support he hoped, he has determined to begin at once 
with a small private institute established by himself, 
but open to students of all nationalities. It is hoped 
to lend out instruments from the institute, and to 
publish as its organ a Vulcanologische Zeitschrift. 


Tue July number of the Journal of the College of 
Agriculture, Tokyo, contains an interesting paper by 
Osawa on the sterility in Daphne odora, Thunb. 
This species is a native of China, commonly cultivated 
in Japan, where it is completely sterile. The pollen 
and embryo sac development in two related wild 
Japanese species, D. pseudo-mesereum and D. kiusiana, 
were studied for comparison. The latter are fertile, 
even under cultivation, in Japan. In the microspore 
mother-cells of D. odora extra nuclei are frequently 
formed, and various other irregularities occur. Even 
mature pollen grains which reach the stigma fail to 
germinate. | Megaspores are also formed, but the 
embryo sacs usually degenerate before completing 
their development. This species is thus sterile in both 
sexes. In the two fertile species the sporophyte num- 
ber of chromosomes is eighteen, while in D. odora 
it is about twenty-eight. Osawa refers to the con- 
clusion of Darwin that sterility may result from 
change of climate or from the effects of cultivation, as 
well as from crossing, and he also cites a number 
of sterile plants which are known or believed to have 
originated through mutation, as in the well-known case 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


of Ginothera lata, The author concludes that the sterility 
of D. odora has been caused either by cultivation 
or by mutation. The change in chromosome number 
in this species, together with the absence of sterility 
in the other two species in cultivation, favours the 
latter hypothesis, which could be verified by deter- 
mining whether D. odora is sterile in its original 
habitat. 


Tue monthly parts of The Geophysical Journal 
issued by the Meteorological Office for 1912 contain 
daily meteorological, magnetic, electrical, solar and 
seismic data for Kew and Eskdalemuir, meteorological 
and magnetic data for Valencia, and values of the 
wind components for certain hours for four stations. 
They also include the results of the investigations of 
the upper air, and other useful data. The units are 
based on the C.G-S. system; the reasons for adopting 
the centibar or millibar instead of the inch for baro- 
metric measurements are given in the preface to'the 1913 
edition of ‘‘The Observer’s Handbook”’ published by 
the office. 
will be welcome to most meteorolgists, we may take 
this opportunity of referring to a useful article by 
Mr. Bonacina in the September number of Symons’s 
Meteorological Magazine, relating to the valuable work 
by Prof. Bjerknes on dynamic meteorology and hydro- 
graphy (Publication No. 88 of the Carnegie Institution 
of Washington). Among Mr. Bonacina’s interesting 
remarks it is pointed out that barometric readings in 
inches ‘‘no longer avail when meteorological data are 
employed quantitatively, i.e. to serve for the pre- 
calculation of ensuing atmospheric changes, in accord- 
ance with the avowed aim of the new method.” 


Tue director of the Meteorological Service, Survey 
Department, Egypt (Mr. J. I. Craig), has recently 
published his report on the rains of the Nile Basin 
and the Nile flood of 1911, in the usual form, with 
tables and plates. For the whole year there was a 
general deficiency of rain, except in Kordofan, and 
on the White Nile. In a chapter dealing with the 
normal rainfall it is stated that the time of its dis- 
tribution is more complex than has been supposed ; 
the regional curves show that they include three 
separate distributions, instead of two, as usually sup- 
posed, and an attempt is made to give a simple 
explanation of the facts. As a whole, the flood of 
igi started early, but afterwards was late and poor; 
it improved in September, and ‘‘matters were not so 
bad as at one time they promised to be.” The report 
includes some interesting notes on the regimen of 
Lake Victoria; the mean annual variation of its levels 
at various. seasons is said to be only 28 centimetres 
(11 in.), but the surface rises and ‘falls by much 
greater amounts, consequent on variations in the 
intensity of rain and evaporation from one year to 
another. 


AN interesting notice of the late Prof. Milne appears 
in the last number (vol. xvii., part 3-4) of the Bollettino 
of the Italian Seismological Society. Dr. Martinelli 
refers to his ability as an organiser, to his two text- 
books on ‘‘ Earthquakes” and ‘‘ Seismology,” to the 
seismographs with which his name is connected, and 
to the fact that he was a pioneer in almost every 


As all attempts at popularising these units. 


DECEMBER 25, 1913] 


department of his science. The only noticeable omis- 
sion is that of all reference to his useful work on the 
construction of buildings in earthquake countries. 


In a circular just issued by the Bureau of Standards 
of Washington giving the fees charged for tests of 
apparatus intended for temperature and heat measure- 
ments, a considerable number of hints as to the best 
methods of use of such apparatus are given. These 
hints cover thermo-electric pyrometers, both |with 
elements of platinum, platinum-rhodium, and of iron, 
nickel, chromium, and their alloys, platinum resist- 
ance ‘thermometers, and radiation pyrometers of both 
the single colour type, and those using the whole 
radiation. The provisional temperature scale now in 
use at the bureau is indicated by the following melt- 
ing points:—Tin, 232°; cadmium, 321°; lead, 327°; 
zinc, 419°; antimony, 630°; aluminium, 658°; a silver- 
copper alloy of composition Ag,Cu,, 779°; silver, 961°; 
gold, 1063°; copper, 1083°; nickel, 1450°; palladium, 
1550°; platinum, 1755°; alumina, 2050°; tungsten, 
3000° C.; and the following boiling points at atmo- 
spheric pressure :—Naphthaline, 217-9°, benzophenone, 
305:9°; sulphur, 444-6° C. 

WHEN light is transmitted through a liquid in which 
a fine precipitate has just been formed, it is well 
known that the absorption due to the liquid increases 
with the time, while the proportion of polarised light 
in the scattered light at right angles to the incident 
beam decreases, both changes being due to the in- 
crease in size of the precipitated particles. A similar 
relation has long been suspected between the absorp- 
tion of the atmosphere for the sun’s rays and the 
degree of polarisation of the light of the sky. The 
question has been tested experimentally by M. A. 
Boutaric, of the University of Montpellier, and his 
results appear in Bulletin No. 7 of the Classe des 
Sciences of the Belgian Royal Academy for 1913. 
The intensity of solar radiation was measured by an 
Angstrém pyrheliometer,, and the proportion of 
polarised light in the light of the sky by a Cornu 
photopolarimeter. The measurements show conclu- 
sively that for the greater part of the radiation re- 
ceived from the sun the ahsorption due to the 
atmosphere is closely connected with the proportion 
of polarised light in the general light from the sky. 
When one of the two increases the other decreases. 
Selective absorption plays a relatively unimportant 
part except in certain well-marked regions of the 
spectrum. 

In the Records of the Geological Survey of India 
(vol. xliii., part 1, 1913) Dr. L. L. Fermor contributes 
a preliminary note on garnet as a geological baro- 
meter, and on an infra-plutonic zone in the earth’s 
crust. Observations on the Kodurite series of rocks 
in the Vizagapatam district led him to inquire why 
these garnetiferous rocks had been caused to crystal- 
lise as such rather than according to the norm, or 
standard, mineral composition of Cross and Iddings. 
He concludes that since the garnet rocks have a 
higher specific gravity than their norm calculated 
from the chemical analyses, they must have crystal- 
lised under greater pressure. ‘‘ Therefore it seems 
legitimate to postulate the existence below the plutonic 
rocks (which are typically non-garnetiferous) of a 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


485 


shell characterised by garnets wherever a sesquioxide 
radicle exists.” For this shell he suggests the term 
infra-plutonic. He considers that carbon existing as 
graphite in the higher zones of the earth’s crust will 
probably be represented by diamond in the infra- 
plutonic zone on account of the high density of the 
latter mineral. It is thus deduced that garnet and 
diamond will be two of the characteristic minerals of 
the zone. A release of pressure over any portion of 
the infra-plutonic shell would allow the liquefaction 
of that part of the shell under the high temperature 
prevalent; such liquid rock, on being intruded into ~ 
the higher zones of the crust, would then solidify 
under lower pressure as a plutonic rock. 


In ‘‘A Theory of Time and Space’ (Cambridge : 
Heffer and Sons, 1913, pp. 16) Dr. Alfred A. Robb gives 
a brief account of his investigation of the relations of 
time and space in connection with optics, which he 
hopes to publish before long in book form. His 
problem consists in reconstructing from the bottom 
the theory of relativity which, though much discussed, 
is ‘still in a condition of considerable obscurity.’’ 
The chief part in Dr. Robb’s mainly logical investiga- 
tion is played by the idea of what he calls conical 
order. This means that there are pairs of instants, 
A, B, such that, though A is neither before nor after 
B, the instants A, B are not identical. According to 
the author’s view, the only events which are “really 
simultaneous’’ are those which occur at the same 
place. Of events occurring at different places one is, 
generally speaking, neither before nor after the other. 
Only if it be abstractly possible for a person, at the 
instant A, to produce an effect at the instant B, is 
the instant B said to be after A. This is one of the 
fundamental definitions given along with a set of 
postulates. By means of these and certain additional 
postulates, Dr. Robb promises to develop a system 
of geometry based on the conceptions of ‘after’ and 
‘“‘before,’’ and thus to include the theory of space in 
the theory of time. If A is an instant of which I 
am directly conscious and B is distinct from, but 
neither before nor after A, then B, of which I can 
be aware only indirectly, assumes an external char- 
acter. In short, it is an instant ‘‘elsewhere.’’ All 
who are interested in the subject will desire to see 
these remarkable and radical ideas developed fully in 
the promised book. 

Quick and at the same time trustworthy methods of 
quantitative analysis are amongst the most important 
desiderata of biological chemistry, and any additions 
to their number are to be welcomed. Dr. P. A. 
Kober’s application of the nephelometer, an instrument 
first introduced into analytical chemistry by Richards, 
to the study of enzyme chemistry is a case in point. 
In recent papers from the Harriman Research Labora- 
tory, New York, he describes the conversion of the 
Duboscq colorimeter into a nephelometer, which he 
uses to determine the amount of dissolved protein pre- 
sent in a solution by precipitating it as a suspensoid 
by a suitable reagent. Comparison with a standard 
containing a known amount of the precipitated. pro- 
tein enables the accurate estimation of very small _ 
amounts of protein. Having found suitable precipi- 
tants for various proteins—for example, sodium 


486 


chloride for edestin, sulphosalicylic acid for casein— 
he is able to measure the amount of peptic, tryptic, and 
ereptic digestion with accuracy and speed. In a second 
paper (Journal Amer, Chem. Soc., 1913, vol. xxxv., 
1546) the same author describes improvements in the 
micro-chemical method of forming copper complexes 
of amino-acids, peptides, and peptones in neutral or 
slightly alkaline solution, so that quantitative results 
can be obtained in dilutions of one part in 500,000. It 
is shown that very few other substances react with 
the reagent, and these can be easily removed by means 
of ammoniacal lead acetate. The method has been 
studied carefully in its application to blood, urine, and 


the measurement of proteolysis, and it appears to give 


results accurately and quickly with small amounts of 
material. Seeing that the Sérensen, van Slyke, and 


Abderhalden methods for determining amino-acids - 
have each in their turn been most fruitful in advancing. 


the knowledge of the proteins much is to be hoped 
from the application of the new method. 


Mr. Francis Epwarps, bookseller, 83 High Street, 


Marylebone, W., has issued a catalogue of books, 
pamphlets, engravings, maps, and manuscripts relat- 
ing to the whole American continent. 


to works of unique interest. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES FOR JANUARY, 


Jan. 3. oh. om. Earth nearest the Sun. 

5. 6h. om. Mars at opposition to the Sun. 

8. 2th. 41m. Saturn in conjunction with the. 
Moon (Saturn 6° 47’ S.). : 

11. th. 4gm. Mars in _ conjunction with the 
Moon (Mars 0° 34’ S.). 

12. th, 39m. Neptune in conjunction with the’ 
Moon (Neptune 4° 26’ S.). 

17- 7h. om. Neptune at opposition to the Sun. 

20. gh. om. Jupiter in conjunction with the 
Sun. 

24. 21th. om. Mercury in superior conjunction 
with the Sun, 

25. 6h. 32m. Venus in conjunction with 
Jupiter (Venus 0° 33’ S.). 

» 8h. 43m. Jupiter in. conjunction with the 
Moon (Jupiter 3° 22’ N.). 

» 8h. 54m. Venus it conjunction with the 
Moon (Venus 2° 48’ N.). 

27. 20h. om. Uranus in conjunction with the 
Sun. 

30. 15h, 36m. Venus in conjunction with 
Uranus (Venus 0° 30’ S.). 

A Faint New Comet.—A Kiel telegram dated 


December 18 reports the discovery by Delavan of a 
comet of magnitude 11-0 on December 17 at toh. 
348m. La Plata mean time. Its position is given as 
R.A. 3h, 3m. 19-:2s., declination 7° 25’ 24” south. 

A further telegram from Kiel, dated December 10, 
reports the observation of this comet at Bergedorf on 
December 18, at 8h. 5-3m. Bergedorf mean time. It 
is stated to be of magnitude 11-0, and its position is 
given as R.A. 3h. 2m. 4i1s., and declination 7° 21' 29” 
south, 


Tue Eartu’s ALBEDO.—Astronomische Nachrichten, 
No, 4696, is occupied for the main part with a con- 
tribution by Mr. Frank W. Very on the earth’s 
albedo. The research consists of determining the 
albedo from visual observations on the earth shine 


The catalogue: 
contains some 1662 entries, many of them referring 


1914 :— 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 25, 1913 


sun-illuminatec areas on the moon’s surface, The 
contribution describes in the first instance the photo- 
meter employed, the methods of procedure, and the 
necessary constants of the instrument. Then follow 
the records of the observations made during the years 
tgtr and 1912. Mr. Very finally concludes that in 
round numbers the earth shine at new moon has an_ 
intrinsic brightness of about 1/1600 of moonlight of 
average quality, such as is received shortly before. 
first quarter. He eventually states, as a final result, — 

that the albedo of the earth may be ‘taken as Ae= =0'89. 

This value he finds favours the higher of the two 
values of the solar constant, namely 3-6 cal./sq. cm. 
min., which he published at the ee of ‘this 
year, 


ANNUAIRE DE L’OBSERVATOIRE RoyaL DE poo: 


'—The Royal Belgium Observatory’s Annual, published” 


under*the direction of M. G. Lécointe, the- director of] 


the - observatory, is well known to amateur - cand “pro-- 


_ fessional astronomers on this side of the- chann 


‘and 
the issue for. the year 1914 will be found as useful as 
ever. The aim of the publication is to pr ‘the 
indispensable elements ‘to those who interest 

selves in astronomical observations and to help : ‘render 
the science more popular by means of numerous, clearly 


written articles on various astronomical topics. - ‘The 
list.of the. contents. is a very full one, but attention 


‘can only be directed to one or two of ‘the items’ in- 


serted. The recent progress of astronomy, i.e. the 
progress up to the end of the year 1911, is well sum- 


“marised by M- P. Stroobant, and is very well illus- 
trated. 


Under . “ Periodic’ Comets” an interesting - 


‘table is given showing, among other facts, the epochs — 


of the. first and next appearances. The scheme for 
the distribution of international time by wireless’ is” 


‘thoroughly described, and such sections’ as ‘ those 


. found useful. 


devoted to different tables, their cost, 
notions. on the measurement of time, 


elementary 
“Bea, * will ae 


» 


‘DISTRIBUTION OF ELEMENTS IN THE Sora: ke 
SPHERE.—In this column for September 11 vety Wee 


‘reference was-made to an important paper by“ 


Charles ‘E. St.. John-on radial motion .in ‘sun-sj ee 
the contribution in question dealing with the distri- 
bution of velocities in the solar vortex. The Noyem- 
ber number of The Astrophysical Journal (vol. XXXvViii-, 
No. 4, p. 341) is devoted to-a second portion of the . 


‘investigation, and deals with the: distribution of: the 


‘Solar Observatory. . Mr. 


This: paper forms — 
74 of the contnbaeem from the Mount Wilson 
John. finds that radial 


elements in the solar atmosphere. - 
No. 


displacements are aeneeee associated with dep 
‘and, assuming as a standard a‘series of displaweetienl 


| levels of different groups of iron lines. 


shown by the iron lines, he deduces the relative level 
of twenty-six other elements of. the reversing layer 
and chromosphere. ‘The distribution shows that the 
form of calcium .that produces the H and K lines is 
at the highest level, followed by the He line of 
hydrogen. Then successively come the vapours of 
magnesium, sodium, iron, aluminium, &c., each in- 
creasing in absolute density with the’ depth until in 
the lowest portion of the reversing layer occur alsc 
the vapour of all the elements the lines of which 
appear in the sola~ spectrum. It is interesting to note 
that enhanced lines show smaller radial displacements 
than unenhanced lines of the same solar intensities, 
and thus originate at higher levels in and near sun- 
spots. A differentiation is also made between the 
A comparison 
of the radial displacements with the weakening and 
strengthening of spot lines shows that the latter is 
associated with increase of depth and the former with 
high elevations. Numerous other important conclu- 


on the moon in comparison with light from similar * sions are included in this investigation. 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


DECEMBER 1913] NATURE 487 
Bp yee a ‘ - Ip 1 of such agricultural activity and indicates to tne 
SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURE. general reader how much may be accomplished by 


[? might truly be said that only within the last two 


decades has the importance of the scientific in- 
vestigation of the infinite number of problems arising 
from agricultural practice received, in some measure, 
general recognition. During this period it has become 
more and more evident to those engaged in the pro- 
duction of plant and animal commodities that it is 
sometimes merely foolish, and at others almost dan- 
gerous, from an economic point of view not to accept 
the help freelv proffered by agricultural educational 
authorities. The aid given by these bodies may be 


" 


Th: white woolly currant scale. 


embodied in one or several schemes, such as the 
institution of demonstration experiments to illustrate 
certain manurial and cultural measures, the value of 
which is indisputable, facilities for consultation with 
experts in cases of special fungoid and insect pests, 
educational measures by means of in-college lectures 
and peripatetic work, and, lastly, the creation of a 
close connection between the farmer and the research 
worker. 

The report before us provides an inspiriting example 

1 The Journal of the South-Eastern Agricultural College, Wye, Kent. 


No. 28. Pp. 476. (London and -Ashford: Headley Bros., 1912.) Price 
7s. 6d. ; Residents in Kent and Surrey, 3s. 6d. 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


From *‘The Journal of the South-Eastern 
Agricultural College.” 


efficient organisation and sound work; to the agri- 
culturist of the south-eastern counties it would con- 
stitute what might almost be regarded as a book of 
reference on many matters agricultural. 

The work is compiled in the form of reports from 
the departments of agriculture and dairying, horticul- 
ture, economic zoology, chemistry, botany, mycology, 
veterinary science, and concludes with general notes. 
Although much of the subject-matter must pass un- 
noticed here owing to lack of space, reference may 
be made to experiments on pig-feeding and the winter 
feeding of dairy cows, the effect of ferrous 
sulphate on the quality and quantity of pota- 
toes, the valuation of basic slag, and weeds in 
seed samples, the latter article being illustrated 
by many admirable plates. Some valuable ex- 
periments have been made on celery blight 
(Septoria petroseline, var. Apii) and its preven- 
tion, the results obtained showing that a vast 
improvement may be induced both in size and 
value of produce by means of spraying with 
Bordeaux mixture. 


In his report, the economic mycologist 
directs attention to the disquieting fact that 


measures of the ‘American 
Orders,” as at present car- 
do not in any way check the spread 


the compulsory 
Gooseberry Mildew 
ried out, 


of the disease to fresh plantations. At the 
beginning of the season there were in Kent 


alone about 3300 acres of mildewed plantations, 
and it is evident that the measures with respect 
to the autumn pruning of diseased bushes will 
have to be uniformly enforced in order to keep 
down further spread and to prevent the 
measures taken by conscientious growers being 
largely nullified by laxity in others. 

The report on economic zoology maintains 
its usual high standard and outlines the various 
insect pests which have come under observa- 
tion during the year. Of these, a bad attack 
by the white woolly currant scale (Pulvinaria 
vilis v. rvibesiae) is reported, a portion of an 
affected plant being shown in the accompany- 


ing illustration. 

A vaccine has been prepared by the veterinary 
department, and is being used in the “ strucix 
Sheep’ experiments, and we look forward 


with interest to the publication of the results 
of this work. 


CHANK BANGLE INDUSTRY 
IN INDIA. 


ROM a commercial as well as an artistic 
point of view the chank or conch shell 
industry is so important that in 1910 the 
Government of Madras deputed Mr. J. Hornell, 
superintendent of the Pearl and Chank 
Fisheries’ Department, to visit northern 
India and report upon the subject. The result of his 
inquiries is described in an interesting monograph 
published in vol. iii, No. 7, of the Memoirs of the 
Asiatic Society of Bengal. 

He begins by discussing the literary evidence of 
the position of the industry in early times, and reviews 
the evidence from the large collection of prehistoric 
remains collected by Mr. Bruce Foote, now deposited 
in the Madras Museum. Mr. Foote was inclined to 
assign many of these chank or conch shel] ornaments 
to the Neolithic period. But this identification is, in 
many cases, not supported by the investigations of 
Mr. Hornell. who points out that many of the speci- 


THE 


488 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 25, 1913. 


mens bear marks of the use of iron saws or other 
metal implements. 

The shells of the sacred Indian chank or conch 
(Turbinella pyrum, Linn.) are principally found in 
the Gulf of Manaar, whence, to the number of about 
two millions, they are annually exported to Calcutta. 
At present the industry of bangle-cutting is confined 
almost entirely to Bengal, but Mr. Hornell shows 
that in former times it was widely spread over the 
greater part of India, relics of bangle-workshops 
being discovered from Tinnevelly in the extreme south 
to Kathiawar, and Gujarat in the north-west, through 
a long chain of factories located in the Deccan. The 
causes of this transfer of the manufacture are some- 
what obscure, but Mr. Hornell largely attributes it 
to the upheaval resulting from the Mahomedan con- 
quest of southern India. 

Mr. Hornell describes the condition of the industry 
as flourishing. While there is an increasing demand 
for gold ornaments, the Swadeshi movement in 
favour of Indian-made goods has greatly stimulated 
the trade. He gives full details, with photographs, 
of the methods employed in the manufacture, and his 
discussion of the religious and social influences which 
encourage the use of this form of ornament not only 
in Bengal, but as far north as Tibet, from Ladakh 
in the west to the Kham country on the east, make 
this excellent account of a curious industry more 
than ordinarily instructive. 


BOTANY AT THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION. 


ee Birmingham meeting of the British Associa- 

tion was, from the point of view of the Botanical 
Section, as from others, highly successful. There was 
a very large attendance of botanists, particularly of 
the younger ones. The meeting of the section this 
year was noteworthy in being presided over by Miss 
Ethel Sargant, the first woman president of any sec- 
tion of the association. It is scarcely necessary to 
state that the section suffered in no way as a result 
of the innovation. The president’s address having 
been previously reported in full in these columns, it 
is unnecessary here to attempt to summarise it. It 
dealt with the progress of vegetable embryology in 
recent years, the subject being treated from the 
morphological side. The great difficulty in all such 
work, as the president herself pointed out, is to dis- 
tinguish between adaptive characters of comparatively 
recent origin and the characters inherited from re- 
mote ancestors. However, the study has already 
thrown much light on embryological problems, and is 
likely to throw more as time goes on. 


Fossil Botany, 


Dr. D. H. Scott contributed an important paper on 
some fossii plants from Devonian strata. The 
specimens described were collected by Prof. C. R. 
Eastman near Junction City, Boyle County, Ken- 
tucky, from the nodule-bearing layer at the base of 
the Waverley shale, in the lower part of Upper Devo- 
nian strata. They are thus (at present), among the 
oldest known land-plants showing internal structure. 
The communication was made in the joint names of 
Prof. E. C. Jeffrey, of Harvard, and Dr. Scott. The 
following fossil-plants were described :—(1) Calamo- 
pitys americana (sp. nov.), Jeffrey and Scott. This 
has mixed pith, containing tracheides, and paired leaf- 
trace bundles in the wood. (2) Kalymma petioles. 
This no doubt belongs to a species of Calamopitys. 
(3) Calamopteris Hippocrepis (sp. nov.), Jeffrey and 
Scott. This is a petiole of the Kalymma group, but 
with the bundles arranged in a horse-shoe form, and 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


' tissue. 


largely fused. These three fossils are members of 
the group Pteridospermez. (4) Archaeopitys East- 
manu (gen. et sp. nov.), Jeffrey*and Scott. This is a 
stem with dense secondary wood and numerous small 
mesarch strands of xylem scattered in the pith. It 
is probably a member of the group Cordaitales. (5) 
Periastron perforatum (sp. nov.), Jeffrey and Scott. 
This is a curious petiole with a median row of separate 
vascular bundles and large lacune in the ground 
It is allied to P. reticulatum, Unger; but it is 
not known whether it is a pteridosperm or a fern. 
(6) Stereopteris annularis (gen. et sp. noy.), Jeffrey 
and Scott. This is probably a _ fern, with 
a petiole possessing a single large vascular bundle, 
with solid wood, external protoxylem, and cortex 
differentiated into several distinct zones. (7) Lepi- 
dostrobus devonicus (sp. nov.), Jeffrey and Scott.. 
This has an axis of an ordinary Lepidostrobus type.: 
The sporangia have the usual columnar wall, and the) 
spores are in tetrads. It is the oldest known fructi-, 
fication with structure of any plant. The most re- 
markable matter concerning these very ancient land-: 
plants is their high structural organisation. ! 

Mr. H. H. Thomas followed with an account of a. 
new type of Ginkgoalian leaf, found in the Jurassic 
plant-bed at Cayton Bay, near Scarborough. The 
leaves are beautifully preserved, linear or oblanceolate 
in outline, with rounded or slightly bifurcated apices,) 
short petioles, and dichotomising venation. The form 
of the stomata and subsidiary cells is very like that 
of other Ginkgoalian leaves, while they possess the 
secretory tracts between the veins as seen in the 
modern form. The epidermal cells possess very char-| 
acteristic papilla. The leaves form the type of a new: 
genus, Eretmophyllum, with two species, the second 
one occurring at Whitby. The specimens provide a 
further illustration of the importance of the Ginkgoales: 
in the Mesozoic vegetation. 

Dr. Ethel de Fraine described a new species of 
Medullosa from the Lower Coal Measures. 


Anatomy. 


Dr. M. J. le Goc gave an account of the transition 
of centrifugal xylem to centripetal xylem at the base 
of the petiole of Cycads. The centrifugal system at 
the base is in great part a secondary growth, and the 
centripetal system a primary structure; both are con- 
sequently independent morphologically, The two 
kinds of xylem overlap at their ends, and are connected 
for a physiological function. Their reduced extremi- 
ties point to a time when possibly they ran parallel 
throughout their entire length. 

Mr. R. C. Davie spoke on the pinna-trace in the 
Filicales. The ‘‘marginal’” type of vascular supply 
in the Filicales occurs generally in leaf-traces which 
have no hooks at their ends; the ‘“extramarginal” 
type appears regularly in connection with leaf-traces 
possessing incurved hooks. Variations from these 
types were described. 


Histology. 


Miss M. Hume gave the results of her researches on 
the histology of the leptoids in the moss Polytrichum. 
These leptoids do not deserve the name of sieve-tubes. 
Their contents differ from those of the other lining 
cells in never including starch-grains or large drops of 
oil; but each leptoid has a nucleus. They are rich in 
connecting protoplasmic threads. The conducting 
function of the leptoids seems to be confined to albu- 
minous materials, and not to be concerned with carbo- 
hydrates. ‘ 

Physiology. 

Last year, at Dundee, Prof. W. B. Bottomley 

directed attention to the effect of soluble humates on 


plant growth. This year he further maintained that 


| 


—_— — ae ea Fe 


DECEMBER 25, 1913] 


ammonium humate can supply the nitrogen need of | 


plants if soluble phosphates and potassium salts are 
present in the culture solution. 

Mr. W. N. Jones gave an account of his investiga- 
tions on anthocyan formation. Coloured petals of 
stocks, &c., soaked in 95 per cent. alcohol became 
colourless, but regained their colour when transferred 
to water. It is believed that a pigment-producing 
mechanism, and also a reducing body are present in 
the petals. The amount of water in the cells deter- 
mines which way the pigment reaction shall go. It 
also appears that considerable quantities of reserve 
“raw material’? occur in petals from which pigment 
can be produced. The darkening of many flowers on 
fading is explicable on the assumption that this raw 
material comes into action. 

Dr. E. M. Delf read a paper on the transpiration of 
sclerophytes. 

The Nature of Life. 

Prof. J. Reinke, of Kiel, dealt with the subject of 
the nature of life. In the period preceding the pre- 
sent the dogma prevailed that the phenomena of life 
ought to be interpreted merely mechanically. In still 
older times, people believed a vis vitalis to be active 
in the organism. Now the doctrine has arisen that 
life is only a complicated example of the processes 
predominant in lifeless nature; and physiology then 
becomes the chemistry and physics of organisms. 
Prof. Reinke, for his part, refused to adopt either 
the exclusively vital or the exclusively mechanical 
dogma. Life has its own laws, though this view 
does not exclude the fact that physico-chemical laws 
reign in the elementary processes of a living body. 


Fungi. 

Dr. O. V. Darbishire described the development of 
the apothecium in the lichen Peltigera. The early 
stage of the ‘fruit’? is found amongst the young 
marginal hyphe. Certain cells arise, which at first 
are uninuclear, but which become multinuclear. 
Fusions with neighbouring cells are common; but no 
transference of nuclei has been observed. No coiled 
carpogonia can be distinguished. The multinuclear 
condition seems to be due to simultaneous nuclear 
divisions in the cells, and not to any passage of nuclei. 
Long, unbranched, multicellular hyphe grow towards 
the cortex, whilst nuclear division is still active. 
These appear to be functionless trichogynes, and 
gradually disappear. Certain of the large cells—the 
‘“‘ascogonia’’—now grow out, and the nuclei formed 
by simultaneous division—female nuclei—pass into the 
ascogenous hyphz in pairs. From these the asci 
appear to derive their first nucleus in the usual way. 

Mr. S. P. Wiltshire spoke on the biology of the 
apple-canker fungus (Nectria ditissima), a genuine 
wound parasite. The chief means of inoculation in 
nature are injuries made by frost and by the woolly 
aphis (Schizoneura lanigera). The relatively immune 
varieties of apple may be readily infected through 
suitable injuries. 

Miss M. L. Baden described the conditions necessary 
for the germination of the spores of Coprinus ster- 
quilinus. She arrived at the conclusion that in some 
way bacteria are necessary for the germination of the 
spores of this fungus; and suggestions were made 
as to the way the bacteria are of benefit from this 
point of view. 

Miss E. M. Poulton gave an account of the structure 
and life-history of Verrucaria, an aquatic lichen. She 
showed how the structure of the thallus changed with 
advancing age, and how the ascospores underwent 
simultaneous germination within the perithecium, the 
tufted mass of mycelium thus produced being expelled 
into the water, and forming an efficient trap for the 
capture of the floating green unicellular Algz. 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


489 


Prof. A. H. R. Buller, of Winnipeg, read a paper 
on the organisation of the hymenium in the genus 
Coprinus. 

Algae. 

Prof. G. S. West gave an account of the structure, 
life-history, and systematic position of the genus 
Microspora. After pointing out that species of this 
genus were amongst the most abundant and widely 
distributed of fresh-water Algze, and that the con- 
troversy concerning its systematic position was mainly 
due to defective knowledge, an account was given 
of its cytology and reproduction. The zoogonidia 
invariably possess two cilia, and there appear to be 
two distinct methods by which they may be liberated, 
with various intermediate conditions. The aplano- 
spores and akinetes were fully discussed, and the con- 
clusion arrived at that Microspora would be _ best 
placed in the family Microsporacez of the Ulotrichales. 

Prof. G. S. West and Miss C. B. Starkey had a 
paper on Zygnemu ericetorum and its position in the 
Zygnemacez. It was shown that published accounts 
of the cytology of this common Alga are all erroneous ; 
also that its conjugation, as observed in West Indian 
examples, is quite normal. The genus Zygogonium 
of Kiitzing (1843) cannot be accepted as of any value, 
and the Zygogonium of De Bary (1858) and Wille 
(1897, 1909), 1s based upon De Bary’s figures of two 
apparently monstrous conjugating examples. 

Dr. E. M. Delf gave an account of an attached 
Spirogyra. 


Ecology. 

Prof. F. W. Oliver discoursed on the distribution of 
Suaeda fruticosa and its réle in the stabilising of active 
shingle. Shingle beaches exposed to the sea are liable 
to travel landward during times of high tides when 
these are accompanied by onshore gales. S. fruticosa 
is the most effective plant in retarding this process, 
and is the most effective stabiliser of all British shingle 
plants. Valuable agricultural alluvial pasture is some- 
times greatly endangered by the movements of shingle 
beaches, and the suggestion was made that the 
‘‘ afforestation ’’ of certain shingle beaches by S. fruti- 
cosa was a matter of practical importance. 

Mr. P. H. Allen outlined a botanical survey, which 
some botanical students at Cambridge have under- 
taken, of the maritime plant formations at Holme, 
Norfolk. The area is characterised by (1) a salt 
marsh, with Armeria maritima, Statice Limonium, S. 
binervosum, S. vellidifolium, Cochlearia anglica, Sali- 
cornia perennis, S. disarticulata, Atriplex portula- 
coides, and other halophytes; (2) a shingle bank, with 
Suaeda fruticosa and Frankenia laevis; and (3) sand- 
dunes, with Ammophila arenaria, Elymus arenarius, 
and Hippophaé rhamnoides. The mapping out of the 
area was begun by chaining out a base line seven 
furlongs (ca. 1-4 km.) in length. At each furlong 
offsets were chained out to the cultivated land on the 
one side and low-water mark on the other. The 
mapping in of the plants in the smaller areas thus 
obtained was done with the plane table on a scale of 
80 in. to the mile (1: 792). Work on the analysis of 
the soil and the soil-water is being carried on. It is 
hoped that light will be shed on some of the problems 
of plant-distribution, and that a detailed record of 
the succession of changes occurring over the area will 
also be obtained. 

Mr. A. R. Horwood presented his ideas with regard 
to the influence of river-development on plant-distribu- 
| tion. 


Miss W. H. Wortham described some features of 

| the sand-dunes in the south-west of Anglesey. The 
fixed dune association is a Caricetum arenarieae, 
which forms a close sward. The shifting dunes, with 
Ammopfhila arenaria and Euphorbia paralias, alternate 

j With embryonic stages of dune-marsh, with Salix 


’ 


490 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 25, 1913 


repens. Dunes of S. repens occur, and have a two- 
fold origin: (1) the inundation of a dune-marsh with 
sand, and (2) invasion of Salix seedlings. The ulti- 
mate association of the marsh of S. repens is a 
Callunetum vulgaris, and of the dunes an Agrosti- 
detum vulgaris. 

Genetics. 


Dr. R. R. Gates brought forward some evidence to 
show that mutation and Mendelian splitting are 
different processes. He maintained that definite 
evidence has been obtained to show that some of the 
mutations in GEnothera are not due to recombinations 
of Mendelian characters, as some biologists have 
assumed, but to irregularities in meiosis, which lead 
to changes in nuclear structure. 

In connection with the visit of Sections D, K, and 
M to the Burbage Experimental Station for Applied 
Genetics, Major C. C. Hurst read a paper on the 
inheritance of minute variations in garden races of 
Antirrhinum. The garden variety, ‘“ Aurora,’’ breeds 
true to its bushy habit of growth, its scarlet lips, and 
its ivory throat; but individual plants show slight 
differences in habit, precosity, and in size and colour 
of flowers. Experiments on these, in conjunction with 
others on sweet peas and culinary peas, show that 
many. presumed unit-factors can be analysed into 
several subfactors which themselves behave as units. 
It is also evident that these minutely continuous 
variations are strictly discontinuous in their inherit- 
ance. 

Miscellaneous. 


Prof. F. E. Weiss recorded and described a case 
of juvenile flowering in Eucalyptus globulus. 

Dr. A. S. Horne described the variations in the 
flower of Stellaria graminea. 

The semi-popular lecture was this year delivered by 
Prof. W. H. Lang. The subject, ‘“‘Epiphyllous Vege- 
tation,’ dealt with the different forms of plant-life 
which pass their lives on the surface of the leaves of 
tropical plants, and attracted a large and interested 
audience, ; 

Colonel H. E. Rawson described his experiments 
and observations on the variation of the structure and 
colour of flowers under insolation. The paper was a 
continuation of one communicated to the section in 
1908. His method was to shade off with a perfectly 
opaque screen all direct rays of the sun for certain 
selected intervals of daylight, while admitting all the 
diffuse light possible. By this means, it is claimed, 
many colour and other forms were produced. Colonel 
Rawson maintained that his experiments, which have 
now extended over eight years, definitely point to a 
connection between the variations of colour and 
structure and the sun’s altitude, both seasonal and 
diurnal: and he suggested that solar rays of different 
refrangibility are transmitted through the atmosphere 
at different altitudes. 


Preservation of the British Flora. 


Mr. A. R. Horwood introduced the subject of the 
preservation of the British flora, which has come into 
some prominence again during the past year or two. 
He pointed out that there are some factors which tend 
to the extirpation. of certain British plants, and 
are difficult to control except in special ways. He 
asked for information as to the extent of the effect of 
these factors, and for suggestions for combating their 
effects. Factors mentioned were drought, drainage, 
cultivation, building operations, and the spread of golf 
courses. He added his opinion that an Act of Parlia- 
ment was required to deal effectively with some 
aspects of the general problem. There was some 
disagreement among the speakers who followed as to 
the best means of attaining the desired end. 


NO.- 2304, VOL. 92] 


The committee of the section passed a, resolution 
expressing. sympathy with the general object, but 
withholding their support from..any proposal which 
might tend to affect the present Jaw of trespass. .— - 


Joint Meetings. 


Two meetings were held jointly with other sections. 
The first was held in conjunction with the newly 
formed Agricultural Section, when some problems in 
barley production were discussed. The second was 
held in conjunction with the Zoological and Physio- 
logical Sections, when Prof. B. Moore introduced a 
discussion on the synthesis of organic matter by 
inorganic colloids in the presence of sunlight, this 
subject being considered in relation to the origin of 
life. Fuller accounts of these joint meetings are given 
in the reports of these sections. 


Exhibits. 


A series of exhibits of Alga and fungi were 
arranged by Prof. West in the Botanical Laboratory. 
Among the Alga were twenty selected Caulerpas, to 
show how the different species simulate the Various 
types of habit found in higher plants; some beautiful 
examples of Lithothamnion, Lithophyllum, and other 
stone Algz; microscopical preparations of various 
Algze, including conjugated Desmids, showing all 
types of Zygospores, Euastropsis Richteri, akinetes of 
Microspora floccosa, the largest known Desmid (Clos- 
terium turgidum subsp. giganteum), Tetraspora gela- 
tinosa, showing the pseudocilia, and the following 
Volvocaceaze—Platyodorina caudata, Pleodorina illinois- 
ensis, Pleod. californica, Volvox africanus, and V. 
Rousseletii. 

The fungi included numerous Deuteromycetes, 
Pyrenomycetes, Discomycetes, Uredinez, Ustilaginez, 
and Hymenomycetes, mounted for class purposes; a 
series of dried specimens of the Polyporeze; specimens 


of Batarrea phalloides, Rhoma pigmentivora; and 


cultures of Sigmoideomyces clathroides, and of a 
species of Sepidonium. 

Living and fixed specimens of the giant sulphur 
bacterium, Hillhousia mirabilis, were also on view, 
and a series of about fifty species of Mycetozoa 
(Myxomycetes) from the midland counties, — 

&c. 

More or less informal excursions were held, the 
following places being visited by some members of 
the section :—(1) Hartlebury Common, a sandy heath 
with Calluna vulgaris, Ulex Gallii, and Drosera 
rotundifolia in the bogs. 
summer, the spring ephemerals (including some sub- 
maritime species) were invisible. (2) Sutton Park, a 
great stretch of semi-natural vegetation of heaths 


Excursions, 


alternating with oak woods and marshes, the whole 


on sandy and gravelly soils. The heaths showed wide 
expanses of Aira flexuosa, Molinia caerulea, Ulex 
Gallii, U. europaeus, Calluna vulgaris, and a little 
Empetnem nigrum. The woods were dominated by 
Quercus Robur, associated with Betula pubescens and 
Tlex aquifolium. Some societies of the last-named 
species were unusually fine. (3) Wyre Forest, an 
extensive natural forest of Quercus sessiliflora, asso- 
ciated with Betula alba. Locally, Carex montana 
was an abundant member of the ground vegetation of 
the forest. 

The excursion to the Burbage Experimental Station 


for Applied Genetics, held jointly with the Agricul- 


tural and Zoological Sections, is referred to in the 
report of the latter section in Nature of Novem- 
ber 27,(p. 389). 

The sectional dinner was held on the Saturday even- 
ing, when nearly eighty members of the section were 
present. 


At this late stage of the. 


DECEMBER 25, 1913] 


—_ 


Reports of Research Committees. 

Mr. R. S. Adamson presented a report on the 
vegetation of Ditcham Park, Hampshire, Miss M. C. 
Rayner one on the flora of the peat of the Kennet 
Valley, Mr. H. H. Thomas one on the Jurassic flora 
of Yorkshire, and Prof. F. E. Weiss on botanical 
photographs. The last-mentioned report recommends 
that all prints of ecological interest should be handed 
to the newly founded Ecological Society, and that all 
other prints should be housed in the botanical depart- 
ment of the University of Manchester. 

Cy_E. M: 


EDUCATION AT THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION. 


age meetings of the section of Educational Science 

were in many respects the most successful of 
recent years. Attendance was uniformly good; both 
papers and discussions reached a high level of interest. 
The presidential address has already received a great 
deal of attention, and as copies will probably be still 
more widely circulated, we may expect it to stimulate 
a national educational stocktaking such as cannot fail 
to be fruitful. 

Perhaps the most generally attractive morning con- 
cerned itself with the modern university. Sir Alfred 
Hopkinson, who opened the discussion, made a sym- 
pathetic reference to the time when Oxford and Cam- 
bridge were in effect the sole training ground for 
clergymen, public officials, members of Parliament, 
and Cabinet Ministers. The value of this State ser- 
vice could hardly be exaggerated. The modern uni- 
versities, in receipt of direct grants from central and 
local exchequers, must also concern themselves with 
the old ideal of raising up men and women fitted to 
serve in Church and State, but they must also contri- 
bute directly to the intellectual life of the people about 
them, as centres from which ideals may radiate 
amongst the general public and as sources of inspira- 
tion wherein the merchant and manufacturer may 
learn to care for things outside their business. 
warmly protested against the heresy which regarded 
the university as existing to give degrees, whimsically 
suggesting that the latter must have been invented 
as a substitute for corporal punishment, and he dwelt 
upon the importance of research and of the communion 
between students and men who were engaged in 
advancing knowledge. Finally, he pleaded for free- 
dom. Poverty would be better than wealth from State 
support if it meant State interference and control, 
though the right of the State to lay down conditions 
in respect of grants for special purposes, like the 
training of teachers, could hardly be questioned. 

Sir Philip Magnus dealt with the professional out- 
look of the university, and in that connection wel- 
comed the tendency to reduce the age of entrance. Dr. 


He | 


NATURE 


Maclean, formerly president of the Iowa State Univer- | 


sity, spoke eloquently of the work of universities in the 
United States and of their development since Harvard 
received its first State grant of gool. a year in 1636. 
Mr. Mosely pointed to the danger attached to low 
emoluments. Business offered such attractive prizes 
to first-rate men that the universities were in danger 
of having to recruit their staffs from the second best. 
Dr. Hadow pointed out the variety and contradictory 
nature of the current views concerning universities 
and their function. ‘‘He who steers simultaneously 
for Scylla and Charybdis is in danger of missing 
both.”” He showed the greatly widened area of 
service which State and Church now offered, and 
emphasised the need of special regard to particular 


districts, though in that connection he reminded ‘his | 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


491 


audience of the definition of utilitarianism in educa; 
tion—the application to useful purposes of knowledge 
that had ceased to grow. Sir James Yoxall doubted 
whether the path was as open as it should be to 
youths of ability; and Dr. H. A. L. Fisher reminded 
the section of the claims of women, especially in 
those centres where the district was inclined to regard 
the university purely from the point of view of 
industry and commerce. 

From the point of view of educational science, the 
most important meetings were held in conjunction 
with the psychological subsection. Dr. Kimmins 
made a strong plea for the endowment of research i) 
education, in which he was supported by - Prot. 
Findlay, Dr. C. S. Myers, Prof. Green, and Mr. 
C. L. Burt. We have learned not to trust the 
superficially empirical viewpoint in medicine, and why 
do we cling to it in pedagogy? Nor is the old 
a priori road satisfactory in a study which is con- 
cerned with actuality. Experiment and research are 
essential to progress. The subsequent discussions on 
the psychology of reading and spelling brought out 
the need for a combination of the psychological and 
the pedagogical point of view in researches that 
concern class-room problems. ; 

Sir William Ramsay and Sir Oliver Lodge spoke in 
favour of spelling reform. Sir Oliver Lodge thought 
we should not trouble very much about spelling, 
and Sir William Ramsay seemed to think in a 
phonetically written language there is no bad spelling. 
As to the former view, teachers would reply that they 
are concerned with people who cannot afford to spell 
badly. The president of the British Association may 
misspell words to his heart’s content, but humbler 
people dare not; a spelling reform will not do 
away with error in spelling, nor will it prevent the 
necessity of learning to spell. In any case, there 
will always be a psychology of spelling and a right 
and wrong way of acquiring orthographic efficiency. 

Mrs. Meredith presented an interesting paper on 
suggestion as an educative instrument. It was a plea 
for the rational treatment of the young in the interest 
of later years when the march of events either leads 
to the challenge of fundamental conceptions and much 
painful uprooting, or to intolerance born of prejudice 
derived from the suggestive influences of early life. 

Mr. Burt’s. paper on mental differences in the sexes 
aroused a good deal of attention. He pointed out the 
need for, and difficulty of, distinguishing inborn from 
acquired character. His researches showed that the 
differences were less (but were by no means eliminated) 
when children from mixed schools were compared 
than when children from girls’ and boys’. schools 


were examined. Inborn differences seem to be 
largest in the simplest psychical processes. _Emo- 
tional differences seem smaller, though of. far- 


reaching consequence; on higher levels, differences 
between boys and girls become progressively smaller. 

A discussion on the educational use of museums was 
attended by representative anthropologists and 
museum officials. There was general agreement 
that, whilst much had been done. since the subject 
was discussed at the last Birmingham meeting of 
the Association, there was room for inquiry and 
further development in the direction of making 
museums more effective educational institutions. The 
discussion was opened by papers from Dr. Clubb, 
who described the ideal organisation of a museum 
as he conceived it, and Mr. Horwood, who confined 
his attention to the needs of the elementary school 
engaged in fostering the study of nature. Sir Richard 
Temple urged the importance of good housing and 
of educational arrangement. Donors, as well as 
visitors, were attracted in this way. Dr. Hoyle dis- 


492 


cussed the needs of the student and the layman. The | from the pessimism of the presidential address. 
latter needs good labels and effective guidance; the | 
former wants access and privacy. The first duty of | 


the curator was, however, concerned with neither. 
His primary business was to preserve. 


Dr. Browne told what the Classical Association of | 


Ireland were doing to encourage the use of Realien 
in the teaching of Latin and Greek. Dr. Bather 
would have special provision for children, and sug- 
gested the provision of fellowships and research 
scholarships in connection with museums. Dr. 
Haddon spoke of the courage needed to refuse ir- 
relevant objects offered by distinguished donors. A 
clear idea of the object of the museum and unswerving 
adherence to that function was, in his view, essential 
to successful educational work. 

Mr. Bolton, Dr. Harrison, and Mr. H. R. Rathbone 
supported a suggestion to form a committee to con- 
sider and report upon the whole subject of museum 
organisation from the viewpoint of their educational 
functions. Prof. Newberry described the work already 
done in Liverpool, and suggested that the label should 
be written first and the illustrative objects gathered 
about it. The general feeling that museums might 
be made to render better educational service was a 
particularly pleasing feature of the debate. A com- 
mittee with representatives from Sections C, D, H, K, 
and L was subsequently formed, with the object of 
reporting to the Manchester meeting in 1915. 

On Tuesday morning the section was busied with 
the subjects of compulsory school registration and 
manual work in education. Bishop Welldon, Dr. 
Sophie Bryant, and Mrs. Shaw spoke strongly in 
favour of State action in the matter. Bishop 
McIntyre, as representing Catholic feeling, supported 
the idea, with the proviso that schools were left free 
to determine the form and spirit. of the education they 
provide. Mr. Ernest Gray thought action would 
be easier if provision were made for compensation in 
case a man’s livelihood were taken away. Mr. A. 
Mosely opposed any such idea as compensation in such 
cases. The State cannot compensate for inefficiency. 

The papers on manual work in education were read 
by Mr. P. B. Ballard, Mr. T. S. Usherwood, and 
Mr. W. F. Fowler. Mr. Ballard offered interesting 
evidence of the stimulating effect of handwork in 
school; Mr. Usherwood and Mr. Fowler, from the 
secondary school and primary school point of view 
respectively, argued in favour of freedom and initia- 
tive as opposed to series of graduated exercises based 
upon an adult view of the elementary processes in- 
volved in manipulation. A short discussion followed, 
in which the old battle between freedom and technique 
was fought, though the feeling of the meeting was 
clearly in favour of the newer view. 

The last meeting of the section was given to a 
discussion on the subject of the working of the 
Education Act of 1902. Sir George Fordham opened 
in an interesting review of the problems which the 
Act presented to a county area like that of Cam- 
bridge, and of the way his authority had met them. 
Mr. W. A. Brockington joined issue with those who 
regarded the act as a failure and who called for a 
reversion to ad hoc authorities. The birth of an 
interest in secondary education was directly due 
to the Act. At the same time, some amendments in 
detail were called for, amongst others those sections 
dealing with differential rating and with foundation 
managers of | non-provided — schools. Alderman 
Pritchett, Mr. Ernest Gray, and others also spoke 
warmly ofthe working of the Act and of the import- 
ance of coopted membership to education authorities. 
Mr. Norman Chamberlain took up the cause of the 
primary school, and expressed his profound dissent 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 25, 1913 


The 
section closed with a vote of thanks to the president, 
moved by Sir George Fordhameand seconded by Mr. 
Ernest Gray. ' 


‘ 


BEIT MEMORIAL FELLOWSHIPS. 


7 MEETING of the trustees of the Beit Memorial 
Fellowships for Medical Research was held on 
December 17. Dr. F. Gowland Hopkins, F.R.S., 
was appointed a member of the advisory board in suc- 
cession to Sir William Osler, Bart., F.R.S., resigned. 
The Francis Galton Eugenics Laboratory was recog- 
nised as a place of research. The annual election to 
Beit Fellowships was made. The following persons 
were chosen this year, and we give in each case 
the character of the proposed research and the institu- 
tion at which the work is to be carried out. 

Dr. John O. W. Barratt, study of nature and mode 
of action of substances contained in or derived from 
blood plasma and taking part in plasma or serum 
reactions; also cytological studies—the Lister Insti- 
tute; Dr. Myer Coplans, study of immunity with 
special reference to the action of silicates gst 


the asbestos minerals, slag, wool, and the zoolites) 


on bacterial and allied substances—Lister Institute ; 
Mr. Egerton C. Grey, bacteriological chemistry, with 
special reference to the relation between bacterial 
enzymes and chemical configuration—the Lister In- 
stitute; Mr. John R. Marrack, the chemical pathology 
of arthritic diseases—(1) the estimation of the uric 
acid in the blood of patients suffering from certain 
types of arthritic disease; (2) continuation of the work 
on calcium metabolism and organic acid excretion— 
Cambridge Research Hospital; Mr. Victor H. 

Moorhouse, the investigation of the metabolism of 
animals as indexed by the respiratory quotient under 
various conditions, with special reference to the ques- 
tion of diabetes—the Institute of Physiology, Univer- 
sity College, London; Dr. G. E. Nicholls, to continue 
research on “the investigation of the structure and 
function of the subcommissural organ and Reissner’s 
fibre,” which up to the present time has been prin- 


cipally concerned with the lower vertebrates; the study. 


of the “pineal region of the brain’”—the Biological 
and Physiological Laboratories at King’s College, 
London; Dr. Annie Porter, on the parasitic Entozoa, 
more especially Protozoa and Helminthes, ae 
vertebrates and certain invertebrates—The Quic 
Laboratorv, Medical Schools, Cambridge; the Liver- 
pool School of Tropical Medicine; and, if possible, the 
King Institute of Preventive Medicine, Madras, or the 
Wellcome Research Laboratories, Khartum; Mr. 
J. G. Priestley, investigation into the factors con- 
cerned in the regulation of the excretion of urine-— 
Physiological Department, Oxford; Miss J. I. Robert- 
son, the comparative anatomy and physiology of the 
heart in the first instance; also the study of the 
vertebrate nervous system—the Victoria Infirmary, 


| Glasgow; Miss M. Stephenson, the metabolism of 


fats and its relation to that of carbohydrates in the 
animal body, having special regard to the ight 
afforded by the study of the fat metabolism of diabetic 
animals—Institute of Physiology, University College, 
London: Mr. J. G. Thomson, the cultivation of Pro- 
tozoa (the intention is to obtain knowledge of the 
toxins elaborated by these and the antibodies formed) ; 
the cultivation of tumour tissues—the Lister Institute. 

Each fellowship is of the annual value of 2501. pay- 
able quarterly in advance. The usual tenure is for 
three years, but the trustees have power in exceptional 
cases to grant an extension for one year. All corre- 
spondence should be addressed to the honorary secre- 
tary. Beit Memorial Fellowships for Medical Research, 
35 Clarges Street, W. 


ES EE 


ee et a a 


DECEMBER 25; 1913] 


SCIENTIFIC PAPERS IN THE SMITH- 
SONIAN REPORT FOR 1912. 


s 1 HE annual report of the Board of Regents of the 

Smithsonian Institution for the year 1912 has 
now been issued by the Government Printing Office 
in Washington. It provides full particulars of the 
varied activities, the expenditure, and the general 
condition of the Institution for the year ending June 
30, 1912. But, as usual, the most attractive part of 
the volume, which runs to 780 pages, is the general 
appendix of 650 pages of contributions by scientific 
workers of many nationalities. These papers are 
sometimes translations of important contributions to 
scientific periodicals in different parts of the world, 
sometimes lectures or addresses of note, and in other 
cases original articles. 

Among the numerous translations may be mentioned 
those of Prof. P. Puiseux’s article in the Revue 
générale des Sciences of June 30, 1912, on the year’s 
progress in astronomy, and that in the Revue Scien- 
tifique for April 6, 1912, on spiral nebula. Another 
translation is of an article by Mr. C. V. Boys on 
experiments with soap bubbles. The original was 
published in the Journal de Physique, August, 1912, 
and was a lecture delivered before the French Physical 
Society in April of that year. From the Revue 
générale des Sciences, November 30, 1912, is taken 
also Prof. Emile Borel’s address on molecular theories 
and mathematics, which was delivered on the occa- 
sion of the inauguration of the Rice Institute at 
Houston, Texas. This is followed by an essay by the 
late Henri Poincaré on the connection between zther 
and matter, an address delivered before the French 
Physical Society on April 11, 1912, and printed in the 
Journal de Physique, May, 1912. It may be remarked 
here that at the end of the volume there is an in- 
teresting biography of Henri Poincaré, his scientific 
work, and his philosophy, written by Dr. Charles 
Nordmann. From the Journal de Physique, June, 
tg11, is taken also Sir William Ramsay’s address to 
the French Physical Society on the measurement of 
infinitesimal quantities of substances, in which he 
details some of the recent efforts of men of science 
“to see the invisible, to touch the intangible, and to 
weigh the imponderable.”” Prof. L. Lecornu’s ‘‘ Re- 
view of Applied Mechanics”’ is taken from the Revue 
générale des Sciences of July 30, 1912; M. A. Lacroix’s 
essay on “A Trip to Madagascar, the Country of 
Beryls,”’ is from La Géographie, November 15, 1912; 
and that by M. R. Legendre on the survival of organs 
and the ‘‘culture”’ of living tissues is from La Nature, 
November 2, 1912, where he cites remarkable experi- 
ments the results of which have proved that organs 
and living tissues may be preserved for some time 
“in cold storage,’ and then transplanted or grafted 
to the living bodies of other individuals of the same 
species. An essay on adaptation and inheritance in 
the light of modern experimental investigation, by 
Herr Paul Kammerer, is from Himmel und Erde, 
June, 191r. Dr. L. Gain’s account of the penguins 
of the Antarctic regions is from La Nature, July 6, 
IgI2. 

Prof. Zaborowski’s paper on ancient Greece 
and its slave population is translated from the Revue 
Anthropologique. From it one is enabled to obtain a 
good idea of the social and economic conditions which 
prevailed in ancient Greece during the height of the 
slave traffic, which was instrumental in effecting a 
decline in the efficiency and productiveness of her 
citizens. Slaves were employed at such low rates and 
were secured in so many ways, that everyone owned 
at least one or two, who were made to perform all 
the household and industrial work, leaving the citizen 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


493 


owners to spend their time in idleness and luxury. 
The prevailing economic conditions and customs 
tended to lower the moral of families, and reduce 
their numbers. Enriched by slave labour, and enter- 
tained by the doings of men and women purchased 
from abroad, the Greeks became spectators of life and 
practically renounced the raising of children. 

Among notable addresses included in the appendix 
Prof. Schifer’s presidential address to the Dundee 
meeting of the British Association takes a prominent 
place. Prof. G. Elliot Smith’s presidential address to 
the Anthropological Section at Dundee on the evolu- 
tion of man appropriately follows Dr. Schafer’s. Dr. 
Edward Sapir’s lecture at the University of Penn- 
sylvania on the history and varieties of human speech 
is reprinted from the Popular Science Monthly, July, 
1git. Prof. H. T. Barnes’s Royal Institution lecture 
on icebergs and their location in navigation is given 
in full. 

Many original contributions are also included. Prof. 
W. J. Humphreys, professor of meteorological physics 
in the United States Weather Bureau, contributes an 
article which will be of interest and of practical value 
to aviators and students of mechanical flight. It is 
entitled ‘‘ Holes in the Air,’’ which means the various 
places in the atmosphere where the conditions, so far 
as flying is concerned, very much resemble actual 
vacuities. The author explains the nature of the nine 
kknown types of atmospheric conditions, which he 
groups under two heads: the vertical group and the 
horizontal group. After carefully covering the dangers 
resulting from such atmospheric conditions, Prof. 
Humphreys concludes his article with the following 
note ;— 

‘All the above sources of danger, whether near 
the surface, like the breakers, the torrents, and the 
eddies, or well up, like the billows and the wind 
sheets, are less and less effective as the speed of the 
aéroplane is increased. But this does not mean that 
the swiftest machine necessarily is the safest; there 
are numerous other factors to be considered, and the 
problem of minimum danger or maximum safety, if 
the aéronaut insists, can only be solved by a proper 
combination of theory and practice, of sound reason- 
ing and intelligent experimentation.” 

Mr. F. B. Taylor, of the U.S. Geological Survey, 
contributes an essay on the glacial and post-glacial 
lakes of the Great Lake Region, and Mr. A. H. 
Brooks, of the same service, one on applied geology. 

Mention must be made of the articles reprinted from 
English periodicals, among which we notice Prof. 
Armstrong’s ‘‘ Origin of Life: A Chemist’s Fantasy,” 
which appeared in Science Progress, October, 1912. 

As usual, the illustrations are numerous and excel- 
lent. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


Lorp Ray LeicH will unveil a tablet to the memory 
of Lord Lister at King’s College, London, on Wednes- 
day, January 14, at 4.30. The ceremony will be fol- 
lowed by the inaugural lecture of the newly appointed 
professor of physics, Prof. O. W. Richardson, F.R.S., 
who will take as his subject, “‘ The Discharge of Elec- 
tricity from Hot Bodies.” 

Dr. GrorGE SENTER, reader in chemistry in the 
University of London, and lecturer in chemistry at 
St. Mary’s Medical School, has been appointed to the 
position of head of the department of chemistry at 
Birkbeck College, in succession to Dr. Alexander 
McKenzie, who was appointed recently to the chair 
of chemistry at University College, Dundee (Univer- 
sity of St. Andrews). 


494 


[DECEMBER 25, 1913 


A FUND of 100,000l., which the Knights of Colum- | ten subjects the examiners have to direct attention to 
bus of the United States have been collecting for | the difficulty that simple arithmetical calculations 


more than two years for the Catholic University at 
Washington, has been completed. The gift, says 
Science, will be presented to the institution some time 
during the Christmas holidays. From the same 
source we learn that the board of regents of the 
University of California has announced the completion 
of the additional fund of 120,000l. for the erection of 
the hospital building which is to be a part of the 
college of medicine of the University. 


Tue late Right Hon. G. W. Palmer bequeathed 
10,0001, to University College, Reading. We learn 
from the Reading University College Review for 
December that Mr. Alfred Palmer has suggested that 
this legacy should be devoted to building a university 
library, and on behalf of Mrs. G. W. Palmer, his 
sisters, and himself, has offered to supplement it to 
such extent as will be necessary to enable a suitable 
library to be built on the site reserved for the pur- 
pose, and also to provide an endowment fund for 
maintenance. The library would thus become a 
memorial to Mr. G. W. Palmer. The council of the 
college has approved the proposal gratefully. 


Tue Eugenics Education Society is organising a 
course of instruction on the groundwork of eugenics 
which will be given during the spring and summer 
of 1914. Dr. L. Doncaster will deliver eight lectures 
on evolution and heredity at the Imperial College of 
Science, South Kensington, on Fridays, at 5.30 p.m., 
beginning January 23, and Dr. M. Greenwood, Jun., 
will give instruction in statistical methods as applied 
to problems in eugenics, at the Lister Institute, Chelsea 
Bridge Road, S.W., on Fridays at 5.30 p.m., begin- 
ning May 1. Dr. Doncaster will discuss the general 
evidence for evolution and the more important theories 
of evolution, variation, and mutation, theories of 
heredity, old and new, the relation between heredity 
and sex, and the facts of heredity in man, together 
with the bearing of all these things on human im- 
provement. Dr. Greenwood will give an outline of 
statistical work and theories bearing on heredity, and 
will explain the principal statistical constants, such 
as means, standard deviations, and coefficients of 
correlation. heir calculation will be illustrated on 
suitable data. The fee for the combined courses will 
be one guinea, to be paid im advance to the hon. 
secretary, Eugenics Education Society, Kingsway 
House, Kingsway, :V.C., to whom all inquiries should 
be addressed. 


THE report of the work of the department of tech- 
nology of the City and Guilds of London Institute 
for the session 1912-13 has now been published by 
Mr. John Murray. At the recent examinations 21,878 
candidates were presented in technology from 448 
centres in the United Kingdom, and of these 13,618 
passed. By including 812 candidates from India, 
from the overseas Dominions, and from other parts 
of the British Empire, and all candidates for special 


examinations, the total number examined was 
25,339 During the session ninety-one centres 
were visited by the institute’s inspectors, several 


centres receiving two or three visits in order to com- 
plete the inspection. It is satisfactory to find the 
report stating that there can be no doubt that the 
teaching of technology has greatly improved during 
the past few years; but it is noted that the examiners 
have still to direct attention to the insufficient know- 
ledge that some candidates possess of the principles of 
their subjects, and to the lack of practical knowledge 
shown by others. The inability of candidates to ex- 
press themselves clearly is, the report says, perhaps 
not so noticeable as in past years, but in no fewer than 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


present to many candidates—a defect which can only 
be attributed to insufficient preliminary training. 


Tue December number of The Popular « Science ~ 


Monthly contains an article on the place of study in 
the college curriculum, by Dr. P. H. Churchman, of 
Clark University. In it he points out that a renais- 
sance of the old belief in the value of strenuous intel- 
lectual work for the young man of eighteen to twenty- 
two seems to be coming, and that the older universi- 
ties of the United States are beginning to weed out 


the incompetents who for several generations have — 


used them as social clubs. For a time this step will 
mean a decrease in numbers, and to those who only 
look at the surface of things numbers mean success. 


| The idea that it is not necessary to insist that all 


those in residence at a college should be real students 
is called ‘‘Oxonian” by the author, and he admits 
that it has the advantage over the Continental idea of 
much learning and nothing else. He values highly 
all those college institutions of a non-intellectual type 
which contribute to the production of the “college- 
bred man,” but he points out that the college loafer 
who is up for social reasons avoids strenuous effort 
even of the non-intellectual kind. He has no con- 
fidence in the annual or semi-annual college examina- 
tions as a means of discrimination between the idler 
and the earnest student, and reminds his readers of 
well-known candidates at Princeton who, after idling 
away the session, obtained respectively a first class 
in psychology after two hours’ grind at some printed 
notes and a second class in zoology after five hours” 
coaching. No examination of the usual type has ever 
been invented which cannot be circumyented by the 
aid of an intelligent crammer. He advocates the less 
formal monthly examination or the better plan of 
imposing examination tests at any moment without 
warning and frequently. Such examinations afford 
the best test of that gradual growth of intel- 
lectual power which comes from steady and sustained 
effort over a long period, and from intercourse and 


discussion with superiors and colleagues developing. 


along the same or similar lines. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


Lonpon. 

Royal Society, December 11.—Sir William Crookes, 
O.M., president, in the chair.—A. Mallock: Inter- 
mittent vision. When a wheel turns so rapidly that 
the separate spokes cannot be seen or easily followed 
by the eye, and if at the same time the observer 
receives a small mechanical shock of almost any kind, 
the spokes appear almost stationary for a fraction of 
a second. The appearances depend on the speed of 
rotation, on the brightness of the illumination, and, 
to a lesser degree, on the nature of the shock. Suit- 
able shocks are given by the contact of the feet with 
the ground, as in walking, by tapping the head or 
body, and in many other ways. Experiments are 
described bearing on the relation between the appear- 
ances and the speed of rotation, and an explanation is 
suggested depending on an assumed variation of sensi- 
bility produced by a slight shock. This variation, 
which it appears is rapidly extinguished, has a periodic 
time of about 1/18 second, but this differs slightly 
for different individuals.—Prof. R. J. Strutt : Attempts 
to observe the production of neon or helium by electric 
discharge. The present experiments were begun in 
the hope of confirming the work of Collie and Patter- 
son (Trans. Chem. Soc., 1913, vol. ciii-, p. 419, and 
Proc. Chem. Soc., 1913, vol.- XXix., p. 217). The 
results have been negative, whether from a failure to 


DECEMBER 25, 1913] 


NATURE 


495 


appreciate the proper conditions for the production 
of neon by electric discharge through hydrogen or from 
some other cause.—Walter Wahl: The relations be- 
tween the crystal-symmetry of the simpler organic 
compounds and their molecular constitution. Part iii. 
—Prof. G. G, Henderson and I. M. Heilbron: The 
selective absorption of ketones. The authors have 
found that the selective absorption of a large number 
of simple ketones is of the same type, since the ab- 
sorption bands of all are practically identical. They 
suggest that the absorption of these compounds may 
be due to electronic disturbances accompanying oscilla- 


tions which arise from the alternate formation and- 


breaking down of unstable ring systems within the 
molecule.—F, E. Smith: Absolute measurements of a 
resistance by a method based on that of Lorenz. The 
instrument employed differs from all other forms of 
apparatus based on the method of Lorenz, inasmuch 
as two discs are employed ‘instead of one. The dis- 
turbing effect of the earth’s magnetic field is thus 
practically eliminated. The result of the experiments 
is that a resistance of one international ohm is equal 
to 1:00052+0-00004 ohms (10°cm./sec.)—A. N. Shaw: 
A determination of the electromotive force of the 
Weston ‘normal cell in semi-absolute volts. With a 
preface by Prof. H. L. Callendar, -This paper repre- 
sents the completion of work commenced by Prof. 
H. L. Callendar and Mr. R. O. King in the years 
1894 to 1898. The final result for the E.M.F. of the 
Weston cell in semi-absolute volts comes out 1-01827 at 
20° C., which agrees closely with the mean of. the 
best recent determinations, namely 1-o1824.—F. E. 
Rowett ; Elastic hysteresis in steel. A thin-walled steel 
tube was coupled to a coaxial tube of greater section 
and length. The compound tube was twisted, and 
the twist in each component measured by spirit levels. 
The twist of the large tube, in which the stress and 
therefore also the hysteresis was small, measured the 
torque applied to the small tube. The elastic hysteresis 
in hard-drawn. tubes was about one-eighth of that in 
the same tube after annealing.—F. W. Aston: A 
simple form of micro-balance for determining the 
densities of small quantities of gases. (1) A simple 
micro-balance is described, by which the densities of 
gases may be determined relative to some standard 
gas, using a null method; (2) about half a cubic centi- 
metre only of the gas is required; (3) the determina- 
tion can be performed in a few minutes, with an 
accuracy of o-1 per cent; (4) possibilities of its use 
in other fields of research are indicated—T. R. 
Merton : A second spectrum of neon. The spectrum of 
neon has been investigated under different conditions 
of electrical excitation. It has been found that with 
a condensed discharge a second spectrum is developed, 
as in the case of argon, krypton, and xenon. The 
strongest lines of the ordinary spectrum are also feebly 
visible when a condensed discharge is used. ; 


DUBLIN. 

Royal Dublin Society, November 25.—Prof. James 
Wilson in the chair.—Prof. T. Johnson : Gink gophyllum 
kiltorkense, sp. nov. The author described a stalked 
leaf of a Ginkgophyllum from the Yellow Sandstone 
beds of Kiltorcan, county Kilkenny. The bilobed leaf 
is 5x7 cm., and shows forking venation clearly in 
its dichotomising segments. It suggests comparison 
and affinity with G. Grasseti, Saporta, from the Per- 
mian of Lodéve.. The specimen indicates that the 
Ginkgoacez occurred in the Devonian epoch. Im- 
pressions of the stem, showing distant leaf-scars 
arranged spirally, and intervening Lyginodendron-like 
cortical fibres, were also described, as well as certain 
seed-like impressions.—W. R. G. Atkins: Oxydases 
and their inhibitors in plant tissues. Part ii., The 
leaves and flowers of Iris. These gave the indirect 


NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 


| oxydase reaction throughout, though not in many 
instances until after the removal of inhibitors by 
hydrogen cyanide. Prolonged darkness has no 
decided effect upon the distribution of enzyme or 
inhibitor. The occurrence of the natural sap pig- 
ments in the flowers of about thirty varieties of Iris 
has been correlated with the presence of oxydase and 
inhibitor. 
Paris. 


Academy of Sciences, December 8.—M. F. Guyon in 
the chair.—H. Deslandres and V. Burson: The action 
of the magnetic field on the lines of the arithmetical 
series in a band of lighting gas. Variation of the 
number of the lines with the intensity of the field. 
; A study of the violet band 43889 in the spectrum of 
coal gas. The lines of a given arithmetical series are 
all either divided or displaced in the same manner, the 
magnitude only of the divisions or displacements being 
variable from one line to another.—G. Gouy: The 
absence of sensible refraction in the sun’s atmosphere. 
A discussion of the possible effects of abnormal dis- 
persion in lines of emission or absorption from the 
sun, with especial reference to the views of W. H. 
Julius.—Ph. Barbier and R, Locquin; The transforma- 
tion of citronellol into rhodinol. It is shown that 
pure rhodinol, the main constituent of essence of roses, 
can be obtained from citronellol—M. Duhem was 
elected a non-resident member.—J. Guillaume: Ob- 
servations of the sun made at the Observatory of 
Lyons during the third quarter of 1913. The results 
are given in three tables showing the number of spots, 
their distribution in latitude, and the distribution of 
the facule in latitude.—Maurice Gevrey: Indefinitely 
derivable functions of given class and their réle in the 
theory of partial -equations.—G. Bouligand: The 
problem of Dirichlet in an indefinite cylinder.—MM. 
Maurian and de Moismont : Comparative measurements 
of the friction of air on surfaces of different natures. 
—P, Idrac: Observations on the flight of gulls behind 
ships. In the hovering flight of birds in the neigh- 
bourhood of moving ships, the birds are sustained by 
ascending air currents due to the motion of the vessel. 
—Victor Valcovici: The hydrodynamical resistance of 
an obstacle in a movement with surfaces of slipping. 
—A,. Bilimovitch ; Special canonical transformations.— 
Marcel Brillouin: The propagation of sound in a non- 
absorbent heterogeneous fluid.—Edouard Guillaume : 
The velocity of light and Carnot’s principle—P. 
Vaillant : The polarisation capacity of an electrode sub- 
mitted to an alternating electromotive force and a 
method for its determination. The polarisation capa- 
city appears to start from a very high value for zero 
polarisation, decreases rapidly to a minimum, and 
again increases continuously. Its order of magnitude 
is 10 microfarads per.sq. mm. for a difference of 
potential of o-5 volt between the electrode and the 
electrolyte.—Marius Hartog and Philip E. Belas: The 
trajectory of a permeable particle moving without 
inertia in a bipolar Newtonian field of force.—G. 
Foex : Molecular fields in crystals and energy at the 
absolute zero.—E.° Tassilly: Determination of the 
velocity of formation of the diazo-compounds. Since a 
colouring matter was the product of the reaction studied, 
the reaction velocity was followed with the Féry 
spectrophotometer. The reaction is shown to be bi- 
molecular.—René Dubrisay: The neutralisation of 
periodic acid. _ Periodic acid in solution behaves as a 
tribasic acid.—J. Barlot and Ed. Chauvenet : The action 
of carbonyl chloride upon phosphates and the natural 
silicates —P. Brenans: The nitration of paraiodo- 
acetanilide.—L. Moreau and E. Vinet: Remarks on 
the use of wine traps for capturing the moths of 
Cochylis. These traps, although useful as supple- 
mentary means of destruction, cannot be relied upon 


496 


as the sole protection against Cochylis.—Mme. Marie 
Phisalix ; The independence of the toxic and vaccine 
properties in the cutaneous mucous secretion of 
Batrachians and some fishes.—L. Lapicque and R. 
Legendre: Relation between the diameter of nerve 
fibres and their functional rapidity.—Jacques Pellegrin ; 
The presence of deep-sea fishes on the Paris market. 
Owing to the increasing depths, up to 200 metres, at 
which trawling operations are mow carried out, 
numerous specimens of fish considered as very rare 
are occasionally sold for food in the Paris markets. 
A list of the rarer forms is given, including Ptery- 
combus brama, an archaic fish not represented in the 
Paris Museum.—J. Athanasiu and J. Dragoiu: The 
aérial capillaries of the muscular fibres in insects.—H. 
Dominici and M. Ostrovsky : The action of the diffusible 
poisons of the Koch bacillus upon normal tissues. 
The results of these experiments invalidate the com- 
monly accepted theory with regard to the pathogeny 
of the lesions caused by the Koch bacillus.—M. Javillier 
and Mme. H. Tchernoroutsky : The comparative influ- 
ence of zinc, cadmium, and glucinum on the growth 
of some Hypomycetes. Three moulds were examined 
Poecilomyces varioti, Penicillium caseicolum, and 
Penicillium glaucum—and in each case there was 
marked catalytic action of zinc salts in stimulating 
growth. Cadmium showed a similar but much 
smaller activity, whilst glucinum salts are inert.—Ph. 
Glangeaud : The dislocations and the amethyst-quartz 
lodes of Livradois. The oid extension of the coal 
basin of Brassac.—G. Vasseur: New palzontological 
discoveries in the upper Aquitanian in the neighbour- 
hood of Laugnac (Lot-et-Garonne). This region is 
remarkably rich in fossil vertebrates.—Ph. Flajolet : 

Perturbations of the magnetic declination at Lyons 
(Saint Genis Laval) during the third quarter of 1913. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Die Vitamine: ihre Bedeutung fiir die Physiologie 
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Scientific Memoirs by Officers of the Medical and 
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(New Series.) No. 60. Studies on the Mouth Parts 
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in the Blood-Sucking Muscide. By Capt. F. W. 
Cragg. Pp. 56+v plates. (Calcutta: Superintendent 
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Recueil de 1’Institut Botanique Léo Errera. By J. 
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The Freedom of the Press in Egypt. 
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A Practical Manual of Autogenous Welding (Oxy- 
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with the Blowpipe. By R. Granjon and P. Rosem- 
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(London: C. Griffin and Co., Ltd.) 5s. net. 

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Press.) ios. net. 


Ni. 2304. VOL. 92) 


NATURE 


[DECEMBER 25, 1913 


Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society- 
Second Series. Vol. xii. Pp. lix+488. (Laadonig F. 
Hodgson.) 

Elementary Practical Chemistry. Part i., Generat 
Chemistry. By Prof. F. Clowes and J. B. Coleman. 
Sixth edition. Pp. xvi+241. (London: J. and A- 
Churchill.) 3s. 6d. net. 

The Foundations of Science. By H. Poincaré. 
Translated by G.’B. Halsted. Pp. xi+553. (New 
York and Garrison, N.Y. : The Science Press.) - 

Social Insurance, with Special Reference to 
American Conditions. By I. M. Rubinow. Pp. vii+ 


525. (New York: H. Holt and Co.) 3 dollars net. 

Handbuch der vergleichenden Physiologie. Edited 
by H. Winterstein. 39 Lief. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 
5 marks. 

Handworterbuch der Naturwissenschaften. Edited 
by E. Korschelt. Lief. 69 and 7o. (Jena: G: 
Fischer.) 2.50 marks each Lief. 

CONTENTS. PAGE 
The Peopling of Melanesia. By Sidney H. Ray. . 471 
Regional and General Geography. By Prof. Grenville d 

Bey. Cole... 5. 5". epeiu eat eyes eee 471 
Text-books of Physics °. .02 : « .. «Jessa 473 
Our, Bookshelf ; ..... sc. 1s-.45<\ =) 2, 474 
Letters to the Editor :— 

The Plumage Bill.—Dr, Henry O. Forbes . 476 
Intra-atomic Charge and the Structure of the Atom. 

(With Diagram.)—A, van den Broek ..... 476 

Wind Provinces. (J//ustrated.)—R. M. Deeley . 478 
Ameebocytes in Calcareous Sponges. — Geo, P, 

Bidder; Prof. Arthur Dendy, F.R.S. 479 

Reversibility of Ferment Action. —Dr, Arthur Croft : 

Hill: . . . i: eee one ee 479 

The Origin of Climatic Changes ....... 479 
Biology of the Lake of Tiberias. By Rev. T. R. R. 

Stebbing, F.R.S, 320 252 Gy) ., 0c 480 
Prof. ‘P. V. Bevan. -:By ASW... .... spe 481 
Notes <)|. So ¥aet ae 481 
Our Astronomical, Column :- — 

Astronomical Occurrences for January, 1914. . . . 486 
A,Faint New Comet; 2.20 hi\. 4.2. > ula 486 
The) Earth’s:Albedoy) seu dee eee Jeet AS 
Annuaire de l’Observatoire Royal de Belgique! 486 
Distribution of Elements in the Solar Atmosphere. . 486 
Science in Agriculture. (J///ustraled.) ....... 487 
The Chank Bangle Industry inIndia .. . 487 
Botany at the British Association. By C. E. M. 488 
Education at the British Association ....... 491 
Beit Memorial Fellowships .... .. . s)s0es 4g2 
Scientific Papers in the Smithsonian Report for 1912 493 
University and Educational Intelligence. .. . . . 493 
Societies and Academies. ....... 494 
BooksiReceived .. 4 20 a 496 


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DECEMBER 25, 1913] 


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NATURE 


clxxv 


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clxxvi NATURE [DECEMBER 25, 1913 


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clxxvili 


NATURE 


[JANUARY I, I914 


BATTERSEA POLYTECHNIC, S.W. 
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| 


NATORE 


THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 1914. 


EVOLUTION AND GENETICS. 
Problems of. Genetics. By William Bateson, 

F.R.S. Pp. ix+258. (London: Oxford Uni- 

versity Press; New Haven: Yale University 

Press, :19173.). Price 17s. net. 

N 1gor there came into the possession of Yale 

University the sum of 85,000 dollars with 
which to establish-an annual course of lectures 
“designed to illustrate\the presence and _ pro- 
vidence, the wisdom and goodness of God, as 
manifested-in the natural and moral-world.” The 
endowment is not incomparable in scope and pur- 
pose with the well-known Gifford Trust at the 
Scottish Universities, but it is perhaps charac- 
teristic of a younger nation to prefer the natural 
world to the moral, and rather to seek for wisdom 
in the facts of nature themselves than in the 
philosophic wrappings spun around them by the 
learned through the ages. Certainly it would 
appear logical that any appraisement of the 
Almighty’s influence in the natural world should 
be preceded by some knowledge of nature itself. 

The task which Mr. Bateson, as Silliman lec- 
turer, set before himself was a discussion of some 
of the wider problems of biology in the light of 
knowledge acquired by Mendelian methods of 
analysis, and the reader who would get most from 
the book should have some acquaintance with the 
phenomena of heredity recently brought to light 
by the method of experiment. To one with even 
an elementary knowledge of these phenomena, 
Mr. Bateson’s book cannot fail to prove of absorb- 
ing interest. For he has the rare gift of infusing 
something of strangeness into the commonplace, 
and in his hands the seemingly familiar takes on 
an aspect of remoteness which once again provokes 
curiosity. . 

Nearly twenty years ago the author laid stress 
on the distinction between meristic and substantive 
variation, and to-day he is able to emphasise that 
distinction. The one is. connected. with the 
mechanical side of genetics, with the manner in 
which material is divided and distributed; while 
the other deals with the chemical side, with the 
constitution of the materials themselves. To the 
mechanical problems cf genetics, the problems 
involved in cell division and in the repetition of 
parts, two of the earlier chapters in the book are 
devoted. As the result of an interesting discus- 
sion Mr. Bateson formulates the rule that germ 
cells differ from somatic cells in that their dif- 
ferentiations are outside the geometrical order 
which governs the differentiation of the somatic 
cells. With the germ cell begins a new geometri- 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92| 


497 


cal order—a new individual. As to the process 
which led to the new order—why the cell divides, 
and why parts become repeated—we are as much 
in the dark as ever. Mr. Bateson suggests 
interesting analogies, such as a series of wind- 
made ripple marks on sand. Yet what is the 
wind, the meristic force that acts on cell and 
tissue? The answer is at present beyond us, but 
Mr. Bateson is not without hope that when the 
more highly analytical mind of the trained 
physicist is brought to bear upon the problem, a 
solution will ultimately be found. At any rate 
he is not disposed to follow Driesch in declaring 
that the expression of the living machine in terms 
of natural knowledge is a hopeless undertaking. 

The greater part of the book is concerned with 
substantive variation, and it is pointed out that 
through recent work, genetical and chemical, a 
start has been made towards a real classification 
of these phenomena. The structural and- colour 
varieties of the sweet pea, the primula, or the 
mouse can be related to the wild form in terms 
of their factorial composition. On an evolutionary 
interpretation it must be supposed that the new 
form has arisen by the loss cf a factor, or, much 
more rarely, by the addition of one. Can we 
suppose that species are related to one another in 
a similar way? Owing to sterility, experimental 
evidence is generally difficult to obtain, but there 
are strong indications that some interspecific 
crosses will eventually find a simple interpretation 
in terms of Mendelian factors. To what extent 
such an interpretation may be widely applied, Mr. 
Bateson is uncertain, but so far he does not: see 
any fatal objection. Even in the well-known case 
of the Génotheras, which comes in for lengthy 
discussion, an explanation in terms of factors is 
not yet precluded. 

Three chapters are devoted to variation and 
locality, and several interesting cases are brought 
forward which will probably be unfamiliar to 
many readers of the book. The main drift of 
these chapters is the difficulty of accounting for 
such cases through the agency of natural selection. 
‘Had the phenomena of local variation been 
studied in detail before Darwin wrote, the attempt 
to make selecticn responsible for fixity wherever 
found could never have been made.” 

Perhaps the part of the kook which will be 
read with most interest by zoologists is that 
devoted to the effects of changed conditions. 
Considerable stir in the biological world has been 
created recently by experiments which appear to 
demonstrate the transmission of an effect produced 
in an organism by a specific alteration of the 
conditions under which it normally lives. The 
best known instances are probably Tower’s experi- 

Ge 


498 


NATURE 


[JANUARY I, 1914 


ments with the potato-beetle and Kammerer’s with 
various amphibia Mr. Bateson has _ rendered 
valuable service by subjecting the accounts of these 
and other experiments to critical examination, and 
he argues strongly against accepting any case of 
the kind yet brought forward on the evidence at 
present available 

Taken altogether, this is the freshest and 
most original book on the problem of species 
that has appeared for many a year. Whether 
the reader sees eye to eye with Mr. Bateson 
or not, there can be no question about its 
stimulative value. Even if we are further off 
from the goal than most biologists suppose, there 
is the consolation that the road to it is more than 
ever a road of adventure. 


TYPICAL GEOGRAPHY BOOKS. 

(1) A Text-book of Geography. .By A. W. 
Andrews. Pp. xii+655. (London: Edward. 
Arnold, 1913.) Price 5s. 

(2) The Upper Thames Country and the Severn- 
Avon Plain, By N. E. MacMunn. Pp. 124. 
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913.) Price 1s. 8d. 

(3) A Leisurely Tour in England. By J. J. Hissey. 
Pp. xviii+400+plates. (London: Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price ros. net. 

(1) R. ANDREWS'S text-book is particu- 

larly important from three points of 
view. 
to maps, and to typical physical conditions. In 
reference to climate he makes great use of theor- 
etical sun-force, based upon the mid-day altitude 
of the sun, of actual isotherms, and of the periods 
in months when temperatures lie between certain 
limits, e.g. 50°—68° F. From the data which he 
supplies, the student who works through the 
exercises provided will have a definite and precise 
knowledge of the climatic facts of the world, 
arranged in a systematic way. The presentation 
is novel, but none the less valuable. The numer- 
ous maps are appropriate and useful, and the 
author emphasises the point that most maps used 
by students are better called diagrams than maps. 

It is unfortunate that the methods of shading 

employed for some of these maps makes it diffi- 

cult to follow the details closely; and even broad 
points of resemblance and contrast do not show 
with sufficient clearness; the maps which appear 

towards the end of the book are a distinct im- 

provement in this respect. 

Countries are described in turn; for example, 
Russia in Europe is considered in five pages of 
text; climate, products, and trade are briefly sum- 
marised, and the main description is given under 
the heads of the separate river basins and their 
drainage regions. This illustration will suffice to 
NO. 2305, VOL. 92| 


He has paid special attention to climate, _ 


show the main emphasis of the book, and to 
indicate that the outlook is physical, not human, 
physiographic, not economic. "This is distinctly a 
book for the teacher’s book shelves. 

(2) Miss MacMunn’s brief study is an excellent 
example of work on a definite. region. Simply 
written, it provides sufficient evidence of a geo- 
graphical kind to interest readers of all ages, and 
the general treatment is so suggestive that older 
students should be able to obtain an accurate 
knowledge of the district studied, not only from 
the text, but from the numerous maps, which are 
clear and precise in their presentation of the facts 
which they are intended to indicate. It seems 
rather a pity that opportunity was not taken to 
indicate on some of the maps the location and 
range of view of the camera for some of the more 
important photographic illustrations. |The fact 
that many readers will find it necessary to consult 
Ordnance Survey maps of the district is not in 
itself a blemish, for the older student who can use 
such maps will find that Miss MacMunn’s book 
suggests ideas which may be profitably followed 
out in connection with the multifarious detail 
which these maps contain. 

(3) Mr. Hissey’s book is a delightful record of 
a leisurely tour in search of the picturesque. He 
reaped the reward of loitering by the way, and 
found the unfamiliar in a familiar land in a pil- 
grimage by means of a trustworthy little motor-car 
through parts of rural England, than which he 
can imagine no more delightful touring ground. 
So the author speaks of his book in the preface, 
and his work breathes the calm and peaceful 
delight which he took in the pastoral scenery, the 
quiet homesteads, the peaceful villages. The charm 
of the book is increased by the numerous appro- 
priate illustrations. B. C. W. 


ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, AND ONE OF ITS 
APPLICATIONS. 

(1) Organic Chemistry for Advanced Students. 
By Prof. J. B.-Cohen; F.R.S. Volo ai Pp 
vii+427. (London: Edward Arnold, 1913:) 
Price 16s. net. ; 


(2) The Volatile Oils. By E. Gildemeister and 


Ir. Hoffmann. Second edition by E. Gilde- 
meister. Authorised translation by Edward 
Kremers. Vol i. Pp. xiti+677. (London, 


Bombay, and Calcutta: Longmans, Green and 
Co., 1913.) Price 20s. net. ; 
(1) TN the present writer’s student days the 
favourite text-book of advanced organic 
chemistry was Prof. von Richter’s well-known 


work, which had just been translated into 
English. Roughly, one might express the 
difference between that. work and _ Prof. 


a 


ee LL - —_ e eSTLUrrh rlrll 


JANUARY I, 1914] 


NATURE 


499 


Cohen’s by saying that whilst the former 
was largely an accumulation of facts, the 
latter is chiefly an exposition of theories and 
principles. There is much less recital and much 
more discussion. The mechanism of the chemical 
reaction, rather than the properties of the product, 
is now insisted on; and rightly so, for this aspect 
of the matter is the more philosophically interest- 
ing and scientifically valuable. 

In the first chapter, dealing with the valency 
of carbon, we come at once into a region where 
speculation and discussion are rife. The author 
explains the chief theories which have been pro- 
pounded to account for the existence of bivalent 
and tervalent carbon, unsaturated groups, labile 
forms, and so on. He then passes to the con- 
sideration of the nature of organic reactions, 
including such processes as the addition of ele- 


ments or groups to unsaturated compounds, 


autoxidation, catalytic reduction and oxidation, 
condensation, and the formation of chains and 
rings. The portions dealing respectively with 
Thiele’s theory of partial valencies and with con- 
densation processes will be found especially useful. 
Indeed, these first two chapters of the work, with 
their references, might well have served as the 
basis for the address of the president of Section 
B at the recent meeting of the British Association. 

In chapter iii. we have an exposition of the 
dynamics of organic reactions. It is satisfactory 
to note that many of the examples are drawn 
from the Transactions of the Chemical Society of 
London—as indeed is the case throughout the book. 

Molecular volume, refractivity, dispersivity, 
magnetic rotation, thermochemistry, and absorp- 
tion-spectra are next dealt with, and the results 
applied to problems of molecular architecture. An 
interesting discussion of the relations between 
colour and structure follows, and the book ends 
with an account of the photochemistry of organic 
compounds. 

Occasionally it is not too clear which of two 
or more theories the author adopts, or favours; 
but a student who masters the substance of this 
and the companion volume will be justified in 
considering himself well grounded. 

(2) The first edition of this work has been 
favourably known for several years to chemists 
and others concerned with essential oils. To use 
the translator’s phrase, it was “a happy blending 
of history with chemical science and technology ” ; 
and this characteristic is maintained in the new 
edition. Two volumes, however, are now re- 
quired, the one under review containing (inter 
alia) the historical matter. This has received 
additions here and there, but remains substantially 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


; of Anglo-Saxon conquest 


development of the trade in spices and aromatics 
during the Middle Ages, and trace the general 
history of the volatile oils—the essential principles 
of most spices and aromatic plants—from early 
Egyptian times onwards. Following this are sec- 
tions giving the history of the individual volatile 
oils and of distillation processes. The whole 
forms an interesting and valuable monograph, 
enriched with numerous references and quota- 
tions; the sketches of ancient distilling apparatus 
and the photographs of their modern successors 
are worthy of note for the contrast they offer. 
Distillation is a subject closely connected with 
that of volatile oils, since these are usually ob- 
tained by distilling the oil-bearing plants with 
steam. Not always, however; in certain cases 
heat destroys the delicacy of the perfume, or the 


| oil does not separate from the condensed water. 


In such instances the oil is either extracted direct 


| from the flowers with a volatile solvent such as 


petroleum ether, or absorbed by a suitable fat 
(enfleurage: maceration). These: processes are 
described by the authors in the next chapter, after 
which the general chemical constituents of the oils 
are dealt with. The chapter describing these is 
the longest and most important in the book. All 
necessary information appears to be given, in- 
cluding numerous structural formule, and lists of 
the plants in which each constituent has been found. 
Finally, there is an account of the general 
physical and chemical methods used in the assay 
of volatile oils, with notes on adulterants, and 
two useful analytical tables. The characters of 
thé individual oils are not dealt with in the present 
volume, but the new edition of ‘“ Gildemeister ” 
promises to be the best work on volatile oils which 
has yet appeared in English. C. S: 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


Early ‘lars of Wessex: Being Studies from 


England’s School of Arms in the West. By 
A. F. Major. Edited by the late Chas. W. 
Whistler. Pp. xvi+238. (Cambridge: Uni- 


versity Press, 1913.) Price ros. 6d. net. 
“Wessex had to face a determined enemy, which 
was the most important factor in her steady rise 
to power” (p. 87). ‘‘The western Wessex fron- 


| tier was for two centuries practically the school 


of arms for England” (p. 91). After the wedge 
was driven to the 
Severn by the battle of Deorham in 577, 
separating the Welsh of the Cornish peninsula 
from their kindred, the Welsh kingdom of 
Dyvnaint (Dumnonia) kept its independence for 
two centuries. The Cornish kingdom held out 
for another century. It was the Welsh that kept 
this famous “school of arms” going, and it took 


| Wessex some 350 years altogether to learn its 


as when first published. The authors outline the | lessons (p. 83). 


500 


NATURE 


[JANUARY I, I914 


Such, in brief, is the “burden” of this erudite 
but eminently readable book. It is a fine text- 
book of open-air history, an attempt to write his- 
tory “writ large on the face of the country i 
(p. vii). The available documents are read and 
expounded in situ, so to speak. Archeology, 
traditions, and-folklore “assign their true value 
to records which have hitherto been loosely read” 
(p. viii). Accounts of the Scandinavian invasions 
of western England are read, very properly, in 


the light of northern antiquities. The first 
Danish invaders allied themselves with the 
“bottled-up”” “One and Alls,” and we learn 


much about peaceful Danish settlements on the 
coasts of the Severn. Two archeological maps, 
many plans and diagrams of camps, and a copious 
index mark the thoroughness and finish which 
characterise the whole work. JOHN GRIFFITH. 


The British Journal Photographic Almanac, 1914. 
Edited by G. E. Brown. Pp. 1496. (London: 
Henry Greenwood and Co.) Price 1s. net. 

To photographers the approaching end of the 
year and the beginning of a new one is always 
heralded by the announcement of the publication 
of this almost indispensable year-book, which is 
so familiar to them and a natural fixture in their 
studios. The copious material contained between 
the two covers and the useful facts embodied in 
it has made it a book of reference difficult to part 
with. The issue for this year follows mainly the 
lines of its predecessors, but new features of course 
have been inserted. These, to state them briefly, 
comprise a glossary of photographic terms, which, 
no doubt, will be helpful to many a beginner in 
the subject of photography. 

Lists are given of the German, French, and 
Italian equivalents for the chief appliances and 
operations, and these should be most serviceable 
to those who study foreign photographic journals 
and books, but have no technical dictionary 
at their elbow. The beginner is also favourably 
treated with an excellent series of reproductions 
of negatives incorrectly exposed and developed, 
which should show him more than words can 
express what he must avoid; the accompanying 
text will also prove of service. The epitome of 
progress, novelties in apparatus, formula for the 
principal photographic processes, miscellaneous 
information, tables, &c., are as full and complete 
as ever, and the great number of advertisements 
are a valuable feature of the volume. 

Hazeli’s Annual for 1914. Edited by T. A. 
Ingram. Pp. exiiit592. (London: Hazell, 
Watson and Viney, Lid., 1914.) Price 3. 6d. net. 

In addition to its revision up to November 25 

last, this twenty-ninth issue of “ Hazell’s Annual” 

contains a section entitled “Occurrences during 

Printing.” It justifies its claim to give the most 

recent information on the topics of the day. A 

section running to some forty pages is headed 

“The March of Science,” and provides a summary 

of progress made in the world of science during 

1913. Amn jaindex containing 10,000 references 

makes it easy for the reader to find his way about 

the volume. 
NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 

(The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his cotrespondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other purt of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. ] 


The Pressure of Radiation. 


Witn reference to my letter on this subject im 
Nature of December 18, the majority of my corre- 
spondents complain that, although I may have indi- 
cated the possibility of my own view, I have not 
shown why the simpler ielation, that the pressure is 
always one-third of the energy density, is untenable. 
As I cannot reply to each individually, I shall be glad 
if you will allow me space to rectify this omission. 

It is generally admitted that the total heat re uired 
for the emission (or evolved in the absorption) of unit 
volume of radiation is the sum of the intrinsic energy 
density, E/v, and the external work ~. By Carnot’s 
principle, this must be equal to T(dp/dT). Whence, 
if E/v=3p, we obtain immediately the fourth power 
law for full radiation in the usual manner. It would 
appear, however, by similar reasoning, if E/v is equal 
to 3p for each separate frequency, that radiation of 
constant frequency should also increase with tempera- 
ture according to the fourth power law, which is cer- 
tainly not the case. Either Carnot’s principle does 
not apply, or E/v is not equal to 3p for each separate 
frequency. I have chosen the latter alternative. 

It has been shown by Lord Rayleigh, Lorentz, 
Larmor, Jeans, and others that the electromagnetic 
equations (from which E/v=3p was first de uced} 
lead inexorably to Rayleigh’s formula, 

,=8rRA-4T/N, 

without the exponential term, for the partition of 
energy in full radiation per unit range of wave- 
length ?. This result appears to be true in the limit 
for long waves and high temperatures, but is other- 
wise so hopelessly at variance with experiment as to 
suggest that something may have been overlooked in 
the application or interpretation of the equations. 

Some of my correspondents point out that Nichols 
and Hull have already shown by experiment that the 
pressure of a beam of light is equal to the energy 
density irrespective of wave-length. According to my 
theory, the mechanical effect which they measured 
should be equal to the total energy density, E/u+p, 
as deduced from their energy measurements. Their 
result is in perfect agreement with my theory, but it 
is not quite such a simple matter (and may even prove 
to be impossible) to measure p separately from E/v, 
which is the experiment that I proposed to attack. 

H. L. CaLrenDar. 

Imperial College of Science, S.W., 

December 27, 1913. 


Atomic Models and X-Ray Spectra. 

Mr. H. G. K. Mosexey has published in the Decem- 
| ber issue of the Philosophical Magazine a very in- 
teresting paper describing his measurements of the 
wave-lengths of the characteristic X-ray lines of 
various metals. He has succeeded in calculating the 
wave-lengths of one-half of the lines he observed, 
assuming Bohr’s atom and supposing the positive 
charge on the nucleus to correspond to the place of 
the element in the periodic table as suggested by 
| van den Broek. He concludes that the agreement 
between calculated and observed wave-lengths strongly 
supports the views of Rutherford and of Bohr. 

It appears to me that Moseley’s research really only 
supports the views of Rutherford and of van den 
| Broek. As I propose to show in detail in a paper to 


a ee 


JANUARY 1, 1914 | 


NATURE 


501 


be published shortly in the Verhandlungen der 
deutschen physikalischen Gesellschaft, the relation 
between the wave-length and the positive charge may 
be obtained in a large number of different ways. For 
the present it may suffice to point out that it may be 
derived from a simple consideration of the dimensions 
of the quantities involved. 

The frequency y can only be supposed to depend upon 
the magnitude of the positive and negative charges 
Ne and ne, upon the mass of the moving charge m, 
upon the distance between the charges r, and, if we 
wish to introduce the quanta, upon Planck’s element 
of action, h. As Nne?, m, r, and h must be com- 
bined in such a way that the dimension of the result- 
ing quantity is that of one finds 

(NnML*T-*)eMyLe(ML?T-1)u=T-!, or 
X+Y+U=0, 3X+23+2u=0, and —2x—u=—1, whence 
y=X—I, 2=x—2, and w=1—2x. 

It is interesting to see what assumptions are neces- 
sary to produce an approximate agreement with the 
experimental data if one inserts various values for x. 


If x=0 we find vy =const. - Ls ; the constant being of 
» mr 


the order unity as Einstein pointed out. Assuming 
the characteristic X-rays to be due to the movement 
of a single electron, we must suppose r to be propor- 
tional to 1/N, where N corresponds to the number of 
free positive charges on the nucleus found by Ruther- 
ford and van den Broek. Roughly speaking, this 
would be the case if the repulsive force keeping the 
electrons away from the centre were proportional to 
1/r*, as suggested by Sir Joseph Thomson. If x=3 


find 


teresting, as it does not contain h, i.e. it may be 


p2 


nNe 
const me ms 


we a This formula is in- 


derived from the ordinary laws of mechanics. It also 
reduces to Moseley’s formula if r~ 1/N. 
If x=1 the formula is y=const. If one elec- 


tron is supposed to oscillate, r must again be assumed 
proportional to 1/N to fit the facts. If all n=N 
electrons oscillate, r must be supposed to be constant. 
In this case the formula accounts also for the second 
series of lines which Moseley’s formula fails to do. 
They may be calculated with great exactitude by 
N(N- 1)e* 


hr 
atom which has lost an electron. 


putting v=const. which corresponds to an 


WN 
If we put +=2 we find »y=const. ” as 
h 


33 Which 
is obviously identical with Moseley’s formula, if we 
suppose only one electron to oscillate. The agree- 
ment of Bohr’s constant with experimental data is 
not convincing to my mind in view of the large 
number of arbitrary assumptions in his derivation. 

All the above formule are independent of the choice 
of any special model. They are selected so that the 
expression for y is successively independent of e2, h, 
m, or r. They would seem to prove that Moseley’s 
figures need not be taken to confirm Bohr’s views on 
the constitution of the atom. The only essential 
assumption common to all of them is that N should 
correspond to the place of the element in the periodic 
table approximately as suggested by Rutherford and 
van den Broek, and it would seem therefore that this 
hypothesis only can be said to be supported by Mose- 
ley’s experiments. F. A. LinDemMann. 

Sidmouth, December 28, 1913. 


The Plumage Bill. 

Sir Harry Jounsron’s plea for the Plumage Bill 
in Nature of December 11 will, no doubt, be con- 
sidered an acceptable contribution by those who believe 
they possess the mental altitude to which he was born. 


NO, 2305, VOL. 92] 


I venture, however, to suggest that if he and his 
friends will leave their high mental estate and descend 
to the plain facts that business men must consider in 
this lower sphere, he will be obliged to admit that, . 
like the trade, the educated naturalist has much to 
‘learn. 

He admits the glaring defects of the Plumage Bill, 
but welcomes the measure as better than none. If he 
and his friends are able to conceive nothing more 
than an admittedly bad Bill, that will have no effect 
on bird-life, he is scarcely justified in his abuse of 
those who are willing, and trying to solve the problem 
of saving both the birds and the trade. 

His presumption that none but an _ educated 
naturalist knows how the skins are procured, or the 
approximate habitat of the birds, or their right name 
in English or Latin, does not raise the controversy 
to any higher plane. Was he not an educated 
naturalist who bestowed the name of Apoda upon one 
of the species of paradise bird, believing it be born 
without feet? In 1908, before the Select Committee 
of the House of Lords, did not Sir Harry Johnston’s 
friend, Mr. Buckland, declare that the destruction of 
birds of paradise was at that time so rapid that the 
species could not last more than two or three years? 
I see little more in the article which Sir Harry John- 
ston quotes from The Times of Ceylon than a con- 
firmation of the trade statements that the birds of 
paradise are collected under a system regulating their 
killing, and that the family is in no danger of exter- 
mination. The article shows the valuable commercial 
asset that Dutch New Guinea possesses, and that its 
Government is taking full advantage of it under an 
adequate system of protection. 

Mr. Buckland will be surprised to hear that there 
are so many birds left that this year’s production is 
likely to result in a trade of about 200,000 skins, but 
he will perhaps be pleased to know that I do not 
believe it. Both gentlemen should be more concerned 
in those beautiful specimens said to fetch as much as 
4ol. or more. These are undoubtedly the rare and 
disappearing species that have no trade interest, but 
are eagerly sought after for scientific purposes. Even 
though they be the last survivors of their kind and 
need some stronger measures than any existing, in 
order to prevent their utter extermination, supporters 
of the Plumage Bill have conceived nothing more 
than a measure that permits their import until none 
are left, and also prohibits the import of species that 
are plentiful. L. JosEPH. 

Plumage Committee of the Textile Trade Section 

of the London Chamber of Commerce, 

Oxford Court, Cannon Street, London, E.C. 

December 17. 


My reply to Mr. Joseph is as follows :— 

I only admit the defects of the proposed Plumage 
Bill in that it is not sufficiently drastic. But I am 
always one of those who think half a loaf is better 
than no bread, and that great restrictive or revolu- 
tionary measures of legislation are seldom carried all 
at once. I should like to see British officers and 
tourists restrained from destroying the wild mam- 
malian fauna throughout the British Dominions; 
meantime I welcome sporting licences, close times— 
any measure which may tend to prolong the existence 
of interesting wild beasts. So although I should 
prefer a more complete exclusion from this country 
of the plumage of rare and remarkable wild birds, I 
am prepared to accept Mr. Hobhouse’s Bill as an 
instalment of protective legislation. 

I continue to assert the utter ignorance of their trade 
and of the sources and correct nomenclature of their 
goods which characterise the firms trading the skins 
and plumes of wild birds. The fact that Linnaeus and 


502 


NATURE 


[JANUARY I, 1914 


other naturalists of the eighteenth century exhibited 
ignorance of the nature of paradise birds is no 
parallel and no excuse. Mr. Buckland’s reference 
was to the Great bird of paradise, which, I believe, is 
not far off extinction. Mr. Emery Stark’s figures of 
200,000 birds of paradise skins obviously refer to the 
many species inhabiting Dutch New Guinea and 
western Papuasia generally. In all there are some 
eighty-one or eighty-two distinct species of paradise 
birds, many of them confined to small areas, the 
majority living—unhappily—under Dutch rule; and 
about twenty species are nearly extinct by now on 
the smaller islands owing to the ruthless proceedings 
of the Malay, Papuan, and half-caste hunters. The 
females of some species, it must be remembered, are 
beautiful enough in plumage to be shot for the feather 
trade; this is also the case with the young males. 
It is possible, also, that most of the members of this 
group are monogamous, or that, like the peacocks 
and other extravagantly beautiful birds, only the 
quite adult males are fit for breeding. However it 
may be, all trustworthy authorities are agreed that 
the numbers of the paradise birds throughout Dutch 
Papuasia have very greatly diminished during the last 
thirty vears, and that species common in Wallace’s 
day are now extinct in this or that island or forest 
area. 

The Government of the Dutch Indies has set on 
foot no efficient measures of protection—so far as | 
know, no measures at all, other than the issuing of 
licences to kill. I visited Holland two years ago to 
inquire into this matter, and was truly surprised to 
find the utter indifference with which it was regarded, 
even by Dutch zoologists; and Holland has produced 
some very great zoologists within the last fifty years. 
I deplore this mental lacuna which is, I fear, to be 
met with also among British biologists. But I am 
convinced it will disappear with’ the general spread of 
enlightenment. The same Dutchmen and Englishmen 
are exceedingly keen about the preservation of Dutch 
and British wild birds; they are simply thoughtless as 
to the rest of the world, forgetting that the new gene- 
ration of dwellers in the British and Dutch Empires 
may daily curse the memories of the rulers of to-day 
who permitted a marvellous fauna of beautiful, 
wonderful, and harmless creatures to be extirpated 
solely for the gratification of the blood-lust among 
our sportsmen or the furnishing of wares for sale to 
silly women and magpie men. 

A correspondent of The Times wrote the other day 
asking that the rose-ringed parrakeets of India might 
be handed over for destruction to the plumage trade. 
He must have been a person without a sense of beauty 
and colour-blind; for if there is, or was, one feature 
more than another that was lovely in Indian land- 
scapes and old Indian towns it was the flocks of these 
grass-green, rose-tinted, or blossom-headed parra- 
keets. ‘‘But they ravage the natives’ crops,’ he 
wrote. Well, I know India pretty well, and at one 
time spoke Hindustani sufficiently to converse with 
native landowners and peasants. I have never heard 
one such person complain seriously of the damage or 
loss done by these fluttering morsels of loveliness; but 
I have noted—as Rudyard Kipling and his father have 
noted—the many pet names in the vernacular for the 
parrakeets of India, and the native appreciation of 
their beauty. This is purely a native and a _ local 
affair. If the native of India wishes to thin out the 
parrakeets or other seed- or fruit-eating birds, let him 
do so; but do not permit it to be done for the in- 
famously inadequate purpose of decorating English- 
women’s -hats. 

I remember in 1895 some British officers in north- 
west India decided that so many wild peacocks (they 
were semi-tame) must be “a dam’ nuisance’’ to the 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


| 


i 


native agriculturists. and started out to organise a 
battue. But the battue was the other way about. 
The natives of the district, losing all restraint at the 
idea of their beautiful peacocks being slain to please 
the Sahib-log and the Gora-log, turned out with long 
sticks and thoroughly whacked the shooting-party. 
This episode was one of the many signs of unrest 
in India which characterised the year 1895. In this 
instance, if not in the others (for in most cases it 
was excellent measures of sanitation which provoked 
ignorant wrath), I thoroughly sympathised with the 
natives. f 

Mr. Joseph refers to paradise-bird skins worth in 
the trade 4ol. or more, and states that these are 
eagerly sought after for scientific purposes. What 
nonsense !—unless he refers to pseudo-science.. The 
true scientific ornithologist has by now in the collec- 
tions of Britain, Italy, Germany, Holland, and France 
all the material he can possibly want for the external 
description of paradise birds. If he desires anything 
else it is in the way of the bodies of these birds. But 
even their myology, osteology, intestines—all their 
anatomy—are by now completely understood. We 
have, however, to learn much more about their life 
habits, their eggs, nests, and food. Material in such 
a quest.can only be gathered by a trained scientific. 
observer, such as from time to time is sent out by a 
learned society or a patron of learning. Scientific 
men would not go to the plumage-trading firms for 
such information, for they would not get it, or it 
would be quite untrustworthy. These firms buy their 
skins at second-hand, third-hand, fourth-hand, and 
their ignorance on the subject of ornithology is simply 
colossal. 

I want to narrow the discussion to these unanswer- 
able points. What are the legitimate uses of the 
skins or plumes of wild birds (excepting such as are 
carefully protected from diminution by rigid super- 
vision and close times for breeding) in a civilised 
community—a community civilised enough to appre- 
ciate the economic uses of birds and the extreme 
beauty of birds in a landscape? Do the bodies of the 
birds I would desire to protect from the plumage- 
hunter serve as important articles of palatable food? 
No; except it be in a few instances, so few that they 
are of no importance in the argument. Do they serve 
to keep women, especially poor women, warm? No; 
quite useless for that purpose. Admitting that feathers 
and plumes do add to the beauty of a woman’s 
costume, are we sufficiently supplied with such by 
using what we get from birds bred for the purpose 
or bred or protected for our food supply? Yes. Front 
a hundred species and varieties. In all these cireum- 
stances a woman who wants to wear a humming-bird 
or a parrot’s wing or a bird of paradise or egret 
plume must be depraved, and should not be pandered. 
to and the trade which would live by ministering to 
such tastes should be closed down without com~= 
punction. H. H. JoHNsTON. 


A Palzobotanical Institute at the Royal Botanic 
Gardens, Kew. 


More than two years ago there appeared an article 
in The Times (August 24, 1911) the title of which was 
‘“A Neglected Science: Fossil Botany and Mining.” 
The chief contents of this article can be summed up 
as an appeal for the recognition of paleobotany, and 
was indeed thus named in Nature of August 31, of 
the same year. The author of the article in The 
Times criticises ‘“‘ the official neglect of palaobotany in ~ 
this country.” It is admitted that the leadership of 
some branches of palazobotany is found in Britain, 
but this is stated to be wholly due to the zeal and, 


JANUARY I, 1914] 


NATURE 


993 


interest of some private gentlemen and to some pro- 
fessors of modern botany who ‘spend their whole 
leisure from their professional duties in the arduous 
labour of palzobotanical research.” 

But ‘there is no professorship of palzobotany at 
any of our universities or colleges. There is no lec- 
tureship or readership in paleobotany at any of our 
universities or colleges; and Cambridge alone has a 
demonstratorship, which is so ill-paid that it might be 
thought libellous to state the official salary attached. 
There is no post of palzobotanist to our Survey. ... 
There is no post of palazobotanist at our great national 
Natural History Museum.” 

After having shown what has been done for palzeo- 
botany at Berlin, Stockholm, and Washington (U.S. 
Geological Survey), and after having developed the 
reasons—scientific and economic—why palzobotany 
should receive official support in Britain also, the 
author asks: ‘“‘What should be done?” and supplies 
the following answer :— 

“Much in the future. For the present what is 
urgently needed are professorships and lectureships at 
one or two of the universities—a professorship, for 
instance, in London, which would reach the geological 
students who go out from the School of Mines to all 
parts of the world. Then two posts at least should 
be established at the British Museum of Natural 
History: one for a palaobotanist of standing and 
repute who has travelled, who with a wide knowledge 
of the subject could fitly represent the science, and 
- who, keeping abreast of the subject, could direct the 

work of a junior, and ultimately of several juniors.. 

In our museum at present there are many specialists 

on animal fossils, and an important department of 
animal paleontology, while the palzobotanical depart- 
‘ ment does not exist, and though there is a valuable 
1 
; 


collection of fossil plants the authorities only get in 
outside specialists from time to time to write mono- 
graphs on them. 

“What is ultimately wanted for the science is a 
properly equipped institute of palzobotany, which 
should represent all its sides—with a well-arranged 
museum, an academic and also economic side to its 
activities. The immediate need for the foundation of 
_ some posts in paleobotany should give trustees and 
_ governors food for thought, and might give some 
_ millionaire, anxious to be of service to his day and 
generation, an opportunity to do a unique and service- 
able deed in endowing this neglected but important 
science.”” 

The same appeal for the recognition of palzeobotany 
‘as in the article referred to has recently been taken 
up again by Dr. Marie C. Stopes, in a lecture de- 
livered at University College (University of London), 
-on October 17; and published in an abridged form in 
Nature of November 20, 1913. To the question what 
the palzobotanist in the future will demand the fol- 
lowing answer is given :—‘ That in at least one insti- 
tution in each civilised country there shall be a recog- 
nition of his science and adequate accommodation for 
it.” after which the plan and details for such an 
institution, according to the opinion of Dr. Stopes, are 
fully developed for which the number of this journal 
cited should be consulted. 

It is earnestly to be hoped that this proposition will 
| be realised, and at the same time realised 
’ in the right way. As keeper of the palzo- 

botanical department of the State Museum of Natural 
| History (Naturhistoriska Riksmuseum) at Stockholm, 


: 


} 


ey Ce 


which was specially mentioned in the article referred 
to, I may be permitted to express my opinion regard- 
eing the proposed palzobotanical institution. I have, 
it is true, no idea of the present position of the ques- 
tion here discussed, nor if there is any possibility of 
But I 


_ the realisation of the plan proposed below. 
: NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


hope that my British fellow-workers will not consider 


my suggestion as an intrusion, since they are probably 
aware of my deep interest in British palzobotany, by 
which I have profited so much myself during repeated 
visits to Britain. 

I quite agree with Dr. Stopes that the establish- 
ment of a properly equipped British institute of palzeo- 
botany is a most urgent need, which ought not to be 
postponed. But in order to give such an institute an 
opportunity for working under the best conditions 
possible, I consider it almost necessary that it should 
be established in connection with the Royal Botanic 
Gardens, Kew. The reason for such a connection is 
simply this: that the scientific study of palzeobotany 
signifies a constant and repeated comparison of the 
fossil plants with the recent ones. For the botanical 
determination of Palzozoic and Mesozoic plants the 
palzobotanist must compare the recent Pteridophytes 
and Gymnosperms, especially the tropical ones; and 
there exists no better opportunity than in the Kew 
Gardens, where the hothouses, temperate houses, 
museums, and herbaria offer the most excellent and 
complete materials possible for such work. The same 
holds true for the determination of dicotyledonous 
leaves of the Cretaceous and Tertiary. The deter- 
mination of those leaves is a most difficult task, for 
which an extensive and repeated comparison with the 
leaves of trees and shrubs of the arboretums and gar- 
dens, of the temperate houses and hothouses, and, 
ultimately, of the herbaria is necessary. There is no 
other place in the United Kingdom which offers such 
excellent opportunities for this work as the Kew 
Gardens; and the same holds true for the determina- 
tion of leaves, fruits, and seeds from the Quaternary 
also. It therefore seems evident that the Kew Gardens 
are the right place for the establishment of a palzo- 
botanical institute, the headquarters for the British 
palzobotany of the future. A. G. Natruorst. 

Stockholm, December 12, 1913. 


Electrodeless Spectra of Hydrogen. 

Waite making experiments on the apparent pro- 
duction of neon and helium during electric discharges, 
I have noticed an effect which may be of interest to 
spectroscopists. A powerful oscillatory discharge is 
produced in eight or nine coils of wire from two 
Leyden jars, with a spark-gap of about 2 in. in 
parallel, connected to a large coi! which is run from 
the main supply. Set in the coils of wire is a glass 
bulb of about 300 c.c. capacity provided below with a 
small bulb containing cocoanut charcoal, and con- 
nected by a side-tube and tap with a mercury pump. 
After evacuating, heating, and “washing out,’’ the 
bulb with hydrogen, when pure hydrogen is admitted 
at a fairly low pressure and the discharge is passed, 
the glow is bluish in colour, and shows both hydrogen 
and mercury spectra ; but if the charcoal bulb be cooled 
in liquid air so that mercury vapour and any other 
impurities are completely removed, the glow is of a 
brilliant rose colour, and shows only hydrogen lines. 
If the pressure is reduced, however, to a value some- 
where below 1 mm., there appears in the middle of the 
rose ring a fairly bright blue zone; and whereas the 
former shows both the simple and complex spectra of 
hydrogen, the blue zone shows nothing but the 
elementary line spectrum; and, moreover, the blue 
line 44861 is more intense than the red line. Further 
reduction of pressure causes the obliteration of the 
blue zone by the spreading inwards of the rose ring. 

As I have not found any mention of this isolation of 
the primary spectrum, with weakening of the a line, 
in pure dry hydrogen, the fact is possibly worth 
recording. IRVINE Masson. 

University College, London, December 11. 


504 


NATURE 


[| JANUARY I, 1914 


BIRDS, GAME, 


M R. KEARTON’S books on British birds (1) 
Jk are so well, and deservedly, known, that 
the new edition of his work entitled “ British Birds’ 
Nests” calls for only a brief notice. The original 
edition first saw the light in the autumn of 1895, 
and was the first book of its kind to be illustrated 
throughout by means of photographs taken direct 
from nature, and was declared by 
the late Dr. Bowdler Sharpe to 
“mark a new era in natural 
history.” This was followed in 
1891 by another volume, entitled, 
“Our Rarer British Breeding 
Birds.”” The present revised and 
enlarged edition of the first work 
contains the best of the pictures 
that appeared in the pages of the 
second, together with numerous 
photographs secured during the 
intervening years. To give an 
idea of the time and labour ex- 
pended in gathering materials for 
this book, it may be mentioned 
that Mr. Richard Kearton, with 
his brother, Mr. Cherry Kearton, 
to whom, we understand, most 
of the photography is entrusted, 
have travelled more than thirty 
thousand miles and exposed more 
than ten thousand plates to 
secure the necessary illustrations 
of nesting sites and birds. In 
addition to the photographs, the 
book is illustrated with fifteen 
coloured plates of eggs. 

Within the last ten years or so, 
the question of the preservation 
of wild animals from extermina- 
tion at the hands of sportsmen 
and traders, who serve the fur 
and feather markets of the world, 
has pushed itself insistently to the 
front, and Dr. Hornaday’s power- 
fully worded appeal (2) for the 
instant passing of legislative 
measures to arrest the imminent 
extinction which threatens some 
of our finest mammals and most 
beautiful birds—an appeal backed 
by incontrovertible statistics—is 
addressed to the sportsmen and 
governing bodies of every civil- 
ised state in the world. Much has 
been attempted already in this 
direction both in America, Africa, and Australia; 
but Dr. Hornaday’s investigation of the question 


1 (r) ‘‘ British Birds’ Nests: How, Where, and When to Find and 
Identify Them.” By Richard Kearton. Illustrated from Photographs by 
Cherry and Richard Kearton. Pp. xii+520+plates. Revised and Enlarged 
Edition. (London: Cassell and Co., Ltd., 913.) Price 14s. net. 

(2) ‘‘Our Vanishing Wild Life: Its Extermination and Preservation.” 
By Dr. W. T. Hornaday. Pp. xvi+4r1. (New York; Charles Scribner's 
Sons, 1913 Price 1.50 dollars. 

(3) ‘‘ Trees in Winter: Their Study, Planting, Care and Identification.” 
By Dr. M. F. Blakeslee and Dr. C. D, Jarvis. Pp. 446. (New York; The 
Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 
3s. 6d. net. 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


AUN DPR EELS)» 


An osprey and its eyrie. 


so far as Canada and the United States are con- 
cerned has revealed ‘“‘a mass of evidence proving 
that the existing legal System for the pre- 
servation of wild life is fatally defective,” and 
that those who imagine the protective measures 
to be effectively operative are living in a fool’s 
paradise. In a great measure this is due to the 
circumstance that fully 90 per cent. of the protec- 
tive laws have been practically dictated by the 


From “ British Birds’ Nests.” 


killers of the game, with the result that in all 
but a few instances ‘“‘open seasons” for slaughter 
have been carefully provided for so long as any 
game remains to be killed. | According to Dr. 
Hornaday, whose authority in such a matter no 
one will be prepared to dispute, the point has now 
been reached where a choice has to be made, 
between the enforcement of long closed seasons 
and a gameless continent ! 


_] 


January I, 1914] 


NATURE 


“6 


595 


The first part of the book tells the pathetic 
tale of the causes and factors of extermination, 
mainly of birds and mammals, in process all over 
the world, from the song-birds of Europe and 
the Southern States of America, to the pheasants 
of the east and the big game of Africa. In the 
second part he deals with the economic and other 
reasons for the preservation of species, with the 
laws that should be passed to achieve that end, 
with game reserves, &c. The book is well illus- 
trated with figures of many of the interesting 
species threatcned with extermination, and with 
maps showing their past and present distri- 
bution. 3 

“Trees in Winter ” (3) is essentially a work on 
arboriculture. By the term winter the authors 
mean that period when the tree is in its resting con- 
dition, a period which may ‘be considered to, 
extend from the shedding of the leaves in the fall 
to the bursting of the buds in the spring, 
which varies for different trees in different locali- 
ties. In the north-eastern United States, for in- 
stance, it may begin as early as the latter part 
of September, and may extend even into the 
middle of May. 

_.The subject-matter is divided into two parts. 
Part i.. deals with the buying, planting, and 
eare of trees mainly during their dormant con- 
dition, but it also contains much valuable informa- 
tion, and many important hints on spraying and 
_ the treatment of fungus growths and insect pests 
during the growing season. It was written 
primarily for the use of those who possess trees 
of their own in gardens or parks, and not for a 
municipal tree-planting commission.  Neverthe- 
less, it will be of inestimable service to those 


responsible for the well-being and upkeep of trees ' 


in the streets and public squares within city pre- 
cincts. This part was specially written at the 
_ request of the publishers as an economically useful 
» addition to part ii., the material of which first 
' appeared in pamphlet form as a bulletin of the 
| Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station, and 
| proved in such demand, especially for use in 


ore 


' schools, that it seemed desirable to issue it in book 


form, and thus render it more widely available 
than. would be the case if its circulation were 


_ | restricted to the limitation of a State publication. 


| 
} 


pe. 


ww 


! descriptions e  specit 
‘arranged, every. species being illustrated by photo- 


This part deals with the identification of trees.. 
It leads off with an analytical key to the genera 
and species; and this is followed by ‘detailed 
of the species, systematically 


graphs showing its mode of growth, its twigs, 
fruit, and other structural details. 

Although the trivial names employed are not 
always the same as those used in England—what 
we commonly know as the plane tree, for in- 
stance, is called the sycamore—this fact will in 
no way detract from the value of the book to 
arboriculturists in this country, because the admir- 
able descriptions and pictures make confusion of 
the species impossible. 

‘Roa BRL 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] ; 


THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE 
UNITED STATES.) 
Sie record of the annual mineral production 
of the United States has now increased in 
size until it occupies two large volumes of 2242 
pages in all. These forma storehouse of informa- 
tion concerning a number of matters connected 
directly or indirectly with the mineral industry of 
America, whilst statistics of, and information 
about, the production of minerals in other parts 
of the world are given for the purpose of com- 
parison. The methods are the same as those 
employed in previous years, one of the two 
volumes being devoted to the metalliferous 
minerals and the other to the non-metals. From 
the economic point of view the latter are the 
more important, the value of the coal production 
of the United States being nearly one-third of the 
total value of the whole of the mineral products, 
this latter amounting to the huge sum of 
close upon 400,000,000]. As the population of 
the United States is just about 92 millions, the 
annual mineral production amounts to well over 
4l. per head of the population. 
_ The above total shows a small decrease, equal 
to 2°65 per cent., on the value of the production 
in 1910, in which latter year the record value 
attained in 1907 had again been nearly reached. 
Practically the whole of the above drop was due 
to a decline in the value of the pig-iron production, 
the statistics for the metalliferous minerals being 
based, as in previous years, upon the metals pro- 
duced from the ores, and not upon the ores them- 
selves. The production of pig-iron in 1911 was 
23,649,547 toms, as against 27,303,567 tons in 
1910, a decrease of 13°3 per cent., whilst the out- 
put of iron-ore declined simultaneously from 
51,155,437 tons to 40,989,808 tons, equal to a 
decrease of 23°4 per cent. The only cause that 
can be assigned for this decrease was over-pro- 
duction in 1910, which necessarily caused a de- 
creased demand in 1911. It is quite certain that 
this decrease was in no way due to natural causes, 
the capacity of the mines to produce the requisite 
supply of iron-ore being in no way diminished. 

The output of gold was practically unchanged, 

whilst that of silver showed a moderate increase ; 
in the same way there was but little difference 
in the copper production, whilst in the production 
of lead and zinc increases were shown, though in 
no case of .any great importance. 
. The coal output in 1911 was but little less than 
in 1910, namely, just over 496 millions of tons, 
as against about 5014 millions of tons in 1910. 
In 1911 the production of petroleum, on the other 
hand, showed an increase, namely, 2204 millions, 
as against 209} millions of barrels. 

In a similar way fluctuations, though not to 
any marked extent, occur in the less important 
mineral products, but the net result left by the 
perusal of these statistics is the distinct impression 


1 “The Mineral Resources of the United States, Calendar Year igrt. 


Part i. Metals. Pp. 1013. Part ii. Non-metals. Pp. 1224+maps. 
(Washington: United States Geological Survey, Government Printing 
Office, r912.) 


506 NATURE 


[JANUARY I, 1914 


that the mineral industry of the United States 
is in a sound and flourishing condition, and that 
the vast mineral resources of that great country 
are being steadily and profitably developed. 
As to the volumes in which the results of these 
operations are chronicled, it is impossible to do 
more than express admiration for the care and 
attention bestowed upon them, and we can only 
wish that we had in this country a department 
capable of doing anything like similar justice to 
our own British mineral industry. H.-J 


SIR TREVOR LAWRENCE, BART. 


~ IR TREVOR LAWRENCE, late President of 
“7 the Royal Horticultural Society, and some- 
time Treasurer of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, 
died at his seat at Burford, Dorking, in his 
eighty-second year, on Monday night, December 
22. Born on December 30, 1831, Sir Trevor was 
educated at Winchester, and afterwards at St. 
Bartholomew’s Hospital, where his father was 
one of the staff and one of the teachers. After 
qualifying as a medical man, Trevor Lawrence 
joined the Indian Medical Service in 1853, seeing 
much active service during the Mutiny. In 1863 
he retired from India, and in 1867 succeeded his 
father as second baronet. In 1869 he married 
Elizabeth, daughter of the late Mr. J. Matthew, 
of Burford, Dorking. From 1875 till 1892 he sat 
in Parliament. 

Always interested in plants, Trevor Lawrence 
became during his Indian service a keen and suc- 
cessful gardener. This taste and talent he exer- 
cised and developed on his return to England, and 
although he was doubtless best 
gardening circles as an orchid grower, there was 
no particular branch of horticulture in which he 
was not keenly interested and in which he was 
not highly successful. Even in that especial 
branch of the craft in which he was deservedly 
famous—the cultivation of orchids—his innate 
love of plants for their own sake, which he appears 
to have inherited from his mother, was very con- 
spicuous. In addition to one of the finest private 
collections of showy sorts, Sir Trevor had at 
Dorking probably the largest private collection 
of the less conspiéuous, but very often more 
scientifically interesting genera and species from 
both hemispheres. 

There was therefore everything that was appro- 
priate in the election of Sir Trevor, in 1885, to 
the presidentship of the Royal Horticultural 
Society. But on Sir Trevor’s part there was also 
a strong strain of chivalry and gallantry in his 
acceptance of this, at that time, thankless post. 
The Society was at a miserably low ebb, with an 
inadequate membership and still more inadequate 


finances. Supported in the struggle which ensued 
by a number of far-sesing and courageous 


colleagues, both against adverse external circum- 
stances and against opposition from within 
the Society, the difficulties were overcome, 
and the assured financial position in which the 
Royal Horticultural Society stands to-day 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


known in | 


| has been largely due to the steadfastness of 
purpose, tact and wisdom of Sir Trevor Lawrence 
during the presidentship of twenty-eight years, 
which ended with his retirement from that position 
on April 1 last. 

Almost as great as the services he was able to 
render to gardening were those which Sir Trevor 
rendered to his own old hospital, the treasurer- 
ship of which he was invited to undertake when 
he retired from Parliament. This post he held 
| during twelve years of financial and other diffi- 
culties. The qualities which had stood him in 
such good stead in the Royal Horticultural Society 
enabled him here again to inaugurate much that 
was useful in the matter of extending the scienti- 
fic equipment of the hospital, of securing for the 
staff some share in its management, and of 
establishing a sounder administrative policy with 
regard to its property. As a member of the 
council of King Edward’s Hospital Fund, Sir 
Trevor was able to do much for the cause of 
hospitals generally. 

A well-known and skilled collector of Chinese 
and European porcelain and the possessor of one 
of the finest collections of Japanese lacquer in 
Britain, Sir Trevor placed students of the latter 
under much obligation by printing for private 
circulation in 1895 a finely illustrated catalogue of 
his collection. A host of exquisite courtesy, and 
| a counseller of great sagacity, Sir Trevor’s death 
will be greatly mourned by a wide circle of 
friends. 


BRITISH ANTARCTIC 
EXPEDITION. 
ie science of geography will enlarge its 
bounds if the expedition to the South Pole, 
planned by Sir Ernest Shackleton, ends success- 
fully. A start is to be made next October from 
Buenos Aires, and the plan proposed is to cross 
the south polar continent from the Weddell Sea, 
on the Atlantic side, to the Ross Sea, touching 
at the South Pole en route—a distance of some 
1700 miles. Altogether the party will number 
forty-two, twelve being actual explorers, and the 
remainder the crews of the two ships that are 
to support the venture, one on each side of the 
Antarctic continent. Of the explorers, six expect 
to cover the whole ground from the point of 
landing on the Weddell Sea to the point of em- 
barkation on the Ross Sea. The other six will 
be divided into two groups: one, composed of a 
biologist, a geologist, and a physicist, will prob- 
ably remain at an experimental station on the 
Weddell Sea side; the other party of three will be 
told off to explore the land to the east, which is 
at present entirely unknown. These two wings 
of the expedition will eventually be taken back 
; to South America, while the party which will 
accompany Sir Ernest across the continent is to 
be met at the Ross Sea base by the second ship 
from New Zealand, whither it will take them. 
For the outward journey the Aurora has been 
chosen. Both this and the sister vessel will depend 


A NEW 


. 


aaa sited ee 


JANUARY I, 1914] 


for fuel on oil, and not on coal. The advantage 
of this arrangement of being free from ballast 
need scarcely be expatiated upon; when the oil 
is used up, water can be pumped into its place. 
“Both ships will also be fitted with cages and 
tanks for bringing home live seals and penguins. 
Moreover, the Aurora will have a gyroscopic 
compass, which will therefore not be affected by 
magnetism in the ship. The expedition will be 
fitted with a wireless installation—one of about 
500 miles’ radius. But more useful still, two 
sledges driven by aéroplane propellers, with aéro- 
plane engines, and an aéroplane with clipped wings 
to glide over the ice, are being taken. The team 
of trained dogs numbers 200. The expedition 
will be equipped for two years, and is to be 
known as “The Imperial Antarctic Expedition.” 
The minimum cost is 50,o00l., and this amount 
has been provided by the generosity of a friend. 
In order to equip the expedition with full effici- 
ency, however, 60,000]. or 70,0001. would be re- 
quired. No public appeal is to be made for 
subscriptions to make up the additional amount, 
but contributions for this purpose will be welcomed 
-and will be of service. 

The following statement as to scientific work 
contemplated was made by Sir Ernest Shackleton 
on Monday :— 


No one knows whether the great plateau dips 
gradually from the pole towards the Weddell Sea, 
and no one knows whether the great Victoria chain of 
mountains, which has been traced to the pole, extends 
across the continent and links up with the Andes. 
The solving of -the problem is of intense interest to 
geographers all over the world, and the discovery of 
the great mountain range, which we assume is there, 
will be one of the biggest geographical triumphs of 
the time. 

The geological results will be of the greatest interest 
to the scientific world. The expedition will at its 
winter quarters make geological collections, also 
typical rocks will be taken on the journey if we come 
across exposed rocks when crossing the mountain 
ranges. One ship will land parties for the purpose 
of making geological collections on the west side of 
the Weddell Sea, and the ship will at the same time 
trace, if possible, the continuation of Graham Land 
southwards. 

The expedition will take continuous magnetic ob- 
servations from the Weddell Sea right across the 
pole, and the route’ followed will lead towards the 
magnetic pole and make an ideal method of deter- 
mining the general dip of the magnetic needle. This 
magnetic work has a direct bearing on economic 
conditions, in that an absolutely true knowledge of 
magnetic conditions is of use to ships in navigable 
waters. I also propose to set up a magnetic observa- 
tory at winter quarters and take continuous magnetic 
observations throughout the winter. On my last 
expedition we could only take field magnetic observa- 
tions, as, owing to lack of money in the first place, I 
could not afford to provide a large magnetic equip- 
ment, though we did important work, as one of the 
parties reached for the first time the south magnetic 

ole. 

4 The meteorological conditions would be carefully 
studied, and would help to elucidate some of the 
peculiar problems of weather that at present are only 
dimly recognised as existing. Continuous meteoro- 
logical observations, both at winter quarters and on 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


597 


the journey across, are of extreme importance, and 
the results can be correlated with the observations of 
the last three expeditions in the Antarctic. 

Biological work will be thoroughly carried on, and 

the distribution of fauna and plant life will be studied. 
Both ships will be equipped for dredging and sound- 
ing. 
All branches of science will be most carefully 
attended to, and the net result scientifically ought to 
be a large increase to human knowledge, but, first 
and foremost, the crossing of the polar continent will 
be the main object of the expedition. 


NOTES. 


Tue Academy of Sciences of Bologna has elected 
Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson as a corresponding mem- 
ber in the class of physical science. 


Art the last meeting of the Academy of Sciences in 
St. Petersburg Sir William Ramsay was unanimously 
elected an honorary member of the academy; he was 
previously a corresponding member. 


Str Howarp Gruss, F.R.S., has been appointed 
scientific adviser to the Commissioners of Irish Lights, 
in succession to the late Sir Robert Ball, who held 
the position for the past twenty years. 


In a flight from the naval aérodrome at Fréjus, 
France, on December 27, M. Legagneux, succeeded 
in reaching a height of 20,300 ft., which is the 
greatest altitude yet attained with an aéroplane. 


THE next grants from the Elizabeth Thompson 
Science Fund will be made in February, 1914. Appli- 
cations should be sent to the secretary, Dr. Charles S. 
Minot, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass., 
before February 1. 


WE regret to see the announcement of the death, 
on December 26, at fifty-three years of age, of Mr. W. 
Popplewell Bloxam, formerly professor of chemistry 
in Presidency College, Madras, and the author of a 
number of reports and papers on the production and 
chemistry of indigo. 


Mr. W. Lawrence BALts, botanist to the Egyptian 
Government, Department of Agriculture, has just left 
the service of the Government, his agreed term of 
years having expired, and is returning to Cambridge 
to work up unpublished data on cotton accumulated 
since his appointment to the staff of the Khediviai 
Agricultural Society as cryptogamic botanist jn 1904, 
and in the post he has now vacated. 

MEN who have been trained at the Royal Botanic 
Gardens, Kew, occupy posts in botanic gardens in 
most parts of the world. The following new appoint- 
ments of members of the gardening staff at Kew are 
announced in the Kew Bulletin :—Mr. G. S. Crouch, 
to be assistant director of horticulture in the Egyptian 
Department of Agriculture; Mr. T. H. Parsons, to be 
curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, 
Ceylon, in succession to Mr. H. F. Macmillan, who 
has been appointed superintendent of horticulture in 
the department of agriculture, Ceylon; Mr. C. E. F. 
Allen, to be curator of the Botanic Garden, Port 
Darwin, Northern Territory, South Australia, in suc- 
cession to Mr. N. Holtze, deceased. 


508 


TITCHENER asks us to announce that 
hundred dollars is offered for the best 
paper onthe availability of Pearsons formule for 
psychophysics. ‘The rules for the solution of this 
problem have been formulated in general terms by Dr. 
W. Brown. It is now required (1) to make their 
formulation specific; and: (2) to show how they work 
out in actual practice. This means that the writer 
must show the steps to be taken, in the treatment 
of a complete set of data, for attainment in every case 
of a definite result. ~The calculations should be 
arranged with a view to practical application—.e. so 
that the amount of computation is reduced to a mini- 
mum. Papers in competition for this prize will be 
received not later than: December 31, 1914, by Prof. 
E. B. Titchener, Cornell ' Heights, Ithaca, N.Y., 
U.S.A. Such papers are to be marked only with a 
motto, and are to be accompanied. by a sealed enve- 
lope, marked with the same motto, and containing 
the name and address of the writer. The prize will 
be awarded by a committee consisting of Profs. Wil- 
liam Brown, E. B. Titchener, and F. M. Urban, 


Prop oh. Es 
a prize of one 


Tue use of distributed inductance in telephone 
cables which was advocated many years ago by Mr. 
Oliver Heaviside, and was put into practice more 
recently by Pupin, has not only resulted in great 
economies in copper on long-distance telephone lines, 
but also has enabled submarine telephone cables to 
be brought into use for far greater distances than 
formerly. The most recent achievement in this direc- 
tion is the laying last month of a cable sixty-four 
nautical miles in length between Nevin, in Carnarvon- 
shire, and Howth, about eight miles from Dublin. 
Hitherto telephony between England and Ireland has 
been carried on through a cable twenty-four nautical 
miles in length between Port Mora (near Portpatrick) 
and Donaghadee, in connection with long land lines 
on both sides of the Channel. The new cable, which 
was manufactured by Siemens Bros. and Co., has four 
conductors weighing 160 lb. per nautical mile, and 
insulated with a special gutta-percha with a low leak- 
per nautical mile. At 


ance, weighing only 150 Ib, 
distances of one nautical mile apart, induct 
ance coils are inserted in each of the four cores. 


These are long narrow double-wound coils, each with 
an inductance of about 100 millihenrys. Their con- 
struction is such that they are enclosed in the gutta- 
percha covering in the same way as the cable itself, 
and the armouring is carried right over them. 


In the South American Supplement of The Times 
for December 30, attention is again directed to the 
possible effects of earthquakes on the Panama Canal. 
While retracing much of the ground covered in our 
former Notes on the subject, Prof. J. Stuart refers 
to several points that are worthy of consideration. 
The general belief as to the safety of the massive 
concrete walls of the locks is based on the assumption 
that the locks have been laid upon solid rock. This 
is the case with the locks at Pedro Miguel and Mira- 
flores, but those at Gatun are founded on beds of 
argillaceous sandstones, which were first described as 
indurated clays: Prof. Stuart points out that the 
fears as to the Gatun dam being opened by fissures 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[JANUARY I, 1914 


are probably groundless, for the San Leandro dam 
which stores the water supply of Oakland was un- 
injured by the San Francisco earthquake. He refers 
in conclusion to the possible effects of the excavations. 
More than 200 million cubic yards of material have 
been removed from the various cuttings and ‘deposited 
on the dams and elsewhere, and he suggests that this 
redistribution of stresses in the earth’s crust might 
facilitate the occurrence of earthquakes. 


Tue English Forestry Association, of ‘which Lord 
Clinton is president, and Mr. M. C. Duchesne (Farn- 
ham Common, Slough, Bucks) secretary, Proposes to 
hold a forest exhibition ing@kondon in 1914. The 
object of the exhibition is _to encourage English 
timber industries. Commercially the private forest 
owner cannot usually hope to obtain the rate of in- 
terest he looks for, on anything but short-rotation 
copse, and it is exactly underwood that has fallen so 
disastrously in price. The English Forestry Associa- 
tion has strong hopes of reviving the failing industry 
in wooden barrel hoops. It seems possible also to 
get back to better prices for firewood. By burning 
firewood in a properly constructed stove a_ heating 
power can be obtained equal to that of coal in the 
ordinary domestic fireplace—an open stove with the 
fire showing, and a healthy mixture of both radiant 


and convection heat. If such stoves came 
into use there would be a_ better demand 
for firewood. But the experience of other 


countries shows that it is the working with a large 
scheme of State forestry that is the saving feature 
of private forestry, and the forestry exhibition would 
help to direct attention to the fact that the Develop- 
ment Commission, after three and a half years, has 
failed to carry out its Act and initiate State forestry 
in Britain, while the slow progress in Ireland is 
exciting adverse comment. 


Major H. G. Jory pe Lorpinitre has contributed 
to The Eas Review for October a valuable and 
timely article on the position of forestry in England 
and abroad, in which he reviews the principal timber 
resources: of the world, and the steps that have been 
taken in England and elsewhere to provide for the 
future. As he points out, experts’ in every country 
are agreed that the world’s supply of timber is rapidly 
diminishing, and that unless vigorous steps are taken 
in the afforestation of suitable waste lands a shortage 
of material must be experienced long before the close 
of the present century. The author indicates in a 
general way the lines on which the work of afforest- 
ing the sixteen million acres of mountainous and heath 
land in this country should be proceeded with, and 
urges the necessity for immediate action. 


Tue trustees of the British Museum have acquired 
recently a unique gold coin of extraordinary interest. 
It is the only known example of the gold coinage of 
the Anglo-Saxon King Offa (a.p. 757-96); and its 
value lies in the fact that, though struck by a 
Christian King, it bears a Mohammedan inscription in 
Arabic. Offa agreed to pay a tribute in gold of 
Peter’s Pence, and he probably used the predominat- 
ing gold currency of his day as the best model for his 
purpose, adding the inscription ‘‘Offa rex” to that 


_ Gloucestershire Archzological Society for 


are continuous down to the present day. 


cattle from the gaboon. 


January I, 1914] 


already existing on an Arabic dinar which was coined 


about twenty years before’ his time. 

Tue volume of the Transactions of the Bristol and 
1912 is 
devoted to a descriptive catalogue of the printed maps 


_of Gloucestershire, 1577-1911, by Mr. T. Chubb, of 


the Map Room, British Museum. The series begins 


with the map dated 1577 in Christopher Saxton’s 


“Atlas of England and Wales,” published in 1570, 


and is followed by that by Peter Keer, in his collec- 
tion of twenty-eight maps of his ‘‘Counties of Eng- 


land and Wales,”’ 1599. Thence the series of maps 
Among 
recent catalogues of county maps those by Sir H. G. 


Fordham for Hertfordshire, Mr. W. Harrison for 


_ Lancashire, and Mr. T. Chubb for Wiltshire are the 


most important. Mr. Chubb’s catalogue is an excel- 


lent piece of work, and is provided with an admirable 


series of reproductions of the more important maps. 
It is to be hoped that other local archzological 
societies will follow this model in cataloguing the 
maps of the English counties. 


Tust the use of coloured photography will prove 
to be an important addition to the resources of the 
anthropologist is clearly proved by the admirable 
series of photographs of the pagan races of the Philip- 
pine Islands, illustrating a paper on these people by 
Mr. Dean C. Worcester, in the November issue of 
The National Geographic Magazine. He gives a 
useful account of the relations between the American 
authorities. and these primitive tribes, and of the 


attempts which are being made to bring them within 


the pale of civilisation by roads, schools, police, and 
the regulation of trade. The danger is that the pro- 
cess of reclamation may prove too effective, and that 
as they become civilised they will degenerate and 
decay. This consideration is no doubt present in the 


minds of the authorities, and they are unlikely to 


press our modern civilisation on these races further 
than is consistent with their preservation. 


A REPORT of sleeping sickness in the Island of 
Principe, by Surgeon-Captain Bruto da Costa, has 
been translated into English by Lieut.-Col. Wyllie, and 
published by Messrs. Bailli¢re, Tindall, and Cox. It 
is believed that neither the disease nor the trans- 
mitting fly, Glossina palpalis, are indigenous in the 
island, but that the fly was introduced about 1825 with 
Atoxyl was found useless 
either as a prophylactic or as a cure of the disease; it 
was useful only as a tonic, prolonging life in animals 
experimentally infected. It is claimed that a consider- 
able decrease in the incidence of the disease has been 
effected by measures consisting mainly of draining 
swamps, felling timber, clearing the ‘undergrowth, 
and exterminating pigs in the regions infested by the 
tsetse-flies. It is well known that G. palpalis breeds 
near water, but the author suggests that it cannot 


_ do so under exposure to the direct light and heat of 


the sun, hence the importance of keeping the borders 
of marshes and brooks free from all vegetation or 
overhanging shade. The pigs are believed to afford 
the chief sustenance of the tsetse in the bush, and also 
to carry the flies about from place to place. 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


509 


Ix a memoir entitled ** Botanical Features of the 
Algerian Sahara,”’ issued as Publication No. 178 of 
the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Dr. W. A. 
Cannon gives an extremely interesting account of his 
observations in southern Algeria and the western por- 
tion of the Sahara.’ The chief object of his tour, 
which extended over about six months, and included 
a journey of about a thousand miles through the more 
arid portions of the country, was to investigate the 
climatic and soil conditions of this region with special 
reference to the root-habits of the more striking 
species of the flora. The author’s work on desert 
plants in North America enables him to draw interest- 
ing comparisons between the widely separated arid 
regions of Arizona and Algeria, and the concluding 
portion of this valuable memoir, which is illustrated 
by thirty-six fine collotype plates, gives one of the 
clearest and most complete accounts of desert vegeta- 
tion that has yet been published. One of the most 
striking results of Dr. Cannon’s investigations is his 
demonstration of the fact that, contrary to what might 
have been expected, the prevailing type of root in 
desert plants is neither that with a deep main axis 
(tap-root) nor that which spreads out horizontally near 
the soil surface (as found in most Cacti), but a 
generalised type which is adapted to a wider range of 
conditions. The Algerian desert is more intensely 
arid than Arizona, and while fleshy plants like the 
Cacti are a striking feature of the North American 
deserts, such plants are entirely absent in southern 
Algeria. 


A. PAPER by -Mr. -°"T. Thorne. Baker, - read 
on December 10 before the Royal Society of 
Arts includés an account of physiological effects 
of high-frequency currents. It was stated that 
the upper part of the plant is negative electric- 
ally as compared with the roots, and _ therefore 


the minute hairs on the leaves and stems would act 
as collectors to collect atmospheric electricity, which 
is usually positive in character. The fact that the 
plant itself acts as a battery, and possesses two poles 
of opposite sign, was taken to indicate that these 
feeble differences of potential are of intrinsic use in 
the natural processes of the plant, and it was stated 
that increase of growth can be chiained by the electric 
current. Experiments were described showing the 
effect of electric discharge on various organisms. The 
red variety of the American gooseberry blight was 
not killed by the discharge except where there had 
been a preliminary treatment with soluble sulphide. 
Cheese mites, however, were readily killed. Other re- 
sults were quoted showing the effect of electric stimulus 
on animal life. It was stated that chickens will grow 
under such stimulus at about double the normal rate, 
whilst the mortality is considerably less than usual. 
Considerable care, however, is necessary in adjusting 
the ratio of current to voltage, the frequency of oscil- 
lations, and the quantity of electricity to the dimen- 
sions of the culture house. 


Tue report of the Behar Planters’ Association 
Indigo Research Station at Sirsiah for the year 
1912-13, recently received, possesses the interest of 
being the last of its series. It includes a brief recapi- 


510 


tulation by Mr. C. Bergtheil of the work done at this 
station during recent years, as well as an account 
of the work of the year under review, followed by 
an appendix of much interest by Mr. F. R. Parnell, 
reviewing the botanical work carried out at Sirsiah 
since October, 1909, for which he has been responsible. 
This work, it is explained, has been mainly devoted 
to the improvement of the plant grown, more especially 
in the direction of the selection of pure lines of the 
already cultivated plant possessing greater economic 
value than the ordinary mixed crop. This review of 
worls done will repay perusal, and the reader will 
recognise in it a modest record of good work faithfully 
and conscientiously performed. To those, however, 
who at a time when the natural indigo industry as a 
whole is being hardly pressed by the competition of the 
synthetic indigo-maker, find’ their sympathies still 
with the Behar planter, the text of this ultimate 
Sirsiah report will supply food for thought that is not 
altogether comforting. Of the two Indigoferas that 
are mainly grown in Behar—I. sumatrana, which 
displaced J. articulata about a century ago, and J. 
arvecta, the introduction of which is a matter of only 
a dozen years ago—a rather disquieting account is 
given. As to the former, there is a record of miser- 
able crops traceable, Mr. Bergtheil believes (p. 6), to 
the sowing of inferior seed; as to the latter there is 
a disheartening history by Mr. Parnell (p. 24) of 
‘‘disease,’’ which, so far, it has not been possible to 
attribute to fungal, insect, or bacterial attack, or to 
explain as the result of defective culture. 


In the Journal of the Franklin Institute (October, 
No. 4) appears an important paper by Mr. Frank K. 
Cameron, of the Bureau of Soils, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, on kelp and other sources of potash. 
After briefly reviewing the fertiliser problems of the 
United States, Mr. Cameron gives an account, illus- 
trated by many photographs, of the movement recently 
started to utilise the giant “‘kelps” of the Pacific 
coast as a source of potash, which promises to develop 
into a very large and important industry. These 
giant kelps occur in numerous beds*or groves, often 
of a vast extent, and are characterised by an excep- 
tionally high content of potassium, five times on the 
average that of the better-known Atlantic alge. 
They are said to form ‘‘an ample, perennial possible 
source of potash for the present needs of the United 
States.”” Until recently the harvesting of the kelp on 
a sufficiently large scale to make it a commercial pos- 
sibility appeared the chief difficulty, but ingenious 
mechanical harvesters have been devised to overcome 
this. The costs of harvesting and utilisation are gone 
into in some detail, and it is pointed out that several 
soundly financed companies have already started 
operations on the large scale from which good results 
are anticipated. 


In an interesting article contributed to the Proceed- 
ings of the R. Academy of Amsterdam (vol. xv.) by 
Dr. C. Braak an attempt is made to show that by 
means of the connection perceptible between baro- 
metric pressure and rainfall in the Indian Archipelago 
it is possible to-make ‘‘a long-range weather forecast 
for the east monsoon in Java.’’ With respect to 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[JANUARY I, 1914 


deviations of air-pressure, the author states that Java 
has a special advantage, because the variations of 
climate there are determined by the variations of pres- 
sure in North Australia, the latter being characterised — 
by an extraordinary regularity. A barometric curve 
plotted for several years for Port Darwin shows some 
very regular series of waves, from which it appears 
that the time which elapses from minimum to maxi- 
mum is one year, from maximum to minimum two 
years, the period being exactly three years. These — 
regular periods are particularly adapted to forecast air- — 
pressure a considerable time in advance. On the 
principle upon which the scheme has been based it is_ 
claimed that it would have been possible to forecast 
the sign of the rainfall departure in Java for many 
of the years dealt with in the investigation. Attention 
is directed to the fact that in the Port Darwin curve 
the epoch of the maximum and minimum seems to be 
entirely controlled by the terrestrial seasons; cosmical 
influences, instead of causing barometric oscillations, 
seem to disturb them (namely during the sun-spot 
maximum). , 

Tue Journal of the Institution of Electrical 
Engineers for December 15 contains an extremely 
interesting paper by Mr. S. Evershed on the char- 
acteristics of insulation resistance. Mr. Evershed, as 
the result of a long course of experimental research, 
has come to the conclusion that the conductance — 
through insulators of the “absorbent” class, such as 
impregnated paper, fibre, or cloth, is entirely due to © 
the moisture which they contain. Curves are given 
to show that the insulation resistance falls as the 
voltage increases—or, as Mr. Evershed puts it, does 
not follow Ohm’s law. If, on the other hand, the F 
material is either perfectly dry or absolutely sodden — 
with moisture, the insulation is the same within wide 
limits of potential difference. Another interesting 
fact ascertained is that the conductance through an 
insulator containing a certain quantity of water is — 
far less than the conductance through the same quan- — 
tity and thickness of water. To account for this, Mr. 
Evershed puts forward the hypothesis, supported by 
an experimental ‘model,’’ that the moisture is dis- 
tributed unequally in the dielectric—that there are a 
number of ‘blind alleys,” and, in fact, only a very 
small proportion of the absorbed water is utilised in 
forming the leakage paths. In the discussion, Prof. 
A. Schwartz suggested that the distribution of the 
moisture in the dielectric followed a similar law to the 
distribution of sap in plants. 2 

“Let Us Have Our Calculus Early.” Such is the 
title of an article in the Bulletin of the American 
Mathematical ‘Society for October by Prof. E. B. 
Wilson, written professedly as a review of Mr. J. W. 
Mercer’s recent ‘‘Calculus for Beginners.” Writing 
of the great decline which has taken place in the 
sway of mathematics over collegiate education, Prof. 
Wilson points out that this has occurred at a time 
when the need of mathematical knowledge in all 
branches of science and technology is greater than it 
ever was in the past. ‘‘One of the main troubles 
with us is that we do not select the right subjects — 
to teach in the early collegiate years. There is no 
sense in giving the freshman a considerable course 


7 
| 
| 


expanded air. 


January I, 1914] 


NATURE 


in advanced algebra. The subject is abstract, and 
deals with topics and ideas relatively unimportant for 
the student. Yet advanced algebra is often taught 
as a pre-requisite to calculus. It is unfortunate to 
force the freshman through an extended course in 
analytic geometry.’’ This latter reference makes one 
wonder what Prof. Wilson would think of our recent 
epidemic of ‘‘ projective geometries,” good, bad, and 
indifferent, which may teach pupils to copy out proofs 
of stereotyped bookwork like Pascal’s or Brianchon’s 
theorems, but will never enable them to attempt a 
problem in mechanics involving a conic, cycloid, or 
catenary except by writing down the equation of the 
curve and becoming involved in hopelessly intractable 
formulz from which the answer ‘‘may be obtained ”’ 
—perhaps by the examiner, but with little credit and 
no educational value to the candidate. 


IN connection with the recent International Con- 
gress of Refrigeration held at Chicago and Washing- 
ton, the Smithsonian Institution has directed atten- 
tion to the first U.S. patent for the manufacture of 
ice, granted on May 6, 1851, to John Gorrie, of New 
Orleans, and now on exhibition in the U.S, National 
Museum. The patent fully describes the method of 
compressing air toa small part of its bulk, abstracting 
the heat liberated by a jet of water, allowing the air 
to re-expand in an engine, whereby the expansion is 
utilised and helps in the working of the condensing 
pump, injecting an uncongealable liquid into the engine, 
and circulating it as a medium to absorb heat from 
the water being frozen, and to give it out to the 
“The employment of the engine for 
the purpose of rendering the expansion of the con- 
densed air gradual, in order to obtain its full re- 
frigeratory effects, and, at the same time, render 
available the mechanical force with which it tends to 
dilate to aid in working the condensing pump, irre- 
spective of the manner in which the several parts 
are made, arranged, and operated” is a remarkably 
accurate description of the method for the time. Short 
of the actual recognition of the equivalence of work 
and heat, due to Mayer in 1844, the inventor’s ideas 
could scarcely have been clearer. Gorrie published 
in 1844 several articles on the subject in The Com- 
mercial Advertiser of Apalachicola, Fla., a_ re- 
examination of which might be of interest from the 
point of «view of the history of the dynamical theory 
of heat and the law of the conservation of energy. These 
papers, together with the original of the patent, have 
been deposited in the U.S. National Museum. 


Part vi. of vol. xxi. of the Memoirs of the Indian 
Meteorological Department contains a discussion by 
Dr. G. C. Simpson of the potential gradient of atmo- 
spheric electricity at Simla. The data were derived 
from a Benndorf electrograph between May, 1907, 
and May, 1910, with an interruption between October 
and November, 1908, when the site of the instrument 
was altered. There are two tables showing respec- 
tively the annual variation of the potential gradient, 
and its diurnal variation for the twelve months of the 
year, for four quarters and for the year as a whole. 
Two plates show the results graphically. Use is made 
only of the days free from large irregular disturb- 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


511 


ances, numbering altogether 440. Owing to the non- 
existence of any sufficiently extensive level ground in 
Simla, it was impossible to deduce absolute values 
appropriate to a site in the open. The unit employed 
is thus an arbitrary one. The most remarkable 
feature is the frequent occurrence of negative potential 
in fine weather during May and June. This Dr. 
Simpson attributes to the presence of large quantities 
of dust in the atmosphere during the warm, dry 
weather which precedes the setting in of the monsoon. 
The number of days available, especially in July and 
August, is scarcely sufficient to give smooth diurnal 
inequalities for the individual months of the year; 
but there are obviously as a rule two maxima and 
two minima, one pair in the forenoon, the other in 
the afternoon. The morning minimum is usually the 
principal one, especially towards mid-winter, but in 
April, May, and June—especially June—the minimum 
in the early afternoon is the more prominent. On 
the average of the years included, February gave the 
highest and June the lowest mean value of the poten- 
tial. 


A new method of preparing aqueous colloidal solu- 
tions of metals is described by H. Morris-Airey and 
J. H. Long in the Proceedings of the University of 
Durham Scientific Society (vol. v., part ii., pp. 68 and 
113), Which is based on the use of high-frequency 
alternating currents passing between electrodes of the 
metal immersed in water. It is possible to vary the 
range of frequency of the current between very wide 
limits, and in this way it has been shown that the 
colour supposed to be characteristic of the colloidal 
solutions of metals is a result of the special conditions 
of the discharge. Thus gold, tor instance, on altering 
the frequency, can be made to give a red, blue, or 
purple solution; in the red solution the particles are 
negatively charged, and in the blue solution positively 
charged. The purple solutions contain both kinds of 
particles. The red solution is converted into the blue 
by the action of an electrolyte or electric field. 


WE learn from Engineering for December 26 that 
Prof. G. Benoit and Mr. Woernle are engaged on an 
investigation of the strength and durability of wire 
ropes. The research, which they are conducting in 
the laboratory for hoisting-machinery of the Technical 
High School at Karlsruhe, will occupy them for some 
time, but as the experiments are fairly conclusive 
regarding the deleterious influences of twisting, the 
preliminary results have been published. Twisted 
ropes have been proved by these experiments to be 
much less safe than the untwisted wires, even if the 
wires be annealed, thus demonstrating that the twist- 
ing leaves considerable strains in wire ropes, and 
especially on those made of high-class steels, which 
are chiefly used in mine haulage and winding. The 
method of experimenting consisted in applying the 
wires and ropes to a pulley which was turned to and 
fro through an angle of about go° at the rate of 
tooo turns per hour, thus bending and unbending the 
wires always in the same direction. Further experi- 
ments with alternating bending to different radii, &c., 
are now being made. 


512 


NATURE 


[JANUARY I, 1914 


Tue report of the Clifton College Scientific Society 
for the year 1912-13 has been received. It contains 
information of the work done during the session by 
the various sections among which the work of the 
society is divided. We notice among the contents an 
interesting calendar of bird observations made near 
‘Clifton, from January to July, 1913, to which a note 
is appended, stating that the Royal Agricultural Show 
enclosures on Clifton Downs greatly interfered with 
‘birds and observers during the season. 


We have received from the Carnegie Institution of 
Washington two volumes prepared under the auspices 
of the department of historical research. One, by 
Mr. David W. Parker, is a ‘‘Guide to the Materials 
for United States History in Canadian Archives’; 
the other, by Prof. Herbert E. Bolton, is a similar 
guide concerned with materials for the same purpose 
in the principal archives of Mexico, Both volumes 
belong to a series, to which we have directed attention 
-on previous occasions, representing a systematic en- 
deavour by the department of historical research to 
make more easily available for authors and students 
the materials contained in foreign archives necessary 
in studying the history of the United States. Volumes 
have appeared already dealing with Cuba, Spain, 
“Great Britain, Italy, and Germany, and others con- 
cerned with the archives of Paris, Switzerland, the 
Netherlands, and Sweden are in course of prepara- 
tion. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Comer 1913f (DeLavan).—Prof. H. Kobold com- 
municates, in a Kiel Circular, No. 144, dated Decem- 
ber 21, the elements and ephemeris of Delavan’s comet 
(1g13f), the former being based on observations made 
on December 17, 18, and 19. The elements are as 


follows :— 
Elements. 
T =.914 March 2°3211 M.T. Berlin. 
Qua lon Synicr 
oa= 7 4ol 
z= 13. 46 


log g=0'04526 
Ephemeris for 12h. M.T. Berlin, 


R.A. Dec. Mag. 
he Mle Bs Py ’ 
Dec.vg1 2 5ag5 —5 184 
Jan. 1 53 44 5 49 
2 53 28 4 50:3 
3 53 12 4 361 - 
+ 53.55 —4 20:9 10°5 


A note in The Times of December 24 states that 
the comet will approach the earth and sun for the 
next two months, and while its brightness will be 
considerably increased, the object is not expected to 
be visible to the naked eye. Its south declination 
will be maintained until about the middle of January. 
The positions of the comet are in the constellations of 
Eridanus and Cetus. 


An Arp to Transit CrrcLE OsserverS.—Transit 
observers are only too well aware of the time occupied 
in reading off chronograph strips, the work involved, 
even when assisted by a writer, being equal to that 
of making the observations themselves. Any sugges- 
tion of a method of reducing the labour will be wel- 
comed provided it can be thoroughly relied upon. 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


Prof. E. Grossmann, in Astronomische Nachrichten, 
No. 4701, describes a very practical arrangement which 
seems very efficient and simple. »He adopts the read- 
ing apparatus constructed by Th. von Oppolzer, and 
works this in conjunction with an ordinary typewriter. 
All the observer has to do is to place the movable 
thread on the observed signal on the tape and the 
press of a key is sufficient to write automatically the 
scale reading underneath. In the paper Prof. Gross- 
mann describes the apparatus in some detail, and 
accompanies the text with two illustrations. Messrs. 
Favargar and Co. in Neuchatel were entrusted with 
the arranging of the complete apparatus. 

STANDARD WaAvVE-LENGTH DETERMINATIONS.—NO. 75 
of the Contributions from the Mount Wilson Solar 
Observatory is devoted to the second paper by Messrs. 
St. John and L. W. Ware, entitled ‘Tertiary 
Standards with the Plane Crating: the Testing and 
Selection of Standards.”” In this paper the authors 
have examined the international secondary standards 
from A4282 to A5506 as to their consistency among 
themselves, and have determined the wave-lengths in 
international units of a series of 198 lines in the are 
spectrum of iron from A4118 to A5506. The region 
from A5371 to A5506 is common to the 1912 and 1913 
investigations, but an entirely new series of plates 
was made for the common region. The Pasadena 
plates were taken with the 30-ft. spectrograph, while 
the Mount Wilson plates were secured with the 75-ft. 
Littrow spectroscope used in conjunction with the 
150-ft. tower telescope. The communication, which is 
published in considerable detail, is another example of 
the high accuracy attained in the Mount Wilson deter- 
minations. It is interesting to note that the difference 
between the heights above sea-level of Pasadena 
(244 m.) and Mount Wilson (1794 m.) is responsible 
for changes in relative wave-length determinations at 
the two stations. | Numerous important conclusions 
are summed up at the end of the paper. 


PRIZE AWARDS OF THE PARIS 
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES FOR 1913: 

Geometry.—The Francoeur prize to A. Claude, for 
the whole of his astronomical work; the Bordin prize 
was not awarded, no memoir on the question proposed 
having been received. 

Mechanics.—The Montyon prize to M. Sauvage; 
the Poncelet prize to Maurice Leblanc, for his work 
in mechanics, 

Navigation.—The extraordinary prize for the Navy 
is divided between Le Prieur (1800 francs), Geynet 
(1800 frances), Violette (1800 frances), and R. E. God- 
froy (600 francs); the Plumey prize to M. Risbec, for 
his work on the propulsion and stability of ships. 

Astronomy.—The Pierre Guzman prize is not 
awarded; the Lalande prize to J. Bosler, for his 
researches on the sudden variations of terrestrial mag- 
netism and their connection with disturbances in the 
sun; the Valz prize to Prof. Fowler, for his researches 
in spectroscopy; the G. de Pontecoulant prize to _M. 
Sundmann, for his researches on the problem of three 
bodies. 

Geography.—The Tchihatchef prize to Col. Peter 
Kusmitch Kozlov, fer his explorations and publica- 
tions on Central Asia; the Gay prize to Dr. Mocquart, 
for his memoirs on tropical reptiles. 

Physics.—The Hébert prize to Prof. Swingedauw, 
for his researches on explosive potential and electro- 


| technics; the Hughes prize to Jean Becquerel, for 


his work in magneto-optics; the De Parville prize to 
Prof. Rothé, for the whole of his researches in physics ; 
the Gaston Planté prize to R. V. Picou. for his work 
in the field of electrical industry; the Kastner-Boursalt 


q 
: 
. 


a a tt ili tee tt eee 


January 1, 1914] 


prize to Benjamin Chauveau, for his researches in 
atmospheric electricity. 

Chemistry.—The Jecker prize is divided between 
Eug. Léger (3000 francs), for his work on vegetable 
alkaloids, M. Mailhe (2500 frances), for his researches 
on catalytic reduction, Amand Naleur (2500 francs), for 
his work in analytical, organic, and thermochemistry, 
and Fernand Bodroux (2000 frances), for work in 
organic chemistry; the Cahours prize divided between 
Mme. Ramart-Lucas Paul Clausmann, and E. Chab- 
lay; the Montyon prize (unhealthy trades) to MM. 
Desgrez and Balthazard (2500 frances), for their work 
relating to life in a confined atmosphere, M. Henriet 
receiving a mention (1500 francs), for his memoir on 
the impurities of Paris air; ihe Berthelot prize to 
Ernest Fourneau, for his syntheses of stovaine, novo- 
caine, and other substances of service in therapeutics ; 
the Vaillant prize was not awarded, as no memoir 
was received dealing with the question proposed. 

Mineralogy and Geology.—The Delesse prize to 


Robert Douvillé, for his important works relating to | 


certain groups of ammonites in France and South 
America; the Joseph Labbé prize to M. Dussert, for 
two memoirs dealing with the metalliferous deposits 
of Algeria; the Victor Raulin. prize to J. Blayac, for 
his paper dealing with the geology of the Seybouse 
and some neighbouring regions. 

Botany.—The Desmaziéres prize to M. Hariot, for 
his work on marine flora; the Montagne prize to M. 
Gain, naturalist on the Pourquoi-Pas ?, for his memoir 
on the Algz of the Antarctic regions; the de Coincy 
prize to Marcel Dubard, for his researches on the 
Sapotacez; the Grand prize of the physical sciences 
to Auguste Chevalier, for his geographical study of 
the flora of western French Africa; the Thore prize 
to Etienne Foéx, for his publications on the Erysi- 
baceze; the de la Fons-Melicocq prize to Eugéne 
Coquidé, for his study of the vegetation of the peaty 
valleys of Picardy. 

Rural Economy.—The Bigot de Morogues prize to 
Gustave André for his work on agricultural chemistry 
and the chemistry of the soil. 

Zoology.—The Savigny prize to Henri Neuville, for 
his work on the invertebrates of Abyssinia; the Cuvier 
prize to Charles Oberthiir for his studies in ento- 
mology and comparative lepidopterology. 

Medicine and Surgery.—Montyon prizes (2500 
francs each), to Mme. Lina Negri Luzzani, for her 
studies on the corpuscles discovered in the nervous 
system of rabid animals, to L. Ambard, for his memoir 
on renal secretion, and to MM. A. Raillet, G. Moussu, 
and A. Henry, for their researches on the etiology, 
prophylaxy and treatment of distomatosis in 
ruminants. Mentions of 1500 francs each are accorded 
to M. Marquis, for his memoir on mercuric chloride 
in surgery, to M. Legrange, for his work on the treat- 
ment of chronic glaucoma; and to Fernand Bezancon 
and S. L. de Jong, for their treatise on the examina- 
tion of sputa. Citations are given to Henri Paillard, 
for his works on pleurisy, Paul Hallopeau, for his 
memoir on temporary disarticulation in the treatment 
of tuberculosis of the foot, and A. Sartory and Marc 
Langlais, for their work entitled dust and micro- 
organisms of the air. The Barbier prize is divided 
between Jules and André Boeckel and MM. de Beur- 
mann and Gougerot; prizes of 2000 francs each are 
awarded from the Bréant funds to’ C. Levaditi, for 
works on epidemic acute poliomyelitis, A. Netter and 
R. Debré, for their memoir on cerebrospinal mening- 
itis, and V. Babés for his treatise on hydrophobia ; 
the Godard prize to J. Tanton; the Baron Larrey prize 
to A. Dejouany; the Bellion prize to Albert Frouin and 
Pierre Gérard, for their study of the réle of mineral 
salts in digestion; the Argut prize to Claudius Regaud 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


513 


and Robert Crémieux, for their study of the effects 
of X-rays on the thymoid and the treatment of hyper- 
trophy of this gland by Réntgentherapy; the Mége 
prize was not awarded. 

Physiology.—A Montyon prize (experimental physio- 
logy) to Michel Cohendy, for his work on life without 
micro-organisms; the Philipeaux prize to Louis 
Lapicque, for his researches on the electric stimulation 
of nerves, an honourable mention to Samson Levin ; 
the Lallemand prize is not awarded, but A. Barré 
receives a very honourable mention; the Pourat prize 
to Th. Nogier and Cl. Regaud, for researches on the 
comparative action of filtered and unfiltered X-rays on 
living tissues. 

Statistics—Montyon prizes to Henri Bresson (1000 
francs), Albert Quiquet (1000 francs), and M. Thollon 


| (500 francs). 


History of Science.—The Binoux prize to M. Molk, 
for the French edition of the ‘Encyclopédie des 
Sciences mathematiques.”’ 

General Prizes —The Lavoisier medal to Ernest 
Solvay; Berthelot medals to MM. Léger, Fourneau, 
Desgrez, and Balthazard; the Henri Becquerel prize 
to Louis Dunoyer, for his researches in physics; the 
Gegner prize to J. H. Fabre; the Launelongue prize 
divided between Mme. Cusco and Mme. Ruck; the 
Gustave Roux prize to M. Montel, for his work on 
the theory of analytical functions; the Trémont prize 
to Charles Frémont; the interest on the Leconte prize 
(2500 francs) to S. Bivort, for the construction of a 
shorthand machine for the use of the blind; the Wilde 
prize (4000 francs) to M. Borrelly, for his astronomical 
discoveries; the Lonchampt prize is divided between 
Emile Demoussy (3000 francs), for his physico- 
chemical researches in plant physiology, and M. Agul- 
hon (1000 francs), for his work on the function of 
boron in living matter; the Saintour prize is divided 
between Camille Tissot (2000 francs), for his work on 
wireless telegraphy, and M. Maire, for his studies in 
the history of science; the Henri de Parville prize to 
Jean Perrin; the Fanny Emden prize is not awarded, 
but encouragements are given to Guillaume de Fon- 
tenay (2000 francs), and J. Courtier (1000 francs); the 
d’Ormoy prize to Claude Guichard, for the whole of 
his mathematical works; the Petit d’Ormoy prize to 
Jules Lefévre, for the whole of his scientific work; 
the Pierson-Perrin prize is divided between Ch. Fabry 
(2000 frances), H. Buisson (2000 francs), and Rodolphe 
Soreau (1000 francs); the Parkin prize is not awarded ; 
the Estrade-Delcros prize to Mme. Charles André; 
the Danton prize to Eugéne and Léon Bloch; the prize 
founded by Mme. la Marquise de Laplace to M. 
Boutteville; the prize founded by Félix Rivot between 
MM. Demay, Perrin, Boutteville, and Renaud. 


The Bonaparte Fund. 


The committee appointed by the Paris Academy of 
Sciences to allocate the grants from this fund for the 
year 1913 have made the following proposals :—Out 
of sixty-three applications the committee recommend 
twenty-one grants. 

3000 francs to H. Caillol, for the publication of his 
catalogue of the Coleoptera of Provence. 

2000 francs to A. Colson, for apparatus required for 
his work in physical chemistry. 

2000 frances to E. Coquidé, to assist him in his study 
of the means of utilising peaty soil. 

2000 francs to C. Schlegel, for the continuation of 
his researches in the laboratory of M. Delage. 

6000 francs, in equal parts, between MM. Pitard 
and Pallary, for assistance in the continuation of their 
scientific work in Morocco. 

2000 francs to Jules Welsch, for his geological work 
on the coasts of western France and Great Britain. 


514 


2000 franes to Louis Roule, for continuing and ex- 
tending his researches on the morphology and biology 
of the salmon in France. 

2000 francs to Jean Pougnet, for the continuation 
of his researches on the chemical and biological action 
of ultra-violet light. 

2000 francs to C. Dauzére for his work on cellular 
vortices, 

2000 francs to Méd. Gard, for the publication of a 
work and atlas on material left by the late M. Bornet. 

4000 francs to Aug. Chevalier, to meet the expense 
necessitated by the classification of the botanical 
material arising from his expeditions in Africa. 

2000 francs to Paul Becquerel, for the continuation 
of his physiological researches relating to the influence 
of radio-active substances upon the nutrition, repro- 
duction, and variation of some species of plants. 

4ooo francs to Le Morvan, for assistance in pub- 
lishing the photographic atlas of the moon. * 

2000 francs to Jacques Pellegrin, to assist him to 
pursue his researches and publish works on African 
fishes. 

3000 francs to E. Rengade, for a systematic re- 
search on the presence and distribution of the rare 
alkali metals in mineral waters. 

3000 francs to Charles Alluaud, for the publication 
of work on the Alpine fauna and flora of the high 
mountainous regions of eastern Africa. 

2000 francs to Charles Lormand, for the purchase 
of a sufficient quantity of radium bromide to carry out 
methodical researches on the action of radio-activity 
on the development of plants. 

2000 francs to Alphonse Labbé, for researches on 
the modifications undergone by animals on changing 
from salt to fresh water or the reverse. 

3000 francs to G. de Gironcourt, for the publication 
of the scientific results of his expeditions in Morocco 
and western Africa. 

3000 francs to A. F. Legendre, for the publication 
of maps and documents of his expeditions in China. 

2000 francs to H. Abraham, for the determination 
of the velocity of propagation of Hertzian waves be 
tween Paris and Toulon. 


PAPERS ON VERTEBRATE 
PAL ONTOLOGY. 


a ae vol. xxii. (pp. 407-420) of thé Bulletin of the 
KU American Museum of Natural History Prof. 
H. F. Osborn contributes two articles on the skulls of 
ungulates from the Wind River Lower Eocene of 
Wyoming. A very interesting point is that in the 
members of the family Uintatheriidz chacteristic 
of this stage, such as Bathyopsis, the skull lacks the 
great bony horn-cores of the later types, their place 
being taken by small knobs. In the perissodactyle 
Titanotheriidz it has been found that two phyla of 
the genus Eotitanops are recognisable, one com- 
prising relatively small, persistently primitive light- 
limbed species, and the other animals of a larger and 
more progressive type. Several mew species are 
named. 

In the Bulletin of the Department of Geology, 
California University (vol. vii., pp. 169-175), Dr. J. C. 
Merriam describes a lower molar of a tapir obtained 
many years ago from the auriferous gravels of Cali- 
fornia as a new race of a species described by Leidy 
from the Pleistocene of South Carolina. To this race 
(Tapirus haysii californicus) is provisionally referred 
a set of three upper molars from the late Tertiary of 
Oregon. The species appears to be nearly related to 
the existing Central American T. bairdi. 

The skeletons of Saurolophus osborni, a duck-billed 


dinosaur of the family Trachodontidz, and of Hypacro- 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[JANUARY I, 1914 


saurus altispinus, a new genus and species of the 
same family, both from the Upper Cretaceous of 
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, form the subject of two 
papers by Mr. Barnum Brown in vol. xxxii. (pp. 387- 
407) of the Bulletin of the American Museum of 
Natural History. The type skeleton of the former, 
which measures about 32 ft. in length—the same as 
that of the contemporaneous Trachodon mirabilis— 
has been mounted on a slab for exhibition. Sauro- 
lophus, it appears, is much more numerously repre- 
sented in the Edmonton beds than its cousin 
Trachodon. Hypacrosaurus is characterised by the 
great height of the spines of the dorsal vertebrze, 
coupled with the presence of nine vertebre in the 
sacrum, against eight in the allied genus. 

Under the name of Rutiodon manhattensis, Prof. 
F. von Huene describes in the volume last cited (pp. 
275-283) the remains of a new species of phytosaur 
(belodont) from the Upper Triassic of Fort Lee, New 
Jersey, at the base of the ‘ Palisades,” opposite New 
York. In the opinion of the describer, Rutiodon and 
the European Mystrisuchus, on account of the taller 
spines of their vertebrae and the consequently more 
compressed form of their bodies, were probably better 
swimmers than the typical Phytosaurus. Both were 
long-snouted reptiles, of larger bodily size than 
Phytosaurus, the new species being the biggest yet 
described. 

From the Trias of Heligoland Mr. H. Schroeder 
(K. Preuss. Geol. Landesanstalt) describes a beauti- 
fully preserved skull of a large stegocephalian (laby- 
rinthodont) as a new species (C. helgolandiae) of the 
genus typified by von Meyer’s Capitosaurus nasutus 
from the Trias of Burnberg. 

Mere reference will suffice for supplementary notes 
on fossil sharks by Messrs. D. S. Jordan and C. H. 
Beal, published in the Bulletin of the Department 
eee California University (vol. vii., pp. 243- 
256). 

In the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural 
History, vol. xxxii., pp. 437-439, Dr. R. Broom 
records additional remains of the extinct South African 
horse described by himself in 1909 under the name of 
Equus capensis. These are stated to indicate a 
heavily built, short-legged species, standing about 
fourteen hands, and apparently distinct from all the 
existing South African members of the genus, as well 
as from the Arab stock. 

In a second communication the same author (op. 
cit., Pp. 441-437) describes a number of remains of 
South African dicynodont reptiles, many of which are 
regarded as representing new species of the typical 
Dicynodon, while others are assigned to new genera. 
It is interesting to note that a skull described by 
Huxley as that of a lizard, under the name of 
Pristerodon mackayi, really represents a dicynodont 
furnished with cheek-teeth. R. L 


AGRICULTURE AT THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION. = 


a Diese meeting this year was one of the most success- 

ful held since agriculture has been recognised 
at the British Association, both the quality of the 
papers and the attendance at the section being exceed- 
ingly good. Prof. Wood, in his presidential address, 
dealt with a problem which has now assumed very 
great importance. Hitherto the agricultural expert 
working in the counties and among farmers, has had 
to demonstrate certain facts which were already 
known at the experiment stations. One of the most 
important is the effect of phosphates in improving 
grassland, an effect so striking that it can be demon- 
strated without very refined experiments, so that the 


January I, 1914] 


NATURE 


515 


‘“‘single-plot method”’ serves the purpose very well. 
Another fact which had to be demonstrated and where 
the same method suffices is that in the case of most 
of the late-cropping varieties of potatoes the use of 
seed from certain districts in Scotland or the north of 
Ireland is profitable. But there are many cases where 
the somewhat crude single-plot method gives only 
indefinite results, and careful investigation has shown 
it to be incapable of revealing differences less than 
Io Or 15 per cent.; more refined methods are needed 
as soon as quantities of this order are to be dealt 
with. Prof. Wood went on to deal with some of 
these new methods and to urge their more general 
adoption in field work. 

The address was followed by a paper by Prof. 
Fraser Story, Bangor, on methods of German forestry. 
The five principal trees occurring in the German 
forests are Scotch pine (45 per cent.), spruce (20 per 
cent.), beech (14 per cent.), oak (7 per cent.), and 
silver fir (3 per cent.) The commonest method of 
regenerating the pine forest is by planting one- or 
two-year-old seedlings, the scanty foliage of which 
resists drying in sandy soils better than larger plants. 
In the case of spruce, on the other hand, transplant- 
ing material is used because the tree is grown in 
hilly or mountainous districts where there is more 
precipitation and greater danger of suppression by 
weeds. Beech and silver fir req ic shade when 
young, and therefore natural regeneration is resorted 
to, so that they may receive the shelter they need from 
the parent trees. Oak is generally raised from the 
acorn sown by hand, usually in a sheltered wood. 

Mr. Collinge followed with a description of a pecu- 
liar disease of cereals and roots and the action of 
sulphur and lime. The disease is known as ‘ May- 
sick,” and it is most evident on wheat. Mr. Collinge 
considered it is due to bacteria which interfere with 
the nutrition of the plant. Sulphur and unslaked 
lime are found to be successful remedies. 

The growing of linseed as a farm crop was next 
discussed by Mr. Duncan Davidson. Experiments 
made in this country during the last three years show 
that the crop can be successfully grown, that 10 to 
15 cwt. of linseed per acre can be obtained on medium 
land at a cost of about 6/., while the present price of 
the same quantity of linseed meal is 101. The climate 
both of England and Wales is found to be quite suit- 
able for the crop, and any soil of good texture and 
depth and not likely to dry out is suitable. The best 
time for sowing seems to be from the middle of April 
to the middle of May, but the seed at present obtain- 
able is quite unsuitable owing to its mixed origin, 
impure condition, and low vitality. There is also 
some difficulty about the thrashing; there is no market 
as yet for the straw. 

Prof. Barker and Mr. Gimingham gave a further 
account of their work on the fungicidal action of 
Bordeaux mixture which they attribute to the solvent 
action exerted by the fungus cells on the insoluble 
compounds of the spray fluid. They found that ger- 
minated spores and the thin-walled cells of the fungus 
hyphz exert a definite solvent action and are killed 
by the absorption of the dissolved copper. Similar 
results are obtained with root hairs and the roots 
of germinating seedlings. The cuticle of the upper 
epidermis of apple leaves, however, seems to be prac- 
‘tically impermeable during spring and summer; at 
any rate, no injury follows spraying so long as the 
cuticle is unbroken. In autumn, however, the cuticle 
is more permeable and death results more easily. 

The second day was devoted to a joint discussion 
with the Botanical Section on the problems of barley 
production. Mr. E. S. Beaven opened with a very 
good account of the experiments he has been carry- 


of barley for productivity. In the case of cereal crops 
the produce of dry grain on unit area is the sum of 
the following factors :—(a) number of plants surviving 
on the area at harvest; (b) the average dry weight 
per plant, which is the sum of the average number 
of stems per plant and the average weight per stem; 
(c) the ratio of the dry matter of the seed to the dry 
matter of the plant. These factors have been very 
fully investigated by Mr. Beaven, and a considerable 
interest attaches to the third, which he calls the 
migration factor, and which relates to the rate of 
transfer of material from the stem, leaf, and root 
to the seed. Mr. Beaven finds that this factor is 
high in the good yielding varieties, and in good. 
seasons, and he has got evidence that it is a definite 
character. It will be extremely interesting to follow 
up this migration factor and see in what way it is 
related to the other properties of the plant. 

This paper was followed by three others dealing 
with Irish barley experiments. These were com- 
menced in 1899 with the intention of improving the 
Irish barley crop. It was soon found that the 
varieties in common use were inferior to the best 
known elsewhere, and experiments were begun with 
other varieties, two of which turned out to be very 
useful, ‘“‘Archer’’ and ‘‘Goldthorpe.”” ‘‘Archer” is a 
narrow-eared barley, not usually grown on heavy soils 
or in late districts, but on light soils and in early 
districts, the result of its natural tendency to ripen 
late. ‘‘Goldthorpe,” on the other hand, is a typical 
wide-eared barley ripening about a week earlier than 
“Archer,” and therefore more suitable on heavy land. 
Mr. Bennett showed that the strain of ‘‘ Archer” 
raised in Ireland is just as good as that imported 
from elsewhere. By careful selection improvements 
have been effected, not only in cropping capacity, but 
also in quality. 

Mr. Hunter described the continuation of these 
experiments and the method of selection now in use 
at Ballinacurra. For the past two years a large 
number of plots on a very small scale are set up, and 
consequently a number of pure lines can be inves- 
tigated. 

Dr. Hackett discussed the results from a statistical 
point of view. 

Another joint discussion dealing with live-stock 
problems is reported in the account of the Physio- 
logical Section, and need not be further dealt with 
here (see Nature, December 18, 1913, p. 462). 

‘The Utilisation of Sewage in Agriculture’’ formed 
the subject of a paper by Dr. Grossmann. He attri- 
buted the unsatisfactory results obtained in farming. 
with sewage sludge to the fatty matter invariably 
present, and described a process whereby the dry 
sludge is mixed with a small percentage of acid, and 
subjected to the action of superheated steam, which 
carries off the fatty matters, whereby an inodorous 
brown powder is obtained, containing on an average 
I-53 per cent. of nitrogen, 3 per’ cent. of calcium 
phosphate, o-5 per cent. of potash, and 30-40 per cent. 
of organic matter. It was stated that good results 
had been obtained by the use of this material as 
manure. The author considers that the process re- 
moves one of the great difficulties in dealing with 
sludge; hence the sewage engineer may now aim at 
producing more sludge than before. 

A group of three papers on soil followed. Dr. 
Hutchinson described experiments made in conjunction 
with Mr. McLennan showing that a partial sterilisa- 
tion effect, intermediate in character between that 
exercised by heat and mild antiseptics, could be 
brought about by treating soil with quicklime. In 
the cases presented somewhere about 1 per cent. of 
lime was necessary; after a certain incubation period 


ing out for some years at Warminster on the selection | the soil bacteria then began to multiply rapidly and 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


516 


NATURE 


[JANUARY I, 1914 


yield large increases in the amount of ammonia and 
of nitrate. 

This was followed by a paper by Mr. Goodey 
describing his investigations on the protozoa of the 
soil. The first forms investigated were the ciliated 
protozoa, particularly Colpoda. Evidence was 
adduced to show that this organism probably exists 
in the soil as cysts, though it must have had some 
active existence some time because of the large num- 
bers in which cysts occur. Another investigation 
dealt with the effects of partial sterilisation on two 
old soils which had been stored in bottles for many 
years at Rothamsted, one since 1846 and the other 
since 1870. The 1870 soil behaves normally on partial 
sterilisation, giving an increase in bacterial numbers 
and also in ammonia and nitrate, showing. that the 
limiting factor present in ordinary soils was also pre- 
sent in this soil; amcebz and flagellates also occurred. 

The 1846 soil, however, behaved entirely differently 
and showed the phenomena of a soil already partially 
sterilised; there was no evidence of any limiting 
factor being present, and no ameebe, flagellates, or 
other protozoa could be found. 

In the discussion that followed Prof. Gamble ex- 
pressed the opinion that amoebz and flagellates could 
probably be found in an active condition in the soil 
although the ciliates probably were not. 

A third paper dealt with the nitrification in some 
pasture soils, and was presented by Mr. Gimingham. 
It is known that nitrification is reduced to a minimum 
in pasture soils rendered acid by the continued use of 
ammonium salts as manure, and an investigation was 
therefore made of a soil intermediate in character 
between the true moor and the true fen soil. This 
contains 30 to 40 per cent. of organic matter and only 
traces of carbonate, but the water is neutral in 
action. The soil was found to be capable of bringing 
about rapid nitrification of peptone, a remarkable 
feature being the great amount of action directly the 
peptone was added. Ammonium sulphate also quickly 
nitrifies, but the soil in this case takes on a feebly acid 
reaction, 

Prof. Bottomley described experiments in which 
peat was treated with certain aérobic soil bacteria, 
and then became converted into a_blackish-lookine 
powder of distinct manurial value. It was also stated 
that the substance conditioned fixation of nitrogen 
in the soil. 

A paper was presented by Miss Taylor on the life- 
history of Eriophyes ribis. When Ribis nigrum is the 
host-plant the embryonic true leaves of the bud are 
attacked by the mite and the bud develops into a 
‘“big-bud."” No injury is caused, however, to the 
foliage of the tree. The migration of mites from 
infested buds is carried out mainly by the wind. On 
the other hand, when Ribis grossularia is the host- 
plant the scales leaves of the bud only are attacked 
and no big-bud is formed. Apparently the mite cannot 
penetrate the true leaves of the bud, and injury is con- 
fined to the foliage. Distribution by wind is not 
general, migration being mainly due to the mite 
Fab es from the infested bud to the expanding 
eaves. 

Dr. Winifred Brenchley summarised ier investiga- 
tions on the weeds of arable land. On clay soils the 
weed flora is less rich in species than on light loam, 
and though several plants have a distinct preference 
for heavy land no species can be said to be sympto- 
matic of clay, occurring on such soils and nowhere 
else. Sandy soils possess a much more characteristic 
weed flora, as they are colonised by a great diversity 
of plants, a number of which are distinctly associated 
with light soils. Such plants as spurry, corn mari- 
gold, sheep’s sorrel, and knawel appeared to be char- 
acteristic of sandy soils which are deficient in chalk; 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


in other words, ‘‘sour” soils. Chalk provides a pecu- 
liar habitat for weeds, and the weed flora is very 
rich in species, some of which» are markedly char- 
acteristic. There is evidence now that a distinct 
association exists between the species of weed and 
the soil in which they grow. This association may 
be local, when the weed is symptomatic of the 
soil in one district, but not exclusively associated with 
it in another. On the other hand, it may be general, 
when a certain species is symptomatic or character- 
istic of the same type of soil in different districts. 
The nature of the crop also plays a part in determin- 
ing the weed flora. 

A note was presented by Miss Armitage on the two 
varieties of corn spurry. Spergula arvensis is a rather 
frequent weed on the red sandy loam in Hereford- 
shire, but the author never observed it in such develop- 
ment as to cause injury to crops. Spergula sativa, 
as she had seen it in Cheshire, is a terrible pest, 
causing marked injury both to roots and clover. It 
would be interesting to know whether this was always 
more harmful than S. arvensis. ; 

The section concluded with a very interesting and 
important paper by Sir Richard Paget on the pos- 


sibility of partnership between landlord and tenant. 


A form of agreement has been drawn up on this basis 
and was distributed at the meeting. An interestine 
discussion followed, which, however, is rather of 
general than of purely scientific interest. 


PSYCHOLOGY AT THE BRIETS Ea 
ASSOCIATION. 


SEPARATE Subsection of Psychology was 
formed this year at the British Association for 
the first time. The experiment was even more suc- 
cessful than had been anticipated. The general 
attendance was large and often crowded. Almost 
every experimental psychologist in Great Britain 
either attended the meetings or else sent or promised 
papers. The contributions received were so numerous 
that four meetings were held during afternoons. 
The proceedings of the subsection opened on Thurs- 
day with a series of papers, for the most part philo- 
sophical in character, The first paper was one by 
Dr. Wildon Carr, upon “The Absurdity of Psycho- 
physiological Parallelism even as a Hypothesis.’’ Dr. 
Carr suggested that in considering the relation be- 
tween body and mind, parallelism was not the only 
alternative to interaction; the relation might be 
solidarity of function, in which two independent 
realities are united. Mr. McDougall’s paper upon 
laughter aroused especial interest. Taking the chief 
theories of laughter hitherto propounded, he claimed 
that they did not account for all varieties of laughter, 
and, further, that they did not even seek to answer the 
most fundamental problem, namely to what end did 
the human species acquire this capacity for laughing ? 
The conditions exciting laughter he endeavoured to 
reduce to (1) situations that are mildly unpleasant, 
except so far as they are redeemed by laughter; (2) 
those things which would excite a feeble degree of 
sympathetic pain, if we did not actually laugh at 
them. The effects of laughter he described as con- 
sisting especially in an increase of the general and,. 
pleasurable sense of well-being. He added that 
the appearance of laughter seemed especially asso- 
ciated with the development of social life. From 
these considerations he argued that laughter proper 
(as distinguished from the smile, which in the adult 
has become secondarily associated with it) is a pro- 
tective reaction which shields us from the depressing 
influence of the shortcomings of our fellow-men. 
Laughter, in short, is the antidote to sympathy. 


: 


JANUARY I, 1914] 


In the afternoon Dr. Watt gave a careful exposition 
of “Some Main Principles of Integration.’ Prof. 
Carveth Read followed with an analysis of ‘‘ The Con- 
ditions of Belief in Immature Minds.” The chief 
relevant characteristic of the mind of the savage and 
the child, he pointed out, is the unusual influence of 
illogical inferences, or imaginations, and of non- 
evidentiary causes of belief. This characteristic de- 
pends upon (1) ap unusual vividness of imagination ; 
(2) an absence of exact knowledge as a standard; 
(3) an inability to make comparisons, either because 
of the influence of desires, or because of the imperfect 
development or education of the mind; the mind is 
consequently in a state of incoordination, and _ its 
beliefs form relatively isolated systems. 

On Friday the subsection held a joint sitting with 
Section I (Physiology). In the morning Prof. R. M. 
Ogden (of Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.A.) gave an 
account of ‘‘Some Experiments on the Localisation of 
Visual Images.’ The images were suggested by a 
series of fifty words. It was found that the images 
of memory tended to be located at their proper place 
and distance, while the images of imagination tended 
to be placed upon the disc fixated during the intro- 


spections. 
Dr. Myers described ‘‘Experiments on Sound 
Localisation,” carried out in the sound-proof room of 


the new psychological laboratory at Cambridge. The 
sound was usually a fundamental tone of 200 vibra- 
tions, accompanied by overtones separately emitted; 
these were led into the sound-proof room by a tube 
ending in a movable funnel carried by a noiseless 
perimeter. In the end, timbre and _ loudness 
proved the only trustworthy criteria whereby 
his subjects localised the sounds; laterality and 
medial incidence, exploited at first, were eventually 
abandoned. Alteration in the intensity of the several 
overtones, and in the loudness of the whole sound, 
increased very distinctly the number of erroneous 


localisations. In the case of a medial sound, just as 
in the case of a lateral sound, the spatial (and, some- 
times, tactual) impressions seemed illusory. In 


reality they appeared to be of auditory origin. And 
in each case the spatial experience seemed to be a 
cue leading to a head movement, whereby the sound 
is more correctly localised. : 

Miss E. M. Smith described a series of observations, 
carried out in the same laboratory, upon ‘“ Habit 
Formation in Guinea-pigs.” The tests used—(r) 
labyrinth test, (2) a new sensory test discrimination 
test—formed part of a larger scheme to test inherit- 
ability of learning, &c., and incidentally brought to 
light hitherto unrecorded points of interest concerning 
the behaviour of guinea-pigs. Miss May Smith re- 
ported results yielded by tests of Bergson’s two forms 
of memory. ‘The correlations tended to show that 
rote memory is distinct from pure memory (recogni- 
tion) and more closely allied to physiological memory 
or habit. Dr. Shrubsall briefly discussed ‘‘The Rela- 
tive Fertility and Morbidity of Defective and Normal 
Stocks.” On examining the family histories of several 
thousand children, he found that the correlation be- 
tween the size of the paternity and the number dead 
is much higher in defective stocks than in normal. 
In spite, therefore, of the notorious fertility of defec- 
tive stocks, by adult age the disparity in size of family 
has, owing to higher morbidity, almost disappeared. © 

In the afternoon papers upon “Variations in the 
Spatial Threshold” and ‘‘ A Simple Method of Demon- 
strating Weber’s Law” were read by Mr. Godfrey 
Thomson and Mr. Shepherd Dawson respectively 
Two important contributions to the study of fatigue 
were given by Miss May Smith and Mr. J. H. Wimmis. 

On Monday a joint meeting was held with Sec. 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


517 


tion L (Education}.. The morning was chiefly occu— 
pied with a discussion of spelling. A full report of 
the proceedings has appeared in the account of the 
work of the Education Section (December 25, 1913, 


». 491). 

Fe apie 8 of Dr. Kimmins (chief inspector, L.C.C.): 
for educational research may be mentioned as of 
special interest and importance. In the afternoon 
Mr. Valentine gave a paper on the phonic method of 
teaching reading, Mr. E. D. Lewis upon analytic and 
synthetic methods in learning, and Mr. Burt upon the- 
mental differences between the sexes. ‘ 

On Tuesday the greater part of the morning was- 
occupied with papers on tests of intelligence. Dr. 
McIntyre and Miss Rogers described ‘* The Application. 
of the Binet-Simon Scale to Scots Children,”’ and Mr. 
Moore and Mr. Winch described some “Tests of 
Reasoning” carried out at Liverpool and London.. 
Mr. Fox recounted a series of experiments upon “ The 
Conditions which arouse Mental Imagery in 
Thought.” Imagery, it was found, appeared to arise: 
chiefly when thought was momentarily hindered or 
obstructed. 

In the afternoon the president of the Economics. 
Section (Rev. P. H. Wicksteed) appealed for a study 
of ‘‘The Psychological Basis of Economics.’* Mr. Pear 
followed with an ‘‘Analysis of Some Personal: 
Dreams,” and Dr. Brown with a discussion of 
“Psycho-analysis.”” Dealing with the psychological 
doctrines of the school of Freud, the afternoon’s dis— 
cussion perhaps aroused a more general interest than 
any other- 

On Wednesday morning the chief feature was a. 
couple of papers by Mr. Pear and Mr. Wyatt upon 
testimony. Mr. Pear described the chief “ Modern 
Experimental Investigations of Testimony,” and 
emphasised their legal significance. Mr. Wyatt de-. 
scribed experiments upon normal and defective school 
children in Manchester and Liverpool. He found that 
normal children, when uninfluenced by cross-examina— 
tion and the personality of the questioner, can give 
testimony of a high degree of accuracy, but of small 
range; the testimony of defective children differs im 
quality more than in degree, but the difference is not 
very abrupt. 

The chief impression created by the meetings of the 
subsection was a sense of the great and varied activity 
now going on in the various psychological laboratories. 
recently established throughout the country, and the 
eagerness of the public and of the Press to recognise 
the ‘‘new’’ science and to emphasise (often to over- 
emphasise) its possibilities of development. The in- 
terest in practical applications was marked. But it 
was equally clear that the applications already 
attempted themselves pointed to the urgent need of 
further work the character of which shall be more 
purely scientific. Cyrit Burt. 


ON THE HIGHEST UNIVERSITY 
EDUCATION IN GERMANY AND FRANCE.® 
[% the beginning of the nineteenth century Napoleon 

crushed the spirit and power of the Germans for 
a time, but the nation soon recovered from the blow 
through the stirring appeals which their great men, 
many of them professors in the universities, made to: 
them, and their politicians and wise men, men of 
deep thought and strong will, deliberated earnestly in 
what way they could rescue their country from the 
depression under which it lay and restore it to independ- 
ence and to a high place amongst the nations of the 
earth. They became convinced that one of the most 
effective means for this purpose was education, and 


1 Fion, an address delivered at the University of St. Andrews on Occober 
13, by Principal Sir James Donaldson. 


518 


they formed the following plan of carrying out this 
education. Their eyes were fixed on the young men 
of the country and they thought the best way to train 
them for civil and political life, and for the discharge 
of all the highest duties of statesmanship, was to 
divide their education into two periods. Thus arose 
the gymnasium and the present form of their univer- 
sities. The idea of the gymnasium was that the boys 
should remain at school from eleven years of age until 
they were about twenty, under the strict discipline of 
the schoolmasters and be guided by them in all their 
studies. In these schools the young men were to be 
instructed in all the important knowledge which pre- 
vious generations discovered and acquired. It was 
deemed that young men up to that age should not be 
invited to specialise. They were to be the recipients 
of the best ideas and methods which had come down 
to them through tradition. 

The universities were to be the means of educating 
the young men from twenty to twenty-three, twenty- 
four, or twenty-five. It was at once seen that the 
method of education must be different. The experi- 
ence which had been carried out successfully in the 
University of Halle gave the cue to the new work of 
the universities. This work assigned to the universi- 
ties was to give a scientific education to all the young 
men who were fit to receive it. Science is the key- 
note of the system. There can be no good scientific 
training except on certain conditions. First of all the 
professors or teachers must themselves be men who 
pursue the scientific method of study and are advanc- 
ing the boundaries of scientific knowledge. They 
must show in all their lectures the scientific spirit. 
Then there must be no restriction in the liberty to 
teach. Every man who is following the scientific 
method with adequate acquirements and capacity must 
be invited to teach; and, finally, the teacher must be 
untrammelled in his scientific investigations. He 
must search for truth solely for its own sake, and he 
must be allowed to express the conclusions to which 
he comes, whatever they may happen to be. This is 
what the legislators called Lehrfreiheit—the freedom 
of the instructor and the instruction. But along with 
these there must be Lernfreiheit—the freedom of 
learning and the learner. The learner must be free 
to choose the professors whose lectures he is to attend. 
There must be no restriction. The parents may advise 
him, but the State imposes no limitations. He goes 
where he has reason to believe that he will get what 
will stimulate him and guide him best. Of course, it 
was only those young men who had shown ability to 
whom a continuance of study would be profitable. 
They must be the best young men of the nation. Then 
these young men were no longer to be under the 
discipline of schoolmasters, but were to be free to 
choose for themselves how they were to study. No 
compulsion was to be used, but they were to select 
for themselves the teachers that would suit them, and 
the State was to supply them with all the best teachers 
or professors who could be found willing to teach 
and to lecture. 

All this was done nearly 100 years ago. The plans 
of Humboldt and others were carried out consistently, 
and they now continue to the present day. The 
uniform opinion in Germany in regard to them is that 
the universities thus conducted have been of infinite 
benefit to the State, and have been along with the 
secondary schools a most important element in Ger- 
many’s acquisition of extraordinary intellectual influ- 
ence amidst the nations of the world, and in the 
building up of a great empire. I have adduced in 
proof of this in my previous addresses the testimony 
of eminent witnesses, such as Savigny, Stotzner, Max 
Miiller, and I now adduce the opinion of Paulsen, 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


| 


[JANUARY I, I914 


the best authority on the subject. His little book, 
“The German Universities,” is admirable, and de- 
serves the attention of all whoware interested in this 
subject. ‘‘ Whoever understands youth,” he says, 
“‘and knows the circumstances of German universi- 
ties, will not doubt that all attempts to help along 
devotion to study by more or less mild expedients 
would be vain and harmful; vain, because only the 
semblance of such devotion, not thg thing itself, can 
be forced; and harmful, because they weaken the 
sense of independence and_ responsibility. Forced 
study implies a scholastic system and scholastic rela- 
tions between teacher and pupil, of the sort which 
existed in the medizeval universities. Such “a condi-— 
tion is to-day inconceivable in the German universi- 
ties.” . . . ‘‘In the first place, the relations between 


| student and instructor would be disturbed. At pre- 


sent these relations are throughout most satisfactory, 
resting as they do on a basis of freedom and mutual 
confidence, and every attempt to increase attendance 
on lectures by any other means than the attractiveness 
of the lectures would necessarily impair their charm. 
Who could endure to face a circle of hearers to whom 
he could not say at all times: ‘ Whoever thinks he 
does not find here what he wants, is under no com- 
pulsion to come’? Again, the student’s attitude 
towards science herself would be altered. She, free 
herself, must be sought and loved by free men; if, 
forced upon us, she would be detested by all—not only 
by those whose nature keeps them from intimacy with 
her, but by those also who now follow her of their 
own inclination. 

“He who is not convinced of this from his know- 
ledge of human nature may learn it from the experi- 
ence of such measures gained everywhere and always.” 

No other universities for a long time adopted the 
methods of the German universities, but in recent 
times a considerable number of them made approaches 
without rigorously carrying out the ideal either of the 
gymnasium or the ideal of the university. In our 
own country we do a part of the higher work done 
at a German gymnasium at our universities, and for 
continuing this state of matters a powerful argument 
can be drawn from the circumstance that it is advis- 
able that the passage of the boy from the strict dis- 
cipline of the school to the unrestricted freedom of the 
university should be gradual and not too abrupt and 
difficult, as it is believed to be in Germany. In our 
universities also we have classes where the element of 
research is important; and so it is with some universi- 
ties in England and America. But nowhere has there 
been the distinct difference between the education that 
treats the lad up to twenty as receptive and the young 
man of twenty and upwards as following out the 
desires of his own mind in the search for truth, re- 
sponsible for his own development and free to do 
what he deems best for his intellectual and moral 
progress. 

A remarkable start, however, has quite recently 
been made. From 1870, the French have been firmly 
convinced that one of the modes in which they-can 
recover most effectively the position which they lost 
in the Franco-Prussian War is by devoting their atten- 
tion to education at every stage, but most especially 
to the higher education. Gradually the French have 
come to believe that the German ideal is sound and 
their method of accomplishing it the best, and so they 
have now set it forth as that by which they are to 
work. This conviction was brought about by a slow 
process. It did not spring from a wish to imitate the 
Germans, but was borne in upon them by their own 
experience of university work. M. Liard, who has 
been the most prominent agent in creating the revolu- 
tion in the French universities, has thus expressed 


Se 


JANUARY I, 1914] 


NATURE 


519 


these ideas:—‘‘This sympathy and help has been 
found, this action has been forthcoming, and it is 
possible to-day to say that in spite of some remaining 
hesitation, inevitable so long as the revolution in pro- 
gress is not finally carried out, the French universities 


are fully conscious of their three-fold function, or 


rather, of the three stages of their functions, in regard 
to learning. The first stage is to be a centre of 
general culture, the second to prepare for professions 
and careers, and, at the top, for picked students, to 
give opportunity for learned research. It is these 
ideas which have inspired the new regulations for 
examinations that have been submitted to the faculties. 
The best programme for a university is not to have 
one. The best regulations for professors is full liberty 
to teach, and for students full liberty to choose, at 
their own risk, out of the varied teaching of the 
university, according to their tastes, their aptitudes, 
and their plans for the future. In France, such a 
state of affairs is impossible, at least for many long 
years.” 

The difficulty, however, of attaining the highest aim 
in the French universities has not been found so great 
as might have been expected. In the first place, there 
has always been a considerable number of students in 
Paris continuing at their work until twenty-four or 
twenty-five or even longer, and, secondly, those who 
are now elected professors, are nearly all men who 
have devoted themselves to research, have gained the 
highest distinctions in their researches, and are there- 
fore well able to inspire students with a love of scien- 
tific inquiry. It is fifteen years since M. Liard’s paper 
was printed. During that time the University of 
Paris has made great efforts to carry out the ideal 
which he proposed, and there is no doubt that it has 
been strikingly successful. 

Thus these two great nations have come to 
conclusion that this is the best way to educate 
men who are to have the highest influence in 
State and the nation. 

In Germany every professor has to deliver public 
lectures for which no fee is demanded. The French 
go beyond this, and many of their best professors 
deliver lectures suitable for the general student who 
may not wish a degree but simply a knowledge of the 
subject discussed, and, of course, they can also attend 
the classes which have been arranged for the qualified 
students. Now surely if this is the way in which two 
great nations believe that they can best educate their 
highly endowed citizens, is it not time that we should 
attempt something of the same kind? I have again 
and again said that there would be no great difficulty 
in accomplishing this in the University of St. Andrews. 
We have many students who are eager to continue 
their studies at the University. In fact, the great 
majority of those who have obtained the highest 
honours would gladly remain behind if their studies 
could have been so arranged as are the studies for the 
doctor of philosophy of Germany or the doctorat d’état 
of France, and in this way we could bring up some 
of our men to reach the highest excellence in the 
comprehension of the various problems which arise in 
the government of the people and in the amelioration 
of society. The same remarks could be made in 
regard to the other three Scottish universities. 

But a very serious question emerges when we think 
not of Scotland alone, but of the British Empire. 
Are the universities of England and of the British 
Dominions to remain in a position unquestionably 
inferior to that of Germany and France? Is our 
Empire to fail in providing the culture requisite for 
the highest minds? Are we to take no means to 
supply the most perfect training to those who are to 
exercise supreme influence on the mass of men in the 


the 
the 
the 


‘nations under our sway—the teachers, the legislators, 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


the governing officials, and the literary men who 
guide the Press? Surely something is far wrong, if 
we do not at once look into this matter with the view 
of establishing at least an equality with Germany 
and France. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


CaMBRIDGE.—A memorial fund raised by the friends 
of the late Humphrey Owen Jones, F.R.S., fellow 
of Clare College, who, with his wife, was killed in 
the Alps in August, 1912, has been gratefully accepted 
by the University, and a Humphrey Owen Jones 
lectureship in physical chemistry has been established. 
The General Board of Studies will shortly proceed to 
appoint a lecturer. The stipend arising from the 
memorial fund is about 3150/1. Candidates are re- 
quested to send their applications to the registrary 
of the University on or before January 17. 


In connection with the development of the forestry 
department in the University of Edinburgh, a second 
lectureship has been founded, and Mr. J. Lyford- 
Pike has been promoted to the post. 

A course of five advanced lectures on generating 
stations will be given by Mr. W H. Patchell, at the 
Battersea Polytechnic, London, S.W., on Mondays, 
at 7.30, beginning on January 19. Admission to the 
lectures is free, and no ticket is required. 

THE council of the Society of Engineers (Incor- 
porated) may award in 1914 a premium of:books or 
instruments to the value of 1ol. ros. for an approved 
essay on ‘‘ The Status of the Engineering Profession.” 
The competition is open to all, but, before entering, 
application for detailed particulars should be made to 
the secretary, 17 Victoria Street, Westminster. The 
last date for receiving essays is May 30, 1914. 

Courses of lectures in science and in literary sub- 
jects will be given in the University of Leeds on Tues- 
day, Wednesday, and Thursday, January 13-15. These 
lectures are intended primarily to meet the needs of 
teachers who find it difficult during the school term 
to keep in close touch with the most recent develop- 
ments of thought in regard to their subjects. The 
courses will, however, be open not only to teachers, 
but to all students, whether former members of the 
University or not. Among the subjects of the courses 
are :—'‘ The Réle of Enzymes in Plant Metabolism,” 
Prof. J. H. Priestley; and (1) ‘Artificial Partheno- 
genesis,’’ (2) ‘‘ Regeneration in Animals,’’ W. O. Red- 
man King. 

Tue Bulletin of the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology, Boston, for December, 1913, contains a 
catalogue of the officers and students of the institute, 
a statement of the requirements for admission, and a 
description of the courses of instruction. In the 
account given of the facilities for research particulars 
are included of the Hawaiin Volcano Observatory. A 
gift to the institute in 1909 made provision for special 
research in seismology and other branches of geo- 
physics. On January 1, 1912, the Hawaiin Volcano 
Research Association cooperated with the institute to 
establish an observatory and laboratory at the volcano 
Kilauea. Investigations are carried on by a resident 
staff, and properly qualified investigators are received 
at the observatory for special studies. A limited num- 
ber of advanced students engaged in research dealing 
with the problems of voicanology and seismology are 
received also, and the work is described as specially 
suitable to candidates for the doctorate. Among 
topics suggested as thesis subjects we notice the 
spectroscopic study of volcanic flames, collection and 
analyses of volcanic gases, and optical pyrometry 
applied to molten magma’ in the field. 


520 


At the Headmasters’ Conference, held on December 
23 and 24, at Reading School, Sir Alfred Ewing, 
director of naval education, gave an address on the 
scheme of special entry for public schoolboys into the 
Navy. This scheme of special entry was introduced 
last year at very short notice, and the number of 
candidates who came forward was probably not at all 
so great as may be expected in the future. The can- 
didates numbered ninety-two, and forty-one were 
taken for the training. Sir Alfred Ewing said hitherto 
the naval tradition has been unbroken which has 
required that officers shall join the service at so early 
an age that they can owe little or nothing to public 
school training and influence. Now, for the first time 
in British history, the Navy has said to the public 
schools, **Send us of your finished product.” He 
asked the cooperation of the headmasters because 
anything which affects the supply of officers for the 
Navy, whether the volume of the supply or its 
efficiency, is a matter of profound national concern. 
By the scheme of special entry public schoolboys may 
enter the service at the age of eighteen, and undergo 
a brief period of professional training for eighteen 
months, after which they become midshipmen. The 
qualification desired in naval cadets entered in this 
way is substantially a good general education not 
specifically classical, but an education in which, apart 
from the more humane elements, there is a consider- 
able bias towards mathematics, physical science, and 
mechanics. The reason of the bias is that these sub- 
jects form so much of the professional knowledge 
which a naval officer has to possess, and so what is 
substantially the Woolwich entrance examination, 
without one or two features of the present examina- 
tion, has been adopted. In taking the public school 
boy and giving him a brief professional training, it 
would be very hard to give all the practical mechanical 
knowledge which the naval officer ought to possess 
in so short a time, unless there was initially some 
foundation for such knowledge or at least some apti- 
tude for practical mechanics on the part of the candi- 
date. Therefore the Woolwich list of examination 
papers is supplemented by introducing a paper on very 
elementary engineering—a paper intended rather to 
test the aptitude than the training of the candidate. 
This is an attempt to attract those who have a special 
bent towards engineering. Other subjects discussed 
at the conference were the Teachers’ Register and 
several points in connection with classical education. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


Lonpon. 

Royal Meteorlogical Society, December 17.—Mr. 
C. J. P. Cave, president, in the chair.—R. C. Moss- 
man and Mr. C. Salter; The great rain storm at Don- 
caster, September 17, 1913. On that day during a 
period of disturbed weather, a very heavy and local 
fall of rain took place in the vicinity of Doncaster. 
The storm lasted fourteen hours, and in that time 
more than 4 in. of rain fell at six stations, of which 
four had more than 5 in. The small area embraced 
by the heavy rain is shown by the circumstance that 
more than 4 in. fell over only sixty-one square miles, 
while more than o-50 in. fell over 2336 square miles. 
Over the latter area 47,330 million gallons of water 
were precipitated. No adequate explanation of the 
storm can be offered, and the phenomenon affords an 
opportunity for special investigation.—Dr. J. E. 
Church, Jun.: Recent studies of snow in the United 
States. The author first gave a description of the 
snow sampler and weigher, which is an instrument he 
has designed .for quickly measuring the depth and 
the water content of snow upon mountains. He then 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[January 1, “1 


te 


referred to some of the phases of the snow , 
which were susceptible of solution by the aid 
instrument, and showed that the evolution of th: 
leads directly to the practical problem of the re.at 
of mountains and forests to the conservation of “sno 
This is of vital interest wherever irrigation is essenti 
to agriculture, as in the western portion of the United 
States and in Australia. It is also closely related to: 
the problem of stream control.—C. E. P. Brooks: The 
meteorological conditions of an ice sheet and their 
bearing on the desiccation of the globe. As the ré > 


occupied by extensive ice-sheets at the present day, © 7. _ 


Antarctica and Greenland, are the centres of per- 
manent high-pressure areas, with slight precipitation, 
the author infers that the regions occupied by similar 
ice-sheets in the glacial period were likewise occupied 
by permanent anticyclones. The maximum extent of 
glaciation occurred at about the same time in different 
regions of the globe, and also coincided with the 
maximum of the pluvial period, or period of greater 
rainfall than the present, in the unglaciated regions. 
But a general decrease in temperature should lead to 
a decrease, not an increase, in the amount of evapora- 
tion, and hence of precipitation. The explanation of 
the paradox lies in the different distribution of the 
precipitation. i 

EDINBURGH. 

Royal Society, December 4, 1913.—Prof. Hudson 
Beare, vice-president, in the chair.—Dr. W. N. Shaw: 
Principia atmospherica—a study of the circulation of 
the atmosphere. Section I. consisted of five axioms 
or laws of atmospheric motion, viz. the relation of 
motion to pressure, the computation of pressure and 
of the application of the gaseous laws, the law of 
convection, the law of the limit of convection, and 
the law of saturation. Section II. contained two 
lemmas or postulates regarding the relation between 
temperature and pressure in the stratosphere and in 
the troposphere, and the average horizontal circulation 
in the northern hemisphere. In Section III., which 
formed the bulk of the address, Dr. Shaw laid down 
for discussion six propositions, three of which had 
been already dealt with in a communication recently 
made to the Scottish Meteorological Society and 
published in the journal of the society for 1913. The 
remaining three were then considered in some detail, 
viz. : (1) the conditions necessary to maintain a steady 
atmospheric current; (5) the calculation of the dis- 
tribution of pressure and temperature in the upper 
air from the observations of structure represented by 
soundings with a pilot balloon; (6) to account for the 
general circulation of the atmosphere in the northern 
hemisphere.—Sir William Turner: Observations or 
the auditory organ in the Cetacea. The paper was 
in two parts, in which were treated respectively the 
external auditory meatus and ear-wax, and the 
tympano-petrous bones. One of the specimens of ear- 
wax exhibited was about 20 in. long, and had been 
obtained from a blue whale near the South Shetland 
Islands. Sir William Turner also read a note upon 
a siliceous sponge of the order Hexactinellida, con- 
sisting of white delicate thread-like spicules collected 
into two tufts or bundles. 

December 15.—Prof. James Geikie, F.R.S., presi- 
dent, in the chair.—Prof. C. R. Marshall: The phar- 
macological action of tetra-alkyl ammonium com- 
pounds—part ii., the action of tetra-ethyl-ammoniunt 
chloride; part iii, the action of methyl-ethyl- 
ammonium chlorides. Tetra-ethylammonium chloride 
resembles tetra-methyl-ammonium chloride in inducing 
paralysis by an action on the myo-neural junctions. 
It needs, however, much larger doses. Unlike tetra- 
methyl-ammonium chloride, it has no action on vagal 
terminations, and it is difficult to produce with it 
temporary cessation of the respiration. Trimethyl- 


a 


-_-6dh ee 


eee ee 


JARY I, 1914] 


= »dimethyl-diethyl, and methyl-triethylammonium 
-les produce actions, speaking broadly, inter- 
5 te to those of tetra-methyl- and _ tetra-ethyl- 
7 .«jonium chlorides.. None of these compounds 
dm date the vagus endings.—Miss Dorothy Court : 
__anzymatic peptolysis in germinating seeds. Parts i. 
and ii.—Prof. A. H. Gibson: The kinetic energy of 
viscous flow through a circular tube. In the experi- 
ments, which were arranged to test the theory, the 
upper end of the tube projected into the reservoir, and 
head loss at entrance to the tube was represented 
che expression cv*/2g, where the factor ¢ is unity 
for very thin-walled tubes, and o-5 for thick-walled 
tubes. The experiments gave, for three cases, values 
of c varying from 0-54 to o-71, and these could be 
represented with fair accuracy by the formula 


- 


e=1/(2—n4), 


where n is the ratio of the inner to the outer 
diameter.—L. N. G. Ramsay : Polycheta of the family 
Nereidz collected by the Scottish National Antarctic 
Expedition. These worms are poorly represented in 


Antarctic and  sub-Antarctic regions. One new 
species was found near the Falkland Islands. 
Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, December 22, 1913.—M. P. 
Appell in the chair.—Remarks by the Presi- 
dent on the _ proceedings of the fifth general 
meeting of Weights and Measures, held at 


Paris and at Sévres, October g-17.—G. Humbert : 
Indefinite binary quadratic forms.—Ch. Lallemand : 
Remarks on the second conference concerning the 
international map of the world on the scale of 
I: 1,000,000, held at Paris, December 10-17.—Arnaud 
de Gramont: The band spectrum of aluminium and 
its presence in the flame spectrum of certain minerals. 
The mineral was heated in an oxy-acetylene flame, 
giving a temperature well above the melting point of 
iridium. Metallic aluminium or its haloid salts give 
a mixed line and band spectrum, details being given. 
The spectrum is not given by the oxygen compounds 
of aluminium in the oxy-acetylene flame; but this 
generalisation does not seem to hold with all minerals, 
some giving the spectrum and others not.—M. 
Edmond Perrier was elected vice-president for the year 
1914.—Ernest Esclangon: Observation of the Delavan 
comet made with the large equatorial of Bordeaux 
‘Observatory. Positions given for December 19, on 
which date the comet was of the 11th magnitude.— 
J. Guillaume: Observations of the Delavan comet 
{1913f) made with the coudé equatorial at the Ob- 
servatory of Lyons. Position for December 19. Comet 
as a whole 11th magnitude, stellar nucleus 13th mag- 
nitude.—M., Giacobini ; Observations of the same comet 
made at the Paris Observatory. _ Three positions 
determined, December 19 and 20.—P. Chofardet: On 
the same. Observations at Besancon on December 19 
and 20.—Emile Belot: The extension of a theorem 
‘of Faye with application to the mode of formation of 
the planetary system.—St. Chevalier: The effect of 
atmospheric dispersion on the diameter of photo- 
graphed stars.—Georges Darmois: Algebraic curves of 
constant torsion.—M. Tzitzéica: Networks with equal 
invariants.—B. Hostinsky : Closed curves of constant 
torsion.—A, Chatelet : Complex multiplication.—Ernest 
Esclangon: Mean quasi-periodic functions, deduced 
from a quasi-periodic function.—Kampé de Fériet : 
The development of a function in a series of ultra- 
spherical polynomials.—Kyrille Popoff: Fredholm’s 
equations of the first species.—G. Bouligand : Correc- 
tion to a note on the problem of Dirichlet presented 
to the meeting of December 8.—Jean Chazy: The 
singular points of the general integral of the problem 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


521 


on » bodies.—Th. de Donder: The movement of heat 
in a body opaque to heat.—J. M. Crafts : General com- 
parison of vapour pressures. If T and T’ are the 
boiling points of any substance under pressures P and 
P’, T’ and T” are the boiling points under the same 
pressures of a standard substance (naphthalene), and 
C is a constant, it is shown that the relation 
T—T'=(T"—T")C holds for numerous substances of 
very varied nature.—Pierre Weiss : The molecular field 
and a law of action inversely as the sixth power of 
the distance.—Paul Sélényi: The existence and ob- 
servation of non-homogeneous spherical light waves. 
—G,. Sagnac: The proof of the reality of the luminous 
zether by the experiment of the rotating interferograph. 
—M. de Broglie: The continuous photographic regis- 
tration of the spectra of Rontgen rays. The spectrum 
of tungsten. The influence of thermal agitation.—F. 
Bourriéres: The observation of the Brownian move- 
ment with linear magnification above 20,000. In this 
work the ordinary eyepiece of a microscope was 
replaced by another complete microscope. Under 
these conditions the Brownian movement proved to 
consist of a double motion; the first with an amplitude 
of the order of a micron, the other about 1/50 of this. 
—\. Schafiers: The law of currents producing glow 
discharge in cylindrical fields —R. Marcelin: The ex- 
pression of velocities of transformation of physico- 
chemical systems as a function of the affinity.—M. 
Gompel and Victor Henri: The absorption of ultra- 
violet light by alkaloids of the morphine group and 
by phenanthrene.—Maurice Nicloux; The laws of 
absorption of carbon monoxide by the blood. The 
hemoglobin of the blood corpuscles, put in contact 
with mixtures of carbon monoxide and oxygen, com- 
bines with both gases in proportions defined by their 
partial pressures in the mixture and in accordance 
with the law of mass action.—F. Bodroux: Catalytic 
esterification in the wet way. The production of 
esters in presence of dilute mineral acids. The 
ordinary theories of esterification by mineral acids 
fail to explain the catalytic action of these acids in 
very dilute solutions at 100° C, The author suggests 
the possible formation of an addition compound of 
the organic and mineral acids as an explanation of 
the action.—Charles Staehling : A supposed separation 
of radium D from lead in active lead by means of 
Grignard’s reaction. The author has repeated the 
work of Hofmann and Wolff, and has been unable to 
obtain the positive separation indicated by these 
authors. The results are absolutely negative, and it 
is concluded that it is impossible to separate radium D 
from lead in active lead by the tetraphenyl-lead 
method.—J. Riban ; Concerning the action of carbonyl 
chloride upon phosphates and oxides. Remarks on a 
recent paper by Barlot and Chauvenet.—Gabriel 
Bertrand and H. Agulhon: A method for estimating 
extremely small quantities of boron in organic mate- 
rials.—Amé Pictet and Maurice Bouvier: Vacuum tar. 
A chemical study of the tar obtained by the distillation 
of coal at 450° C. under reduced pressure (15 mm. 
to 18 mm.). After separating alcohols and unsaturated 
hydrocarbons, two naphthenes, C,,H., and C,,H.», 
were isolated, identical with two hydrocarbons ob- 
tained by Mabery from Canadian petroleum.—M. 
Lespieau: True acetylene derivatives obtained from 
dipropargyl compounds.—E. E. Blaise: Syntheses by 
means of the organometallic zinc compounds. The 
preparation of. the aketonic acids.—Marcel Sommelet : 
A method of synthesis of benzyl chloride and its homo- 
logues. A new general method is described based on 
the following reaction, 


RH-+CICH,.O.R’=R.CH,.OR'+ HCl, 


which takes place at —10° C. in carbon bisulphide or 
carbon tetrachloride solution in presence of SnCl,.— 


22 


Paul Gaubert: Mixed liquid crystals—Albert Michel 
Levy: The effects of the granitic metamorphism in 
the carboniferous eruptive tufas in the neighbourhood 
of Macon.—Pereira de Sousa: Contribution to the 
petrographical study of the north of Angola.—Marcel 
Delassus: The influence of the size of seeds on the 
general development and anatomy of plants.—Raoul 
Combes: The conversion of an anthocyanic pigment 
extracted from red autumnal leaves to the yellow 
pigment contained in the green leaves of the same 
plant. The yellow pigment is obtained by oxidising 
the red pigment with hydrogen peroxide. The change 
in the colour of leaves in the autumn is due to a 
process of reduction.—L. Blaringhem and E. Miége: 
Studies on the straw of wheat.—Armand Viré: Ex- 
periments on the divining rod. A detailed account 


of the successful use of the divining rod.—R. 
Robinson: The physiological localisations of the 


encephalus contrasted with extensive destruction of 
this organ.—-I. G, Garfounkel and J. Gautrelet ; Con- 
tribution to the study of the action of colouring 
matters on the heart and blood pressure.—Emile 
Yung: The vertical distribution of plankton in the 
lake of Geneva.—A. Gruvel: The anchovy (Engraulis 
eucrassicholus) on the western coast of Africa.—Ch. 
Gravier : The incubation of Mopsea and Rhopalonella 
from the Antarctic—Adrien Lucet: The influence of 
agitation of the broth cultures on the development of 
Bacillus anthracis and some other micro-organisms.— 
Henri Coupin; Zinc and Sterigmatocystis nigra.—]J. 
Wolff : The catalytic action of iron in the development 
of barley.—A. Fernbach and M. Schoen: Pyruvic acid a 
life product of yeast.—Emile Haug: The geology of 
the southern slopes of Sainte-Baune.—J. Blayac : Rela- 
tions between the sands of the Landes and the terraces 
of the Garonne.—A. Bigot: The structure of the 
Bocain zone.—P, Idrac: The inequalities of the dis- 
tribution of terrestrial magnetism. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 
Letzte Gedanken. By H. Poincaré. Translated by 


Dr. K. Lichtenecker. Pp. vi+261. (Leipzig: 
Alxademische -Verlagsgesellschaft | m.b.H.) 4.50 
marks. 


The Madras Presidency, with Mysore, Coorg, and 


the Associated States. By E. Thurston. Pp. xii+ 
293. (Cambridge: University Press.) 3s. net. 
Plant Life. By T. H. Russell. Pp. 71. (Birming- 


ham: Cornish Bros., Ltd.) 2s. 6d. net. 

Royal Horticultural Society. Four Essays, written 
by Students at Wisley, 1913. Pp. 72. — (London: 
Royal Horticultural Society.) 

The Story of Plant Life in the British Isles. 
A. R. Horwood. Pp. xiv+254. 
Churchill.) 6s. 6d. net. : 

Water: Its Purification and Use in the Industries. 
By W. W. Christie. Pp. xi+219. (London: Con- 
stable and Co., Ltd.) 8s. 6d. net. 

Transmission Line Formulas for 
Engineers and Engineering Students. 
Dwight. Pp. vit+137. 
Ltd.) 8s. 6d. net. 


By 
(London: J. and A. 


Electrical 
By Hib: 
(London: Constable and Co., 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


FRIDAY. JANUARY 2. 
Geotoscists' Association, at §.—The North Sea Drift and Certain Brick- 
Earths in Suffolk: P. G. H Boswell. 


MONDAY, January 5. 

ARISTOTELIAN Society, at 8.—Philosophy as Co-ordination of Science: 
H. S. Shelton. 

Society or Curvwicat Inpustry, at 8.—The Viscosity of Oils: J. L. 
Strevens.—The Oxygen C: ntent of Gases from Roasting Pyrites: L. T. 
Wright.—The El-cirical Conduciivity of Milk During its Concentration, 
with Suggestions for a Practical Method of Determining the End Point in 


NO. 2305, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[JANUARY I, 1914 


the Manufacture of Sweetened Condensed Milk: L. C. Jackson, L 
Mc \ab, and A. C. H. Rothera.—Monazite from Some New Localities - 
S. J. Johnstone. : 


R6NTGEN Society, at 8.15.—Histological Changes Produced by Re a 


Animal Tissues; Destructive and Hy i, ea Acuon of X-rays 5 
tical Consequences in Regard to Radio-Therapy and Protection of the 
Radiologist : Dr. J. Clunet. 

WEDNESDAY. JANUARY 7. 

Grotocicat Society, at 8.—The Grdoieen and Silurian Rocks of the 
Lough Nafooey Area (County Galway): C. I. Gard ner and Prof. S. H. 
Reynolds.—The Geology of the St. Tudwal’s Peninsula (Carnarvonshire) : 
T. C. Nicholas. Ws 

AiRONAUTICAL SociFTY, at 8.30.—Wind Gusts and the Structure of Aériat 
Disturbances : Dr. W, N. Shaw. ? 

THURSDAY, January 8. 

Concrete InstiTUTE, at 7.30.—Factory Construction : P. M. Fraser. 

INsTITUTION OF ELECTRIC AL KNGINEFRS, at 8. —The Development 
Electric Power for Industrial Purposes in India: H. R. Speyer. 

FRIDAY, JANUARY 9. 
Roya ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5. 4 ' 


CONTENTS. 


Evolution and Genetics . 2 ow 
Typical Geography Books. By B.C. W...... 
Organic Chemistry, and One of Its Applications. 
Ot rms mL 
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The Pressure of Radiation. —Prof. H. L. Callendar, 
F.R.S. oa.) spl I, alte Sais 
Atomic Models and X-Ray Spectra.—Dr. F. A. 
Inindemann »)'... 7) st) es 
The Plumage Bill.—L. Joseph; Sir H. H. John- 
ston, G:C, M; Gi, Kae eee «ji ee i 
A Palzobotanical Institute at the Royal Botanic 
Gardens, Kew.—Prof A. G. Nathorst. ... 
Electrodeless Spectra of Hydrogen.—Irvine Masson 
Birds, Game, and Trees. (J/i/ustrated.) By R. I. P. 
The Mineral Resources of the United States. By 
Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart. . nae 
A New British Antarctic Expedition ....... 
Notes. ..... . 0 3) SACS epee 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Comet 1913/ (!'elavan) ates 
An Aid to Transit Circle Observers . . ... +. 
Standard Wave-Length Determinations 
Prize Awards of the Paris Academy of Science 
RAELOLS ow oe velo RAS Se rer 
Papers on Vertebrate Paleontology. ByR.L. . . 
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clxXxxv 


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CIXXXV1 


NATURE 


[JANUARY I, 1914 


CONDENSERS 


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(6) Improved steel mould for compressing coal into briquettes. 
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No. 2306, VoL. 92] | 


THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 1914 


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clxxxviil 


NATURE 


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Arts and Crafts. 
Head of Department—A. H. BaxTEr, A.R.C.A,, Gold Medallist. 


Technological Courses in Chemistry, Engineering, Arts and Crafts, 
Domestic Science, &c., and Advanced Commerce Ccurses, are provided. 
Special facilities for Higher Technical Civil Service Examinations. The 
new Hygiene Laboratories given by the Worshipful Company of Drapers 
are in use. Under the Edwin Tate Trust, two Scholarships of the value of 
430 and one of £20 are offered, each tenable for three years. The Morgan 
Research Scholarship of £70 per annum is also open. The Governing Body 
conduct Hostels for Women Students. Athletic Grounds extending over 
five acres are provided. The Edwin Tate Library is open for the use of 
students. For Calendar and further particulars apply to the Secretary. 


UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. 
KING’S COLLEGE. 


DIVISION OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 


In this Division a Course of Study in Science is provided suitable for 
general education or for the Examinations of the London and other 
Universities. 

Students are admitted into the Division either as Matriculated or non- 
Matriculated Students. Several valuable Scholarships and Prizes are 
offered in this Division. 

The Laboratories of the College are open to post-Graduates and Research 
Students by special arrangement with the Heads of Departments. 

The following are the Departments under the charge of the various 
Professors, assisted by the Junior Staff :— 

Prof. S. A. F. Wits, M.A. 


Mathematics... i= 
Physics tae Prof. O. W. RicHarpson, D.Sc., F.R.S. 
Chemi (eee Joun M. Tuomson, LL.D., F.R.S. 

etd * \ Prof. H. Jackson, F.I.C., F.C.S. 
Botany Prof. W. B. Bortomiey, Ph.D., F.L.S 
Zoology ..- on “prof. AnrHUR Denpy, D.Sc., F.R.S. 
Geology and Mineralozy W. T. Gorvon, D.Sc., F.R.S.E. 

: Prof. W. D. Hatuiipurton, M.D., B.Sc., 

Physiology F.RS. 
Psychology Dr. W. Brown. 


The next TERM commences WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 1914- 
For further particulars apply to the SECRETARY, King's College, Strand, 
London, W.C. 


BACTERIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY. 
KING’S COLLEGE, LONDON. 
UNIVERSITY LABORATORIES. 

62 Chandos Street, Charing Cross, W.C. 


Bacteriology and Pathology—Pro‘e:sor Hewett, Dr. F. E, TAayLor 
and Dr. Hare. 
Microscopy—Mr. J. E. BARNARD, F.R.M.S. 
Parasitology—Dr. Grorce C. Low. 


The Laboratory is open daily for Instruction and Research. * 

An Evening Class in Bacteriology will commence on January 19, at 
6.30 p.m. 

For particulars apply to the SECRETARY, 
62 Chandos Street. 


or to Professor HEWLETT, at 


[January 8, 1914 


THE SIR JOHN CASS TECHNICAL INSTITUTE, 
Jewry Street, Aldgate, E.C. 


DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS. 

The following Special Courses of Instruction will be given during the 
Lent Term, 1914 :— 

THE CONSTRUCTION AND USES OF PHYSICAL INSTRUMENTS 
IN THEIR APPLICATION TO PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. 
By F. J. HARLOW, B.Sc., A.R.C.S. 

A Course of 10 Lectures with associated laboratory work, Friday even- 
ngs, 7 to 10 p.m., commencing Friday, January 16, 1914. 

This Course is arranged especially for those who desire to become ac- 
quainted with the construction and uses of the instruments employed in 
the study and applications of Physical Chemistry. Full opportunity will 
be provided in the laboratory for practice in the use of the instruments 


dealt with in the lectures. 
EORDYPTION IN GASES AND RADIO-ACTIVITY. 


R. S. Wittows, M.A., D.Sc. ‘ 
_ A Course of 10 Lectures, fully illustrated by experiments, Friday even- 
ings, 7 to 8 p.m., commencing Friday, January 16, 1914. 

This Course is intended for those who have a good general knowledge of 
Physics and who desire to become acquainted with the modern develop- 
ments of this important branch of the subject. t 

Detailed Syllabus of the Courses may be had upon application at the 
Office of the Institute, or by letter to the PRINCIPAL. 
LS 


BEDFORD COLLEGE FOR WOMEN. 


(UNIVERSITY OF LONDON.) 
YORK GATE, REGENT’S PARK, LONDON, N.W. 
Principal—Miss M. J. Tuxke, M.A. 


The Lent Term begins on Thursday, January 15. 

Courses are provided for Degrees of the University of London in Arts 
and Science. , 

There is a Secondary Training Department and an Art School. 

Courses are also arranged for scientific instruction in Hygiene and in 
Horticultural Botany. : 

Accommodation for 85 resident students is provided. 

Entrance Scholarships are awarded annually in June. 

Full particulars on application to the PRINCIPAL. 


UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. 
KING’S COLLEGE. 


EVENING CLASS DEPARTMENT. 


COURSES are arranged for the INTERMEDIATE and FINAL 
EXAMINATIONS for the B.A. and BSc. DEGREES of the UNI- 
VERSITY OF LON DON. Students taking the full Course pay Compo- 
sition Fees and rank as Internal Students of the University. 

The Classes are also open to occasional students for separate subjects. 

For full information and Prospectus apply to the DEAN (Mr. R. Ww. K. 
Edwards) or to the SecreTARY, King’s College, Strand, W.C. 


THE UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS. 


WINTER HOLIDAY COURSES FOR TEACHERS. 


Short Courses of Lectures in Science, German Literature, and Classical 
Archzplogy will be given in the University on January 13, 14, and 15. 
‘Admission free to Graduates of the University. Fee for other students, 
tos. for the whole Course. Full particulars from the SecreTARY, Winter 
Holiday Courses, ‘!he University, Leeds. 


Holiday Courses, ‘The Ustversityseeds: "15 aa 
THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD. 


OF AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES is prepared to 
nominate to the Civil Service Commissioners a limited number of 
candidates for an examination to be held at an early date for an 
ASSISTANTSHIP in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 

Candidates must be between 22 and 30 years of age. 

Applications should be submitted to the SECRETARY, Board of Agricul- 
ture and Fisheries, 3 St. James's Square, London, S.W., on or before 
January 17, 1914, on a form of application which may be obtained from 
the Secretary, together with a memorandum stating the qualifications 
necessary and the subjects of examination. a 

SYDNEY OLIVIER, 
Secretary. 
3 St. James's Square, London, S.W., 
December 30, 1913. 


ns 
APPOINTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL 
ORGANISER FOR BERKSHIRE. 


of the Berkshire Agricultural Instruction 
Committee and of University College, Reading, will shortly proceed to 
select a candidate as Organiser of Agricultural Instruction in Berkshire, 
under a scheme to be drawn up by the Berkshire Agricultural Instruction 
Committee and carried out in conjunction with University College, Read- 
ing. Applications must be received by first post January 28, 1914. Full 
particulars can be obtained from 

THE REGISTRAR, 

University College, 
Reading. 


A Committee representative 


January 5, 1914. 


q 


; 
) 
. 


| 


. 
| 


mi NATURE 


273 


‘THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 1014. 


LISTER AND HIS WORK, 

Lord Lister: His Life and Work. By. Dr. 'G. T. 
Wrench. Pp. 384. (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 
n.d.) Price 15s. net. 

APPROACHED Dr. Wrench’s book with 
jealous suspicion. I was unfavourably im- 
pressed by his preface, the final paragraph of 
which contains the statement :—“Between Van 

Helmont and Lister nothing was added to the 

fundamental philosophy of disease.” This over- 

coloration was an unpromising introduction to an 
account of the life and work of one of the greatest 
figures in medicine—Joseph Lister. 

However, as I read I became more and more 
fascinated with the book. In addition to an un- 
bounded enthusiasm for his task, the author has 
a detailed knowledge of the development of the 
antiseptic system, and understands that it was 
because Lister was a scientific investigator of the 
first urder that he was privileged to make so great 
a contribution to the welfare of mankind. Fur- 
ther, Dr. Wrench’s appreciation of the intellec- 
tual and moral greatness of Lister is so sincere 
that one forgives the occasional commission of 
some of the faults of journalism. The book is 
written throughout in an interesting and forcible 
style. Well-chosen anecdotes and extracts from 
Lister’s addresses are interspersed, which recall 
the charm of his personality to those who knew 
him, and assist to present the beauty of his char- 
acter to those who had not this privilege. 

The preliminary chapters are devoted to a 
short account of Lister’s childhood, student days, 
and the first portion of his professional career at 
Edinburgh. The importance of his early scientific 
investigations and their bearing upon the great 
work of his life is made clear. | Then 
follows an account of the condition of the surgical 
wards of a hospital in pre-Listerian days. The 
picture is painted in lurid colours, but, as the 
generation which remembers this condition is 
disappearing, it is necessary to impress upon the 
reader the immense human importance of the 
problem which occupied the attention of Lister. 

The rest of the book is a history of the develop- 
ment and final triumph of the antiseptic method 
in surgery. The antiseptic system was based on 
the germ theory of putrefaction, which had been 
finally established by Pasteur. Pasteur himself 
was fully alive to the possible application of the 
facts he had discovered in the interpretation of 
infectious diseases, and was anxious to put his 


ideas to the test. At that time, however, he had 
neither access to hospitals nor a laboratory where | 
NO. 2306, VOL. 92! 


he could work at infectious diseases of animals. 
His opportunity soon arrived, and, in the same 
year (1866) that Lister was applying the germ 
theory to explain the occurrence of wound infec- 
tion, Pasteur, at the request of the French Govern- 
ment, was occupied with an investigation into the 
causation of pébrine. This disease of silkworms 
he discovered to be caused by infection by a proto- 
zoan parasite, Nosema, which is transmitted 
from the moth through the egg to the next genera- 
tion of worms. 

From his first contact with hospital wards Lister 
had been impressed with the terrible evils of 
wound infection, and sorely perplexed as to’ its 
causation. What most surgeons took as a matter 
of course was to him, even as a student, a pheno- 
menon urgently demanding explanation, and 
whilst house surgeon at University College Hospi- 
tal he searched with his microscope for a possible 
fungus as causal agent. 

In 1865 Lister read the papers of Pasteur deal- 
ing with the necessity of microbes for putrefaction, 
which appeared in the Comptes rendus of the 
Paris Academy of Sciences. The analogy between 
the happenings in a flask of broth exposed to the 
air and a festering wound was obvious to a mind 
so prepared; nevertheless hundreds of doctors 
must have read Pasteur’s papers and failed to see 
that they had any significance for their art. 

All this is well told in the chapter entitled 
“Perplexity and Enlightenment,” and in two 
interesting chapters which follow, a description of 
the first attempts to put the principle into practice, 
and the striking success attained in one of the 
most insanitary hospitals in the kingdom is given. 

Notwithstanding, antiseptic surgery was slow 
in making headway. Many surgeons failed to 
appreciate that antiseptic surgery was a system 
based on a principle, and seemed to think that 
they could neglect the principle and apply plenty 
of carbolic. As a consequence, they obtained 
results little, if at all, better than by their old 
methods. 

The gradual spread of the gospel of “Lister- 
ism” until its final acceptance is dramatically 
told. In order to enhance the effect, the author 
has painted a sombre background representing the 
obstinate stupidity of many of the profession, and, 
to this end, has quoted from the speeches and 
writings of distinguished surgeons criticisms and 
opinions which it seems almost cruel to revive. 
This certainly produces the effect of contrast, but 
the lustre shed by the work of Lister is sufficient 
to render the artifice unnecessary. 

The climax was reached at the International 
Medical Congress at Amsterdam in 1879, when 
Lister’s appearance called forth the greatest ova- 


tT 


<nsonian /nstiz— 
Ee “lop 


TARIL OM tarnra 


524 


tion ever witnessed at one of these assemblies. As 
the applause subsided, Prof. Donders, the presi- 
dent of the congress, stepped forth and said :— 
“Professor Lister, it is not only our admiration 
which we offer you; it is our gratitude, and that 
of the nations to which we belong.” 

The book concludes with an account of Lister’s 
antiseptic technique, and the reasons on which it 
was based. This, in many respects admirable, is 
unnecessarily polemical. Like Dr. Wrench, 1 
have no patience with those who would belittle 
the discoveries of Lister because it may be possible 
to attain the same end by a modification of his 
method; but the torrent of irony poured upon 
those surgeons who prefer to sterilise their dress- 
ings and tools by steam instead of by chemical 
means, or to adopt a number of precautions not 
found necessary by Lister, is, surely, uncalled for. 

The elaborate equipment of the modern operat- 
ing theatre is not, as many suppose, essential, 
but it is very convenient. The danger is that, by 
its obtrusive array of apparatus for sterilisation, 
the surgeon as well as the student may forget 
that it is impossible to sterilise the skin of the 
patient, so that it is, as Lister found, wiser to 
have a second line of defence in the form of an 
antiseptic dressing, which, although it may not 
destroy all the microbes in the area of operation, 
paralyses their activity until the wound has had 
time to close. C. J. Martin. 


SPECIALISED CHEMICAL TEXT-BOOKS. 

(1) Gas Analysis. By Prof. L. M. Dennis. Pp. 
xvi+434. (New York: The Macmillan Co. ; 
London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 
gs. net. 

(2) The Chemistry of Rubber. By B. D. Porritt. 
Pp. vii+96. (London: Gurney and Jackson, 
1913.) Price 1s. 6d. net, 

(3) An Introduction to the Chemistry of Plant 
Products. By Dr. Paul Haas and T. G. Hill. 
Pp. xii+4or. (London: Longmans, Green and 
Go., 1913.) Price 7s. 6d, net. 

(4) Grundriss der Fermentmethoden. Ein Lehr- 
buch fiir Mediziner, Chemiker, und Botaniker. 
By Prof. Julius Wohlgemuth. Pp. ix+355- 
(Berlin: J. Springer, 1913.) Price 10 marks. 

(1) AS analysis enters into almost every 
branch of chemical work, and there is 

therefore no need to emphasise the importance of 

a standard work on the subject. Prof. Dennis 

began his book as a second edition of the English 

translation of Hempel’s famous “ Methods of Gas 

Analysis,” but the inclusion in it of the advances 

made during the last fourteen years has turned it 

into a new book. Procedures for the determina- 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


though Mr. Porritt’s book assures us that this 


[January 8, 1914 _ 


tion of most of the common gases are given in 
considerable detail, but the book is rightly de- 
voted mainly to rapid methods of technical gas 
analysis, including the determination of heating 
power as well as of quantity. The opening sec- 
tions, occupying about one-third of the book, treat 


in turn of the collection, storage, measurement, 


and other manipulation of gases. The various 
forms of apparatus devised for gas analysis are 
described, a variety of important practical details 
being included. After describing fully the methods 
of analysis of the various simple gases, chapters 
are devoted to the investigation of flue gas, illu- 
minating gas, acetylene, and air. Although re- 
markably complete, the book is not exhaustive ; 
for example, no reference is made to Bone and 
Wheeler’s valuable apparatus, first described in 
1908. Only one of the automatic carbon dioxide 
recorders is described, whereas there are others 
on the market equally if not more satisfactory. 
However, these are only minor blemishes on a 
work which is likely to be widely used. 

(2) Mr. Porritt is to be complimented on having 
compressed within narrow limits a very complete 
and readable account of the chemistry of rubber. 
His book can scarcely fail to be of great value to 
all who master it, and it should be of considerable 
service to those directly interested in the industry. 


As a practical man, the author is fully alive to. 


the complexities of the problem presented by 
rubber, and his account of the advanced chemistry 
of its structure is combined happily with the more 
practical details of its working. 

The first chapter deals with the properties of 
crude rubber, directing attention to its constitu- 
ents and such properties as tackiness and perish- 


ing, which require scientific investigation, so that 


they may be prevented in the future. A neat 
summary is given of the chemical constitution of 
rubber and of its synthetic imitations. Sections 
3 and 4 describe the process of vulcanisation and 
the various theories which have been put forward 
to explain it. 
cock, the first to utilise the process in England 
about 1842, conducted experiments from which 
any kind of scientific method was conspicuously 
absent! He was nevertheless successful! Al- 


is not the method of procedure in 1913, we cannot 
help feeling that if, a few years ago when money 
was plentiful in the industry, the plantation com- 
panies had endowed properly scientific research 
on rubber, they would not now be complaining of 
the unsatisfactory price which their product 
realises as compared with the wild article. 
subject of synthetic rubber is fully treated, though 
no optimistic opinion is expressed as to its com- 


We read with interest that Han- 7 


The | 


January 8, 1914] 


NATURE 


525 


mercial success in the near future. Ihe book ends 


_ with a bibliography giving 179 references to the | 


original literature. 

(3) The title of this work very accurately repre- 
sents its contents; it is in no sense a text-book 
of plant chemistry, though it is intended for 
studenis of vegetable physiology. The plan 
adopted by the authors is to single out various 
groups of substances because they occur in plants, 
and to give some idea of their chemistry. Refer- 
ence is usually. made to the mode of occurrence 
of the particular compound, and occasionally to its 
biological significance or economic importance. 

From the point of view of the botanist, especially 
the junior student, the result is a valuable com- 
pilation of facts which were previously only to be 
found widely scattered. The authors are to be 
congratulated on the extent of their reading and 
the large aniount of pertinent matter which they 
have introduced, much of which has not hitherto 
been found in text-books. 

Viewed, however, from a somewhat higher 
standard of criticism, the book is disappointing. 
It lacks stimulus and feeling, both on the chemical 
and on the botanical side, and although informa- 
tive ii is not sufficiently critical to guide the user 


on just those questions where he needs informa- 


tion. If chemistry is to be of real aid to the 
biologist, he must realise its broader issues and 
acquire some chemical feeling. This it is impos- 
sible to gain from a book dealing with the reac- 
tions and properties of selected substances, and 
the introduction of such methods of teaching 
chemistry to biologists is to be deprecated on all 
grounds. 

The writers are at their best in some of the 
more advanced sections, those dealing with the 
tannins and with plant pigments being admirably 
done. The other chapters are devoted to fats, 
carbohydrates, glucosides, nitrogen bases, col- 

loids, proteins, and enzymes. 

© (4) Dr. Wohlgemuth in his preface claims to 
have ‘collected together all the experimental 
methods which are of use for the study of enzymes, 
but we fear he will find it difficult to establish 
his claim. Indeed, the book is disappointingly 
Superficial, the more so as there is a real need for 
it just at present. Many of the best and most 
gener .ilv used processes are entirely ignored, and 
there are far too many inaccuracies and loose 
‘statements. In particular, the author appears to 
have paid no attention at all to the very large 


bulk of English and American work on the sub- | 


ject, cither in the original or in the excellent 
‘abstracts in the German journals which must have 
been available to him. con 
_ The carbohydrate enzymes are very incom- 


= NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


7 
‘ 


7 


pletely treated, and the same applies to diastase. 
The estimation of this enzyme is so important for 
the brewing industry that it has been very thor- 
oughly studied, and methods of great accuracy 
lave been elaborated, for which we look in vain. 
Emulsin scarcely receives mention, in spite of 
its importance in plant physiology, and of the 
newer work on it we find not a trace, The in- 
formation about urease is equally scanty. The 
author is more lengthy and presumably more at 
home on the pathological side of the subject, and 
he appears to cater specially for medical men 
who propose to make the detection of enzymes of 
advantage in diagnosis. It is desirable to em- 
phasise the danger of this practice—the technique 
of enzyme identification is not easy, and insufh- 
ciently qualified workers are prone to obtain mis- 
leading results. Physiological chemical literature 
is already burdened with so much that is incorrect 
that no encouragement should be given to prac- 
tices which are likely to lead to a continuance of 
the evil. E: EAs 


THE REGULATION OF NAVIGABLE 
RIVERS. 

The Improvement of Rivers. By B. F. Thomas 
and D. A. Watt. In two volumes. Pp. xv + 
749+76 plates. (New York: John Wiley and 
Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, tds 
1913.) Price 31s. 6d. net. 

HIS is the second edition of a book published 
in New York in 1903. The authors are 
assistant engineers in the service of the United 

States, and have drawn to a considerable extent 

on their personal experience of works carried out 

in that country. The subjects dealt with are :— 

Chap. i., The characteristics of rivers; ii., Regu- 

lation of river channels; iii. and iv., Dredging 

and Snagging; v., Embankments and their pro- 
tection; vi., Levees; vii., Storage reservoirs; 

vili., The improvements of the outfalls of rivers. 

The second part relates principally to the canalisa- 

tion of rivers. Tidal rivers are not dealt with. 

The text is accompanied by a great number of 
illustrations explanatory of the works described. 
These two volumes contain much useful informa- 
tion relating to the subject dealt with, and are 
well worth the study of engineers engaged in this 
class of work. 

The authors direct attention to a fact that should 
be borne in mind by engineers engaged in river 
training, that experience has shown that although 
water is a fluid element without cohesion, influ- 
enced by the laws of gravitation, yet it cannot be 


; made to flow in any desired direction unless the 
training works are carried out subject to rules 


526 


which experience has dictated. All flowing water 
moves under the guidance of natural laws which 
produce in their combinations complex results, 
which must be taken into consideration fully if 
favourable results are to be obtained from the 
regulation of river channels. 

One subject dealt with at some length which 
deserves the careful attention of river engineers 
is the prevention of floods by regulating the flow 
of the water by means of natural or artificial reser- 
yoirs. It is not for want of example that this 
important subject has not received the attention 
that it deserves. So long ago as the time of 
the Pharaohs, the regulation of the Nile was 
effected by the construction of Lake Meeris. 
Advantage was taken of a large natural depression 
near the river, covering an area of 695 sq. miles. 
This was embanked, and a channel cut connecting 
the lake and the river. In times of extraordinary 
high Nile, an opening was cut in the embankment 
and the water from the river allowed to flow 
through the cut to the artificial lake ; when the flood 
subsided the cut in the bank was made up again. 

In America the great lakes form a_ practical 
object-lesson as to the use of storage reservoirs. 
These operate to preserve a balance between the 
cycles of wet and dry seasons, and so regulate 
the depth of the water in the rivers with which 
they are connected, to the advantage of navigation 
in dry seasons, and the prevention of floods when 
the rainfall is excessive. 

The largest artificial reservoir that has been 
constructed in the United States is that at the 
head of the Mississippi. The country in the 
neighbourhood of the source of this river is inter- 
spersed with a great number of small lakes and 
depressions. About thirty years ago, following 
the Egyptian example, embankments were con- 
structed to hold up the water over this area in 
wet seasons, and works carried out to enable this 
to flow out when the river could take it without 
causing floods. In Italy the lakes adjacent to the 
northern tributaries of the Po have in like manner 
been adapted to serve the same purpose. The 
flow of the Rhine in its upper part is also regulated 
by the lakes with which it is connected. 

One of the most extensive modern artificial 
systems of regulation is to be found in Russia, at 
the head waters of the Volga and Msta rivers, 
where, by the embankment of a large tract of low 
swampy land, the flow of water in the Volga has 
been so regulated that the length of time over 
which navigation is practicable in dry seasons has 
been increased by three months. 

The most recent example of river regulation in 
Europe has been carried out in Silesia, where, on 
an average, the river Oder overflowed its banks 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[January 8, 1914 


and flooded the country through which it flows 
once in eight years. The loss to the inhabit- 
ants caused by the last of these floods was estim- 
ated at half a million pounds. The scheme adopted ~ 
has been to form a series of reservoirs by con- 
structing embankments across the valley and hold- 
ing up the water when the river is not able to 
carry off the rainfall. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


The Wonders of Wireless Telegraphy. By Prot. — 
J. A. Fleming, F.R.S. Pp. xi+279. (London : 
S.P.C.K., 1913.) Price 3s. 6d. “net. 

Dr. FLEMING’s reputation as inventor, experi- 

menter, theorist, and expositor in the domain of 

wireless telegraphy is so high that any work by 
him upon this fascinating and difficult subject 
will be welcome. We already have learned to 
look to his advanced and mathematical works for 
guidance when seeking to understand the intrica- 
cies of spark or ethereal telegraphy. In the pre- — 
sent book, however, Dr. Fleming has undertaken 
a task which in many ways is more difficult than — 
writing an advanced treatise, for he has attempted, 
and his success is great, to unfold the nature of 
the operaticns on which this new art depends 
without the use of mathematical or very technical 
language. This book is to be considered as a con~ 
tinuation of, or addition to, “ Waves and Ripples 
in Water, Air, and A®ther,” by the same author. 
Without following the treatment of the several 
chapters, special reference may be made to the 
fifth chapter, which is of particular interest, as we 
there find the most recent views on long-distance 
transmission as not affected by the curvature of 
the earth, but susceptible to peculiarities of 
weather, and, ‘above all, to the effect of the rising’ 
or setting sun. Another feature is the discussion. 
of the methods of transmission by intermittent 
spark, continuously existing are, and various 
mechanical methods of obtaining continuous waves 
or nearly so, and this it would appear might be 
read to advantage by some whose knowledge of 
electrodynamics is greater than their familiarity 
with the everyday difficulties met with in working” 
commercially. : 
The chapter on the wireless telephone is also 
one which will appeal to every reader. : 


a 


(1) Who’s Who, 1914. Price 
155) net. 

(2) Who’s Who Year-Book for 1914-15« Pp. 
vii+178. Price 1s. net. 

(3) The Englishwoman's Year-Book and Directory, 
1914. Edited by G. E. Mitton. Pp. xxxii+ 
441. “Price 2s. 6d. net. 

(4) The Writers’ and Artists’ Year-Book, 1914 
Edited by G. E. Mitton. Pp. x+157. (London = 
Adam and Charles Black.) Price 1s. net. 

(1) THe best praise which can be given to th 

sixty-fifth issue of ‘““Who’s Who” is to say that 

it maintains the high standard of excellence o 

previous editions. We notice that it has increase 

in size by nearly a hundred ‘pages, and that, a 


Pp. xxx+ 2314. 


JaNuary 8, 1914] 


NATURE 


227 


usual, a prominent place’ is given’ to the bio- 
graphies of eminent British and foreign men of 
science. We know of no more useful work of 
reference, or of one which is consulted more fre- 
quently. : 

(2) This supplement to ‘Who’s Who” con- 
tains a remarkable. miscellany of information as 
to the offices held by distinguished men and so on, 
arranged conveniently in tabular form to assist 
rapid reference. 

(3) With the assistance of an honorary con- 
sultative committee of women workers eminent 
in their respective spheres of activity, the editor 
has compiled an indispensable compendium of in- 
formation for all women who participate in public 
or social life. Parents desiring guidance as to 
careers for their daughters will find this volume 
very helpful. 

(4) The sub-title of this book, “A Directory for 
Writers, Artists, and Photographers ”_exactly 
describes its scope and intention, which are 
fulfilled successfully. 


Papers of the British School at Rome. Vol. vi. 
Pp. xiv+511+xI plates. (London: Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 42s. net 

Tue severely archeological part of this work con- 

sists of reports of excavations in Malta and Gozo 

made in 1908-11, and of a survey of the mega- 
lithic monuments of Sardinia. The investigation 
was confined to Neolithic monuments. Buildings 
usually ascribed to the Phcenicians are now 
assigned to the end of the Neolithic age, or to 
the very beginning of the ‘Eneolithic ” period or 
the age of metals (p. 5). They were “in part 
Sanctuaries, in part dwellings.” No Neolithic 
burials were discovered in them, but typical Neo- 
lithic burials were found elsewhere under other 
conditions (pp. 7, 8, 12). Such evidence fully 
warrants the happy description “megalithic 
sanctuaries” (p. 35). ‘‘Connection of origin with 
the pottery of the AZgean there is apparently 
none; at any rate, it is so remote that we cannot 
trace it, and of direct AZgean influence,” says Mr. 
Peet, ‘‘I can see no certain evidence whatsoever.” 
The builders were evidently allied to the people 


who made “the rock-hewn graves of Sardinia, 


Spain, and perhaps Sicily” (p. 17). 

But the “sanctuaries” of Malta are, according 
to the second report, ‘“‘dolmenic tombs” in Sar- 
dinia. As no evidence of burial is produced, one 
is forced to think that the investigation in that 
quarter is in the ‘‘dolmenic tomb” period of 
research. It is all about the “cult of the dead,” 
with the dead conspicuously absent. In the first 
report Dr. Ashby says: “I do not think that it 
is possible to accept the idea of Evans that these 
mounments ‘served, in part at least, a sepulchral 
purpose.’” (p. 8). 

Excellent plans disclose orientations which rank 


in well-known categories, and the linear measures 


dovetail into striking harmonies, but the “British 


School at Rome” seems to care little for such 


trifles. | Nowhere one finds the suggestion that 
the “sanctuaries” were also observatories. 
Joun Grirritu. 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


} 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. ] 


The Pressure of Radiation and Garnot’s Principle. 


As is well known, the pressure of radiation, pre- 
dicted by Maxwell, and since experimentally confirmed 
by Lebedew and by Nichols and Hull, plays an im- 
portant part in the theory of radiation developed by 
Boltzmann and W. Wien. The existence of the 
pressure according to electromagnetic theory is easily 
demonstrated,’ but it does not appear to be generally 
remembered that it could have been deduced with 
some confidence from thermodynamical principles, 
even earlier than in the time of Maxwell. Such a 
deduction was, in fact, made by Bartoli in 1876, and 
constituted .the foundation of Boltzmann’s~ work.? 
Bartoli’s method is quite sufficient for his purpose ; 
but, mainly because it employs irreversible operations, 
it does not lend itself to further developments. It 
may therefore be of service to detail the elementary 
argument on the lines of Carnot, by which it appears 
that in the absence of a pressure of radiation it would 
be possible to raise heat from a lower to a higher 
temperature. 

The imaginary apparatus is, as in Boltzmann’s 
theory, a cylinder and piston formed of perfectly 
reflecting material, within which we may suppose the 
radiation to be confined. This radiation is always of 
the kind characterised as complete (or black), a re- 
quirement satisfied if we include also a very small 
black body with which the radiation is in equilibrium. 
If the operations are slow enough, the size of the 
black body may be reduced without limit, and then the 
whole energy at a given temperature is that of the 
radiation and proportional to the volume occupied. 
When we have occasion to introduce or abstract heat, 
the communication may be supposed in the first in- 
stance to be with the black body. The operations are 
of two kinds: (1) compression (or rarefaction) of the 
kind called adiabatic, that is, without communication 
of heat. If the volume increases, the temperature 
must fall, even though in the absence of pressure 
upon the piston no work is done, since the same 
energy of complete radiation now occupies a larger 
space. Similarly a rise of temperature accompanies 
adiabatic contraction. In the second kind of opera- 
tion (2) the expansions and contractions are isothermal 
that is, without change of temperature. In this 
case heat must pass, into the black body when the 
volume expands and out of it when the volume con- 
tracts, and at a given temperature the amount of heat 
which must pass is proportional to the change of 
volume. 

The cycle of operations to be considered is the same 
as in Carnot’s theory, the only difference being that 
here, in the absence of pressure, there is no question 
of external work. Begin by isothermal expansion at 
the lower temperature during which heat is taken in. 
Then compress adiabatically untila higher temperature 
is reached. Next continue the compression iso- 
thermally until the same amount of heat is given out 
as was taken in during the first expansion. Lastly, 


, restore the original volume adiabatically. Since no 


heat has passed upon the whole in either direction, the 
final state is identical with the initial state, the tem- 


1 See, for example, J. J. Thomson, ‘‘ Elements of Electricity and Mag- 
netism " (Cambridge, 1895 § 241): Rayleigh, PAi/. Mag. (xlv., p. 222, 
1898): “* Scientific Papers” (iv., p. 354). , 

* Wied. Ann., vol. xxxii., pp. 31, 291, 1884. _It. is only through Boltz- 
mann that I am acquainted with Bartoli's reasoning. 


528 


perature being recovered as well as the volume. The 
sole result of the cycle is that heat is raised from a 
lower to a higher temperature. Since this is assumed 
to be impossible, the supposition that the operations 
can be performed without external work is to be 
rejected—in other words, we must regard the radia- 
tion as exercising a pressure upon the moving piston. 
Carnot’s principle and the absence of a pressure are 
incompatible. 

For a further discussion it is, of course, desirable 
to employ the general formulation of Carnot’s prin- 
ciple, as in a former paper.* If p be the pressure, 
@ the absolute temperature, 


a Pen poe) 0-12); 


where Mdv represents the heat that must be com- 
municated, while the volume alters by dv and dé=o. 
In the application to radiation M cannot vanish, and 
therefore p cannot. In this case clearly 


M=U+p. (30), 
where U denotes the volume-density of the energy— 


a function of @ only. Hence— 
A es Aa ae 15) 
If we assume from electromagnetic theory that 
p=3U (32), 
it follows at once that 
Uc (33), 


the well-known law of Stefan. 

In (31) if p be known as a function of 6, U as a 
function of @ follows immediately. If, on the other 
hand, U be known, we have 


and thence 


» + (34). 
RAYLEIGH. 


** Atmospherics ’’ in Wireless Telegraphy. 

THE greatest difficuity in wireless telegraphy is due 
to atmospherics. I believe that every attempt to pre- 
vent these sudden shocks from entering the receiving 
apparatus in important stations has failed. Now Mr. 
5. G. Brown has wires stretched horizontally from 
his house to his stables in Kensington at about 4o ft. 
from the ground; he receives all the ordinary messages 
and time signals with practically no sign of atmo- 
spherics. Of course, lessening the height of high 
antennz lessens the energy received, but it seems 
that the diminution of the blow is much greater than 
the diminution of ordinary signals. One of Brown’s 
latest relays magnifies the currents in the receiving 
apparatus one hundred times, and he expected that 
the signals would be well received, in spite of the 
lowness of his wires, but he was surprised to find 
that the blow, the atmospheric, had almost altogether 
disappeared. In fact, there was no blow to magnify. 
I believe that the Salcombe Hill Observatory arrange- 
ment for receiving time signals is also free from atmo- 
spherics, its antennz being quite low, and a Brown 
relay being used. 

If the following explanation of this curious pheno- 
menon is correct, it ought to be easy to destroy 
atmospherics however high the antennz may be. 

An antenna is affected by rays of all frequencies 
because its vibrations are damped by resistance, 


_3 “© On the Pressure of Vibrations,” P/i2. Mag., iii., p. 338, 19 2; "Scien- 
tific Papers,” v., Pp. 47+ 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


ee a ee eee 


[January 8, 1914 


although it is, of course, most sensitive to rays of its 
own frequency. An atmospheric is of the nature of a 
sudden shock; it consists of ‘rays of all frequencies, 
and particularly of rays of all sorts of very high © 
frequencies. Suppose the frequency of the antenna ~ 
to be anything from 50,000 to 300,000 per second; let 
us say 100,000. I take it that houses and trees are 
very imperfect antennz the frequencies of which are 
probably much greater than 100,000 generally, 
although sometimes less. When rays are proceeding 
horizontally the ther in the neighbourhood of trees 
and houses is therefore greatly robbed of all energies 
which accompany waves of high frequency. In fact, 
all rays of frequencies corresponding to the frequen- 
cies of trees and houses are absorbed, and a low 
antenna of frequency 100,000 receives but little energy 
of other frequencies than its own, and therefore little 
of the ‘‘atmospheric ” blow. If this explanation is 
correct, it is only necessary to surround a receiving 
antenna by numerous others of all sorts of high 
frequency. If I am right it is scarcely possible to 
receive atmospherics in the middle of a large city 
unless the ground is much higher than neighbouring 
ground, just as we know that an ordinary house in 
the middle of a city is never struck by lightning. 

My explanation cannot be complete, for the man 
in charge of a coast station in the Mediterranean states 
that he has difficulty in receiving signals because dis- 
turbing atmospherics are so numerous, whereas ships" 
in the neighbourhood, or even five miles away, are 
comparatively undisturbed in their signalling. Now 
these ships are far away from trees and houses. 

Again, Mr. Brown tells me that although he receives 
no atmospherics from great distances, his signals are 
certainly disturbed by local thunderstorms. In fact, 
he can predict the coming of a thunderstorm when 
it is probably twenty miles away. My explanation 
may be defended by saying that the fronts of the 
Maxwell waves are not vertical in such cases. Again, 
I have been told that without altering the antenna 
at a receiving station, if we tune it to a lower fre- 
quency, there is more disturbance from atmospherics. 
It is possible that this is not generally true, but only 
true for certain stations, and, if so, my explanation 
may escape censure. Joun Perry. 

December 30, 1913. 


Columbium versus Niobium. 


Ar a meeting of the council of the International 
Association of Chemical Societies in Brussels, last Sep 
tember, a committee on inorganic nomenclature, among 
other recommendations, endorsed the name and symbol 
“niobium”? and ‘Nb,’ for the element which was” 
originally named columbium. As this recommendation 
is historically erroneous, a brief statement of the facts 
appears to be desirable. : 

In 1801 Hatchett, an English chemist, analysed a 
strange American mineral, and in it found a new 
metallic acid, the oxide of an element which he named 
columbium. A year later, Ekeberg, in Sweden, 
analysed a similar mineral from Finland, and dis- 
covered another element, which he called tantalu 
Wollaston, in 1809, undertook a new investigation of 
these elements, and concluded that they were identical 
a conclusion which, if it were true, would have 
involved the rejection of the later name, and the 
retention of the earlier columbium. The accepted 
rules of scientific nomenclature make this point clear. 

For more than forty years after Hatchett’s discovery 
both names were in current use; for although Wollas 
ton’s views were accepted by many chemists, there 
were others unconvinced. In 1844, however, Heinrich 
Rose, after an elaborate study of columbite and tanta 
lite from many localities, announced the discovery of 


| 
; 


_ January 8, 1914] 


NATURE 


529 


—=— 


two new elements in them, niobium and pelopium. 
_ The latter supposed element was afterwards found to 
be non-existent, but the niobium was merely the old 
columbium under a new name. That name in some 
mysterious manner was substituted by the German 
chemists for the original appropriate name, and has 
been in general use in Europe ever since. In America 
the name columbium has been generally preferred, and 
was formally endorsed by the Chemical Section of the 
American Association for the Advancement of Science 
more than twenty years ago. In England, also, 
columbium is much used, as, for example, in Roscoe 
and Schorlemmer’s ‘‘ Treatise on Chemistry,” Thorpe’s 
“Dictionary of Applied Chemistry,’ and the new 
edition of the ‘“‘ Encyclopedia Britannica.” 
_ The foundation of Rose’s error seems to have been 

an uncritical acceptance of Wollaston’s views; for he 
speaks of all the minerals he studied as tantalite. 
He also, at least in his original memoir, claims that 
the atomic weight of niobium is greater than that 

of tantalum, and here he was obviously wrong. 
__In short, the name columbium has more than forty 
_ years’ priority, and during that interval was accepted 
by many chemists, and was more or less in current 
use. To employ the name niobium is not only un- 
historical, but it is also unfair to the original dis- 
coverer, meaningless, and without any justification 
whatever. Furthermore, it injures the splendid repu- 
tation of Rose, for it perpetuates and emphasises one 
of his few errors. The recommendation of the com- 
mittee above-mentioned should not be accepted, for it 
is opposed to the established rules of priority. 

F. W. Crarke. 


A New Etching Reagent for Steel. 


Wuat I believe to be a novel and useful reagent for 
the etching of steel specimens for microscopic exam- 
ination has recently been worked out in this labora- 
tory by the writer, in conjunction with Mr. J. L. 
Haughton. A very brief account in this place is 
perhaps justified in view of the fact that the oppor- 
tunity for publishing a full account of the work in 
the usual way will not occur for some months. 

The etching reagent consists of an acid solution of 
ferric chloride, similar to that frequently used for 
etching copper alloys, but containing about o-1 per 
cent. of cupric chloride and about half that quantity 
of stannic chloride. The copper in this solution is, 
of course, displaced by the iron of any steel specimen 
exposed to it, and the copper is deposited on the 
surface of the steel. We have, however, discovered 
that in ordinary carbon steels this action can be made 
_ to occur in such a way that a thin deposit of copper 
is slowly formed on the ferrite, while pearlite and 
cementite are only very slightly affected. Under the 
microscope’ the ferrite appears to be blackened, while 
the pearlite remains bright. The appearance of the 
etched specimens is thus the exact negative of that 
obtained by ordinary reagents, provided that the steel 
is very pure. We have found, however, that in com- 
mercial steels the ferrite is not darkened uniformly, 
but that a strongly banded structure is developed. 
Apparently the rate of deposition of copper is greater 
the purer the ferrite, one of the most important im- 
purities in this regard being phosphorus. By a suit- 
able use of the reagent, patterns are obtained which 
indicate the distribution of the phosphorus in a clear 

and striking manner, and it is thus possible to obtain 
_in two minutes by the use of the new reagent results 
hitherto only obtainable by the process of “fieat tint. 
ing.” 

__ By the kindness of Dr. J. E. Stead, F.R.S., we 
have been enabled to compare the patterns obtained 
_ by heat-tinting on one of Dr. Stead’s own specimens 


q NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


and those obtained by means of our reagent on the 
same surface after repolishing, and these patterns 
have proved identical. Beyond this, however, the 
new method of etching by the electro-chemical deposi- 
tion of another metal promises to open up many 
possibilities in the study of the structure of metals, 
but these we have not yet had time to work out. 
WALTER ROSENHAIN. 
The National Physical Laboratory, 
(Wernher Metallurgy Laboratory), 
December 31, 1913. 


Dr. J. F. Thorpe’s ‘‘ Gaged ’’ Compound. 

As Dr. J. F. Thorpe has apparently found difficulty 
in representing his newly discovered tricarboxylic acid 
by a formula in the plane of the paper (vide Proc. 
Chem. Soc., vol. xxvii., p. 347), may I suggest 

CO.H 


———— 
110.C.C- 3-556: 60.1 


as being as good as the one he suggested if not 
preferable to it. 
A “caged” cube compound, C,X,, could similarly 


be advantageously represented by the projection 
formula :— 
X.C———_—_—_C.X 
[van hark ges 
CX xc 
Seat tye | 
BG (eam | 
a: \I 
X.C —C.X 
W. W. ReeEp. 


Technical Institute, Norwich, 
December 16, 1913. 


Mr. ReeEp is quite right, and doubtless the formula 
he suggests will have to be adopted for this and 
similar compounds when it is desired to express their 
structure graphically on the plane of the paper. 

It is, however, evident, as Prof. Armstrong stated 
at the meeting of the Chemical Society, that a large 
number of organic compounds are very inadequately 
represented by the usual two dimensional formule, 
and that it will be necessary, in the near future, to. 
reconsider our method of portraying the structure of 
these substances. The isolation of the compound. 
under discussion, for which, on Prof. Armstrong’s sug- 
gestion, the name methyl-tetrahedrene tricarboxylic 
acid has been adopted, merély serves to accentuate 
the limitations of our present method, for it is evident 
that the formula suggested by Mr. Reed does not 
represent the true relative positions of the carbon 
atoms in the molecule. For example, it is difficult to 
understand that the formula 


CO,H 
ic 
a ra 


le es \ 
em ED 


cor C.CHy 


represents the same compound as Mr. Reed’s formula. 
This is still more apparent in Mr. Reed’s cube 
formula, in which it is difficult to realise that the 
eight carbon atoms are of equal value. 
Ji Bek. 


[January 8, 1914 


530 NATURE 
Lucretius or Kapteyn? THE MAKING OF MOUNTAINS.* 
Nonne vides etiam, diversis nubila ventis diversas HE object of the very attractive volume before 


ire in partis inferna supernis? Qui minus illa queant 


per magnos ztheris orbis zstibus inter se diversis 
sidera ferri? De Rerum Naturé, v., 646-9. 
See you not too that clouds from contrary winds 


pass in contrary directions, the upper in a way con- 
trary to the lower? Why may not yon stars just as 
well be borne on through their great orbits in ether 
by currents contrary one to the other? 

Munro’s Translation. 


E: Tae 


Semi-ahsolute. 


Tue biologist, even the most mathematical, envies 
and admires the greater precision of ‘statement and 


waa 


: 
L 

Photo.) 

Fic. 1.—The Bifertenstock and Frisal, 


seen from the Firn plateau of the Tédi. 


us, as Stated by its ‘author, is to supply 
geographers with such a knowledge of geological 
processes as fs necessary for understanding the 
origin of the orographic features of the earth’s. 
surface. With this purpose in view, technical 
details are—so far as is possible—avoided, while 
disputed and doubtful topics are, as a rule, kept 
in the background; while by vivid and picturesque 
descriptions, aided by admirable photographic 
illustrations and diagrams, the reader is made 
acquainted with the chief types of mountain forms 
and the agencies by which they have been pro- 
duced. 


(Wehrli, Zitrich. 


Eocene and Mesozoic strata resting upon Gneiss. From ‘* Mountains: 


their Origin, Growth, and Decay.” 


language that is possible for the physicist, and the 
physicist in his turn is apt to plume himself on the 
fact that his sciences, as compared with those of the 
biologist, are the exact sciences. Some biologists in- 
terested in precision of terminology have been wonder- 
ing what the physicist may mean bv the term ** Semi- 
absolute ’"—a term which will be found applied to 
volts in the title of a paper recently read before the 
Royal Society (NaTuRE, December 25, 1913, P-_ 495: 
column 1). On the face of it, semi-absoluteness is no 
more easy to coneeive than is semi-infinity, and one 
is therefore tempted to regard the phrase akin to the 
“quite -all right’? of the modern young lady, the 
“quite a few” of the American, and other such 
degeneracies*of modern speech. That view must, of 
course, be wrong, but an explanation would be com- 
forting to more than one ENOUYIRER. 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


The great majority of the elevations of the 
land are classed as “original or tectonic,” the 
building-up of these structures being due to many 
diverse agencies; only a smali residue of the 
relief-forms are grouped as “subsequent or relict ” 
mountains, being the result of operations that, by 
removing the surrounding materials, have left 
great upstanding masses behind. 

First among the tectonic mountains are included 
those of volcanic origin, grouped, by the author 
as .““débris cones,” which are made up of frag- 
mental materials, usually of igneous origin. but 
often accompanied by detritus from aqueous 


lz Mountains: their Origin, Growth, and Decay.” By Prof. James 
Geikie, F.R'S. Pp. xix+311-+Ixxx plates. (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 
London: Gurney and Jackson, 1913-) Price 12s. 6d. net. 


January 8, 1914] 


NATURE 


Jot 


and metamorphic rocks; in the second place, we 
have ‘“lava-cones” built up entirely by outwelling 
streams of liquid rock from a fissure; and, 
thirdly, ‘composite cones” built up by alternating 
ejections of fragmental materials and_ lavas. 
The varied slopes of cones, as determined by the 
nature of the fragmental materials or the degree 
of liquidity of the lavas, are well explained and 
illustrated. The very graceful forms assumed by 
some voleanoes—which is so conspicuously illus- 
trated by the representation of the famous 
Japanese mountain Fujiyama—are explained by 
the author as being due to the larger ejected 
fragments accumulating nearest to the crater, but 
it may be in part also due to central subsidence. 
Such subsidence is admitted by the author to have 


Photo.) 
Fic. 2 —Mount Rainier (or Tacoma), Washington, U.S.A. 


An extinct conposite voleano—snov capp2d and supporting glaciers. 


from the ocean-floor to a height of 30,000 ft., 
while, so- gentle are their slopes, they have 
diameters of more than 80 miles. At the 


‘other end of the scale, and as a supplement to the 


catalogue of volcanic mountains, 
and mud-volcanoes (“air 
author) are noticed. 

In contrast to the elevations produced by the 
heaping up of materials brought from below the 
earth’s surface we have “epigene types,” formed 
by superficial detritus piled up either by glacial 
or eélian agencies. To the former class belong 
moraines of all kinds—sometimes forming’ hills 
more than 8o0o ft. in height-—with the less con- 
spicuous but more extended terrestrial features 
known as drumlins and eskers. As the result of 


geyser-cones 
volcanoes” of the 


[Detrozt Pub. Co. 
From “ Mountains : ;' 


their Origin, Growth, and Decay.” 


taken place in the formation of some volcanic 
craters like that of the celebrated “Crater-lake ”’ 
of Oregon. The results of denudation on volcanic 


cones is well illustrated. In describing the 
manner in which younger volcanic cones rise 
within old craters, the author unfortunately 


speaks of “cone-in-cone ” structure, a term which 
has already been appropriated by geologists for 
a totally different phenomenon. As _ illustrating 
the vastness of the agencies by which volcanic 
mountains are built up, the author justly points 
out that the great cones of the Hawaiian Islands 
must be regarded as the grandest orographic 
feature on the globe, seeing that these cones rise 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


wind-action, we have the sand dunes of sea- 
coasts and the far more extensive structures of 
the same kind characteristic of deserts. ~ 

In passing from the comparatively simple 
“mountains of accumulation” to the opposite 


| class, to which he gives the name of ‘deformation 


mountains,’” our author approaches, as he him- 
self admits, the most difficult part of his task. 
He commences by giving an outline of the his- 
tory of the development of our knowledge of the 
subject, in which he justly lays stress on the 
important effect of Lyell’s protest against the 
orographic theories of de Beaumont; and he goes 
on to indicate the value of the subsequent work 


ad 


NATURE 


[January 8, 1914 _ 


of the brothers Rogers in the Appulachian moun- 
tains of the United States. Ihe great majority 
cf the ‘“‘defermation mountains” are shown to be 
undoubtedly “folded mountains,” and, as may be 
expected in a work of this kind, the important 
light thrown u,.: “:0umtain-origin by the study 
of the Scottish Highlands, as a mountain chain 
dissected by denudation, is admirably explained, 
though we miss any reference to the value of the 
!atours ef Nicol and Lapworth in this connection. 
‘he varieties of folding and the relations between 
‘siding and “thrusts” find full illustration; and 
the theoretical views of Heim, Steinmann, Suess, 
and other continental authors on the nature, 


extent, and results of the great complexities ex- | 


hibited in the Alps, with their possible causes, 
are fairly stated though not fully discussed. The 
influence of jointing and weathering in producing 
the various types of alpine scenery rightly occupies 
a very important place in the work. 

A second class of ‘dislocation mountains ” in- 
cludes curious types recognised in recent years 
by the geologists of the United States, with the 
‘“horsts”” of German geologists. In all of these, 
extensive faulting—like that by which the moun- 
tains of Moab are left in relief by the great Dead- 
Sea fault—has been the chief agency concerned 
in their formation. 

The mountains carved by denudation out of 
great igneous masses (the so-called “laccolites ” 
and “batholites”) constitute the author’s third 
class of “deformation mountains,” and are illus- 
trated by the Henry mountains of North America 
and the Red Hills and Coolin Hills of Skye. It 
is here that we detect a little want of consistency 
in the classification adopted by the author. In 
describing his volcanic mountains he rightly refers 
not only to the denuded remains of small cones— 
commonly called “necks’’—but to masses of lava, 
like the North Berwick Law, or of lava and tuffs 
like Largo Law, which are so conspicuous in the 
Scottish Lowlands as forming the denuded cones 
of great volcanoes. But the similar masses in 
Skye and the other islands of the Inner Hebrides 
do not differ from these in anything but their 
greater dimensions, and it seems scarcely justifi- 
able to place them in a totally different class. 

The final chapter of the book is devoted to the 
examples which the older geologists styled 
“mountains of circumdenudation,” but which the 
author designates ‘subsequent or relict” moun- 
tains, of which we have such striking British 
examples in the great stacks of Torridon sand- 
stone in western Sutherland and Ross. 

Not less instructive than the text of this excel- 
lent work is the selection of eighty photographic 
plates which illustrate it. One-half of these is 
taken from the admirable series prepared by the 
Geological Survey of Scotland, and they show 
how rich our country is of examples of mountain 
structure; the other half consists of pictures 
supplied by photographers of Switzerland and the 
United States. 

: Je Wag, 
NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


ZONAL STRUCTURE IN 
ANIMALS.1 


Re 
5 Veo a drop of strong silver nitrate is 

placed on a thin layer of 5-10 per cent. 
gelatine containing about o'r per cent. of potass- 
ium bichromate, remarkable phenomena are 
observed. The gelatine under the drop is coloured 
red-brown by the abundant precipitation of silver 
chromate. The nitrate spreads gradually by 
diffusion into the gelatine, the rusty brown area of 
precipitation enlarges, it forms at its periphery a 
dull whitish seam, and further outwards in the 
gelatine a system of numerous concentric rings 
is developed, spreading like rings on the surface 
of a quiet pool. These are the well-known Liese- 
gang’s rings or zones, and the central idea of 
Prof. Kiister’s investigation is that these throw 
light on zoned structure in cells and tissues. He 
has made numerous experiments with the diffu- 
sion zones formed in colloidal media in vitro, and 
he seeks to utilise the phenomena observed in the 
interpretation of organic structures—such as 
cross-striping in leaves, annular and other mark- 
ings in cells and vessels, the layers in starch- 
grains, the markings on diatoms, the lines on 
butterflies’ wings, on shells, on feathers, on por- 
cupines’ quills, and what not. 

Ostwald’s explanation of Liesegang’s rings is 
not unanimously accepted, but no one doubts that 
the phenomenon will be cleared up in terms of — 
laws of diffusion, concentration, precipitation, and 
the like. Prof. Kiister does not go into that; his 
object is to make zoned structure in organisms 
more intelligible by bringing it into line with 
Liesegang’s rings. He is aware of the risks of 
arguing from the conditions of inorganic processes 
to those of organic processes, of mistaking simi-— 
larity for sameness—and he quotes the wise ad- 
vice that Roux has given in connection with this 
kind of argument. 

Prof. Kiister admits that his suggestion is only — 
at the stage of hypothesis, for we do not know 
much about the active substances the diffusion of 
which in cells may induce zoned structure. We 
cannot isolate them and experiment with them. On 
the other hand, Prof. Kiister points out that organ- 
isms are largely built up of colloid material, and 
that his experiments in vitro were with colloidal 
material, that artificially induced modifications of 
Liesegang’s rings find their parallel in organic 
structure, and that the zoned structure occurs in — 
the most diverse kinds of plants. His experi- 
ments show that “rhythmic structure may arise 
without any rhythmic influence from the outer 
world, and that even simple diffusion processes 
can give rise to rhythmic structures.” Is it not 
probable that analogous occurrences take place in 
the formation of zoned organic structure? It may 
be said that in living creatures the rhythms are 
characteristically dynamic, but our author replies — 
to this by referring to Bredig’s “pulsating 


1 ‘Ueber Zonenbildung in kolloidalen Medien.” By Prof. Ernst Kiister, 
Pp. r11+53 figs. (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1913.) Price 4 marks, 


PLANTS AND 


. 


aS S-aae et 


January 8, 1914] 


NATURE 


533 


systems,” and the like, which may point a finger 
from a distance to the pulsating life of the cell. 

Prof. Kiister has opened up an exceedingly in- 
teresting line of inquiry, and he states his case in 
cautious and undogmatic manner. It appears to 
us that at this stage he would not have weakened 
his position by leaving out the reference to such 
complicated “structural rhythms” as the striping 
of vertebrate animals. 


SHACKLETON’S TRANSANTARCTIC 
EXPEDITION, 1914. 


HOUGH Sir Ernest Shackleton has adopted 
plans for an antarctic expedition that were 
formulated and published by me even before his 
return from his last expedition, and details of 
which have appeared since that time in various 
scientific journals, and in the public Press,! my 
view has always been that one explorer should 
not stand in the way of another, but as soon as 
one has secured money—a task more arduous than 
carrying out any plan whatever in the field—he 
should carry out whatever plan he pleases, and 
should receive, if he desires, any assistance that 
the other may be able to give. Therefore I wel- 
come Sir Ernest Shackleton entering what has for 
a century mainly been, so to speak, the Scottish 
sphere of influence in the antarctic regions. 

It is a curious fact that those who have done 
the most strenuous work on antarctic land have 
been seamen, while landsmen have been left to 
carry out the most strenuous work in antarctic 
seas, and it is, perhaps, for this reason that Sir 
Ernest Shackleton concentrates his attention again 
mainly on the land, whereas, as I have already 
pointed out,” it is a study of “antarctic seas that 
is at present most urgent, including an exploration 
and definition of the southern borders of those 
seas,” that is to say, the coastline of the antarctic 
continent. This part of the programme cannot 
be efficiently carried out in the time that Sir 
Ernest Shackleton proposes to allow himself, 
either for necessary preparation or for his expedi- 
tion. Hurry is unfavourable to detailed scientific 
research. 

But no one is better fitted than Shackleton to 
carry out to a successful issue the transcontinental 
journey, as is shown by the brilliant way in which 
he conducted his south polar expedition in 1907— 
1909. Shackleton is a trained seaman and a 
capable business man, appreciative of the work 
that scientific people carry out under his leader- 
ship. Abundant testimony to this fact has been 
given by his former colleagues, especially Dr. 
D. Mawson, Prof. Edgeworth David, and Mr. 
James Murray. It is certain, therefore, that he 
will give his scientific staff every opportunity of 
carrying out important scientific research. 

Granted that his ship is able to reach Coats 
Land or Luitpold Land—and this is entirely de- 
See, Nae iea Nitin Unchicy cue tee a orion 
27, 1910, p. 55t- ‘Polar Exploration,” by W. S. Bruce, chap. x., pp- 252, 


253. (Williams and arent, Torr.) 
= “Polar Exploration,” by W. S. Bruce, p. 247: 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


.| and difficult problems of Weddell Sea. 


pendent on whether it is a good or bad ice year 
in the Weddell Sea—the expedition should 
endeavour to unite and chart in more detail Coats 
Land and Luitpold Land. It should endeavour to 
map out the coast line between Coats Land and 
Enderby Land, between Coats Land and Luitpold 
Land, and between Luitpold Land and New South 
Greenland. The investigation of New South 
Greenland is in itself one of the most interesting 
Detailed 
soundings should be taken, especially to the south 
and west of those of the Scotia and Deutschland, 
so that, if new coastlines are not actually dis- 
covered, their presence and general outline may 
be indicated. This can be arrived at with a 
wonderful degree of accuracy. It is of great 
interest to obtain considerable quantities of bottom 
| deposits, especially macroscopic specimens, along 
with indications of the distribution and drift of 
icebergs which have been the means of carrying 
them to the place where they have been deposited. 
The important discovery of Archzocyathine 
at a depth of 1775 fathoms in lat. 62° 1o! S., 
long. 41° 20/ W. is a lucid example of the value 
of this type of research, for it most certainly in- 
dicates that the Cambrian rocks found by 
Shackleton in the vicinity of the Beardmore Glacier 
stretch across Antarctica towards the shores of the 
Weddell Sea, and possibly form part of that 
mountain system seen by Morrell in about lat. 
69° S.3 : 

But will Shackleton be able to spend time to 
carry on these researches when the main object is 
to cross the antarctic continent? On her out- 
ward voyage the ship will be full to the gunwale 
with stores and equipment, and every effort must 
be made to find a suitable landing place along a 
practically unknown coast, to build a house, and 
set up the base camp for the tremendous task 
of crossing Antarctica, and this along a coast 
that Ross failed to reach because of heavy ice in 
1843, that the Scotia failed to reach in 1903, 
where the Scotia, in 1904, was heaved right out 
of the water, and left stranded on the top of the 
ice, her keel being 4ft. above water-level, and 
where the Deutschland, in 1912, was beset and 
driven northward helplessly during the whole 
winter. 

These are difficulties that may be met with 
again in the Weddell Sea, difficulties which have 
never been experienced by any ship in the Ross 
Sea, where no one has ever failed to reach the 
Ross Barrier. It is therefore to be hoped that 
Shackleton will not meet with such conditions, 
but will find a favourable season such as Weddell 
and Morrell found in 1823. 

Once landed at or in the vicinity of Coats Land 
—more likely to the east than to the west— 
Shackleton starts his main objective. A meteoro- 
logical station here will be of immense import- 
ance, and should be cooperative with those of the 
Argentine Republic in Scotia Bay and South 
Georgia. Detailed discussion of the meteoro- 


% Morrell’s Voyages, 1822-31, Capt. Benjamin Morrell, 1832, chap. 
| p. 69. 


534 


NATURE 


[January 8, 1914 


logical programme with Mr. R. C. Mossman is 
strongly advised. 
kind at the base station and, so far as possible, 
on, the cross journey will fall in with other work 
that, has been done; in both these departments 
of science it would be specially profitable to have 
other expeditions in the field synchronously. 
Local zoological and botanical work will also be 
of great interest. But, undoubtedly, solving some 
of the many great topographical and geological 
problems is the leading work to be done both in 
the vicinity of the base station and in the interior. 

According to evidence at present at our dis- 
posal, Shackleton, if he penetrates southward from 
Coats Land, will gradually rise without much 
interruption over completely and heavily ice-clad 
land—over inland ice, in fact—until he reaches 
the South Pole, an ice-field that continues until 
it reaches the Beardmore Glacier and Axel Heiberg 
Glaciers. It would be a great triumph if, after 
Shackleton reached the South Pole, he could 
strike a new route, say, to the west of the moun- 
tains of South Victoria Land; but if this sacrifices 
the life or even limbs of the party, it is not worth 
attempting. Another expedition can carry out 
that work in time to come from the Pacific side. 
The intrinsic value of the expedition is to seek 
and find out what lies between Coats Land and 
the South Pole. 

The route will probably be to the east of the 
antarctic continuation of the Andes, but possibly 
Shackleton may have to cross another range— 
the continuation of the South Victoria Land 
Mountains—but all is new, and all depends upon 
whether previous conceptions have been based on 
sufficient facts. It is expeditions such - 
Shackleton’s that we require as the only way of 
obtaining data for the solution of many theories 
founded on too few facts. We therefore wish 
him all possible success, and trust that he will 
receive all the support he requires. The 50,000l. 
provided by a generous friend is an absolute mini- 
mum; 70,0001. is nearer the figure, and may we 
also trust that even another 10,0001. will be forth- 
coming to enable the gallant leader to have the 
scientific results of the expedition described in 
detail; for an expedition of this kind is not com- 
pletely successful unless the technical results of 
the work are published. Wittiam S. BRUCE. 


DR. WEIR MITCHELL. 


R. SILAS WEIR MITCHELL died at Phila- 
delphia on January 4, and in him has passed 
away one of the most remarkable men of 
America. At different times in his life he took 
a place in the very first rank of experimental 
physiologists, of practical physicians, and of 
novelists. 

Dr. Weir Mitchell was born at Philadelphia, 
February 15, 1829, and was educated at the 
University. of Pennsylvania and the Jefferson 
Medical College. He began researches on various 
physiological subjects in 1852, and in 1860 he pub- 
lished his researches ‘‘On the Venom of the Rattle 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


Magnetic work of the usual. 


Snake,” a work which, even at this day, remains 
a perfect model of: what an investigation into: the 
physiological action of a poison ought to be, and 
is of itself sufficient to establish his claim to a 
front rank among'st American physiologists, past 
or present. age 

During the American Civil War Dr. Weir 
Mitchell had charge of a hospital in which cases 
of injury to nerves by gunshot wounds were 
specially treated. In 1872 he published a book on 
the effect of such injuries. After the war was over 
his patients were scattered over many parts of 
the United States, and he was thus enabled to 
make some very extraordinary observations upon 
the effect of weather upon disease. He was struck 
by the fact that one day, for example, he would 
get a batch of letters from California, a day or 
two afterwards from Denver, and a day or two 
later from Chicago, in which the patients com- 
plained of pains in their old wounds. These coin- 
cidences led him to inquire into the cause of the 
pain, and on communicating with the meteoro- 
logical office he found that a wave of rain and a 
wave of pain were passing simultaneously over 
the American continent from west to east at 
the same rate. The ‘rain area” and the “pain 
aréa’’ were concentric, but the pain area was 
much larger than the rain area. The radius of 
the rain area from the storm centre was 550 to 
600 miles, while the radius of the pain area was 
150 miles greater than this. As a consequence of 
this, patients in the rain area felt pains, and, seeing 
the rain, concluded that their pains were due to 
change of weather. ‘Those in the pain area felt 
pains, but saw no rain, and could not under- 
stand why they were suffering, although the real 
cause of their pain was the climatic disturbance. 
He afterwards extended his observations to the 
effect of weather on chorea and infantile paralysis. 
The curve of cases of infantile paralysis closely 
corresponded with the curve of temperature, but 
no such relationship could be noticed in the case 
of chorea either with temperature, height of baro- 
meter, or relative humidity. But a very close 
relationship indeed could be observed between the 
number of attacks of chorea and the number of 
storm centres within a radius of 400 or even 
750 miles of Philadelphia. 

Dr. Weir Mitchell’s attention having been thus 
directed to diseases of the nervous system, he 
was led to give special attention to the’ treatment 
of nervous diseases in women, and more especially 
to hysteria and neurasthenia. In the treatment 
of these diseases he effected a complete revolution, 
introducing the system of seclusion, rest, massage, 
and feeding, which is now known as the Weir 
Mitchell treatment. It has been extraordinarily 
effectual in very many cases which would have 
otherwise proved hopeless, and establishes his 
claim to rank as one of the greatest practical 
physicians of his time. 

From the published catalogue of his works it 
appears that he did not begin to write novels 
or poems until 1880, when he published “Three 
Tales of the Older Philadelphia,” and in 1882 he 


January 8, 1914] 


NATURE 


535 


published some poems. From that time onward 
he continued to write poems and novels. The 
most successful of these was “Hugh Wynne,” a 
novel which dealt with life and manners in Phila- 
delphia at the time of the Revolution. This novel 
showed an ‘intimate knowledge of the history of 
the time, and of-the people who took part in the 
great national movement. The figures he 
described were no mere puppets, but seem to 
be living and breathing men and women, and the 
work was of such high literary excellence that it 
at once placed him in the foremost rank of 
American novelists. Of very few men can it be 
said that as a young man he took a first place 
amongst the physiologists, as a middle-aged 
man amongst the physicians, and as an elderly 
man amongst the novelists of his country. His 
extraordinary mental power was combined with 
an almost equally extraordinary bodily activity, 
so that until about a year before his death he 
would think nothing of a walk of ten miles. 

As a host he was most cordial and genial; as 
a friend he was most kind, trusty, and true; and 
his great information, broad views, and power 
of expression made a conversation with him a 
pleasure, and a stay in his house a delight to be 
remembered for the rest of life. He seemed to 
possess in a very marked degree the power of 
saying and doing the right thing at the right 
moment. His loss leaves the world the poorer, 
and will be a personal sorrow to everyone who has 
ever known him. 

Little more than a week ago I received a 
Christmas card from him headed, “The Star of 
Bethlehem,” containing four verses of poetry 
printed, but signed in his own handwriting, and 
I think probably his own composition. In view 
of his death so soon afterwards, the last verse 
seems almost prophetic, and it gives such an 
insight into his feelings, character, and hopes 
that I think perhaps I may be allowed to quote 
it :— 

“Still in our heaven of memory keep 
Remembrance of the gifts He gave; 
The guiding life, the star of love, 
To glow for us beyond the grave.”’ 
Lauper Brunton. 


NOTES. 


Tue chief distinction of interest to the scientific 
world in the list of New Year Honours is the appoint- 
ment of Sir Archibald Geikie, K.C.B., F.R.S., to the 
Order of Merit, in recognition of the eminent services 
which he has rendered to the nation and 
to the world at large in the science of 
geology. Mr. James Bryce, O.M., F.R.S., who 
retired recently from the post of British Ambas- 
sador at Washington, is created a viscount. Sir Chris- 
topher Nixon, Bart.. professor of medicine in Univer- 


' sity College, Dublin, has been made a Privy Councillor 


in Ireland. Sir Rickman J. Godlee, Bart., presi- 
dent of the Royal College of Surgeons, has been made 
a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, 
and Sir William J. Collins has received a like honour. 
Among the forty new knights are Prof. E. Rutherford, 


NO. 2206, VOL. 92] 


F.R.S., Langworthy professor of physics, University 
of Manchester; Mr. R. Blair, education officer of the 
London County Council since 1904; Prof. H. B. Allen, 
professor of pathology, University of Melbourne; and 
Surgeon-General A. T. Sloggett, director, Medical 
Services in India. Major A. Cooper-Key, Chief In- 
spector of Explosives, Home Office, has been appointed 
a Companion of the Bath (C.B.); Dr. A. Theiler, 
director of veterinary research, Department of Agricul- 
ture, Union of South Africa, has been promoted to be 
Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Michael 
and Saint George (K.C.M.G.); and the new Com- 
panions (C.M.G.) of the same Order include Mr. A. G. 
Bell, Inspector of Mines, Trinidad; and Prof. J. 


; Shand, professor of natural philosophy, University of 


Otago, New Zealand. Major J. D. E. Holmes, Impe- 
rial bacteriologist in charge of the veterinary labora- 
tory at Muktesar, has been made a Companion of the 
Order of the Indian Empire (C.1.E.). 


Mr. W. PoprpLewELtL Broxam, whose death we 
announced with regret last week, contributed to the 
Chemical Society many papers which testify to his work 
for the advancement of science. In the early ’nineties 
of last century he devoted his energies to the task of 
unravelling the mysteries surrounding the alkali poly- 
sulphides and their oxidation changes; no doubt his 
attention was turned in this direction by Debus, under 
whom he started his professional career. Having 
filled a position as locum tenens professor of chem- 
istry at Presidency College, Madras, Bloxam was re- 
tained in India by the Government of Bengal to in- 
vestigate the question of improving the cultivation and 
manufacture of indigo, and from 1902-5 much work 
was carried on at the Dalsingh Serai Research Station, 
culminating in a report in conjunction with H. M. 
Leak and R: S. Finlow, now cited as authoritative. 
The underlying chemical investigations are to be found 
in the Transactions of the Chemical Society. A fur- 
ther Government grant enabled Mr. Bloxam on his 
return to this country to continue his researches at 
Leeds, whence there emanated several papers for the 
Chemical Society, in conjunction with Prof. A. G. 
Perkin and others, on the constitution of indirubin, 
the analysis: of indigo, and the like. Another subject 
which came under Mr, Bloxam’s notice was,the com- 
plexity of the proteids of blood, and’ in. the Proceed- 
ings of the Physiological Society is to be found a paper 
dealing with the constitution of. these compounds as 
they occur.in.-horse.serum. As a whole Mr. Bloxam’s 
work was sound, and his death at a comparatively 
early age deprives us of a genuine enthusiast in the 
cause of chemical research. 


Dr. Huco Miene, associate professor of botany in 
the University of Leipzig, has. succeeded the late 
Prof. H. Potonié as editor of the Naturwissenschaft- 
lichen Wochenschrift, published by Mr. Gustav 
Fischer, Jena. 


Dr. R. WorMELL, instructor in mathematics at the 
Royal Naval College, Greenwich, in 1873, headmaster 
of the Central Foundation School, London, from 1874 
to 1900, and the author of several valuable works on 
scientific and educational subjects, died on January 6, 
at seventy-four years of age. 


30 


on 


Mr. C.'B. Ropinson, an American botanist, who 
was holding a temporary appointment under the 
Philippine Government, is reported to have been 
killed by natives of Amboyna Island, where he was 
engaged on a study of the local flora. He was forty- 
one years of age, and had been connected for some 
time with the New York Botanical Gardens. 


A meETING of members of the Wireless Society of 
London will be held at the Institution of Electrical 
Engineers on January 21, when an address, illustrated 
by experiments, will be given by the president, Mr. 
A. A. Campbell! Swinton. By the courtesy of Le 
Commandant Ferrio, a vice-president of the society, 
the radio-telegraphic station of the Eiffel Tower, Paris, 
will send a special wireless message to the society 
during the meeting, and arrangements are being made 
to render the message audible to all present. 


Pror. A. Garpasso informs us that Mr. A. Lo 
Surdo, assistant professor in the R. Istituto di Studi 
Superiori, Florence, has succeeded in observing the 
Zeeman effect in an electric field announced by Prof. 
Stark in Nature of December 4, 1913 (p. 401). Mr. 
Lo Surdo has observed that the effect is present in 
all vacuum tubes, but in a very short space imme- 
diately in front of the kathode. A photograph sent by 
Prof. Garbasso shows the line Hy resolved into five 
components, but it is unsuitable for satisfactory repro- 
duction. Two papers upon the subject have been pre- 
sented to the R. Accademia dei Lincei, and will be 
published in the Rendiconti of the academy. 


In spite of appeals from several distinguished 
Americans, the Bill giving San Francisco extensive 
water supply and power rights in the Hetch-Hetchy 
Valley has passed both Houses of Congress, and 
becomes law by the signature of the President. One 
effect of the new Act will be to remove from the use 
and enjoyment of the general public the valley of the 
Tuolumne River in the north-western part of the 
Yosemite National Park. It is estimated that the 
provision prohibiting any refuse of men or animals 
from being deposited within 300 ft. of running water 
or of lakes tributary to the Tuolumne River above 
Hetch-Hetchy will exclude the public from one-half of 
the park. The Tuolumne Cajion, in particular, is 
described as containing some of the finest scenery in 
America, excelled only, if at all, by the Grand Cafion 
of the Colorado in Arizona. 


THE eighty-second annual meeting of the British 
Medical Association is to be held next July at Aber- 
deen. The president-elect, who succeeds Dr. W. A. 
Hollis, of Brighton, is Sir Alexander Ogston, of Aber- 
deen. The annual representative meeting will begin 
on Friday, July 24; the president’s address will be 
delivered on July 28, and the sections will meet on the 
three days following. The address in medicine is to 
be delivered by Dr. Archibald E. Garrod, and the 
popular lecture by Prof. J. Arthur Thomson. The 
sections of the council of the association with their 
presidents -are:—Anatomy and Physiology, Prof. 
Robert W. Reid; Dermatology and Syphilology, Dr. 
Alfred Eddowes; Diseases of Children, including 
Orthopedics, Dr. John Thomson; Electro-Therapeutics 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[January 8, 1914 


and Radiology, Dr. Samuel Sloan; Gynzcology and 


Obstetrics, Dr. Francis W. N. Haultain; Laryngo-: 


logy, Rhinology, and Otology, Dr. Harry L. Lack; 
Medical Sociology, Dr. John Gordon; Medicine, Dr. 
F. J. Smith; Naval and Military Medicine and Sur- 
gery, Deputy-Surgeon-General M. Craig; Neurology 


and Psychological Medicine, Dr. F. W. Mott; Oph- 


thalmology, Dr. C. H. Usher; Pathology and Bac- 
teriology, Dr. W. S. Lazarus-Barlow; Pharmacology, 
Therapeutics, and Dietetics, Prof. J. T. Cash; State 
Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence, Prof. Matthew 
Hay; Surgery, Mr. John S. Riddell; Tropical Medi- 
cine, Prof. W. J. R. Simpson. 


THE reports for the fifty-two weeks ended Decem- 
ber 27, issued by the Meteorological Office, show that 
the mean temperature for 1913 was in excess of the 
average over the whole of the British Isles; the 
greatest excess was in the midland counties and the 
east of England, where it amounted for the whole 
year to nearly 2°. The rainfall was in agreement 
with the average in the south-east of England, and 
was in excess in Ireland and in the south-west of 
England; in all other districts there was a deficiency. 
The greatest deficiency of rain was 5:37 in. in the 
west of Scotland, and in the east of Scotland it was 
453 in. In the English districts the greatest de- 
ficiency was 3-32 in. in the north-eastern district, and 
in the east of England the deficiency was 2-58 in. 
The rainy days were generally deficient in the eastern 
section of the kingdom and in excess in the western 
section. The duration of bright sunshine was below 
the average over the whole of the British Isles. The 
Greenwich observations give 51:5° as the mean tem- 
perature for the year, which is 1-5° in excess of the 
average. April, July, and August were the only 
months with a deficiency of temperature, the defect 
for the several months being respectively 0-4°, 3:8°, 
and 11°. The highest monthly mean was 61-8° in 
August. In July the highest temperature was 76°, 
and there was only one day with the temperature above 
the average, whilst the duration of bright sunshine 
was only ninety-five hours, which is ninety-one hours 
less than the average. There were in all only thirty- 
three nights with frost. The rainfall for the year 
was 22-00 in., which is 2-13 in. less than the average. 
The wettest month was October, with 3-58 in., the 
driest June, with 0-61 in. Rain fell on 169 days during 
the year, and January, March, and April each had 
twenty days with rain. The aggregate sunshine for 
the year was 1329 hours, which is twenty-two hours 
fewer than the average. 


In the sixth part of ‘‘ Visvakarma,’’ edited by Mr. 
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, a number of interesting 
photographs of examples of Indian sculpture are re. 
produced. Perhaps the finest specimens are the 
elephants, a favourite study of the native artist, from 
Mamallapuram, on the western coast, and a remark- 
able bronze figure of the monkey god, Hanuman, 
from Ceylon, and of a mongoose from Nipal. This 
cheap and well-illustrated periodical furnishes valuable 
material for the study of Oriental sculpture. _ 


Ir is a good sign of the interest now felt among 
Anglo-Indian officials in local beliefs and folklore, 


Je 
eee own 


January 8, 1914] 


NATURE 537 


that the Dacca Review has been founded for the 
publication of information on these subjects from 
eastern Bengal. Mr. H. E. Stapleton, in vol. iii., 
No. 5, of the review, gives an interesting account of 
Ghazi Sahib, the patron saint of boatmen, the first 
Musalman invader of Sy'het. Round this worthy a 
mass of curious legend has collected, which deserves 
the attention of students of folklore and peasant 
religions. 


In the December issue of Man Prof. G. Elliot 
Smith revives the question of the origin of the dol- 
men. According to his theory, it is a degraded form 
of the Egyptian mastaba, ur stone sepulchre. It is, 
he believes, ‘‘altogether inconceivable that the more 
or less crude, though none the less obvious, imitations 
of the essential parts of the fully-developed mastaba, 
which are seen in the Sardinian ‘ Giants’ Tombs,’ 
the allées couvertes of France and elsewhere, the 
widespread ‘holed dolmens,’ and all the multitude of 
“vestigial structures,’ to use a biological analogy, 
represented in the protean forms of the Algerian and 
Tunisian dolmens, could have been invented inde- 
pendently of the Egyptian constructions.” At the two 
last meetings of the British Association, this view 
failed to command the acceptance of authorities like 
Profs. Boyd Dawkins and Flinders Petrie. The pre- 
sent exposition, though interesting and suggestive, 
does not deal with the more obvious objections which 
have been from time to time advanced in opposition 
to it. 


Mr. Rosert Monn, who founded the Infants’ Hos- 
pital, Vincent Square, S.W., in an interview reported 
in The Times of December 29, expresses a very decided 
opinion that infants should be fed on fresh, raw milk. 
He states that children thrive far better on untreated 
milk, that there is little risk of tuberculous infection 
therefrom, and that children fed on sterilised or pas- 
teurised milk, are weak and ill-nourished and pre- 
disposed to tuberculosis. Mr. Mond has an experi- 
mental farm at Sevenoaks, at which full records and 
memoranda are kept, which are at the disposal of any 
farmer or dairyman who desires to consult them. 


Dr. G. McMuttan and Prof. K. Pearson describe, 
in the October (1913) issue of Biometrika, a pedigree 
of split-foot or ‘‘lobster-claw.’’ The pedigree extends 
over four generations, and includes more than a 
hundred individuals. The deformity is always trans- 
mitted only by the affected, but appears in consider- 
ably more than half the members of affected families; 
for example, in the three largest families there are 
eight affected and none normal, six affected and four 
normal, five affected and four normal. The extent of 
the abnormality varies greatly in different cases, as 
is shown in the photographs with which the paper is 
illustrated. 


Enriicu’s well-known method of intra vitam stain- 
ing by means of methylene-blue is proving itself 
extraordinarily fruitful in investigations of the nervous 
system of the lower animals. Adolf Gerwerzhagen 
has recently applied this method to the study of the 
nervous system of the Polyzoa, or, as some authorities 
prefer to call them, Bryozoa (Zeitschrift fiir wissen- 

NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


schaftliche Zoologie, Bd. cvii., p. 309). Students of 
zoology have hitherto had to content themselves with 
very scanty information on this subject, and will 
doubtless be surprised at the complexity of the nervous 
system now for the first time demonstrated. It 
appears that, in addition to the cerebral ganglion and 
the main nerves supplying the lophophore, &c., there 
is a rich network of nerve fibres and ganglion cells, 
not only in the body-wall of individual zooids, but 
extending throughout the whole colony, while the 
lophophore and tentacles are provided with an elabo- 
rate system of nerve fibres and sense cells, and there 
is also a so-called ‘‘sympathetic’’ system ramifying 
over the alimentary canal. The present communica- 
tion deals with the nervous system of the well-known 
fresh-water form, Cristatella mucedo, and the remark- 
able coordinated creeping movements of the entire 
colony are rendered intelligible by the discovery of 
the common colonial nervous system. 


In vol. Ixiv. of Vidensk fra den naturk. Foren Mr. 
H. Blegvad describes, under the name of Lepto- 
cephalus hjorti, the smallest leptocephalid, or eel-larva, ' 
at present known. The specimen, which was taken 
by the writer in the Atlantic during a voyage to the 
Danish West Indies in 1g10-11, measures only 
19-8 mm. in total length. The next smallest example 
taken had a length of 21-5 mm. 


IN an article published in the December issue of 
the Museums’ Journal, Mr. C. Hallett, the official 
guide at the British Museum, alludes to some of the 
difficulties connected with the work of guide-demon- 
strators in museums. One curious point is that, in 
Mr. Hallett’s opinion, the majority of the visitors to 
the museum are drawn from the classes least fitted 
to appreciate its contents. Among those who form 
the guide-led parties, there may be a few with some 
knowledge of the objects under review, while there 
will generally be many with a little knowledge, which 
they desire to increase. The bane of such parties are 
those who are not only utterly destitute of knowledge, 
but have no desire to acquire any. Noise and over- 
crowding form other difficulties, but the gravest 
question to be faced is the extent (if any) to which a 
guide-conducted party ought to take precedence over 
other visitors to a museum. 


THE 1914 issue of the ‘Live Stock Journal: 
Almanack”’ fully sustains the high reputation of that 
publication as a trustworthy and up-to-date guide to 
all important matters connected with British horses, 
cattle, sheep, &c., during the previous year. Special 
interest attaches to an article by Col. Ricardo-on the 
horse-problem, particularly in respect to Army re- 
mounts; and although there may be a shortage in 
horses suitable for this particular kind of work, it is 
satisfactory to learn from other articles that the trade 
in shire and other working horses was never better. 
In connection with cattle, reference may be made to 
an article on “free-martins,” by Mr. C. J. Davies, 
in which a common misunderstanding is corrected. A 
“free-martin’’ is generally stated to be an infertile 
female twin calf, the fellow of which is a male; but, 
according to Messrs. Geddes and Thompson, such an 
infertile calf is really a hermaphrodite male, the 


538 


NATURE 


[January 8, 1914 


fellow twin of which is a normal male. The true 


nature of the free-martin is revealed by its possessing’ 


the essential internal generative organs of the bull, 
although these are accompanied by the external 
accessory organs of a female, while a rudimentary 
vagina and uterus are also present. From the article 
on sheep we regret to learn that the number of head 
in Great Britain continues to show a serious decrease. 


THREE papers on osmotic pressures in plants, by 
Prof. H. H. Dixon and Mr. W. R. G. Atkins, have 
recently appeared in the Proceedings of the Royal 
Dublin Society, vol. xiii. (1913). The authors show 
that the sap pressed from living, untreated tissues 
does not give a true estimate of the concentration of 
that in the vacuoles of the cells before the application 
of pressure, that in order to extract the sap from the 
cells without altering the concentration it is necessary 
to render the protoplasmic membranes permeable, and 
that this can best be effected by the application of 
liquid air. This discovery makes it necessary to 
revise all freezing-point and electrical conductivity 
determinations where expressed sap has’ been em- 
ployed, and the authors find that their new measure- 
ments, making use of sap pressed immediately after 
thawing from tissues frozen solid in liquid air, give 
much higher osmotic pressures than had been obtained 
previously. An important point established is that 
the actual osmotic pressures in the cells are much 
greater than the requirements of the well-known 
cohesion theory of the ascent of sap in trees demand. 


THE potentialities of the British egg and poultry 
trade are indicated in an article, by Mr. Edward 
Brown, in the Journal of the Agricultural Organisa- 
tion Society, vol. vii., Nos. 3 and 4, 1913. Since the 
visit of the first egg and poultry demonstration train, 
three years ago, to three of the counties in South 
Wales the value of the local output has been increased, 
according to a conservative estimate, to the amount 
of 25,0001. to 30,0001. per annum. During April and 
May of last spring a similar train made a twelve days’ 
tour in six counties in North Wales, and was visited 
by more than 19,000 persons. This will suffice to 
indicate the great interest evinced by the general 
public in the question, and such work, educational in 
‘itself, followed by cooperation and organisation in the 
marketing of produce, cannot fail to be of great value. 
It is, however, highly desirable that the continuation 
of this work should be ensured, and that adequate 
official support should be given instead of its being 
dependent on private generosity. 


WE have received from the United States Geological 
Survey three bulletins, namely No. 522, ‘ Portland 
Cement Materials and Industry in the United States,” 
by Edwin C. Sekel; No. 527, ‘‘Ore Deposits of the 
Helena Mining Region, Montana,’”’ by Adolph Knapf; 
and No. 529, ““The Enrichment of Sulphide Ores,” 
by William Harvey Emmons. The first- and last- 
named of these are necessarily of more general in- 
terest than a-description of a specific district can be, 
and whilst the first will particularly interest cement 
makers and engineers in general, the latter appeals 
most strongly to the economic geologist, and student 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


of ore deposition. Although the bulletin upon Port- 
land cement is intended primarily for Americans who 
are either ‘‘owners of lands on which marl, limestone, 
or clay deposits are found,” or ‘*cement manufac- 
turers or those who desire to become such,’’ the 
information conveyed will be found of great use to 
cement manufacturers and users all the world over, 
giving as it does an excellent sketch of the nature of 
cements and the principles of cement manufacture. 
As regards the bulletin by Mr. Emmons, it recapitu- 
lates in a very clear and readable form the present 
state of knowledge concerning the phenomena of 
secondary enrichment of ore deposits, paying par- 
ticular attention to the chemistry of the changes in- 
volved in this enrichment; it deserves the careful 
attention of all mining engineers who have to deal 
with ore deposits liable to be affected by the pheno-. 
mena here discussed. 2 


Mr. R. C. Mossman has contributed to Symons’s 
Meteorological Magazine for December the sixth of 
his interesting articles on southern hemisphere 
seasonal correlations. (1) Argentine Republic and 
Chile: The departure from the normal of the thirty- 
six years, 1876-1911, at certain stations show that 
the winter variations of temperature are generally in 
harmony with each other from May to August. A 
comparison of South American winter temperature 
variations with conditions in other regions yielded 
(with one exception) negative results. (2) Auckland, 
N.Z., and Alice Springs, Australia: On comparing 
the mean temperature at Auckland for the second 
quarter of the year with the values at Alice Springs 
for the last quarter, it was found that from 1892 to 
1906 the former was an index of the latter. (3) 
Sydney, N.S.W., and San Francisco: From 1864 to 
1889 a well-marked relation was apparent between 
the mean temperature at Sydney from May to August 
and the rainfall at San Francisco for October to 
April following. (4) South Orkneys and Kimberley : 
For the years 1903-11 the August and September 
temperature at the former has been a direct index of 
the temperature at the latter during the three months 
following. The temperature at the South Orkneys 
in August and September is largely dependent on the 
ice conditions of the surrounding ocean. The paper 
is accompanied with explanatory tables and diagrams. 


Mr. P. E. B. Jourparn’s “The Principle of Least 
Action” (Open Court Publishing Company, 1s. 6d.) 
is a reprint of three essays published in The Monist 
(1912-13). The first of these is mainly historical, and 
gives an abundance of quotations and references; the 
second deals with extensions of the theory, and alter- 
native ways of considering the problem—in particular 
an outline of O. Hélder’s important theory; the third 
paper is a critical summary. Altogether we have an 
interesting and impartial view of the subject, expressed 
in as simple a form as the nature of the topic seems 
to admit. 


In a pamphlet called ‘‘ Principles of a New Theory 
of the Series,” Mr. F. Tavani has given an interesting 
and apparently novel view of the subject. It has at 
any rate the advantage of making one comparatively 
simple test cover a large number of important cases. 


January 8, 1914] 


NATURE 


We can scarcely expect more from it than this; for 
the test of convergence of a given series is ultimately 
whether s, has a limit, s, being the sum of the first n 
terms, and there is no reason to suppose that we can 
find, in all cases, another and more manageable way 
of expressing the condition of convergence. Mr. 
Tavani gives several important references, and has 
had the advantage of criticisms by Prof. M. J. M. 
Hill and Mr. G. H. Hardy. 


Recent low-temperature research has led to results 
which it is difficult to reconcile with the belief that at 
the absolute zero of temperature the energy of the 
atoms and molecules of bodies vanishes. The change 
of the specific heat of hydrogen at very low tempera- 
tures has been shown by Prof. Einstein and Dr. Stern 
to be consistent with the energy of the molecules being 
finite at the absolute zero. Prof. Onnes and Dr. 
Keesom come to the same conclusion with regard to 
the translatory energy, and Dr. Keesom has shown 
that some of the difficulties of the theory of free 
electrons in metals are removed by the assumption 
of finite energy at the absolute zero. According to 
a recent communication from the physical laboratory 
of the University of Leyden, Dr. Oosterhuis finds it 
necessary to assume a finite energy of rotation of the 
molecules at the absolute zero in order to correlate his 
observations of the magnetic susceptibilities of a 
number of paramagnetic substances at very low tem- 
peratures. By this means the deviations from Curie’s 
law of constancy of the product of susceptibility and 
absolute temperature are explained. 


In a paper in the Atti R. Accad.. Lincei (vol. xxii., ii., 
p- 390) Mr. C. Acqua shows that nuclear degeneration 
is produced in plant cells by traces of uranium salts. 
If, for example, wheat plants are grown in very dilute 
solutions of uranyl nitrate (1 in 10,000), the rootlets 
soon cease to develop, and this is accompanied by 
the production of a yellow colour in the nuclei of the 
cells of the meristem, which at the same time no 
longer stain in the usual manner with hemotoxylin. 
The action of the uranium brings about destruction of 
the chromatin, and the cessation of nuclear activity. 
The cause of this is not yet ascertained, but it is 
suggested that it may be the formation of organo- 
metallic compounds or the radio-activity of the 
uranium itself. 


Tue Chemical Society’s Journal contains an impor- 
tant contribution, by Messrs. Pickard and Kenyon, to 
the study of optical rotatory power in homologous 
series. Of the series of secondary alchohols from 
C.H;.CHOH.CH, to C.H,.CHOH.C,;H;,, one is 
necessarily inactive, but all the others with one excep- 
tion have been prepared and isolated in an optically 
active form. The molecular rotatory powers in this 
remarkable series of compounds increase fairly regu- 
larly when once the inactive diethyl carbinol 
C.H,.CHOH.C,H,; has been passed, but somewhat 
excessive optical activity appears in the fifth and tenth 
members of the series. There might be some tendency 
to ascribe this small excess of rotatory power to ex- 
perimental error, but for the fact that when the 


B30 


alcohol the curve of increasing rotatory power loses 
all pretence of uniformity, and develops a series of 
remarkable humps, which culminate at the alcohols, 
C,H;-€HOH.C,H,,, C.H;.CHOH.C,,H.,, and per- 
haps C.H,.CHOH.C,;H;,. This curious behaviour is 
attributed to the fact that the “growing chain” of 
carbon atoms probably assumes a spiral form, each 
loop of the spiral containing five carbon atoms. Some 
indication of the same qualities has been detected in 
solutions of the methyl-carbinols, CH,.CHOH.R, but 
the isopropyl-carbinols, (CH,),CH.CHOH.R, behave 
in a perfectly regular manner, both in the homo- 
geneous state and in solution. 


WE learn from The Engineer for January 2 that 
the French Minister of Public Works has requested 
the railway companies to submit proposals for equip- 
ping the cabs of express locomotives with audible 
signals as soon as possible. The Minister also points 
out the terrible consequences resulting from the em- 
ployment of gas for lighting the coaches whenever a 
train is smashed in collision. He therefore orders the 
railway companies to hasten the substitution of elec- 
trical for gas lighting on fast trains, and he further 
states that he will henceforth refuse permission to 
the companies to purchase rolling stock equipped for 
gas lighting. It may be noted that British railway 
companies are giving attention to the automatic con- 
trol of trains. Some are trying mechanical means 
of placing fog-signals on the line when the sema- 
phore is at danger; others, like the Great Western 
and the North-Eastern, have cab signals already in 
use, and some are testing electrical apparatus. Many 
people hold that it is better to leave full responsibility 
with the driver, and not transfer it to a mechanism 
which may fail. Public opinion will, however, prob- 
ably force automatic control on British railway com- 
panies. 


LEcTurRERS in colleges and teachers in schools will 
welcome the publication of the second part of Messrs, 
Newton and Co.’s catalogue of lantern slides. The 
volume, which is effectively bound in cloth, runs to 
nearly six hundred pages, and gives full particulars 
of the immense variety of slides which this firm is ~ 
able to supply to illustrate lectures and lessons in 
science, nature-study, geography, history, the various 
industries, and other subjects. The increase in this 
department of their business has led Messrs. Newton 
and Co. to open their New Lantern Slide Gallery at 
37 King Street, Covent Garden, W.C. It is worthy 
of note that many of the sets of slides cata- 
logued have been compiled by such educational autho- 
rities as the Visual Instruction Committee of the 
Colonial Office, the Committee of London Teachers 
of Geography, and so on, and purchasers have the 
assurance that the slides are particularly suitable for 
educational purposes. The number of slides dealing 
with scientific subjects is very large, and many of them 
represent important pieces of research. As _ typical 
may be mentioned those from photographs of flying 
bullets by Prof. C. V. Boys, of sound waves by Prof. 
R. W. Wood, of ripples by Dr. J. H. Vincent, and of 


alcohols are merely dissolved in benzene or in ethyl j astronomical work in the Solar Physics Observatory. 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


540 


NATURE 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


TurtLe’s Nesuta, N.G.C. 6643.—In this column 
for September 25 last attention was directed to M. 
Borrelly’s observation of Hind’s nebula indicating its 
variable nature. M. Borrelly has recently been making 
observations on the nebula of Tuttle, N.G.C. 6643, at 
the Marseilles Observatory, and has communicated 
the results to the Comptes rendus for December 22, 
1913 (vol. clvii., No. 25, p. 1377). He brings together 
all the observations made since its discovery in 1859, 
and the evidence is distinctly in favour of its vari- 
ability. In very recent years, i.e. in 1909, its light 
appeared to diminish considerably. From i1g10 to 
1912 it was feeble, but still to be seen in the comet- 
seeker (mag. 11). On July 10, 1913, M. Borrelly says 
it was scarcely visible in the instrument; on August 
26 it was at the limit of visibility, while on August 27 
it was practically invisible (mag. 11-5). From the 
observations M. Borrelly concludes that changes have 
taken place. 


Bright HyproGen LIiNEs IN STELLAR SPECTRA AND 
P Cyeni.—Mr. Paul W. Merril communicates two 
papers to the Lick Observatory Bulletin, No. 246. 
The first is the description of a series of spectrograms 
of stars the spectra of which contain bright hydrogen 
lines, and is a continuation of the work described in 
the previous bulletin, No. 162 (1913). The spectra are 
confined to the Ha region, and were obtained with 
the 36-in. refractor and a one-prism spectrograph pre- 
viously described. The stars here dealt with belong 
to classes B and A, but stars of class Oes5 were photo- 
graphed to test their relation to class B. In the last- 
mentioned case, although only a few stars were photo- 
graphed, the evidence was negative, out of nine stars 
none of them indicated bright hydrogen lines. The 
second paper is on the spectrum of P Cygni between 
44340 and A4650, taken with the three-prism spectro- 
graph. Twelve photographs are discussed, having 
been taken between August, 1907, and September, 
1913. Tables are given showing the determined dis- 
placements for numerous lines of H, He, O, N, and 
Si, from each of the photographs. Attention is directed 
to the resemblance between the hydrogen lines of 
P Cygni, and those of an ordinary Nova. It is stated 
that the measurements given in the tables show good 
agreement with those of Frost. 


MEASUREMENT OF SMALL DISPLACEMENTS OF SPEC- 
TRUM Lings.—Bulletin No. 32 of the Kodaikanal Ob- 
servatory contains an important communication by 
Mr. J. Evershed on a new method of measuring small 
displacements of spectrum lines. The main idea of 
the method consists in placing a positive copy of the 
plate to be measured reversed, and almost in contact 
with the negative, film to film, and moving one with 
reference to the other, so that the positive images 
are made to coincide successively with the negative 
images of the corresponding lines. No spider thread is 
used, and the accuracy of the adjustment for coin- 
cidence depends on the sensitiveness of the eye in esti- 
mating the change from the bright and dark con- 
tiguous images of a line, to the perfectly uniform 
density which results when the positive image exactly 
coincides with the negative, and the positive copy has 
the same gradation of tone as the negative. Mr. 
Evershed describes and illustrates the method and 
machine employed, and points out its advantages and 
disadvantages. He also gives two examples of 
measures made in the ordinary way and by the new 
method to show the relative accuracy obtained; these 
represent two series of solar rotation plates. The 
results indicate that the probable error is about halved 
in the positive on negative measures as compared with 
the ordinary measures, and the gain in accuracy is 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


[JANuaRy 8, 1914 


about the same whatever way the probable errors aré 
estimated. 


ASTRONOMICAL ANNUALS AND STAR Cuarts.—The 
annual ‘‘Companion to The Observatory’ has nearly 
become standardised in form, and the present issue 
will be found as useful as ever. The favourable and 
accessible total eclipse of the sun on August 20-21 
next calls for extra information, and this has been 
given in the form of the sun’s altitude, azimuth, and 
parallactic angle for the more accessible part of the 
line of totality in addition to the usual data. For the 
fiftieth year the handy astronomical and meteoro- 
logical annual, edited by M. Camille Flammarion, 
makes its appearance, and the great amount of in- | 
teresting matter contained within its covers is as com- 
plete and useful as in previous issues. Space does 
not allow one to enter into any detail regarding the 
wide range of the information here brought together, 
but astronomical readers are sufficiently acquainted 
with previous volumes to know the utility of the in- 
formation displayed. As is usual, a number of excel- 
lent illustrations and figures accompany the text. Mrs. 
H. Periam Hawkins’s “Star Almanac for 1914”’ and 
“Revolving Star Map” will be found very useful to 
astronomers generally. The former consists of a large 
sheet to be hung up on a wall, and contains much 
useful matter relative to the apparent stellar move- 
ments, meteor showers, planets, &c. The latter is a 
well-constructed planisphere for stars seen from the 
northern hemisphere, and has a movable declination 
scale. 


PRIZE SUBJECTS PROPOSED BY THE 
PARIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCES FOR 1915. 


Geometry.—Francceur prize (1000 frances), for dis- 
coveries or works useful to the progress of pure or 
applied mathematics; Bordin prize (3000 francs), to 
make notable progress in the study of curves with 
constant torsion; to determine, if possible, which of 
these curves are algebraic, at least those which are 
unicursal. 

Mechanics.—A Montyon prize (7oo francs), for the 
invention or improvement of instruments useful to the 
progress of agriculture, the mechanical arts or 
science; Poncelet prize (2000 francs), for work on 
applied mathematics; Boileau prize (1300 francs), for 
researches on the motion of fluids contributing to the 
progress of hydraulics. 

Navigation.—The extraordinary prize of 6000 francs 
for work leading to increased efficiency of the French 
naval forces; Plumey prize (4000 francs), for improve- 
ments in steam engines or any other invention con- 
tributing to the progress of steam navigation. 

Astronomy.—Pierre Guzman prize (100,000 francs), 
to anyone finding a means of communication with 
another planet other than Mars. Failing the above, 
the accumulated interest of five years will be awarded . 
for* an important astronomical discovery. Lalande 
prize (540 francs), for memoir or work useful to the 
progress of astronomy; Valz prize (460 frances), to the - 
author of the most interesting astronomical observa- 
tion during the year; G. de Pontécoulant prize (700 
frances), for researches in celestial mechanics. 

Geography.—Tchihatchef prize (3000 francs), as 
recompense or encouragement to naturalists of any 
nationality distinguished in. the exploration of the 
lesser-known parts of Asia; Gay prize (1500 francs), 
for a study of the distribution of plants in Indo-China. 

Physics.—Heébert prize (1000 francs), for a treatise 
or discovery in connection with the practical use of 
electricity; Hughes prize (2500 francs), for discoveries 
or works contributing to the progress of physics; 
Henri de Parville prize (1500 frances), for original work 


— ee 


a. 


January 8, 1914] 


in physics; Gaston Planté prize (3000 francs), for the 
French author of an important discovery, invention, 
or work in the field of electricity. 

Chemistry.—Jecker prize (10,000 francs), for work 
conducing to the progress of organic chemistry; 
Cahours prize (3000 francs), for the encouragement of 
young chemists; Montyon prize (unhealthy trades; 
one prize, 2500 francs, a mention of 1500 francs), for 
the discovery of a means of rendering an art or trade 
less unhealthy ; Houzeau prize (7oo francs), for a young 
chemist. 

Mineralogy and Geology.—Delesse prize (1400 
francs), for work in geology, or, failing that, in 
mineralogy; Joseph Labbé prize (1000 francs), for 
geological researches contributing to the development 
of the mineral wealth of France, its colonies, and 
protectorates. 

Botany.—Desmaziéres prize (1600 francs), for the 
best publication during the year on Cryptogams; Mon- 
tagne prize (1500 francs), for work on the anatomy, 
physiology, development, or description of the lower 
Cryptogams; de Coincy prize (900 francs), for a work 
on phanerogams; Thore prize (200 francs), for work 
on the cellular cryptogams of Europe; Jean de Rufz 
de Lavison prize (500 francs), for work on plant 
physiology. 

Anatomy and Zoology.—Savigny prize (1500 francs), 
for the assistance of young travelling zoologists, not 
receiving Government assistance, who work on the 
invertebrates of Egypt and Syria; Cuvier prize (1500 
francs), for work in zoological palzontology, com- 
parative anatomy, or zoology; da Gama Machado 
prize (1200 francs), for memoirs on the coloured parts 
of the tegumentary system of animals. 

Medicine and Surgery.—Montyon prize (2500 francs, 
mentions of 1500 francs), for discoveries or inventions 
in medicine and surgery; Barbier prize (2000 francs), 
for a discovery in botany in relation to medicine, or 
in the sciences of surgery, medicine, or pharmacy ; 
Bréant prize (100,000 francs), for a specific cure for 
Asiatic cholera; Godard prize (1000 francs), for the 
best memoir on the anatomy, physiology, and patho- 
logy of the genito-urinary organs; Baron Lorrey prize 
750 francs), for a work treating of military hygiene, 
medicine, or surgery; Bellion prize (1400 francs), for 
medical discoveries ; Mége prize (10,000 francs); Argut 
prize (1200 francs), for the discovery of a remedy for 
a disease at present not capable of treatment; Chaus- 
sier prize (10,000 francs), for the best book or memoir 
published during the last four years on legal or prac- 
tical medicine; Dusgate prize (2500 francs), for a 
work on the signs of death and the means of prevent- 
ing premature burial. 

Physiology.—Montyon prize (750 francs), for work 
in experimental physiology; Philipeaux prize (goo 
francs), for experimental physiology ; Lallemand prize 
(1800 franes), for worls relating to the nervous system ; 
Pourat prize (1000 francs), for a memoir on the rela- 
tions between the combined sugar of the blood and 
the albuminoid materials. 

Statistics—Montyon prize (1000 francs, and two 
mentions of 500 francs), for works dealing with statis- 
tical questions. 

History of Science.—Binoux prize (2000 francs). 

General Prizes.—Arago medal; Lavoisier medal, for 
work in chemistry ; Berthelot medal, to persons taking 
prizes in chemistry or physics; Henri Becquerel prize 


(3000 francs); Gegner prize (3800 francs); Lanne- 
longue prize (2000 francs); Gustave Roux prize (1000 
francs), Tremont prize (1100 francs); ilde prize 


(4000 francs), for a work or discovery in astronomy, 
physics, chemistry, mineralogy, geology, or experi- 
mental mechanics; Lonchampt prize (4000 francs); 
Saintour prize (3000 francs), for work in mathematics ; 
Henri de Parville prize (2500 francs); Victor Raulin 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


541 


prize (1500 francs), for facilitating the publication of 
works relating to geology and paleontology; Vaillant 
prize (4000 francs), for the discovery of a photographic 
pee free from grain, and as sensitive as the gelatino- 
romide in current use; Fanny Emden prize (3000 
francs), for work dealing with hypnotism and sugges- 
tion ; Grand prize of the physical sciences (300 francs), 
for the study of a French colony from the point of 
view of its geology, mineralogy, and its physical geo- 
graphy; Leconte prize (50,000 francs), for new and 
important discoveries in mathematics, physics, chem- 
istry, natural history, and medical science; Petit 
d’Ormoy prize (10,000 francs), for work in pure or 
applied mathematics or in natural science; Pierson- 
Perrin prize (5000 francs), for a discovery in the field 
of mechanics or physics. 


THE ASSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC 
BIOLOGISTS. 


gis twelfth annual Congress of the Association of 

Economic Biologists, held at the Liverpool 
School of Tropical Medicine, last week, marked off a 
distinct era in the progress and development of 
economic biology in the United Kingdom. 

Founded in November, 1904, with a membership of 
twenty-four, it seemed doubtful for a time whether 
what Prof. Fred V. Theobald aptly christened “ Mr. 
Collinge’s healthy infant,’’ would weather the storms 
of its early days. At that time economic biology was 
looked askance at in all our universities, and regarded 
as something ultra-scientific, and could only be said 
to be taught and studied in any detail at the South- 
Eastern Agricultural College, Wye. 

Even at a later date professors of biology were 
interested only in the morphological or systematical 
aspects of biology, and dreaded the intrusion of applied 
biology. Happily these views have all passed away, 
and the association may very rightly claim to have 
had a large share in bringing about a more reason- 
able and truly scientific spirit. 

Meeting first in the University of Birmingham, the 
association has held meetings in the Universities of 
Liverpool, Cambridge, London, Edinburgh, Oxford, 
Manchester, and Dublin. From each of these centres 
of learning it has gathered strength, leaving behind 
some record of the really valuable work which its 
members have been engaged upon, and_ indirectly 
tending to gain the sympathies of those who originally 
regarded the organisation from an entirely mistaken 
point of view. Gradually biologists in this country 
were beginning to realise that, as stated by Prof. 
Miall, ‘‘a practical purpose is, in my opinion, not a 
hindrance but a powerful motive to the acquisition of 
scientific knowledge. If not too narrowly prosecuted, 
the practical purpose may be a means of distinguish- 
ing knowledge, which is really useful from knowledge 
which is merely curious.” 

Since 1904 departments of economic biology have 
been founded in nearly all our universities, which has 
meant an increase in the number of workers, and has 
made the association still more necessary for such 
investigators to possess an organisation wherein they 
could ‘discuss new discoveries, exchange experiences, 
carefully consider the best methods of work, give 
opportunity to individual workers of announcing pro- 
posed investigations, so as to bring out suggestions 
and prevent unnecessary duplication of work, and to 
suggest, when possible, certain lines of investigation 
upon subjects of general interest.”’ 

The outstanding feature of the Liverpool meeting 
was the decision of the council to increase the number 
of meetings to four per annum, three of which will be 


' held in London, and one in the provinces; coupled 


542 


with this it was gratifying to note the large number 
of new members, particularly so of those working in 
connection with the Board of Agriculture and 
Fisheries, and in the newly established university de- 
partments. 

It is hoped that with the increase in the number of 
meetings there will be a still further increase in the 
membership, and that the association will take its 
position amongst the numerous other learned societies, 
thoroughly representative of all branches of applied 
biology. 

To a very much larger extent than hitherto, the 
association will in the future play no unimportant part 
in defining the scope of economic studies in biology, 
and having now definitely taken up its headquarters 
in London, it will be more in touch with Governmental 
departments. Representative as its membership is of 
the universities of the country, and not a few of our 
Colonial departments, the possibilities that lie before 
it are endless, and should exercise a very profound 
influence upon the future of economic biology in this 
country, tending to raise its status to the level it 
occupies in other countries, and to become still more 
beneficial to the people of this country and its great 
Colonial Empire. Wie Be Ge 


FATIGUE AND EDUCATIONAL WORK. 


ae London County Council’s annual Conference 
of Teachers, held last week, vielded some 
notable pronouncements. On the opening day, 
January 1, Canon Masterman laid stress upon the 
training in morals and in imagination which pupils 
gain when history is properly taught. History pro- 
vides an education in sympathy not only with our 
forefathers, but with ‘“‘the brotherhood that binds the 
brave of all the earth.” The true historian always 
cares supremely for the truth; the critical faculty of 
the pupil must be carefully trained. To the gréat 
deed they must offer their admiration, their gratitude 
if they could, and, if not, then their silence. The 
historian differs from the antiquary in his constant 
thought of the present; the boy who rides in imagina- 
tion with the knight to the Parliamentum at West- 
minster will have a clearer idea of the responsibility 
of citizenship. The pageantry of history is sacra- 
mental; it has an inward and spiritual import, and, 
unless the teacher feel something of the spiritual 
significance of history, he had better teach algebra or 
mechanics all his life. 

On the second day, Mr. W. H. Winch gave the 
results which had attended a few experiments he had 
made in testing the fatigue of adolescents who were 
in attendance at evening continuation schools. He 
pointed out that his experiments in connection with 
the fatigue of day-school pupils had yielded no satis- 
factory result, while he had found distinct evidence of 
fatigue in adolescents who continued their education 
in the evenings. His experiments indicate that, in 
the cases he examined, adolescent students suffered 
a loss of ability as the period of instruction drew to 
a close. He instanced six sets of experiments, and 
in the only case which did not show the results of 
fatigue subsequent inquiry showed that 75 per cent. 
of the students were not occupied during the daytime. 
From such evidence he concluded that evening con- 
tinuation schools were not places of serious continued 
education for adolescents; they were a waste of educa- 
tional appliances. The chairman, Dr. W. McDougall, — 
Wilde reader in mental philosophy, thought these 
conclusions somewhat premature, as it did not follow 
that work which caused a measurable amount of 
fatigue was work -which should, therefore, not have 
been undertaken. 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[January 8, 1914 


Mr. T. H. Pear described an experiment in con- 
nection with the fatigue which ensues from loss of 
sleep in which it was demonstratéd that the fatigue 
persisted long after the subject was of opinion that 
the effects of the lack of sleep had disappeared. He 
suggested that, on account of fatigue, the teacher 
who energetically changed from a strenuous lesson 
on one subject to a lesson of equal strain on another 
subject lost efficiency; the early lesson caused fatigue, 
and should have been followed by a period for re- 
cuperation. ; 

The conference closed with a description of six 
educational experiments; it was announced, as 
evidence of the wide latitude for experiment allowed 
in the elementary schools, that no fewer than sixty 
descriptions of such experiments had been offered for 
the consideration of the conference, 


ENGINEERING . AT THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION. 


ie Engineering Section of the British Associa- 
tion met under the presidency of Prof. Gisbert 
Kapp, who took for the subject of his address the 
electrification of railways. The address, which was 
printed in full in Nature of October 9 (p. 184), was 
followed by an interim report of the committee on 
gaseous explosions, which very briefly chronicled the 
work accomplished during the year, and described the 
steps which are being taken to carry on further re- 
search work at the Imperial College of Science. One 
of the notes presented to this committee was also read 
by the authors, Profs. Petavel and Asakawa, and 
described some experiments on the effect upon gas- 
engine efficiency of varying compression ratio. In 
these experiments the brake-horse-power increased in 
the same proportion as the theoretical air efficiency, 
but the mechanical efficiency decreased as the com- 
pression ratio increased. 

The concluding paper of the first meeting was read 
by Prof. Burstall on solid, liquid, and gaseous fuel, in 
which he discussed the various advantages obtained 
from each kind of fuel, and outlined a scheme for 
utilising, to the best advantage, a large daily supply 
of coal at the pit mouth by the production of coke, 
fuel gas, sulphate of ammonia, and various by- 
products of the tar obtained from the retorts. 

The first paper on the Friday morning dealt with 
the application of the internal-combustion engine to 
railway locomotion, and described a bogie-coach of 
60 ft. in length propelled by two six-cylinder Daimler 
engines through the medium of gears affording six- 
speed ratios. Recent trials demonstrate the feasibility 
of maintaining a high speed over long distances at a 
reasonable cost, and the author, Mr. F. W. Lan- 
chester, advocated the’ running of such vehicles on 
main lines at frequent intervals as much more 
economical and satisfactory than a service of long 
trains at considerable intervals. In the paper which 
followed, Dr. Hele-Shaw described a new type of 
hydraulic weighing-machine of the piston type, in 
which packings are dispensed with, while friction and 
leakage are practically eliminated by ingenious 
mechanical devices. 

The propulsion of barges on canals by aérial pro- 
pellers was described by Mr. L. B. Desbleds, and 
although the possible efficiency of this system of pro- 
pulsion was shown to be very small, the author con- 
sidered there: was a limited field for its application 
in cases where submerged propellers could not be 
employed. 

Mr. Lanchester directed attention to the various 


‘factors which cause instability in aéroplanes, and with 


the aid of models demonstrated the important features 


a 


January 8, 1914] 


NATURE 543 


which are necessary to consider in the design of a 
stable aéroplane, especially as regards the tail-plane. 

The cost of electric cooking was discussed by Prof. 
Morris, with reference to the result of one year’s 
working in a flat within the London area. A paper 
by Mr. A. E. Bawtree on bank-note engraving was 
illustrated by a number of photographs describing 
various methods in general use for the prevention of 
forgery. The author showed examples of a new 
system of a geometrical character, which cannot be 
imitated by repetition work, or by mechanical devices 
such as the pantagraph. The system which was not 
described was stated to allow the incorporation of a 
design which could only be made visible by a special 
screen. The concluding paper at this mecting was 
read by Mr. C. H. Lander on the frictional loss in 
steam pipes, and described experiments which agree 
with a dimensional formula due to Osborne Reynolds. 

A joint meeting of Sections A and G took place on 
the Monday morning to discuss the report of the 
committee, appointed last year, to consider certain 
of the more complex stress distributions in engineer- 
ing materials. The principal results of modern in- 
vestigations on combined stress were discussed by 
Mr. W. A. Scoble, while alternating stress was simi- 
larly dealt with by Messrs. Mason, Rogers, and Eden, 
and a special report on the resistance of tubes to col- 
lapse was contributed by Mr. G. Cook. The discussion 
upon the report was opened by Prof. Perry, the chair- 
man of the committee, who urged the importance of 
coming to a definite arreement as to the criterion of 
failure in a material subjected to stress. The dis- 
cussion on the various sections was continued by Mr. 
Stoney and other engineers, and covered a wide range 
of subjects connected with the experimental investiga- 
tion of stress distribution in engineering materials. 

A Section A paper by Prof. Coker was, for the 
convenience of the meeting, read immediately after 
the termination of the joint discussion; it described 
the construction of polariscopes for examining the 
stress distribution in large models of engineering 
structures built up of transparent materials. A second 
paper by the same author described the preliminary 
results of an investigation upon the stress distribution 
in rings subjected to internal or external pressure, 
with apparatus which leaves every part of the ring 
free for measurement except the surface exposed to 
fluid pressure. 

A paper contributed by Mr. T. Reid, described some 
experiments on the flow of solids based on the well- 
known experiments of Tresca. Lead cylinders divided 
in halves by a diametral plane are grooved to receive 
tin wires, which latter serve to map out the flow 
produced when pressure is applied to the cylinders. 
The experimental results appear to show that a very 
slow flow is stable, and that above a certain limit 
there is a condition resembling turbulence in a fluid. 

A paper by Mr. A. Robertson described experiments 
on the strength of free-ended struts, in which Euler’s 
formula is shown to hold good down to the length 
for which the stress given by this law is equal to the 
stress at yield, and, below this limit collapse occurs, 
when the load per square inch is equal to the yield 
stress. A concluding paper by Mr. A. T. Walmisley 
described the properties of non-ferrous metals which 
are of importance in structural engineering. 

On the Tuesday morning the first paper on an 
engineering theory of the gyroscope was read by Mr. 
J. W. Gordon, who pointed out that when a gyroscope 
is precessing freely it is absorbing power, while in 
forced precession it is transmitting. By the applica- 
tion of suitable constraining devices many important 


-practical instruments can be constructed, of small size, 


for the steering of ships, the prevention of rolling and 
pitching of aéroplanes, and the like. A short note by 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


Prof. Wilson on tests of metals and alloys, directed 
especial attention to the increased brittleness and rise 
of electrical resistance of duralumin on prolonged ex- 
posure to the atmosphere. 

Papers dealing with various matters connected with 
wireless telegraphy were also read by Prof. Howe, 
who described the nature of the electromagnetic waves 
employed in radio-telegraphy, and the mode of their 
propagation. Dr. Eccles discussed atmospheric 
refraction and absorption as affecting transmission, 
and Prof. Marchant, the effect of atmospheric condi- 
tions on the strength of signals received at Liverpool 
from Paris and other wireless stations of great power. 
The final paper on Tuesday morning was read by Mr. 
W. R. Cooper, and described some practical sugges- 
tions for shortening the tests of temperature rise in 
electrical machines under working loads. 

As in previous years, a meeting on the Wednesday 
was necessary for the consideration of several impor- 
tant papers, and a programme on civil engineering 
subjects was followed with much interest by a large 
audience. Dr. Vaughan Cornish described the land- 
slides in the Culebra Cutting of the Panama Canal, 
especially those in which subsidence of the banks has 
caused numerous upheavals of the canal bottom. 

A paper on the reconstruction of the station at 
Snow Hill, Birmingham, was read by Messrs. 
Gleadow and Shackle, in which the structural steel] 
work was very fully described. The effect of harbour 
projections was discussed by Mr E. R. Matthews, 
and he advocated the use of piers inclined at such an 
angle to the shore that moving sand and shingle 
tends to sweep past the end of the pier and settle on 
the lee side. The transport and settlement of sand in 
water was also described, with many experimental 
illustrations, by Dr. J. S. Owens. An apparatus was 
also exhibited for exploring sand bars and river beds. 
It consisted of two concentric tubes closed above and 
open below, and provided with stop-cocks so that 
water under pressure can be forced through the inner 
tube to sink the apparatus in the sand or other mate- 
rial. When the desired level is reached a stop-cock 
communicating with the annular space is opened to 
allow a return passage for the water under pressure, 
and this carries with it a sample of the material at 
the base of the apparatus, and delivers it at the 
outlet. 

These interesting experiments concluded a_ very 
successful programme of the Engineering Section at 
the Birmingham Meeting. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


Bristot.—The degree of D.Sc. in engineering will 
be conferred on Mr. Charles F. Smith, who has sub- 
mitted to the University records of his research worl: 
and publications in connection with electrical engineer- 
ing. . 

Lonpon.—The degree of doctor of science in chem- 
istry has been conferred upon Mr. F. G. Pope, an 
external student, of East London College. In addi- 
tion to a thesis entitled, ‘‘The Fluorine Group,” Mr. 
Pope submitted a list of printed contributions to the 
advancement of science, published independently or 
conjointly. : 

The degree of doctor of science in geology has been 
conferred upon Mr. E. H. Pascoe, external student, of 
University College. Mr. Pascoe presented a published 
thesis entitled, ‘‘The Oil Fields of Burma,” together 
with some further. contributions to the advancement of 
of science, published independently. 

The following lectures to advanced students of the 
University, and to others interested in the subjects 


544 


NATURE 


[January 8, 1914 


dealt with, are to be given. Admission is free, with- 
out ticket :—Eight lectures on recent studies on the 
phenomena of soil fertility, Royal College of Science, 
Dr. E. J. Russell, on Wednesdays, beginning on 
January 28. Five lectures on the Devonian flora, 
University College, Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S., on 
Wednesdays, beginning on May 6. ‘Two lectures on 
plant pigments, University College, probably on May 
4 and 5, Dr. R. Willstatter, professor of chemistry 
in the University of Berlin. Two lectures on ‘‘La 
catalyse, et mes divers travaux sur la catalyse,”’ 
King’s College, probably on May 14 and 15, Prof. 
Paul Sabatier, of the University of Toulouse. Four 
lectures on the theory of wave-motion, with special 
reference to earthquake waves, the University, Dr. 
Horace Lamb, F.R.S., on Fridays, February 20, 27, 
March 6 and 13 Nine lectures on the theory of heat 
in relation to atmospheric changes, the Meteorological 
Office, South Kensington, Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S., 
on Fridays, beginning on January 23. The fortnightly 
meetings at the Meteorological Office for discussion 
of important contributions to meteorology, chiefly in 
Colonial or foreign journals, will be resumed on Mon- 
day, January 19, and will be continued on alternate 
Mondays until March 30. Four advanced lectures in 
physics will be given during the third term by M. Jean 
Perrin, professor of physical chemistry at the Sorbonne. 
Further particulars will be published at a later date. 
Four lectures on carbohydrate fermentation, King’s 
College, Dr. A. Harden, F.R.S., on Mondays, January 
26, February 2, 9, and 16. Eight lectures on physio- 
logical effects of anesthetics and narcotics, Guy’s 
Hospital, Dr. M. S. Pembrey and J. H. Ryffel, on 
Thursdays, January 22, 29, February 5, 12, 19, 26, 
March 5 and 12. Twelve lectures on the Protozoa 


parasitic in man, the Lister Institute, Prof. 
E. A. Minchin, F.R.S., on Tuesdays and 
Fridays during the second term, beginning on 
Tuesday, January 27. Eight or nine  Univer- 


sity lectures on anaphylaxis, King’s College, depart- 
ment of bacteriology, Dr. L. Rajchman, on Thurs- 
days, beginning on January 15. Three lectures on 
the place of instinct in evolution,’ Prof. C. Lloyd 
Morgan, F.R.S., have been arranged for the second 
term. During the third term a course of three lec- 
tures on the morphology of the cranial muscles in 
vertebrates will be given by Prof. F. H. Edgeworth. 
A course of lectures on the Assouan Dam will be 
given by Mr. J. S. Wilson, on Wednesdays during 
March. 

A lecture, open to the public, on the zether of space, 
will be given by Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S., at Bedford 
College, on Tuesday January 27. Other free lectures 
at the college are :—January 22, ‘‘ Minerals Used as 
Gem Stones,” Dr. C. A. Raisin; February 5, “The 
Optical Characters of Minerals,’ Dr. A. Hutchinson ; 
February 19, ‘‘Corundum and Spinel,”” H. H. Thomas; 
January 19, ‘Geology of the British Isles,” Dr. C. A. 
Raisin. 

Mr. H. J. Crawford, formerly principal clerk for 
higher education under the Glamorgan County Coun- 
cil, has been appointed secretary to the Appointments 
Board of the University of London in succession to 
Dr. A. D. Denning. 


Mr. J. C. Jounson has been appointed to the chair 
of general biology, botany, and zoology at Auckland 
University College, in succession to Prof. A. P, W. 
Thomas, who recently resigned. 


By the will_of the late Miss Emily M. Easton, who 
died a few days ago, a legacy of 10,0001. is bequeathed 
to the Durham College of Medicine, Newcastle, and 
one of 5o000l, to Armstrong College. 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


THERE is much interesting reading in the December 
issue of the Reading University College Review. The 
principal of the college, Mr. W.*M. Childs, contri- 
butes an obituary notice of the late Mr. George W. 
| Palmer, to whose munificent generosity the college 
owes much of its success. The college lecturer in 
geology writes on the charm of paleontology, and the 
college lecturer in education and master of method 
on an outdoor school. The leading article deals 
with the University library, and has already been 
referred to in these columns. 


Tue general meeting of the Association of Public 
School Science Masters will be held at the Imperial 
College of Science and Technology, South Kensington, 
on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 13 and 14. The 
president, Prof. H. B. Baker, F.R.S., will deliver 
an address, and the following papers will be read and 
discussed :*—‘ Agricultural Experiments in Public 
Schools,’’ H. O. Hale; ‘t Present Conditions of Science 
Teaching in Public Schools,” E. H. Tripp, G. H. 
Martin, and J. R. Eccles; ‘‘The Place of Acoustics 
in a School Course of Physics,” D. Rintoul; and ** The 
Relative Value of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology,” 
H. A. Wootton. 


Tue sixth annual dinner of old students of the 
Royal College of Science, London, will be held at the 
Criterion Restaurant, Piccadilly Circus, W., on Satur- 
day, January 31, 1914. The president of the Old 
Students Association (Dr. A. E. H. Tutton, F.R.S.) 
will preside, and the guests will include Mrs. Ayrton, 
Prof. W. Bateson, F.R.S., Sir John Rose Bradford, 
K.C.M.G., F.R.S., Dr. H. Frank Heath, C.B., Dr: 
W. P. Herringham, Sir Alfred Keogh, K.C.B., Sir 
William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S., and Sir Amherst 
Selby-Bigge, K.C.B. Tickets may be obtained on 
application to the secretary of the association, 3 Sel- 
wood Place, S.W. : 


Aw international kinematograph exhibition and @ains 
ference will take place in the Zoo Buildings, Glasgow, 
on February 17-26, 1914, and will be opened by the 
Lord Provost. Special films will be shown dealing 
with natural history, medicine, industries, travel, geo- 
graphy, and an entirely new series will deal with a 
complete survey of the British Isles. Conferences 
will be held dealing with secular and religious educa- 
tion, emigration, and business. In connection with 
the education conferences an advisory committee has 
been formed consisting of prominent Scottish educa- 
tionists and representatives of school boards and 
educational associations. All communications and in- 
quiries should be addressed to Mr. H. D. Cotton, 140 
West George Street, Glasgow. 


THE prime necessity that adolescents should be 
encouraged to continue their education beyond the 
stage represented by the primary school was 
abundantly illustrated at the great public meeting of 
employers inaugurated by the London County Council, 
and held on January 5, at the Mansion House. Very 
many firms had expressed their support of the pro- 
posal that employers should aid th: coun“il in obtain- 
ing the best results from the reorganised system of 
evening institutes establis)~2 this year in London, 
and many prominent busine s men supported the prin- 
cipal speakers, Mr. J. A. Pease, President of the 
Board of Education, and Lord Salisbury, by their 
presence on the platform. There was no lack of 
evidence that the old scheme of evening schools was 
inefficient, since but 25 ver cent. cf the possible 
students enrolled, and 33 per cent. of the actual 
students attended badly; and it was demonstrated that 
yee employers had given facilities for their 

young people to acquire additional knowledge under 


| a scheme which allowed the students time for study 


- 


ES ee 


January 8, 1914] 


NATURE 


545 


in working hours without loss of wages, there had 
been keenness and improved efficiency among the 
staff. Mr. Pease pointed out that the problem was 
of national importance, and that while there might 
be immediate loss to the employers there would be 
ultimate gain not only for the employers and the 
employees, but for the nation at large. He suggested 
that no employment was beneficial that did not allow 
reasonable time off for continued education, and 
charged the business community with the responsi- 
bility of a national duty to effect some improvement, 
which he was sure the London County Council would 
facilitate. 


Tue annual report of President Butler on the work 
of Columbia University, New York, for the year end- 
ing June 30, 1913, has now been published. We find 
that during the year the sum of 123,600l. was given 
to the University to establish permanent furds or to 
add to existing resources; 67,5001. to purchase land 
or to erect and equip buildings, and 93,3001. to be ex- 
pended for specific purposes, making a total of 
284,400l.; and yet President Butler says ‘‘it is still 
necessary to repeat words that were used eleven years 
ago: ‘Columbia University as now organised and 
equipped, may be likened to a giant in bonds. 
Strength, power, zeal for service, are all at hand, 
but the bonds of insufficient funds hold them in on 
every side.’’? The unparalleled growth and expan- 
sion of the University have far more than kept pace 
with the new resources that have been provided. The 
enrolment of students as compared with that for the 
year 1911-12 shows an increase of tor6, the net total 
of regular students in every subject reaching 9379. 
If to the regular students be added those receiving 
extension teaching and those studying in evening 
technical classes, the grand total receiving instruction 
is 13,120. The teaching staff in 1913 numbered 847, 
as compared with 781 in 1912. President Butler, 
commenting on these very large numbers, says :—We 
should deplore growth in numbers unless it were 
accompanied by a steady increase in the quality of 
the students. The fact that a rigid examination is 
insisted upon for admission . . . and that all creden- 
tials offered by those who seek advanced standing or 
who wish to enter the graduate and professional 
schools are subjected to the closest scrutiny, and the 
further fact that no student is allowed to shirk his 
work and to remain long upon the rolls of the Univer- 
sity, are an indication of the spirit with which the 
several faculties, administrative boards, and adminis- 
trative officers view their responsibilities.” 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
Lonpon. 


Geological Society, December 17, 1913.—Dr. Aubrey 
Strahan, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—C. Dawson 
and Dr. A, Smith Woodward, with an appendix by 
Prof. G. Elliot Smith: Supplementary note on the 
discovery of a Palzolithic human skull and mandible 
at Piltdown (Sussex). The gravel at Piltdown 
(Sussex) below the surface-soil is divided into three 
distinct beds. The first, or uppermost, contains sub- 
angular flints and “‘eoliths,” and one palzeolith was 
discovered there in situ. The second is a very dark 
bed, composed of ironstone and subangular flints. All 
the fossils so far found in the pit have been discovered 
in, or traced to, this bed, with the exception of the 
remains of deer. A cast of a Chalk fossil, Echino- 
corys vulgaris, from the zone of Micraster cor-testu- 
dinarium, occurred as a pebble. The third bed was 
recognised only in 1913, and consists of reconstructed 
material from the underlying Wealden rock (Hastings 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


Series). It is only about 8 in. thick, and contains 
very big flints (8 to 15 in. long) which have been 
little rolled, and are not striated. They are saturated 
with iron, and have undergone considerable chemical 
change. They differ very markedly in appearance 
from the smaller flints in the upper strata. No imple- 
ments, ‘‘eoliths,’’ or fossil bones have been met with 
in this bed. The floor of the gravel, where the re- 
mains of Eoanthropus were discovered, has been care- 
fully exposed, and many irregularities and depressions 
have been found to exist. In some of these 
depressions small patches of the dark overlying bed 
remained, and new specimens were discovered. The 
method adopted in excavation is described. The finds 
made in 1913 are few but important, and include the 
nasal bones, and a canine tooth of Eoanthropus dis- 
covered by Father P. Teilhard de Chardin; also a 
fragment of a molar of Stegodon and another of 
Rhinoceros; an incisor and broken ramus of Beaver 
(Castor fiber); a worked flint from the dark bed; and 
a Paleolithic implement from the débris in the pit. 
It will be noted that the remains are those of a land 
fauna only. The further occurrence of bedded flint- 
bearing gravels in the vicinity of the pit is noted. 
The authors’ former conclusions, as to the Pliocene 
forms having been derived, are maintained. A fur- 
ther study of the cranium of Eoanthropus shows that 
the occipital and right parietal bones need slight re- 
adjustment in the reconstruction, but the result does 
not alter essentially any of the conclusions already 
published. The nasal bones, now described, are typic- 
ally human, but relatively small and broad, resembling 
those of some of the existing Melanesian and African 
races.—In a note appended to the paper Prof. Elliot 
Smith points out that the presence of the anterior 
extremity of the sagittal suture, which hitherto had 
escaped attention, had enabled him to identify a ridge 
upon the cranial aspect of the frontal bone as the 
metopic crest, and thus to determine beyond all ques- 
tion the true median plane. It is 21 mm. from the 
point of the large fragment (in the frontal region). 
The backward prolongation of the frontal median 
crest cuts the parietal fragment precisely along the 
line determined by Dr. Smith Woodward on other 
grounds. 


Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, December 18.— 


'Mr. Bedford McNeill, president, in the chair.—C. O. 


Bannister and G. Patchin: Cupellation experiments: a 
simple method for the detection of the platinum metals 
in cupellation beads. Following up previous investi- 
gations, the authors presented in this paper, and by 
means of a series of fine lantern slides, illustrations 
of the method they submit for the detection of 
platinum and its kindred metals in cupellation beads 
composed of gold and/or silver. ‘The method consists 
in transferring the beads, after cooling, and without 
any squeezing, hammering, or brushing, direct from 
the cupel on to a plasticine mount attached to a micro- 
scopic slide, and examining it with a low-power 
objective, with vertical illumination preferably. This 
method possesses the marked advantage that no pre- 
paration of the bead by polishing, etching, &c., is 
necessary before examination, the only precaution 
advisable being the prevention of undue spitting. The 
results of the authors’ investigations and experiments 
with gold and silver beads containing varying quan- 
tities of platinum, iridium, rhodium, ruthenium, and 
palladium were to show that, by a simple micro- 
scopic examination it is possible to detect platinum in 
cupellation beads when present below 1-6 per cent.; 
that is to say, when present below the amount neces- 
sary to cause crystallisation visible to the naked eye; 
the presence of iridium in small quantities may be 


| detected in silver beads; that rhodium and ruthenium 


546 


may also be detected by visual examination; that 
palladium, whilst producing a structure similar to that 
caused by the presence of platinum, yields evidence 
of its presence by the coloration of the parting acid. 
No specific indications were obtained of the presence 
of osmium, but the presence of osmiridium was shown 
to give results closely approximating to those obtained 
from the presence of iridium alone.—G. Maitland 
Edwards: Notes on mines of the Ottoman Empire. 
In this paper the author gives a brief review of the 
mineral resources of Asia Minor, dealing respectively 
with coal, iron, chrome and emery, lead, zinc, silver, 


nickel, gold, mercury, borax, magnesia, phosphates, © 


guano, salt, petroleum, and other deposits. He also 
furnishes a brief review of the laws governing mining 
enterprise in the empire, and of the economic and 
transportation facilities. 


Linnean Society, December 18.—Prof. E. B. Poulton, 
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—J. Parkin: The 
evolution of the inflorescence. ‘The author stated that 
the evolution of all types of inflorescences is to be 
traced from the solitary terminal flower; and he 
indicated the order of development.—C. E, Salmon; 
Hypericum desetangsii, Lamotte, in Britain. In 1893 
the late Mr. T. Hilton, of Brighton, collected what 
he considered to be H. dubium, Leers, in the vicinity 
of Lewes. Some years after, the specimen came into 
the author’s hands and was seen not to be the usual 
plant so named. Various causes prevented him from 
visiting the locality at the proper season until the 
present year, when good examples were examined on 
the spot and afterwards more minutely at home. It 
appears that the Lewes plant must be placed under 
the species published by Lamotte (in Bull. Soc. Bot. 
Fr., vol. xxi., p. 121) in 1874, as H. desetangsii, and 
further elaborated, in the same journal, by Bonnet in 
1878. It may be roughly distinguished from H. 
perforatum—of which it has the golden yellow flowers 
—by its four-angled stem; from H. tetrapterum by 
the colour and size of its flowers, and from H. quad- 
rangulum (H. dubium) by its dotted leaves and nar- 
rower sepals. These are main distinctions; finer onas 
exist. 

MANCHESTER. 

Literary and Philosophical Society, December 2.—Prof. 
F. E. Weiss, vice-president, in the chair.—Prof. E. 
Rutherford: The structure of the atom. The author 


two years ago described a new type of atom—the - 


” 


‘nucleus’? atom—supposed to consist of a central 
nucleus, probably charged positively, of very minute 
dimensions, in which practically all the mass of the 
atom was concentrated. This was surrounded by a 
distribution of negative electrons sufficient to make 
the atom electrically neutral. This type was devised 
to explain the fact that the swift « particles in travers- 
ing matter are occasionally deflected through more 
than a right angle as the result of a single encounter 
with another atom. It was deduced that the number 
of electrons and consequently the charge on the 
nucleus was numerically equal to about half the 
atomic weight. Experiments since carried out by 
Geiger and Marsden have shown that the large angle 
scattering of « particles is in very close agreement 
with this assumption of the atom’s constitution, and 
they showed, in particular, that the variation of the 
number of a particles scattered through different 
angles by different elements agreed closely with the 
theory over a range in number of nearly one million 
times. The deflection of the @ particle is due to its 
passage close to the intense field of the nucleus. In 
his experiments with hydrogen, Mr. Marsden has 
found definite evidence that some of the hydrogen 
atoms actually acquire such a_ great velocity 
by their encounters. with a particles that they 


NO, 2306, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[January 8, 1914 | 


are able to travel through hydrogen at least three 
times the distance of the a particle itself through the 
same gas. On the nucleus theory it is supposed that 
the hydrogen atom contains one positive charge and 
the helium two. The author discussed the dimensions 
of the bodies in question, and the probable distance 
apart of the nucleii at the moment of repulsion. It 
was pointed out that the chemical and physical pro- 
perties of the atom are ultimately determined by the 
charge on the nucleus, which should consequently be 
a more fundamental constant than the atomic weight. 
The latter will depend on the inner structure of the 
nucleus, and may not be proportional to the charge 
on the nucleus. 


December 16.—Mr. F. Nicholson, president, in the 
chair.—R. L. Taylor: The action of bleaching agents 
on various natural colouring matters. In estimating 
the bleaching power of the ordinary bleaching agents 
the kind of colouring matter has to be taken into 
consideration. Colouring matters such as indigo and 
turkey-red are quickly and completely bleached by 
chlorine or hypochlorous acid. In ordinary un- 
bleached linen, cotton, and jute, there appear to be 
two quite different kinds of colouring matter, one 
rapidly bleached by chlorine and hypochlorous acid, 
while the other is quite unaffected by these bleaching 
agents, but is bleached by a solution of a hypochlorite 
containing little, if any, free alkali. A considerable 
amount of the colouring matter in linen and jute is 
not affected by chlorine or hypochlorous acid, but in 
cotton the proportion unbleached by these agents is 
very small indeed. However, cotton is not completely 
bleached by either bleaching agent even after pro- 
longed exposure to one of them. 


Paris. 


Academy of Sciences, December 29, 1913.—M. P. 
Appell in the chair.—Paul Sabatier and M. Murat: 
Contributions to the study of benzhydrol: the pre- 
paration of symmetrical tetraphenylethane. The 
reaction between benzaldehyde and phenylmagnesium 
bromide gives a very poor yield of benzhydrol, under 3 
per cent., diphenylmethane and symmetrical tetraphenyl- 
methane being produced by secondary reactions. The 
interaction of hydrogen and tetraphenylmethane in 
presence of reduced nickel at 230° C. gives diphenyl- 
methane and dicyclohexylmethane.—M. de Grossouyre 
was elected a correspondant for the section of 
mineralogy in the place of M. Depéret, elected non- 
resident member.—Ernest Esclangon: Observations of 
the Delavan comet made with the large equatorial 
of the Bordeaux Observatory. Data given for Decem- 
ber 22 and 23.—F. Ollive: The solar system.—Luc 
Picart: The calculation of a circular orbit with the 
aid of a_ single photographic 
Demoulin : The resolution of a problem of the integral 
calculus.—Léon Lichtenstein: Integration of the 
equation A,u=ke" on a closed surface.—Georges 
Giraud: \ group of birational transformations.— 
Alfred Rosenblatt ; The invariants of algebraical varie- 
ties in three dimensions.—Jules Drach: The integrals 
common to several problems of mechanics.—A. Cotton, 
H. Mouton, and P. Drapier: The influence of the size 
of the particles on the electro-optical and magneto- 
optical properties of a mixed liquid. The conclusions 
arrived at theoretically by Pockels are shown to be 
confirmed by experiment.—Jean Pougnet, Emile Segol, 
and Joseph Segol: The variation of the electromotive 
force of a Weston cell under the influence of ultra- 
violet light. Light of short wave-length causes a 
progressive lowering of the E.M.F. of a Weston cell. 
Removed from the radiation, the cell slowly returns 
to its original E.M.F, The change observed was 
0-007 volt.—A. Recoura: Chromium fluosilicate and 


observation.—A. « 


nape o = 


a 


January 8, 1914] 


its transformations.—F. Bourion and A. Sénéchal: The 
estimation of chromium by oxidation in alkaline solu- 
tion. The results are exact with chromium alone or 
in presence of iron. The. determinations are inexact 
in presence of nickel, cobalt, and manganese.—Paul 
Gaubert; The modifications of form of crystals of 
some substances artificially coloured during their 
growth.—G,. Friedel: The crystalline symmetries 
shown by the diffraction of the Réntgen rays.—L. 
Blaringhem:; The hereditary transmission of rust in 
the hollyhock.—M. Sauvageau: Fucus of the Straits 
of Gibraltar.—J, Vallot and Raoul Bayeux: Experi- 
ments made at Mont Blanc, in 1913, on spontaneous 
muscular activity at very high altitudes. The daily 
work done by a squirrel at the summit of Mont 
Blane was reduced to one-seventh of the daily work 
done at Chamonix.—M. Piettre and A. Vila: The study 
of the plasmas after sugar dialysis.—Louis Roule : 
The influence exerted by the reproductive function 
on the migrations of salmon in spring and summer. 
There is a definite relation between the ascent of rivers 
by salmon and the condition of their reproductive 
organs,—A, Trillat: The influence of surface tension 
of liquids on the removal of micro-organisms by an 
air current. If air_js bubbled through a liquid con- 
taining micro-organisms in suspension, the latter may 
be carried on with the air current if the droplets of 
liquid produced are sufficiently small, and the size of 
the drops is governed by the surface tension of the 
liquid.—L, Mengaud: The lower Aptian marl ot the 
province of Santander.—G. J. Painvin: New contribu- 
tion to the geology of the region of high plateaux 
situated to the north and north-west of Bou-Denib.— 
René Fourtau : The echinitic fauna of the raised shores 
of the Red Sea.—G, Valsan; Remarks on the terraces 
of the eastern Roumanian plain. 


New Souru WALEs. 

Linnean Society, November 26, 1913.—Mr. W. S. 
Dun, president, in the chair.—W. N. Benson: The 
geology and petrology of the Great Serpentine Belt 
of New South Wales. Part iii., Petrology. A de- 
tailed account of the rocks collected over the whole 
area described in parts iii. The material is classi- 
fied under (A) igneous rocks, twelve divisions; and 
(B) sedimentary rocks : (a) clastic rocks of the Eastern 
Series, the Tamworth Series, cherts and breccias; 
(b) the limestone; (c) Baldwin Agglomerates; (d) 
Barraba, .Burindi, and Rocky Creek Series; (e) 
Permo-Carboniferous sandstone.—F. H. Taylor: A 
revision of the Culicida in the Macleay Museum.— 
Dr. R. Greig-Smith : Contributions to our knowledge 
of soil fertility. Nos. vii-xi. (vii.) When soils are 
heated or treated with volatile disinfectants, the 
bacterial development depends upon the amount of 
fatty matter present. Field soils show little differ- 
ence, while a garden soil produced about ten times 
more bacteria, when treated with chloroform, than 
when heated at 65°. (viii.) The demonstration of 
toxins in soils depends upon obtaining a soil in which 
the toxins preponderate over the nutrients, and in 
using an appropriate dilution in making the extracts. 
Equal parts of soil and water generally yield the 
most toxic extract. (ix.) Rain removes toxin from 
soil, but the toxicity returns with dry weather. Simi- 
larly, a soil originally toxic, becomes non-toxic when 
extracted with water, and the toxicity reappears upon 
incubation in the moist condition. (x.) When nitro- 
genous, organic matter is saturated with wax or 
vaseline, and subsequently treated with chloroform, 
it does not decay any quicker on account of the treat- 
ment. (xi.) Naphthalene induces an increase in the 
number of bacteria in soils.—Dr. J. M Petrie: Note 
on the occurrence of strychnicine. The native 
strychnine-tree, Strychnos psilosperma, contains the 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


547 


alkaloid strychnicine, which was discovered, in 1go2, 
in the leaves of the Nux-yomica. Its properties differ 
from those of strychnine or brucine.—R. J. Tillyard : 
A study of the Odonata of Tasmania, in relation to 
the Bassian Isthmus. Though the dragonflies of 
Tasmania are fairly well known, the number of 
species is small, particularly on rivers; still waters 
support a more abundant fauna. A comparison made 
with the dragonfly fauna of southern Victoria gives 
the following results. Of the forms that breed ex- 
clusively in running water, about 22 per cent. of the 
Victorian fauna are found to have reached Tasmania. 
Of the forms that breed in still water about 80 per 
cent. have reached Tasmania. The 20 per cent. that 
failed to do so, all belong to the most recent genera, 
which have come into Australia from the north. The 
reason suggested for the discrepancy is that, through- 
out a long period, the connection between the island 
and S. Victoria was of such a nature that few per- 
manently running water-courses were formed. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

Lowson’s Text-Book of Botany. Indian edition. 
Adapted by M. Willis, with a preface by Dr. J. C. 
Willis. Pp. xii+602. (London: W. B._ Clive.) 
6s. 6d. 

Annuaire Astronomique et Méteorologique pour 1914. 
By C. Flammarion. Pp. 427. (Paris: E. Flam- 
marion.) 1.50 francs. 

Conseil Permanent International pour 1’Exploration 
de la Mer. Rapports et Procés-Verbaux des Réunions. 
Vol. xix. Procés-Verbaux. Juillet 1912—Juillet 1913. 
Pp. vii+142. (Copenhague: A. F. Host et Fils.) 

La Face de la Terre (Das Antlitz der Erde). By 


| Prof. E. Suess. Translated by E. de Margerie. 
Tome iii. (3° Partie.) Pp. x+957-1360. (Paris: A. 
Colin.) 12 francs. 


Canada. Department of Mines. Mines Branch. 
The Production of Copper, Gold, Lead, Nickel, Silver, 
Zinc, and other Metals in Canada during the Calendar 
Year 1912. By C. T. Cartwright. Pp. 86. (Ottawa: 
Government Printing Bureau.) 

Summary Report of the Mines Branch of the De- 
partment of Mines for the Calendar Year Ending 
December 31, 1912. Pp. ix+174+xvi plates. 
(Ottawa.) 15 cents. 

Records of the Survey of India. Vol. iii., rgr1—12. 
Prepared under the direction of Col. S. G. Burrard. 
Pp. ii+176+12 maps. (Calcutta: Superintendent, 
Government Printing, India.) 6s. 

Smithsonian Institution: Bureau of American 
Ethnology. Bulletin 83. Chippewa Music, ii. By 
F. Densmore. Pp. xxi+341+45 plates. (Washing- 
ton: Government Printing Office. 

Traité Raisonné de la Pisciculture et des Péches. 


By Prof. L.. Roule. Pp. viiit+734. (Paris: J. B. 
Bailliére et Fils.) 
The A.B.C. Guide to Astronomy. By Mrs. H. P. 


Hawkins. Third edition. Pp. 124. (London: Simp- 
kin and Co., Ltd.; Bedford: Beds. Times Publishing 
Co., Ltd.) 1s. 6d. net. 

The Revolving Star Map with Movable Declination 
Scale. By Mrs, H. P. Hawkins. (London: Simpkin 
and Co., Ltd.; Bedford: Beds. Times Publishing Co., 
Ltd.) 1s. net. 

The Star Almanac for 1914. By Mrs. H. P. Haw- 
kins. (London: Simpkin and Co., Ltd.; Bedford: 
Beds. Times Publishing Co., Ltd.) 6d. net. 

Experience Teaches. By I. Trinda. Pp. xiv+ 194. 
(London: Simpkin and Co., Ltd.) Limp leather, 4s. 
net; cloth, 2s. 6d. net. 


548 


NATURE 


Department of Commerce and Labor Bureau of the 
Census. Thirteenth Census of the United States taken. 
in the Year 1910. Statistics. 52 parts. (Washing- 
ton: Government Printing Office.) 


New Zealand. Dominion Museum. Bulletin No. 4. 
The Stone Implements of the Maori. By E. Best. 
Pp. 410+li plates. (Wellington : J. Mackay.) 


Ministry of Finance, Egypt. Survey Department. 
The Value of Gravity at Eight Stations in Egypt and 
the Sudan. By P. A. Curry. Pp. 65+Vv plates. 
(Cairo : Government Press.) P.T.10. 


Essays and Studies Presented to William Ridgeway 
on his Sixtieth Birthday, August 6, 1913. Edited by 
Dr. E. C. Quiggin. Pp. xxv+656+plates. (Cam- 
bridge University Press.) 25s. net. 

Celluloid Dangers with Some Suggestions. By 
D. W. Wood. Pp. 36+plates. (London: British 
Fire Prevention Committee.) 2s. 6d. 


Catalogue of Lantern Slides. Part ii. 
351-918. (London: Newton and Co.) 


Catalogue of the Noctuidz in the collection of the 
British Museum. By Sir G. F. Hampson, Bart. Pp. 
xiv+609; plates ccxxii-ccxxxix. (London : British 
Museum (Natural History); Longmans and Co.) 

The Animal Kingdom. By Dr. Zwanziger. 
lated by G. K. Gude. Pp. vitg2. 
S.P.C.K.) 8s. 6d. net. 

Meteorological Office. The Observer’s Handbook. 
Annual Edition, 1913. Pp. xxiv+157+plates. (Lon- 
don: H.M.S.O.; Wyman and Sons, Ltd.) 3s. 

Die Riviera. By A. Voigt. 
(Berlin: W. Junk.) 7 marks. 

Sound.. By Dr. J. .W. Capstick. 
(Cambridge University Press.) 4s: 6d. 

Cambridge County Geographies :—Northumberland. 
By S. R.  Haselhurst. Pp. xi+181+2 maps. 
Merionethshire. By A. Morris. Pp. ix+166+2 maps. 
(Cambridge University Press.) Each 1s. 6d. 

Handbuch der Arbeitsmethoden in der anorganischen 


Pp. xx++- 


Trans- 
(London : 


Pp. vit+ 466+ vi plates. 


Pp. vi+296. 


Chemie. Edited by Dr. A. Stahler. Dritter Band. 
Allgemeiner Teil. Erste Halfte. Pp. x+692. (Leip- 
zig : Veit and Co.) 22 marks. 

International Congress of Americanists. Proceed- 
ings of the Eighteenth Session. London, 1912. 
Parts r and 2. Pp. Ixxxviiit+570+plates. (London: 


Harrison and Sons.) 2 guineas net. 


Travaux et Mémoires du Bureau International des 
Poids et Mesures. Tome xv. (Paris: Gauthier- 
Villars.) 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 
THURSDAY, January 8. 


ConcreTE INSTITUTE; at 7.30.-—Factory Construction : P. M. Fraser. 


INSTITUTION OF FI-ECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—British Practice in the 
Construction of High-tension Overhead Transmission Lines : B. Welbourn. 


FRIDAY, January 9. 


Rovac ASTRONOMICAL Society, at 5.—Hydrogen and the Primary Con 
stituents of Nebula: J. W. Nicholson. —The Short-period Variable XZ 
Cygni: C. Martin and H. C. Piumn.er.—A New Algol Type Variable 
Star in Pegasus: A Stanley Williams.—Probable Papers: The Number 
of Stars of Exch Phot graphic Magnitude down to 17’0 m. in Different 
Galactic Latitudes : S. Chapman and P. |. Melotte.—The Proper Motions 
of the Brighter Stars within 17° of the Pole, considered in relation to 
their Spectral Type : H.S. Jones. ‘ 

Institution. oF Civ Encinerns, at 8.—The Application of Power Rail- 
way Signalling in Great Britain: C. I. Routh. 


MONDAY, JANUARY 12. 


Rovatr GEOGRAPHICAL, SOCIETY, at 8.30.—The Evolution of the Federal! 
Capital, Australia—Canberra: G. Taylor. 


NO. 2306, VOL. 92]. 


[January 8, 1914. 


TUESDAY, JANUARY 13 : 


LnsTITUTION OF Civit ENGINEERS, at 8,—Superheating Steam in Locomo- — . 
tives: H. Fowler. : : — 
THURSDAY, Janvary™s- 


Rovat GEocrapuicat Socrery, at 5.—Some Scientific Results of Captain 
Scott’s Antarctic Expedition : G. Taylor. 


Rovat Society oF ArTs, at 4.30.—Indian Museums: A Centenary Retro- 
spect : Col. T. H. Hendley, C.L.E. 


InsTITUTION oF MINING AND METALLURGY, at 8. 


Linnean Society, at 8.—Lantern Slid-s Illustrating the Fauna and Flora _ 
of the Interior of Vancouver, from her last journey: Mrs. Henshaw.— 
Some Observations on the Tentacles of Blennius gattorugine: H 
Baylis.—(1) Some Recent Additions to the British Flora ; (2) A Note on 
Article 45 of the Vienna Code; (3) The Abridgment of Miller's 
‘© Gardener's Dictionary” of 1754, and Hill's ‘‘ British Herbal” of 1756: 
G. C. Druce. 


ILLUMINATING ENGINEERING SOCIETY, at 8.—Discussion on Mr. C. J- 


Waldram’s Paper: Some Problems in Daylight Illumination, with Special’. 
Reference to School Planning.” : 


FRIDAY, January 16. 


InstiTuTION OF MEcHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Commercial Tests of 
Internal Combustion Engines: W. A. Tookey. 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
Lister and His Work. By Dr. C. J. Martin, F.R.S. 523 
Specialised Chemical Text-books. By E. F. A.. . 524 
The Regulation of Navigable Rivers .....-- = 525 
Our Bookshelf ....-.- : 526 
Letters to the Editor :-— : 
The Pressure of Radiation and Carnot’s Principle.— 
Lord Kayleigh, O.M., FR Sa eee 
« Atmospherics”” in _ Wireless Telegraphy.—Prof. 
Jobn Peiry, F.R.S. Cat diel A divtca Se ee 
Columbium verses Niobium, —Prof, F. W. Clarke . 
A New Etching Keagent for Steel.—Dr. Walter 
Rosenhain, F.R.S.. .-- 4 2551s) ses ra 
Dr. J. F. Thorpe’s ‘‘ Caged” Compound,—W. W. 
Reed; J. F. T. ..: Ar 
Lucretius or Kapteyn?—E. J. M.. . . 2 - +s + 
Semi-absolute.—‘* Enquirer” seta ie ta i 
The Making of Mountains. (///ustrated.) ByJ. W. J. 
Zonal Structure in Plants and Animals ...°> +04 
Shackleton’s Transantarctic Expedition, 1914. By - 
Dr. William S, Bruce 1-25. So) ss ee 
Dr. Weir Mitchell. By Sir Lauder Brunton, 
F.R.S. Jars Come : 
IOtER oie - > - egne < 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Tuttle’s Nebula, N.G.C. 6643 .-.- - : 
Bright Hydrogen |.ines in Stellar Spectra and P. Cygni 
Measurement of Small Displacements of Spectrum | 
Taines. “se Ls) ee ot 
Astronomical Annuals and Star Charts. . . + + + > 
Prize Subjects Proposed by the Paris Academy of 
Sciences for 1915 = 
The Association of Economic Biologists. — By 


527 


528 
528 


529 
529 


. eee 


Bart. ’ 


MVE Cl. ia. Sa eae eee Pech et cis 
Fatigue and Educational Work ...--++-++-> 542 
Engineering at the British Association. ... .- 542 
University and Educational Intelligence. .... 543 
Societies and Academies ...---- , é 545. 
Books Keceived - <i ah eee 


Diary of Societies . 


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to oer 


January 8, 1914] 


NATURE 


CXCV 


LANTERN SLIDES. 


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cxcvi NATURE [January 8, 1914 


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cxcv ill 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 15, 1914 


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ders, in reading this book, what 


NATURE 


549 


THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 1914. 


APPLICATIONS OF POSITIVE RAYS. 
Rays of Positive Electricity and their Application 
to Chemical Analysis. By Sir J. J. Thomson, 

O-M. uaeResree ep: Vii+132+5 plates. (Long- 

mans Green and Co., 1913.) Price 5s. net. 

LL physicists and chemists will welcome this 
account by the author of his wonderful 
series of researches, begun seven years ago, on 
positive rays. This name, “positive rays,” is 
preferable to “canal-rays,” originally applied to 
the stream of positively-charged particles which 
passes through a hole in a flat cathode: and the 
author’s choice of the word “particle” to denote 
an atom carrying a positive charge, and the word 
“corpuscle ” for what is generally now termed an 
electron, will not be challenged. 

After a description of Goldstein's experiments, 
an account is given of Wien’s discovery that 
these rays are deflectable by powerful magnetic 
fields. The theory of the deflection is shortly and 
clearly stated; and also the theory of the electro- 
static deflection of a particle. Then follows an 
account of the author's first experiments, made 
in 1906, for which he devised an apparatus allow- 
ing of the simultaneous application te a bundle of 
positive particles both an electrostatic and a mag- 
netic force, The arrangement is so devised as to 
apply these forces at right-angles to each other: 
and the result, as Sir Joseph Thomson has 


‘described in numerous papers and lectures, is to 


convert the luminous point (if a Willemite screen 
be used) into a parabola. The position of the 
parabola on the screen is conditioned by the in- 
tensity of the forces applied; but if these be kept 
uniform, it depends, inter alia, on the masses of 
the particles. Now the mass is simply related to 
the atomic or molecular weight, and hence the 
nature of the particles can be identified. 

It is found, however, that the same mass may 
hold one or more charges; hence in deducing the 
atomic weights, this has to be borne in mind. 

Descriptions are given, with figures, of the in- 
struments employed; but from a practical point 
of view the figures might have been improved. 
In Fig. 6, for example, connections for maintaining 
an electrostatic field are not shown, and neither 
in that figure nor in Fig. 13 is any arrangement 
shown for introducing gas. Indeed, one won- 
gases were 
present to cause the kathode rays to pass, for they 
cease in a high vacuum. Sir Joseph Thomson 
points out the necessity for removing air very 
thoroughly with a pump before applying absorp- 
tion with cooled charcoal; are the’ residual gases 

NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


traces of neon and helium? or are they minute 
traces of oxygen and nitrogen, corresponding to 
the vapour-pressures of the gases condensed on 
the charcoal? or do the conducting gases come off 
the electrodes, or off the walls of the tube? It 
would have been useful if information on this 
point had been given. In this connection, on 
Pp. 25, we are told that the gas to be used is kept 
in 41, Fig. 13; but there is no means of introduc- 
ing a gas into .1; the gas is said to be stored 
ever a column of mercury; how then is mercury 
vapour excluded? The same want of precision 
applies to the description of the photographs. It 
is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible; to follow 
on the plates the peculiarities described in the 
text; for example, Fig. 28 is described on pp. 48 
and 49. Eight parabolas are mentioned in the 
text, but only five appear in the photograph. Pos- 
sibly the negatives may show more than the 
prints; but if so, it should have been stated, and 
a diagrammatic reproduction of the photographs 
should have been given. In this connection, too, 
it may be mentioned that there is a considerable 
number of misprints; the well-known “effect” is 
due to Doppler, not Déppler; and commas are 
frequently substituted for semi-colons. 

The ingenuity with which various effects are 
analysed and alternative hypotheses tested is 
extraordinary; Sir Joseph Thomson possesses 
scientific imagination in the highest degree, com- 
bined with the power of mathematical presenta- 
tion and wonderful experimental skill. Take the 
following passage :— 

“We can form an estimate of the magnitude 
of the attraction between a neutral atom and a 
corpuscle. From the measurement of the plates 
we find that there are negatively electrified atoms 
of hydrogen with a velocity as large as 2x 108 
em./sec. This means that a neutral atom cf 
hydrogen is able to capture a corpuscle ¢ven 
though it is moving past it with this velocity. 
This capture, however, would not take place unless 
the work required to remove a corpuscle from the 
surface of a neutral atom cf hydrogen were 
greater than the kinetic energy of a corpuscle 
moving with the velocity of 2x 108 cm./sec. This 
kinetic energy is equivalent to the fall of the 
atomic charge through 11 volts; hence we see 
that it must require an ionising potential of more 
than 11 voits to liberate the corpuscle from a 
negatively electrified atom of hydrogen. The same 
considerations show that to liberate the corpuscle 
from a negatively electrified atom of carbon 
would require at least o'9 volt, while for oxygen 
the corresponding ratio would be o°7 volt. It 
must be remembered that these are merely inferior 
limits ; the actual values may be much larger.” 

It is interesting to note that evidence has been 
obtained of the transitory existence of such 
groupings as CH,, CH, and CH, as well as of 


Xx 


59° 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 15, 1914 


groupings of two and of three carbon atoms; the 
last are produced only when the vapours of com- 
plex carbon compounds are induced to form 
“positive rays.” 

The question of multiple charges carried by an 
atom is discussed at considerable length; it would 
appear that a mercury atom may carry as many 
as 8 charges; an atom of krypton, 4 or 5; one of 
argon, 3; one of neon, 2; of nitrogen and of 
oxygen, 2; and of helium, also 2; no hydrogen 
atom with more than one charge has been ob- 
served, The larger the number of charges carried, 
the fainter the line. But the intensity of the para- 
bolic line, whether seen on a Willemite screen or 
photographed, is by no means proportional to the 
amount of element producing it. The hydrogen 
parabola, for instance, is always much more 
intense than would be accounted for by the relative 
amount of hydrogen present. To prove this, a 
most ingenious device was adopted; a parabolic 
slit in the screen was interposed between the 
source of the rays and a metallic box, connected 
with an electrometer; by altering the intensity of 
the magnetic field, the parabolas were made ta 
fall on the slit, and the rays passed through into 
the box, and registered their intensity on the 
electrometer. In this way the relative quantity 
of the gaseous elements present was estimated 
with fair accuracy. 

Proof was also obtained that helium is a mon- 
atomic gas, while oxygen and hydrogen are 
diatomic; for in the discharge-tube, besides de- 
tachment of a corpuscle from a molecule, the split- 
ting up of a molecule into its constituent atoms 
takes place. 

Chapters foilow on retrograde and on anode 
rays; and Stark’s interesting observations on the 
Doppler effect are described and amplified; also a 
short account of the spectra produced by bom- 
bardment with positive rays. 

Next follows a chapter on the use of positive 
rays for chemical analysis; the preface states that 
“one of the main reasons for writing this book 
was the hope that it might induce others, and 
especially chemists, to try this method of ana- 
lysis.”’ I fear that it will not have this result. It 
is a pity that Sir Joseph Thomson in this chapter 
had not given a more detailed account of his 


methods, with more elaborate diagrams of the | 


apparatus. Even to one skilled in work of this 
nature, what appear no doubt commonplaces to 
him require elucidation. I‘or example, how many 
amperes-are necessary to incite his magnets? 
What is the size of the magnets? What electric 
field is required? What voltage must be applied 
to the plates giving an electrostatic field? One 
would require to visit the Cavendish laboratory, 
NO. 2207. VoL.-a2] 


or to trouble its director with correspondence 
before one could set up an apparatus in working 
order. 

A discussion then follows of Mr. Aston’s in- 
teresting investigation of neon, with the object of 
ascertaining whether neon, which has the atomic 
weight 20°2, contains a gas of atomic weight 22; 
the existence of the latter is indicated by positive 
rays in neon. To my mind it is scarcely credible 
that a mixture of gases, separable by diffusion, as 
Mr. Aston finds, cannot be separated by distilla- 
tion and yet neither Mr. Watson, who determined 
the atomic weight of neon, nor Mr. Aston, who 
repeated Mr. Watson’s experiments, have been 
able to effect any separation by fractionation. 
Further work, however, will no doubt settle the 
question. The existence of “X,” is next treated 
of; and the reasons for believing it to be a hydro- 
gen ‘‘ozone”’ appear to be cogent. 

Finally, Sir Joseph Thomson deals with the 
continuous production of helium when certain sub- 
stances are bombarded with kathode rays. Again, 
he does not inform us what gas was present. He is 
rightly very cautious in drawing any definite con- 
clusions from his experiments; but at present his 
bias is in favour of the possibility of disintegra- 
tion; that the matter bombarded disintegrates into 
helium, and some other “elementary” form of 
matter. He says:—‘‘The view that helium can 
be got from other chemical elements raises ques- 
tions of such a fundamental character that few 
will be prepared to accept it until every other 


explanation has been found to be untenable.” The — 


production of helium from radium, from niton, 


from thorium, and from actinium is now accepted — 
as an undoubted fact; questions of “a funda-— 


mental character ” have been raised and answered ; 


and it appears to me to need a very small stretch — 


of imagination to suppose that while some 
“elements” spontaneously undergo exothermic 
changes with evolution of helium, others require 
external sources of energy before disruption takes 
place. W. R. 


GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 
(1) The Earth: Its Genesis and Evolution con- 
sidered in the Light of the most recent Scientific 


Research. By A. T. Swaine. Pp. xix+277+ 
xi plates. (London: C. Griffin and Co., Ltd., 
1913.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 


(2) Grundziige der geologischen Formations- und 
Gebirgskunde. By Prof. A. Tornquist. Pp. iv 
+296. (Berlin: Gebriider Borntraeger, 1913.) 
Price 6.80 marks. 

(3) Determinative Mineralogy. With Tables for the 
Determination of Minerals by means of their 
Chemical and Physical Characters. By Prof. 


JANUARY 15, 1914] 


NATURE 


Sot 


J. Volney Lewis. Pp. v+ 151. (New York: 
John Wiley and Sons; London: Chapman and 
Hall., Ltd., 1913.) Price 6s. 6d. net. 
(1) R, SWAINE’S book represents extensive 
M reading in geological reports and 
journals, some of which are not €asy to procure. 
The references to authors require some correction 
—T. C. Chamberlin, for instance, is consistently 
quoted as Wehariherlaisi *—hbut they are well 
chosen and are thoroughly suggestive to the 
student. Thanks to this free acceptance of the 
results obtained by field observers in many lands, 
a great deal of stratigraphical information is to | 
be found within these pages. The author, how- 
ever, is possessed by an idea, which forms the 
undercurrent of the book, and must appear 
somewhat startling to petrologists, if not also to 
biologists. He holds that the “globes of con- 
densed vapour” (p. 9) that occur in nebulz pass 
into a liquid state, producing, if we read aright, 
globes of water in which certain elements are dis- 
solved. 

Through the development of protoplasm in this 

water, and the withdrawal of the elements from 
solution by organisms seeking to form hard parts, 
a rain of mineral matter descends, and a stony 
nucleus is built up from the centre outwards. 
Calcium carbonate cannot exist in great oceanic 
depths, and consequently the first deposits were 
siliceous, and were followed by calcareous matter, 
similarly arising from the tests of organisms. The 
red clays of deep seas represent material inter- 
mediate between these types; but the chemical 
actions required to produce them from shells are 
admittedly obscure. Wherever deep oceanic basins 
existed during geological times, the same order 
of deposition has been followed (pp. 19—21); the 
quartzites and sandstones in such cases, which 
in reality mark the first sediments in a sinking 
area, are regarded as formed from radiolaria in 
a great persistent hollow which has gradually be- 
come infilled. The calcareous oozes thus represent 
the latest and shallowest stage. 

The application of this theory to the Upper 
Cretaceous series of Europe (p. 22) leads to a 
very confused argument. Terrigenous deposits 
are recognised at the base, and yet these are used 
to support the statement that “the CaCO, 
decreases with the depth.” Petrological examina- 
tion would have kept the author from many un- 
justified suggestions, such as that in regard to 
laterite (p. 198), which is treated, in spite of an 
abundant literature, as an oceanic ooze. The 
book is obviously not a safe one for beginners, 
though its illustrations and mode of production | 
go far to commend it to the reader. 

(2) Prof. Tornquist’s introduction to geology is | 


2307, VOL. 92] 


of a very different order. He also reaches a 
description of oceanic sediments on his tenth page, 
and interestingly refers to Philippi’s suggestion 
that in past times, when no polar ice-caps existed 
to produce unfavourable coldness, calcareous 


| organic deposits could be formed over the deep- 


sea areas in general. As is fitting in a work 
emanating from Kénigsberg, the rocks of the 
“Eozoicum” find their type in the admirable ex- 
posures of Fennoscandia; but the absence of 
many formations from eastern Prussia enables the 
author to be wisely eclectic. Due prominence is 
thus given to the Silurian strata of Wales and of 
Bohemia; the Permian and Triassic systems 
receive far more adequate treatment than is usual 
in English text-books; and we have a good 
account of the Jurassic rocks of central Germany.. 
On the other hand, we may feel that four lines 
(p. 222) form an insufficient reference to the 
Cretaceous beds of northern France and England. 
The earth-movements in the Harz area in Creta- 
ceous times are illustrated on p. 227, and are 
shown to be forerunners of the “Saxon folding ” 
that accompanied the formation of the Alps. On 
p. 263, the essentially modern nature of Europe 
is well expressed. The illustrations are excellent, 
and include the skeleton of Allosaurus agilis from 
the American Museum in New York. We should 
have liked some reference to the gnawed bones 
of the prey in this most terrible of zoological 
reconstructions. 

(3) Prof. Lewis’s manual may be regarded as 
convenient by those to whom the well-known work 
of Brush and Penfield seems unduly large. It 
follows similar lines and covers a wide field, and 
such recently discovered minerals as benitoite and 
purpurite are introduced. In every case refer- 
ences are given to the two text-books by J. D. 
and E. S. Dana. G. AL Ete: 


OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCHES. 


Scientific Papers. By J. Y. Buchanan, F.R.S. 
Vol. i. Pp. xii+15 papers. (Cambridge: 
University Press, 1913.) Price ros. 6d. net. 

HE numerous expeditions which have ex- 
plored the depths of the sea since the 
voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 

1873-76 have added much to our detailed know- 

ledge of the conditions occurring in various seas 

and oceans, and in certain cases have given some 
idea of the periodic and irregular physical changes 
which take place. But the great pioneer voyage 
remains the only one which has surveyed the whole 
world of waters, and it is remarkable how little 
the work of more recent years, with all its advan- 
tages of previous experience and more adequate 


on 
ont 
i) 


NATURE 


[January 15, 1914 


resources, has modified the broad outlines of the 
Challenger results. It is of fundamental import- 
ance to the history of oceanography that the record 
of these early investigations should be made 
accessible once for all by the best authorities ; those 
authorities, to wit, to whom the researches them- 
selves were originally due. This has, of course, 
been done in great measure in the published 
narrative and reports of the Challenger Expedi- 
tion; but, as in all other undertakings of the same 
order of magnitude, there is a sort of aftermath 
of result, the fruit of incidental inquiries into 
special methods or of special subsequent oppor- 
tunities arising from the original main enterprise. 
These collateral results are necessary to complete 
the historic picture, both of the work and of the 
men who carried it out. 

It is, therefore, a matter for much satisfaction 
that this has now been done, in so far as the 
physical and chemical work is concerned, by the 
chemist and physicist of the expedition himself. 
Mr. Buchanan entered upon his work with nearly 
everything to plan and invent, both as regards 
what was to be done and how it was to be done, 
and he has continued and expanded it in many 
directions since, along lines similar in many ways 
to those followed on the Challenger. We welcome 
this volume of reprints of his original papers, both 
for historical reasons and for the permanent value 
of the results obtained. 

Of the fifteen papers reprinted in this book, two 
deal with the distribution of temperature under 
ice in Linlithgow Loch, describing observations 
showing the fallacy of the belief that the tem- 
perature of the water of a frozen lake is always 
that of the point of maximum density. With these 
exceptions, they are all concerned with oceano- 
graphical matters; either describing methods and 
results of experiment, as in the papers on absorp- 
tion of carbonic acid by saline solutions, on the 
composition of sea-water ice, on determinations of 
specific gravity, or on apparatus for deep-sea in- 
vestigation generally; or else giving the results 
of observations in special regions of the ocean. 
The lectures on “Laboratory Experiences on 
Board the Challenger,” and ‘“ Deep-sea Investiga- 
tion and the Apparatus Employed in it,” are of 
special historical value, as they describe in full 
detail the instruments and methods employed in 
deep-sea work from the time of Columbus up to 
and including the Challenger expedition itself. 

Mr. Buchanan’s work after the Challenger ex- 


pedition.was largely carried on in the cable ships | 


of the Silvertown Company, which afforded him 
special opportunities for research in connection 
with lines of soundings on the west coast of 
Africa. The results are embodied in important 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92 | 


papers on the “Dacia” shoal, on the land slopes 
separating continents and oceans, and on the 
exploration of the Gulf of Guinea. The remarlx- 
able submarine valleys running out from the 
mouths of the Congo and other West African 
rivers are described. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


Cabinet Timbers of Australia. By R. T. Baker. 
Pp. 186+ Ixviii plates. (Sydney: Technological 
Museum, 1913.) 

Tuis work directs attention to a section of 

Australian timbers which is especially suitable for 

cabinet work, furniture, and interior decoration. 

More than sixty species, belonging to twenty- 
one different natural orders, are described and 
illustrated, the natural colour and graining of each 
wood being depicted by the aid of colour photo- 
graphy. ‘here are also excellent illustrations in 
black and white of furniture and interior fittings. 
made from several of the woods. 

The coloured illustrations are the feature of the 
book. At first sight many of them give one the 
impression of being thin veneers, an impression 
only removed by fingering the surface of the 
picture. The very texture of the wood is so well 
brought out by this process that its working 
qualities can almost be predicted. We have 
placed actual specimens alongside the prints in 
several cases, and the majority of them match very 
closely. The text is not equal to the illustrations. 
Each plate is accompanied by a popular description 
of the timber and the uses to which it can be 


applied. but the information given is very meagre. 


This is followed by a condensed description of 
the tree in technical language which will only be 
understood by the trained botanist. The geo- 
graphical range of each tree is given, but little is. 
said about the supply available, which is one of 
the most important points for the trade. 

The main object of the author, however, is to 
interest Australians themselves in their native 
timbers and bring home to them the necessity for 
taking steps to prevent these valuable timber trees. 
being exterminated in the process of clearing the 
land for settlement. The book certainly brings 
out the fact that Australia possesses a rich assort- 
ment of beautiful cabinet woods exhibiting a wide 
variation in figure, texture, and colour, and the 
Empire, no less than the Commonwealth, will 
suffer an irreparable loss if steps are not taken to 
stop the present waste of this valuable heritage of 
natural wealth. 


Marsh’s Mathematics Work-book. Designed by 
H. W. Marsh. (New York: John Wiley and 
Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 
1913.) Price 3s. net. 

Tuis book consists of about 250 blank unruled 

sheets of writing-paper of good quality, divided 

into two sections. Each section is fastened to the 
book-cover by two strong paper fasteners, so that 
the sheets may be removed as required. The 
cover is of substantial quality, having leather 


JANUARY 15, 1914] 


NATURE 55 


ios) 


corners and back. Several daily record sheets are | 


provided, and the student is expected to fill these 
up, giving particulars of date, portion of the text- 
book or work studied, remarks, as well as par- 
ticulars of the time which he has spent at other 
subjects. The student is expected to certify this 
record by his signature. Pasted to the interior 
of the cover are elaborate instructions regarding 
methods of entering work done, for filling up the 
record sheet, excuses, collection and distribution 
of work-books, inspection, and corrected work. 
Some of these instructions are distinctly good, 
and might be taken to heart by many teachers of 
mathematics in this country. For example—‘ as 
soon as possible learn to draw a light, smooth, 
draughtsman’s line.”” Those who have had the 
opportunity of examining the British average 
mathematical home-work will appreciate this 
quotation. No doubt the designer of this book 
has found that it meets perfectly the needs of his 
own institution and students, but we question 
whether it will meet with much favour in this 
country, where it is well known that every teacher 
prefers to develop his own methods as regards 
style of home-work, examination, and so on. 


The Celebration of the Two Hundred and Fiftieth 
Anniversary of the Royal Society of London, 
July 15-19, 1912. Pp. 128. (London: Hum- 
phrey Milford, 1913.) Price 5s. net. 

Tue interesting events in connection with the 
celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Royal 
Society in July, 1912, were reported in these 
columns at the time, and the contents of this 
volume consequently cover ground familiar to our 
readers. This permanent record of the proceed- 
ings contains a full list of delegates and verbatim 
accounts of the addresses, speeches, telegrams, 
and letters addressed to the Society from learned 
societies and other bodies throughout the world. 
With the new edition of the “Record” of the 
Society, and the facsimile reproduction of the 
pages of signatures of the fellows in the Charter 
book, from that of the Royal founder down to 
those entered in the summer of 1912, it will form 
an appropriate and lasting memorial of a note- 
worthy celebration. 


Who’s Who in Science: International, 1914. 
Edited by H. H. Stephenson. Pp. xx+662. 
(London: J. and A, Churchill.) Price 2s. net. 


Tus excellent work of reference contains, in 
addition to its 9000 biographies of men of science 
of all nationalities, other useful information. 
Especially convenient are the tabular statements, 
arranged alphabetically, of particulars about the 
universities of the world, which include the names 
in each case of the head of the university and the 


senior occupants of the various scientific chairs. 


A valuable Jist of the ‘‘World’s Societies” is also 
included, and from it the name, address, number 
of members, the name of the secretary, and other 
facts can be seen at a glance. An exhaustive 
classified index adds greatly to the value of the 
volume. 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


| in question cannot be considered 


BEETERS TO THE: EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


The Pressure of Radiation and Carnot’s Principle. 
I GATHER from a letter on this subject which appears 


| in your last issue that Lord Rayleigh endorses the 


opinion that the partial pressure p of any particular 
frequency in full radiation may properly be deduced 
from the intrinsic energy-density E/v of the same 
frequency by Carnot’s principle. 

The other point to which I wished to direct atten- 
tion is that, in the case of a steady stream of radia- 
tion of constant frequency, the heat quantity measured 
is the total heat of formation per unit volume, 
E/v+p, and not the intrinsic energy-density E/v as 
commonly assumed. The disagreement with experi- 
ment of Wien’s well-known formula for the partition 
of energy in full radiation, is readily explained if we 
assume that it represents only the intrinsic energy. 
The corresponding value of the pressure is very easily 
deduced by reference to Carnot’s principle, as Lord 
Rayleigh has indicated. The formula which I have 
proposed (Phil Mag., October, 1913) is simply the 
sum of the pressure and energy-density thus obtained, 
and gives very satisfactory agreement with_experi- 
ment, both for radiation and specific heat. I prefer 
it to Planck’s formula (among other reasons) on the 
ground that the latter cannot be reconciled with the 
classical thermodynamics, and involves the concep- 
tion of a quantum, or indivisible unit of action, which 
is unthinkable. The corresponding physical mag- 
nitude on my theory, which I have elsewhere called 
a molecule of caloric, is not necessarily indivisible, but 
bears a very simple relation to the intrinsic energy of 
an atom, which is all that is required to explain the 
fact that radiation may in special cases be emitted in 
atomic units which are multiples of a particular 
magnitude. H. L. CaLrenpDar. 

Imperial College of Science and Technology, 

South Kensington. 


Atomic Models and X-Ray Spectra. 


In his letter to Nature of January 1 on “ Atomic 
Models and X-Ray Spectra,” Dr. F. A. Lindemann 
deals with the approximate agreement between the 
recent experiments of Mr. H. G. J. Moseley on ‘* The 
High-frequency Spectra of the Elements” (Phil. Mag., 
December, 1913), and the calculations given in my 


paper, ““On the Constitution of Atoms and Mole- 
cules” (Phil. Mag., July, September, November, 
1G13)- 


In Dr. Lindemann’s opinion a theoretical explana- 
tion of Mr. Moseley’s results can be obtained in several 
ways; and he therefore concludes that the agreement 
to support the 
assumptions used in my paper. By the help of a 
consideration of dimensions he seeks a relation be- 
tween the five quantities, v, x, Nne?, m, and h. He 
shows that an infinite number of different expressions 
can be obtained for v in terms of r, Nne*®, m, and h; 
and he indicates how several of these expressions 
may be brought in approximate agreement with the 
experimental results. 

This procedure does not appear to me to be justified. 
Just as little as the five quantities v, r, Nne*, m, 
and h, the four quantities, r, Nne*, m, and h, may 
be considered as independent of each other. By a 
consideration of dimensions we can obtain a relation 


554 


NATURE 


[January 15, «tga 


between r, Nne?, m, and h; and if we introduce this 
relation in Dr. Lindemann’s expressions for v, all the 
different expressions become identical. 

By a consideration of dimensions only, we cannot 
calculate the numerical factors which determine the 
exact values for the frequencies of the spectrum of an 
element; in order to do this, we must introduce more 
detailed assumptions as to the constitution of the atom 
and the mechanism of emission of radiation. A dis- 
cussion of the special assumptions used in my calcula- 
tions will be found in a paper on the influence of 
electric and magnetic fields on spectral lines, which 
will appear shortly in the Philosophical Magazine. 

N. Boner, 

The University, Copenhagen, January 5. 


Dr. F.. A. Linpemann (Nature, January 1) dis- 
agrees with the theoretical interpretation of my recent 
work on X-ray spectra (Phil. Mag., December, 1913). 
He objects to my statement that the results so far 
obtained strongly support the views of Bohr, and con- 
siders that they yield no information about the structure 
of the atom beyond confirming the views of Rutherford 
and van den Broek. My work was undertaken for 
the express purpose of testing Broek’s hypothesis, 
which Bohr has incorporated as a fundamental part 
of his theory of atomic structure, and the result of the 
test certainly confirms the hypothesis. In my opinion, 
however, further definite conclusions can be drawn 
from the results, and these conclusions strongly sup- 
port other features of Bohr’s theory. Moreover, I 
cannot accept the alternatives which Dr. Lindemann 
offers to my formula representing the values of the 
princinal frequencies observed. 

Dr. Lindemann’s arguments are based on the prin- 
ciple of dimensions. This method of treatment is of 
historical interest, as we owe to it the introduction 
of Planck’s quantum h into the discussion of atomic 
structure. So long as the only factors, common to all 
atoms, on which this structure was known to depend, 
were e, m, the charge and mass of an electron and 
Ne the charge of the nucleus, it was impossible to 
obtain a quantity of the dimensions, of a frequency. 
In an electromagnetic system the introduction of c, 
the velocity of light, might get over this difficulty, 
but it has proved more profitable to treat the problem 
as electrostatic and make definite calculation possible 
by using h. 

We will call the assumption that h is a funda- 
mental factor in the atom the h hypothesis. It then 
follows from the principle of dimensions that the 


am : : 
frequency of an atom, v=/ ja? Where f is a numerical 


constant which depends on N, and also on the arrange- 
ment of the electrons in the atom. 

The reason why Dr. Lindemann arrives by the 
same argument at an indefinite result is that he takes 
y, the distance of the electron from the nucleus, or 
else yN to be an independent factor in the calculation. 
No independent natural unit of length, which would 
apply to an electrostatic problem, is known, and the 
separate introduction of r or rN appears to me to be 
unwarranted. Bohr has pointed out that the funda- 
mental frequency .y, of ordinary series spectra is 
obtained by putting f=27* in the formula given above, 
while my work shows that the frequency of the prin- 
cipal line in the X-ray spectrum of elements from 
Ca, N=20 to Zn, N=30 corresponds with 

’ f=2n?.3(N—1)?. 

The simplicity of the expression f in these two cases 
is itself an argument in favour of the h hypothesis. 
It is, however, more strongly supported by the fact 
that the frequencies in the X-ray spectrum are pro- 


NO, 2307, VOL. 92] 


portional to (N—1)?. Two alternative explanations 
can be given for the occu (N—1) and not N. 
It is just possible that two of the elements which 
precede calcium have the same atomic number. A 
mistake would then have been made each time in 
reckoning N, and » would really be oo N?. It is much 
more likely that the repulsion of the other electrons 
cannot be neglected compared with the attraction of 
the nucleus, and then N must be replaced by (N— a,). 
In either case we conclude that as we pass from atom 
to atom yv o(Fr?)?, where F is the resultant electro- 
static force on the vibrating electron. In other words, 
a quantity of dimensions T(ML*T-?)? remains con- 
stant, and since the mass is always the mass of an 
electron MPL?T-! remains constant. By putting p=1 
a quantity is obtained of the same dimensions as h. 
For these reasons I conclude that the experiments 
support the h hypothesis, which has been put forward 
in three distinct forms, first by Nicholson, then by 
Bohr, and recently by J. J. Thomson. 

I have not succeeded in obtaining agreement be- 
tween my results and the vibrations considered by 
Nicholson. Bohr’s theory, on the other hand, explains 
why there is a general spectroscopic constant,  ), 
given by f=2z?, and at the same time demands that 
the principal X-ray frequency should be given by 


f=2n?.3(N— )?. This agrees with the experi- 
mental result if the vibrating system is a ring 
of four electrons, all vibrating together; since 


a,=0-96. Two things, however, suggest that either 
Bohr’s theory or my interpretation of it requires modi- 
fication. In the first place, it fails to account for the 
second weaker line found in each spectrum. In the 
second place it is difficult to see how a ring of four 
electrons can store up enough energy to vibrate as a 
whole. Perhaps the examination of the spectra of 
other groups of elements will suggest a solution of 
these difficulties. H. Mose ey. 
Oxford, January 5. 


** Atmospherics ’’ in Wireless Telegraphy. 


WirtH reference to Prof. Perry’s letter on “atmo- 
spherics”’ in Nature of January 8, a description of 
some experiments made by us in the summer of 1912, 
and continued last summer, may be of interest. A 
receiving station was erected near Rothbury, in 
Northumberland, with an antenna consisting of two 
horizontal wires stretched about 3 ft. from the ground. 
The receiving apparatus consisted of a galena-tellu- 
rium detector and telephone circuit coupled to two 
inductances connected to the antenna wires and 
having a variable condenser in circuit between them. 
The length of the antenna was varied during the 
experiments, but for most of the time was about 500 
yards each way, ‘the direction of the wires being 
approximately north-west and south-east. No earth 
connection was used. ] 

The antenna was laid on a slight slope, the receiv- 
ing hut being situated in a field, but in each direction 
the antenna wires passed through extensive woods, 
the whole district in the vicinity being thickly wooded. 
During the observations of 1912 the ground was 
nearly always very wet owing to the excessive rain- 
fall. 

According to the views put forward by Prof. Perry, 
it would naturally be expected that atmospherics would 
be either absent or greatly diminished in intensity 
with an antenna such as we used. So far from this 
being the case they were both numerous and loud, 
so much so that we adopted this form of antenna as 
being suitable for investigating the direction from 
which atmospherics emanate. For this purpose we 
used crossed horizontal wires connected to a form of 
radio-goniometer, the well-known directive effect of 


JANUARY 15, 1914] 


horizontal antennz being thus utilised. The observa- 
tions were not sufficiently numerous to justify definite 
conclusions being drawn, but so far as they went they 
tended to support Mr. Marconi’s results as to the 
southerly origin of these disturbances. 

The aérials of many stations are, of course, to some 
extent directive, and this may account for the com- 
parative immunity of one station from atmospherics 
while another in its vicinity is more disturbed by 
them, although both might be affected equally by local 
thunderstorms. WiLFRED Hatt. 

H. Morris-Airey. 

9 Priors Terrace, Tynemouth, 

Northumberland, January 12. 


A Recently Discovered Stone Gircle, near Matlock, 
Derbyshire. 


On the summit of ‘ Bilberry Knoll,” in the district of 
Matlock, latitude 53° 7’ 13”, and longitude 1° 32’ 15” 
W., there are remains of what I believe to have been 
an important station in prehistoric times, dedicated 


_ to the sun-worship cult. 


a is ‘ee 


The highest point of the hill is crowned by a 
mound, obviously artificial, built up of large boulders 
and earth, and, although much disturbed, many of 
the stones occupy positions in which they were origin- 
_ally placed. Some of them appear to form part of the 
circumference of a circle with thirty-six bays, or divi- 
sions, of 144 ft. diameter. Near the centre there are 
two chambers, one in horse-shoe form, and the axis 
through these chambers is in line with the “ Nine 
Ladies,” a well-known circle, on Stanton Moor. 

The range of hills (of which Bilberry Knoll forms 
the highest point, 928 ft. above O.D.) occupies a very 
strong natural position, and the summit was appar- 
ently further protected by ramparts, remains of which 
may be seen about 200 yards south of the circle 
mound. 

The circle commands an extensive view in every 
direction, and there are in sight more than thirty 
positions which bear distinctive names. 

To discover the significance of some of these posi- 
tions I have taken observations of the sunset on those 
days usually regarded as sacred in the ‘* Druidical,’’ or 
sun-worship cult, more particularly of the May Eve 
and June Solstice festivals. But sunsets down to the 
horizon are rare, and I had no data by which to 
determine the true date of May Eve. I ultimately 
decided on May 11 as being consonant with May 
Eve (old style), and this year, on that date, the full 
disc of the sun rested upon a distant horizon (altitude 
to’), exactly over the intersection of intervening hills, 
on an alignment N. 58° oo’ W. 

At the June solstice the results were more decisive, 
the sunset being almost exactly over the ‘‘ Nine 
Ladies.” This well-known circle lies a little more 
than five miles away, N. 46° 30’ W., and the height 
of horizon is about 13’. And N. 46° oo’ E., with a 
similar altitude, stands ‘‘Blakelow Hill’’; this hill 
would thus indicate the rising sun, and, conjvintly 
with the ‘“‘ Nine Ladies,” provides irrefutable evidence 
of purpose. For, whereas ‘‘ Blakelow Hill’’ is a dis- 
tinctive natural feature, the ‘‘ Nine Ladies” occupies 
a chosen site, slightly below the highest ground, on a 
broad plateau. And, whilst it is in sight, and indi- 
cates the sunset from ‘“ Bilberry Knoll,’ it is not in 


- sight from a circle only 13 miles away on Harthill 


Moor, nor from ‘‘Arbor Low,’’ which is’ within 
54 miles, though a difference of very few yards in 
position, on higher ground, would have placed it in 
sight of all three. It was therefore clearly estab- 
lished as an adjunct to “ Bilberry Knoll.” 

Comparing these results with data which I have 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


555 


since obtained from Sir Norman Lockyer’s valuable 
work on ‘‘Stonehenge,” I find the alignment for sun- 
set on May 6 to be about N. 61° oo’ W., but the date 
actually observed appears to be subject to local varia- 
tion, the Roman calendar being May 9g (the date of a 
fair day at Matlock). Making allowance for this, and 
for variation in obliquity of the ecliptic, it seems prob- 
able that this hill intersection would indicate the sun- 
set on the eve of the May year festival. 

The alignment for the June solstice I make N. 47° 
15’ W., which is so near as practically to confirm my 
conclusions. 

Investigations on the various sites would, I be- 
lieve, prove that the better-known Derbyshire circles, 
‘“Arbor Low,” the ‘“‘ Bull Ring’’ at Dove Holes, and 
‘“Wet Withins ’* on Eyam Moor, were also established 
with alignments to distinctive features that would 
indicate the rising and setting sun on these dates. 

Joun Simpson. 

Spring Mount, Bank Road, Matlock, 

* January 5. ~ 


Trepanning among Ancient Peoples. 


A NoTE in Nature of October 30, 1913, p. 273, 
referring to the late Dr. Lucas Championniére’s paper 
on prehistoric trepanning, which was read at the last 
annual public meeting of the Five Academies in Paris, 
contains this observation :— 

“Tt is remarkable that the operation was not prac- 
tised among highly civilised races like Greeks, 
Egyptians, Arabs, Hindus, and Chinese. . . .” 

But the subjoined quotations would seem to militate 
with the soundness of this expression so far as it 
concerns the ancient peoples of Greece and India :— 

“In surgery his (Hippocrates’s) writings are im- 
portant and interesting, but they do not bear the same 
character of caution as the treatises on medicine; for 
instance, in the essay ‘On the Injuries of the Head,’ 
he advocates the operation of ‘trephining’ more 
strongly and in wider classes of cases than would be 
warranted by the experience of later times ”’ (‘‘ Encyclo- 
peedia Britannica,” 1910, vol. xiii., p. 518). 

“The next most elaborate chapter (of the Hippo- 
cratic collection) is that on wounds and injuries of the 
head. . . . Trephining was the measure most com- 
monly resorted to, even where there was no compres- 
sion” (ibid., vol. xxvi., p. 125). 

“Jivaka (afterwards termed the King of the 
Physicians) had learnt the whole art of healing with 
the exception of the operation of skull-opening. Now 
a man who was afflicted by a cerebral malady came to 
Atreya (Jivaka’s master) and asked him to treat him. 
Atreya replied that the man must dig a pit that day 
and provide it with dung. . . . When Atreya came, he 
placed the man in the pit, opened his skull, and was 
about to seize the reptile with his pincers (when Jivaka 
advised him how to take it away). . . . When all this 
had been done the man was cured” (E. A. von 
Schiefner, ‘‘Tibetan Tales,” trans. Ralston, 1906, 
p. 98). The same book, p. 100, relates how Jivaka 
cured a man whose head itched greatly by drawing 
out of his skull a centipede through the same opera- 
tion. In the “Lives of Jivaka and Amrapali (his 
mother),’’ translated into Chinese in the second 
century A.D., he is said to have used a golden knife in 
skull-opening. 

“Les Saniassis sont enterrés jusqu’au col; un 
Religieux du méme ordre casse des cocos sur la téte 
du mort jusqu’a ce qu’elle soit brisée; ensuite on la 
couvre de terre. On ignore aujourd’hui le motif de 
cette pratique singuliére, 4 moins que ce ne soit pas 
pour faciliter 4 leur 4me le moyen de sortir par une 
ouverture plus honnéte que la bouche, les oreilles et 


308 


d'autres issues du corps, qu’on regarde comme impures 
et souillées’’ (Pierre Gonnerat, ‘‘ Voyage aux Indes 
Orientales et 4 la Chine,” & Paris, 1782, vol. i., p. 93). 
Kumacusu Minakata. 
Tanabe, Kii, Japan, December 13, 1913. 


Systems of Rays on the Moon’s Surface. 


A Great deal has been said, and a great many 
theories have been put forward, as to the cause of 
these marvellous systems of rays on the surface of 
the moon. I now venture to put forward an explana- 
tion which has occurred to me, and should like the 
opinion of some of your readers upon it. 

It is generally admitted that the volcanic action of 
the moon was of an enormous character, ‘‘ even 
when the low force of lunar gravity is taken 
into consideration,” and from our knowledge 
of the amount of lava emitted from one _ of 
our own small craters, we can conceive what 
a huge volume must have been thrown out from such 
gigantic craters as Clavius, Ptolemaus, or Copernicus. 
Now, from what we can see even to-day, the lunar 
surface is exceedingly mountainous, and I suggest 
that when these craters were in their full power huge 
volumes of lava were thrown out, and in many cases 
practically filled up valleys, or cafons between the 
mountains. We know the rays are from five to ten 
miles broad, even up to twenty miles, and from the 
action of the volcano there would always be the 
tendency for the lava to run away from the crater 
itself, thus forming these rays, like spokes from a 
hub. Some of the rays are, however, apparently of 
a prodigious length, up to 2000 miles long, but Prof. 
Pickering tells us that this length is an illusion, the 
long rays being made up of rays from different 
craters, which appear to form one long continuous 
ray, which satisfies the question of length. 


Then many of these rays apparently run 
right across and almost obliterate (at full 
moon) such craters as Clavius and Maginnus. 


Now I think it is generally admitted that the ray 
systems from Tycho, Copernicus, and Kepler are the 
largest on the moon, and they are also three of the 
very largest craters. This points to the fact that they 
were the first eruptions on the lunar surface, and 
being the first, threw out the greatest volume of lava. 
This filled up the valleys in their neighbourhood, but 
afterwards other craters were erupted through the 
lava-covered rocks, though without breaking up the 
“lava valleys.” It is highly probable that in these 
circumstances most, or all, the craters have their rays, 
though too small to be detected through even the 
largest glass. Their brilliance would, of course, be 
accounted for, by the sun shining directly upon them, 
through no atmosphere at all, or none worth men- 
tioning. It seems, therefore, to me, that these rays 
must be geologically old remains of eruptions, dried 
up now, but still showing themselves on the lunar 
surface, though it is doubtful if the matter will ever 
be satisfactorily cleared up. C. Hupert Pranr. 
49 Lichfield Road, Walsall, December 16, 1913. 


THE CAPE OBSERVATORY. 


Ts the preface to this work Sir David Gill relates 

that when, as a young astronomer, he was 
connected with Lord Crawford in the design and 
erection of the observatory at Dun Echt, he 
turned for assistance to Wilhelm Struve’s “ De- 
scription de l’Observatoire Astronomique Central 


1 “A History and Description of the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good 
Hope." By Sir Mavid Gill K.C.B. F.R.S. Pp. cxe+136+plates, | 


(London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1913.) 
NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 15, I914 


de Poulkova.’”” Remembering the help and 
pleasure which Struve’s work"had given him, he 
resolved, in humble imitation, to write a descrip- 
tion of the Cape Observatory. 

“Struve,” in the words of Gill, “had the true 
genius and spirit of the practical astronomer, the 
love of refined and precise methods of observa- 
tion, and the inventive mechanical and engineer- 
ing capacity.” 

Struve had the rare opportunity of building an 
observatory after his own heart, regardless of 
expense, which should fulfil the highest require- 
ments of the astronomy of his time. Gill, 
animated by the same spirit as Struve, and with 
similar qualifications, greatly extended and re- 
modelled an historic observatory. Thanks to his 
grasp of the trend of astronomy, his skill in the 
design and construction of instruments, and his 
administrative ability and energy, he left the Cape 
Observatory, at the close of his directorate, one 
of the best equipped and most efficient observa- 
tories in the world. 

The volume, as its title indicates, is divided 
into two parts. The first consists of a history 
of the observatory from its foundation to the pre- 
sent time, with brief biographical notices of those 
who have filled the position of H.M. Astronomer, 
and an appreciative criticism of their work and 
their contribution to the development of the ob- 
servatory. Following this is a brief account of the 
past and present instrumental equipment, and a 
comprehensive survey of the important astro- 
nomical and geodetic results which have pro- 
ceeded from the Cape Observatory. The second 
part of the book is devoted to a detailed descrip- 
tion, illustrated by many photographs and 
diagrams, of the important instruments which 
have been erected at the observatory during Sir 
David Gill’s directorate. 

The value of the Cape as a site for the exten- 
sion of astronomy and geodesy to the southern 
hemisphere was first appreciated by Lacaille, who 
in a brief visit in the middle of the eighteenth 
century made observations of the positions of 
more than 10,000 stars, and measured an arc of 
the meridian. 

After the British occupation, the establishment 
of a permanent observatory at the Cape was con- 
sidered by the Board of Longitude in February, 
1820; the appointment of an astronomer was 
recommended, and estimates were obtained from 
Troughton, Dollond, and Jones for suitable equip- 
ment. The Board of Admiralty expressed its 
concurrence with this proposal, and the observa- 
tory was established by Order in Council on 
October 20, 1820, the staff to consist of one 
astronomer, one assistant, and one labourer. 

The Rey. Fearon Fallows, fellow of St. John’s 
College, Cambridge, was appointed H.M. Astro- 
nomer, and directed to make observations so far 
as possible similar to and complementary to those 
at Greenwich. He fixed the site of the observa- 
tory on part of a bare, rocky hill, covered with 
thistles and infested with snakes, but tolerably 
free from the sandy dust prevalent near Cape 
Town, and commanding a good view of Table 


aul 


JANUARY 15, 1914] 


NATURE 


557 


Bay, so that ships anchored there might be able 
to observe the time-signals. The order to com- 
mence building was signed in 1822, but did not 
reach Fallows until 1825. After a change of 
‘Government in 1827, 10,000]. was cut off the 
estimates for building, so that when completed 
the observatory was a mere block of masonry on 
a desolate hill, without protection, an adequate 
water supply, or roads. The instruments were, 
however, installed, and some valuable observa- 
tions made. 

Fallows died in 1831, after eleven years’ work, 
full of anxiety and disappointment, and was suc- 
ceeded by Henderson, who remained at the Cape 
only one year, but crowded into that time an 
enormous number of observations of various 
kinds. His most permanently valuable work is 


his catalogue of positions of the principal southern | 


stars, obtained with similar accuracy to that of 


the northern stars at the same epoch, but his | 
_ his tenure of office a 7-in. heliometer, an astro- 
| graphic equatorial of 13 in., the Victoria tele- 


most striking discovery and that which his name 
invariably calls to mind, is his determination of 
the parallax of a Centauri. 

Henderson’s successor was Maclear. He re- 
mained director of the observatory from 1833-70. 
Maclear was a man of great energy and practical 
ability. He faced the difficulties which had dis- 
heartened Fallows, and from which Henderson 
had shrunk, and succeeded in making the barren 
hillsides into fertile grounds, in obtaining a pure 
water supply, in breaking the force of the south- 
east winds by planting trees, and establishing a 
communication with the main road to Cape Town. 
At the same time the scientific work of the 
observatory was carried on untiringly, both with 
the meridian instruments and equatorials. Owing 
to the smallness of the staff, the observations 
were not all reduced and published at the time, 
but Maclear’s successors, Stone and Gill, were 
able to publish these valuable observations. In 
addition, he found opportunities to extend help 
and infuse enthusiasm into the educational and 
scientific projects of the growing colony. 

Maclear was succeeded by Stone. He had 
been trained at Greenwich in the systematic school 
of Airy, and left as a lasting monument of his 
nine years at the Cape (1870-79) a catalogue of 
12,881 stars. 

Gill was appointed H.M. Astronomer on 
February 19, 1879, and retired on February 10, 
1907, after completing twenty-eight years of ser- 
vice. At the University of Aberdeen he had the 
good fortune to come under the influence of Clerk 
Maxwell, and gain inspiration from his teaching. 
His interest in astronomy began with the installa- 
tion of a time service for Aberdeen, which he 
carried out with the assistance of David Thomson, 
professor of natural philosophy. Shortly after- 
wards he purchased a 12-in. mirror, mounted it 
equatorially, and used it in measuring double 
stars, taking photographs of the moon and other 
observations. In 1872 he was offered charge of 
the observatory which Lord Lindsay was erecting 
at Dun Echt; he relinquished his business career, 
and accepted without hesitation the opportunity 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


thus presented of devoting his whole time to 
science. 

Gill now entered on the congenial task of assist- 
ing in the design and erection of Lord Lindsay’s 
magnificent private observatory, and the testing, 
mounting, and adjustments of its numerous in- 
struments. Soon afterwards he accompanied 
Lord Lindsay to Mauritius to observe the transit 
of Venus, and in this connection made several 
important determinations of longitude. In 1877 
he made an expedition to Ascension, and from 
observations of Mars with a 4-in. heliometer, 
determined the solar parallax as 8°78", with a 
probable error of +o°012". 

Thus fitted by his training and experience, Gill 
found at the Cape Observatory ample scope for 


| his energy and for his mechanical and observa- 


tional skill. In 1879 the only instruments at the 
Cape were the non-reversible transit-circle, the 
7-in. equatorial, and the photoheliograph. During 


scope, presented by Mr. McClean, consisting of 
a 26-in. photographic telescope for spectroscopic 
work, with an 18-in. guiding telescope, and a 
new reversible meridian circle were all added to 
the equipment, and from all these instruments 
important results have already been obtained. 
With the non-reversible transit instrument observa- 
tions of fundamental stars, bright southern stars, 
and stars the positions of which were required as 
comparison stars for heliometer observations were 
carried on systematically, and particular mention 
may be made of a catalogue of 8650 reference 
stars for the astrographic work at the Cape. 

From the commencement of his tenure of office 
Gill urged the necessity of a reversible instrument 
for fundamental work. The project was not 
sanctioned, however, until 1897. The greatest 
care was lavished on the instrument, the building 
and the foundations. The full description, 
occupying one hundred pages of the book, and 
illustrated by many photographs and drawings, 
cannot be summarised in a short review, and only 
a bare mention can be made of the most striking 
and interesting features. Besides being revers- 
ible, the object-glass and eye end of the instru- 
ment are interchangeable, so that flexure may be 
eliminated, except for the sagging of the wire, in 
the mean of opposite positions. The microscopes 
are carried on iron piers, which are covered ex- 
ternally by non-conducting material, and are filled 
with water so that their temperature may be 
uniform in horizontal layers, and no tendency to 
twist be introduced. To detect any shift of the . 
telescope in azimuth, stable meridian marks are 
obtained by connecting optically the marks and 
collimator lenses N. and S. of the instrument, 
with points fixed on the solid rock at the bottom 
of deep iron cylinders. These have proved so 
successful that the movement of the pole in 
azimuth corresponding to the variation in latitude 
has been observed. The instrument is furnished 
with an impersonal micrometer for the elimination 
of magnitude equation from the observations of 


on 
Oo 


right ascension. To save the strain on the 
observer this is moved at approximately the right 
rate by an eleciric motor with suitable mechanism 
for giving the rate corresponding to the declina- 
tion of the star. The great success of this in- 
strument is attested by the results already pub- 
lished by Mr. Hough. 

A full description is also given of the Victoria 
telescope, presented to the observatory by Mr. 
Frank McClean. It is furnished with a spectro- 
scope for the determination of velocity in the line 
of sight, and with two large objective prisms of 
24 in. aperture and refracting angles of 8° and 
12° respectively: These can be used singly or 
together. Excellent results, including a deter- 
mination of the solar parallax by Dr. Halm, have 
been already obtained with the line of sight 
spectroscope. The Cape Observatory is there- 
fore, thanks to the generosity of Mr. McClean, 
admirably equipped for astrophysical work. 

While the reversible transit-circle and the Vic- 
toria telescope are probably the instruments which 
will be most valuable to Sir David Gill’s suc- 
cessors, it is with the 7-in. heliometer that most 
of his own personal observing work has been 
done. This instrument was obtained in 1887 to 
supersede the 4-in. used at Ascension. With it 
(partly in cooperation with Dr. Elkin) he made 
the well-known determinations of the parallax 
of the sun and of the brightest stars of the 
southern hemisphere, remarkable alike for the 
smallness of their accidental error and the care 
with which causes of systematic error were 
eliminated. In addition, the 7-in. heliometer has 
been used in other important investigations, par- 
ticularly in the determination of the mass of 
Jupiter and the orbits of its satellites, researches 
in which two young astronomers, Mr. Bryan 
Cookson and Mr. de Sitter cooperated. 

Sir David Gill includes an account of the Cape 
Photographic Durchmusterung. Knowing that 
this survey of the southern sky was proposed, 
Prof. Kapteyn volunteered to undertake the 
arduous work of measuring the photographs and 
discussing the results. From this cooperation, a 
catalogue containing the magnitudes and approxi- 
mate positions of 450,000 stars resulted, giving a 
complete survey of the southern skies; it is noted 
that the preparation of this work first directed 
Kapteyn to the study of the problems of cosmical 
astronomy. 

A very interesting account of the Geodetic Sur- 
vey of South Africa is supplemented by an 
appendix by Dr. Wilhelm Bahn (translated from 
the Beitrige zu Geophysik) on the South African 
are of meridian. Arcs of meridian were measured 
by Lacaille and Maclear, and between 1859 and 
1862 the triangulation of the southern coast of 
Cape Colony was taken in hand. Soon after 
Gill’s appointment, he pointed out to Sir Bartle 
Frere the advantage to be gained by a com- 
prehensive. survey, and recommended a gridiron 
system of chains of principal triangulation ex- 
tending over the Cape Colony, the Orange Free 
State, Natal, and the Transvaal. This work has 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


8 NATURE 


[ JANUARY 15, I914 


been carried out under the direction of Sir William 
Morris in the field, with Sir David Gill as scien- 
tific adviser, who kept constantly in view the 
service to geodesy which would be derived from 
the measurement of a large are on the 30th 
meridian of east longitude. This was afterwards 
continued through Rhodesia, and the extreme arc 
measured extends over nearly 22° from 31° 36! S. 
lat. to 9° 41’ S. lat. There are six base-line Setar 
minations along the arc, and sixty determinations 
of astronomical latitude. The measures of the 
South African arc of meridian indicate a some- 
what larger terrestrial spheroid than that of 
Clarke, and are in accordance with the results 
obtained by Hayford in the United States. The 
extension of this arc to join the Egyptian arc, and 
the connection round the eastern end of the 
Mediterranean to join the Russian are measured 
by Struve is of great scientific importance, and, 
as Sir David Gill points out, offers no very 
formidable difficulty if international cooperation 
is secured. 

In this article only portions of the volume have 
been touched upon. Sir David Gill is to be con- 
gratulated on the production of a work the his- 
torical and narrative portions of which are of 
interest to all men of science, while the technical 
portions are of the greatest value to astronomers. 
He may be assured “that others will find guidance 
and inspiration in this history of the Cape Ob- 
servatory, as he himself did in Ren s account 
of Pulkova. . W. Dyson. 


METHODS OF IDENTIFYING 
PICTURES. ° 


SCIENTIFIC 
Gig to the present time the identification oF 
works of art has been entrusted entirely 
to the art expert, who brings to bear upon the 
problem his wide experience and artistic training ; 
and, in addition, it is probable that among those 
engaged in buying and selling pictures, many 
devices kept as trade secrets are useful in 
identifying pictures. While not for a moment 
denying that the final word should lie with the 
trained art expert, it is of interest to see how 
far scientific methods can be brought to bear 
upon this problem. The first step in this direc- 
tion is a careful study of the history of pigments. 
By the examination of ancient documents, such 
as the illuminated manuscripts of the monks, 
Venetian Ducali, and the Coram Rege Rolls, it 
has been possible to plan out the history of 
pigments probably with sufficient accuracy for 
practical purposes, and to fix the dates approxi- 
mately of certain pigments which appear and 
others that disappear from the artist’s palette. 
This method, where applicable, may be regarded 
as infallible, as the presence of a pigment of a 
date more modern than the date at which the pic- 
ture is supposed to be painted proves either 
forgery or repainting , and a careful microscopic 
examination make it quite possible to tell whether 
the picture has been repainted or not. 
This, however, does not settle the authorship 


JANUARY 15, 1914] 


NATURE 559 


of the picture, and there are certain periods in 
the history of art during which for a considerable 
length of time there was no change in the artist’s 
palette. It is necessary, therefore, to bring other 
methods as well to bear upon the problem. One 
of these is the study of mediums used at different 
dates, and in this study sufficient progress has 
been made to prove it of use for dating purposes. 
But, as will be obvious to a chemist, the analytical 
difficulties here are much more serious. 

The microscopic study of pictures by magnify- 
ing under low powers revealed remarkably dis- 
tinctive characters in the artists’ brushwork; and 
the more pictures examined, the more valuable 
did the method appear as a trustworthy means of 


and a drawing of lines which are themselves in 
some cases not more than one-tenth of a milli- 
metre in diameter, and yet are put in with perfect 
certainty. The study of foliage is also of special 
interest, as each man’s method of handling foliage 
is characteristic. 

Among the large number of photographs taken 
it is difficult to know which to select as examples 
of the method, but probably those will be of 
most interest which illustrate an actual problem. 
Such a problem is offered by the picture in the 
National Gallery known as ‘The Old Gray 
Hunter,” which is signed ‘‘ Paul Potter,” and has 
been stated by no less authority than Dr. Bredius 
to have been painted by Verbeecq, a contemporary 


’ 


Fic. 1.—Brushwork of the head of a cow in an undoubted picture by Paul 
Potter in the National Gallery. 


determining the authorship of a picture. There 
are probably certain schools of art to which the 
method does not apply. A great deal of the 
sixteenth-century Italian work, for instance, is 
handled in a very similar way, and it may be 
very difficult to apply this method successfully to 
some of these painters. But there is a wide field 
in which the artist has left his individual mark 
upon his paint, and has so drawn for the future a 
signature which it is impossible to forge. One 
of the most interesting revelations is that many 
of these touches are so fine as to be really beyond 
the limit of unaided sight. For instance, the 
brushwork of Teniers and of Watteau can be 
magnified up to four or five diameters, revealing 
an accuracy of touch and a delicacy of modelling 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


Fic. 2.—Brushwork of the head of the horse in “‘ The Old Grey Hunter,” 
shown by the touch not to be by Verbeecq, and inferior to Paul Potter's 
best work. 

artist. There is another Paul Potter in the 

National Gallery (No. 849), the authenticity of 

which has never been questioned, and which a 

comparison of photomicrographs with photo- 

micrographs of a pedigree Paul Potter in The 

Hague Museum shows to be genuine. 

The first photograph here reproduced (Fig. 1) is 
the head of a cow in this genuine Paul Potter 
for the comparison with the head of the horse 
(Fig. 2) in “The Old Gray Hunter.” It is at 
once obvious that, while there are certain simi- 
larities in the brushwork, the painting of the 
horse’s head is by a very inferior hand to that 
of the painting of the cow. The probability is, 
then, that it is not Paul Potter’s work, although 
this cannot be considered as absolutely proved. 


560 


NATURE 


[JANUARY I5, I914 


The method of photomicrography has been 
applied to the examination of pictures by other 
One example examined was in a private 


artists. 


Fic. 3,—Brushwork of the head of an old man, Sateen a picture in ‘the 
National Gallery known to be by Teniers. 


collection, and it had every appearance of being 
by Teniers. Curiously enough, there appeared in 
it an old man who is to be seen in more than one 


Fic. 4.— Head from a picture des: ribed in a private coilection as by Teniers 
but shown by the brushwork not to possess Teniers’s touch. 


of Teniers’s genuine works. The picture, there- 

fore, had come from Teniers’s studio, as the same 

model was to be found in it, or it was a copy and 
NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


a forgery. The two photographs reproduced in 
Figs. 3 and 4 show the oldyman as painted by 
Teniers i in the well- known picture in the National 
Gallery of Teniers’s ‘Chateau,’ and the face 
painted in the private picture. The difference of 
brushwork in the modelling of the face is at once 
apparent, while the careless painting oi the beard, 


when compared with Teniers’s, is clearly 
revealed. A. P. Laurig. 
AMERICAN AND GERMAN  INVESTIGA- 


TIONS ON SOIL FERTILITY.1 


HERE is always a refreshing novelty about 
the publications of the American Bureau of 
Soils that makes an irresistible appeal to the 
student of agricultural science on this side of the 
water. We may not always agree with the con- 
clusions reached, and we may sometimes think 
that the facts might be interpreted otherwise, but 
we cannot deny the ingenuity and freshness of the 
work done. 

Of all difficult problems connected with the soil, 
few are more promising than the investigation 
of the remarkable carbon compounds produced 
during the decay of plant residues in the soil, It 
is known in a general way that cellulose and pro- 
tein (two important plant constituents) are broken 
down in the soil to’-ammonia and carbon dioxide, 
but the intermediate products have scarcely been 
investigated in spite of the great biochemical in- 
terest of the process. Dr. Schreiner and his col- 
leagues have recently attempted the problem, and 
their results are set out in a series of bulletins 
issued from the bureau. 

Examination of the soil has shown that numer- 
ous nitrogen compounds can be obtained from it 
as the result of applying certain methods of ex- 
traction; among them are hypoxanthine, xan- 
thine, guanine, ‘adenine, cytosine, as well as the 
split-products of the proteins. There can be little 
doubt that these arise from the decomposition of 
decaying plant residues and other substances 
added as manure. The fact of their existence 
in the soil is of considerable interest, but it is still 
more interesting to inquire whether they serve 
any useful purpose in relation to plant growth. 
The current view is that they decompose to form 
nitrates, which are then absorbed by the plant, 
and built up once more into complex proteins, 
nucleoproteins, &c. Messrs. Schreiner and Skinner 
suggest that some of them at any rate are ab- 
sorbed as such, and utilised direct for the forma- 
tion of protein. One is accustomed to this view 
in animal physiology, but hitherto it has not been 
commonly held among plant physiologists. Ex- 
periments are here described, showing that 
histidine, creatinine, and asparagine caused in- 
creases in green weight in wheat, even when a 


1 ** Nitrogenous Soil Constituents and their bearing on Soil Fertility.” By 
Oswald Schreiner and J. J. Skinner. U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Bureau of Soils, Bull. No. 87. 

“Occurrence and Nature of Carbonised ser tt in Soils.” By O. 
Schreiner and B. E. Brown. Jé/d. Bull. No. 9 

“Studies in Soil Catalysis.” By M. X. ivan and F. R. Reid. 
Iéid. Bull. No. 86. 

‘*Pflanzenwachstum und Kalkmangel im Boden.” By A. Wieler. 
(Borntriiger, Berlin). Price 14 marks. 


JANUARY I5, 1914] 


culture solution was present, and that a mixture 
of the three constituents gave better results than 
either separately:. Maximum results were obtained 
when 150 parts of the substance per million were 
present. Evidence is presented to show that the 
organic compounds are absorbed as such by the 
plant, and are not decomposed to form ammonia, 
nitrites or nitrates in the solution. 

The development of this new view will be 
watched with interest, not only by plant physio- 
logists, but by soil students as well. 

In another bulletin Messrs. Schreiner and Brown 
investigate the black soil material insoluble in 
alkalis, and find lignite particles, coal particles, 
and other materials, some of which suggests inter- 
mediate stages of formation. The coal-like 
material seemed to be present in every soil, and 
is considered to be formed during the decomposi- 
tion of the organic matter. If this turns out to be 
the case it will add one more to the remarkable 
reactions going on in the soil. 

Messrs. Sullivan and Reid have investigated the 
power of soils to decompose hydrogen peroxide, 
and they suggest that this catalytic power is due 
not to an enzyme, but to the inorganic and 
organic matter in the soil. The subject is of 
some interest because it is important to study the 
conditions under which the reactions go on in the 
soil. 

An entirely different problem is attacked by 
Prof. A. Wieler in his monograph on the effect 
on plant growth of removing calcium carbonate 
from the soil, especially when this removal is 
brought about by smoke. This is a continuation 
of the author’s earlier work on the effect of 
sulphur dioxide on plants, which led him to con- 
clude that the injurious result was due not-only 
to an action on the leaf, but to one on the soil. 
The Claustal (the region investigated by the 
author) has, like parts of our own Lancashire, 
lost its trees, and the author concludes that this 
has come about because the soil has become too 
depleted of lime for tree growth to be possible. 
This thesis is developed at considerable length, 
and a section is added on the injurious effect of 
metallic salts on plant growth. 


NOTES. 


Tue council of the Royal Geographical Society has 
made a grant of roool. towards the expenses of Sir 
Ernest Shackleton’s Transantarctic expedition. Mr. 
Rudyard Kipling is to lecture before the society on 
February 17 upon ‘‘Some Aspects of Travel.” 


Tue Geological Society of London will this year 
award its medals and funds as follows :—Wollaston 
medal, Dr. J. E. Marr, F.R.S.; Murchison medal, 
W. A. E. Ussher; Lyell medal, C. S. Middlemiss; 
Wollaston fund, R. B. Newton; Murchison fund, 
FF. N. Haward; Lyell fund, Rev. W. Howchin and J. 
Postlethwaite. 


Aw Institution of Petroleum Technologists has been 
formed, with Sir Boverton Redwood, Bart., as presi- 
dent. Dr. D. T. Day, of the United States Geological 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


NATURE . 


561 


Survey, and Prof. C. Engler have been elected 
honorary members of the institution. Form of appli- 
cation for mebership may be obtained from the secre- 
taries, 17 Gracechurch Street, E.C. 


Tue council of the Royal Anthropological Institute 
has made arrangements for an address by Prof. Bald- 
win Spencer, C.M.G., F.R.S., on the life of the Aus- 


tralian tribesmen, to be given in the theatre of the 


Civil Service Commission, Burlington Gardens, W., on 
Tuesday, January 27, at 8 p.m. The address will be 
illustrated by means of kinematograph films and 
phonograph records. 


On Tuesday next, January 20, Prof. W. Bateson 
will deliver the first of a course of six lectures at the 
Royal Institution on animals and plants under domes- 
tication, and on Thursday, January Mr. W. 
McDougall will begin a course of two lectures on the 
mind of savage men. The Friday evening discourse 
on January 23 will be delivered by Sir James Dewar 
on the coming-of-age of the vacuum flask. 


22 


22, 


Tue volcanic Mount Sakurashima, which forms an 
island situated at the head of Kagoshima Bay, south 
of Kiushiu, after being dormant for a century and a 
quarter, burst into eruption on Monday, destroying 
the villages on the island and affecting the ancient 
city of Kagoshima on the mainland a few miles away. 
It is reported that from Sunday morning to Monday 
more than two hundred shocks were felt in Kago- 
shima. When the eruption began, enormous columns 
of illuminated dust and vapour burst out from the 
sides of the volcano, and soon enveloped the whole 
island of Sakurashima. Forty minutes later an 
eruption began from the summit. The heat from the 
voleano was intense, and could be felt in Kagoshima. 
The city of Nagasaki, a hundred miles from Sakura- 
shima, has been covered with a fine deposit of volcanic 
ash. 


Tue death is reported, in his eighty-fourth year, of 
Mr. John Phin, the author of many popular scientific 
text-books, and a former editor of several New York 
papers, including The Manufacturer and Builder, The 
Technologist, and The American Journal of Micro- 
scopy. He was born in Melrose, Scotland, and was 
educated at the parish school, and the Musselburgh 
Academy, subsequently studying civil engineering in 
Edinburgh. He went to the United States in 1851, 
and afterward became professor’ of chemistry and 
technology in the People’s College,. Havana, N.Y., 
and professor of agriculture in the’ Pennsylvania Agri- 
cultural College. In addition to his scientific interests, 
he was a devoted Shakespeare student, and compiled 
a Shakespeare cyclopzedia and glossary. 


Mr. GrirFitH Tayior, in a paper read before the 
Royal Geographical Society on Monday last, described 
at length the topographical and geological features of 
the Australian federal territory, which forms an enclave 
in New South Wales. It is an area of considerable 
physiographical interest, and though only of some 
goo square miles’ area, ‘participates (with the sur- 
rounding country) in four well-marked divisions, 
namely the Lake George plains, an undissected country 
of recent surface-form, the Murrumbidgee scarp and 


562 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 15, I914 


Cullarin scarp, with “ youthful” features, the Gourock 
highlands, &c., with their mature valleys and rounded 
ridges, and the Canberra plains, in a ‘‘more mature 
stage of erosion.” Mr. Taylor dealt not only with 
the geography but briefly with the political considera- 
tions which dictated the choice of the site. It for- 
tunately happens that political and geographical con- 
siderations coincide, for Mr. Taylor showed how the 
federal territory is situated on ‘‘a line joining the 
centre of population with the nearest good port,” 
namely Jervis Bay, where the seaport of the new city 
will be situated. Mr. Taylor described the physical 
environment of the territory, and incidentally men- 
tioned conditions affecting south-eastern Australia as 
a whole; he drew an effective comparison between this 
country and the United States of America, having 
regard to the points in the history of their settlement 
and development which each has reached. 


Durinc the Christmas holidays the Lawes and 
Gilbert Centenary Fund Committee ceased work so as 
not to interfere with the ordinary Christmas appeals; 
it has now begun work again to collect the last 
160ol, needed to complete the scheme. The object of 
the centenary fund is to build and equip a satisfactory 
laboratory for the prosecution of researches in agri- 
cultural chemistry, a subject largely founded on the 
experiments of Lawes, who was born just 100 years 
ago, and of Gilbert, who was born three years later. 
These investigators founded the Rothamsted Experi- 
mental Station, the oldest, and for many years the 
best-equipped agricultural experiment station in the 
world. Rothamsted has maintained its high position 
in respect of its staff and its field plots, but it has 
fallen behind in laboratory accommodation, and a 
serious effort is now being made to remedy this defect. 
The committee has ascertained that a satisfactory 
laboratory can be erected and equipped for 12,000l., 
and it has decided to collect the money, and to put 
up the laboratory this year in commemoration of the 
centenary of the birth of the founders. Its efforts 
have been so far successful that only 16001. is now 
required; and an urgent appeal is addressed to all 
interested in agricultural science to aid the committee 
in closing the list so that the work can be put in hand 
at an early date. Subscriptions should be sent to the 
secretary, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpen- 
dent, Herts. 

Sir Hersert MAXWELL, in a letter to The Times 
of December 10, throws doubt upon a cherished belief 
of fly-fishermen. Great care is taken by salmon- 
fishers in the selection of their flies, which are formed 
by tackle-makers with rare and bright feathers sup- 
posed to be particularly attractive to the fish. As a 
fisherman with more than fifty years’ experience of 
the habits of salmon in many rivers, and as an 
observant naturalist, Sir Herbert states that he has 
failed to detect the slightest preference on the part of 
salmon for one pattern of fly over another. He adds: 
“IT should be perfectly willing, during the few angling 
seasons which may remain to me, to use no flies 
except those composed of the feathers of native game 
birds or barndoor fowls, dyed or undyed, with silk 
and tinsel to smarten them up to human, if not to 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


piscine, taste.’ It has been stated that a large number 
of beautiful birds are sacrificed every year to the 
demands of fishermen for brilliantly coloured artificial 
flies. The demand is based upon the assumption that 
a salmon is capable of discerning details of form and 
colour in a small object passing between its eye and 
the high light; although a human eye, in a. similar 
relative position, could perceive nothing but a dark 
silhouette. According to Sir Herbert’s observations, 
the colour and material of the lures used are of little 
consequence; and if this be the case, the destruction 
of numerous brightly plumaged birds in order to pro- 
vide feathers for artificial flies is not only useless, but 
also a waste of beauty. 4 


COMMENDATORE Boni has made another notable dis- 
covery in the course of his excavations on the Palatine 
Hill at Rome. He has found the famous mundus, or 
pit, leading to the infernal regions, sacred to Dis and 
Proserpine. This was covered by the lapis manalis, 
a square, rough-hewn slab of tufa pierced by two 
round holes. It was the innermost shrine, the most 
holy centre of the Roman religion, consecrated to the 
ancient mysteries, whence germinated and spread forth 
the fundamental energies of the Roman people. The 
later Romans had lost the site of this sacred spot, 
and the Emperor Augustus, in his desire to re- 
establish the ancient usages, searched for it in vain. 
A shaft, filled with débris, discovered in the course of 
recent digging, may well represent the exploration by 
Augustus. 


A jourNaL dealing with Egyptian antiquities has 
long been needed. We are glad to welcome the 
appearance of a new quarterly magazine, having the 
title, Ancient Egypt, which, under the editorship of 
Prof. Flinders Petrie, promises to supply the want. 
The first issue is well printed and illustrated, con- 
tains much interesting matter, and is procurable at 
the modest cost of 7s. per annum. Prof, Petrie notices 
an interesting fact about early glass manufacture. 
Sir Gardner Wilkinson (‘‘Manners and Customs,” 
ed. 1878, Fig. 380) published a drawing supposed to 
represent men blowing glass bulbs on the end of rods. 
But though examples of early glass, especially about 
1500-1400 B.C., are abundant, not a single piece of 
blown glass can be dated before Roman times. The 
men are really using reed blowpipes for a jeweller’s 
furnace, and as these blowpipes would soon be burnt 
at the end, a lump of mud was put on as a nozzle to 
the pipe. The new journal is published by Messrs. 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd. 


Ir will be remembered that the eighteenth Inter- 
national Congress of Americanists was held in London 
during May, 1912. Two articles appeared in NATURE 
dealing with the congress; one on April 18, 1912 
(vol. Ixxxix., p. 169), gave the outstanding items of the 
programme, and the other on June 6, 1912 (vol. Ixxix., 
P. 379), Summarised the proceedings. The editorial 
committee has now issued in two volumes running to 
570 quarto pages (London: Harrison and Sons, 21. 2s. 
net) the full proceedings of the session. Full lists 
are included of the names of the officers, organising 
committee, delegates, members, and associates. The 


; 
} 


JANUARY 15, 1914] 


NATURE 


563 


presidential address of Sir Clements Markham and the 
papers read in the various sections are given in full, 
and many of the latter are handsomely and profusely 
illustrated. The success of the congress must be very 
gratifying to Sir Clements Markham, Dr. A. C. 
Haddon, and Mr. A. P. Maudslay, to whom the 
organisation and arrangements were entrusted. 


In the number of Biometrika issued in October, 
1913, Dr. H. S. Stannus describes cases of albinism 
or deficiency of pigment in natives of Nyasaland. He 
classifies them into several groups, ranging from com- 
plete albinism to a condition in which the skin is 
light brown, the hair yellow, and the irides hazel, 
and also separates off three distinct groups of pie- 
balds and “spotlings.’”’ He also describes cases of 
pathological leucoderma, and discusses its relation 
with albinism. The descriptions indicate that there 
is considerable grading between the different classes ; 
the examples classed as complete albinos have some 
pigment in the fundus and iris, and there seems to 
be no sharp line of distinction between these and cases 
with pigment in the skin. The more extreme cases 
are often associated with bad .teeth. The short pedi- 
grees given show no instance of direct transmission 
from parent to child, but several of more than one 
case in a family. 

In The Field of December 13, 1913, Mr. Lydekker 
adduces evidence to show that the Circassian goat 
may be a domesticated derivative from the markhor 
(Capra falconeri), which it resembles in the direction 
of its horn-spirals, and thereby differs from other 
domesticated goats—the offspring of the wild C. hircus 
aegagrus. 


In the Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum, 
vol. xlv., pp. 651-57, Dr. F. W. True describes a new 
species of beaked whale from the Californian coast, 
under the name of Mesoplodon mirum, a preliminary 
diagnosis having been given in an earlier note. ‘The 
species is related to Sowerby’s beaked whale (M. 
bidens), and also to M. europaeus, from the latter 
of which it differed by the form of the beak and of 
certain other elements of the skull. 


THE new generic and specific name, Leurospondylus 


~ ullimus is proposed by Mr. Barnum Brown (Bull. 


Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. xxxii., pp. 605-15) for a 
plesiosaurian from the Upper Cretaceous Edmonton 
beds of Alberta, Canada, which is of special interest 
on account of being the latest member of its order at 
present known. It was a relatively small species, the 
vertebral column measuring about 7 ft., and related 
to Elasmosaurus, among its distinctive features being 
the medium length of the neck, the shortness and 
width of the centre of the vertebra, and the single- 
headed ribs. 


In an article on the inheritance of left-handedness 
in the American Naturalist for December, 1913, Prof. 
F. Ramaley points out that the peculiarity, in its true 
form (i.e. when not acquired), seems to be connected 
with an unusually high development of the right 
cerebral hemisphere. As the result of the record of 
1740 cases, of which 610 were parents, it is concluded 
that as regards inheritance, left-handedness is a 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


Mendelian recessive. Out of 305 families there were 
only two in which both parents were left-handed, and 
in one of these one of the three children was right- 
handed, whereas if the inheritance were recessive all 
should have been left-handed. A possible explanation 
of the anomaly is that one of the parents was naturally 
cight-handed. 


To the large number of extinct bisons from the 
superficial formations of North America already de- 
scribed as distinct species, Dr. O. P. Hay, in a paper 
published in the Proceedings of the U.S. National 
Museum, vol. xlvi, pp. 161-200, adds a new one, 
under the name of Bison regius. It is typified by a 
skull discovered in 1902 near Hoxie, Sheridan County, 
Kansas, and appears to be nearly related to B. lati- 
frons, of Ohio, from which it differs by the greater 
lengths slenderness, and curvature of the horns, and 
also by the folding of the enamel of the central pits 
in the crowns of the upper molars. The latter feature 
is the one on which the author chiefly relies in dis- 
tinguishing the new species from B. latifrons, as the 
difference in the horn-cores might be merely sexual. The 
paper, which is illustrated by eleven plates, also contains 
a synopsis of all the other species, with a “key” to 
their distinctive features. In a second paper the same 
author (op. cit., pp. 267-77) recognises seven species 
of the North American Pleistocene genus Camelops, 
and at the same time discusses the characters distin- 
guishing this genus from the existing Lama 
(Auchenia), with which it has been regarded by some 
writers as identical Among the more important 
differences are the absence of a vertical ridge at the 
antero-external angles of the last two lower molars 
of Camelops, the longer and narrower skull, the more 
elongated grinding surfaces of the upper molars, the 
more procumbent lower incisors, and the narrower 
upper portion of the nasal bones of the skull. 


WE have received a reprint of a paper from The 
Salmon and Trout Magazine, July, 1913, by Mr. J. 
Arthur Hutton, on Wye salmon (results of scale read- 
ing, 1908 to 1912), in which the author gives numerous 
statistics of the length, girth, weight, &c., of a con- 
siderable number of salmon caught each year, together 
with some information as to age and spawning, as 
shown by examination of the scales of the fish. Work 
of this character is most valuable from the point of 
view of the study of the life-history of the fish, and 
it would lead to a considerable increase of our scien- 
tific knowledge of the salmon if fishermen would 
make similar observations on the fish of other British 
rivers. One of the most interesting results brought out 
by Mr. Hutton’s figures is that the proportion of 
girth to length of Wye salmon, which may be re- 
garded as a measure of the condition of the fish, is 
highest (0-523) in fish netted at the mouth of the river, 
whilst it gradually decreases in fish taken in the 
higher waters, until it sinks to 0-497 in those salmon 
caught above Builth, which is 115 miles from the 
sea. 


Miss Doris Mackinnon contributes to the Quarterly 
Journal of Microscopical Science (vol. lix., part 3) some 
interesting notes on certain flagellate Protozoa found 


564 


in the intestine of the common leather-jacket, or 
larval crane-fly. It appears that no fewer than eight 
kinds of flagellates and two amcebe are found in this 
situation, feeding upon a rich bacterial flora. The 
author suggests that the term ‘“parasite’’ is scarcely 
applicable to such organisms, which appear to fulfil 
a useful function in keeping down the bacteria, and 
points out that the richest intestinal fauna was gener- 
ally found in the largest and healthiest looking grubs. 
She believes that totally different species of animals, 
when they frequent the same feeding grounds, may 
serve as hosts to the same species of protozoan para- 
sites. The beautiful form known as Rhizomastix 
gracilis was described by Alexeieff in 1912 from the 
Axolotl, and Miss Mackinnon now records and figures 
it from the crane-fly larva, filling in certain particulars 
as to its life-cycle. A new subgenus and species, 
Tetratrichomastix parisii, is proposed for another 
flagellate from the same host, the subgeneric name 
being chosen on analogy with Tetratrichomonas. It 
is true that Tetratrichomonas possesses an undulating 
membrane which may represent a fifth flagellum, but 
the fact that five separate flagella are actually present 
in the new subgenus makes the proposed name dis- 
tinctly misleading. 


Tue rust-fungi (Uredinez) of Nova Scotia are dealt 
with in detail by W. P. Fraser in vol. xii., part 4, 
of the Proceedings of the Nova Scotian Institute of 
Science. The author gives an excellent introductory 
account of the structure and life-history of the group, 
followed by detailed descriptions of the ninety-two 
species known from Nova Scotia, including several 
not hitherto found in any other part of North America. 
In the descriptions the terminology proposed by 
Arthur in his well-known work on North American 
Uredinez is followed, though it is doubtful whether 
botanists in general will perceive any special advan- 
tage in the new terms adopted for the various pore- 
forms in place of those which have become familiar 
by long usage. 


A VALUABLE contribution to our knowledge of soil 
gases and the complex conditions surrounding the 
growth of crops in swamp rice soils has been made 
in the Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in 
India, vol. iii., No. 3, chemical series, by Mr. W. H. 
Harrison and Subramania Aiyer. The results obtained 
show that the normal fermentation of green manure 
in swamp paddy soils leads to the production of a 
relatively large quantity of methane, a smaller amount 
of nitrogen, together with some carbon dioxide and 
hydrogen. This in itself is not surprising when one 
considers the anaerobic conditions obtaining in the 
flooded soil, but it has been further observed that the 
introduction of a crop greatly modifies the composition 
of the soil gases, either by directly retarding the rate 
of fermentation and restricting the formation of 
methane and hydrogen, or by a portion of the inter- 
mediate products of decomposition being removed out 
of action by absorption by the roots. The latter has 
been experimentally demonstrated in various recent 
investigations, and the nutrition of paddy rice would 
appear to consist in the assimilation of nitrogen either 


in the form of ammonia or of organic compounds pro- | 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 15, I9I14 


duced by the decomposition of the proteids of the 


green manure, since nitrification is impossible under — 


the anaerobic conditions that obtain in these soils. 


TuoseE who desire to keep pace with modern views 


on  crust-displacements and mountain-structure, 
whether as an aid to geographical or geological 
studies, will find a well-illustrated summary in Otto 
Wilckens’s ‘‘Grundziige der tektonischen Geologie” 
(Jena: G. Fischer; price 3.50 marks), which covers 
matters that are not to be found in every text-book. 


Tue Government Printing Office at Kingston, 
Jamaica, has issued a coloured geological map of 
Jamaica, which may be found generally useful, on 
the scale of one inch to twenty miles. It is published 
separately as Publication No. 420, with an explanation 
by Maxwell Hall, but might be overlooked by geo- 
logists, since it officially forms part of the memoir on 
“The Rainfall of Jamaica from about 1870 to end 
of 1909.”’ 


Tue Cotteswold Naturalists’ Field Club maintains 
its reputation for original publication in its eighteenth 
volume (1913). L. Richardson and C. Upton deseribe 
new species of brachiopods from the Inferior Oolite, 
and the former author, with E. T. Paris, publishes 
a supplement to previous work on the echinoids from 
the same formation. The photographs of important 
species are in both cases admirable. The country 
where William Smith found such welcoming friends 
as Benjamin Richardson and Joseph Townsend will 
never forget the principles of stratigraphical geology. 


“A BrsriocrapHy of Russian Ethnographical 
Literature’ forms vol. xl., No. 1, of the Zapiski of 
the ethnographical section of the Russian Geograph- 
ical Society. It covers the years 1700 to 1910, and is 
compiled by M. D. K. Zelenin on behalf of the Com- 
mission for the Construction of an Ethnographical 
Map of Russia. 


Pror. Kuznersor, whose historical sketch of the 
flora of Daghestan has already been referred. to in 
these pages (vol. Ixxxvili., p. 600), gives an account 
of his investigations and results in the Izvestiya of the 
Russian Geographical Society, Nos. i.-iii., 1913. At 
the end of the number is a map showing the distri- 
bution of the most distinctive forms, and a full list, 
compiled by M. P. P. Popof, of the plants collected. 


Tue narrative of M. Zhitkof, who explored the 
Yamal Peninsuia, in 1908, is published in the Zapiski 
of the Russian Geographical Society, vol. xlix. The 
name Yamal, meaning “end of the earth,” in_the 
Samoyed language, is more correct than the usual 
Yalmal, which signifies ‘‘mouth of the river’? (Ob). 
The country is low, especially in the north, where 
it slopes down to the Malygin strait, and the water- 
shed is there inconspicuous. In the south it is more 
marked, rising at the Yarro-to lakes to 300 ft. above 
sea-level. The eastern and western coasts often rise 
in steep cliffs of clay and sand. Lakes and basins 
partially filled up are numerous in the central part. 
The work includes chapters on the fauna and flora, 
the Samoyeds and reindeer grazing. M. Rudovits 
contributes a report on the meteorological observa- 


a 


Ee ee 


_ determinations. 
trations, a map of the peninsula, and one of the lakes 


JANUARY 15, 1914] 


NATURE 


tions, and General Shokalski on the hypsometrical | 2 francs), and No. 6 ‘L’additivité des propriétés 


The volume contains numerous illus- 


Noi-to and Yambu-to, from a survey by Captain 
Vvedenski. 


IN the last annual report of the Meteorological 
Committee it was stated that, at the request of H.M. 
Treasury, the committee had entered into negotiations 
with the Scottish Meteorological Society with the 
object of placing the finances of the latter upon a 
satisfactory footing as regards the supply of informa- 
tion to the public generally, and of securing a closer 
cooperation with the Meteorological Office in respect 
of climatological stations in Scotland. The Journal of 
the society (vol. xvi.), and the last report of the coun- 


cil to the general meeting of the society, show that 


the financial position of the latter had long caused 
great anxiety, the only additions to its ordinary in- 
come (derived chiefly from decreasing voluntary 
sources), being small annual payments for observations 
by the Registrar-General (Scotland) and the Meteoro- 
logical Committee. A strongly supported appeal to 


the Treasury ultimately resulted in the action above | 


referred to, and we are glad to find that the delibera- 
tions between the various authorities interested have 
been crowned with success. The amount hitherto 
paid by the Meteorological Committee is very mate- 
rially increased (from April 1, 1913), and _ that 
paid by the Registrar-General will be continued. A 
Meteorological Office has been established in Edin- 
burgh, the organisation of the supply of information 
on the lines above-mentioned has been secured, and 
the arrangements are considered to be ‘“‘in the best 
interests of meteorology and of the society.” The 
public funds will be administered by a representative 
committee (including several members of the society), 
with Dr. W. N. Shaw as chairman. 


A CAREFUL examination of the effects of temperature 
on the physical properties of a number of minerals 
has been undertaken by the geophysical laboratory of 
the Bureau of Standards. The first communication 
dealing with the results obtained, appears in the 
Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences for 
December 4, and is devoted to the measurements of 
the change in the crystal angles of quartz made by 


Mr. F. E. Wright at temperatures between 0° C. and’ 


1250° C., with a special two-circle goniometer con- 
structed for the laboratory. The author finds that 
the polar angle for the unit rhombohedron (1011) 
decreases from 51° 47-5’ at 0° C. to 51° 37’ at 575° C., 
the quartz then changes from the « to the B form, 
and the angle becomes 51° 35’ and remains constant 
up to 1250° C. The agreement between these observa- 
tions and those of Randall on the expansion of quartz, 
those of Sosman on its specific volume, and the 
tabulated values of its birefringence is very close over 
the range 0° C. to 550° C. 


We have received copies of Nos. 5 and 6 of the 
Publications de la Société de Chimie-Physique, issued 
by the Librairie Scientifique A. Hermann et Fils, 
Paris. No. 5 is entitled ‘‘L’Etude physico-chimique 
des sels chromiques,” by M. A. Sénéchal (pp. 28, price 

NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


diamagnetiques et son utilisation dans la recherche 
des constitutions,’ by M, P:.ul Pascal (pp. 26, price 
1 franc). These form part of the useful series of 
monographs issued by the society, and were originally 
delivered as lectures before the members. 


In the Sitsungsberichte of the Imperial Academy of 
Sciences, Vienna (vol. cxxii., class ii. b, p. 75), Messrs. 
V. Rothmund and A. Burgstaller describe a method 
for the estimation of ozone and hydrogen peroxide in 
presence of each other, for which purpose no accurate 
method is yet known. Advantage is taken of 
the fact that, by the addition of a trace of 
molybdic acid, it becomes possible accurately to deter- 
mine hydrogen peroxide iodometrically. Difficulties 
are encountered in estimating ozone directly in a 
similar manner, but by adding potassium bromide 
under certain defined conditions, and subsequently 
potassium iodide, iodine is liberated quantitatively, 
and the two methods can be combined so as accurately 
to estimate both substances. 


Tue presidential address delivered to the American 
Chemical Society at Rochester, N.Y., by Mr. A. D. 
Little, is reprinted in Science (vol. xxxviii., No. 984), 
under the title, ‘‘ Industrial Research in America.” 
Mr. Little points out that although Germany has 
long been regarded as pre-eminently the country of 
organised research, a new competitor is arising in the 
United States, ‘‘that prodigal among nations, still 
justly stigmatised as the most wasteful, careless, and 
improvident of them all.’’ Within the last few years 
enormous funds have been allotted to the organisation 
of research in a large number of the principal indus- 
trial concerns of the United States, and a very striking 
account is given of some of the most important 
achievements of this new system. ‘Research has 
firmly established itself among the foundation-stones 
of our industrial system, and the question is no longer 
‘What will become of the chemists?’ It is now, 
‘What will become of the manufacturers without 
them?’” There are in the United States at least fifty 
notable laboratories engaged in industrial research for 
private companies, in several of which the expendi- 
ture is more than 300,000 dollars a year. An interest- 
ing summary is given of the activities of Govern- 
ment departments, such as the Department of Agri- 
culture, the Bureau of Mines, and the Bureau of 
Standards of the Department of Commerce, which 
alone devotes about 700,000 dollars annually to scien- 
tific work. 


The Engineer for January 9g has an illustrated article 
on the motor ship Fionia, the largest and highest 
powered ship of this kind in service. This vessel is 
the ninth motor ship built by Messrs. Burmeister and 
Wain, of Copenhagen, and is 395 ft. long, with a 
dead-weight capacity of 7ooo tons. She is propelled 
by two sets of Diesel engines, having a combined 
horse-power of 4ooo, Each set has six cylinders as 


| compared with eight in earlier ships, and the cylinder 


sizes have been increased from 530 mm. diameter and 
730 mm. stroke to 740 mm. diameter and 1100 mm. 
stroke. -The speed has been reduced from 135 to 100 


566 


revolutions per minute. The Fionia ran her official 
trials in Copenhagen Sound on December 18 with 
uniformly favourable results. 


Aw article in Engineering for January 9 directs 
attention to the waning supply of petroleum. Although 
a continually greater supply of petroleum is being 
placed on the market, this increased output is secured 
only by sinking more wells and boring to a greater 
depth, showing that the surface supply is becoming 
exhausted. At the beginning of this century the wells 
touched rroo ft., and to-day the average level of the 
oil may be placed at 2000 ft.—an ominously rapid 
rate of sinking. Dissatisfaction with existing methods 
and acute appreciation of the necessity for increased 
effort to keep up the yield have induced the United 
States Bureau of Mines to issue a warning, and to 
suggest improved methods of working. It cannot but 
be regarded as a happy augury that the authorities are 
alive to the extent of the drain made on the stores of 
oil, and of the necessity of husbanding the resources 
of the future. America, by reckless expenditure of her 
resources, has increased her annual output to 200 
million barrels, yet the demand for oil for special 
purposes has become so great that the rise in price is 
considerable—so great, indeed, that competition with 
coal for ordinary purposes has become impossible. 
The entire production of petroleum from all sources 
is only about one-fifth of the coal produced in England 
alone, and already schemes are on foot for obtaining 
a motor fuel from other sources. 


Tue issue of ‘‘ Willing’s Press: Guide” for 1914 is 
the forty-first to appear. The first 297 pages are 
devoted to an alphabetical list of newspapers and 
periodicals. Among other useful contents may be 
mentioned the classified list of the periodical Press of 
the United Kingdom according to the interest or 
subject dealt with, and the lists of metropolitan news- 
papers, the provincial Press, and American news- 
papers. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Comet 1913f (DeLavan).—This comet is gradually 
creeping up in north declination and getting brighter. 
The following is an ephemeris for intervals of four 
days :— 

Berlin Midnight. 


R.A. Dec. 

he tn ee 5 f 

Jan. 12 2 RSrAG wl toa 2 
16 2 SARSo) ew nO 136 

20 257230) +0 59 

24 3.23 +2 43 

28 3 5 40 +4 36 


Tue CrossLtey REFLECTOR AND NEBUL22.—Mr. Heber 
D. Curtis contributes to the Lick Observatory Bulle- 
tin, No. 248, a second list of nebulz and clusters 
photographed with the Crossley reflector, being a con- 
tinuation of that which appeared in Bulletin No. 219. 
It comprises photographs secured between September 
26, 1912, and November 1, 1913. The exposures were 
practically all of two hours’ duration, but the author 
states that longer exposures and counts limited to a 
radius of 15’ from the optical axis might easily show 
larger number of nebula per square degree. The 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 15, I914 


present list comprises descriptions of 109 nebulz and 
clusters, and many uncatalogued nebula which pre- 
sent features of interest are included. The list is 
striking in that on some plates such a large number 
of nebula was photographed. Thus under N.G.C. 20 
it is stated that there are forty-one nebule on this 
plate; under N.G.C. 68 eighty-seven were counted in 
an area of 45’x55'; on other plates we find 30, 31, 37, 
31, 36, 28, 47, 69, 28, 17, nebulz recorded. 


Garactic Coorprinates.—The South African Journal 
of Science for November last (vol. x., No. 3) contains 
a communication from Mr. R. T. A. Innes, advocat- 
ing the use of galactic coordinates for star positions. 
The adoption of fixed instead of moving coordinates 
is an object much to be desired, and it woufd eliminate 
a great amount of labour if such a system could be 
adopted. Regarding the adoption of the galactic 
plane as a point of departure for measurement the 
galaxy is so irregular that estimates of the great circle 
which most truly represents it do not agree among 
themselves. Mr. Innes thinks, however, that such 
criticism is superficial. Mr. Crommelin (Knowledge, 
january) points out that both the galactic circle and 
the suggested starting point, the longitude of the sun’s 
apex, are arbitrary, and that ‘it would be ex- 
ceedingly difficult to get the astronomers of all nations 
to agree on points of this kind.” Further, he suggests 
that it is likely that for a long time to come meridian 
instruments will be the chief means of obtaining the 
places of at least the brighter stars, so that the 
R.A.’s and declinations will still have to be found. 
Mr. Innes’s paper is nevertheless an interesting and 
suggestive contribution. 


Tue Arc Spectrum oF IJron.—Lick Observatory 
Bulletin, No. 247, is devoted to an investigation on the 
arc spectrum of iron carried out by Mr. Keivin Burns 
at the Physical Institute at Bonn at the suggestion 
of Prof. Kayser. The object was to measure with 
reasonable accuracy all the lines of the are spectrum 
of iron which can be readily photographed. It was 
proposed to measure the stronger lines on four plates 
each and the fainter on two plates. This programme 
has been completed for the region 3206-7800 A, but 
for various reasons shorter and longer wave-lengths 
than the above are excluded. The apparatus used was 
a Rowland concave grating mounted according to 
Abney’s method—that is, the slit is the only movable 
part of the apparatus. The author describes the plates 
used, the standards employed, and the method of 
measurement and reduction, and accompanies his com- 
munications with the long list of wave-lengths derived. 
In comparing his results with those of Goos, he finds 
that the differences, Burns minus Goos, are usually 
less than 0-004 A, limiting the comparison to lines 
about equal in intensity to the standards. Other lines, 
he says, do not agree so well. Referring to the Mount 
Wilson measures, he writes :—‘‘My measures are in 
good agreement with the values of St. John and Ware, 
in the case of lines for which these observers find the 
same wave-length on Mount Wilson as in Pasadena. 
In cases where they find a difference between the 
mountain- and sea-level, my measures are in excellent 
agreement with the wave-lengths found on the moun- 
tain, although my observations were made at sea- 
level.” The author again directs attention to the 
systematic differences of wave-lengths or displacements 
with regard to the lines of impurities, a subject 
referred to in this column on August 7 of last year 
(vol xci., p. 592). He here asks the question: ‘‘ Will 
the wave-length of a line in the carbon arc be different 
from the wave-length of the same line at the same 
pressure in the iron arc?"’ The answer may not be so 
easy to give correctly as it appears to be. 


——— 


JANUARY 15, 1914] 


NATURE 


567 


EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCES. 
HE annual Conference of Educational Associations 
just concluded at the University of London was 
a strenuous business spread over eight days. The 
inaugural address by Mr. James Bryce contained a 
plea that the strongest and finest minds should be 
pushed forward. In reference to this key to national 
success, it was noted that the tide runs now towards 
scientific studies just as fifty years ago it ran towards 
humanistic studies, and it was pertinently asked: 
What subjects and what sort of teaching of those 
subjects, are best calculated to train men to think, to 
enable the mind to sce facts as they are, to analyse 
them, to draw just conclusions from them, to rise 
above prejudices, to play freely round the phenomena 
of life? Are mathematics and physics or chemistry 
sufficient for this purpose? The note of caution here 
applied in one direction was also sounded in connection 
with the additional expenditure of public money on 
education, with a single exception, that concerning 

the payment of higher salaries to the teachers. 

This same note of caution was noticeable in many 
of the speeches made both at the London conference 
and at the North of England Education Conference. 
The London paper, by Sir H. G. Fordham, on the 
problem of rural education opened with the reminder 
that so great has been the effect of modern methods 
of locomotion upon the movement of population, 
“there is nothing to be gained by attempting to make 
an educational distinction between the town man and 
the country man.’’ Agriculture, he asserted, can, in 
no circumstances, be usefully introduced as a subject 
of instruction in elementary schools, and can only very 
indirectly be utilised as a subject of instruction in 
secondary schools. 

Sir Robert Baden-Powell dealt with character build- 
ing in schools, and, after asserting that the Scout 
movement had captured the boys, truly laid his moni- 
tory finger on one of the defects of the Scout move- 
ment; it has not captured the teacher. Theoretically, 
the movement is good; how often does it fail because 
the teachers are not scout-masters ? 

Mr. H. Holman warned us that manual teaching 
was not going to transform education, however much 
it would reform it. It was not going to do away 
with reading, writing, and arithmetic, but it would 
deprive them of their usurped and false pre-eminence. 
These subjects would be better taught. 

In the north of England Dr. M. E. Sadler reverted 
to the review of education made by Principal Griffiths 
in his presidential address to the Educational Science 
Section of the British Association. In Dr. Sadler’s 
opinion English education is at the moment torn 
asunder by hesitancy as to ideals. It is puzzled, self- 
critical, harried by doubts. It is frightened of making 
a venture. But there is encouragement in this condi- 
tion; for the hesitation is the outcome, not of palsied 
will-power, but of harrassed fair-mindedness; and 
there are signs that a clear purpose is taking the place 
of this uncertainty. 

Consequently, the Geographical Association can be 
congratulated upon its definite successes. This year 
the association attained its majority, and Dr. Scott 
Keltie has become the president of the association 
thirty years after his issue of the famous report on 
geographical education. Dr. Keltie’s réswmé of thirty 
years’ progress was distinctly exhilarating. Geography 
has a definite place in education, and its sphere of 
labour is by no means circumscribed; the plan is in 
being, and the stately edifice is being erected. 

A definite aim in education emerges from these 
conferences in reference to examinations. On many 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


occasions expression was given to the opinion that 
the written examinations, which Dr. Rouse labelled 
as the fetish of the British people for sixty years, 
required the definite addition of a face-to-face test. 
In connection with the examination of modern 
languages, a rough equivalent of the face-to-face test, 
viz. free composition, was stated to be showing bene- 
ficial results. : 

The meeting of the Private Schools Association in 
London was notable for the severe criticism levelled 
at the Board of Education. The Rev. G. H. Moore 
said that the Board had displayed such despotism that 
at times it might seem to be anxious even to deprive 
the parent of the choice of school for his own children. 
A single inspector’s opinion came with the whole 
weight of the Board behind it. The reputation of a 
teacher could be ruined in an hour by his inability to 
satisfy the standard of the Board’s inspector of the 
moment. ; 

The Montessori system was treated cautiously in 
the north and ambitiously in London. The title of 
the paper read in London is significant, ‘The New 
Hopes Due to Scientific Investigation of the Child’s 
Natural Development.” The London speakers revelled 
in their proclamation of a new scientific method, and, 
therefore, of a new science of experimental psychology. 
The Montessori system was claimed as the applica- 
tion, for the first time in the world’s history, of science 
to the problems of education. The system applies the 
laws of environment which are more powerful than 
the laws of birth; no more than 1 per cent. of young 
children are hopelessly inefficient from birth; on the 
basis of an experience of a few brief years and in 
reference to these young children, it was claimed that 
a class of forty children trained on the Montessori 
system became a class of forty efficient children with- 
out a single backward or stupid scholar. The caution 
which was absent on this occasion from the speeches 
in London must have risen to the minds of the 
teachers present as they heard acclaimed as new those 
methods of pedagogy which most good teachers have 
long practised, e.g. waiting until the pupil is ready 
before giving a lesson on a new subject. Teachers 
know they must so wait ; but owing to the fact that they 
teach classes, they cannot wait for all individuals; 
hence the novelty lies solely in individual instruction. 

In the north stress was laid on the need for caution 
in regard to the Montessori apparatus. There seems 
to be a very real danger in the overbalance of minute, 
isolated sense training, against the minimum of story- 
telling, of play, and happy dancing and singing. In 
relation to the Montessori principle of auto-education, 
of freedom, it was asked with due reason, ‘‘ But should 
not the apparatus give scope, so that it helps him at 
five years old to become aware of his neighbour? 
For this apparatus offers little, if any, scope for neigh- 
bourliness.’’ Similarly, the system demands that the 
child shall not be made aware that he has made a 
mistake. Is it not wise to realise that an intelligent 
failure is more hopeful for the future than an un- 
intelligent success? There is some hope in class- 
teaching after all. 


RHEOSTATS. 


AX example of the great attention given to details 
nowadays in connection with apparatus for the 
laboratory and lecture-room use, and general experi- 
mental work, is afforded by a 104 pp. list which a 
firm of electrical instrument makers (Messrs. Isen- 
thal and Co.) have sent us, devoted entirely to 
rheostats. It is not within the scope of the present 
article to indicate all the various patterns and modifi- 


568 


cations of these, but we may mention that we notice 
among the designs some convenient ‘‘twin'’’ and 
“universal” patterns which enable a large range of 
resistance and accurate regulation to be obtained with 
apparatus of smaller dimensions than a simple rheo- 
stat would have for the same requirements. The 
catalogue contains a diagram of the “ Ruhstrat” 
winding, designed to eliminate, so far as possible, 


Fic, 1 —Ruhstrat 


Fic. 2.—Ordinary 
winding. 


Fic. 3-—Chaperon 
double winding. i 


winding. 


capacity and safe induction. Two wires are wound 
in parallel in opposite directions and symmetrically, 
as shown in Fig. 1, which may be compared with the 
ordinary double winding shown in Fig. 2, and the 
Chaperon winding in Fig. 3. 

The idea used to prevail that practically anything 
would ‘‘do”’ to insert as a resistance for reducing 
the voltage of the supply mains for experimental 
work or various miscellaneous purposes. This has 
resulted in trouble from time to time, and more care 
is now exercised in the selection of suitable pieces of 
apparatus. One form of rheostat, for instance, which 
was at one time extensively used in connection with 
medical applications of electricity, has a particular 
element of danger. It was customary to use a coil of 
very fine wire wound on slate connected as a potentio- 
meter between two supply mains, as shown in Fig. 4; 
an apparently small and easily adjustable difference of 
potential is thus obtained between the points A and 
B, but the danger is 
that if the part of 


+ _ = * 
the rheostat wire be- 
pee EE OVS ae tween these two 
points should burn 


out, the pressure be- 
tween A and B will 
suddenly rise to the 
full 220 volts. 

Another method of 
applying such a 
rheostat is shown in 
Fig. 5 in connection 
with an electric bath. 
The bath, of course, 
is porcelain. The 
main resistance in 
the circuit in this 
case is the lamp B, 
so that the current 
passing through the 
bath can be adjusted 
with considerable accuracy by moving the slider along 
the rheostat, and in ordinary circumstances the poten- 
tial difference between the two electrodes in the bath 
is not high. It must be remembered, however, that 
if the two points A and D are connected across the 
supplv mains, one of these will be at earth potential. 
If this is the point A it is evident that the point D, 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


Fheostat 
WDOOONDOOOODONDD DONO 


To Electrodes or Bath 


Fic. 4. 


NATURE 


. 170X20=3400 watts, or about 43 h.p. 


[JANUARY 15, 1914 


which is directly connected to one of the electrodes, is 
actually at 220 volts potential, and a patient sitting 
in the bath and touching a Water tap would imme- 
diately receive a 220-volt shock. If the connections 
between the rheostat board and the electric lighting 
mains are made through an ordinary two-pin plug, as 
shown in the diagram, it is an even chance whether 
this wrong connection is obtained or not. A similar 
shock could be obtajned, no matter what was the 
polarity of the connections if the lamp were to become 
short circuited. 

For heavy currents proper precautions must also 
be taken in the construction of rheostats. If, say, a 
20-ampere arc lamp for a high-power lantern projector 
is used from a 220-volt main, it necessitates the use 
of a resistance which shall cause a drop of about 
170 volts, i.e. the consumption of power of 
If wire of 
sufficient thickness is not used, this will rise to a 
very high temperature, and, no matter what the 
gauge of the wire, it is clear that if the lamp is used 
for a long period at a time a very large amount of 
heat has to be dissipated. The wiring rules of the 


---+------~---------~-4-220/--------------- 
Rheostat 


Fic. 5. 


Institution of Electrical Engineers, which unfor- 
tunately are not always observed in such cases, limit 
the maximum temperature of the case containing the 
resistance to 176° F.*(80° C.). The rules also specify 
that the resistances must be enclosed in cases of in- 
cembustible material, or protected by wire gauze or 
perforated sheet metal, and fixed so that no unpro- 


| tected combustible material is within 24 in. vertically 


above the case, or within 6 in. in other directions. 
Largely owing to the development of apparatus for 
electric cooking, considerable progress has also been 
made in recent years in the composition of the wire 
itself. For cases in which large currents are em- 


| ployed, wires made of special alloys have been pro- 
| duced which will stand a very high temperature with- 
| out oxidising or becoming brittle. It is true that when 


a constant resistance, practically independent of tem- 
perature, is required, such alloys may not always be 
suitable, but for heavy current work, such as indi- 
cated above, they can naturally be used with consider- 
able advantage. In the mechanical construction of 
resistances, great progress has also been made. 


JANUARY 15, 1914] 


NATURE 


569 


MODERN METHODS OF MEASURING 
' TEMPERATURES.1 


HERE are few manufacturing processes in which 

the question of temperature is not involved, and 

it may be of use to review briefly the methods now 
available for the measurement of temperatures. 

As a result of the work of Guillaume,* Chree,* the 
Physikalische Technische Reichsanstalt, and others, 
the mercury thermometer has become an instrument 
of considerable precision. Hard glasses such as the 
French verre dur and the Jena glasses 1641 and 594i, 
are now used almost universally for making at least 
the bulbs of the best thermometers. In all mercury 
thermometers intended for accurate work the two 
fundamental points (0° and 100° C.) are introduced 
whatever may be the range of the thermometer ; this 
is done by making small enlargements in the capillary. 

Assuming that such a thermometer has _ been 
properly constructed and its corrections determined at 
one of the National Physical Laboratories, it is pos- 
sible to measure temperatures with it to an accuracy 
of ooo1° C., throughout its range. 

For nearly all engineering work an accuracy of 
ooor® C, is not required,‘ and the recent develop- 
ments in mercury thermometers have been in the 
direction of making them easier to read* and more 
robust. The introduction of an inert gas under pres- 
sure above the surface of the mercury in the tube of 
the thermometer raises the temperature at which the 
mercury boils, thus permitting the thermometer to be 
used up to a temperature of 540° C., this limit of 
temperature being due to the softening of the glass 
envelope. 

Thermometers of various kinds have been developed 
in which metal tubes have been substituted for the 
glass envelope, and gases, saturated vapours, or 
liquids for the mercury. Mercury-in-steel instruments 
are proving themselves very practical instruments in 
engineering work. They consist of a steel bulb to 
which a steel capillary tube is attached, the latter 
being connected to a form of Bourdon pressure-gauge. 
The whole system is filled with mercury and hermetic- 
ally sealed. The hand, attached through some simple 
mechanism to the pressure gauge, is arranged to 
point over a dial or to carry a pen which writes on a 
circular sheet of paper rotated by clockwork. The 
recording or indicating mechanism may be placed at 
distances up to 75 ft. from the bulb of the thermo- 
meter. 


| 


Thermo-electric Thermometers. 


Expansion thermometers have a limited range of 
temperature over which they may be employed, and 
some of the other physical properties of materials 
must be used for the determination of high tempera- 
tures. The most valuable for this purpose is the 
property by which a thermo-electric force is set up 
when a junction of two dissimilar metals is heated 
when this heated junction forms part of a closed 
circuit, the magnitude of the current and its direction 
depending on the metals employed. Le Chatelier 
showed that platinum, platinum-rhodium (10 per cent. 
Rh) was the most satisfactory of all thermo-elements, 
and this has been generally adopted as the standard 


1 Abridged from a paper read before the Institution of Mechanical 
Engineers by Robert S. Whipple. 

2 Traité Pratique de la ! hermométrie de Précision, C. E. Guillaume. 

3 Philosophical Magazine, March and April, 1293, C. Chree. 

4 As an mstance when enginerr~ have been keenly in'erested in tempera- 
ture measurement to this degree of accuracy, mention must he made of the 
work of Prof. Barnes, on frazil ice. He has shown that differences in the 
water temp:rature of o’oo1° U. may bring about the formation of frazil ice 
which may throw out of action a complete hydro-electric plant. In his case 
all the measurements were made with resi-tance thermometers. See ‘Ice 
Formation, chap. v., H. T. Barnes. (London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 

5 £.g. the lens-front thermometer invented by Luigi Peroni. 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


couple. Owing to the high price of platinum many 
attempts have been made to find satisfactory thermo- 
couples made of comparatively inexpensive wires. 

The most satisfactory of these so-called “base” 
metal couples is silver-constantan (the latter being 
an alloy wire sold commercially as a resistance mate- 
rial, and consisting of copper 60 per cent., nickel 
4o per cent.), and it may be employed up to 700° C. 
Copper is frequently used instead of silver as one 
element of this couple, but in practice it will not be 
found so trustworthy as silver for temperatures above 
500° C 

For temperatures from 700° C. to 1100° C, the 
Hoskin’s couple, which consists of nickel used in 
conjunction with nickel-chromium (ro per cent. Cr) 
may be employed. 

The electromotive forces given by various thermo- 
couples differ very, much, as the following table will 
show. In each case the cold junction temperature 
is o° C, 

Approximate electro- 
motive force in milli- 
volts at 500° C, 

Io per cent. 


Name of thermo-couple 


Platinum-platinum, 


rhodium ae os: sine 44 
Platinum-platinum, 10 per cent. 

iridium 33 sete aor ye 74 
Nickel-nickel, 10 per cent. chro- 

mium (the Hoskin’s couple) ... 10-0 
Tron-nickel ... ae ae ae. 
Jron-constantan 26-7 
Silver-constantan 27-6 
Copper-constantan 278 


The relation between temperature and the E.M.F. 
produced by a thermo-couple when the cold junction 
is maintained at 0° C. is given by Holman’s empirical 
formula ° :— 

log E=A log t+ B, 


when E=E.M.F. of the thermo-couple in microvolts ; 
t=the temperature of the thermo-couple in degrees 
Centigrade, and A and B are constants depending 
on the wires employed. For the chief thermo-couples 
in general use at the present time this equation is 
as follows :— 

Platinum, platinum-rhodium, approximately log E= 
1-19 log t+0-52. 

Platinum, platinum-iridium, approximately log E= 
1-10 log t+0-89. 

Silver-constantan, 
t+ 1-34. 

In accurate thermo-electric work the universal prac. 
tice is to immerse the cold junction of the thermo- 
couple in melting ice and to adopt the potentiometric 
method of measuring the electromotive force given. 
In industrial practice the E.M.F. is measured directly 
by a galvanometer, which should be placed in a spot 
Which is not subject to great variations in tempera- 
ture. It is only necessary, therefore, to run the wires 
from the hot end of the thermo-couple straight to the 
galvanometer, and this is the course generally fol- 
lowed in the case of the base metal couples. Owing 
to the costliness of the material, it is impossible to 
do this with platinum couples, and several proposals 
have been made to overcome this difficulty. The most 
satisfactory method is one originally due to Bristol,’ 
but suggested independently by Peake,’ in which 
an inexpensive alloy is substituted for the platinum 
wires, the alloy being so chosen as to give the same 
E.M.F. against copper as that given by the platinum, 
platinum-alloy couple. The resultant E.M.F. gene- 
rated by this compound couple is the same as if the 


approximately log E=1-14log 


6 Phil. Mag., x\i., p. 465, 1296. 
7 British Patent Specification, No. 14544. A.D, 1904. 
8 [bid., No. 370,A.D. 1909. > 


57° 


entire couple were of platinum, platinum-alloy. For 
accurate work it cannot be assumed that variations 
in the temperature of the vicinity of the galvanometer 
are of no importance, Corrections must be applied 
to reduce the readings to the correct values at 0° C. 
In practice it will be found that the simplest way of 
maintaining the cold junction at a constant tempera- 
ture is to use a Dewar vessel or thermos-flask filled 
with oil (see Fig. 1) into which the cold junction of 
the thermo-couple, or of the composite thermo-couple, 
is placed. 

A simple form of potentiometer in conjunction with 
a direct moving-coil galvanometer, has largely in- 
creased the usefulness of the direct-reading instru- 
ments by opening out the scale to any desired extent. 
For the autographic recording of temperature the 
photographic arrangement originally due to Le Chate- 
lier is still the only way of recording very small and 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 15, I9I4 


identical at o° and 100° C., and experiment has shown 
that the formula :— ° 


1—pr=df cea 


100 100} 


when 6 is a factor depending on the purity of the 
wire for making the thermometer, expresses the 
relationship between them in other parts of the scale. 
The t—pt curve being a parabola, it is only neces- 
sary to determine the resistance at three different 
temperatures in order to ascertain the value of 6, and 
thus to standardise the thermometer completely. The 
three temperatures usually employed are 0°, 100°, and 
444-70° C. (the boiling point of sulphur). 
The resistance of the thermometer is usually 
| measured by the ordinary Wheatstone 
Bridge methods, and several instruments 
have been designed for this purpose. 
The methods of measuring temperature to 
a very high degree of precision are outside 


Co 


Fic. 1.—Lhermos-flask cold-junction control. 


rapid changes in temperature. In the majority 
of recorders now in general use the galvanometer 
pointer is depressed intermittently by clockwork, or 
some electrical mechanism on to either an inked 
thread or typewriter ribbon which is pressed on to a 
chart mounted on a rotating drum (clock-driven), the 


resulting record being a series of ink marks. The 
thread recorder (Fig. 2), designed by Mr. Horace 
Darwin, may be taken as a typical example 
of one of these recorders. The action of 


the clockwork in depressing the galvano- 
meter boom on to the paper is so rapid 
that the boom is only under control by 
the chopper-bar for less than two seconds out of the 
minute. The figure illustrates a double recorder in 
which two galvanometers connected to two separate 
thermo-couples are recording on the same drum. 


Resistance Thermometers. 


Sir William Siemens was the first to suggest, in 
1871, that the change in the electrical resistance of a 
wire with temperature might be employed as a means 
of measuring temperatures. In the hands of Cal- 
lendar and Griffiths this has become the most accurate 
method of measuring temperatures up to 1200° C. 
Callendar pointed out that if R, denoted the resist- 
ance of the thermometer coil at o° C. and R, its 
resistance at 100° C., a temperature scale could be 
established for that particular wire which might be 
called the scale of platinum temperatures, such that, 
if R were the resistance of the coil at any tempera- 
ture ¢ on the gas scale, the temperature on the 
platinum scale would be R—R,/R,—R,x100. For 
this quantity he employs the symbol #t, its value 
depending on the sample of platinum chosen. 

In order to reduce the temperatures on the platinum 
scale pt to the gas scale, it is necessary to know the 
law connecting t and pt. They are, of course, 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


INKED 
THREAD MOVED FORWARD 
O'S MM PER MINUTE 


the scope of this paper, but reference to them 
will be found in Dr. Burgess’s book,’ which also 
contains a full bibliography of papers on the subject. 

Both thermo-electric and resistance thermometers 
have a distinct upper limit of temperature beyond 
which they should not be employed. The resistance 
thermometer cannot be used beyond 1200° C., owing 
to the disintegration of the mica frame, and even the 
thermo-couple can rarely be used above 1400° C., 
because of the impossibility of finding a gas-tight 
protecting envelope that will last above this tempera- 
ture. 

The porcelain tubes made by the Royal Berlin 
Porcelain Manufacturing Co. are on the whole the 
most satisfactory. This firm have comparatively re- 
cently introduced a tube made of a new material 
called ‘‘ Marquardt,’ which will resist temperatures 


4) REVOLUTION EVERY 
2 MINUTES 


} REVOLUTION IN 
25 HOURS 


Fic. 2.—Diagram of double-thread recorder, = 
up to 1700° C. (approximately the melting point of 
platinum). Unfortunately tubes made of this mate- 
rial are very brittle, and great care must be taken in 
handling them, especially in allowing them to cool 
slowly. Tubes made of fused quartz are also em- 
ployed, but it will be found that these tubes soon 
devitrify and become brittle if used continuously at a 
temperature of g00° to ro00° C. 


9 “The Measurement of High Temperatures,” pp. 212-218, 470-471. By 
G. K. Burgess and H. Le Chatelier. (London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 
In this connection it may be mentioned that Principal E. H. Griffiths suc- 
cessfully made d fferential temperature measurements between the freezing 
points of two liquids to one-millionth of a degree Centigrade by means; of 
resistance thermometers and a sensitive bridge. 


JANUARY 15, 1914] 


Optical and Radiation Pyrometers, 

The temperatures reached in many modern manu- 
facturing processes are so high that the temperature 
can only be measured by optical or radiation methods. 
It was not, however, until Le Chatelier*® invented 
his optical pyrometer in 1892 that any really satis- 
factory attempt was made to determine the tempera- 
ture of a hot body by measuring the radiations 
emitted by it. 

The intensity of the light emitted by a hot body 


Fic. 3.—Diagram of Féry absorption pyrometer. 


varies immensely with the temperature,'’ and there- 
fore, at the first glance, one would assume that the 
easiest way to measure a temperature would be to 
compare photometrically the light emitted by the hot | 
body with that emitted by a second hot body at a 
definite temperature. This would be the simplest way 
of doing so, if all bodies at the same temperature 
emitted the same amount of light, but unfortunately 
such is not the case, the light, for example, from 
incandescent iron and car- 

hon is much greater than 


that of porcelain’ or 
platinum at the same tem- 
perature. 


Kirchoff first propounded 
the idea of a “ black-body 
as being a body which 
would absorb all radiations 
falling upon it, and would 
neither reflect nor transmit 
any. He also showed that 
the radiation from such a 
black-body is a function of 
the temperature alone, and 
was identical with the 
radiation inside an enclo- 
sure, all parts of which are 
at the same temperature. 
All substances, if they are 
heated inside a black-body, 
will emit the same radia- 
tion, and if looked at 
through a small opening in 
the furnace will appear of 
uniform brightness. Stefan 
was the first to state that 
the energy radiated was 
proportional to the fourth power of the absolute tem- 
perature. Boltzmann later deduced the same law 
from thermodynamic reasoning. This law has since 
become known as the Stefan-Boltzmann radiation 
law, and may be stated as follows :— 


On the Measurement of High Temperatures,”” H. Le Chatelier 
(Comptes rendus, vol. cxiv., pp. 214-216, 1892). 

11 If the intensity of red light A=o"656u emitted by a hot body at rooo* C. 
is called 1, at 2000° C. the incensity wili be 2100 times as great (see C. W. 
Waidner and G. K. Burgess, ** Optical Pyrometry,” Bulletin No. 2 of the 
Bureau of Standards). 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


SECTION ON AC 
Fic. 


NATURE 


= Prece 
Reb GLass 


71 


oi 


The total energy radiated by a black-body is pro- 
portional to the fourth power of the absolute tem- 
perature, or E=o(T*—T,*), where E is the total 
energy radiated by the body at absolute temperature 
T to the surroundings at absolute temperature T, and 
a is a constant depending on the units used.'” 

This law has received ample experimental verifica- 
tion throughout the range over which temperature 
measurements can be made. 

As previously mentioned, the first satisfactory 
radiation pyrometer was that designed by Le Chate- 
lier. 

The instrument is really a form of photometer, in 
that it is arranged to match the luminous radiation 
obtained from an incandescent body against that ob- 
tained from a standard lamp. This instrument in the 
form modified by Féry is illustrated in Fig. 3. It 
consists of a telescope DB, which carries a small 
comparison lamp E attached laterally. The image of 
the flame of this lamp is projected on to a mirror, 
F, placed at 45° to the axis of the telescope, the 
mirror being silvered only over a narrow vertical 
strip. The telescope is focussed on the object the 
temperature of which it is desired to measure, the 
object being viewed on either side of the silvered 
strip. A coloured glass in the eyepiece ensures mono- 
chromatic conditions. A pair of absorbing-glass 
wedges, C and C,, are placed in front of the objective 
of the telescope, and these wedges are moved later- 
ally by means of a screw until the light from the 
object under observation appears of equal brightness 
to that emitted by the standard lamp. A table pro- 
vided with the instruments converts the readings 
obtained by the scale into degrees centigrade. 

The MHolborn-Kurlbaum pyrometer is shown 
diagrammatically in Fig. 4; it is a photometric in- 


= 
concn 
Ls 


45 Mirror 
AsBsSorBINC SCREEN 


Sunt 
Micur Ammeter 


RHEOSTAT 


—The Holborn and Kurlbaum optical pyrometer, 


strument of rather a_ different character. <A 
small incandescent lamp L is mounted in the 
focal plane of the objective and eyepiece of 
a telescope. The lamp circuit is provided with 
a battery, rheostat, and sensitive ammeter. The 

12 The laws of radiation and the various forms of optical and radiation 
pyrometers are fully discussed in Dr. Burgess’ book, foc. cit. Two other 
good résumés will be found —(1) ‘‘ Optical Pyrometry,” C. W. Waidner and 
G. K. Burgers (Bulletin No. 2 of the Bureau of Standards ; and (2) ** The 
Black Body and the Measurement of Extreme Temperatures,’ A. L. Day 
and C. E, van Ostrand (Astrophysical Journal, vol. xix., 1-40). 


574 


NATURE 


[JANUARY I5, 1974 


telescope is focussed on the incandescent body, thus 
bringing its image into the plane AC. The current 
is then adjusted by means of the rheostat until the 
filament is of the same colour and brightness as the 
object. A previous calibration of the current for the 
particular lamp used, in terms of temperature, will 
then give the temperature of the hot body. 

Radiation pyrometers differ from the optical types 
previously discussed in that they employ all the radia- 
tion received from the hot body. The first practical 
form of pyrometer making use of total radiation was 
invented by Féry. The instruments is shown in section 
in Fig. 5. The radiation from the hot body is 
focussed by means of the concave mirror on to a 
sensitive thermo-couple mounted at D; the electro- 
motive force generated by 
the couple is indicated on a 


galvanometer connected to 
the terminals, B, B In 
another form of the instru- 


ment Féry has replaced the 
thermo-couple by a_ bi-metallic 
spiral placed in the focus 
of the mirror. When heated 
the spiral uncoils and carries 
an aluminium pointer over a 
dial divided in degrees of tem- 
perature. 3 


aR 


CONCAVE MIRROR 


INCLINED MIRAQi'§ ————* 


WMA 


TNH LR BO a 


Fic, 5.—Diagram of Féry radiation pyrometer. 


The author discussed briefly the capabilities and 
limitations of the optical and radiation pyrometers 
with the view of assisting observers in their use. He 
also threw out suggestions as to the best forms of 
pyrometer to be used in various industrial operations. 

In discussing the question of the standardisation 
of pyrometers, the author pointed out that unless 
pressed for time the observer would find it advis- 
able to send his instruments to the National Physicai 
Laboratory, when they would be examined and their 
corrections determined for a moderate fee. In a 
works where there are a large number of instruments, 
it is advisable to keep a set of instruments which have 
been examined at the National Physical Laboratory 
as standards of reference. If this is not possible, 
corrections at one or two points in the range of the 
thermometer can generally be determined. The author 
mentioned the boiling points of some liquids and the 
freezing points .of some pure metals and salts which 
would be found useful as standardisation points. 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


GALV/NOMETER —— ae 


Si 
A SSSI 


THERMO COUPLE 


SSSA SSSSSEAS NUS SS SASS 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


CAmBripGE.—Dr. H. F. Baker, F.R.S., fellow and ~ 


lecturer of St. John’s College, and Cayley university 
lecturer in mathematics, has been elected Lowndean 
professor of astronomy and geometry in succession to 
the late Sir Robert Ball. 


Dr. Livincston Farranp, professor of anthropology 


at Columbia University since 1903, became president 
of the University of Colorado on New Year’s Day. 
A native of Newark, New Jersey; he graduated at 
Princeton in 1888, and, after completing a medical 
course in America, studied for two years at Cambridge 
and Berlin, before receiving 
an appointment as instructor 
in psychology at Columbia 
in 1893. j 


Iv is proposed to establish 
a club for graduates, 
teachers, and officers of the 
University of London. The 
proposal has been approved 
by the Senate of the Univer- 
sity and by Convocation. 
Negotiations are in progress 


for the lease of 19 and 21_ 


Gower Street, W.C., and, 
subject to a _ satisfactory 
assurance as to the number of 
members joining the club if 


Uy 
CK 


Organisation Committee is willing 
to continue negotiations. The 
adaptation of the premises will 
take some time to carry out, but 
it is hoped that the club may be 
open to members immediately after 
the Easter vacation. The sub- 
scriptions in the first instance wilt 
be two guineas for town members, 
and one guinea for country mem- 
bers. The entrance fee will be 
one guinea, except that the first 
thousand original members will be 
exempt. A form of application for 
admission to original membershi 

may be obtained from Mr. T. LI. 
Humberstone, secretary, Univer- 
sity of London Club Organisa- 
tion Committee, University of 
London, South Kensington, S.W. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


Lonpon. 
Society of Chemical Industry, January 5.—Dr. 
W. R. E. Hodgkinson in the chair.—J. L. Strevens ; 


The viscosity of oils. The author, after emphasising 
the importance of the determination of absolute vis- 
cosity and its relation to temperature for any particular 
lubricant, proceeds to correct certain figures previously 
published.—L. T. Wright: The oxygen content of the 
gases from roasting pyrites. The author on examin- 
ing a number of analyses of ‘‘burner” gas from 
various sources noticed that the oxygen “ deficiency ” 
is the greater the greater the dilution of the gas, and 
this suggests that there is in addition to the well- 
known production of SO, and metallic sulphates some 
other cause, such as a constant error in the analyses, 
which influences these. In any case, the evidence of 


_ these gas analyses shows that the manner in which 


the oxygen is disposed of would prevent the “ burner” 


established in these premises, the — 


‘and the magnetising action of Maurain. 


JANUARY 15, 1914| 


NATURE 


573 


gas containing more than about 12 per cent. of SO, as 
a maximum when all the oxygen of the air supplied 
-was used up, and the author states that his various 
attempts to obtain more than this in practice by keep- 
ing burner gas long in contact with incandescent 
pyrites have failed—L. C. Jackson, L. McNab, and 
A. C. H. Rothera: The electrical conductivity of milk 
during the concentration, with suggestions for a prac- 
tical method of determining the end point in the manu- 
facture of sweetened condensed milk. Although the 
measurement of electrical conductivity is of no value 


_in determining the degree of concentration of a 


separated unsweetened milk, it can be made the basis 
of a working process for watching the concentration 
of sweetened whole mil. A device in which the re- 
sistance of sweetened milk in the vacuum pan is com- 
pared with that of an approved sample of condensed 
milk maintained at exactly the same temperature is 
described.—S. J. Johnstone: Monazite from some new 
localities. Wide variation may occur in the quantity 
of thoria present in samples; notable amongst these 
are ranges shown by those. from Ceylon, the thoria 
percentage of which varies from 95 to 28-2; from 
Malava, 3-4 to 9-4; and from northern Nigeria, 2-3 
to So. 
Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, January 5.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—L. Lecornu: A project of “Monument de 
Vheure.”’ Suggestions for the erection of a monu- 
ment at Villers-sur-Mer on the meridian of Greenwich. 
—R. de Forcrand; Ferrous sulphate and its hydrates. 
Methods are given for preparing the hepta-, tetra-, and 
mono-hydrates of ferrous sulphate in a pure state. The 
pure anhydrous salt could not be prepared, some basic 
sulphate being always present. The heats of solution 
of these four salts are given.—M. Coggia: Observa- 
tions of the comet 1913f (Delavan) made at the Ob- 
servatory of Marseilles with the comet-finder. Posi- 
tions are given for December 21 and 22.—Ch. Platrier : 
A characteristic property of surfaces of constant 
negative total curvature.—E, Goursat; Certain exten- 
sions of Stokes’s formula.—Emile Borel: Some 


‘problems of geometrical probabilities and hypotheses 


of discontinuity.—Pierre Weiss: The molecular field 
Maurain has 
studied experimentally the magnetic properties of iron 
deposited electrolytically in a magnetic field; it is 
shown that the law of variation with distance (in- 
versely as the sixth power) previously deduced by the 
author holds in this case.—Marcel Boll and Victor 


‘Heati: The non-influence of oxygen on certain photo- 


chemical reactions. Two reactions were studied, the 
decomposition of tetrachloroplatinic acid, and ot oxalic 
acid in presence of uranyl nitrate, and the reaction 
velocities in absence and presence of air compared. 
It is shown that Bodenstein’s theory is inapplicable to 
these two photochemical reactions.—L. Gay: The rela- 
tions between the covolume b and the critical con- 
stants. The critical constants of substances not 
strongly polymerised can be determined with fair 


accuracy from the constancy of the _ ratios 
V,/b and Ré/zb.—Paul Pascal: The magnetic 
properties of the alkali metals in their com- 
pounds.—Manuel Veres: Researches on cadmium 


Description of the preparation and properties of the 
double sulphate, 2CdSO,.(NH,),SO,—A. Bouzat and 
Ed. Chauvenet: The heat of formation of some com- 
pounds of cupric chloride with ammonium chloride.— 
H. Taffanel : The combination of gaseous mixtures and 
reaction velocities.—A. Sartory, J. Gratiot, and F. 
Thiébaut: The rejuvenation of the potato. Experi- 
ments on raising potatoes from seed. The plants 
raised were vigorous and free from disease.—Marcel 
Dubard : General remarks on the place and characters 
of classification of the Mimusopez.—J. Magrou ; Sym- 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


' biosis and tuber formation in the potato. It has been 
found by experiment that with the potato growing on 
poor soils, comparable with soil in which the wild 
potato is found, symbiosis exercises a decisive influence 
on the formation of the tubers. These results are in 
agreement with views of Noél Bernard on symbiosis 
and evolution.—Etienne Rabaud: The experimental 
study of an instinct. A study of the conditions govern- 
ing the migration of Myelois cribrella in its larval 
state, from the head to the stem of the plant serving 
as its host.—M. Lécaillon: Rudimentary partheno- 
genesis in the golden pheasant (Phasianus pictus).— 
Max Kollmann and Louis Papin: The chondriome of 
the Malpighi body of the cesophagus; the significa- 
tion of Herxheimer’s filaments.—P. Masson ; The endo- 
crinal gland of the intestine in man.—H. Bierry and 
Mlle. Lucie Fandard: The sugar of the blood plasma. 
—Ch. Dhéré: The photographic determination of the 
fluorescence spectra of the chlorophyll pigments.— 
Charles Lepierre: Zinc and Aspergillus. The experi- 
ments of M. Coupin and M. Javillier.—Em. Bourquelot 
and A. Aubry: The influence of the alcoholic strength 
on the biochemical synthesis of o-ethylglucoside and 
a-propylglucoside.—F. Garrigou: The utilisation of 
phreatic sheets by towns built on alluvial terraces of 
valleys.—Emile Haug: The zone of the Jurassic hills 
of Nans.—Alfred Angot: Value of the magnetic 
elements at the Val-Joyeux on January 1, 1914. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

Das Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut fiir. Chemie, 
Dahlem. By E. Fischer and E. Beckmann. 
(Braunschweig : F. Vieweg und Sohn.) 

Das Tierreich. 40 Lief. Tunicata. Salpae ii. 
Cyclomyaria et Pyrosomida. By Dr. G. Neumann. 


Berlin- 
Pp. 68. 


Pp. ix+36. (Berlin: R. Friedlander und Sohn.) 
Einfiihrung in die Erdbeben- und. Vulkankunde 
Siiditaliens. By A. Sieberg. Pp. vit+226+plates. 


(Jena: G. Fischer.) 4 marks. 
Cours de Physique Générale. 


By H. Ollivier. Tome 


Premier. Pp. 716. (Paris: A. Hermann et Fils.) 
18 francs. 

Le Systéme du Monde. By Prof. P. Duhem. Tome 
Premier. Pp. 512. (Paris: .A..Hermann et Fils.) 


18.50 francs. 

Uganda Protectorate. Annual Report of the De- 
partment of Agriculture for the Year ended March 31, 
1913. Pp. 41. (Kampala: The Uganda Co. Press.) 

Egyptian Government Almanac for the Year 1914. 
Pp. vii+216. (Cairo: Government Press.) P.T.5. 

The Manuring of Market Garden Crops. By Dr. 
B. Dyer and F. W. E. Shrivell. New edition. Pp. 
149+plates. (London: Vinton and Co., Ltd.) 1s. 

Astronomy. By E. Hawks. Pp. 120+iii plates. 
(Manchester: Milner and Co.) 1s. net. 

Lessons in Elementary Tropical Hygiene. By H. 
Strachan. Pp. xi+116+vi plates. (London: Con- 
stable and Co., Ltd.) ts. net. 

The Influence of the Gold Supply on Prices and 
Profits. By Sir D. Barbour. Pp. xii+104. (Lon- 
don: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 3s. 6d. net. 

The Biology of the Blood-cells, with a Glossary of 
Hematological Terms. By Dr. O. C. Gruner. Pp. 


xii+392+plates. (Bristol: J. Wright and Sons, Ltd.) 
21s. net. 

The Nature of Enzyme Action. 
Bayliss. Third edition. Pp. viii+18o0. 
Longmans and Co.) 55. net. 

The Chemistry of Cattle Feeding and Dairying. 
By J. A. Murray. Pp. xii+343. (London: Long- 
: Mans and Co.) 6s. net. 


By Prof. W. M. 
(London : 


574 


Willing’s Press Guide for 1914. 
(London: J. Willing, Ltd.) 1s. 
The Cultivation of the Oil Palm. 


Pp. xii+474. 
By F. M. Milli- 


gan. Pp. xiv+100+plates (London: Crosby Lock- 
wood and Son.) 2s. 6d. net. 
Behaviour Monographs. Audition and _ Habit 


Formation in the Dog. By H. M. Johnson. Pp. iv+ 
78. (Cambridge, Mass.; New York: H. Holt and 
Co.) 
Studien zur Pathologie der Entwicklung. Edited 
by Dr. R. Meyer and Dr. E, Schwalbe. I. Band. 


Heft 2. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 10 marks. 

Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India. 
Vol. xxxix. Part 2. Geology of the Northern Shan 
States. By T. H. D, La Touche. Pp. iv+379+xli+ 
27 plates. Vol. xl. Part 1. The Oil Fields of 
Burma. By E. H. Pascoe. Pp. x+269+xxxix+54 
plates. (Calcutta: Geological Survey of India; Lon- 


don: Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd.) 4s. and 6s. 8d. . 

The Art of Dying. In two parts. Pp. 356. (Strat- 
ford-on-Avon: The Tapestry Studio.) 3s. 6d. 

Waves of Sand and Snow and the Eddies which 
Make Them. By Dr. Vaughan Cornish. Pp. 383. 
(London: T. Fisher Unwin.) tos. net. 

Studies in Water Supply. By Dr. A. C. Houston. 
Pp. xii+203. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 5s. 
net. 

A Junior Geography of the World. 
Wallis. Pp. ix+ 310. 
Ltd.) 2s. 6d. 

National Defence v. Channel Tunnel. 
Sir A. de Horsey. Pp. 15. 
Co.) 3d. net. 

Lehrbuch der Meteorologie. 
Dritte Auflage. Lief 2 und 3. 
Tauchnitz.) 


By B. C. 
(London: Macmillan and Co., 


By Admiral 
(London : Longmans and 


By Dr. J. Hann. 
(Leipzig: C. H. 


The Curious Lore of Precious Stones. By Dr. 
G. F. Kunz. Pp. xiv+406+plates. (Philadelphia and 
London: J. B. Lippincott Co.) 21s. net. 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 
THURSDAY, January 15. 

Royat Grocrarnicat Society, at 5.—Some Scientific Results of Captain 
Scott's Antarctic Expedition : G. Taylor. 

Royat Society or Arts, at 4.30.—Indian Museums: A Centenary Retro- 
spect: Col. T. H. Hendley, C.LE. 

INSTITUTION OF MINING AND METALLURGY, at 8.—The Bereozovsk Gold 
Deposit, Ural District, Russia: C. W. Purington.—The Outlook for the 
Mineral Industry in Canada: J. M. Bell. 

Linnean Society, at 8.—Lantern Slides Illustrating the Fauna and Flora 
of the Interior of Vancouver, from her last journey: Mrs. Henshaw.— 
Some Observations on the Tentacles of Blennius gattorusine: H. A. 
Baylis.—(1) Some Recent Additions to the British Flora; (2) A Note on 
Article 45 of the Vienna Code; (3) The Abridgment of Miller's 
‘‘Gardener's Dictionary” of 1754, and Hill’s ‘“‘ British Herbal” of 1756: 
G. C. Druce. 

ILLUMINATING ENGINEERING Sociery, at 8.—Discussion on Mr. C. J. 
Waldram’s Paper: Some Problems in Daylight Illumination, with Special 
Reference to School Planning.” 

MATHEMATICAL SOcIETY, at 5.30.--(1) A Generalisation of the Euler- 
Maclaurin Sum Formula ; (2) The Deduction of Formule of Mechanical 
Quadrature from the Generalised Euler-Maclaurin Sum Formula: S. T. 
Shovelton.—Binary Forms: A. Young. 


FRIDAY, January 16. 
INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Commercial Tests of 
Internal Combustion Engines: W. A. Tookey. 


MONDAY, Janvary 109. 
Victoria InstTITUTE, at 4.30.—Japan, and some of its Problems, Religious 
and Social: Rev, Prebendary H. EF. Fox. 
Rovav Society or Arts, at §.—The Relation of Industry to Art: Sir 
Charles Waldstein. 
TUESDAY, January, 2>. 
Royat. Sraristicat Society, at 5.—The Fertility of Marriage in Scot- 
land: A Census Study: Dr. J. C. Dunlop. 
InsTITUTION OF CiviL, ENGINEERS at 8.—Further Discussion: Super- 
heating Steam in Locomotives: H. Fowler. 


WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21. 
RovaL Society or Arts, at 8.—The Modern Poster, its Essentials and 
Significance: W. S. Rogers, 
AERONAUTICAL SociETY, at 8.30,—The Stability of Aéroplanes: L. 
Bairstow. 
Rovat Mereoro.ocicar Society, at 7-30.—Annual General Meeting.— 
Address on Upper Air Research: C. J. P. Cave. 


NO. 2307, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 
| 


[JANUARY 15, I9I4 


Royat Microscopicat Society, at 8.—Presidential Address ; The Micro- 
scopeand Mecicine: Prof. G. Sims Woodhead. : : 
GerotocicaL Society, at 8.— Geology of the Country round Huntly 
a W. R. Watt.—The Glaciation of East Lancashire: Dr. 

» Jowett, 


THURSDAY, JANvUARY 22. 


Roya Society, at 4.30.—Probable Pafers:—On the Heat Production 
Associated with Muscular Work. (A Note on Prof. Macdonald’s Paper, 
Proc, R.S., B, vol Ixxxvii.): Dr. R. T.;<Glazebrook and D. W. Dye.—The 
Chemical Interpretation of some Mendelian Factors for Flower Colour: 
M. Wheldale and H. L. Bassett.—The Determination of the Minimum 
Lethal Dose of various ‘l’oxic Substances and its Relationship to the Body 
Weight in Warm-blooded Animals, together with considerations bearing 
on the Dosage of Drugs: Prof. G. Dreyer and Dr. E. W. A. Walker.— 
Experiments on the Restoration of Paralysed Muscles by means of Nerve 
Anastomosis. Part ii., Anastomosis of the Nerves suppl ing Limb 
Muscles: Prof. R. Kennedy.—Variations in the Sex Ratio o! Mus vrattus 
following an Unusual Mortality of Adult Females, based on an Analysis 
of Weight Frequency Distributions : Dr. F. N. White. ‘ 

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Fifth Kelvin Lecture : 


Sir Oliver Lodge. 
FRIDAY, January 23. 


Puysicat Society, at 5.—Some Characteristic Curves and Sensitiveness 
Tests of Crystals and other Detectors: P. R. Coursey.—Exhibition of a 
Water Model of the Musical Are: W, Dudde«]].—Further Experiments 
with Liquid Drops and Globules: C. R. Darling.—A Note on Aberration 
in a Dispersive Medium and Airy’s Experiment: J, Walker. _ 

InsTITUTION OF C1viIL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Testing of Materials for Use 
in Engineering Construction : EF, W. Monkhouse. 


CONTENTS. 


Applications of Positive Rays. By W.R. .... 
Geology and Mineralogy. ByG.A.J.C...... 
Oceanographic Researches’: 975° ./%) sy) see 
@Qor Bookshelf ~ . : . 2). 9.0) 2) .) ee 
Letters to the Editor :— 
The Pressure of Radiation and Carnot’s Principle.— 
Prof. H. L. Callendar, F-RiS, - > ees 
Atomic Models and X-Ray Spectra. —Dr. N, Bohr; : 
H. Moseley «os wk le aes 
“« Atmospherics ” in Wireless Telegraphy.—Wilfred 
Hall; H. Morris-Airey 2 2.) 2°. ses r 
A Recently Discovered Stone Circle, near Matlock, 
Derbyshire.—John Simpson ......... 
Trepanning among Ancient Peoples. —Kumagusu " 
Minakata . c : Se ene 5 
Systems of Rays on the Moon’s Surface.—G. Hubert 
Plante alta . 
The Cape Observatory. 
F.R.S. . : 3. eee eee 
Scientific Methods of Identifying Pictures. (Z//us- 
trated.) By Prof, A. P. Laurie. . os 
oi 


‘By Dr. F, W. Dyson, ~~ 


American and German Investi 
Fertility <<. oi‘: 'iy ete a cutee nee 
Notes alate. 4 pina Ieee > 
Our Astronomical Column :— - 
Comet 1913/ (Delavan) 2 ane > ; 
‘lhe Crossley Reflector and Nebula ..... « « « 
Galactic Coordinates ae Seen 
The Arc Spectrum of Iron. 13) 27s = «) sane 
Educational Conferences, [5.94 > © «eee 
Rheostats. (Ji/ustrated.). . 2 7's %\ 0 % |=, see 
Modern Methods of Measuring Temperatures. — 
(Jilustrated.) By Robert S. Whipple ....... 
University and Educational Intelligence. .... . 
Societies and Academies ........ oa 
Books Received Pere rer ret 
Diary of Societies . eer 


igations on 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN & CO., Lrtp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 


Telegraphic Address: Puusts, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


| 


JanuaRY 15, 1914] 


MINERALOGY—CRYSTALLOGRAPHY— 
PETROGRAPHY—GEOLOGY. 


Ask for our new 


GENERAL CATALOGUE XVIII. 


; (2nd Edition) 
for the use of Middle and High Schools and Universities. 
Part I, 260 pages, 110 IIlustrations. 


This catalogue has been prepared with the view of making an exhaustive 
compilation of all educational appliances for the teaching 
of Mineralogy and Geology from a scientific as well as from 
a practical p int of view. All the subjects are treated typically, and 
instructive specimens have been selected with the greatest care. A close 
examination of the catalogue will show, that owing to its careful compo- 
Sition it gives the opportunity of procuring the most complete outfit for the 
various schools for instruction in and the study of the subjects named, 


Catalogue No. 18, Part I, will be sent free on application. 
Part II will appear within the course of the year. 


(Collections and single specimens of Minerals and Fossils, 
Meteorites bought and exchanged.) 


Dr. F. KRANTZ, 


RHENISH MINERAL OFFICE, BONN-ON-RHINE, GERMANY. 
Established 1833. Established 1833. 


METEORITES 


Meteorie Iron and Stones in all sizes and prices. 
Apply stating requirements, &c., to 
JAMES R. GREGORY & CO., 
MINERALOGISTS, &c., 
1389 FULHAM ROAD, SOUTH KENSINGTON, S.W. 


Telegrams: ‘‘ Meteorites,’ London. Telephone: 2841 Western. 


LIVING SPECIMENS FOR 
THE MICROSCOPE. 


Volvox, Spirogyra, Desmids, Diatoms, Amceba, Arcella, Actinospherium, 
Vorticella, Stentor, Hydra, Floscularia, Stephanoceros, Melicerta, and many 
other specimens of Pond Life. Price rs. per Tube, Post Free. Helix 
pomatia, Astacus, Ampbioxus, Rana, Anodon, &c., for Dissection purposes. 


THOMAS BOLTON, 
25 BALSALL HEATH ROAD, BIRMINGHAM. 


MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 
OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 
THE LABORATORY, PLYMOUTH. 

The following animals can always be supplied, either living 

or preserved by the best methods :— 
Sycon ; Clava, Obelia, Sertularia; Actinia, Tealia, Caryophyllia, Alcy- 
sium; Hormipbora (preserved); Leptoplana; Lineus, Amphiporas, 
ereis, Aphrodite, Arenicola, Lanice, Terebella; Lepas, Balanus, 
ammarus, Ligia Mysis, Nebalia, Carcinus; Patella, Buccinum, Eledone, 
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CCVII11 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 22, I914 


COLLEGE 


OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 


SOUTH KENSINGTON, S,W. 


The following Special Course of Advanced Lectures will be given, com- 
mencing in February next :— 


Sudject. Conducted by 


Mr. J. W. Hincutey, A.R.S.M., 
{ Wh.S., F.C.S. 


Fuel Technology— Pant: A. Bone, D.Sc., Ph.D., 


Part IL: Carbonisation and Gas) p,of M. G, Curistig, Dr. Inc (of 
Producer Practice ... | the Otto Coke Oven Co., Ltd.). 


Refractory Materials Mr. Hancock, B.A., F.I.C. 


Principles of the Manufacture of f Mr. G. I. Fincu (Dipl. Tec. Chem. 
Sulphuric Acid ae ay cha Zurich). 


Chemical Engineering (Part II) ... 


For further particulars of these Courses application should be made to 
the REGISTRAR. 


C@LLEGE * 


OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 


SOUTH KENSINGTON, LONDON, S.W. 


An Advanced Course of Lectures will be given commencing in February 
next as follows :— 


CITY & GUILDS (ENGINEERING) COLLEGE. 
Subject : Conducted by: 
Reinforced Concrete. Mr. Oscar Faper, B.Sc., A.M.1.C.E 


For further particulars of this Course, application should be made to 
the Registrar. 


COLLEG 


OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 


SOUTH KENSINGTON, S.W. 


The following Special Advanced Course of Lectures with Laboratory 
Work will be given, commencing in February next :— 
Subject, Conducted by 


Structure and Diseases of Trees / Dr. Groom, M.A., F.L.S, (Prof. of 
and Timber... es ca the Technology of Wouds and 


Fibres at the Imperial College). 
For further information as to this Course, application should be made to 
the REGISTRAR. 


ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL 
INSTITUTE. 


Professor BALDWIN SPENCER, C.M.G., F.R.S., of Melbourne 
University, will deliver an Address on ‘‘ The Life of the Australian Tribes- 
men," at § p.m. on Tuesday, January 27, at the Theatre of the Civil 
Service Commission, Burlington Gardens, W. The Address will be illus- 
trated by original cinematograph films and lantern slides, and by phono- 
graphic records. 


PRIFYSGOL CYMRU. UNIVERSITY OF WALES. 


THREE FELLOWSHIPS, each of the annual value of £125, tenable 
for two years, are open to Graduates of this University. ; : 

Applications must-be received before June rst,1914, by the Registrar, 
University Registry, Cathays Park, Cardiff, from whom further infor- 
mation may be obtained,” 


UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. 


The following Public Lectures have been arranged :— 

A Course of eight Advanced Lectures on ‘* PHysioLoGicAL EFFECTS OF 
ANAESTHETICS AND Narcotics.” by M_ S. Pemerey, M.A., M.D., and 
i. H. Rvyrrev, M.A., B.C., at Guy’s Hospital, at 4 p.m. on Thursdays, 

eginning on January 22nd. 

A Course of nine Advanced Lectures on ‘Tue THeory or HEAT 
IN RELATION TO ATMOSPHERIC CHANGES,” by Dr. W. N. Suaw, F.R.S., 
University Reader in Meteorology, in the Meteorological Office, South 
Kensington, S.W., at 5 p.m. on Fridays, beginning on January 23rd. 

A Course of four Advanced Lectures on ‘‘CaRBOHYDRATE FERMEN- 
TATION” by Professor ARTHUR HarpEN, D.Sc., F.R.S., at King's 
College, at 4.30 p.m. on Mondays, beginning on January 26th. Yi 

A Course of twelve Advanced Lectures on '' THe Prorozo Parasitic 
In Man,” by Proessor EK. A. Mincnin, M.A., F.R.S., at the Lister 
Institute, Chelsea, at 5 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays, beginning on 
January 27th. 

A Cotirse of eight Advanced Lectures on ‘“‘ RECENT STUDIES ON THE 
PHENOMENA oF Sort Fertitity,” by Dr. E. J. Russet, at the 
Imperial College of Science and Technology, South Kensington, at 5 p.m. 
on Wednesdays, beginning on January 28th. 

A Course of seven University Lectures on ‘‘ ANAPHYLAXIS,” by Dr. 
L. RajcuMan, in the King's College Department of Bacteriology, 62 
Chandos Street, W.C., at 5 p.m. on Thursdays, beginning on January 2oth. 

Admission is free to all tne Lectures, which are addressed to advanced 
students of the University and others interested in the various subjects. 
Further particulars may be obtained from the undersigned. 


P. J. HARTOG, Academic Registrar. 


NORTHAMPTON POLYTECHNIC 
INSTITUTE, 
ST. JOHN STREET, LONDON, E.C. 


SPECIAL COURSES IN ELECTRO-TECHNICS. 


The following Special Courses will commence in the last week in 
January, 1914 :-— 

(r) A Special Course of SIX LECTURES on SECONDARY BAT- 
TERIES, by Mr. W. R. Coorgr, A.M.I.C.E., M.1.E.H., on WEDNES- 
DAY EVENINGS, commencing January 28. 

(2) A Special Course of LECTURES and LABORATORY WORK on 
RADIO-TELEGRAPHY, by Mr. E. S. Perrin, B.Sc.(Eng.), A.M.1.C.E., 
A.M.1.E.E., on MONDAY and THURSDAY KVENINGS, commencing 
January 26, and continuing until May 14 or longer. 


Full particulars as to syllabuses, fees, &c., for either courses, may be 
obtained on application to 


R. MULLINEUX WALMSLEY, D.Sc., 
Principal. 


BEDFORD COLLEGE FOR WOMEN 
(UNIVERSITY OF LONDON), 


YORK GATE, REGENT’S PARK, N.W. 


On Tuesday, January 27, rgor4, at 5 p m., inthe I«rge Lecture Hall, Sir 
Outver LopaGe, F.R.S., D.Sc. (Principal of the University of Birming- 
ham), will deliver a Lecture on ‘The Ether of Space.” The Vice-chan- 
cellor of the University will take the chair. Admis-ion free, without ticket, 


WORCESTERSHIRE EDUCATION 
COMMITTEE. 


STOURBRIDGE SECONDARY SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, 


An ASSISTANT MISTRESS is required in the above School, to begin 
duty as soon as possible. Applicants must have Science Degree (or equiva- 
lent), must be capable of teaching Physics and Mathematics to Intermediate 
B.Sc. standard, and must have had previous teaching experience in a Girls’ 
Secondary or High School. Ability to take part in games is desirable. 
Salary £120 per annum, non-resident. 

Applications, accompanied by copies of recent testimonials, must be 
made on Form 279 (copies of which may be obtained from the Director of 
Education, 37 Foregate Street, Worcester), and should be sent to reach 
the Head Mistress, Miss E. M. Firru, Girls’ Secondary School, Stour- 


bridge, without delay, 
A. WESTON PRIESTLEY, 
Director of Education. 


37 Foregate Street, Worcester, 
January 19, 1914. 


AMGUEDDFA GENEDLAETHOL 
CYMRU. 
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WALES. 


The Council will shortly appoint an Assistant in the Department of 
Botany and one in the Department of Geology and Mineralogy. Candi- 
dates must produce evidence of having received a thorough scientific 
Training. 

The salary will be £150 per annum in each case. 

Applications must be received on or before February 14, rot4. 

For form of application and particulars as to duties apply to 

THE DIRECTOR, 
National Museum of Wales, 
Cardiff. 


* influences on the progress of mathematical ° 


} 
opinions, and it is therefore of great importance 
_ that a reviewer should be able to state his own 


4 
3 
b 


| 


THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 1914. 


MATHEMATICIANS IN COUNCIL. 
Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress 
of Mathematicians. (Cambridge, August 22— 
28, 1912.) Edited by Prof. E. W. Hobson and 
Prof. A. E. H: Love. Vol. i., Part i., Report 
of the Congress. Part ii., Lectures: Com- 
munications (Section I.) Pp. 500. Vol. ii., 
Communications to Sections II-IV. Pp. 657. 
(Cambridge University Press, 1913.) Price 

30s. net, two vols.) _ ; 
REVIEW of theaeieautiflly printed pub- 
lications of the Cambridge Press neces- 
sarily constitutes in some measure a survey of 
the proceedings of the Fifth International Con- 
gress of Mathematicians. Although more than a 
_ year has elapsed since these meeting's were held at 
Cambridge, it may not yet be too late to form 
an opinion on the work that was then done, and 


science, and on the position of mathematics in 
Great Britain. These are subjects on which no 


_ two people can be expected to hold the same 


_ Views without prejudice to those held by other 


members present at the Congress, readers of 
the proceedings, or, indeed, anyone else. 

While the corresponding records for Heidelberz 
(1904) are contained in one volume of 756 pages, 
and for Rome (1go8) in three volumes, of which 
the first two contain 218 and 318 pages, the 
Cambridge volumes occupy 500 and 657 pages 
respectively. Nor was the attendance at the 
meeting less satisfactory. While Great Britain 
only contributed 2 per cent. of the members at 
Heidelberg and 4 per cent. at Rome, the attend- 
ance of 221 British members out of a total of 
574 at Cambridge compares favourably with 
Germany’s representation of 173 out of 336 at 
Heidelberg, and Italy’s 190 out of 535 at Rome. 

Turning next to the published papers, these 
reflect in no small degree the influences that have 
been making themselves felt in recent years in 
raising higher mathematics to the dignity of a 
science, and saving it from degenerating into mere 
cut-and-dried algebra. Even in that most difficult 
of all to popularise section—arithmetic, algebra, 
and analysis—the papers deal largely with analysis, 
and are not overloaded with formule, while a 
pleasing variety is introduced by descriptions of 
“mechanisms for solving equations, and cases 
where a sum of powers is equal to the same power 
‘of one number. A physicist who was exclusively 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


NATURE , | 


75 


a physicist might find much to interest him in 
some of these papers. On the other hand, in 
| the geometry section, where one naturally ex- 
| pects to find results adapted to visualisation, there 
are very few papers in which the investigations 
are not expressed in symbolic form. The paper 
on rational right-angled triangles would have been 
better placed alongside of the one above referred 
to on sums of powers. Is it the fact that pure 
geometry is exhausting its resources in three 
dimensional space, and that it is becoming  in- 
creasingly difficult to find new subjects of investi-. 
gation which do not require the use of extended 


algebraic formula ? 

Coming now to applied mathematics, the most 
noticeable feature is that the papers presented 
contain no conspicuous reference to aéroplanes, 
and, indeed, judging from their general character, 
it seems almost, if not quite, certain that the aéro- 
plane has nowhere received mention in the pro- 
ceedings of this section. We have work sub- 
mitted on the old hackneyed “problem of three 
bodies,” performing motions which no living man 


will ever see realised experimentally, also theories 
of the ether and gravitation. Now the peculiar 
type of brain which is capable of investigating 
the hypothetical motions of three hypothetical 
bodies is just the intellect required to investigate 
the the general | character 
described by an aéroplane, and if it is necessary 
to assume a simplified law of air resistance, the 
conclusions will certainly afford some definite 
basis for a comparison of theory with experiment. 
As for the ether, this might well stand over when 
we know so little about the air, and with regard 
to gravitation, the fact that it may be propagated 
with finite velocity through space can scarcely give 
an aviator any hope of saving his life in the 
event of his aéroplane collapsing. The aviation 
problems awaiting solution at the time that this 
congress was heid—and after—would have amply 
sufficed to occupy the proceedings of a separate 
section. 

Possibly an appeal to Prof. Reissner might have 
elicited some contribution on this subject. With 
regard to workers in our own country, it seems 
not improbable either that Lord Kelvin died too 
soon, or that aéroplanes came too late. Lord 
Kelvin had an extraordinary power of command- 
ing both the attention and respect of the practical 
engineer and the interest of the mathematician, 
and had he been able to investigate the stability 
of aéroplanes, it is certain that the present dead- 
lock would never have arisen; on the contrary, 
mathematical proceedings would have been filled 
| with aéroplane papers, and aviators would be 


motions of most 


576 


presented with results of far deeper reasoning 
than is contained in the writings of some authors 
who have dealt with the subject. The balancing 
of the four-crank engine and a paper on the 
graphical recording of sound waves accompanied 
by diagrams wnich seem instinctively to represent 
graphically the strident tones of the gramophone, 
have at least some relation to the vast complex of 
unsolved problems which present themselves in 
everyday life. 

In view of the ever-growing importance of 
statistical science it is gratifying to find the sub- 
section dealing with this subject represented by 
eleven papers, nearly half of them by British 
contributors. The next section deals with philo- 
sophy, history, and teaching of mathematics. 
There are ten papers and discussions on “ didac- 
tics,’ but the most important feature of this 
section is the report of the International Com- 
mission on Mathematical Teaching, which was 
constituted at Rome with Prof. Fehr, Sir George 
Greenhill, and Prof. Klein as executive committee. 
The list of publications drawn up by them and 
by the subcommittees for different 
nations occupies twelve pages of the volume. The 
publication of these reports has received sub- 
stantial financial aid from the Governments of the 
respective and they deal fairly 
thoroughly with the conditions of mathematical 
teaching in all grades of schools and in the univer- 
sities. The main danger is that tew people will 
have the time to read the reports for any except 
their own nation. 

In addition to the sectional meetings of the 
congress, we have eight lectures by Profs. 
Bécher, Borel, Brown, Enriques, Prince Galitzin, 
Prof. Landau, Sir J. Larmor, and the late Sir 
W. H. White. 

Profs. Hobson and Love are to be greatly 
congratulated on their success in organising the 
congress and bringing out this splendid record 
of some of the advances of mathematical science 
in the four years preceding the meeting. 

In the opinion of the present reviewer, how- 


various 


countries, 


ver, one important element of success was missing. 
The holding of a mathematical congress in Great 
Britain afforded a unique opportunity for bringing 
the claims of British mathematicians before the 
British public. A discussion on this subject could 
easily have been organised on purely international 
lines, and representatives of different nations would 
have been able to give us their own experiences as 
to the extent that their efforts are recognised and 
backed up by public support in their countries. 
The proceedings of such a discussion would have 
been widely circulated in Press reports, and would 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 22, I914 


have appealed to, and been read with interest 
by numbers of, people to whom papers of an 
abstract character are unintelligible and uninter- 
esting. Had the congress been a classical one, 
there is little doubt that discussions on the educa- 
tional value of Latin would have been widely re-_ 
ported in all the newspapers, and often accom- 
panied by long leading articles. 

But no such discussion was held. On the con- 
trary, the address by the late Sir William White 
on “The Place of Mathematics in Engineering 
Practice "—the one address sufficiently popular 
for the ordinary newspaper reporter and reader 
—was certainly not calculated to remove existing 


prejudices against the “‘unpractical” mathe- 
matician. But if the position of English mathe- 


matics and mathematicians did not figure in the 
official programme, it was freely discussed in the 
reception room, the refreshment tent, and the 
college halls where guests were hospitably enter- 
tained. References were not infrequent to cases 
of hardship where able mathematicians had failed 
to earn adequate incomes from teaching work, and 
to fallings-off in the numbers attending mathe- 
matical classes both in Cambridge and elsewhere. 
This private interchange of experiences between 
the initiated could scarcely serve any useful pur- 
pose; while a vigorous appeal to the public in 
plain English language, supported by a sufficient 
body of English speakers, and aided by the 
opinions of foreign experts, might have exercised 
a marked influence over the progress of future 
events. 

In short, the Cambridge Mathematical Congress 
has done nothing towards improving the prospects 
of the brilliant mathematician who is too good 
to spend his life in badly paid teaching appoint- 
ments even when he can secure them. 

It has done nothing to stop the exodus from 


our university classes of the best mathematical — 


talent that is sent up from the schools, and which 
is attracted by the better prospects that are open 
to students of chemistry or enginering. 

It has done nothing towards increasing the~ 
staffs of our university colleges, and providing 
them with an adequate number of mathematical 
professors, each a specialist in his own line; while 


on the other hand the diversion of students into’ 


other channels frequently renders such increases 
financially impossible. 

It has thus done nothing towards helping our 
English university colleges to come into line with: 
those of other countries as centres of higher study 
and mathematical research. 

And such an opportunity is not likely to recur 
for many a year to come. G. H. Bryan. 


- 


JANUARY 22, 1914 | 


NATURE 


377 


THE CASE AGAINST RELATIVITY. 
Die Physik der bewegten Materie und die Rela- 
tivitatstheorie. By Dr. Max B. Weinstein. 
Pp. xii+424. (Leipzig: J. A. Barth, 1913.) 
Price 17 marks. 
ae general theories have suffered more at 
the hands of their own exponents than the 


principle of relativity. The call to reconsider our 


preconceptions as to the measurement of space 
and time, sounded by Einstein in 1905, was the 


signal for many self-confident minds to reconsider 
everything, and a flood of literature appeared in 
which it was difficult to find any real sense of 
physical reality. ; 

It was given to Minkowski to express the funda- 
mental idea of the principle in a form which, while 
severely mathematical and repulsive to many 
physicists’ minds, was concise and elegant, and 
furnished a powerful method of examining the 
consequences of the general hypothesis. It 
enabled him, for example, to modify the electro- 
magnetic equations for moving bodies as adopted 
by Lorentz in such a way as to conform exactly 
to the hypothesis of relativity, while agreeing with 
them to the degree of approximation to which 
they were experimentally verifiable. 

But beyond this Minkowski’s method opened the 
way for a rediscussion of the foundations of 
dynamical theory, and here its anticipations are 
beyond the. reach of experiment, and jn this 
region particularly have many writers lost touch 
with reality. 

In the work before us Dr. Weinstein tries to 
check this enthusiasm, and to compare critically 
the outcome of Minkowski’s theory, which may 
be looked upon as a descendant of the electro- 


dynamics of Lorentz, with the earlier work of | 


Maxwell and Hertz, and with what experimental 
evidence is avaiiable. 

His main conclusion is that the experimental 
basis of the principle of relativity is so meagre 
as scarcely to justify its adoption and application, 
although his admiration for the work of Minkowski 


is sO great that he dedicates the volume to his | 


memory. IT urther than this, Dr. Weinstein is not 
entirely prepared to admit the theory of Lorentz as 
a necessary correction to the Maxwell-Hertz theory, 
being dissatisfied with the conclusiveness of the 
experiments of Wilson and Ejichenwald in favour 
of the former, and while deprecating the multi- 
plication of theories, he suggests yet another modi- 


_ fication of the Hertz theory to explain the supposed 


_ discrepancy between it and the facts of aberration 


and of the Fizeau experiment. 
Some of the criticisms raised, however, are 
singularly unconvincing. The validity of the 
NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


Michelson-Morley experiment is questioned on the 

ground that the origin of the interference figure 
which was actually observed is not explained, 
although no doubt is thrown on the fact that the 
figure did not change when the apparatus was 
rotated. The case made out against Einstein’s 
addition equation which is fundamental to the whole 
theory of relativity seems to the present writer to 
he lacking in logical accuracy, and tends to 
strengthen the impression that the author set out 
on the task of writing this large volume with a 
mind not entirely free from prejudice against what 
he terms ‘“‘an impatience which almost bars the 
progress of science.” 

But one is tempted to ask whether to cling tena- 
ciously to the conception of the azther formulated 
by Hertz, or even to the immovable zther of 
Lorentz, is not to place at least as great a barrier 
in the forward path as to search out with 
enthusiasm the consequences of an idea which 
is at least to an equal degree supported by, and 
the outcome of, experiment, and must in 
any case leave an enduring impression on our 
views as to the nature of physical magnitudes, in 
particular of space and time, as primary elements 
of thought. 


REFLEX ACTION. 

(1) Irritability: A Physiological Analysis of the 
General Effect of Stimuli in Living Substance. 
By Prof. Max Verworn. Pp. xii +264. (London : 
Oxford University Press; New Haven: Yale 
University Press, 1913.) Price 15s. net. 

(2) Studies on the Influence of Thermal Environ- 
ment on the Circulation and the Body-Heat. By 


| E.R. Lyth. Pp. vi+72. (London: John Bale, 
Sons and Danielsson, Ltd., 1913.) Price 2s. 6d. 

| net. 

Pin) HIS book is the outcome of the series 


of lectures given by Prof. Verworn 
under the Silliman Foundation of the University 
of Yale in 1911. Prof. Verworn has summarised 
the results of the investigations carried out by 
his co-workers and himself during the past twenty 
years, and in his preface he claims that he here 
presents “a uniform exposition of the general 
effects and laws of stimulation in the living sub- 
stance.” The book is certainly wide in scope, 
and is divided into nine chapters. The first of 
these is very interesting, as it deals with the his- 
torical aspects of the question, full credit being 
given to Francis Glisson as the founder of the 
doctrine of irritability. The subsequent lectures 
deal with the quality of the stimulus; ” the effects 
of stimulation, in which Prof. Verworn’s well- 
| known views on the so-called metabolic equi- 
i) 


578 


librium are discussed in full; the processes and 
the nature of the conduction of excitation; the 
conception of specific irritability, and the refrac- 
tory period and its relation to fatigue; the inter- 
ference of excitations, and finally the processes of 
depression. 

In spite of the inherent interest of the subject, 
and although some of the discussions are very 
interesting, the book as a whole is somewhat dis- 
appointing. The disappointment is due partly to 
the fact that there is really but little new material, 
the matter having been for the most part pre- 
viously published at length in readily accessible 
journals, and partly to the fact that a number 
of the conclusions reached are simply deductions 
drawn from pure hypotheses. Further, although 
Prof. Verworn in his preface states that he utilises 
the results obtained by other observers, the truth 
is that but little attention or criticism is devoted 
to the work of other investigators, and he makes 
but little reply to the criticisms which have been 
levelled at his own work. 


The translation has been very well carried out 


by Frau Prof. Verworn, with the assistance of 
Dr. Lodholz, of the University of Pennsylvania. 
Unfortunately no index has been _ provided, 


although as a kind of compensation the contents 
of each chapter have been given in some detail. 

(2) This small book contains rather a curious 
and, in its way, interesting collection of observa- 
tions (the author states that he has made more 
than 25,000) on the pulse rate, the blood pressure, 
and the superficial (skin) and deep (rectal) tem- 
peratures of the body under various conditions of 
heat and cold. It is to be regretted that the 
author confines himself solely to his own observa- 
tions, which seem to have been carried out largely 
upon himself, and does not refer at all to the fairly 
abundant available literature on the subject. 
Although the conditions of his experiments are 
not ideal, some of his data on the pulse rate are 
exceedingly interesting. The book is well illus- 
trated with charts. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 

The Use of 
Lands. By Gerald O. Case. 
Engineering, August 22 and September 12, 
1913.) Pp. 36. (London: St. Bride’s Press, 
Ltdi, 1913.)>"Rricéj2s- net, 

Tue author has done good service by bringing 

together in this handy booklet the scattered in- 


formation contained in various books and papers | 


dealing with the part played by vegetation in the 
reclamation of tidal lands. A large part of this 
is drawn from the remarkable observations made 
by Prof. F.- W. Oliver during his long-continued 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


NAT bs 


Vegetation for Reclaiming Tidal | 
(Reprinted from — 


a 
' 


Peer 22, 1914 


work on the physiography and plant ecology of 
maritime regions, especially at Erquy, in Brittany, 
and at Blakeney Point, in Norfoll, with reference 
to the stabilisation of drifting sand and shingle 
by means of vegetation. As these and other 
observations summarised in this booklet clearly 
show, there are large areas of foreshore in this 
country which might profitably be planted with 
suitable vegetation and subsequently reclaimed 
from the sea. The author has taken pains to 
avoid excessive use of botanical terms used in 
ecology, but it is to be feared that some of the 
terms he does use will prove somewhat puzzling 
to non-botanical readers, especially as some of 
them are used rather carelessly—*‘ halophyte”’ and 
“halophytic,” for instance, appear disguised as 
“hallophyte ” and “hallophitic.’ Be G: 


Guide to Astronomy. (Third edition.) 
H. Periam Hawkins) 92ers 
|  (Lendon: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent 
and Co., Ltd.) Price 1s. 6d- net. 
Ix this little book Mrs. Hawkins brings together 
a very useful amount of infermation which is 
admirably suited to be serviceable as a general 
source oc! reference to these not well acquainted 
with astronomical terms. The information is 
arranged alphabetically, and under each heading 
is a brief explanation or description. The catch- 
words are printed in heavy type, so that they are 
at once conspicuous when turning over the leaves. 
The text has been brought well up to date, and an 
appendix gives, among other information, a list — 
of useful astronomical books. 


| The A.B.C. 
By Mrs. 


The Purpose of Education. An Examination of 
the Education Problem in the Light of recent 
psychological Research. By St. G. L. Fox Pitt. 
Pp. ix+83. (Cambridge University. Press, 
1913.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 

Tue sub-title of this small volume sufficiently de- 
scribes its purpose. Experimental psychology is 
extending year by year our knowledge of the 
working of the human mind, and the attempt is 
made here to apply the results of recent psycho-_ 
logical research to the solution of educational diffi- 
culties. The book may be commended to ordinary 
readers interested in education but unacquainted 
with psycholegy. 


Experience Teaches. Some Advice to Youths, 
and incidentally to Young \Vomen, as to their 
Careers in Life, with Notes on various social 
and commercial Problems. By Ivon Trinda. 


| Pp. xi+19q4. (London: Simpkin, Marshall, 
| Hamilton, Kent and Co., Ltd., 1914.) Price- 
| 48. net in leather, 2s. 6d. net in cloth. q 


| It may be doubted if many young people read 

| books of advice as to conduct, and probably this 

, chatty volume will prove of most assistance to 

' parents and teachers whose duty it often is to offer 

| words of warning. The advice is given here under 
the headings : school and what to learn, business, 
| married life, recreation, and things in general. 


January 22, 1914] 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. ] 


The Present-day Occurrence of Spontaneous 
Generation. 


As is well known, Dr. Charlton Bastian has for 
several decades been investigating the occurrence of 
spontaneous generation—the development of living 
organisms from non-living matter. owever opposed 
to what seems to be our common experience this may 
be, its occurrence at some time or other is at least 
suggested by modern doctrines of evolution. Dr. 
Bastian makes use of solutions containing colloidal 
matter, from which, if it has done so, living matter 
may be presumed most probably to have sprung. 
Although such solutions apparently contain no carbon 
and other constituent elements of protoplasm, an 
ample sufficiency of such elements to supply all re- 
quirements is present as ‘‘impurities” in the solu- 
tions. 

I have carried out some experiments similar to 
those of Dr. Bastian, and although I have not yet 
been able in my laboratory to confirm Dr. Bastian’s 
observations, I have obtained no evidence to prove 
that his are erroneous. I have on several occasions 
prepared the solutions, sealed them up in tubes, and 
submitted these to a single boiling. Before sterilisa- 
tion, subcultures from the solutions have yielded 
abundant growths of micro-organisms, but after the 
single boiling I have never obtained growths on sub- 
culturing. This suggests that the three boilings to 
which the tubes are commonly subjected does kill all 
organisms present in them. I have, moreover, never 
once obtained the common forms of sporing bacilli 
from the sterilised tubes; had sterilisation been in- 
complete, these organisms would certainly have been 
expected. C 

The structures resembling organisms seen on many 
occasions in Dr. Bastian’s tubes are, I am convinced, 
really organisms, and are not artefacts,’ pseudo- 
organisms, &c.; whether they be living or no cannot, 
of course, be determined microscopically, unless they 
be motile, which has been the case on two or three 
occasions (bacteria). Dr. Bastian has drawn up the 
following statement in order that his latest results 
may be brought before the scientific world. 

R. T. Hewterr. 


Experimental Data in Evidence of the Present-day 
Occurrence of Spontaneous Generation. 


In the autumn of 1905 I found that microbes would 
grow and slowly multiply when inoculated into a 
weak solution of neutral ammonic tartrate in distilled 
water, and that though the organisms would grow 
in this solution without the aid of light, that light 
distinctly favoured the process, since when -an 
inoculated solution was equally divided, the half which 
was left exposed to ordinary diffuse daylight became 
turbid much more quickly than the other half which 
had been placed within a dark incubator, even though 
the temperature of this latter was as much as 20° F. 
higher than that of the portion exposed to daylight. 

This was an experience in opposition with previous 
bacteriological doctrine, and it has been found to be 
of much importance in connection with experiments 


which I soon after commenced, and have ever since 


1 See Anowledge, August, 1905, p. 199. 
NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


eee | 


been continuing, bearing upon the question of the 
origin of life.? 


Nature of the Experimental Solutions. 

My first experiments were made with ordinary com- 
mercial sodium silicate (water-glass) diluted with an 
equal quantity of distilled water: a few drops of this 
fluid, varying from 1-8, being added to an ounce of 
distilled water containing six drops of dilute phos- 
phoric acid and six grains of ammonium phosphate, 
or else to an ounce of distilled water containing simply 
eight drops of liq. ferri pernitratis of the British 
Pharmacopeeia. 

These solutions at first, and up to the summer of 
Igio, were the two experimental fluids always made 
use of, varying only in the number of drops of the 
dilute sodium silicate employed, in accordance with 
varying strengths of different samples of this product. 

These solutions of water-glass have been found to 
deteriorate and undergo some slow changes (a rather 
copious white deposit gradually forms in the bottle 
in which they are kept), and after about eighteen 
months my solutions would no longer yield the same 
kind of experimental results as at first. Moreover, 
during the last twelve months I have been unable to 


obtain any satisfactory sample of water-glass.* 


Strangely enough, Kahlbaum’s to per cent. solution 


| of sodium silicate, which is a comparatively uniform 


product, has never yielded any satisfactory results 
when it has been used in the preparation of my solu- 
tions, 

On mentioning these troubles in the summer of 1910 
to Dr. Otto Rosenheim, of King’s College, he kindly 
gave me some of a very dilute solution of colloidal 
silica, prepared with great care after Graham’s 
method, and made with the aid of the 10 per cent. 
solution of sodium silicate above referred to, the use 
of which had hitherto always proved unproductive. 

This solution of colloidal silica gave more uniformly 
good results than I had ever obtained before, when 
I used ten to twelve drops of it to the ounce with 
the usual quantities of dilute phosphoric acid and of 
ammonic phosphate—though I have never been able 
to obtain a single successful result when using it with 
pernitrate of iron in the preparation of the yellow 
solution. Unfortunately, however, the weak solution 
of silicic acid, like the common water-glass solution, 
has seemed gradually to deteriorate, and that, too, 
much more rapidly, though in appearance the solution 
shows no change. Up to the present I have never 
been able to repeat successful results with a second 
solution when it was more than four months old. 

Thus, it seems clear that the specimens of water- 
glass with which I first experimented successfully 
must have contained other favouring ingredients not 
present in the ro per cent. solution of sodium silicate ; 
further, that though this solution yielded only barren 
results, yet the colloidal silica prepared from it and 
from strong hydrochloric acid yielded the best results 
of all when used as an ingredient of one of the colour- 
less solutions, but uniformly poor results when. mixed 
with iron for a yellow solution. 

From the point of view of the capability or the 
reverse of the different fluids for engendering living 

2 See ‘‘ The Evolution of Life,” 1907 ; and “‘The Origin of Life,” 2nd 
edition, 1913 (Watts and Co.) 

3 Details on this subject will be found in ‘‘ The Origin of Life,” 2nd edit., 
pp. 86-91. Recently, however, Messrs. Allen and Hanbury have -put me in 
communication with the London agents of their makers of water-glass, who 
have kindly supplied me with some samples of different specific gravity. An 
examination of them leads me to believe that the recent failures have been 
due to my baving been supplied with samples of higher alkalinity than 
formerly. I have made new trials with a sample of 75° sp. gr., after diluting 
it with an equal bulk of distilled water and its behaviour with the other 
reagents (in their usual proportions) seems to be similar to that of the samples 
which I obtained in 1910, so lo g as four or five drops to the ounce are used 
for the ycllow solution, and /hyee drops to the vunce for the colourless 


solution. » Samples of this dituted solution may be obtained from Messrs. 
Allen and Hanbury, of 6 Vere Street, W. 


580 


matter (owing to differences in chemical composition) 
these seeming contradictions may have no real sig- 
nificance; though the opposite point of view that my 
positive results may be due to the pre-existence of 
organisms in these particular solutions and not in the 
others which yielded negative results is a position that 
would seem quite impossible of reconcilement with 
the variations in composition above cited—even if the 
process of sterilisation had not intervened. 


Sterilisation and After-Treatment of the Experimental 


Vessels. 
The experimental tubes were prepared in this 
manner. A little more than half an ounce of either 


of the solutions was put into each of a number of 
sterilised glass tubes. These were then hermetically 
sealed, and subsequently heated for five to twenty 
minutes to temperatures ranging from 125° to 145° C., 
or else to 100° C. for twenty minutes on three suc- 
cessive days. 

As in all previous experiments concerning the pos- 
sibility of spontaneous generation by Pasteur, Pouchet, 
Tyndall, and many others, the destructive influence of 
heat was relied upon for ridding the fluids and vessels 
of any pre-existing living things that might be con- 
tained therein—these being very much less numerous 
in my saline solutions than in hay infusions and other 
organic media of which it was the custom formerly 
to make use. 

Saline solutions were used by me because they could 
be submitted, within limits, to higher temperatures 
than organic infusions without destroying any possible 
productivity ; and because in using them there would 
be a closer approximation to the conditions that must 
have existed when the surface of our earth first cooled 
down below the temperature of boiling water, so that 
a natural origin of living matter might thereafter 
become possible. 

After sterilisation the sealed experimental vessels 
are exposed to diffuse light and a varying amount of 
actual sunshine for periods of from four to ten months 
or more before the contents of the tubes are examined 
microscopically, though the terminal month may, with 
advantage, be passed in an incubator at some tem- 
perature between 27° and 37° C. 

When ‘controls’’ are opened, say any time within 
one or two weeks of sterilisation, no organisms, 
except it may be one or two embryonic forms, are 
to be found, especially if the solution of ammonic 
tartrate has been filtered through No. o Swedish 
paper, though when other tubes of the same series 
come to be examined after the several months of 
exposure to light and heat above mentioned many 
well-developed organisms are often found, which can 
be proved to be living. 

These organisms are for the most part Torulz, and 
minute simple moulds of different kinds. Specimens 
of such organisms are shown in Fig. 1, as they were 
taken direct from the tube, the Torule in this case 
being unusually abundant. 

Bacteria are much less frequently met with, mostly 
motionless, though occasionally motile. Plasmogenic 
products simulating cocci and bacilli in appearance 
are also by no means uncommon in these colloidal 
silicate solutions. 

According to De Barry and other authorities, no 
germs of moulds can survive a single immersion for 
a few minutes in water at 100° C.; while Torulz are 
uniformly admitted to be killed by immersion for a 
minute or two in water at 60° C. 

I have ascertained that the mixed Torule and 
fungus:germs to be found in the bloom on the surface 
of grapes have been killed by immersing the grapes 
for only thirty seconds in boiling water." 

4 See *' The ‘ Origin of Life,” 2nd edition, p. 96 (Watts and Co.) 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[January 22, 1914 


Further, | have found that the Torula and minute 
moulds that tend to appear after a short time in un- 
heated weak solutions of silieic acid are, like other 
fungus-germs, unable to survive a single boiling for 
five minutes. Yet the least severe sterilising heat - 
employed in my experiments has been a boiling for 
twenty minutes on three successive days. 


Objections and Replies Thereto, 


Those who rely upon existing evidence as to the 
thermal death-point of such organisms as have been — 
found within my tubes (rather than like Sir E. A. — 
Schifer pinning their faith to mere preconceptions 
as to the impossibility of the origin of living matter 
in these particular solutions) will agree that the 
sterilising processes employed by me should have been 
very much more than adequate to kill any germs of 
Torulaz or moulds that may have pre-existed within 
the tubes. 

Those who are ineredulous as to my results are 
compelled, therefore, to fall back upon one or other 
of the three following objections :-— 

(1) There are first the mere surmises of superficial 
objectors who postulate contaminated pipettes, or the 
dropping of organisms on to the microscope slide from 
the atmosphere before the application of the cover- 
glass. These are puerile objections against a pro- 
longed research such as mine. Of course, pipettes 


Fic. 1.—Large Group of 1 orula as taken direct trom tube. e 
No, 289. 520, 


have been carefully sterilised immediately before use ;_ 
and as for the dropping of organisms from the atmo- 
sphere, such objectors would find it hard enough, if 
they tried, to find definite kinds of organisms, and 
cften numbers of them (as in Fig. 1) on slides and 
under cover-glasses prepared by themselves. The 
next paragraph, however, will show the unreality of 
these mere surmises. ; 

(2) It is assumed by many that the bodies found by 
me in my tubes are not really organisms. It is 
thought that they must be mere plasmogenic simu- 
lacra of living things, such as Leduc, Herrera, the 
brothers Mary, and many others have found in silicate 
solutions. This objection has been made over and 
over again. It is true that such bodies are occasion- 
ally to be met with in my solutions, and however 
important these mere simulacra may be as _ inter- 
mediate products between living and non-living matter, 
the other bodies which I find are not of this order. 
Those who have seen some of my tubes opened, and 
the bodies in question taken therefrom, such as Profs. 
Hewlett and Shattock, Profs. Farmer and Blackman 
at the College of Science, and several others, ar 
unable to doubt that they have seen actual organisms 
taken from the tubes. 

Moreover, on August 18 I received a letter from 
Paris written by two celebrated plasmcgenists, Albert 


. 


_ January 22, 1914] 


NATURE 


581 


and Alexandre Mary, in which they told me that they 
had confirmed my experiments. Following my direc- 
tions implicity, they had, after some months, found 
typical Torulz and Micrococci within ‘the tubes, and 
had convinced themselves that they were actual living 
organisms. Thus, in regard to the latter, they say: 
“Jes ayant inoculés dans des solutions de glucose a 
2 per cent. avec une légére quantité de lactate de fer, 
les microcoques plus haut décrits ont proliféré d’un 
fagon remarquable, et la culture a offert l’aspect d’un 
sédiment se réunissant au fond des tubes.” 

This adhesion to my views by Albert and Alexandre 
Mary should be a complete answer to the second 
objection, so often formulated, that the bodies found 
by me were only plasmogenic products such as Leduc, 
Herrera, they themselves, and others had previously 
described as occurring in colloidal solutions, and should 
go far towards meeting the final doubt—the only one 
open to those who in this country have seen what 
they believed to be actual organisms taken from my 
tubes, namely the doubt whether the organisms, which 
they were bound to recognise as such, were still 
living. 

(3) This brings me to the final objection advanced 
by some. They admit that many at least of the bodies 
that have been photographed are organisms, but 
believe them to be merely organisms that pre-existed 
in the solutions, and which, when found, were dead, 
having been killed by the sterilising process to which 
the tubes had been submitted. 

As to this, it must never be forgotten that minute 
organisms are either very scarce or not to be found 
at all in ‘‘control’’ tubes opened soon after sterilisa- 
tion, and to be often abundant after months in other 
tubes of the same series which have been exposed to 
light and heat and which had never previously been 
opened. If they were not there at first, and are there 
in numbers subsequently, how are we to resist the 
conclusion that they are living, and that they have 
developed and multiplied within the previously steri- 
lised tubes ? 

In illustration of this important point I may state 
that I have recently received from New York two 
slides containing swarms of stained bacteria. These 
were taken by Dr. Jonathan Wright, the director of 
the Post-graduate Laboratories there, and his prin- 
cipal bacteriologist, Dr. MacNeal, from tubes which 
they had prepared and sterilised. They had been re- 
peating my experiments, at first with negative results 
—-even though three of their tubes had been inoculated 
with a culture of the hay bacillus previous to the 
triple heating. The organisms on the slides sent to 
me had been taken from tubes of two other series— 
one of them sterilised fifteen months, and the other 
four and a half months previously. The experi- 
menters had some doubts at first whether the very 
numerous bodies on the first slide were really bac- 
teria, though no such doubt was entertained by Dr. 
Hewlett or myself. In the second case they reported 
that they had found what were unquestionably bac- 
teria in ‘‘enormous numbers.’”’ They now, at first, 
inclined to the belief that notwithstanding their 
enormous numbers the bacteria found must have been 
*‘in the original materials.’ But in the last letter 
received from Dr. Wright he reported that they had 
made a bacteriological examination of the materials 
in question with negative results. He adds: ‘So far 
as we have gone, therefore, we cannot take refuge in 
the supposition either that these organisms are crystal- 
line simulacra of life, or that they were derived from 


the original materials, and were killed but not dis- 


integrated by the triple heating. We have no sugges- 
tion to make other than your interpretation, and in- 
deed we desire to be entirely non-committal as yet.” 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


I am, therefore, waiting for information concerning 
the examination of other tubes of these two series. 
These facts would seem sufficiently to answer the 
third objection now under consideration. Still, one 
very remarkable example of this kind ought to be 
cited. A series of five tubes containing sodium silicate 
and pernitrate of iron was boiled for twenty minutes 
on May 17, 18, and 19, 1912, and these tubes were 
exposed to light and heat in the usual way. At the 
expiration of seven and a half months (December 9, 
1912) I opened one of these tubes, and took from it 
a small amount of reddish sediment, similar to that 
which existed in each of the others. On microscopical 
examination I found in this sediment two minute 
masses of mould associated with compound spore-like 
bodies such as I had never seen before. I sent the 
specimen to an eminent authority, Mr. Geo. Massee, 
of Kew, and was told that the mould with its peculiar 
spores was allied to the genus Oospora. At the end 
of February of last year another of these tubes was 
opened by Profs. Hewlett and Shattock; early in 
March one was opened by me in the presence of 
Profs. J. B. Farmer and V. H. Blackman; and in 
May another was opened by me in the presence of 
some bacteriologists and chemists at the Lister Insti- 
tute, and in each case more or less of the characteristic 
Oospora spores 
were found. The 
mycelium was not 
in each case 
found, and I 
know that some 
of the observers 
were sceptical as 
to the nature of 


the spores. 
The last of 
these tubes was 


kept by me _ for 
some future occa- 
sion, and was not 
again particularly 
noticed until July 


a2 Then, on 
examination of the Fic. 2.—Portion of a large tuft of mould 
unopened tube, (Oospora) which was seen growing at the 
much to my sur- bottom of tube No. 358. 325. 
prise there was to 
| be seen at the bottom, by the side of the 
sediment, two tufts which had all the appear- 
ance of being moulds, one of them about half 
an inch in diameter and the other  smalier. 


These were seen by many others, in the unopened 
| tube, who took the same view as to their nature. 
On October 3 this tube was opened by Prof. Hewlett 
in his laboratory, and he took therefrom, as I ex- 
pected, some of the Oospora. Portions subsequently 
taken by me were photographed, and one of them 
is shown in Fig. 2. That this mould had grown 
| within the sterilised tube is perfectly clear; yet several 
of those already mentioned had failed in their various 
efforts to obtain cultures from samples that were found 
in the other tubes. 

Successful cultures of organisms obtained from the 
tubes may occasionally be obtained by inoculating 
some of the organisms found into sterilised 3 per cent. 
glucose or ammonic tartrate solutions. Torulze will 
often multiply or moulds will develop asa result, after 
several days, in such solutions. Fig. 3 shows a 
number of Torula which had thus multiplied within a 
glucose solution after six days. 

Another and a more ready means of proving that 
the organisms taken from the tubes are living has 
i been commonly adopted by me. The cover-glass of 


58° 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 22, I914 


the microscope slip on which they are contained, is at 
once ringed with paraffin melting at 40° C., and the 
slip is then put aside in a warm place for a few days. 
Fig. 4 shows a portion of a mould that had developed, 
and Fig. 5 shows Torulz that after several days had 
f greatly multiplied, 
under such condi- 
tions. Why the 
Calswime, ots secre 
organisms out of 
the tube, and plac- 
ing them between 
two layers of glass 
surrounded by para- 
fin should = so 
greatly favour their 
development [I am 
unable to say, but 
that it does do so | 
am perfectly —cer- 


Fic. 3.—TVorula from 3 per cent. glucose 


on sixth day alter its inoculation from tain. I will cite one 
tube No. 437. 500. very striking in- 
stance that I ob- 

served a short time since. In some of the 


sediment taken from the centrifuged contents of a 
tube, 1 found, beneath the coyer-glass, during a 
thorough examination, about forty to fifty minute 
solitary bodies like embryo Torule. The cover-glass 


was ringed and the 
slide put aside. When 
| examined it again 


after only thirty hours, 
in place of the solitary 
bodies groups were seen 
of larger bodies from 
which hyphe were 
being developed in 
almost all cases. I have 
several photographs 
illustrating this, and 
one of the largest of the 
groups is shown in 
Fig. 6, while another 
group is shown in 
Fig. 7, as seen some 
days later, , under a 
lower magnification, but in which the hyphe had 
grown considerably longer. The tube had been pre- 
pared and sterilised many weeks previously, and during 
that time within the tube only very minute solitary 
bodies had been produced. But in thirty hours after 
having been 
taken out of 
the tube and 
placed beneath 
the cover-glass 
they grew, 
they multiplied, 
and developed 
hy phe, a's 
shown by the 
photographs, 

From the 
evidence above 
detailed it 
seems very 
difficult to re- 
sist the fol- 
lowing conclu- 
sions :-— 

(1) That the bodies alleged to have been taken from 
the experimental tubes have really been: taken there- 
from, and are not mere accidental products which have 
dropped from.the atmosphere during the transit of the 
sterilised pipette from the tube to the microscope slide. 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


FiG. 4.—Mould trom 3 per cent. glucose 
on ninth day after its inoculation 
from tube No. 557. 500. 


Fic. 5.—Large mass of Torulz as found beneath a 
ringed cover-glass on fourteenth day, from tube 


No 438. 


Xx 500, 


(2) That the bodies in question are actual organisms, 
and not mere plasmogenic simulacra of living things, 
such as are often to be found in colloidal solutions. 

(3) That they are actual living organisms which, 
as shown by the evidence of the ‘‘ control” tubes, have 
increased and multiplied within the tubes, and 
will often behave in a similar manner after they have 


Fic. 6.—Multiplication and deve'opment of fungus-germs from tube 
No. 631, after thirty hours under ringed cover-glass. 500. 


been taken from the tubes and placed under favourable 
conditions. RS 
(4) That as all the organisms in question have been 
shown to be killed by a brief single exposure in fluids 
to the temperature of boiling water (100° C.), none 
of them, even if present, could have survived the 
much higher or much more prolonged heatings to 
which the tubes and their contents were exposed 
during the process of sterilisation—that is to say, 
these tubes should have been after that process as 
devoid of living things as was our earth in the far 


Fic. 7.—Further development of another group of fungus-germs under 


the sane cover-glass, as seen six days later. x 325. 

remote past, and just as then, at some period, there 
must have been, as is now generally admitted in the 
world of science, a de novo origin of living matter 
on the previously lifeless earth under the influence of 
purely natural causes, so now it would seem that the 
simple living organisms which appear within the 
experimental tubes must have been produced, de novo, 


JANUARY 22, 1914] 


under the influence of physico-chemical processes of 

the same order as those that must have been operative 

in the past. 
* * % * + 

In my work entitled ‘‘The Nature and Origin of 
Living Matter,’ an abridgment of which has been 
published by the Rationalist Press Association,’ I 
have considered the question of ‘spontaneous genera- 
tion” from a broader point of view (pp. 128-141), and 
have endeavoured to show how multitudes of facts 
can be explained in accordance with my views, that 
from the time when living matter first appeared upon 
the earth it has probably ever been constantly re- 
appearing, as at present, and giving birth to the 
simplest living units, such as now swarm upon its 
surface. These processes are such that they must 
always take place beyond our ken, seeing that they 
necessarily begin with mere molecular collocations, 
gradually going on to the formation of particles of 
zn ultra-microscopic order. Such infinitesimal par- 
ticles gradually emerge into the region of visible 
things as revealed by high powers of the microscope, 
and take on this or that simple organic form in a 
manner that (though by processes much more com- 
plicated) is somewhat akin to the mode by which 
crystals emerge from different mother liquors, and 
take on this or that particular crystalline form. 

Thus, while the fact of the present occurrence of 
the de novo origin of living matter is, in my opinion, 
beyond the region of doubt, I fully recognise that 
the actual steps of the process remain to be discovered. 
I have elsewhere referred to some of the probable 
steps of the process, and the prominent part that may 
be taken by inorganic catalysers under the influence 
of sunlight, and in some quite recent experiments 
by Prof. Benjamin Moore and J. A. Webster, in a 
paper entitled “Synthesis by Sunlight in Relationship 
to the Origin of Life,’’* they have been able to demon- 
strate the probable actual first step of such a process 
—one that is known to occur as a first step in the 
nutrition of plants. We are, however, as yet only on 
the threshold of anything like an explanation of the 
various stages of this supreme mystery, for the un- 
ravelling of which philosophers and chemists have 
hitherto striven in vain. As with many other natural 
phenomena, the fact of the occurrence of which cannot 
be questioned, so here only conjectures are available 

as to the precise mode in which it may have been 
brought about. We must, however, repose our faith 
in the uniformity of natuy il phenomena, as one of the 
cardinal postulates of science, and if living matter had 
a natural origin in the far-distant past, there is, from 
that point of view, good ground for believing what 
our experiments seem to testify, that it also occurs at 
the present day. H. Cuartton Bastian. 


Atomic Models and X-Ray Spectra. 


Ir is universally assumed that the atom of an 
element can forma Saturnian system with more than 
one ring of rotating electrons, and this idea is used 
in particular by Moseley in the theoretical discussion 
of his recent experiments. But in an Adams prize 
essay, not yet published in extenso, this is shown to 
be impossible. If the law of repulsion between two 
electrons, or of attraction between electron and 
nucleus, is that of the inverse square, more than one 
coplanar ring cannot exist. All the electrons in any 
plane must lie in the same ring, and even if they are 
in different planes, the radii of the rings must be 
nearly equal. A consideration of a simple case will 


5 Watts and Co., 1910. 
® “ The Origin of Life,” 2nd*edition, 1913, pp. 6r-65. 
7 Proceedings of the Royal Society, B. 593, p. 163. 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


583 


illustrate this. For example, it is at first sight prob- 
able that the system in the accompanying diagram, 
consisting of two coplanar rings 
of three electrons each, sym- 
metrically arranged with all the 
angles equal to 60°, can exist with 
some angular velocity wo, if the 
radii of the outer and inner rings 
are a and b, the latter being much 
smaller than a. But it is easily 
shown that the conditions of steady rotation of such 
a system are— 


mo N re yt I h—-2a I 
Sv S » ~~ - nee em ye a> W ” » a 
e V3 a a(at+b)y a (a2 + — ab) 


=(N oe \ I 2h =a ~ I 
N3 P bat by b (a? +h? - aby 


and the resulting equation for the ratio b/a has only 
one root b/a=1, whatever value be attached to N, 
where Ne is the charge on the nucleus. Any other 
simple case which is tried will be found to lead to the 
same conclusion. 

This conclusion not only belongs to any ordinary 
dynamical theory of the rings, but to Bohr’s theory 
also. For Bohr supposes that the steady rotation 
of the system can be derived by ordinary mechanics, 
and, in fact, the equation so derived is vital to his 
formula for spectra. If Bohr’s theory is to remain— 
and it is so attractive that its retention is desirable, in 
the writer’s opinion—we must give up the idea of 
concentric rings in the atom, with X-radiation coming 
from an inner ring. For any way of avoiding the 
present conclusion, for example, by making a change 
in the law of attraction in the immediate neighbour- 
hood of the nucleus, at once destroys the formula on 
which Moseley bases his view that his experiments 
support Bohr’s theory. 

How then, if there is only one ring of electrons, and 
if X-radiation is due to a ring—a- point on which 
Moseley has given a cogent reason for doubt—do6es 
X-radiation originate? The answer is that without 
a serious reduction in its radius, the single ring may, 
on Bohr’s theory, give radiation of the X-ray type. 
For Bohr’s spectral formula for an atom with nucleus 
Ne and n electrons is 


CE said ap es Pee CY Limb 
pas (MN -Su(4-4) 
where a in the Balmer series is 2, and f takes integral 
values. But the principal line given by the formula 
corresponds to a=1, B=2, and its wave-length in em. is 
at once found to be 
IZ1S 7. TOSS 


NSF 


To obtain a wave-length (1=3-368.10-°, Moseley’s 
value for calcium, we only require N~S,=18-98, 
which Moseley interprets as meaning N=20, n=4. 
Thus a ring which gives the ordinary hydrogen spec- 
trum when N=r can give an X-ray spectrum when 
N=20, in spite of the enormous difference of wave- 
length concerned. But the radius would not be so 
widely different in the two cases. For in the normal 
atom it is inversely as N—S,, and since on Bohr’s 
view, the radius of a hydrogen atom is 5-5.10-° cm., 
that of calcium would be 3:10~-'°, quite a possible 
value. 

There is ground, accordingly, for retaining Bohr’s 
theory, if only one ring exists, and then the calcium 
X-ray spectrum means exactly the same thing as the 
ordinary hydrogen spectrum, and no element should 
show such X-ray spectra until N becomes large. The 
X-ray or Balmer spectrum of helium, for example, 


584 


NATURE 


[| JANUARY 22, I9QI4 


would have a principal line, A=694-5.10~°,, between 
the ultra-violet and the X-ray regions. 

But there is a serious difficulty. If N=20, n=4, 
where are the other 16 electrons required to make the 
atom neutral? Perhaps it is more reasonable to sup- 
pose that N for calcium is higher, and given by 
N-—Ss=19. In this case, N would not denote the 
place of the element in the periodic table, but would 
allow for intermediate and unstable forms of matter— 
an allowance which may well be necessary. The only 
alternative is to explain X-rays by the structure of the 
‘nucleus. Any internal ring must be one of doublets, 
such as neutral a particles. 

There is one other point to which I must refer. 
Mr. Moseley states that he has not found a corre- 
spondence between the X-ray spectra and the vibra- 
tions of the element nebulium treated in one of my 
papers. ‘This correspondence is not to be expected, for 
the two investigations are unrelated. The simple-ring 
atoms which I have used to interpret astrophysical 
spectra are supposed to have a simple nucleus, or to 
contain no a particles, and to be incapable of giving 
series spectra. They are not identical with ordinary 
atoms, into which, however, they appear to change 
in the stars which follow nebulz in order of evolution, 
and, as is shown in a paper in the Monthly Notices of 
the R.A.S. for December last, almost certainly by a 
modification of their nuclei. When this. change 
occurs, they show series spectra, which must depend 
on the nucleus, and perhaps on tubes of force, in a 
way which a mechanistic interpretation of Bohr’s 
theory may perhaps explain. In a paper read at 
the January meeting of the Royal Astronomical 
Society, these series were shown to lead to the same 
conclusion as Bohr’s with regard to the nature of a 
hydrogen atom. J. W. Nicroison. 

University of London, King’s College. 


Prof. Turner and Aristotle. 

Ix The Times report of December 29, 1913, of 
Prof. Turner’s lecture at the Royal Institution, his 
remarks on Aristotle are summarised in a way which 
will surely appeal to his sense of humour after his 
astonishment at my letter has abated. 

“ Aristotle said that a weight of to lb., for example, 
fell ten times as fast as a weight of 1 lb., and the world 
went on believing it for 2000 years. This raised the 
question whether it was better to believe things just 
because people told one, or to try to find out for 
oneself,” 

Aristotle never said this at all. Who | first 
fathered it on to him will perhaps never be known 
now, but since Galileo made the statement notorious 
323 years ago, the world has gone on believing it. 
If anyone wishes to find out for himself, let him 
consult the Teubner stereotyped Greek edition of 
Aristotle’s ‘‘ Physics,’’ Book IV., cap. viii., sect. 8-11, 
or the Leonine edition of St. Thomas Aquinas’s 
‘Opera Omnia,” tome ii., commentary on Aristotle's 
physics, texts 71 and 74, pp. 183-7. It is in the 
British Museum. 

Aristotle is discussing the notion of a vacuum, and 
using the argument from motion. Lection xi. in 
“Opera Omnia,” containing the argument, begins 
on p. 180, and is headed, *‘ Ex parte motus ostenditur 
non esse vacuum separatum."’ An intelligible para- 
phrase of the important parts of texts 71 and 74, or 
sect. 8 and 11, is as follows :—‘§8: We see that a 
heavy body is borne (or translated) faster for two 
reasons, either because of differences in the medium 
through which it passes, as earth or air or water, or 
other things being equal, because the body itself 
differs by reason of its superior gravity or buoyancy. 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92| 


As regards the medium, the reason is that it resists. 
... If air is twice as subtile as water, then for an 
equal distance the time of translation in water will 
be twice that in air. . . . §11:"As regards differences 
in the body itself. We see that those bodies which 
have greater potentialities of movement (pomjy, in- 
clinationem), whether downwards by reason of their 
weight, or upwards by their buoyancy, other things 
being equal as regards their shape (axa, figuris) 
are translated quicker over equal spaces, and this 
according to their proportionate magnitudes. But 


why should this be so in a vacuum? Therefore a— 


vacuum is impossible. But why is it that they have 
different rates of translation? In a plenum it is 
indeed of necessity, for that body which is the faster, 
is so by reason of its power or of its shape or of its 
potentiality of motion whether of translation or pro- 
jection, whereby it divides the medium more effec- 
tively. But in a vacuum all are equally effective, so 
that all are faster than one another. Which is im- 
possible.”’ § 11 is usually relied upon to convict Aris- 
totle of error, but it is evident that motion through 
a resisting medium is premised. 

The commentary of the Angelic Doctor makes this 
quite clear. The reader will find, probably to his 
amazement, that the new and modern notions of 
velocity were explicitly present to his intellect when 
he wrote. Special attention may be directed to § 13 
of the commentary on p. 187, beginning ** Deinde eum 
dixit, Secundum autem eorum.”’ He actually used 
the words, “vel propter aptitudinem figurae quia 
acutum est penetrabilius,” just as though he was 
describing the peculiar property of a modern pointed 
bullet. In the new and _ technical language of 
gunnery ‘“‘motus’’ or ‘“‘motus naturalis’’ is rendered 
precisely by the expression, ‘‘ terminal velocity,’’ the 
velocity at which the retardation of the medium, air, 
is exactly equal to the acceleration of gravity, result- 
ing in a constant speed of fall. That Aristotle ever 
supposed for an instant that a 2-lb. weight fell, in 
the ordinary sense of words, twice as fast as a 1-lb. 
weight is an absurdity. What he taught was that 
the terminal velocity of a heavy body, such as Prof. 
Turner’s sovereign, was greater than the terminal 
velocity of a light body, such as a feather, in a 
medium such as air or water. A penny can never 
fall faster than about 30 ft. a second through air. 
1 performed the experiment last week, dropping 
pennies from Clifton Bridge, 250 ft., into the Avon. 
They take eight or nine seconds to reach the water. 


Sir George Greenhill has often expressed doubts to 


me as to the correctness of the accusation against 
Aristotle’s common sense, but could never persuade a 
scholar to find the passage. A year and a half ago 
he showed me the above reference in the introduction 
of Mr. Lones’s new book on Aristotle’s ‘* Natural 
History,’’ and asked me to lools it up. I consulted St. 
Thomas’s Commentary in the British Museum, with 
the startling result I have mentioned, and fetched 
my former professor over to the reading-room to 
verify my discovery. That he did verify it must be 
my apology as a soldier for intruding into the domains 
usually preserved for scholars and philosophers of the 
highest order. 
. H. Harpcaste. 
27 Cranbrook Road, Bristol, January 9. 


TrEUBNER’S edition of Aristotle’s ‘* Physica” is out of 
print, but the equivalent passage is found in his 
Aristotle’s **De Coelo”’ (C. Prantl), p. 73, where the 
law is enunciated that the terminal velocity of a body 
in a medium is proportional to the weight. 

Aristotle’s law was justified by Newton in his ex- 


~ 
. 


4 


; 


a & 


—— ae 


—— 


'our declination magnet, which is of 


JANUARY 22, 1914] 


periments in St. Paul’s, repeated by Desaguliers, as 
described in the ‘‘ Principia,” lib. ii., prop. x1. 

Aristotle is speaking of motion such as of a rain- 
drop or hailstone falling vertically in the air, or of a 
smoke particle up the chimney; also of a_ stone 
dropping in water, or a bubble rising. 

But in ‘‘De Motu Gravium Naturaliter Accelerato,” 
Galileo is discussing the start of such a body from 
rest, while getting up speed, like a steamer or train 
from a station, when the motion is slow enough for 


_ resistance to be insensible, as he verified on the 


Leaning Tower of Pisa, dropping lead weights. 

A train starts from the station with the full Galilean 
acceleration of the net pull of the engine, but as the 
speed and resistance increases the acceleration falls 
off, and finally, at full speed for the most part of the 
journey, Aristotle’s state of motion is attained, and 
the inertia is eliminated, in the language of the 
engineer. d 

Galileo versus Aristotle can be shown off in a 
tumbler of soda-water, where a bubble starts up from 
the bottom with double Galileo’s gravity acceleration, 
but before it reaches the surface the velocity has 
attained very nearly the terminal velocity of Aristotle. 

I hope Capt. Hardcastle will be encouraged to 
devote his learned leisure to the preparation of a 
“Defence of Aristotle’s Dynamics,’ on the lines of 
Duhem’s recent book, ‘‘ Les précurseurs parisiens de 
Galilée.”’ G. GREENHILL. 

1 Staple Inn, W.C., January 14. 


Tungsten Wire Suspensions for Magnetometers. 


Owi1nG to the troublesome changes of zero and 
torsion constant of the silk suspensions of magneto- 
meters, experiments have been made at the Royal 
Observatory, Greenwich, with the view of finding a 
satisfactory substitute. Quartz fibres were first tried, 
but were too rigid in proportion to their tensile 
strength. Success has, however, been obtained with 
tungsten wires such as are used in metallic filament 
electric lamps. These were suggested to us by Mr. 
F. Jacob, of Messrs. Siemens Bros., who kindly ob- 
tained various samples of wire for us; of these a 
tungsten wire of circular section, and diameter 
20 microns, has been adopted as the suspension for 
the ordinary 
Elliott pattern, weighing about 50 grams. This wire, 
about 25 cm. in length, has now been in use for five 
months, during which time its zero has not changed 
within the limits of measurement, i.e. certainly less 
than 10°; the effect of 90° torsion on the wire is to 
turn the magnet through 4’ (it may be noted that a 
thicker wire, of diameter 51 microns, which was also 
tried, gave a deflection of the magnet of more than 
2° for go° torsion). : 

This success encouraged us to try a similar wire for 
the vibration experiment in the determination of abso- 
lute horizontal force, also with satisfactory results. 
The deflection of the magnet for go° of torsion is 
53’, and the zero is constant, 

For determining the moment of inertia of the de- 
flecting magnet the latter wire was too weak, the 
inertia bar doubling the weight carried. A wire of 
diameter 30 microns is therefore used for this purpose, 
in a separate box. The advantage of tungsten wire 
for moment of inertia experiments is that the torsion 
constant does not vary with the weight borne by the 
wire; with silk suspensions this is not so. 

The ends of the. wire are held by simple squeezing, 
the lower end being gripped between grooved metal 
cheeks held together by a screw collar just as pre- 


NO, 2308, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


585 


viously for the sill fibres. Another device was 
adopted for the top end, consisting of a spring clip 
with a sliding collar; any method involving soldering 
is unsatisfactory. The wire used here can be bought 
for 3d. per foot. S. CHapMan. 
W. W. Bryant. 
Royal Observatory, Greenwich. 


The Pressure of Radiation. 


In his letter of January 1 Prof, Callendar gives his 
reasons for doubting the formula for the pressure of 
radiation as it is usually accepted. He makes use of 
Boltzmann’s proof of the fourth power law for the com- 
plete radiation, extends it to each separate frequency, 


; and deduces that the energy in every frequency ought 


to be proportional to the fourth power of the absolute 
temperature. Since this is known to be untrue he 
concludes : ‘‘ Either Carnot’s principle does not apply, 
or E/v is not equal to 3p for each separate fre- 
quency,” and chooses the latter alternative. But it 
would appear that Prof. Callendar’s use of Carnot’s 
principle is somewhat questionable. For, in order to 
investigate the pressure in an enclosure it is essential 
to alter its volume, and any change of size will bring 


' the Doppler effect into play and cause a small change 


in the frequency of the radiation. If this be taken 
into account, the result leads straight to the displace- 
ment law of Wien—E,=f(AT)/A°—and beyond this 
gives no information. Moreover, a recapitulation of 
Wien’s work with a different law of pressure fails to 
give the displacement law, so that this law must be 


abandoned, if the pressure formula is to be altered. 


Prof. Callendar wishes to change the pressure for- 
mula in the hope of accounting for the observed radia- 
tion curve without making an open breach with our 
present electromagnetic theory. In his paper in the 
October Philosophical Magazine he extends his con- 
ception of caloric from matter to «ther, and obtains 
a formula which fits the radiation curve as well as 
Planck’s. However, his work involves a certain con- 
stant, b, the nature of which he does not discuss very 
fully, and this constant appears to be identical with 
h/k in Planck’s theory, so that ‘‘ molecules of caloric” 
are very closely related to Planck’s quanta. Thus 
the work, which has established that the electro- 
magnetic equations lead inevitably to Rayleigh’s for- 
mula, proves also that according to those equations b 
should vanish; in fact, that in any finite region of the 
zether there ought to be an infinite number of mole- 
cules of caloric. If my reading of his paper is cor- 
rect, it would appear that in extending the caloric idea 
to the zther Prof. Callendar has invented a new and 
helpful way of regarding Planck’s quantum hypo- 
thesis. C. G. Darwin. 

The University, Manchester. 


** Atmospherics ’’ in Wireless Telegraphy. 


Wit reference to Prof. Perry’s interesting letter 
on ‘‘atmospherics’ in Nature of January 8, the fol- 
lowing experience may be of interest. 

Whilst at my instruments on December 12, 1913, 
I was tuning in the Eiffel Tower signals to read the 
7 a.m. press news when the atmospheric disturbances 
became so great that Paris was entirely unreadable, 
the phenomenon continuing for fifteen minutes with- 
out cessation. The aérial was only 35 ft. high, and 
sheltered by other buildings. 

RecinatD F. Durrant. 

121 Broadway, Cricklewood, N.W., 

January ty. 


5860 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 22, 1914 


THE STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM. 


Bhs earliest developments of the electronic 
theory led necessarily to the conclusion that 
in every atom in its normal condition there were 
contained electrons which could be detached from 
it by suitable agencies; these electrons were the 
same in respect of the only two properties attri- 
buted to them, charge and mass, whatever the 
atom in which they were contained. This. con- 
ception of a constituent common to all atoms 
indicated for the first time the possibility of ex- 
plaining the relationships described by the periodic 
law between the properties of different atoms; if 
similar atomic properties represent similar numbers 
or arrangements of electrons, any theory which 
would make these numbers or. arrangements 
periodic functions of the atomic mass would 
explain in some measure those relationships. 

The first attempt to frame such a theory was 
made by Sir J. J. Thomson; the structure which 
he proposed for the atom is so generally known 
that it may be described here with great brevity. 
Since an atom in its normal condition is electrically 
neutral, it is necessary, if the principles of electro- 
statics be accepted, that it should contain a posi- 
tively charged portion, the total charge on which 
is equal and opposite to that of the electrons con- 
tained in the atom. Until recently there was no 
evidence whatsoever as to the form of this posi- 
tively charged portion; accordingly, Thomson 
adopted provisionally the form most convenient 
for his purpose; he supposed that the positive 
charge was distributed uniformly over through- 
out a sphere, the radius of which was taken to 
be the same for all atoms. In addition, he 
assumed that the number of electrons in an atom 
increases regularly with the atomic mass. 

The mathematical problem of determining the 
distribution of N electrons within such a uniformly 
charged positive sphere is capable of partial solu- 
tion whatever the magnitude of N. It can be 
shown that certain distributions are in equilibrium, 
but it cannot generally be shown that it is only 
these distributions that are in equilibrium, nor 
can it be shown generally that the equilibrium is 
stable. The problem of calculating from Thom- 
son’s assumption the structure of an atom is 
therefore not completely determinate; but if it 
be assumed that the distributions which can be | 
calculated are unique and that they are stable, 
certain conclusions can be reached. If almost any 
other assumption concerning the distribution of 
the positive charge on the atom is made, even 
this small amount of progress is impossible. 
Thomson showed that the distributions which 
could be calculated were those in which the elec- 
rons were arranged in circular rings, and that the 
number of electrons in any ring (e.g., the outer- 
most or the innermost) was a periodic function | 
of N, and therefore of the atomic mass. 

Before any theory of this kind can be regarded 
as complete, it must be shown that certain dis- 
tributions of electrons are connected with certain 
properties of the atoms containing them, and it ! 

NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


must be shown that the same distribution of elec- 
trons is connected with the many different Pro 
perties which are found to be associated — 
similar elements. It must be shown, for aa | 
that a certain distribution (which is to be identified 
with an atom of the alkali metals) is necessarily 
connected with electro-positive chemical charac- 
teristics, metallic conductivity, a special type of 
spectral series, and so on. It is necessary that 
the theory should explain the relation between 
different properties of the same element as well as 
that between the same property of different 
elements. Thomson endeavoured . to” correlate 
certain chemical properties with certain electronic 
distributions by showing’ that some of these would 
be likely to lose electrons, leaving the atom posi- 
tively charged, while others would be likely to 
gain them; a difference in the tendency to lose 
electrons would probably lead to a difference in 
respect of metallic conductivity. But in no case 
could any observed atomic property be calculated 
with quantitative agreement from one of the sup- 
posed electronic distributions. The failure was 
especially important in the case of spectra, for the 
frequency of the vibration of the electrons could 
be definitely calculated in some cases, and it 
appeared that the relation between the frequencies 
of different vibrations in the same atom was not 
at all of the same form as that indicated by the 
known spectral series. 

However, there was no definite evidence for 
disbelieving the assumptions underlying Thom- 
son’s theory until investigations were made on 
the scattering of a and B rays. These rays con- 
sist of charged particles which can certainly pass 
through atoms, and it is to be expected that in 
their passage they should be deflected by forces 
exerted between them and the electrons or the 
positive charge in the atom; by examining these 
deflections some indications as to the number of 
the electrons and the nature of the positive charge 
may be obtained. Rutherford and Geiger showed 
that the experimental results were quite irrecon- 
cilable with Thomson’s theory, but that they were 
reconcilable with the view that the positive charge 
in the atom is concentrated on a single particle, 
like the electron of dimensions infinitesimal com- 
pared with the ‘‘radius of the atom’; the number 
of electrons in an atom must be taken as about — 
half the number representing the atomic weight, 
the total charge on the “positive nucleus” being, 
of course, equal and opposite to that on all the 
electrons.t 

The assumption that the whole positive charge 
on an atom is concentrated on a single positive 
particle had _ previously been suggested by 
Nagaoka, but it presents very great difficulties ; 
for it is quite certain that, if the principles of 
mechanics and electrostatics are true, no collec- 
tion of electrons round a positive nucleus can 
possibly be stable, unless all the electrons fall 
into the nucleus forming a single infinitesimal 
neutral particle. It has recently been proposed to 


1 Thomson had already advanced several lines of argument indicating that 
the number of electrons in an atom was not very different from its atomic 
weight, referred to that of hydrogen as unity. 


JANUARY 22, 1914] 


NATURE 


587 


solve this difficulty by denying that the principles | 
of mechanics are true in their application to | 
systems of atomic dimensions. Such a solution 
may appear heroic rather than practical to those 
who have not followed the trend of modern 
physics; those who have know that it is com- 
pletely in accordance with the recent development 
of our ideas. The new conceptions which were 
first introduced by Planck’s theory of radiation, 
and have been applied with such striking results 
to the theory of specific heats and elasticity, are 
directly contradictory of those of the older 
mechanics. They involve the recognition of a 
new “universal constant ” (usually denoted by the 
symbol h), which, like the charge and the mass 
of the electron, is characteristic of all forms of 
matter. The source of many of the difficulties 
connected with the theory of a “positive nucleus ” 
is that such a theory does not introduce sufficient 
quantities to determine an atomic structure; it 
introduces only the charge and mass of an elec- 
tron, and from such quantities neither a length 
(such as the distance apart of the electrons) or 
an energy can be deduced. Thomson’s theory 
rejects the “positive nucleus” and _ introduces 
another quantity, the radius of the atom, but there 
is no reason to believe that it is a ‘universal 
constant.” The newer theories accept the “ posi- 
tive nucleus” and introduce the “universal con- 
stant’ h in place of the radius of the atom. 

Of these theor:es, that of Bohr is the most 
definite. This is not the place to describe the 
precise assumptions made by this theory; it is 
sufficient to say that they are simple, plausible, 
and easily amenable to mathematical treatment ; 
from them all the properties of any atomic system 
which does not contain more than one electron 
can be deduced uniquely.2, There are probably 
only two such atomic systems experimentally 
realisable, the neutral hydrogen atom and _ the 
helium atom, bearing a single positive charge. 
Bohr has calculated the spectra of these systems 
and obtained results which are in exact quantita- 
tive agreement with observation; in respect of 
other properties, the agreement between calcula- 
tion and experiment is as close as can be expected 
in view of the doubts connected with the exact 
connection between these properties and a distribu- 
tion of electrons. The properties of more complex 
atoms cannot he calculated with certainty, owing 
to the mathematical difficulties involved. Indeed, 
theories of atomic structure will probably never 
be very interesting to chemists, for our powers of 
explaining in detail the properties of systems so 
complex as the heavier atoms must be are closely 
limited by the powers of mathematical analysis. 

Bohr’s theory explains more than any previous 
or rival theory, but it does not explain everything. 
It introduces many novel assumptions, of which 
some are quite dubitable, and may have to be 
abandoned. Its great interest lies rather in the 


2 One of the assumptions ori. inally proposed by Van den Broek is especially 
interesting. It is that the number of electrons in an atom in its uncharged 
state is equal to that representing its position in the series of elements 
arranged. in order tof their atomic weights. Thus hydrogen has r electron, 
helium 2, lithium 3, and soon This simple assumption leads to the result 
that the num! er. of electrons is abou half the atomic weight, and, of course, 

t gives a simple reason for that rela‘ion. 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


nature of the ideas which it introduces than in the 
exact explanation of atomic properties to which it 
leads. It not only rejects the principles of 
mechanics, which the most conservative are being 
slowly driven to abandon, but it indicates that 
fundamental propositions are to take their 
place. To attempt to explain Bohr’s theory 
in terms of those principles is useless; it 
is impossible to explain why certain  pro- 
positions are not true by assuming that they are 
true. There are only two alternatives open to the 
modern theoretical physicist: he may either sup- 
pose that the principles of the older mechanics 
are true, and that all the brilliant results which 
have followed from the application of the con- 
ceptions of Planck and Einstein to the most 
diverse phenomena are illusory and devoid of 
evidential value; or he may suppose that they 
are not true. Bohr’s theory offers him the choice 
in its most striking form, Norman CamMpveE.. 


THE AUSTRALIAN MEETING OF. THE 
BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 
g iiiene eighty-fourth meeting of the British Asso- 
ciation will be opened in Adelaide on August 
8, 1914, under the presidency of Prof. W. Bateson, 
F.R.S. On four previous occasions the associa- 
tion has met outside the British Isles; three times 
in Canada, and once in South Africa. Now, for 
the first time, a visit is to be made to the most 
distant portion of the Empire. 

The invitation was conveyed at the Sheffield 
meeting in 1910 by the Australian High Com- 
missioner and Prof. Orme Masson, F.R.S., acting 
on behalf of the Commonwealth Government. 
Since then arrangements have been proceeding for 
the fitting reception in the various Australian 
States of a considerable body of visitors from 
Britain. The sum of 15,000]. has been set aside 
by the Federal Parliament to defray the ocean 
passages of at least 150 members; in addition, 
the Government has undertaken the issue of a 
large handbook of permanent scientific value 
which will contain contributions by Mr. G. H. 
Knibbs, C.M.G., Hon. T. Pearce, M.P., Profs. 
Baldwin Spencer, F.R.S., Edgeworth David, 
F.R.S., Harrison Moore, and many others. The 
State Governments are giving active support in 
granting railway facilities, issuing handbooks 
supplementary to the larger Federal work, and 
in making direct contributions to the local ex- 
penses of the meeting; whilst, of course, every 
university is most heartily adding its full assist- 
ance. 

Official meetings will be held in Adelaide (for 
four days), Melbourne (seven days), Sydney 
(seven days), and Brisbane (four days), extending 
from August 8 until September 1, but the ordinary 
proceedings of sections will take place in Sydney 
and Melbourne only, three sessions being’ held in 
each city. Western Australia is not included in 
the itinerary of the main body of visiting mem- 
bers, but special arrangements are being made 
for an advance party of seventy to visit that State 
between July 28 and August 4. This party will be 


88 


On 


NATURE 


| JANUARY 22, 1914 


tific study of the geology, botany, and zoology 
of the districts readily accessible from Perth. 
The Irwin River coal beds, the goldfields, the 
caves at Yallingup, Bunbury, and other places 
will be visited. 

So far as it is at all possible, official functions 
in the Eastern States will be limited in number, 
and members will be given considerable oppor- 
tunity to see the country within reasonable dis- 
tance of the capitals. The week-ends are to be 
kept for this purpose throughout, and those who 
feel equal to further travelling after the long 
journeys between the main centres will find abun- 
dant outlet for their energies on the excursions 
which have been planned. From Adelaide a small 
party will visit the mines at Broken Hill; others 
will proceed to the Sturt and Hallett’s Cove, 
while numerous trips of shorter distance are ar- 
ranged. From Melbourne, visits will be paid to 
the National Park at Wilson’s Promontory (a 
sanctuary for native game), to the gold districts 
of Ballarat and Bendigo, and to the glacier forma- 
tions of Bacchus Marsh. Sydney supplies many 
interesting and lengthy excursions for its week- 
end, and its local committee has kept from the 
Friday evening until the following Tuesday morn- 
ing quite free from formal gatherings. _ The 
Federal Capital site, the huge Burrinjuck Reser- 
voir, the Cobar Mines, the Jenolan Caves, and 
the Maitland coal district are among the places 
offered for the traveller’s choice. From Brisbane 
the Nambour and Blackall ranges will be visited, 
also the Gympie Mines and the Ipswich Engineer- 
ing Works. For those specially interested who 
can remain a short time after the conclusion of 
the meeting, excursions to Mount Morgan, Towns- | 


ville, and more distant places will be possible. 

It has been a difficult matter to include in the 
programme so much touring and yet to do justice 
to the hospitality of official persons and bodies in 
the different States. Receptions and luncheons, 
together with the regular sectional meetings and 
the. evening discourses, make a very full pro- 
gramme. The details of this were drawn up in 
Australia earlier in the year, and will before long 
be finally adopted with some amendments sug- 
«ested by the council of the association. Prof. 
Bateson will deliver his presidential address in 
two parts at Melbourne and Sydney on August 14 
and 20 respectively. The list of lecturers for the 
evening discourses, at present receiving the con- 
sideration of the council, is a long one. 

It is interesting to learn that applications for 
inclusion in the oversea party, both from British 
and from foreign and colonial members, have 
been greatly in excess of all estimates. In fact, 
it seems likely that Australia’s very strong desire 
that the whole party, without exception, should 
be treated as guests during their stay in the 
Commonwealth, must give way before the unex- 
pectedly large number of visitors. Special 
arrangements have been made with steamship 
companies for reduced passage rates by way both 


XO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


ITH 


of the Suez Canal and South Africa. Members 
will leave England about the end of June or the 
beginning of July. In the choice of route for the 
return journey, many possibilities are open, of 
which perhaps the most attractive is that vid Port 
Moresby (the chief town in Papua), Darwin (in 
the northern territory), and three ports in Java. 

In Australia the main directing body is the 
Federal Council, under the presidency of the Hon. 
the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth and the 
chairmanship of Prof. Orme Masson. Strong 
local committees are also at work in each capital. 
Quite independently, New Zealand is preparing to 
receive a small group of members at the conclu- 
sion of the Sydney session. 

A great deal is expected from this visit of the 
British Association. In a prosperous and sparsely 
populated country where Nature bestows gifts 
readily and liberally, the application of scientific 
methods in the great primary industries seems to 
be less called for than it is under less abundant 
natural conditions. Hence, perhaps, the general 
appreciation of scientific labour, whether for its 
own sake or in the pursuit of material ends, is 
apt to be lessened. ‘That Australians recognise 
the danger of this is attested by the cordiality, 
shown on every hand, of the invitation extended 
to the British Association. Australia requires and 
welcomes the stimulus of the association in its 
academic, economic, and industrial life, and it 
offers in return an exceedingly varied field for the 
observation and investigation of its visitors. 


A REMARKABLE ANTICIPATION 
DARWIN.1 

E presidential address to the Linnean Society 
of London, delivered last May by Prof. 
E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., and recently published in 
separate form, deals with a truly astonishing work 
by G. W. Sleeper, printed, apparently, in Boston, 
U.S.A., in the year 1849, and containing an anti- 
cipation of modern views on evolution and the 
causes and transmission of disease, which, con- 
sidering all the circumstances, is extraordinary. 

The work, which is a small pamphlet of some 
thirty-six pages, was sent by an American gentle- 
man, Mr. R. B. Miller, to the late Dr. Alfred Russel 
Wallace, who forwarded it to Prof. Poulton with 
an interesting letter quoted in the latter’s address. 
Dr. Wallace justly observed that the author’s 
“anticipation of diverging lines of descent from a 
common ancestor, and of the transmission of 
disease germs by means of insects, are perfectly 
clear and very striking.” 

It is well known that the idea of the derivation 
of species by descent, and even of the operation 
of natural selection, had occurred to other thinkers 
before Darwin. The passage cited by Darwin 
himself from the “Physica Auscultationes” of 
Aristotle shows, though its import has often been 
misunderstood, that the Greek philosopher had 


OF 


1 A Remarkable American Work upon Evolution and the Germ Theory 
of. Disease. Address delivere! by Prof. Fd. B, Poul on, President of the 
Linnean Society, at the anniversary meeting of the society on May 24, 1913, 


- JANUARY 22, 1914] 


NATURE 589 


before his mind the doctrine of natural selection. 
‘the medieval schoolmen were by no means 
wedded to the theory of special creation, and in 
the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the 
transformist view was freely canvassed, without, 
however, making much way among’ scientific 
thinkers. The ‘ Historical Introduction ” prefixed 
to the later editions of the “Origin of Species ”’ 
gives an account of several anticipations, more or 
less exact, of the Darwinian theory. 

But the present treatise goes far beyond most, 
if not all, previous attempts at solving the problem 
of evolution. The clear grasp shown by the 
author of the Darwinian principles of the struggle 
for life, and origin of fresh species by the preserva- 
tion of those forms best adapted for their environ- 
ment, his advocacy of the persistence of germinal 
characters, and the very terminology that he uses, 
might well suggest a doubt as to whether the 
pamphlet is really what it professes to be, or 
whether it is not, in fact, a cleverly devised fabrica- 
tion with a falsified date. We find, for example, 
such expressions as the following :—‘“ Life owes 
its faint beginning to primal germs. . . per- 
vading the entire terrestrial atmosphere; and, 
perhaps, the entity of the Cosmos”; “everywhere 
about us we see waged the pitiless battle for 
life . . . the useless perish, the useful live and 
improve”; ‘‘Man and the Ape are co-descended 
from some primary type”; ‘The life germ resi- 
dent in Man transmitted to his descendants goes 
on existing indefinitely.” Here are anticipations, 
not only of Darwin, but also of Arrhenius, Galton 
and Weismann. Not less surprising are his 
enunciation of the germ-theory of disease, his 
experiments on the cultivation’ of streptococci 
from a sore throat, with the use as a germ-filter 
of cotton wool sterilised by heat, his suggestion of 
the action of phagocytes, and his recommendation 
of metal gauze protective frames for doors and 
windows in order to ward off infection carried 
by insects. 

The question of the genuineness and authenticity 
of the pamphlet is carefully discussed by Prof. 
Poulton. The evidence on the point is perhaps 
not absolutely conclusive; but it may fairly be 
said that after weighing the interesting informa- 
tion brought together by Prof, Poulton respect- 
ing the book and its author, few will doubt that 
Mr. Sleeper’s work was really printed and pub- 
lished at the time stated, and that it contains one 
of the most remarkable anticipations of modern 
views and forms of expression respecting evolu- 
tion and the germ-theory of disease that have yet 
come to light. F. A. D. 


THE RECENT VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS IN 
JAPAN. 
LTHOUGH the resulting destruction of life 
and property has happily been far less than 
was indicated by the early accounts, yet there 
can be no doubt that a volcanic outburst of great 
magnitude has taken place in Japan. The vulcan- 
ologists of Tokyo have for some time past 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


noticed indications of unrest in the vast crater of 
Asama, in central Japan, but it is on the fissure 
of Satsuma, at the extreme south of the archi- 
pelago, that the recent disasters have occurred. 
Of the four great volcanoes on this fissure the 
most northern, Kirishima (5535 ft. high), burst 
into eruption some weeks ago, and the outburst 
became paroxysmal simultaneously with that of 
Sakurajami. Sakurajami is an island mountain 
in the Gulf of Kagoshima, rising to the height of 
3743 ft., with three apparently extinct craters 
eight miles distant from the town of Kagoshima. 
The only indications of volcanic activity up to the 
time of the recent outburst were some hot spring's 


| and a few steam jets appearing on the southern 


crater after heavy snow or rain. The island and 
adjoining portion of Kiusiu have long been famous 
for their fertility. 

There may be some truth in the tradition that 
the volcano of Sakurajami was formed by a great 
eruption in 796 A.p., and it is asserted that no 
considerable outburst took place from it between 
that date and 1779, when an eruption accompanied 
by a great seismic sea-wave covered the five miles 
of water between the island and Kagoshima, so 
that people could walk across it. The general 
rule that a quiescence of long duration is followed 
in volcanoes by an eruption of exceptional violence 
is illustrated in this case, for the dormancy of the 
voleano after the outburst of 1779 has lasted 135 
years. 

Warning of impending disaster was given on 
January 10 by loud rumblings and earthquake 
shocks, and these increased in frequency and 
violence, so that on the following day they were 
noted as taking place at intervals of three to five 
minutes. On the morning of January 11 a rent 
was seen to be formed about one-third up the 
mountain side, a column of steam and dust being 
thrown up to the height of 1,000 ft., and this was 
followed by the appearance of three other fissures. 
In spite of assertions to the contrary, it is doubt- 
ful if lava flowed from either of these rents. Forty 


| minutes later, eruption took place from one of the 


summit craters, a column rising to the estimated 
height of 2700 ft. 

This outburst was accompanied by an earth- 
quake felt over the whole island of Kiusiu, and a 
seismic wave on the sea, while volcanic dust fell 
on Kagoshima, where it accumulated to depths 
variously estimated from 2 to 15 ft.; the dust 
reached Nagasaki, roo miles away, on January 
13, and Tokyo.and Yokohama, 600 miles off, on 
January 14. On this last date it is said that “the 
west side of the volcano blew out,” and this was 
accompanied by another earthquake and seismic 
sea-wave. Whether this last occurrence indicates 
the formation of a larger fissure or a great new 
crater is not clear, and, although decline of the 
volcanic action is reported, it may be doubtful if 
the eruptions are yet really at an end. 

(Telegrams from Japan, since the above was 
written, indicate that doubt as to the cessation of 
the eruptions was justified.) 


- 599 


NOTES. 

Upon inquiry made shortly before going to press 
yesterday we learned with regret that Sir David Gill 
was not quite so well; his condition is still a cause 
of anxiety. 


WE record with regret the death on Wednesday 
morning, January 21, in his ninety-fourth year, of 
Lord Strathcona, High Commissioner in London for 
the Dominion of Canada, and Chancellor of McGill 
University, Montreal, and the University of Aberdeen. 


Tue Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Peters- 
burg has elected Sir Edward Thorpe as a correspond- 
ing member. 


Mr. G. W. Hess has been appointed to succeed the 
late Mr. C. Leslie Reynolds, as superintendent of the 
National Botanic Garden, Washington. 


Mr. J. I. Craic has been transferred from the 
directorship of the meteorological section of the 
Egyptian Survey Department to the controllership of 
the Department of Statistics, and has been succeeded 
at the survey by Mr. H. E. Hurst. 

Mr. W. D. Marks, formerly Whitney professor of 
dynamic engineering at the University of Penn- 
sylvania, has died at the age of sixty-four. He had 
been consulting engineer to several of the leading 
American cities, and was the author of a large number 
of scientific reports and papers. y 

Tue death is reported, in his sixty-eighth year, of 
Dr. S. C. Chandler, of Wellesley, Mass. From 1864 
to 1870 he served on the U.S. Coast Survey. He then 
spent fifteen years as a life insurance actuary. In 
1896 he became editor of The Astronomical Journal, 
In recognition of his researches, Dr. Chandler had re- 
ceived the Watson gold medal, and the gold medal of 
the Royal Astronomical Society. 


Mr. A. H. Core, a well-known American writer and 
lecturer on biological subjects, has died at Chicago at 
the age of fifty-seven. He had been connected suc- 
cessively with the Peddie Institute, Colgate Univer- 
sity, the University of Chicago, and the Chicago 
Teachers’ College. He developed a method of demon- 
strating the movement of sap in the leaves of plants, 
and also a plan of teaching biology from living plants 
and animals with a projection microscope. He also 
made important contributions to the production of 
anaesthesia in animals used in zoological laboratories. 


Recent American obituary includes the name of 
Prof. Winslow Upton, for nearly thirty years head of 
the department of astronomy at Brown University, 
Providence, R.I., and director of the Ladd Observa- 
tory since its erection in 1891. He was born in 1853, 
and held various posts in connection with the U.S. 
Lake Survey, the U.S. Naval Observatory, and the 
U.S. Signal Service, before receiving his academic 
appointment. He had taken part in several important 
eclipse expeditions, and in 1896-7 was absent on leave 
from Brown University for work at the southern 
station of Harvard University at Arequipa, Peru. 

Tue City of London Entomological and Natural 
History Society and the North London Natural History 

NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 22, I9I4 


Society have been amalgamated to form the London 
Natural History Society. Meetings of the new society 
are held at Hall 20, Salisbury House, Finsbury Circus, 
London, on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. 
The new society starts its career with 190 members 
and sixty associates, and it has branches at Chingford 
and Woodford. Mr. L. B. Prout is president, and 
Mr. T. R. Brooke, 12 Warren Road, Chingford, with 
Mr. J. Ross, 18 Queen’s Grove Road, Chingford, are 
joint secretaries. 


Tue late Capt. Scott's original journals written 
during his expedition to the south pole, have been 
placed on view in the manuscript department of the 
British Museum. The journals are to be exhibited to 
the public for an indefinite period, and it is to be 
hoped they may remain permanently in the British 
Museum. The records are contained in nine large 
notebooks, in which are the entries, written in ink, 
made on board the Terra Nova and after the party 
had landed at its headquarters ; and six smaller books, 
of which three were used for the earlier sledging 
journeys, and three were taken to the pole. 


Tue views of Mr. R. Mond on the desirability of 
feeding infants on raw milk and the little danger of 
tuberculous infection thefefrom, referred to in NATURE, 
January 8, p. 537, have, according to The Times, 
aroused considerable interest. Mr, Charles Bathurst, 
M.P., speaking at a meeting of the Gloucestershire 
Farmers’ Union, expressed his concurrence with the 
views of Mr. Mona, and submitted that the Royal 
Commission on Tuberculosis in its final report had 
gone far beyond its own experiments in assuming 
that human and bovine tuberculosis are intercom- 
municable. Sir James Barr and Dr. Latham, on the 
other hand, consider that there is a real danger of 
contracting tuberculosis from raw milk. 


A LEAGUE, entitled the ‘‘ Lega Nazionale per la Prote- 
zione dei Monumenti Naturali,’’ has recently been 
formed in Italy for the protection of the fauna and 
flora of the country, and of such geological and geo- 
graphical features as are of scientific and esthetic 
interest. The existence of these objects of natural 
beauty and interest is now threatened from various 
sides, and to so great an extent that concerted action 
is necessary for their preservation. The headquarters 
of the league are in Rome, Prof. R. Pirotta, the 
director of the Royal Botanical Institute of Rome, 
being president of the organising committee. The 
association hopes to accomplish its object by the assist- 
ance of (1) an active propaganda, including publica- 
tions, conferences, excursions, &c.; (2) legislative 
enactments for the safeguarding of natural objects of 
interest ; (3) the establishment of reserves and national 
parks. The executive council includes a zoologist, i 
botanist, a geologist, a geographer, and an agricul 
turist. 


Tue probability that another Antarctic expedition 
will be in the field at the same time and in the same 
quarter as Sir Ernest Shackleton’s appears to afford 
reason for nothing but satisfaction, as the objects of 
the two are not mutually exclusive. Dr. Felix Konig 
intends to lead an Austrian expedition from Buenos 


; 
i 
; 


JANUARY 22, 1914] 


Aires in the middle of this year. His base will be in 
the Weddell Sea, and he has planned sledging expedi- 
tions for three parties.in different directions for the 
exploration of the adjacent parts of the Antarctic 
continent, followed by an advance to the pole. His 
scheme, except in so far as it does not include a 
journey across the continent, as Shackleton’s does, 
certainly resembles the latter closely, but it can scarcely 
be supposed that there is not room for both. — Dr. 
K6nig’s expedition will carry a wireless telegraphic 
installation, and leave another in South Georgia. With 
his experience in the recent German expedition, and 
the advice of Count Wilczek and Capt. Amundsen, Dr. 
Konig is well fitted for success, and between Sir 
Ernest Shackleton’s work and his the great physio- 
graphical problem of the relationship between the 
eastern and western parts of the Antarctic land-area 
should in two or three veavs be on the way toward 
solution. 


Tue collection of the late Dr. Franklin Parsons, 
formerly of the Local Government Board Medical Ser- 
vice, has been left to the Croydon Museum, and con- 
sists of many thousands of geological, zoological, and 
botanical specimens. Unfortunately, the Corporation 
of Croydon has not at present seen its way to accept 
the valuable bequest. A proposal of the Roads Com- 
mittee, which has the care of the park in which the 
Grange Wood Museum is situated, that the gift should 
be declined, was referred back, so that the collection 
might be examined by experts before a final decision 
is arrived at. A great deal of the collection is of 
considerable local interest. Some expense would be 
incurred for arranging and housing the collection, and 
there is a growing feeling that the oversight of the 
museum should now be transferred to the Libraries 
Committee, with a regular annual grant for its up- 
keep. The specimens now bequeathed are for the 
most part in good condition, and accurately labelled, 
and would be acceptable to any !ocal museum. It is 
proposed by experts who are now examining the 
collection that the duplicates should be distributed 
amongst the schools in the borough, and no doubt 
in any case these will be greatly enriched by the 
bequest. An opportunity is now afforded of putting 
the Croydon Museum on a sound basis as regards 
upkeep and development. 


THE question of the systematic teaching of the prin- 
ciples of anthropology raised, not for the first time, 
by Sir R. Temple, at the Birmingham meeting of the 
British Association, has now reached a practical stage. 
The proposal, supported by distinguished adminis- 
trators in India and the Colonies, finds further justifi- 
cation in the recent report of the Commission on 
University Education in London, which states that 
“it is almost as important that officials, and others 
intending to spend their lives in the East or in parts 
of the Empire inhabited by non-European races, should 
have a knowledge of their racial characteristics as 
that they should be acquainted with their speech, and 
we believe that the Colonial Office shares this view.” 
The scheme now prepared by a committee provides for 
the collaboration of the Royal Anthropological Insti- 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


591 


tute, the British Association, the universities, the 
Foreign, India, and Colonial Offices, and the Civil 
Service Commissioners, in supporting existing schools 
of anthropology, establishing them where they do not 
exist, and providing laboratories, libraries, and 
museums. In support of these proposals a meeting 
is announced to be held at Drapers’ Hall, on Thursday, 
February 19, with the Earl of Selborne in the chair, 
when a deputation will be appointed to lay the pro- 
posals before the Prime Minister. The matter has 
been more than once brought before the Ministry, but 
never with such well-organised support; and it will 
be little short of a scandal if these representations fail 
to secure the adequate settlement of a question of 
great public importance. 


A RouTE by which it is possible to penetrate to the 
bottom of the Vesuvian crater, more than 1200 ft. 
below its rim, was discovered some time ago by Prof. 
Alessandro Malladra, and has already been utilised 
for the purpose of obtaining a kinematograph film, 
Mr. F. Burlingham, an American operator—who had 
already shown his skill and boldness by getting a 
pictorial record of an ascent of the Matterhorn— 
accompanied by two of the “crystal-hunters ” of Vesu- 
vius, acting as porters, accomplished the difficult 
feat without misadventure either from stone 
avalanches or poisonous gases, and the results of the 
undertaking are now being exhibited in London. 
Although these results are more important from a 
spectacular than from a scientific point of view, yet 
there can be little doubt that Mr. Burlingham, by 
proving that not only can a descent be safely made, 
but that heavy apparatus may be conveyed to the 
crater-floor, has paved the way for scientific work, in 
which temperature observations, the collection of 
gases for analysis, and similar investigations may be 
carried out. In The Times of January 13 Mr. Burl- 
ingham has given, under the title, ‘Inside Vesuvius : 
Lessons from a Descent of the Crater,” a very clear 


and modest account of his remarkable feat. He be- 
lieves that his observations indicate that a new 
eruption of Vesuvius is more imminent than the 


officials at the observatory anticipate, but he at the 
same time admits that the formation of a lateral vent 
and flow of lava on the flanks of the mountain may 
falsify his predictions on the subject. The kinemato- 
graph has already proved its usefulness in many lines 
of scientific research, and may in the future render 
valuable aid in vulcanological studies. 


Dr. E. T. Witson, president of the Cheltenham 
Natural History Society, has published a useful paper 
on the long-barrow men of the Cotswolds. He gives 
a’ good summary of the excavations of a large series 
of barrows, describing their construction, and the 
furniture of the interments. The history of their 
builders, he remarks, ‘‘teems with contradictions and 
puzzles which will require for their solution the addi- 
tional evidence to be obtained by the opening up of 
unexplored barrows in Gloucestershire and Wilts.” 
But as much valuable material has already been lost 
by careless investigations, it may be hoped that future 
excavation will be deferred until it can be systematic- 
ally undertaken by qualified experts. 


592 


To the June issue of the Bull. Ac. Sci. Cracovie for 
1913, Pp. 335-412, Mr. Jan Nowak contributes the 
third part of his illustrated memoir on the ammonites 
and other cephalopods of the Upper Tertiary of 
Poland, with descriptions of several new species. 


AccorDINnG to the Zoological Society Bulletin (New 
York) for November, the longest, although by no 
means the heaviest, lobster on record was received at 
the New York Aquarium in September. It measured 
38 in. in length, and weighed 21 Ib.; in 1887 the 
aquarium received a specimen measuring 24 in. in 
length, and weighing 34 lb., this, so far as known, 
being the record for weight. 


Tue affinity between the Tertiary mammalian faunas 
of eastern Europe and North America indicated by 
the occurrence of Titanotherium in the former area 
is strengthened, if the generic determination be cor- 
rect, by Mr. Niezabitowski’s reference (Bull. Ac. Sci. 
Cracovie, 1913, pp. 223-25), of an imperfect rhino- 
ceros skull from the Pliocene of Odessa to the North 
American Tertiary genus, Teleoceras, under the name 
of T. ponticus. Although the upper teeth present 
considerable resemblance to those of Aceratherium 
schlosseri from Samos and A. blanfordi of Baluchis- 
tan, they are stated to come still closer to those of the 
American genus. 


Tue exchange of plants between botanical gardens 
in various parts of the world is well known to have 
a considerable influence upon the geographical distri- 
bution of invertebrate animals. A classical example 
of this is the occurrence, first made known in 1880, 
of the fresh-water medusa, Limnocodium sowerbyi, in 
the Victoria regia tanks of the Royal Botanical Society 
in Regent’s Park. In 1892 a remarkable fresh-water 
Oligochete was discovered by Beddard in the same 
situation, and named by him Branchiura sowerbyi, 
one of its most interesting features being the posses- 
sion of branchial appendages on the hinder. part of 
the body. Otherwise the worm closely resembles the 
common European Tubifex. Branchiura has _ since 
been found in India, which is now believed to be its 
native habitat. It has also appeared in several places 
in Europe, and in a recently published memoir (Zeit- 
schrift ftir wissenschaftliche Zoologie, Bd. cvii., 
p- 199) Friedrich Keyl makes some contributions to 
our knowledge of the anatomy of this remarkable 
worm, and summarises our knowledge of its distri- 
bution. It occurs in large numbers in the Victoria 
Regia house at Gottingen, and has been found in 
similar situations at Hamburg, Frankfurt a.M. and 
Dublin, while in the mild climate of Tournon, in the 
south of France, it has naturalised itself in the Rhone. 
Such facts as these clearly demonstrate the necessity 
of a thorough investigation of the terrestrial inverte 
brate fauna of the earth before the problems of geo- 
graphical distribution have become more seriously com- 
plicated by human agency. 


J. van BareEN, in a paper published, with a German 
summary, by E. J. Brill, of Leyden, emphasises the 
existence of an older and a younger series of dunes, 
separated by a peat layer, on the northern part of the 
coast of Holland, .and attributes the break between 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 22, 1914 


them to an elevation of the land. Subsidence in the 
Christian era has given us the outlying islands and 
the straight west coast of the country, on which 
marine denudation is at work. 


Tue Canadian Department of Mines has issued the 
first Bulletin of the Victoria Memorial Museum in 
Ottawa, an institution which, in its new and’ handsome 
building, was obviously fated to have a journal of its 
own. -Palzontology is naturally prominent, since the 
museum is under the care of the Geological Survey; 
but it may be hoped that this connection will lead to 
the establishment of a natural history survey for the 
Dominion, based on the explorations which are due to 
the energetic geological branch. . 


Dr. G. Linck’s Fortschritte der Mineralogie Kris- 
tallographie, und Petrographie, which is the organ 
of the German Mineralogical Society, continues to 
justify its existence by the publication of authoritative 
essays on the progress of the sciences concerned. In 
vol. iii. for 1913 (price 10 marks) R. Mare discusses 
the mineralogical significance of the chemistry 
of colloids, and F. Rinne has an important paper, with 
a bibliography, on the decomposition of zeolites. 


Mr. S. Fuyiwnara has recently published an im- 
portant memoir on the abnormal propagation of 
sound-waves in the atmosphere (Bull. of the Centr. 
Meteor. Obs. of Japan, vol. ii., pp. 1-143). The 
observations on which his work is based are chiefly 
those of the sound-waves due to the eruptions of 
Asama (Central Japan) from 1909 to 1912 (see NaTURE, 
vol. Ixxxix., pp. 487-8). The principal facts to be 
explained are the great extension of the region of 
audibility in a special direction, as a rule easterly, 
from the source of sound, the division of the sound- 
area into two parts, with an intervening silent region, 
and the repetition of the sounds with intervals of a 
few seconds in certain districts. Mr. Fujiwhara’s 
investigation, which is mainly mathematical, leads 
him to the conclusion that variations of the wind- 
velocity are chiefly responsible for the anomalous pro- 
pagation of the sound-waves. He shows that, when 
the eruptions occur under normal weather conditions, 
with the velocity of the wind increasing with the 
height above the ground, then the anti-trade winds 
and monsoons would assist the easterly propagation 
of the sound-waves, and there would be no silent 
regions and no repetition of the sound. But if, as 
one example, the velocity of the wind should increase 
with the height up to a certain altitude and then 
decrease, a silent region should exist within certain 
limits, and the sound should be heard twice or thrice 
in others owing to the sound-rays following different 
paths from the source to the multiple-sound area. 


In Science Progress for January Sir Oliver Lodge’s 
presidential address to the British Association is dis- 
cussed from two points of view by Dr. F. C. S. 
Schiller (“The Logic of Science”’), and by Mr. H. S. 
Shelton (‘The Philosophy of Science”). Dr. F. W. 
Mott’s third Chadwick lecture on the influence of 
nutrition and of education in mental development 
occupies some twenty pages, and Prof. Priestley pub- 
lishes a second instalment of his article on enzymes 


JANUARY 22, 1414] 


as synthetic agents. One of the most interesting 
general articles is that contributed by Dr. E. Halford 
Ross on recent advances in our knowledge of syphilis, 
in which an account is given of the results obtained 
in the course of the McFadden researches at the 
Lister Institute; the complete cycle of development 
of the sexual and asexual elements of the Lympho- 
cytozoon pallidum, which is held to be responsible for 
the disease, is described and illustrated. One of the 
most important results established is the occurrence 
in nature of syphilis in the rabbit and other lower 
animals. 

For some years past the British Fire Prevention 
Committee has been directing attention to the question 
of the danger of celluloid, more particularly in con- 
nection with the kinematograph film trade. A special 
report, having the title, “Celluloid Dangers with 
Some Suggestions,” has been compiled on behalf of 
the committee, and was recently laid before the Cellu- 
loid Committee of the Home Office, which has 
adopted many of its suggestions. The report is, how- 
ever, largely intended for the guidance of local autho- 
rities, with the view of showing what appears to be 
technically possible, so that the authorities may be 
assisted in their administration and guided in intro- 
ducing bylaws to minimise the dangers. The report, 
which is illustrated and supplemented with tables, is 
divided into two parts; the first deals with the dangers 
of celluloid, including films, the various uses to which 
celluloid is put, and the large number of fires in which 
it has been a feature; the second part deals with the 
methods of extinguishing celluloid fires, and suggests 
possible safeguards. The report is obtainable from the 
committee’s offices, 8 Waterloo Place, Pall Mall, S.W. 


Own several previous occasions attention has been 
directed in these columns to the Bulletin of the Cal- 
cutta Mathematical Society, not so much on account 
of the original papers published in it as because it 
contains notes, reviews, and short notices of a mis- 
cellaneous and personal character attempting to 
chronicle the main events which are passing in the 
mathematical world. We have now received vol. i., 
No. 4, January, 1913 the date of receipt at the offices 
of Nature being November 8, 1913. It possesses all 
these excellent features in a similar degree to its pre- 
decessors, but it will be found that all the ‘‘ Notes and 
News” refer to the year 1909. Information of a 
somewhat similar kind is published regularly in the 
Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, but 
here, however, the activity and energy of American 
and German mathematicians quite throws British in- 
terests into the shade. Neither the Proceedings of 
the London Mathematical Society nor the Mathe- 
matical Gazette attempts anything of this kind, both 
being published in the interests of writers rather than 
of readers. It is surely desirable that some further 
attempt should be made to keep both the mathe- 
maticians and the non-mathematicians of Greater 
Britain posted up in the events that are taking place 
in the mathematical world. 


We have received a copy of a paper on an electrical 
measuring machine read before the Institution of 
Mechanical Engineers in April last, by Dr. P. E. 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


593 


Shaw. The machine is intended for the accurate 
measurement of length gauges with plane or spherical 
ends, and makes use of the principle of electrical 
touch, that is, contact with the end surfaces is deter- 
mined when a telephone circuit is completed thereby. 
End gauges may be compared with line standards, 
and comparative readings can be relied on to 1/10,000 
of a millimetre. With a measuring machine of this 
high order of accuracy it is possible to show that 
some of the end gauges at present in use in engineer- 
ing practice have errors amounting to 15/10,000 of a 
millimetre. It appears that the gauges turned out by 
Johansson, of Sweden, and by some of the American 
machinists are so accurate as to demand the best 
available measuring appliances to detect their errors. 
The machine has been installed at the National 
Physical Laboratory. 

Tue December issue of the Journal of the Franklin 
Institute contains, among other articles, a paper by 
Mr. F. W. Peek, jun., dealing with the “dielectric 
circuit’ from the view-point of high-voltage engineer- 
ing. Mr. Peek devotes most space to transmission 
lines, and points out that air is the principal insula- 
tion, the line insulation being used for mechanical 
support. The dielectric circuit was not until recently 
understood, but it is now known that breakdown of 
insulation occurs when this is too much stressed, i.e. 
when the dielectric flux is too dense. Gaseous and 
liquid insulators, broadly speaking, behave in the same 
manner. It has been observed that the surface flux 
density, or the gradient at which visual corona starts 
or breakdown occurs, is higher for small conductors 
than for large ones—that is, air round small con- 


ductors has an apparently greater strength than 
around large ones. Investigation, however, has 


shown that the following explanation is probably cor- 
rect. The strength of the air is constant, and is equal 
to 30 kilovolts per cm., but energy is necessary to 
start rupture. Therefore rupture cannot start at the 
surface, but only after the surface gradient has been 
increased sufficiently to store the rupturing energy 
between the conductor surface and a distance of 
0-301 Vroom. away in air, where r is the radius of the 
conductor. The author deals with the grading of 
cables, the methods of breakdown in solid insulators, 
&c., and shows how, by the production of water 
vapour, the needle gap method of measuring voltages 
may give readings anything up to jo per cent. too 
high when voltages are being measured. ‘The use of 
spheres is recommended. 

Tue Journal of the Royal Society of Arts for De- 
cember 5, 1913, contains a paper on perfumery, read 
before the society by Mr. J. C. Umney. The con- 
tribution consists largely of an account of the natural 
odoriferous oils and the various synthetic products 
used in perfumes. It is pointed out that whilst Rim- 
mel in 1860 classified the essential oils chiefly accord- 
ing to their source—animal, floral, herbal, and so on— 
a classification based upon the main chemical con- 
stituents of the oils could now be adopted. Thus the 
geranium oils, citronella oil, and otto of rose, all 
containing the alcohol geraniol, are distinguished as 
the geraniol group; the linalol group includes lavender, 
neroli, and bergamot oils; and the eugenol group con- 


594 NATURE 


[JANUARY 22, 1914 


tains the oils of clove, pimento, and bay. Mention is 
made of the fact that there is a systematic manufac- 
ture of bodies designed solely for the purpose of 
adulterating perfumes; the adulterants include gly- 
ceryl acetates, ethyl citrate, laurate, succinate, and 
phthalate, and methyl phthalate. Some stress is laid 
on the bactericidal properties possessed by certain of 
the essential oils; for example, origanum oil, the most 
effective of those referred to, is stated to have a 
“carbolic acid coefficient’ of 25-76, attributable to the 
high proportion of carvacrol it contains. Other 
examples of such coefficients are given, ranging down 
to 4-94 for lavender oil and 1-0 for oil of cade. It is 
stated that the protective power of lemongrass in 
keeping off the tsetse-fly has led to the cultivation of 
the plant and the distillation of lemongrass oil in 
Uganda. 

Wirn reference to Dr. Rosenhain’s letter in Narurk 
of January 8, upon a new method of etching steels, 
Dr. C. H. Desch directs attention to papers by Prof. F. 
Giolitti (Gazz. chem. ital., 1906, vol. Xxxvi., ii., p. 142; 
1908, vol. Xxxviii., ii., p. 352) upon the use of the 
electro-chemical deposition of copper in the etching of 
bronzes. Prof. Giolitti’s work does not, however, 
anticipate the use of the new reagent for steel de- 
scribed by Dr. Rosenhain, and particularly for the 
study of phosphorus distribution, although it seems 
probable that the banded structure of phosphoritic 
steel is a direct consequence of core formation during 
the first solidification of the steel. 

A PAPER dealing with commercial tests of internal- 
combustion engines was read at the Institution of 
Mechanical Engineers on Friday last, January 16, 
by Mr. W. A. Tookey. In such tests, it is usually 
not possible to obtain measurements other than the 
gas consumed or liquid fuel used, indicator diagrams, 
bore and stroke of the cylinder, and the valve settings. 
From this information, advice has to be tendered re- 
garding possible improvements in the engine, and 
Mr. Tookey advocates the use of a factor obtained by 
dividing the mean pressure, as shown by the indicator 
diagram, by the mixture strength. The mixture 
strength is defined as the calorific value, in British 
thermal units, of one cubic foot of stuff in the effec- 
tive cvlinder volume, and may be calculated with good 
approximation from the cylinder dimensions and the 
information to be obtained from ordinary and light- 
spring indicator diagrams. ‘The author uses the index 
1-3 for the compression curve, and has found his factor 
to be of great service in dealing with more than 700 
gas engines which he has tested during the last few 
years on behalf of London gas companies. 

The Morning Post has published an exhaustive list 
of congresses of learned societies and other bodies to 
be held dufing the present year, and some which have 
been announced for future years. The list is arranged 
conveniently on a large card for hanging on the wall, 
and should prove very valuable as a source of reference 
to forthcoming events. 

Messrs. J. AND .\. CHURCHILL write to point out 
that the price of ‘‘ Who’s Who in Science,” which was 
briefly noticed in_last week’s Nature (p. 553), was 
incorrectly given as 2s., whereas it is ros. net. 

NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


SPECTRA OF STARS NEAR THE NortH Pore.—In the 
Harvard College Observatory Circular, No. 180, we 
are informed that in the preparation of the revised 
Harvard Catalogue Miss Cannon has now classified 
the spectra of 110,000 stars covering more than one- 
half of the sky. As Prof. E. C. Pickering has re- 
ceived numerous requests for the spectra of stars near 
the pole the present circular contains a special list, 
prepared by Miss Cannon, of stars within 10° of it. 
All stars are included which have a magnitude in the 
Durchmusterung of 8-3 or brighter, and the table 
consists of three columns giving the number in the 
Durchmusterung, the photometric or Durchmusterun 
magnitude, and the type of spectrum. The number o 
stars included in this list is 825. 


CuHaNnGE IN Lunar Crater Ermmart.—Prof. W. H. 
Pickering, writing from the Harvard Astronomical 
Station at Mandeville, in Jamaica, records, in a recent 
number of the Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4704, 
a change in the lunar crater Eimmart which has 
lately taken place. The change in appearance, he 
states, is so noticeable that he considers it desirable 
to direct the attention of astronomers, and especially 
of selenographers, to it at once, as it is the most 
marked non-periodic change that he has ever observed. 
The crater lies on the north-western border of the 
Mare Crisium in long. 295°, lat. +24°, and is about 
twenty-five miles in diameter. The general nature of 
the change is shown in the two illustrations which 
accompany his communication. While formerly, at 
each lunation, the crater apparently gradually filled 
up and overflowed with a white material, the source 
of which was at a point at the foot of the northern 
interior slope, this change no longer occurs. The last 
regular eruption observed, if, as Prof. Pickering 
states, it is considered proper to use this term, occurred 
in January of last year. Observations in February 
and March of last vear indicated a reduction in 
activity, while in April and May of the same year the 
activity was scarcely noticeable. The point Prof. 
Pickering desires to be settled is this :—When the 
moon is just past first quarter, Eimmart was distinctly 
brighter than any area of similar size between it and 
the limb. This is not the case at present, and the 
question is, Will this condition ever occur again? 
Details of his observations are given in_ his 
paper, and he indicates other differences in appear- 
ance of this crater, in addition to that above men- 
tioned. 


Tue Maprip OpsErvatory ANNUAL FOR 1914.—The 
first portion of this annual is continued on the same 
lines as in previous issues, and consists of the different 


forms of calendars, ephemerides of the members of the. 


solar system, and useful astronomical tables and the 
explanations of them. These occupy about 200 pages. 
Then follows a series of sections relative to other astro- 
nomical matters. The first is devoted to practical 
rules for the installation of an equatorial and the 
study of the correction of the objective. An account 
is next given of the proveedings of the International 
Solar Union meetings at Bonn. The observations of 
solar prominences made during the years 1907-12 are 
next studied and described in some detail, succeeded 
by the observations of spots, prominences, flocculi, and 
radiation made for the first two phenomena during 


the year 1912, and for the last two for the twelve — 


months ending September and August, 1913, respec- 
tively. These take up about another 200 pages. The 


last portion is devoted to the meteorological observa- 


tions made during the year 1912, with an annual 


‘ summary, and occupies about 150 pages. 


JANUARY 22, 1914] 


NATURE 


595 


MEMORIAL TABLET TO LORD LISTER. 


TABLET in memory of the late Lord Lister was 

unveiled by Lord Rayleigh at King’s College, 
London, on January 14. The unveiling was preceded 
by an impressive ceremony in the chapel, among those 
present being Dr. Herringham (Vice-Chancellor of 
the University), Sir Rickman Godlee (president of the 
Royal College of Surgeons), Sir William Crookes 
(president of the Royal Society), Sir Henry Miers 
(principal of the University), Dr. Caldecott (Dean of 
King’s College), Sir St. Clair Thomson, Prof. Halli- 
burton, Prof. J. M. Thomson, Sir David Ferrier, Sir 
John Rose Bradford, and Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Lister. 

Lord Rayleigh expressed his pleasure at thus being 
able to pay a small tribute to the memory of Lister, 
under whom he had been privileged to serve for.a time 
at the Royal Society. It is now a commonplace that 
by his advances in surgery he had saved more lives 
than Napoleon had destroyed. Lister, in addition to 
his extreme modesty, was always ready to acknow- 
ledge obligations, and delighted his French colleagues 
by his generous insistence that his work was a 
natural development of that of Pasteur. 

Lord Rayleigh was followed by the Vice-Chancellor 
of the University, Dr. Herringham, who pointed out 
that Lord Lister, at the invitation of King’s College 
Hospital, gave up the chair he held at Edinburgh. 
Dr. Herringham expressed the wish that such trans- 
lations were more common, for they conferred honour 
not only on those translated, but also on the institu- 
tions from which they emanated. 

Sir Henry Miers, Prof. Halliburton, and Dr. Calde- 
cott also spoke briefly. 

The tablet, which has been erected in the corridor 
outside the chapel, bears the inscription :— 

“In affectionate and respectful memory of Joseph, 
Baron Lister, F.R.S., O.M., Professor of Clinical 
Surgery in King’s College from 1877-1892, and for 
many years consulting surgeon to the King’s College 
Hospital, Member of the Council and Life Governor 
of the College, this tablet is erected. His name will 
be handed down to posteritv as the founder of anti- 
septic surgery, one of the greatest discoveries in 
history and a source of inestimable benefit to 
mankind.” 


THE “DAVON” MICRO-TELESCOPE. 


ESSRS. DAVIDSON AND CO. have recently 
produced a ‘‘micro-telescope,”’ an instrument 
which is essentially a microscope of ordinary con- 
struction carrying a short focus telescope objective 
and tube below the stage. It may here be remarked 
that the ordinary terrestrial telescope with erecting 
eyepiece is nothing more than an object-glass, and a 
microscope, for an erecting eyepiece is nothing more 
than a microscope of low power. This is at times of 
great use in the workshop or laboratory, where a low- 
power reading microscope may be wanted in a hurry, 
but it is not everyone who remembers that a pocket 
telescope contains within itself this instrument also. 
While, therefore, the micro-telescope and the 
ordinary telescope with erecting eyepiece have the 
same sequence and function of lenses, and each gives 
an erect image, yet in proportions and practically 
the micro-telescope is a very different thing. 
The triple objective in the micro-telescope, though of 
only 53 in. focal length, instead of the usual 8 or 9g in., 
successfully withstood the following severe test. At 
a distance of a rod, pole, or perch and a half, and a 
vard and a quarter (which works out as 342 in.), a 
Bellows French Dictionary could be read perfectly 
and with a §% in. microscope objective a circle of 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


| 


3% in. in diameter could be seen at once all in 
focus and with no sign of colour. As a 
more severe test a number of groups of artificial 
double stars, made by small needle-holes in tin 
foil, of which the closest group were all separated by 
1/100 in. centre to centre, were set up at the same 
distance, and all were clearly double stars as seen in 
the micro-telescope, clear, sharp, and without colour, 
but with the first diffraction ring clearly showing. 
These stars subtended centre to centre an angle of 
almost exactly 6" of arc, and as the needle-holes were 
not geometrical points, this test shows that the object- 
glass was up to the optical limit imposed by the size 
of the wave-length of light. 

Some crumbs were then placed on the floor at a 
distance of four yards, and strongly illuminated, and 


the microscope with a 1 in, object-glass focussed 
on the crumbs. Presently some mice came 
out, and made themselves at home with the 
crumbs. The mice could be examined at this dis- 


tance without their being aware of it so well that 
individual hairs were easily visible and about half a 
mouse was in the field of view. In point of size it 
appeared about the same as a beaver within a foot or 
two. The magnifying power was measured and found 
to be 42. 

A plane mirror silvered on the front face is provided 
to be clipped on in front of the telescope objective, so 
that objects may be examined without tilting the 
micro-telescope to an inconvenient angle. ‘This has 
the two motions necessary to bring an object into the 
field of view. The double-star test showed that the 
mirror interfered slightly with the perfection of the 
image, but not to such an extent as to be noticeable 
except with so severe a test. A more serious difficulty, 
however, is that of finding an object when seen in this 
way. It would be easy enough with the moon, for 
instance, and perhaps with a bright planet like Venus 
or Jupiter, but it would probably require some practice 
to find such a star as B Cygni. 

A further attachment is provided by means of 
which the microscope tube is replaced by a camera 
so that either microscope photographs may be obtained 
if the telescope element is replaced by a substage 
illuminator, or if the telescope fitting is in its place 
the combination enables telephotographs to be taken; 
some of these submitted by the makers show that in 
this domain also excellent results are possible. 

Altogether the new instrument is one with many 
possibilities, and it will appeal to people with widely 
different interests. G: Vi. ‘Boxs; 


A NEW INCANDESCENT ELECTRIC 
LAMP. 


NEW incandescent electric lamp with an 
efficiency of about o-5 watt per candle-power has 


just been placed on the market by several of the 


leading manufacturers in this country. It is only a 
few years since the tungsten filament lamp, with an 
efficiency of between 1 and 13 watts per candle-power 
appeared, to displace the carbon filament lamp the 
efficiency of which was between 3 and 4 watts per 
candle-power. In the case of the “ half-watt'’ lamp, 
however, there is no change in the material of the 
filament. This is still tungsten. 

Hitherto the tungsten lamp has been run at a tem- 
perature of about 2100° C., for although this is 
roughly-800° C. below the melting point of the metal, 
an effort to obtain a higher efficiency by employing 
a higher working temperature produced a deposit of 
metallic tungsten on the bulb. Analysis of the residual 
gases left in the bulb after exhaustion showed that the 
only one which could cause this effect was water 


596 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 22, I914 


vapour, and a cyclic process was traced. The water 
vapour attacked the heated filament, producing a vola- 
tile oxide of tungsten and atomic hydrogen; the 
oxide which became deposited on the bulb was again 
reduced by the hydrogen, leaving metallic tungsten 
and forming water vapour, which again attacked the 
filament. Even when practically every trace of water 
vapour was removed, however, a certain blackening 
of the bulb still occurred, and this was eventually 
found to be occasioned by evaporation of the metal. 
To overcome this, nitrogen or some other inert gas 
is introduced into the bulb at about atmospheric pres- 
sure, and this is one of the features of the new lamp. 
This, however, introduced another effect. The fila- 
ment is more rapidly cooled by the convection currents 
induced in the gas, and in consequence more energy 
is required to maintain the temperature. With’ fila- 
ments of large diameter this is of less relative import- 
ance, but with filaments of the usual size the loss was 
found actually to reduce the efficiency in spite of the 
higher temperature, as the small filaments are cooled 
relatively more rapidly by the convection currents. As 
a result the high-temperature half-watt lamps are only 
made in large sizes—from 600 c.p. upwards—and in 
order to diminish this cooling effect the filaments are 
constructed in the form of a helix of very small pitch. 
Last week’s issue (January 15) of Electrical Engineer- 
ing ‘s devoted largely to the new lamp, and the 
opinions of leading central station engineers in 
various parts of the country upon it are quoted. 


THE ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOL 
SCIENCE MASTERS. 


‘T° HE annual meeting of the Association of Public 

School Science Masters was held at the Imperial 
College of Science and Technology on January 13-14. 
The president, Prof. H. B. Baker, F.R.S., in his 
address, extracts from which are given separately in 
this issue, regretted that so few science masters 
were engaged in research, and suggested that the 
interest of boys would be stimulated by the thought 
that such work was being carried out in the laboratory 
attached to their own school. Mr. C. E. Ashford 
(Dartmouth), in seconding a vote of thanks, disagreed 
with this view, and, speaking as a headmaster, main- 
tained that it was of greater importance for a school- 
master to spend his spare time in the playing fields 
getting to know his boys than it was for him to be 
undertaking research in the laboratory. 

On the afternoon of the first day an interesting 
demonstration of the application of the gyroscope to 
mono-rail traction was given by his Excellency 
Monsieur Pierre Schilowsky, who exhibited a model of 
a new and improved form of the appliance he has 
recently invented. Mr. H. O. Hale (Oundle) read a 
paper upon agricultural experiments in public schools ; 
he urged that agricultural research was well within 
the capacity of the average boy, and was more real 
than most of the ‘‘mock research”? carried out in the 
chemical laboratories. The idea is excellent, and many 
of the results obtained were of considerable interest ; 
it was, however, rather disappointing to find during 
the course of the subsequent discussion that much of 
the work, and even of the cbservations, were made 
for, instead of by, the boys themselves : the impression 
left being that, although the ‘‘experiments”’ afforded 
the foundation of a useful future hobby, they did 
not, under the conditions which prevail at present, 
provide a basis for a scientific education. 

Wednesday morning was occupied by a discussion 
upon the ‘Present Condition of Science Teaching in 
Public Schools,’ which was opened by Dr. 
E. H. Tripp (Bedford) and Mr. J.. R. Eccles 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


(Holt), Dr. Tripp deplored that the pamphlet 
published by the Board of Education in 1906 
referred to a few only of the public schools, 


and that its aim was to state faets rather than to make 
suggestions; he urged the need of a fresh report 
which should not only state the conditions under which 
science was taught in all schools represented by the 
Headmasters’ Conference, but should contain expres- 
sions of opinion from external authorities, e.g. univer- 
sity teachers and employers of ex-public school boys 
engaged in scientific occupations. [1e maintained that 
the chief drawbacks to progress in science teaching 
were (a) the undue preponderance of literary head- 
masters; (b) the conservative influence of the older 
universities ; and (c) the evils of the present examina- 
tion system. The address was chieflv of a destructive 
nature, and the subsequent discussion, although well 
maintained, was less fruitful in producing constructive 
proposals than in pointing out the defects of the exist- 
ing system. 

The discussion opened by Mr. D. Rintoul (Clifton) 
upon the ‘Place of Acoustics in a School Course of 
Physics,’ fell rather flat, owing, probably, to the 
uranimity of the members in considering that, whilst 
acoustics afforded a valuable introduction to the Study 
of the wave theory, the difficulty in devising suitable 
laboratory exercises made it educationally the least 
valuable branch of physics. The most useful sugges- 
tion was that made by Mr. G. F. Daniell, that the 
determination of the velocity of sound in various gases 
might be introduced into the ordinary worl: of the 
chemical laboratory; he urged that if this were done 
something would have been accomplished towards 
breaking down the watertight compartment which too 
often separated chemistry from physics. 

Mr. H. A. Wootton (Westminster) read a paper upon 
the ‘‘ Relative Educational Value of Physics, Chem- 
istry, and Biology,” maintaining that chemistry, when 
properly taught, was the most useful subject. During 
the discussion which followed the paper it was pointed 
out that it was impossible to teach chemistry without 
also giving considerable instruction in physics, and 
several speakers urged that organic chemistry should 
be commenced at an earlier age than is at present the 
practice. 

At the business meeting, Sir William Osler, F.R.S., 
Regius professor of medicine at Oxford, was elected 
president of the association for 1915. 


SCIENCE IN THE PUBLIC. SCHOUGES 
NE of the chief difficulties which besets a science 
master is that few of his colleagues will have 
sympathy with his work. There are some, but I am 
afraid not very many, classical scholars who have 
some knowledge of studies which are so different 


tility on their part to science subjects, and since the 
first years of a boy’s life are usually under the charge 
of a classical master, there is often instilled into his 
mind a contempt for the subjects which may be useful 
to him in his after life. oo: 

In most schools which I know, there is a system of 
selection of the boys by which those of the best ability 
are induced to continue on the classical side. It is, 
with comparatively few exceptions, only the weaker 
boys, or those whose ability has escaped notice, who 
are allowed to make science their chief study. But, 
in spite of this fact, which is known to most school- 
masters, how often is it triumphantly declared that a 
boy who has been educated on the classical side of a 
school is superior to one brought up on the science 
side? I wish, for just one year, that the science 


1 From the presidential address delivered to the As#ociation of Public 
| School Science Masters on January 13 by Prof. H. B. Baker, F.R S. 


from their own, but, too often, there is actual hos- _. 


JANUARY 22, 1914] | 


masters could have their pick of the boys in all the 
public schools. I warrant that that statement would 
never be made again. I have often urged on head- 
masters the advisability of allowing more boys of pro- 
nounced ability to do more science at school. Over 
and over again I have been told that boys ought not 
to specialise at school, as if the sixteen or seventeen 
hours a week spent at classics was not more specialisa- 
tion than the ten or twelve hours’ science which was 
recommended. One might expect that, in these more 
enlightened days, more parents would rebel against 
a medieval system of education, but as a rule a parent 
does what he is told. 

He lets the boy specialise in classics, although his 
future career may require a scientific training. In a 
very large number of cases men have come to me, 
both at the Imperial College and at Oxford, 
who want to be doctors, engineers, and _ the 
like, who have done little or no science, even 
when the schools from which they came _ were 
exceedingly well equipped for science teaching. 
In nearly every case the reason was the same, the 
parent had consulted the classical master, and taking 
what he thought was an expert opinion had decided 
to let his boy spend his time on classics. I say 
“spend,” not ** waste,"’ for it really is rather a pleasant 
thing to have a knowledge of Latin and Greek. It 
is pleasant, and even sometimes useful, to know the 
derivation of words, but since, if we may accept an 
estimate quoted by Emerson, five-eighths of the words 
in English are not derived, either directly or indirectly, 
from the classical languages, the argument would be 
much stronger in favour of boys learning Anglo- 
Saxon. Latin and Greek ought to be regarded as 
luxuries, not as essentials, in education. It is to be 
hoped that in the near future there will be an 
organised revolt of British parents, and that they will 
demand that their boys shall be taught what will be 
of use to them afterwards, modern languages, includ- 
ing English, science, and mathematics. I suppose it 
is too much to hope that the new Education Bill, since 
apparently it is to touch the public schools, will help 
in making the education given in them more prac- 
tical, doing, in fact, what classical masters will not, 
and science masters and parents cannot do. 

The number of clever boys in any class is quite 
small. By cleverness I do not mean the capacity for 
learning; real cleverness, I take it, is the almost auto- 
matic power of picking out the essentials from a mass 
of inessentials, getting, in fact, to the root of the 
matter at once. Now it is too frequently the boy with 
a good memory, and that alone, who is picked out of 
the elementary school and sent on his upward way 
as something out of the common. Such boys have, 
of course, their proper and useful place in the scheme 
of things, but they are not going to do great things 
in the world. It is the other kind of cleverness that 
the country needs at the top, but there must be more 
than this cleverness even; the boy must have grit 
besides. He must be able to struggle and fight his 
way up, and, for this reason, let us earnestly hope 
that all the difficulties will not be cleared away. It is 
a ladder we want, not a moving staircase. 

It is more and more common for the public-school 
boy to choose an engineering career, and it will be 
well for science masters to guard parents against 
sending boys into works, say at the age of sixteen, 
with an insufficient mathematical and scientific basis. 
Many engineers, and successful men, too, have recom- 
mended this course, saying the boys can pick up their 
mathematics and science for themselves. 

The best course for an aspiring engineer is that he 
should have two years of good practical mathematics 
and science in properly equipped engineering labora- 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


S97 


tories, and when he gets into works he will have the 
seeing and understanding eye. The last two years of 
his school life should be mainly devoted to mathe- 
matics, chemistry, physics, and both French and Ger- 
man, of which languages he should have a speaking 
as well as a reading knowledge. 

I wish it were possible to include among possible 
careers for science boys the home Civil and the Indian 
Civil Services, for it is undoubtedly the case that those 
services would benefit greatly by such inclusion. The 
regulations at present in force, however, give too great 
an advantage to the classical boy. Out of the 6000 
marks which it is possible for a candidate to aim at no 
fewer than 4400 are assigned to the subjects ordinarily 
included in a classical training. These marks are 
given for Latin, Greek, Roman and Greek history, 
logic and psychology, and mental and moral philo- 
sophy. Against these a science man can, as a rule, 
offer only lower mathematics and two science subjects, 
aggregating two thousand marks less. It is true that 
he might learn two more science subjects up to the 
not very high standard required, and that would add 
another 1200 to his possible marks. If he did so, how- 
ever, and failed to get in, he would not be fit for any 
scientific career, except perhaps an inferior teaching 
post. The standard of the subjects in this examination 
is too low for it to be of use to him in any way, except 
it be supplemented in one subject by two years more 
advanced study. If science men are desired for these 
two great public services a much higher standard in 
at most two science subjects should be demanded, with 
a corresponding increase in the total marks attainable. 

For those boys who have made physics their chief 
study at school and at college, there are fewer careers 
open than to those who have specialised in other 
branches of science. But I understand that aviation 
is going to bring this branch of science into prominent 
and practical usefulness. If one thinks also of the 
number of meteorologists in this country and its 
dependencies, it is obvious that here is an outlet for 
the physicist. The main bulk, however, of physics 
men become teachers. 

To the chemist many avenues are open, and this is 
largely due to the awakening of the manufacturer to 
the usefulness of research work in all directions. I 
need not again recall to you the contrast of the Ger- 
man works and our own, but it would certainly be no 
exaggeration to say that, even now, for every indus- 
trial research chemist in this country there are twenty 
in Germany. However, there is no doubt that in the 
last five years the number of works chemists, of the 
research type, has enormously increased. It is for us 
who teach the boys and men to see that this most 
healthy movement, which is of Imperial importance, 
is not checked by the poor quality of the men sent into 
the works. Unless they are men with a natural apti- 
tude for investigation and have been properly 
imbued with the research spirit, both at school and 
at college, it will be nothing less than a great mis- 
fortune for the country. 7 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


Campripce.—Mr. G. R. Mines, of Sidney Sussex 
College, has accepted a temporary post as demon- 
strator of physiology in the University of Toronto. 
He will return to Cambridge about the middle of May. 

Announcement is made that part i. of the examina- 
tion for the diploma in psychological medicine will 
begin on Tuesday, June 2, and part ii. on Tuesday, 
March 31. The examination for part i. will be held 
in Cambridge; that for part ii. will be held in London. 

The acting director of the observatory gives notice 


598 


that between the hours of 8 and 10.30 p.m. on fine 
and clear Saturday evenings during the Lent full term 
celestial objects will ,be shown through the North- 
umberland equatorial to members of the University. 


Tue University of London Graduates’ Association 
has issued a pamphlet detailing the objections of the 
association to the scheme proposed by the Royal Com- 
mission on University Education in London. The 
price of the pamphlet is one penny, and copies may be 
obtained from Mr. A. S. E. Ackermann, honorary 
secretary of the association, 25 Victoria Street, West- 
minster, S.W. 


WE record with much satisfaction Sir Hildred Car- 
lile’s gift of 105,000l. to the Bedford College Endow- 
ment Fund. Writing to Lord Haldane, the president 
of the Endowment Fund, Sir Hildred Carlile asks 
that the donation may be considered as a memorial 
to his mother, and we agree with the Lord Chancellor 
that no nobler memorial to Mrs. Edward Carlile could 
have been established. The donation is believed to 
be the largest individual gift that has ever been made 
for the education of women in this country. Beyond 
the stipulation that no part of the money is to be 
used for building, no condition whatever is attached 
to the gift, which will go a long way towards estab- 
lishing the college on a firm financial basis. 

Tue movement for the establishment of a national 
university in Washington on the plan endorsed by the 
National Association of State Universities, is, says 
Science, taking form, and President James, of the 
University of Illinois, has, it is understood, com- 
menced the preparation of a Bill soon to be submitted 
to President Wilson for his approval, and afterwards 


to be introduced in both houses of Congress. The 
Bill provides for a preliminary grant of 100,000l. 


toward the establishment of a university to be under 
the control of a board appointed by the President of 
the United States. It will propose an advisory board 
made up of one delegate from each State to frame 
the policy of the institution. 

With the view of establishing a memorial to the 
late Lord Avebury, a small committee has been formed 
under the chairmanship of the governor of the Bank 
of England, with representatives from the Rovyal 
Society, the University of London, the London Cham- 
ber of Commerce, and the Clearing Bankers. This 
committee has agreed that there can be no more 
suitable memorial than the foundation at the Univer- 
sity of London of scholarships in economics, and in 
some other branch of scientific research in which Lord 
Avebury was especially interested. The minimum 
fund to establish such scholarships should, the com- 
mittee states, amount to at least 5oool., but a still 
larger sum is desirable; and if a sufficient sum were 
raised a professorship or readership might be founded. 
Subscriptions have been promised amounting to nearly 
30001. Subscriptions should be paid in to the Lord 
Avebury Memorial Fund at the Bank of England. 


In concluding an interesting article on the educa- 
tion of the German artisan, appearing in Engineering 
for January 9 and 16, Mr. H. S. Rowell says that the 
outstanding difference between England and Germany 
in all things is represented by the opposites—system- 
ism and individualism. The one is the result of 
despotic government and widespread education; the 
other is traceable to political precocity and indifference 
to education for its own sake. Both these oppo- 
sites have virtues and faults, and no one is wise 
enough to say how far they should be blended, how 
far the individual must sink before the system. But 
one thing is certain in comparing the two countries, 
and that is the difference in the attitude 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


towards | 


[JANUARY 22, 1914 


science. The English, working and employing classes 
alike, are still sadly lacking in this respect. For 
opprobrium they use the words ‘theoretical’’ and 
‘scientific ’’; for praise “practical.” It is seldom 
realised that science is neither purely practical nor 
purely theoretical, but simply truth and good sense 
organised, 


Tue question of the proper utilisation of our great 
national museums is one that is nowadays engaging 
increasing attention. Partly as the result of a debate 
which took place in the House of Lords some time 
ago, guide demonstrators have been, or are being, 
appointed to museums and botanic gardens. The 
London County Council has contributed largely 
towards bringing the national treasures more closely 
before the children in the schools, the system adopted 
being to familiarise the pupils with the exhibits by 
means of the teachers. Accordingly lectures are given 
from time to time in various places of national in- 
terest for the purpose of acquainting teachers with the 
organisation of the various national exhibits so that 
their pupils can derive the maximum benefit on occa- 
sions of educational visits. In furtherance of this 
object, Lord Sudeley, who has played a prominent part 
in educating public opinion as to the need for the 
appointment of guide demonstrators at the museums, 
will address London teachers on the public utility of 
museums, picture galleries, &c., at the Birkbeel Col 
lege, Chancery Lane, on Saturday, January 31, at 
It a.m., when the chairman of the London County 
Council Education Committee, Mr. John W. Gilbert, 
will preside. Tickets of admission to the meeting can 
be obtained from the education officer of the London 
County Council, Education Offices, Victoria Embank- 
ment. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
Dustin. 

Royal Dublin Society, December 16, 1913.—Dr. J. H. 
Pollok in the chair.—Prof. K. Yendo; Cultivation of 
sea-weeds in Japan. Sea-weeds are extensively used 
in Japan as food, glue, and manure. The annual 
amount of production is estimated at about 800,000l., 
of which 300,000!. worth is exported, chiefly to China. 
The most important point in cultivation is to give 
the plant a suitable ground for attachment. Various 
factors, such as depth, light, salinity, temperature, 
nature of substratum, movement of water, &c., have 
great influence in limiting the growth of sea-weeds 
in a certain locality. The author explains these fac- 
tors with reference to plant-life in the sea, and de- 
scribes the modes of cultivation in Japan.—Dr. 
G. H. Pethybridge: Further observations on Phyto- 
phthora erythroseptica, Pethyb., and on the disease 
produced by it in the potato plant. The peculiar 
mode of development of the sexual organs (intra- 
antheridial growth of the oogonial incept) described 
for this species by the author in a former paper, and 
shown by him to occur also in P. infestans and P. 
phaseoli, has been found in P. parasitica, Dast., and 
P. colocasiae, Racib., by Dastur, and by Butler“and 
Kulkarni respectively. In the present paper the pro- 
duction of zoospores and of germ tubes by the conidia 
and the mode of germination of the oospores is 
described for P. erythroseptica. The inner thickened 
part of the oospore wall is composed of cellulose, and 
previous to germination becomes dissolved, so that it 
thus appears to serve not only as a protective cover- 
ing for the spore, but also as a store of reserve carbo- 
hydrate. The fungus with its reproductive organs has 
now been found in all the underground portions of 
the potato plant. It is the cause not only of a 
specific rot of the tubers, but of a disease of the plant 


— a 


JANUARY 22, 1914] 


NATURE 


as a whole, of the “ wilt’ type, the outward symptoms 
of- disease being.rather similar to those produced by 
‘Bacillus melanogenes, Pethyb. and Murphy.—Prof. 
H. H. Dixon: Note on the spread of morbid changes 
through plants from branches killed by heat. Experi- 
ments are described showing the possibility of wash- 
ing out the poisonous materials liberated in the water 
tracts of branches killed by heat, and thus removing 
the contamination from the water supply of the leaves 
above. The withering of the leaves on a killed branch 
may in this way be long postponed. It is also possible 
to wash back the contaminating substances from the 
dead branch into other branches, when it is found 
that the leaves on the otherwise uninjured branches 
wither. Both these experiments show that it is not 
allowable to assign the withering to a failure in the 
water supply brought about directly by the death of 
the cells of the heated branch.—W. R. G. Atkins : 
Oxydases and their inhibitors in plant tissues. 
Part iii., The localisation of oxydases and catalase in 
some marine algz. Catalase was found in all alge 
tested. Out of a total ot twenty-nine, only one alga 
gave the direct oxydase reaction, while six gave the 
indirect with guaiacum. In two cases only was a 
colour produced with o-naphthol.—Prof. T. Johnson ; 


Bothrodendron kiltorkense, Haughton, sp.: its cone - 


and Stigmarian stage. The specimen described supplies 
conclusive evidence that the Stigmarias found in the 
Kiltorean quarry are the underground root-carrying 
rootstocks of Bothrodendron. In one _ specimen 
organic continuity is shown between the aérial stem 
with typical leaf-scars and Stigmaria with apnendages, 
a horizontal line of demarcation indicating the ground 
level. The paper also contains a description of a 
fertile shoot ending by repeated forking in four tips 
of which three are stalked cones, 3x5 cm. in extent, 
the fourth being sterile. 


Paris. 


Academy of Sciences, January 12.—M. P. Appell in 
the chair.—Maurice Hamy: The use of the objective 
prism in the determination of radial velocities. An 
arrangement is described in which a spectrograph with 
a prism objective gives a determination of the motion 
of a star in the direction of the line of sight, by 
comparison with a terrestrial spectrum.—G, Lippmann ; 
-\ method of regulating a telescope for autocollimation. 
A plate of silvered glass, on which a fine line has 
been traced with a diamond, is placed at an angle of 
45° to the axis of the telescope. The slit is illuminated 
from a point on the axis of the telescope, and looked 
at by an eyepiece at the side of the instrument. When 
the axis is at right angles to the reflecting mercury 
surface the slit cannot be seen; the accuracy of the 
adjustment does not depend on the size of the slit, 
but only on the quality of the telescope itself—Fred 
Wallerant : Rotatory power in biaxial crystals.—A. 
Laveran: Trypanosoma soudanense as the cause of 
debab of Algeria. The disease affecting dromedaries, 
and sometimes horses, in Algeria, and known as 
debab, is shown to be caused by T. soudanense, and 
has nothing in common with T. evansi—M. Vasseur 
was elected a correspondant for the section of 
mechanics in succession to M. Gosselet, elected non- 
resident member.—M. Gambier: Curves of constant 
torsion.—Arnaud Denjoy: A property of certain func- 
tions.—Jules Pal: The transformations of functions 
the Fourier series of which converge.—Ph. Frank and 
G. Pick: Some measurements in functional space.— 
H. Bohr and E. Landau; The zeros of Riemann’s 
(s) function.—R. Bricard: A doubly decomposable 
movement.—A,. Tauleigne, F, Ducretet, and E. Roger: 
The graphical registration of radio-telegrams. The 
apparatus described makes use of an electrolytic de- 
tector of a modified type in connection with a polarised 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


relay. The instrument has given a good record of 
Eiffel Tower signals at Dijon, 275 kilometres from 
Paris, and experiments are being made at greater 
distances.—M. Swyngedauw: The resonance of the 
three harmonics of triphase alternators.—R. Marcelin : 
The expression of the velocities of transformation of 
physico-chemical systems as a function of the affinity. 
—J. Canac and E. Tassilly: The deposition of nickel 
upon aluminium. A special preliminary treatment of 
the aluminium is described, and nickel is then electro- 
deposited in a very coherent form. The nickel-plated 
aluminium does not change in moist air, and resists 
the action of dilute soda solutions, glacial acetic acid, 
or strong brine.—R. Goubau: The melting point of 
arsenic. The melting point of arsenic was measured 
in a quartz bulb under pressure, and found to be 
817° C.—José Rodriguez Mourelo : The phototrophy of 
inorganic systems.—L. Crussard; Deflagrations in a 
steady state in conducting media.—Ed. Chauvenet : 
Two compounds of zirconium chloride with pyridine. 
—G. Friedel: The crystalline structures rendered 
evident by the diffraction of the Réntgen rays.—Michel 
Longchambon: The carbonate sedimentation and the 
genesis of the dolomites in the Pyrenees chain.—P. 
Chaussé: Researches on the pulverisation of tubercu- 
lous saliva and sputa by air currents. No particles of 
saliva or sputa are detached by contact with air 
moving with velocities under 30 metres per second; 
at higher velocity respirable particles are removed and 
can convey the infection.—R. Argaud and I. Brault: 
Lepra cells and plasma _ cells.—M. Lécailion: The 
fecundity of Colaspedima atra.—Auguste Lumiére and 
Jean Chevrotier: The resistance of the gonococcus to 


| low temperatures.—M. Javillier: A cause of error in 


the study of the biological action of some chemical 
elements; the presence of traces of zinc in glass. 
Aspergillus niger is very sensitive to the stimulating 
action of minute traces of zine salts in its culture 
solutions. It is shown that sufficient zine is given to 
culture fluids by Jena glass to mask entirely any 
effects due to added glucinum, or cadmium. [xperi- 
ments carried out in quartz or Bohemian glass vessels 
give quite different results on the growth of moulds 
from experiments made in Jena glass vessels.—L. 
Mengaud; The Cretacian in the neighbourhood of 
Comillas, province of Santander.—O. Mengel: The 
Pliocene of Roussillon.—Louis Gentil: The structure 
of the plateau of Beni Mtir, central Morocco.—Albert 
Brun: The exhalation of Kilauea in 1910. 


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Memoirs of the Geological Survey. Scotland, 82. 
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Sheet 82). By Dr. B. N. Peach and others. Pp. 
vi+114+Vviii plates; map (Sheet 82). (Edinburgh: 
H.M.S.O.; London: E. Stanford, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. 
Calendario della Basilica Pontificia del Santissimo 
Rosario in Valle di Pompei, 1914. Pp. 2724112. 
(Valle di Pompei: B. Longo.) 
Controlled Natural Selection and Value Marking. 
By J. C. Mottram. Pp. ix+130. (London: Long- 
mans and Co.) 3s. 6d, net. 


Edited 
Pp. ix+215- 


Co.) tds) 


in Physics. By Prof. K. E. Guthe. 
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, January 22. 

Royal ,Society, at 4.30.—The Heat Production Associated with Mus- 
cular Work. (A Note on Pref. Macdonald’s Paper, Proc. R.S., B, 
vol Ixxxvii.): Dr. R. T. Glazebrook and D. W. Dye.—The Chemical 
Interpretation of some Mendelian Factors for Flower Colour: M. 
Wheldale and H. L. Bassett.—The Determination of the Minimum 
Lethal Dose of various ‘Toxic Substances and its Relationship to the Body 
Weight in Warm-blooded Animals, together with considerations bearing 
on the Dosage of Drugs: Prof. G. Dreyer and Dr. E. W. A. Walker.— 
Experiments on the Restoration of Paralysed Muscles by means of Nerve 
Anastomesis Part _ii., Anastomosis of the Nerves supplying Limb 
Muscles: Prof. R. Kennedy.— Variations in the Sex Ratio of Mus rattus 
following an Unusual Mortality of Adult Females, based on an {Analysis 
of Weight Frequency Distributions : Dr. F. N. White. 

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Fifth Kelvin Lecture : 
Sir Oliver Lodge. 

MATHEMATICAL Society, at 5.30.—(1) A Generalisation of the Euler- 
Maclaurin Sum Formula ; (2) The Deduction of Formula of Mechanical 
Quadrature from the Generalised Euler-Maclaurin Sum Formula: S. T. 
Shovelton.—Binary Forms: A. Young. 


FRIDAY, January 23. 

Puysicat Society, at 5.—Some Characteristic Curves and Sensitiveness 
Tests of Crystals and other Detectors: P. R. Coursey.—Exhibition of a 
Water Model of the \ usical Are W. Duddell,—Further Experiments 
with Liquid Drops and Globules: C. R. Darling.—A Note on Aberration 
in a Dispersive Medium and Airy's Experiment : J. Walker. 

INSTITUTION or Crvit. ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Testing of Materials for Use 
in Engineering Construction : FE. W. Monkhouse. 


MONDAY, January 26. 
Rovat. GEOGRAPHICAL Society, at 8.30.—Exploration in Dutch New 
Guinea: A. F. R. Wollaston. 
Rovat Society or Arts, at 8.—The Relation of Industry to Art: Sir 
Charles Waldstein. 
INSTITUTE OF ACTUARIES, at 5.—The Extension of Existing Valuation 


Methods of Grouping Policies by the Employment of a System of 
Weights: A. E. King. 


TUESDAY, January 27. 

Roya InstiTuTIoN, at 3.—Animals and Plants under Domestication : 
Prof. W. Bateson. 

RoyaL ANTHRUPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15. 

MINERALOGICAL SUCIETY, at 5.30.—The Genetic Classification of Rocks 
and Ore-Deposits ; 'T. Crook.— Lawsonite from the Central Coast Ranges 
of California : Prof. A. F, Kogers.—Mineralogical Notes : Dr. G. T Prior. 
— Uniaxial Augite from Mull: A. &. Hallimond.—Apparatus for Grinding 
Crystal Plates and lrisms H.H. Thomas and W. Camphell Smith. 

INSTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS at 8.—/urther Discussion; Super- 
heating Steam in Locomotives: H. Fowler. 


NO. 2308, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 22, 1914 


THURSDAY, January 29. ee 

Royat Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers : The Origin of Thermal Ionisa- 
tion from Carbon: Prof. O. W. Richardson.—The X-ray Spectra given by 
Crystals of Sulphur and Quartz: Prof H. Bragg.—The ‘Temperature 
Variation of the Photo-elastic Effect in Strained Glass: Prof. L. N, G. 
Filon.—Studies in Brownian Movement. I. ‘The Brownian Movement of 
the Spores of Bacteria: J. H. Shaxby and Dr. Emrys Roberts.—The 
Transmission of Kathode Rays through Matter: Dr. R. Whiddington,— 
The Variation with Temprrature of the Specific Heat of Sodium in the 
Solid and the Liquid State ; also a Determination of its Latent Heat of 
Fusion: Ezer Griffiths.—Radiation from a Gas: Dr (>. Green.—Simi> 
larity of Motion in Relation to the Surface Friction of Fluids: Dr. T. BE 
Stanton and J. R. Pannell.— he Influence of Molecular Constitution and 
Temperature on Magnetic Susceptbility: A. E. (xley —The Boiling 
Point of Sulphur on the Thermo-dynamic Scale : N. Eumorfopoulos. 

Roya InsTiTUTION, at 3.—The Mind of Savage Man: His Moral and 
Religious Life : W. McDougall. Fi . ; 

Concrete INSTITUTE, at 7.30.—Discussion on ‘*A Standard Method of 
Measurement for keinforced Concrete.” 


Society oF Dyers aND Cotourists, at 8.—(1) The Effects of Mineral 


Loading upon the Physical Qualities of Hedychium Paper ; (2) Tests to 
Metiefuine the Relative Strength and Elasticity of Some Natural Fibres: 
Clayton Beadle and Dr. Henry P. Stevens. 


FRIDAY, January 30. 


InstiTuTION oF Civi. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Lhe Testing of Materials fo Use 
in Engineering Construction: E. W. Monkhouse. ’ 


PAGE 


CONTENTS. 
Mathematicians in Council, By Prof. G. H. Bryan, . 
FIRS... 2... «0 Rg ey Terie ot ure 
The Case. Against Relativity .... . .... . - ajay 
Reflex Action. . ... :.) 95 25a s (he =) oo 
Our Bookshelf . | .0.).4).'2).) 4: .) ee 


Letters to the Editor :— 
The Present-day Occurrence of Spontaneous Genera- 


tion. (J//ustrated.)—Prof. R. T. Hewlett; Dr. 
H. Charlton Bastian, F.R.S. ‘ 579 

Atomic Models and X-Ray Spectra. (Vth Diagram.) 
Prof. J. W. Nicholson ib va oe 

Prof. Turner and Aristotle. —Capt. J. H. Hardcastle ; 
Sir G. Greenhill, F.R.S. a ae 584 

Tungsten Wire Suspensions for Magnetometers.—S. 
Chapman; W. W. Bryant ... .... « 585 
The Pressure of Radiation.—C. G. Darwin. — 585 

“‘ Atmospherics” in Wireless Telegraphy.—Reginald 
F. Durrant’ : ° |) <tcje eee ee - Oa) igs 

The Structure of the Atom. By Dr, Norman 
Campbell . .-)°2) 5 Seep 586 
The Australian Meeting of the British Association 587 
A Remarkable Anticipation of Darwin. By F.A.D. 588 
The Recent Volcanic Eruptions in Japan... . . 589 
ToT i oe RR aii Sh ota; a, 82 a) canna 

Our Astronomical Column :— 

Spectra of Stars Near the North Pole .... - 594. 
Change in Lunar Crater Eimmart ....... + 594 
The Madrid Observatory Annual for1gtg4 .... + 594 
Memorial Tablet to Lord Lister ...... « « 595 

The ‘“‘Davon” Micro-Telescope. By Prof. C. V. 
Boys, F.R.S. Lee ee oe ce 
A New Incandescent Electric Lamp - ees 
The Association of Public School Science Masters 596 

Science in the Public Schools, By Prof. H. B. 
Baker, F.R.S. (hee Rae eee . wegos 
University and Educational Intelligence. . 5 ae 
Societies and Academies ........ ...-. 598 
Books Received ote 8 bee alge s Ue) ewe ane 
Diary of Societies... 2°. ws: 


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JANUARY 22, 1914] 


LANTERN SLIDES. 


NOW READY. 
Supplementary Catalogue 


of Lantern Slides, E/13, 
POST FREE. 


Being new subjects added during the past year. 
British Flora, British Birds, 
Commercial Geography by Dr. Wilmore, 

Geology, &c. 


FLATTERS & GARNETT, Ltd., 
309 OXFORD ROAD ( MANCHESTER. 


Opposite 
University /9 


Sales by #uction. 


STEVENS’ AUCTION ROOMS. Esrp. 1760. 
A Sale by Auction is held EVERY FRIDAY 


at 12.30, which affords first-class opportunities for the disposal o 

rchase of SCIENTIFIC AND ELECTRICAL APPARATUS 

ime cieorie and Accessories, Surveying Instruments, Photograpbic 

Cameras and Lenses, Lathes and Tools, Cinematographs and Films, 
and Miscellaneous Property. 

Catalogues and terms for selling will be forwarded on application to 

Mr. J. Cc. STEVENS, 
38 KING STREET COVENT GARDEN. LONDON, wW.Cc. 


BRITISH FOSSILS. 


JAMES R. GREGORY & CO. have a large stock of Fossils. 

The recent addition include specimens from the Wealden, 

Coal Measures, and Silurian Formations, including some 
good Trilobites. 


JAMES R. GREGORY & CoO., 


Mineralogists, &c., 


139 FULHAM ROAD, SOUTH KENSINGTON, S.W. 


LIVING SPECIMENS FOR 
THE MICROSCOPE. 


Volvox, Spirogyra, Desmids, Diatoms, Amceba, Arcella, Actinospherium, 
Vorticella, Stentor, Hydra, Floscularia, Stephanoceros, Melicerta, and many 
other specimens of Pond Life. Price 1s. per Tube, Post Free. Helix 
pomatia, Astacus, Amphioxus, Rana, Anodon, &c., for Dissection purposes. 


THOMAS BOLTON, 
25 BALSALL HEATH ROAD, BIRMINGHAM. 


ee ee EE — EEE 
MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 
OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 
THE LABORATORY, PLYMOUTH. 

The following animals can always be supplied, either living 
or preserved by the best methods :-— 

Sycon; Clava, Obelia, Sertularia; Actinia, Tealia, Caryophyllia, Alcy- 
onium; Hormiphora (preserved); Leptoplana; Lineus, Amphiporus, 
Nereis, Aphrodite, Arenicola, Lanice, Terebella; Lepas, Balanus, 
Gammarus, Ligia Mysis, Nebalia, Carcinus; Patella, Buccinum, Eledone, 
Pectens Bugula, Crisia, Pedicellina, Holothuria, Asterias, Echinus, 
Salpa (preserved), Scyllium, Raia, &c., &c. 

For prices and more detailed lists apply to 

Biological Laboratory, Plymouth. 


THE DIRECTOR 


NATURE 


CCXV 


WATKINS & DONCASTER, 


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CABINETS AND APPARATUS 


FOR COLLECTORS OF INSECTS, BIRDS' EGGS AND SKINS. 
MINERALS, PLANTS, &c. 
N.B.—For Excellence and Superiority of Cabinets and Apparatus, 
references are permitted to distinguished patrons, Museums, Colleges, &c. 
A LARGB STOCK OF INSECTS, BIRDS’ EGGS AND SKINS. 


SPECIALITY.—Objects for Nature Study, 
Drawing Classes, &c. 
Birds, Mammals, &e., Preserved and Mounted by First-class 
Workmen true to Nature. 
All Books and Publications (New and Second-hand) on Insects, 
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86 STRAND, LONDON, W.C. 


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and for Museums, 

Lists on Application. 
EDWARD GERRARD & SONS 
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Camden Town, London. 


A Small Lot of the New and Rare Indian 


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ccXVi NATURE [JANUARY 22, 1914 


: EDUCATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL 
eitz INSTRUMENTS. 

NEW 
HIGH POWER 
BINOCULAR | 
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suitable for ordi- 
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the lowest to Screen to contain the 4 Thermometers. 
the HIGHEST Rain Gauge with Glass Measure. 


POWERS, in- Meteorological Register for one year. 
eluding oil The Set complete £3 15 O 
immersion Kew Certificates, 12s. Gd. extra. 

objectives. ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE, PART II, POST FREE 


Particulars may be had on application J. H. STE WARD, Ltd., 


Sor Leaflet No. .20, post free. Opticians & Scientific Instrument Makers to the British & Foreign Govts. 
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(A few doors from the British Museum.) FSTancisnep 1852. ie 


cea WY VATS. ON 3 > SROSCOPE 0. 


British Made at Barnet, Herts, Constructed on Scient.fic Principles for Scientific Work: 
This instrument is to be found in all Laboratories where precive work is a sive gud non. It embodies every con- 
venience for comfort, accurate and rapid work. Fach working part is slutted and sprung so that wear can be 
instantly compensated for. Compound substage pr vided with rackwork focussing and screw centering movements. 
‘The experience of vears proves that Watson’s Lever Fine Adjustment is unexcelled. 
PRICE—H” Edinburgh Students’ Microscope, Stand only... « —s B10 2 G 
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piece, Aplanatised Abbe I!lominator with tris Diaphragm. Complete in Mahogany Case 216 8 Oo 
1/12” Oil Immersion Objective N.A. 1°30, new computation, giving a very flat field 4 Oo 
WATSON’S MICROSCOPE CATALOGUE No. 2 ons full particulars of over 27 different Models and every kind 
oO ccessory. 
Microscopes and Apparatus for Histology, Botany, Biology. Bacteriology, Petrology, Metallurgy, &c., &c, 
Projection and Photo-micrographic Outfits. 


W. WATSON & SONS, Ltd., Optical Works—HICH BARNET, HERTS. 
Established 1837. 313 High Holborn, LONDON, wv.c. 


Branches—184 Great Portland Street London, W.C.; 16 Forrest Road, Edinburgh. 
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There are incorporated into 


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The whole story is told in our new 1913 Price Lists, which are gladly 
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We are sole agents for Spencer Microscopes for Great Britain and 
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St. Martin's Street, London, W.C., and THe Macmician Co., 66 Fifth Avenue, New York.—TuHurspay, January 22, 1914. : 


roan 


' 


No. 2309, VOL. 92] 


A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL. OF SCIENCE, 
“* To the solid ground 


Us Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye. 


"-—WoRDSWORTH. 


‘THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 1914 


[PRicE SIXPENCE 


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Erecting Prism! C” 


Lantern fitted with 44” condenser .. ne at i oi 


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Recording Rain Gauges. 
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CCX Vili NATURE 


[JaNuaRY 29, 1914 


IMPERIAL 


COLLEGE 


OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 


SOUTH KENSINGTON, S,W. 


The following Special Course of Advanced Lectures will be given, com- 
mencing in February next :— 
Conducted by 


Mr. J. W. Hincuvey, A.R.S.M., 
Wh.S., F.C.S. 


Prof. W. A. Bong, D.Sc., Ph.D.» 
Fuel Technology—_ __ F.R.S. 
Part I1: Carbonisation and Gas) p,.; Mf. G. Curistiz, Dr. Inc (of 


Producer Practice ... the Otto Coke Oven Co., Ltd.). 
Refractory Materials Mr. Hancock, B.A., F.I.C. 


Principles of the Manufacture oty Mr. G. I. Fincu (Dipl. Tec. Chem. 
Sulphuric Acid Res was Zurich). 
For further particulars of these Courses application should be made to 
the REGISTRAR. 


Subject. 
Chemical Engineering (Part IT) 


COLLEGE 


OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 


SOUTH KENSINGTON, LONDON, S.W. 


The following Special Course of Advanced Lectures will be given 
commencing in February next :— 
ROYAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE. 
Subject— Conducted by— 
Fungal Diseases of Plants and | yy, pS. Satmon, F.L.S 
their Remedies J K de ea 
For further particulars of this and other Courses to follow, application 
should be made to the Registrar. 


IMPERIAL gam 


CES 


COLLEGE 


OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 


SOUTH KENSINGTON, LONDON, S.W. 


An Advanced Course of Lectures will be given commencing in February 
next as follows :— . 


CITY & GUILDS (ENGINEERING) COLLEGE. 
Subject : Conducted by: 
Reinforced Concrete. Mr. Oscar Faser, B.Sc., A.M.I,C.E. 


For further particulars of this Course, application should be made to 
the Registrar. 


INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY 
OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 


FounpEp 1877. INCORPORATED BY Royat CHARTER, 1885. 


The next Intermediate Examination will commence on Tuesday, March 
24. Final Examinations will commence on Monday, March 23. 

Forms of application and further particulars can be obtained from the 
REGISTRAR, Institute of Chemistry, 30 Bloomsbury Square, London, W.C. 

The regulations for the Admission of Students, Associates, and Fellows, 
Gratis. ‘Examination Papers: Annual Sets, 6¢. each. 

‘A List” of Official Chemical Appointments.” Fourth Edition. 2s. 
(post free, 2s. 3d.). Mi 
APPOINTMENTS REGISTER.—A Register of Fellows and Associates 
of the Institute of Chemistry who are seeking appointments is kept at the 
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should be forwarded to the Registrar. 


BIRKBECK COLLEGE, 


BREAMS BUILDINGS, CHANCERY LANE, E.C. 
Principal: G. Armitage-Smith, M.A., D.Lit. 


COURSES OF STUDY (Day and Evening) for the Degrees of the 
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON in the 


FACULTIES OF SCIENCE & ARTS 
(PASS AND HONOURS) 
under RECOGNISED TEACHERS of the University. - 


SCIENCE.—Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics (Pure and 
Applied), Botany, Zoology, Geology and Mineralogy. 


ARTS.—Latin, Greek, English, French, German, Italian, 
History, Geography, Logie, Economies, Mathematies (Pure 
and Applied). 


Evening Courses for the Degrees in Economics and Law. 


Day: Science, £17 10s.; Arts, £10 10s, 
SESSIONAL FEES { zeae Science, Arts, or Economics, £5 5s. 


POST-GRADUATE AND RESEARCH WORK, 
Prospectuses post sree, Calendar 3d. (by post sd.) from the Secretary. 


SOUTH-WESTERN POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, 


MANRESA ROAD, CHELSEA, S.W. 


Day Courses under recognised Teachers in Preparation for 
London University Degrees in Mechanical and Electrical 
Engineering, in Chemistry, Physics and Natural Science; 
and Technical Courses arranged to extend over Three Years 
and Prepare for Engineering, Electrical, Chemical and 
Metallurgical Professions. _ Session Fee, £15. 
Evening Courses in all Departments :— 


Mathematics—*J. Lister, A.R.C.S., *T. G. Strain, M.A.; Physics— 
*S. SkinNER, M.A., *L. Lownps, B.Sc., Ph.D., *F. W. JorpaN, B.Sc. ; 
Chemistry—*J. B. Cotzman, A.R.C.S., *J. C. Crocker, M.A., D.Sc., 
and *F. H. Lows, M.Sc.; Botany—*H. B. Lacey, S. E. CHANDLER, 
D.Sc., and *W. Rusuton, A.R.C.S., D.I.C. ; Geology—*A. J. Masten, 
F.G.S., F.L.S.; Human Physiology—E. L. Kennaway, M.A., M.D. ; 
Zoology—*J. T. CunnincHam, M.A.; Engineering—*W. CAMPBELL 
Houston, B.Sc., A.M.I.C.E., *V. C. Davies, B.Sc., and H. AuGHTIE; 
Electrical Engineering—*A, J. Maxower, M.A., *B. H. Morpny, and 
U. A. Oscuwatp, B.A. 


*Recognised Teacher of the University of London, 
Prospectus from the SECRETARY, post free, 4d. ; at the Office, rd. 


Telephone: 899 Western, SIDNEY SKINNER, M.A., Principal. 


COLLEGE 


OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 


SOUTH KENSINGTON, S.W. 


The Governors are prepared to consider applications for the SIR JOHN 
WOLFE-BARRY STUDENTSHIP IN ENTOMOLOGY. The 
Studentship is of the value of £100 for one year, and is for the purpose of 
research in Applied Entomology under the direction of the Professor of 
Zoology. Preference will be given to a candidate producing evidence of 
special knowledge in Entomology. 


For detailed conditions apply SECRETARY. 


ROYAL INSTITUTION OF 
GREAT BRITAIN, - 


ALBEMARLE STREET, PICCADILLY, W. 


Professor Sir Toomas Hotranp, K.C.I.E., F.R.S., will on Thursday 
next, February 5, at Three o'clock, begin a Course of Two Lectures on 
puree anv Causes oF EartH Crust Fotps.” Half-a-Guinea the 

‘ourse, 


UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL. 
SESSION 1914-15. 
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING. 


Dean—J. WEMyss ANDERSON, M.ENG., M.Inst.C.E. 


Prospectuses and full particulars of the following may be obtained on 
application to the Registrar :—Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Civil 
Engineering, Naval Architecture, Engineering Design and Drawing, 
Mathematics, Physics, Inorganic Chemistry. 


a cr a ict a ii ie 


NATURE 


PRT pad te 
<Hsol in Instit;; p 


or 
a 


FEBI6 17" 


\ 
601 


THURSDAY, JANUARY 29,. 1914. 


MILLIONAIRE AND NATURALIST. 


Letters and Recollections of Alexander Agassiz. 


| well. 


*" 


“windows of the state dining hall! 


With a Sketch of his Life and Work. Edited 
by G. R. Agassiz. Pp. xi+454+>plates. 
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1913.) 
Price 14s: net: 
HIS is an unusually interesting and well- 
conceived biography, for it gives us a vivid 
and often a pathetic picture of a truly remarkable 
man, and a thoroughly readable account of his 
great scientific enterprises as they followed, one 
growing from another, during his marvellously 
active and productive life. Alexander Agassiz 
was as astonishing for his energy and the magni- 
ficent scale of his scientific investigations as he 
was fascinating and lovable in personal inter- 
course. It was my good fortune to know him 
Whenever he was in London we dined to- 
gether; he was my guest at Oxford when I was 
professor there, and we spent some days together 
in Paris about ten years ago, when he had settled 
in his favourite hotel—the Athenée—to do a spell 
of literary work. Few men, if any, of his day 
gave such an impression of power and intellectual 
capacity combined with so much light-heartedness 
and charm of manner. 

Alexander was the only son of the great natural- 
ist Louis Agassiz, who came from a long line of 
Swiss Protestant ministers in the Canton de Vaud. 
He was born at Neuchatel in 1835, when that place 
was under the dominion of Prussia. As a boy 
he was, we are told, “rather quiet, with the be- 
witching smile so characteristic of the man,” and 
at ten years of age actively sympathised with the 
Swiss or anti-Prussian party. He incurred the 
displeasure of the retired Prussian general who 
was governor of the town by not saluting him 
politely. That functionary complained to Louis 
Agassiz of his son’s conduct, who accordingly 
thrashed Alexander. The latter revenged himself 
by publicly refusing to receive his school prizes 
at the hands of the governor, and turning his 
back with scorn on the representative of the king. 
Subsequently he organised a band of confederates 
of his own age, stormed the castle on the night 
of a large dinner party, and smashed all the 
In after years 
Alexander remarked that it was perhaps fortunate 
he emigrated to the United States at an early age, 
as, with his views, he would surely in due time 
have been hanged or shot. 

Louis Agassiz went to the United States in 1846, 
leaving his family (his wife, son, and two 
daughters) to follow. In 1849 he became settled 

NO. 2309, VOL. 92] 


as Professor of Natural History at Harvard, and 
sent for his son, whose mother had died in the 
previous year. Alexander soon imbibed the 
atmosphere of freedom of his adopted country, and 
records that “he could scarcely realise that it ever 
had been possible for a small boy to be nagged 
and punished for political opinions.” A year after 
Alexander’s arrival in Cambridge, Mass., his 
father brought home his second wife, a rare and 
devoted woman, who was to Alexander (as he tells 
us), in the subsequent trials and griefs, joys, and 
triumphs of life, ‘his mother, sister, companion, 
and friend all in one.” She died in 1907, only 
three years before her stepson, having long sur- 
vived his young wife, who died in 1873, and his 
father, who died at the same time. Alexander 
writes of his step-mother :— 

“The like of her we shall not see again. From 
the time that I first saw her, and I only a small 
boy of thirteen, there never was a word of dis- 
agreement. She belonged to me and I to her; 
it could not have been otherwise.” 

I have just turned over the pages of the book 
which they produced together in 1865—‘‘ Seaside 
Studies in Natural History ’’—the admirable draw- 
ings and observations (many of them new and of 
great importance) on Meduse, Polyps, and 
Echinoderms and their young stages, by Alex- 
ander, whilst the text is written by his “mother,” 
for so he always called her. 

The young Agassiz, after a couple of years at 
school in Cambridge, entered at Harvard in the 
autumn of 1851, at the age of fifteen. His friends 
tell us that he already possessed an unusual power 
of concentration and a gift of accomplishing what 
he intended to do. He was slight but remarkably 
powerful and active. He pulled in the University 
crew and retained his interest in rowing all through 
his life. After four years ‘“‘in college” (corre- 
sponding, apparently, to the old bachelor-of-arts 
course of Oxford and Cambridge a hundred years 
earlier), Agassiz entered the engineering depart- 
ment of the Lawrence Scientific School, and gradu- 
ated in 1857, at the age of twenty-two, and then 
studied chemistry. In 1859 he obtained the posi- 
tion of aid on the United States Coast Survey, 
but gave it up and returned to his father’s museum 
in Harvard on a salary of 3oo0l. a year. On this 
income he married Miss Anna Russell, the sister 
of the wife of his classmate, Theodore Lyman, 
and settled down to a life of the most rigid 
economy, but surrounded by friends and occupied 
with interesting work. He now published his 
classical works on the embryology of Echinoderms 
and on North American Acalephe, illustrated by 
360 figures drawn by his own hand. He had a 
laborious duty in the charge of the correspondence 


Z 


602 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 29, 1914 


and exchanges of the great museum which his 
father was gradually building up by the aid of 
grants from the State and handsome private sub- 
scriptions in procuring which he was irresistible. 
Alexander’s filial devotion was intense, and he 
willingly gave himself to the furtherance of his 
father’s great plan. 

Now, in 1867, came the great opportunity of 


his life. The story is given in full and interesting 
detail_in the volume of ‘Letters and Recollec- 
tions.” Briefly it is this, and, as his son observes, 


it reads more like a page of “Monte Cristo” than 
a forgotten leaf from the early history of Northern 
Michigan. A road surveyor named Hulbert 
stumbled on to a deserted Indian “cache” of 
native copper at Calumet, in North Michigan, and 
blasting below it discovered a great lode of copper 
conglomerate. Alexander Agassiz’s two sisters 
had married men of some means, and these gentle- 
men acquired the copper-bearing district dis- 
covered by Hulbert, and some _ neighbouring 
copper-bearing land in which Alexander, after in- 
specting it, also secured an interest, borrowing a 
small sum for the purpose. Alexander, who was 
a trained engineer and had gained valuable prac- 
tical knowledge in managing a coal mine, was 
entrusted by his relatives with the job of getting 
the property (which was being mismanaged) into 
working order. He gave up his work at the 
museum and made the great effort of his life. 
Meeting in the streets of Boston his friend Charles 
W. Eliot, who later became President of Harvard, 
he said :— 

“Eliot, I am going to Michigan for some years 
as superintendent of the Calumet and Hecla mines. 
I want to make money; it is impossible to be a 
productive naturalist in this country without 
money. I am going to get some money if I can, 
and then I will be a naturalist. If I succeed I 
can then get my own papers and drawing’s printed, 
and help father at the museum.” 

Seldom, indeed, as his biographer remarks, 
have the aspirations of youth proved in such 
harmony with the achievements of maturity. 

Agassiz stayed from the early spring of 1867 to 
October, 1868, in the wild region where the copper 
mines were situated. He entirely altered the 
method of extraction, introduced new machinery 
on a very large scale, chose his subordinate 
officials with unerring judgment, and was the 
very life and soul of the place; but it nearly killed 
him, and, in fact, he never recovered from the 
strain and exhaustion of that eighteen months. 
In the midst of it he writes to his brother-in- 
law :— 

“Keep up-courage, and never give up. We 
shall be all right yet. The thing I drive and look 

NO. 2309, VOL. 92| 


] after is the only thing that goes; and just as fast 
as I pass from one thing to,another, just so fast 
do things move. There is not a thing done, down 
to seeing that cars get unloaded, which I don’t 
have to look after myself, and some days I am in 
utter despair.” 


By October, 1868, he had overcome all diffi- 
culties and opposition and returned to the more 
congenial labours of the man of science awaiting 
him at Harvard. Ever afterwards, even to the 
end of his life, he paid a visit to the mines in the 


spring and another in the autumn, and more than 


one voyage of exploration was postponed owing to 
an unsatisfactory condition at the mine that re- 
quired his personal attention. His care was given 


not only to profits, but to the welfare of his 


employés. A few years ago the Governor of 
Michigan said that there was one man who had 
done more than all others in that country for 
humane and reasonable conditions of life among 
its working people—Alexander Agassiz. 

In August, 1868, the Hecla and Calumet mines 
produced 330 tons of refined copper. In 1909 the 
product of refined copper for the year was at the 


rate of 4000 tons a month. The area which has_ 


been mined and opened up in the region of the 
conglomerate lode since Agassiz set it going can 
be measured now in square miles, the shafts and 


’ 


drifts amount to 200 miles in length, and 37. 


million tons of rock have been lifted, gooo tons 
are removed every day, and 5600 men are em- 
ployed in the works. 


the company has paid to its stock-holders the huge 


last resort to prop up a failing enterprise, Alex- 
ander Agassiz transformed it into one of the most 
prosperous and extensive mines known in the 
history of industry. He has left the mine as a 
remarkable proof of his extraordinary executive 
ability and business foresight. Few men can show 
such a monument as the result of a life’s work; 


a man whose life’s interest was abstract science. 
And to scientific research and the realisation of his 
father’s great project of a vast museum he devoted 
the leisure and the wealth which now became his. 


“His versatile and restless energy (writes his 
son) covered an extraordinarily wide field. The 
morphologist considers his earlier work the most 
important; the geologist that his reputation 
rests chiefly on his extensive investigations of 
coral reefs; the zoologist remembers his vast 
collections of marine life gathered in a dozen 
extended voyages widely scattered over the surface 
of the globe; and to still others he appears as 
the creator of a vast museum and one of the 
greatest benefactors of the oldest university in 


Since the Hecla and — 
Calumet mines paid their first dividend in 1869, — 


sum of 20 million pounds sterling. Called as a_ 


yet in this case it was the by-product of the brain of 


JANUARY 29, 1914] 


America. In the world of affairs he was known 
-as an extremely capable and successful mining 
man, who was said to employ his leisure moments 
in some sort of scientific study.” 


‘ The story of his numerous expeditions in tropical 
_ seas which became almost annual fixtures, since 
_he suffered severely in later life from exposure to 
the winter climate of New England, is given with 
some fullness in the present volume, and especi- 
ally good is the account of his series of investiga- 
tions of coral reefs and atolls in the West Indies, 
and in the Indian and Pacific oceans. These 
_ chapters will well repay the reader. 
But here I am more anxious to cite passages 
illustrating the personal qualities of Alexander 
Agassiz, first as shown in his deliberate applica- 
tion of the great wealth which he acquired by his 
own efforts so early in life, and secondly as ex- 
hibited in the contrast which in many respects he 
presents when compared with a man of an equally 
_ wide public reputation, his much-loved and gifted 
_ father Louis Agassiz. During his life Alexander 
Agassiz made contributions to the Museum and 
University of Harvard which amounted to three 
hundred thousand pounds sterling, and a further 
very considerable sum will eventually pass to the 
University which he has specially ear-marked to 
provide posts in the Museum for the maintenance 
of investigators who are to be free from the 
burden of class-teaching. On university matters I 
was in entire sympathy and accord with him. He 
deplored, in regard to Cambridge, Mass. (as noted 
in this book), the same antiquated and seemingly 
irremoyable errors in organisation, and the same 
failure to recognise the university as a great seat 
of living progressive science, which we still bravely 
struggle against in the old country . He wished 
to see American universities modelled on the 
German system. Writing not long ago of his 
expenditure for science, he says :— 


“While the sum total seems a large expenditure, 
and one which appeals to the public and to the 
University officials, I hope that my influence on 
science at Cambridge will not always be measured 
by the dollar standard, as it is so apt to be. 
What I care for far more is the recognition of 
the fact that, having the means, I have backed up 
my opinion of what was worth doing by a free 
expenditure of funds, and furthermore that I have 
since 1870 devoted my time as completely to the 
interest of the Museum as if I had been working 
on a salary of fifteen hundred a year. And that 
since that I have published the results of my work 
‘continuously, and hope to be judged by that, and 
not by the total I may have spent for the same. 
I want to go down as a man of science, and not 
to be temporarily known by a kind of cheap 
notoriety as an American millionaire.” 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


603 


Whilst pouring out his fortune for science with 
one hand, he was (his son tells us) generous almost 
to a fault to his children with the other. 

Alexander Agassiz inherited from his father a 
love of science and an extraordinary ability and 
love for work; but his sensitive and apprehensive 
temperament he acquired directly from his mother. 
Father and son had less in common than may be 
supposed. The father’s optimism was always a 
cause of anxiety and trouble; the son possessed a 
singularly clear sight for the rocks ahead, and a 
very remarkable ability to steer his course clear 
of them. The older Agassiz, buoyant and robust, 
loved appreciation, was fond of teaching, and had 
a genius for stimulating his students. He had a 
large measure of the poetic and imaginative quality 
which is necessary for the making of an original 
discoverer. Alexander, retiring and reserved, had 
no gift or desire to excite popular interest; he 
hated notoriety, disliked teaching, and his intellec- 
tual life was devoted to research. He was ex- 
tremely cautious in speculation, and, indeed, on 
this account—though he rendered immense service 
to science by the accumulation of important facts 
and the discovery and description of new species 
often of great interest, and the exploration in a 
magnificent way of regions of the ocean previously 
unvisited—he yet is not the author of any great 
generalisation or theoretical advance in the science 
to which he devoted himself. 

As he matured and saw his way to large results, 
he aimed at the solution of two big problems; 
(1) the amount of variation from type that may be 
expected in a given period of geological time, as 
illustrated by the difference which has ensued in 
the oceanic fauna on the two sides of the Isthmus 
of Panama since the days when the Caribbean 
was virtually a bay of the Pacific. He made im- 
mense collections by means of large and costly 
expeditions, and employed pretty well all the 
specialists of Europe as well as America, and his 
own special knowledge of the Echinoids, to report 
on the material collected on each side of the 
Isthmus with this end in view. It is one of the 
tragedies of a life so full and richly employed as 
his was that his ‘‘ Panamic Report,” so long looked 
forward to, was never written. 

The other problem dealt with by Alexander 
Agassiz was that of the formation of coral reefs 
and atolls. He visited every coral island region 
in the world, and published richly illustrated 
surveys of them. He was opposed to Darwin’s 
theory of the origin of coral atolls by the sub- 
sidence of the areas in which they occur. And 
he certainly succeeded in showing that the views 
advocated by Darwin and by Dana are not capable 


604 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 29, 1914 


of universal application, nor, indeed, possessed 
of general validity. 

Alexander Agassiz was drawn into his life-long 
occupation with zoological science by his love for 
his father, and a determination that the Harvard 
Museum commenced by that father should be 
carried through and become, as his father had 
intended, as great or greater than the greatest 
zoological museum in Europe. He frequently said 
that he did not care for museum work himself. 
He preferred to study fresh living material. But 
a determination once made by Alexander Agassiz, 
and based upon the strongest and most beautiful 
feature in his character—his filial devotion—was 
an irresistible force. The Museum of Comparative 
Zoology is now what he determined it should be— 
marvellous for its rich collections, its spacious 
galleries and laboratories and its splendid organ- 
isation and equipment in staff and facilities for 
investigation. On a tablet in the entrance hall 
is inscribed ‘“Ludovici Agassiz Patri  filius 
Alexander.” 

Alexander Agassiz had not studied as his father 
had done—medicine. His zoology did not rest 
upon a physiological basis. 1 cannot but think 
that the cast of mind, which dealing with definite 
physical problems enabled him to overcome all 
obstacles and to organise the Michigan copper 
mines with such triumphant success, would have 
led him to even greater achievements in the field 
of experimental science than those which were 
the outcome of his magnanimous devotion to the 
work and development of the museum begun by 
his father. 

A few more personal details remain to be told, 
and I have finished. Like many other great men 
who have found a large part of their life’s interest 
on the ocean, he suffered frequently from sea-sick- 
ness, but never let it interfere with his purpose. 
He was a man of quick temper, and, as he showed 
in’ childhood, resented injustice and arrogant 
domination. An instance of this virtue is related 
by his son, telling how in his later life, on one of 
his visits to Berlin, he was insulted in a restaurant 
by two German officers, one of whom, after some 
altercation, started to draw his sword: But before 
he could get it out of the scabbard, Agassiz 
knocked him down with a chair; The matter was 
taken up by the American Embassy, with the up- 
shot that the officer was forced to apologise. 

A great grief came to Alexander Agassiz only 
four years after he had established the Michigan 
copper mine and assured for himself a magnificent 
fortune. _ In 1873, when he was thirty-eight years 
old, he lost in the space of eight days both his father 
and his young wife. The life-long sorrow increased 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92] 


the natural reserve of his character. 


He wrote - 
some months later to Huxley :— ; 


| 


“Bew young men have reached my age and . 


attained, as it were, all their ambition might 
desire; and yet the one thing which I crave for 
and which I want to keep me interested in what 
is going on is wanting. How gladly would I ex- 
change all that I have for what I have lost.” 

And as late as 1891 he writes :— 

“T have been in all that I have undertaken most 
successful from the world’s point of view, but from 
mine—it has lost its charm long ago.” 

Yet there were many happy days in store for 
him. His wife left him three young sons who 
grew up to be the companions and devoted 
admirers of their father. They are remarkable 
men, worthy bearers of their illustrious name. 
One of them has produced the admirable book 
which has been the subject of this article. But 
there is no zoologist among them. 

Let me conclude with a citation of a piece of 
wisdom from a letter on educational problems 
written by Alexander Agassiz to his friend Charles 
Eliot Norton :— 

““The sooner the educators of the country recog- 
nise the fact that at sixteen to eighteen a boy’s. 
brain will do some things and not others, the 
better; and furthermore that all brains are not 
alike, and never will be, and cannot up to that 
time be developed alike, nor in the same direction.” 

Weighty words so determined and 
successful a man! 

Alexander Agassiz died quietly in his sleep on” 
Easter Sunday, March 27, 1910, at sea, on his 
way home from Egypt, where he had passed the 
winter. The ship (the Adriatic) was four days out, 
and he had spent the evening chatting in the 
smoking room witha few friends. He lies beside 
the wife of his youth, whom he had buried thirty- 
six years before in Forest Hills. y 

E. Ray LANKESTER. 


from 


SCHOOL GARDENING. 

(1) Principles and Practice of School Gardening. 
By A. Logan. Pp. xv+ 313. (London: Mae- 
millan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 3s. 6d. 

(2) Educational School Gardening and Handwork. 
By G. W. S. Brewer. With an introduction by 
the Rt. Hon. Henry Hobhouse. Pp. xi+192. 
(Cambridge: University Press, 1913.) Price 
2s. 6d. net. 

(1) HE author points out that nature-study, 
as usually carried on in elementary 

schools, is purely observational, and that, at 

twelve years of age, the pupil’s interest in the 
acquisition of information by this means begins to 


JanvaRY. 29, 1914] 


NATURE 


605 


flag, unless it aids him in action that requires 


thought. It must, in fact, be “‘ thought-compell- 
ing with a view to action, mental or physical, or 
both.” Gardening is held to provide the new 
stimulus that is necessary. In gardening, how- 
ever, the study of nature must still be continued. 
A course of practical work is therefore described, 
in which the principles underlying each operation 
are sought for, these being often made the subject 
of experiment. The only danger is that in follow- 
ing the course the teacher’s zeal for experiment 
may outrun the pupil's desire for information. 
Probabiy Mr. Logan, whese reputation as a leader 
in the school gardening movement in the north 
of Scotland has long beén established, would be 
the first to warn teachers against making this 
mistake. 

The practical work of the school garden is well 
described. The chapters on the cultivation of the 
plots are followed by chapters on propagation, 
manuring, soil organisms, fruit culture, and plant 
diseases. Each is full of useful suggestions for 
the teacher. The workshop is made the adjunct 
of the garden, and a number of garden appliances 
are described which can be made in the woodwork 
class. This, together with “correlated exercises ”’ 
in geography and arithmetic, help to show how to 
link up gardening with the rest of the school 
curriculum. 

The book can be commended to teachers of rural 
schools, both elementary and secondary. 

(2) In the opinion of the author, school garden- 
ing is more often carried on as if the mere acquisi- 
tion of knowledge were the object, than as a 
process of discovery, which, as in other forms of 
handwork, leads to _ self-dependence gained 
through experience of both failure and success. 
His book therefore contains less horticulture than 
in previously published manuals, but more educa- 
tional suggestion, and this is put so forcibly 
that every school teacher of gardening would do 
well to read it. 

A vivid idea is given of the educational possi- 
bilities of gardening. Though Mr. Brewer depre- 
cates any forced correlation, his pupils’ know- 
ledge of even the primary subjects would develop 
by working in the manner he suggests. More- 
over, the natural history of the garden has to be 
studied, garden requisites have to be made in the 
workshop, and simple, though exact, experiments 
of a kind likely to suggest themselves to the 
pupils have to be made. The practical examples 
given are of exactly the right type to capture the 
interest of boys of eleven to fourteen. In fact, 
working on such lines they would want no teach- 
ing; they would teach themselves. 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92| 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 

Vergleichende Physiologie und Morphologie der 
Spinnentiere unter besonderer Berucksichtig- 
ung der Lebensweise. By Prof. F. Dahl. 
Erster Teil: Die’ Beziehungen des Korperbaues 
und der Farben zur Umgebung. Pp. vi+113. 


(Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1913.) Price 3.75 
marks. 
Tuts book is the first instalment of a work 


dealing exclusively with one class of Arthro- 
pods, to wit the Arachnids. It is an account of 
the external form and coloration of these animals 
in relation to their surrounding's, and the author’s 
point of view set forth in the preface will com- 
mend itself to many zoologists, especially those, 
who have to teach young’ students. 

The first thirty pages contain a systematic 
review of the group down to the families thereof, 
and the illustrative woodcuts are excellent. After 
proclaiming himself a convinced Darwinian, Prof. 
Dahl discusses such topics as the advantages of 
a land and of a water existence, changes of func- 
tion resulting from changes in the mode of life, 
and the physiological meaning of bilateral sym- 
metry. The forms of appendages and eyes are 
next dealt with, though we are not told why the 
sessile rather than the stalked eye is the rule in 
Arachnids, while the number of “legs” in the 
Pycnogonids is admittedly baffling. In _ his 
account of the parasitic. members of the group 
and the changes in form dependent on parasitism, 
the author is at his best; and it will be news to 
many that a pseudoscorpion is to be found on 
children’s heads hunting for other ectoparasites, 
while a mite (Tyroglyphus) lives on harmful 
fungi in the bones of birds, and is itself preyed 
upon by two species of another mite (Cheyletes). 
Finally, the question of coloration is fully dis- 
cussed, with many interesting illustrations, 
though no allusion is made to Sclater’s discovery 
of a spider that mimics a leaf-cutting ant. 


Matter and Some of its Dimensions. By W. K. 
Carr. Pp. 120. (London and New York: 
Harper Brothers, 1913.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 
(Harper’s Library of Living Thought.) 

Tus book will scarcely be appreciated by those 

who like an author to remain in touch with actual 

fact when presenting scientific achievement in a 

popular manner. It abounds with misstatements, 

such as that “bodies which emit electrons are 
known as radio-active,”’ and that ‘“radio-active 
bodies emit an emanation which . . . wholly dis- 


appears by transforming itself into electric 
particles” (p. 22). The ether, as usually in this 
type of work, plays a prominent part. It is 


described (p. 37) as a “‘jelly-like mass,” and 
“mathematicians” are said to assume that there 
are several zthers, possibly five. But the author 
supposes that they are infinite in number, and 
adds, ‘‘ We have at least conceived a method, and 
a very orderly one, by which man can evolve for 
all time, existing in each ring, or plane, or 
dimension of matter so long as he supplies the 


606 


conditions of existence.” There are some rather 
more pleasing chapters on truth and on the 
“fourth dimensional consciousness,” but one 
would have preferred these speculations without 
their quasi-scientific sprinkling. 


Continuity. The Presidential Address to the 
British Association, Birmingham, MCMXIII. 
By Sir Oliver Lodge. Printed in full and 
supplemented by explanatory Notes. Pp. 118. 
(London: J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd.) Price 
Is. net. 

Ir will be remembered that Sir Oliver Lodge’s 

presidential address to the British Association was 

printed in full in the issue of Nature for 

September 11 last (vol. xcii., p. 33). Its republica- 

tion with twenty-four pages of explanatory notes 

should ensure renewed attention to the important 
subjects with which it dealt. 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of NaturE. No notice is 
taken of anonymous -communications.] 


Aristotle’s Physics. 


I am unable to find the passage in his works, but I 
think it was Prof. Ostwald who pointed out that while 
Aristotle was much more impressed with the retard- 
ing effect on the velocity of the mass of the medium 
through which the falling mass fell, than with the 
laws of “free fall,’ Galileo ignored friction, and dis- 
covered the law of fall ina vacuum. Neither was 
right; but air at atmospheric pressure has a very 
small effect on a dense mass falling, and hence Galileo 
was able to establish his law. Had Aristotle pursued 
his line of thought, he might, with adequate experi- 
mental appliances (which he had not got) have dis- 
covered Stokes’s law. 

This forms a very good example of the necessary 
restrictions in all scientific reasoning. In all events 
the factors are too numerous to permit of absolute 
coincidence between theory and experiment; the suc- 
cessful discoverer is he who takes care to eliminate 
the less important factors; it is he who arrives at a 
law, which, though not exact in correspondence with 
fact, still enables progress to be made. Further pro- 
gress ensues, when account is taken of each disturb- 
ing factor, one by one; the initial simple law becomes 
more complicated, but a nearer approximation to 
truth is arrived at. WitiiAM Ramsay. 

19 Chester Terrace, Regent's Park, N.W. 

January 23. 


Capt. HarpcastLe’s authentic quotations from Aris- 
totle are most interesting. May I, as a teacher 
emphasise the fact that ‘‘terminal velocity” is the 
best instance of Newton’s first law of motion in actual 
operation—an instance strangely neglected by elemen- 
tary exponents. On anything moving at constant 
speed in a straight line (like a passenger in a railway 
train) the resultant force acting must be zero, and, so 
far from ‘inertia being eliminated” from such a 
body, its progress is due wholly and solely to its own 
inertia. Non-Newtonian mechanics need not be re- 
ferred to in treating so rudimentary a matter. 

Ouiver Lopce. 

Mariemont, Edgbaston, January 24. 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 29, 1914 


The Eugenics Education Society. 
WILL you allow me, throughyyour columns, to point 


out another aspect of the present methods of popu- | 


larising ‘‘eugenics”? I had recently occasion to 
criticise this popularisation, and especially the methods 
of the Eugenics Education Society. I then used the 
following words :—Sir Francis Galton was in the 
problems of race an optimist—a_ splendid ae 
but even he in the last few months of his life saw 
that the popular movement he had startéd was likely 
to outgrow its knowledge, and feared ¢ghat more evil 
than good might result from it’? (The Times, October 
tae tO3) 

“In as present number of the organ of the Eugenics 
Education Society there is some criticism of the words 
used by me. It starts as follows :—-We would, if 
possible, avoid all controversy with one who has done 
so much for our science, and who was, moreover, so 
highly trusted by its founder, Sir Francis Galton, as 
is evidenced by his will. One sentence, however, 
cannot be passed over in complete silence, namely, the 
following : ‘ But even he (Sir F. Galton) in the last 
years of his life saw that the popular movement, &c.’”” 

The italics are mine, and these words are followed 
by quotations from the letters Sir Francis wrote in 
1gog, and one from October, 1910. The controversial 
methods which can change ‘‘last months” to ‘last 
years,’ and then cite letters of 1909, are characteristic 
of that looseness of procedure which must eventually 
be fatal to any popular movement run by this society. 
It suffices to say that on my last visit to Sir Francis 
Galton at Haslemere at the end of December, 1910, 
he expressed distrust of the lines on which the society 
was being run, that he was then in doubt as to 
whether he would not do better to resign his honorary 
presidency, and that I personally declined to influence 
his judgment in any way by discussing the subject, 
because he was as able then as when he was fifteen 
years younger to decide for himself. 

When my ‘Life of Sir Francis Galton” is pub- 
lished his letters will show the exact field of work 
he proposed for the society and his appreciation of 
the dangers that might arise from its action. My 
only excuse, sir, for troubling you in this matter is 
that the organ of the Eugenics Education Society is a 
quarterly, and I have no other effective means except 
through the courtesy of your columns to correct a 
wholly erroneous statement, which the editor of that 
society’s journal has put into my mouth. 

Kart Prarson. 

Galton Laboratory, University of London, 

January 23. 


Some Hahitats of a Marine Amoeba. 

In a letter to Nature (No. 2300, vol. xcii.) I de- 
scribed a common habitat of a marine Amoeba, and 
in view of the subsequent discussion of this matter 
in letters to Nature it will be of interest to record 
some further observations bearing on that discussion. 

In the letter to Nature mentioned above it was 
shown that a marine Amoeba, which agreed in many 
of its characters with Amoeba crystalligera of Gruber, 
could be fairly constantly obtained from sponges of the 
genus Sycon, by squeezing out the contents of the gas- 
tral cavities of these animals. At the same time it was 
stated that this habitat of the Amcebz is not likely 
to be an exclusive one. When, therefore, Prof. Dendy 
suggested in Nature (No. 2301) in the following week 
that these Amcebe might be sponge germ-cells, or 
even metamorphosed collar-cells, I at once began a 
search for the Amoebze in other situations. This. 
search was successful; Amcoebez in all respects similar 
to those obtained from the sponges were found in 


F 


JANUARY 29, 1914] 


three separate places. On one occasion they were 
found among matted masses of the Polyzoan, Bower- 
bankia, on another in a pocket occurring in a pendu- 
lous colony of Botryllus, and on another occasion 


they may have been in the same situation as the last, | 


or they may possibly—but not probably—have been 
present in the mantle cavity of the Botryllus colony. 
On obtaining these free-living Amcebz I started a 
culture of them in petri dishes, and also a culture of 
Amcebe from sponges. The former culture is now 
in a healthy condition, and there has been a large 
increase in the number of individuals. The culture 
from sponges begun on December 10 yielded an in- 
creasing number of Amcebz, until on December 24 
there were numerous specimens all over the bottom 
of the dish. About December 30 this culture began 
to decline, the Amoebz becoming replaced by Ciliates, 
so that at present only occasional specimens can be 
found even by careful hunting. The food of the 
Ameoebz in these cultures was probably bacteria, but 
occasionally algal inclusions were to be observed, and 
in one case an included diatom was almost certainly 
a Nitzschia, a culture of which I added to the 
Amcebe, 

During the progress of these cultures no dividing 
Amcebz were seen, although they were looked for, 
but a few days after starting the cultures a large 
number of small Amcoebz were noticed. These small 
ones undoubtedly grew larger, as the progress of the 
cultures showed. And indeed various sizes of these 
Ameebz from about 30” by 12 to 80, by 40 were 
obtained, both from sponges and the free-living habi- 
tats mentioned above. Unfortunately in my former 
letter I gave the size only of what I considered to 
be the adult form, and have thus misled Prof. Dendy 
into the error of supposing that they are too large to 
be the germ-cells of the sponge. The mature oocytes 
of Sycons are about 35, in diameter, when stained 
and mounted, whereas a large, living Amoeba in a 
spherical condition, measured about .45 » in diameter, 
but even allowing for shrinkage of the oocyte, it is 
probable that it would be somewhat smaller in the 
living state than a large Amoeba. Moreover, as Mr. 
Bidder has pointed out, the adult Amcebz are too 
large to be the metamorphosed collar-cells of the 
sponges, and it may be added so. also are probably 
even the smallest ones. 

Indeed, the identity of the free-living Amoebe and 
those obtained from sponges as indicated by their 
general characters and their similar behaviour under 
culture, apart from the fact of the ingestion of 
diatoms, is sufficient to establish these animals as 
independent organisms. 

It is an interesting fact that the largest forms of 
these Amoebe when flowing quickly can travel their 
own length in about 40 seconds. One specimen was 
observed to travel nearly six times its length in a little 
more than seven minutes, making various stops and 
meanderings on the way. | J. H. Orton. 

The Marine Biological Laboratory, 

The Hoe, Plymouth. 


Projective Geometry. 

Are not the references to the ‘‘ epidemic of projective 
geometries" in a note in Nature of January 1 (p. 510) 
somewhat unfair ? 

It is complained that they ‘“‘may teach pupils to 
copy out nroofs of stereotyped bookwork.’’ The best 
of the treatises contain an excellent selection of 
problems calculated to give the student a firm grasp 
of fundamental geometrical ideas. As for “ problems 
in mechanics involving a conic, cycloid, or catenary,”’ 
the geometry required is usually closely connected 
with the calculus, and is to be found in text-books 
on that subject. 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


607 


Without doubt the calculus is the most important 
branch of mathematics, and should come as early as 
possible, but to those who are interested in the 
geometry of conics the powerful methods of projec- 
tion and reciprocation form a natural and attractive 
sequel to the usual elementary course on the straight 
line and circle. H. Praceio. 

University College, Nottingham, January 1. 


I aGREE with Mr. Piaggio that projective geometry 
is a pleasant and suitable subject of study for arts 
students, especially women, who are reading for 


honours with a view of entering the teaching pro- 


fession. But for such students a single text-book 
written by an eminent pure mathematician would be 
better than the present array of books, the authors 
of many of which have not added much to our know- 
ledge of mathematical Science. 
forgets that thesearts candidates are not the students 
who want their ealculus so early; indeed, they 


flourished ‘and prospered. as well thirty, years ago, | 


taking their ¢alculus:late,.as to-day,. perhaps better. 


Further, Mr: Piaggio- 


It is for the science student who combines. pure’ 
mathematics with mechanics, physics, and chemistry! 


that the early calculus-is most needed. The geo- 
metrical properties of space involved.in the study of 


physical problems are almost invariably essentially 


metric, and a course in. projective geometry will 


appear to such a candidate as a blind-alley, affording* 


very little outlook. Although I liked the subject 
myself, I cannot remember a single outside problem 
to which I could apply my knowledge of it. 
other hand, the geometrical properties of conics and 


On the’ 


other curves are constantly involved in applications. 


to mathematical physics, where their significance can 
only be. properly understood when the curves have 
been studied from first principles. .Mr. Piaggio con- 


siders that this geometry is contained in text-books: 


on the calculus, but the treatment in these, books— 
especially in the case of the conic—is quite inadequate, 
and, moreover, is almost invariably too analytical. 
The old dividing line between geometrical and 
analytical conics was, of course, a mistake, but its 
abolition has led to the failure of students to study 
these curves from first principles, with the result that 
the metric geometry of curves, especially conics, is 
neglected, and students of physics get into the diffi- 
culties mentioned in my note. Now it will be found 
that the authors of many of these text-books run 
down the study of geometrical conics, and propose 
these projective methods as a substitute, and my 
object is to point out that so far as my experience 
goes this substitution leaves the student of mathe- 
matics combined with physics much worse prepared 
than he was before. 

A former pupil, now a lecturer, once brought me 
a proof that the path of a certain particle (I believe 
an electron) was a cycloid. He had worked it out 
analytically ; but I pointed out that the result followed 
immediately from first principles. 

By all means let projective geometry be taught, but 
let its place be beyond the dividing point at which 
students of pure mathematics and of physics branch 
off in different directions. There is plenty of other 
work which is now crowded out of the course common 
to all candidates, which possesses pressing and urgent 
claims for inclusion therein. 

THe WRITER OF THE NOTE. 


Zonal Structure in Colloids. 


THE notice of Prof. Kiister’s work on zoning in 
colloids in Nature of January 8 suggests to me that 
such an influence is often manifest in our concretionary 
formations. : 

In 1912 Prof. S. Leduc, after seeing some of my 


608 


photographs of the Sunderland Magnesian Limestone, 
suggested osmosis as the cause (see his “ Biologie 
Synthetique,” p: 176). This still awaits demonstra- 
tion. 

Two processes appear to me to have been at work 
in this coneretionary limestone. The first step was, 
I believe, the production of rod structures starting at 
every possible angle from ‘bands of origin,’ and 
lying either parallel to or divergent from one another. 
Both forms are shown in the photograph of a vertical 
section at Fulwell Hill (xi). The rods are often 
seen in a double series pointing in opposite directions, 
though they are certainly never of stalactitic origin. 
The second process seems to be similar to that which 
produces Liesegang’s rings; this caused a deposit of 
lime in zones (Fig. 1) across the rods, whatever posi- 


tion or arrangement. 


They commenced as nodes on 
the rods, ultimately by extension forming parallel 


bands. ‘The process often halted at various stages of 
development, but specimens are found showing a com- 
plete series of such changes and suggesting an easy 
classification, GEORGE ABBOTT. 

2 Rusthall Park, Tunbridge Wells, January 15. 


Weather Forecasting. 


Or the sciences, meteorology is perhaps the one 
which most deserves and requires State-aid. Even to 
the individual whose business is not affected directly 
by the weather, a more certain knowledge of the atmo- 
spheric changes which may be expected to take place 
during the day would be of very considerable value. 
Thanks to our Meteorological Office, we can even now 
ascertain from the morning papers what. the weather 
conditions of the day are likely to be; but it is gener- 
ally conceded that even the official weather reports 
sometimes prove untrustworthy. By some weather 
experts forecasts are issued for three days in advance. 
Such forecasts, however, are much more untrust- 
worthy than the daily ones: Indeed, weather changes 
are frequently so rapid that in the course of twenty- 
four hours the atmospheric conditions may be almost 
entirely changed over the whole of Europe. 

There is. no reason to suppose that any insuperable 
difficulty Stands in the way of accurate weather fore- 
casting; but individual effort cannot be expected to 
bring together, and put in proper form for study, 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92] 


NATURE |. 


[JANUARY 29, 1914, 


SEE 


the vast amount of detailed information from distant 
regions which must be dealt with. : 

To be of real service, correct forecasts should be 
published for at least seven days in advance. Such 
forecasts would be of great value to the agriculturist. 
It does not seem to be quite appreciated how great an 
interest agriculture is, even to a manufacturing coun- 
try like England. Compared with it the 18,0001. per 
annum provided by the State for the carrying on of 
the work of the Meteorological Office is an insignifi- 
cant figure. Indeed, that so little is spent on this 
department would seem to imply that those who are 
responsible for providing what is required take an 
altogether incorrect view of what might really be 
accomplished. One unexpected storm will often do 
ten times as much damage to agricultural produce and 
shipping as would provide all the money that is re- 
quired. 

[t is difficult to believe that in these days when 
scientific method has led to such enormous improve- 
ments in the conditions under which we live, 
there are those who believe that meteorology is a 
science which cannot be expected to assist greatly 
in promoting the generai welfare. That meteorology 
has not made more rapid strides is due to the fact 
that it is pre-eminently a science which requires 
organised effort of a kind which the individual 
meteorologist cannot undertake. What is required is 
an organisation the efforts of which are mainly 
directed to the accumulation of facts, and, what is of — 
equally great importance, the publication of such facts 
in a form easy of comprehension. 

A meteorological atlas gives us charts showing 
mean temperatures, mean atmospheric pressures, &c., 


' but although such charts are useful, indeed indis- 


pensable for some purposes, we still require charts 
giving the actual conditions obtaining at certain times 
each day. The only charts of this description avail- 
able are those issued by the British Meteorological 
Office each week. Although these have greatly im- 
proved during recent years, they still leave much to 
be desired. If they were printed on a larger scale 
they would be much more valuable. Such charts 
ought to show the isobars, isothermal lines, dew 
points, &c. The isothermal lines and dew points 
would, probably, be distinctive of each wind province. 

At the present time the science of meteorology, in 
so far as the laws governing the changes produced 
in the air by vertical or horizontal movements are 
concerned, is well up to date. What is wanted is a 
clearer knowledge of the nature and origin of cyclones 
and anticyclones. Correct conclusions can only be 
drawn from charts showing correctly the conditiors 
actually obtaining over large areas at particular 
moments. 

It must not be. forgotten that every cyclone as it 
reaches new areas finds there wind conditions the 
nature of which exercise a profound influence upon 
the form of the advancing cyclone. It is not, there- 
fore, sufficient to know that a cyclone is advancing 
towards us along a certain path. The actual form of 
this cyclone and the wind and other conditions of the 
area into which it is advancing, are each of great 
importance. So complicated are the conditions, and 
so variable are they, that anything short of daily, or. 
twice daily, charts will fail to provide the material 
required for ascertaining the laws which govern the ~ 
circulation of the atmosphere and produce rain, wind, 
and change of temperature. 

A rich country such as England, one in which 
agriculture and shipping are of such enormous im- 
portance, should not fail to furnish material for such 
a study of atmospheric changes as would render fore- 
casts trustworthy, not only for one day, but for 


a ae Pe 


several days in advance. 


device. 


JANUARY. 29, 1914] 


NATURE 


609 


However, any further ex- 
penditure of public money should not be granted, un- 
less the information thereby obtained be published in 
such a detailed form and at such a price that.it would 
be available for the study of all who take an interest 
in meteorological science. R. M. Destey. 
Abbeyfield, Salisbury Avenue, Harpenden. 


Liquid Air as a Fixative. 


Last year when Mr. Atkins and I were searching 
for a method of extracting sap unchanged from 
various vegetable tissues, treatment with liquid air 
suggested itself and proved a valuable means _ for 
attaining this object. The rapidity of its action in 
suspending vital processes and chemical changes and 
in rendering protoplasm permeable, suggested its 
further application as a fixative. Since then most 
promising results have been obtained in various cells 
and tissues by Miss E. S. Marshall, working in this 
laboratory, showing various nuclear and cytoplasmic 
structures-with great clearness and with a complete 
absence of plasmolysis. Henry H. Dixon. 

School of Botany, Trinity College, Dublin. 


Atomic Models and X-Ray Spectra. 


Ir seems scarcely possible that Prof. Nicholson 
(NATURE, vol. xcii., p. 583) requires his two rings of 
electrons, rotating under the inverse square law, to 
have one and the same angular velocity; because, if 
so, the impossibility of two different radii is self- 
evident; but his letter does not guard against this 
elementary misapprehension. OLIVER LopGeE. 

Mariemont, Edgbaston, January 24. 


AUTOMATIC AEROPLANE CONTROLS. 


Ne interest has been excited in the an- 
nouncement contained in the daily Press 
that Mr. Orville Wright has succeeded in fitting 


aéroplanes with a device which, according to his 


statements, renders them as nearly “fool-proof ” 
as anything can be. 

This device, as illustrated in the Daily Mail, 
is an absolutely simple one, and works by com- 
pressed air. Lateral control is effected by a 
pendulum which operates an air valve, by which 
the compressed air is admitted to a cylinder 
containing a piston connected with the warping 
For longitudinal control, Mr. Wright 
uses a flat vane, which rises or falls when the 
air impinges on its under or upper surface; and 
this is similarly made to operate the elevator. 

The compressed air is generated by a small 
windmill, which will continue to work when the 
engines are stopped. 

I have pointed out in Nature, vol. xci., 
p- 556, that a pendulum, operating on the 
controlling devices of an aéroplane, instead of 
increasing the stability and damping out the 
oscillations, may produce the reverse effect. 
It is thus evident that there must be definite 
conditions under which such a: device as this 
may be able to accomplish its object, and 
that there are equally definite conditions under 
which it may lead to disastrous accidents. The 
inference is that Mr. Wright has by experimental 
tests arrived at a result which satisfies the ‘con- 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92] 


ditions favourable for automatic control as op- 
posed to those favourable for automatic wreckage. 

Apart from the use of a vane for longitudinal 
control, and a windmill as a generator of com- 
pressed air, the invention seems to differ very 
little from a patent previously claimed by Mr. 
H. G. Seager, of Colwyn Bay, which I have rather 
carefully examined, because I am interested in 
it, and he lives near. Seager uses a pendulum 
and air pressure, but instead of one he has eight 
valves, and the same number of cylinders: or 
pneumatics, with the result that he can place his 
warping devices or elevators in eight different 
positions, according to the strength and sense of 
the disturbance requiring to be counteracted. It 
thus represents a more elaborate control. 

There is a good deal of confusion at the present 
time as to what is meant by stability in aviation, 
and for this reason ‘‘automatic control’? would 
probably be a safer name than ‘automatic sta- 
bility” for self-righting devices involving move- 
able parts. The confusion arises largely from 
the want of an adequate theoretical basis of com- 
parison in the early days of aviation. Had theory 
preceded practice, the first experiments. would 
have soon disposed of the divergences - between 
them, which appear to be leading to endless con- 
troversies, misunderstandings, and mis-statements 
at the present time. ‘a 

Thus in a discussion on stability in The Aero- 
nautical Journal for October, recently’ issued, 
Mr, J. H. Ledeboer, near the end, says: “So 
far, everyone who has contributed to this dis- 
cussion appears to have made the cardinal mis- 
take of confusing stability with controllability, 
which are essentially different qualities, and are, 
in fact, often contradictory.” And in Mr. 
Berriman’s recent book, while introducing the 
term ‘“‘weathercock stability ” to designate some- 
thing which may or may not be synonymous with 
dynamical stability, he advances the opinion that 
an absolutely stable aéroplane would never vary 
its inclination to the horizon, and further that its 
centre of pressure would always coincide with its 
centre of gravity. So far from being absolutely 
stable, the last-named condition might theoretic- 
ally be described as giving neutral equilibrium, 
but unstable would be a more correct description. 

The success of the Wright device is described 
both by Wright himself and by his  fellow- 
passenger, Griffith Brewer. The statement that 
Wright flew several miles without touching the 
handles is undoubtedly genuine. 

While these things are happening in America, 
considerable interest is still being shown in this 
country in the Dunne machine, as is evidenced 
by the recent discussions before the Aéronautical 
Society. In this case an important feature is, that 
the tendency to excessive banking up in turning 
curves is counteracted by. making the angle of 
attack negative at the tions of the wings, so that 
these are really pressed downwards instead of 
lifted. The principle involved may be stated sym- 
bolically as follows, provided that we make the 
assumptions necessary to simplify the formule :-~ 


610 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 29, I914 


Let S be an element of the sustaining surface, 
a its angle of attack, s its distance from the 
plane of symmetry. Then the lifting power of 
the surface is proportional to =Ssinacosa, 
while the tendency to bank up at the outer side 
in rounding curves is proportional to a co- 
efficient which I call L,, and is proportional to 
—23Sz%sinacosa, being negative in the or- 
dinary case where an aéroplane tends to rise 
excessively on the outer side when rounding 
corners. Now the principle of the “negative 
wing tip,” as Dunne calls it, is represented sym- 
bolically by the fact that by making a positive 
when ¢ is small, and a negative when z is large, 
you can make 


3S sina cos a positive, 
>Sz? sin a cos a zero or negative, 


thus giving lift and yet neutralising or reversing 
the banking action. 

There is much to be said for Mr. Dunne’s 
remark: ‘Finally I must remind you that all 
my work has been done by practical experiments. 
It is not the experimental facts which are in 
question, but the theory which I have evolved 
to cover these facts, which theory I submit to 
this learned Society for criticisms. But the facts 
are unquestioned. The aéroplane does do these 
things, and if the theory does not, give warranty 
for the practice, then it is the theory which is 
wrong.” G. H. Bryan. 


THE ATLANTA MEETING OF THE 
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 
HE sixty-fifth meeting of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science 
was held at Atlanta, Georgia, during the week 
December 29, 1913, to January 3, 1914, under the 
presidency of Dr. E. B. Wilson, of Columbia 
University. It was the first meeting which the 
association has held in the Southern States since 
the New Orleans meeting of 1905, and was marked 
by an important series of papers relating in- 
directly to the industrial advance in the south, to 
health conditions existing among its people, and 
to its geological and other resources. The attend- 
ance was not large, only about 4oo members and 
fellows registering. : 

Nine of the national societies affiliated with the 
American association met at the same time and 
place, as follows :— ; 

Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of America, 
Botanical Society of. America, American Association 
of Economic Entomologists, Entomological Society of 
America, American Microscopical Society, American 
Physical Society, American Phytopathological Associa- 
tion, School Garden Assotiation of America, Southern 
Society for Philosophy and Psychology. 

The address of the retiring president, Prof. 
E. C. Pickering, Director of the Harvard College 
Observatory, was on the subject “The Study of 
the Stars.” 

The addresses of the vice-presidents, or chair- 
men of sections, were as follows :— 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92| 


| subject of Pellagra. 


A, ‘‘The Influence of Fourier’s Series upon the 
Development of Mathematics,” E. B. Van Vleck, 
University of Wisconsin; B, ‘The Methods of 
Science: To What Do They Apply?” A. G. Web- 
ster, Clark University ; C (on account of the absence of 
Vice-President Miller the address was omitted); D, 
“Safety and the Prevention of Waste in Mining and 
Metallurgical Operations,” J. A. Holmes, Bureau of © 
Mines; E, ‘‘ Pleistocene History of Missouri River,” . 
J. E. Todd, University of Kansas; F, “‘ The Story of 
Human Lineage,” W. A. Locy; G, ‘‘The Evolution 
of a Botanical Problem,” D. S. Johnson, Johns Hopkins 
University ; H (the address was omitted on account of 
the absence of Vice-President Fewkes); I, ‘‘The De- 
velopment of our Foreign Trade,” J. H. Hammond, 
New York; K, ‘‘The Physiological Instruction of 
Medical Students,” J. J. R. Macleod, Western Reserve 
University (read by title); L, “Science, Education, 
and Democracy,” J. McKeen Cattell, Columbia Uni- 
versity. 

Two public lectures complimentary to the 
citizens of Atlanta were given—the first by Dr. 
C. W. Stiles, of the U.S. Public Health 
Service, on the subject “The Health of the 
Mother in the South.” In this address, in which 
some very remarkable facts were told in a very 
plain way, the speaker urged in a most emphatic 
manner the segregation of the races in the south, 
an idea which has heretofore received little atten- 
tion in the United States, although British sani- 
tarians in the tropical British colonies have 
appreciated its importance for some years. 

The second public lecture was by Prof. C. E. 
Munroe, of the George Washington University, 
on the subject ‘‘The Explosive Resources of the © 
Confederacy during the War and Now: A 
Chapter in Chemical History.” Prof. Munroe, — 
one of the American authorities on explosives, 
and for a long time Professor of Chemistry at 
the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, 
dwelt upon the extraordinary activity of the south, 
isolated as it was from other countries by the 
blockading vessels of the northern fleet, in 
developing such resources as they were known to 
possess, and in manufacturing irom them the 
enormous quantity of explosives which were used 
by the large southern army during its four years’ 
struggle for independence. 

The papers read before Section E (geology and 
geography) were devoted practically entirely to 
the geology of .the Southern States, and the — 
council of the association has made a grant to — 
secure the publication of these papers in a single 
volume. : 

An important symposium was held under the 
auspices of Sections D and I, on highway policies 
and engineering, and other joint meetings were 
held between the Section of Zoology and the 
American Entomological Society, and between the 
Section of Botany and the American Phyto- 
pathological Association. Under the Botanical 
Society of America was held a symposium on 
temperature effects. 

Probably the most important symposium of the 
meeting was held under the auspices of Section K 
(physiology and experimental medicine), on the 
The subject was opened by 


JANUARY 29, 1914] 


a paper by Dr. J. W. Babcock, Superintendent 
of the State Hospital for the Insane at Columbia, 
S.C., on the medico-local relations of pellagra. 
Dr. E. Bates Block, of Atlanta, discussed the 
mental disturbances of this disease. Dr. G. M. 
Niles took an unusually optimistic stand in his 
discussion of prognosis. The main paper of the 
symposium was presented by Dr. W. J. Macneal, 
of the New York Post-graduate Medical School, 
for himself’ and his colleagues, Dr. J. S. Siler, 
Medical Corps, U.S.A., and Dr. P. E. Garrison, 
Medical Corps, U.S.N., and comprehended an 
announcement of the later studies of the 
Thompson-McF adden commission on the etiology 
of pellagra. During the summer of 1913 the 
commission has been actively at work at Spartan- 
burg, S.C., and has accumulated and digested 
a mass of facts bearing upon the etiology which 
seem to discredit completely all questions of diet, 
either as to character or amount, and to place the 
responsibility for the disease upon unsanitary con- 
ditions as regards the disposal of excreta; in 
other words, upon food contamination. The re- 
maining paper was entitled “The Entomological 
Aspects of the Pellagra Investigation of the 
Thompson-McFadden Commission,” by Mr. 
A. H. Jennings, of the Bureau of Entomology, 
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mr. Jennings 
having worked for two seasons with the com- 
mission at Spartanburg, practically absolved 
Simulium from any relation to the disease, and 
stated that if any insect is the vector of pellagra 
it is in all probability the stable fly (Stomoxys 
calcitrans). 

Among the actions by the council were the 
acceptance of the Society of American Foresters 
as an affliated society, the adoption of a resolu- 
tion looking with favour upon the organisation 
of a Brazilian division of the association, the 
authorisation of the establishment of local 
branches of the association, the continuance of 
the associate secretary for the south, and the 
authorisation of the preparation of a directory of 
the funds available for research work. 

A report of progress from the Committee on 
Expert Testimony was received. The movement 
to bring the force of the association, composing 
in its membership so many hundreds of scientific 
men constantly called upon to give expert testi- 
mony in the courts, towards a modification of 
the present system of employing experts by 
opposing parties in courts of law, was begun two 
years ago at Minneapolis. The committee in 
charge of the work consists of Prof. E. C. 
Pickering, of Harvard, chairman; Dr. E. B. 
Wilson, of Columbia; Dr. W. H. Welch, of Johns 
Hopkins; United States Senator Elihu Root; Dr. 
A. D. Little, formerly president of the American 
Chemical Society; and Dr. J. A. Holmes, of the 
U.S. Bureau of Mines. The committee reported 
a compilation of the laws of the different States 
of the union on this subject, and stated that a 
compilation of the laws of the different nations 
of the world is in hand. Positive recommenda- 
tions are to be expected from this committee at 
the next meeting of the association, and, com- 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


611 


prising as it does some of the most eminent 
scientific men in America, together with one of 
its most eminent lawyers, the report will carry 
great weight. 

It was decided to hold the next meeting of the 
association during Convocation Week, 1914-15, 
at Philadelphia, with a summer meeting to follow 
in August, 1915, at San Francisco. The general 
committee recommended to the next general com- 
mittee that Toronto, Canada, be chosen as the 
place of meeting for 1915-16, on invitation from 
the University of Toronto. 

The officers elected for the coming year were 
as follows :— 

President: Chas. W. Eliot, president emeritus of 
Harvard University. Vice-Presidents (or Chairmen of 
Sections): A. H. S. White, Vassar College; B, A. 
Zeleny, University of Minnesota; C (no election); D, 
A. Noble, New York; E, F. R. Lillie; G, G. B. Clin- 
ton, New Haven; H, C. Wissler, American. Museum 
of Natural History; I (no election); K, R. M. Pearce, 
University of Pennsylvania; L, P. H. Hanus, Howard 
University; M, L. H. Bailey, Cornell University. 
General Secretary: W. A. Worsham, jun., Athens 
State College of Agriculture. Secretary of Council: 
Henry Skinner, Academy of Sciences. Associate 
Secretary: R. M. Ogden, University of Tennessee.. 


DR. S: C. CHANDLER. 


R. S. C. CHANDLER,‘ whose death we 
recorded with regret last week, was not 
the least conspicuous in that earnest band of 
American astronomers whose energy and resource 
have done so much to advance astronomical 
science. He began his scientific career in the 
United States Coast Survey, a school that has 
trained many brilliant observers, who, in positions 
of greater independence, have rendered valuable 
service. Dr. Chandler’s claim to a place among 
the most famous of these rests upon three notable 
achievements. First, the invention and use of the 
Almacantar, an instrument in which the small 
circle perpendicular to the meridian passing 
through the pole is adopted as a fundamental 
circle of reference, and gravitational action round 
an imaginary vertical axis is substituted for the 
motion of rotation round the pivots of the hori- 
zontal axis in the case of a_ vertical circle. 
Secondly, for his valuable catalogues of variable 
stars, in which he systematised the results col- 
lected by many observers, thereby encouraging 
and facilitating further observations. His work 
in this direction was by no means confined to 
simple compilation. He was both an indefatigable 
observer and the fortunate discoverer of many in- 
teresting objects of this class, ever directing atten- 
tion to a branch of astronomy that has proved 
both suggestive and fructiferous. 

This habit of industrious examination and 
critical scrutiny, acquired in discussing many 
series of observations, proved of remarkable assist- 
ance in the successful inquiry with which his name 
will ever be associated, the detection of the varia- 
tion of latitude, due to the want of exact coin- 
cidence between the axes of the earth’s figure and 
of rotation. This work was exceedingly laborious, 


612 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 29, I914 


necessitating the reduction and collation of many 
series of observations of zenith distance, and 
that it was pursued with unswerving determina- 
tion is the more meritorious as previous com- 
puters, misled by Euler’s investigation of the 
behaviour of an absolutely rigid earth, had de- 
cided that no term of a periodic character could 
be detected. Undismayed by this negative result, 
Chandler, putting aside all suggestive hypotheses, 
based his inquiry solely on the observations them- 
selves, and accepted the results these offered. 
He was thus driven to the inevitable conclusion, 
first, that the latitude variation had a period of 
428 days, a decision that was subsequently modi- 
fied by showing that the complicated motion could 
be best explained by the superposition of two 
variations, one in fourteen, and the other in 
twelve months. 

These valuable investigations merit in the 
highest degree the attention not only of those who 
are especially devoted to astronomical and mathe- 
matical researches, but also of that large and 
ever-increasing class which is anxious for general 
knowledge with regard to the physical phenomena 
of our globe. This work merited and ob- 
tained the recognition of the Royal Astronomical 
Society, which awarded Dr. Chandler the gold 
medal. It was his greatest achievement, but there 
are other grounds on which he merits the gratitude 
of astronomers, who will regret the loss of one 
who equally adorned the threefold divisions of 
computational, observational, and instrumental 
astronomy. ‘ W. E. P. 


NOTES. 


We announce with profound regret the death on 
Saturday, January 24, in his seventy-first year, of Sir 
David Gill, K.C.B., F.R.S., formerly H.M. Astro- 
nomer at the Cape of Good Hope. 


Brrore Lord Strathcona was carried to his grave in 
Highgate Cemetery on Monday, there was an impres- 
sive memorial service at Westminster Abbey, at which 
the King and Queen and Queen Alexandra were repre- 
sented. The ten pall-bearers, selected on account of 
their special connection with Canada, or personal 
relationship with Lord Strathcona, were :—Lord Aber- 
deen, Lord Lansdowne, Lord Lichfield, the Very Rev. 
George Adam Smith (Principal of Aberdeen Univer- 
sity), Mr. W. L. Griffith (secretary of the Canadian 
High Commissioner’s Office), the Duke of Argyll, the 
Lord Mayor, Mr. Harcourt (Colonial Secretary), Sir 
William Osler (regius professor of medicine, Oxford), 
and Sir Thomas Skinner (deputy-governor of the 
Hudson’s Bay Company). A large number of distin- 
guished people were present at the Abbey service, 
including representatives of many scientific societies 
and similar bodies. Among these were Sir William 
Crookes and Sir Archibald Geikie (Royal Society), 
the President of Magdalen (the University of Oxford), 
the Master of Downing (the University of Cambridge), 


Mr. J. G. Colmer. (Canada Club), Sir William Ram- 
say, Sir Boverton Redwood, and Lady Lockyer 
NO. 2309, VOL. 92] 


(British Science Guild), Sir Frederick Macmillan 
(National Hospital for Paralysis and Epilepsy, of 
which-Lord Strathcona was president), Sir Francis 
Champneys, Sir Henry Morris, and Mr. J. Y. W- 
MacAlister (Royal Society of Medicine), Colonel Sir 
T. H. Holdich (Royal Geographical Society), Dr. I. H. 
Tudsbery (Institution of Civil Engineers), and Sir 
Charles Lyall and Prof. Ernest Gardner (League of 
the Empire). Lord Strathcona was one of the trustees 
of the British Science Guild, and took a practical 
interest in developments of scientific and educational 
work. His benefactions to McGill University, Mon- 
treal, exceeded a quarter of a million; he gave 25,oool. 
to Marischal College, Aberdeen, and endowed a chair 
of agriculture in Aberdeen University. He also estab- 
lished and endowed the Royal Victoria College for 
Women at Montreal, and made many _ other 
generous gifts to higher education. The Toronto 
correspondent of The Times reports that at 
a memorial service held on Monday at McGill 
University in honour of Lord Strathcona, Prin- 
cipal Peterson said :—‘‘ The late Chancellor’s contribu- 
tion to education constituted no mere stereotyped or 
conventional form of benevolence. In scientific, medi- 
cal, and higher education for women he was a pioneer 
with a marked power of initiative which had been felt 
all over Canada.” 


Tue wife of Dr. Weir Mitchell survived him 
only a few days. She became ill shortly after his 
funeral, and died of pneumonia on January 15. Mrs. 
Mitchell was in her seventy-ninth year. 


Pror. D. H. TENNENT, of Bryn Mawr, has com- 
pleted a biological investigation he has been conduct- 
ing in Thursday Island in connection with the Car- 
negie research fund. , 


Pror. W. M. Davis, the Harvard geologist, is about 
to carry out an exploration of some of the coral 
islands in the Pacific. He is so arranging his tour as 
to be able to attend the meetings of the British 
Association in Australia. 


Dr. E. C. Spirzka, a former editor of The American 
Journal of Neurology, has died in New York in his 
sixty-second year. From 1885 to 1887 he was pro- 
fessor of medical jurisprudence and neurology at the 
New York Post-Graduate Medical College. 


Tue death is reported, in his sixty-ninth year, of 
Dr. G. W. Peckham, a former president of the Wis- 
consin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, and 
librarian of the Milwaukee public library. He was 
distinguished by his studies in entomology, and had 
collaborated with his wife in writing numerous works 
on that subject. 


Tue death is reported, in his sixtieth year, of Dr. 
B. O. Peirce, who had held the Hollis chair of mathe- 
matics and natural philosophy at Harvard since 1888. 
He was the author of ‘‘Experiments in Magnetism,” 
“Theory of the Newtonian Potential Function,’’ and 
“Table of Integrals,” besides numerous papers on 
mathematics and physics. 


On Thursday next, February 5, Sir Thomas H. 
Holland will begin a course of two lectures at the 


JANUARY 29, 1914] 


NATURE 


613 


Royal Institution on types and causes of earth crust 
folds. The Friday evening discourse on February 6 
will be delivered by Dr. H. S. Hele-Shaw on the 
mechanics of muscular effort, and on February 13 by 
Prof. J. Norman Collie on production of neon and 
helium by electric discharge. © © 


Mr. H. Lamstey, writing from Watford, states that 
a queen wasp was seen by him upon his desk in an 
office on January 22, although the weather was very cold. 
This early date for a queen wasp to appear is worth 
putting on record. Curiously enough, we notice that 
two wasps are recorded in The Times of January 24 
as having been among the finds reported from the old 
Roman city of Silchester, Berkshire, during the past 
week. 


_ Ar the last monthly general meeting of the Zoo- 
logical Society it was announced in the monthly report 
read by the secretary that the number of visitors to 
the society’s gardens during the month of December 
was 29,820. The total number admitted during the 
year was 1,157,974, being an increase of 145,076, as 
compared with the total for the year 1912. The 
money received for admission at the gates was 28,223I., 
or an increase of 44791. as compared with the total 
for the year 1912. The total number of fellows on the 
roll at the close of the year 1913 amounted to 4733. 


WE learn from The British Medical Journal that 
arrangements have nearly been completed for the 
establishment, as a memorial to Lord Lister in Edin- 
burgh, of a- Lister Institute. It is proposed that the 
institute, which will be devoted mainly to research in 
bacteriology and pathology, shall work in connection 
with the University, but that it shall be managed by 
an independent board consisting of representatives of 
the Royal Colleges of Physicians and: Surgeons, and 
of the University, and probably of the Carnegie 
trustees, who have recently become interested in the 
laboratories of the Royal College of Physicians. 


ANOTHER Antarctic expedition is announced, for de- 
parture in 1915, and an absence of five years. The 
Swedish Antarctic Committee, which includes Admiral 
Palander, Profs. Nordenskjéld, and Gunnar Andersson, 
and Dr. Nathorst, has secured the financial support of 
the Government to the extent of half the estimated 
cost of 15,000l.. It is proposed to equip a station in 
Graham Land, with a scientific personnel ten in num- 
ber, which will be supplied during the long sojourn in 
contemplation by whaling ships, and will carry a wire- 
less telegraphic installation. This appears to be one 
of those expeditions which will be the logical corollary 
to the attainment of the south pole, including no sensa- 
tional feat of travel, and making, therefore, no direct 
popular appeal, but attempting substantially to extend 
the scope of scientific research in the Antarctic. 


THE annual general meeting of the French Physical 
Society was held in Paris on January 16. The officers 
for the new year were elected, and the accounts for 
the past year presented to the members. From the 
figures given in the report it is evident that the society 
is in a most flourishing condition. More than 100 new 
members joined during the session, the membership 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92] 


now being more than 1600; Paris, the rest of France, 
and countries outside France each providing about a 
third of the total. It possesses more than 10,0001. 
of invested capital, and its income for the past year 
exceeded 1700l. The expenses for the year were 
slightly less, the principal items being the printing of 
the Journal de Physique, 570l., and other books and 
reports issued to members, 300!. A series of six lectures 
on recent advances in physics is to be given during 
the next three months, the lecturers being Profs. 
Madame Curie, Mauguin, Mouton, Cotton, Fabry, and 
Becquerel. 


A PHYTOPATHOLOGICAL Congress, commencing on 
February 24, will be held at the International Institute 
of Agriculture, Rome, to which all the chief Powers 
are invited to send representatives. The object of the 
congress is the devising of an international system for 
the control of plant diseases, and based upon the sug- 
gestions made in 1912 by M. Louis Dop and Prof. G. 
Cuboni, on the occasion of the general assembly of the 
delegates of the above institute. Prof. Cuboni has set 
forth his views on this subject very clearly in an 
apercu which he contributed to the Bulletin of Agri- 
cultural Intelligence and Plant Diseases (November, 
1912). In this he states that, though the protection 
of agricultural plants from disease is a matter of the 
most vital importance for all civilised nations, little 
has hitherto been done to obtain any concerted action 
in this direction. The sole exception is afforded by 
the Berne Antiphylloxera Convention, established in 
1878, and modified in 1881. This, as it stands, is only 
of interest to vine-growing countries. If, however, its 
scope were enlarged, so as to include the control of 
all other contagious or parasitic plant diseases, whether 
due to the attacks of fungi; or insects, it could be 
expanded into an International Phytopathological Con- 
vention. ; 


A new X-ray tube invented by Mr. W. Coolidge, of 
New York, marks an important step in the progress 
of radiography and possibly radio-therapy. The prin- 
cipal feature of the apparatus consists in a small spiral 
of tungsten wire which, when strongly heated by an 
electric current, becomes a source of electrons, and 
thus serves as the kathode of the tube.—Surrounding 
the spiral there is a tungsten ring connected with the 
negative pole of an induction coil or static machine. 
This electrified ring repels the electrons from the hot 
wire so as to bring them to an approximate focus 
upon a tungsten target (antikathode), where X-rays of 
varying degrees of penetration are produced. The 
vacuum within the tube is extremely high, and com- 
paratively wide variations of it do not appear to affect 
the working of the apparatus. Perhaps the most 
striking advantage of Mr. Coolidge’s tube over the 
usual kind lies in the readiness with which it can be 
controlled. The output of X-rays is simply a function 
of the temperature of the hot kathode, all other factors 
remaining the same. When once set in action the 
bulb requires little attention. Thus a tube of this 
design has been run continuously for about an hour, 
taking 25 milliamperes of current through it for the 
whole time, and emitting a uniform radiation of 
intense penetration. The idea underlying the invention 


614 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 29, 1914 


is not quite new, for Dr. Lilienfeldt, of Leipzig, 
recently introduced a focus tube in which the source 
of electrons is a heated body. 


A pistincr advance toward the adequate organisation 
of sea fisheries investigation has been made by the 
publication of the first report of the Advisory Com- 
mittee on Fishery Research. This committee was 
appointed by Mr. Runciman on January 1, 1913. Its 
report, now before us, begins with a short account of 
the deliberations of the subcommittees, and then deals 
with the various lines of investigation that are re- 
garded as desirable in a series of appendices. Sugges- 
tions as to the nature of the work which seems to be 
required are made with reference to (1) the bottom 
deposits and fauna; (2) plankton and hydrography ; 
(3) statistical fishery matters; (4) marine pisciculture, 
including lobster hatching, research on the natural 
history of the oyster, and experimental work on a 
large scale with reference to the purification of mussels 
from contained sewage bacteria; and (5) the detailed 
investigation of various edible fishes with regard to 
their distribution and life-histories. Suggestions as to 
a possible organisation of the various departments or 
other authorities or bodies competent to carry on such 
investigations are not made, since much depends on 
the amount of money available for such research, and 
on the possible reorganisation of the English Fishery 
Department; and it is suggested that marine labora- 
tories already in existence may be asked to cooperate 
in the work of investigation. The report, however, 
formulates certain general suggestions for fishery in- 
vestigations, and it now remains for the public depart- 
ments to embody these suggestions in a working 
scheme. 


The National Geographic Magazine for December 
last publishes a finely illustrated article by the Rev. 
W. M. Zumbro, on the religious penances of holy men 
in India. He gives a remarkable series of photo- 
graphs representing the many varieties of Fakirs. 
We see them lying on piles of thorns, or on beds 
studded with nails, holding piles of water pots on 
their heads, burying themselves in the ground, swing- 
ing on wires, undergoing the ordeal of thirst, hanging 
head downwards, or holding up their arms until the 
muscles become atrophied. The subject is painful, but 
the article is most valuable to anthropologists and to 
students of Indian religious cults. 


In Man for January Messrs. R. B. Higgins and 
R. A. Smith describe a find of flint implements of the 
Moustier type, associated with mammalian remains, 
from the brick earths at Crayford. Not only does this 
discovery enable us to fix a precise date for the Cray- 
ford deposit, but the specimens provide an important 
link in associating the Thames valley with that of the 
Somme. It is clear that the implements date from 
the Moustier period, and they are found with remains 
of Felis leo, Canis lupus, Elephas primigenius, Rhino- 
ceros antiquitatis, Equus sp., and Bos primigenius, 
according to the identification by Dr. A. Smith Wood- 
ward. 

In vol. xxxiii., part ii., of The Journal of Hellenic 
Studies, Mr. K. T. Frost publishes, under the title of 
“The Critias and Minoan Crete,” an _ interesting 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92| 


paper, a revised edition of a remarkable article which 
appeared in The Times of January 19, 1909. The 
theory advanced is that the famous legend of the 
lost island, Atlantis, told by Plato on the authority 
of Solon, represents the downfall of the great sea 
power in Crete, with its capital at Cnossus. This 
legend was derived from Egyptian priests, who pre- 
served the records of the great struggle which ended 
in the ruin of Minos. The article is valuable inas- 
much as it correlates the war in the eastern Mediter- 
ranean with the history of Egypt. The tale of the 
Minoan power before its destruction is identified with 
the strange description of the Phzeacian culture in the 
Odyssey of Homer. 


“Roor-porers and other Grubs in West Indian 
Soils” is the title of a pamphlet (No. 73), by Mr. H. A. 
Ballon, issued by the Imperial Department of Agri- 
culture for the West Indies, published apparently at 
Barbados. A large proportion of the offenders are 
the larvae, among which those of the rhinoceros-beetles 
(Strategus) are capable, on account of their size, of 
inflicting a great amount of damage, although, as a 
rule, they act the part of scavengers. The pamphlet 
is illustrated with photographs of adults and larve of 
many species. 


In the course of an article on endeavours to prevent 
undue diminution in the number of animals valuable 
for their fur or plumage, the first part of which 
appears in the January number of The Selborne Maga. 
sine, Mr. C. H. Mihlberg gives some interesting 
details regarding the breeding in captivity of the 
black or silver fox, for the sake of its valuable fur, 
which is chiefly carried on in Prince Edward Island. 
Skins of good quality range in price from 35]. to 6o00l., 
and it is stated that six pairs of pups were sold in 
1912 to a Russian company for breeding purposes at 
no less than 3200l, a pair. The number of foxes 
now kept in captivity in Canada is estimated at about 
800, of which, however, only about 200 carry the fine 
silvery-black coat which commands the highest price. 
Attempts are also being made, it is added, to breed 
chinchillas (which of late years have become exceed- 
ingly scarce), for the sake of their fur, both in Buenos 
Aires and in this country 


Mernops for the extermination of locusts in the 
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan—the species usually met with 
being Acridium (Schistocerea) perigrinum, Oliv.—are 
discussed by the Government entomologist, Mr. H. S. 
King, in the Cairo Scientific Journal for November 
last. The device found most efficacious is to sprinkle 
a sweetened solution of arsenite of soda on_ the 
herbage on which the insects feed. As it is difficult 
to transport arsenite of soda and treacle on camels 
and donkeys, and a tent or native dwelling-house is 
not the most convenient place to carry out the weigh- 
ing and mixing, Mr. King recommends that a con- 
centrated solution should be prepared at headquarters, 
and carried to the spot in small iron drums. This 
can be diluted to the required strength, and thus an 
immense saving of labour is effected. If the opera- 
tions are conducted by qualified officials, and the 
poison is not allowed to reach native hands, no danger 
can result from this scheme of operations. 


a 
3 
y 
; 


January 29, 1914] 


Tue legislation which has been adopted in Ceylon 
against the diseases and pests of cultivated plants is 
the subject of a special Bulletin (No. 6) by the Ceylon 
Department of Agriculture. The bulletin, drawn up 


by Mr. T. Petch, brings together in a convenient 
form the regulations as to both internal and import 


legislation. The latter was commenced in igo. 
Under the regulations now in force all living plants, 
bulbs, &c. (except such as are imported for consump- 
tion), also oranges and other fruits of the Citrus 
family, and cotton seed, are subjected to fumigation 
with hydrocyanic acid, whilst the seed of tea is fumi- 
gated with formalin vapour. The importation of 
cacao plants from the Dutch East Indies, and pepper 
plants from India is totally prohibited. Internal legis- 
lation was not introduced until some years later, and 
only after it had been fully discussed with all the 
interested parties. It was first applied to the coconut 
beetles in 1907, but it is now extended to the shot-hole 
borer (Xyleborus fornicatus), Hevea canker, and the 
stem bleeding-disease of coconut. 


WE have received a reprint of the article on plant 
ecoloey (**Oekologische Pflanzengeographie”’) contri- 
buted by Dr. E. Riibel to the ‘‘ Handwérterbuch der 
Naturwissenschaften’’ now being issued by Gustav 
Fischer, Jena. In this article, which is practically a 
text-book of the subject, the author deals concisely 
with the various factors of the environment which 
determine the characters of the various types of plant 
community, and after reviewing the various systems 
of classification of these communities which have been 
proposed, sets out in detail the classification recently 
suggested by himself and Dr. Brockmann-Jerosch. 
In this scheme, plant communities are primarily 
divided into four types, composed respectively of 
woody plants, of herbaceous plants on relatively rich 
soil (meadows in the widest sense), of herbaceous 
plants on poor soil (deserts in the widest sense), and 
of free-floating aquatic plants (phytoplankton). The 
geographical distribution and biological characters of 
each type are given, and the author has compressed 
into fifty papers a remarkable amount of information, 
besides indicating the rapid progress which has been 
made in recent years in this branch of botany, and 
indicating the more important recent literature of the 
subject. 


In the second part of the Verh. Naturhist. Vereins 
d. preuss. Rheinlande u. Westfaliens for 1912 (1913) 
Dr. W. Gothan records the discovery in the neigh- 
bourhood of Dortmund, in the Ruhr basin, of a bed 
containing number of well-preserved Carboniferous 
ferns. They are of interest not only as_ being 
the first obtained from this locality, but from the 
fact that they include a new species, and also from a 
distributional point of view. The article is illustrated 
with three plates. 


Dr. Fettx Oswatp, whose hand-printed work on 
the geology of Armenia was reviewed in Nature in 
1906 (vol, Ixxv., p. 197), has rendered his results more 
accessible by contributing the section on ‘‘ Armenien ”’ 
to the “Handbuch der regionalen Geologie,” edited” 
by Profs. Steinmann and Wilckens. This is illus- 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


| P 
i 


615 


trated by a tectonic and a geological map, and by 
sections (Heidelberg : C. Winter; price 2.80 marks). 
The author points out the rise of a large part of the 
region above the sea in late Jurassic times; the two 
types of marine Cenomanian strata, separated by a 
gneissic ridge south of Tiflis into an eastern and a 
western basin; and the folding of marine Miocene 
strata during the Alpine movements in the Tortonian 
epoch. 

In the Atti dei Lincei, vol. xxii. (2) 5, Prof. T. 
Levi Civita discusses the conditions that must be 
satisfied by a function in order that it may have an 
addition-theorem in which a function of x+y is 
represented as the sum of products of functions of x 
and of y respectively. The ordinary exponential and 
circular functions afford illustrations of this property. 


AccorpinG to Torricelli’s theorem the velocity of 
efflux of a liquid from a small aperture in steady 
motion is equal to the velocity acquired by falling 
from the height of the liquid surface. From a note 
published in the Comptes rendus (vol. clvii., p. 48) by 
Prof. T. Levi Civita, it would appear that the same 
result holds good for the initial velocity of efflux 
when an opening is suddenly made in the walls of the 
containing vessel the liquid being previously at rest. 
It appears probable that this result could be easily 
tested experimentally. 


No. 2 of the Jahrbuch der Drahtlosen Telegraphie 
contains an article by F. Kiebitz on the refraction of 
electric waves in the atmosphere. Since the upper 
strata have a smaller density, luminous and electric 
waves are propagated more rapidly high above the 
ground than near the surface. This would lead to a 
bending forward of the wave-front, were it not for 
the curvature of the earth. The question now arises 
whether this curvature is sufficient to counteract the 
“prism effect’’ of the air. The author studies this 
question numerically, and finds that, to counteract 
the curvature, the densities on the ground and 1 km. 
above it should be in the ratio of 29:13. The actual 
ratio for dry air is 29:26, and for moist air about 10 
per cent. greater. So far from bending forward, 
therefore, the waves will lean backward and be de- 
flected into the upper atmosphere. There they en- 
counter the conducting layer, and are reflected down- 
wards, but only it the lower surface of this conducting 
layer is fairly uniform. Any folding or interruption 
of this surface will (as pointed out by Sir Oliver 
Lodge) lead to a reflection towards the origin or a 
dissipation into still higher strata. Such disturbances 
of uniformity must occur wherever there are irregular 
variations of temperature and moisture, more par- 
ticularly over land areas. It is found indeed that 
sunshine on land has a deleterious effect on the clear- 
ness of wireless signalling. Ideal conditions would 
be presented by air saturated with moisture, together 
|, witht a_ uniformly stratified distribution of tempera- 
ture. The best. conditions are presented in this respect 
by the Pacific Ocean, where we may expect to attain 
the maximum ranges of signalling. 


A HANDSOME clockwork orrery has just ‘been com- 
pleted by Messrs. G. Philip and Son, Ltd., 32 Fleet 
Street, and we have had the opportunity of examining 


616 


it. Much trouble has been taken to construct a system 
which cannot easily be put out of order; and the result 
is an admirable piece of mechanism. The sizes of the 
planets, with the exception of the earth, are roughly 
to a scale of 50,000 miles to the inch. The earth is 
represented by a globe one inch in diameter, and 
additional mechanism makes the moon revolve around 
it while the earth itself traverses its orbit. The orrery 
may be moved by hand or by clockwork, which will 
keep the planets in motion for about three-quarters of 
an hour; and it is not put out of adjustment if the 
clockwork is started after the hand motion has been 
used. The planets can also be placed in any position 
in their orbits to begin with; and then when the 
clockwork is started, they will perform their orbital 
movements accurately. The satellites are carried 
round the sun with their respective primary planets, 
and can be placed in any position around them, but 


are not connected with the clockwork system. The 
instrument is mounted upon a heavy mahogany 
floor-stand, which gives stability to it, and 


it forms an attractive as well as instructive piece of 
furniture. Any attempt to represent the bodies in the 
solar system and their movements by a model cannot, 
of course, be more than a compromise, but the trouble 
taken by Messrs. Philip to produce an orrery which 
is compact and reasonably accurate is worthy of 
encouragement. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 
ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES FOR FEBRUARY :— 


Feb. 3. 19h. om. Venus in aphelion. 
5. 5h. 32m. Saturn in conjunction with the 
Moon (Saturn 6° 50’ S.). 
>. oh. 39m. Mars in conjunction with the 
Moon (Mars 1° 9! S.). 
8. ioh. 38m. Neptune in conjunction with the 


Moon (Neptune 4° 31’ S.) 
11, 8h. om. Venus in superior conjunction with 
the Sun, 
A 16h. om. Saturn stationary. 
2. 13h. om. Mars stationary. 
2. 3h. 30m. Jupiter in conjunction with the 
Moon (Jupiter 2° 56’ N) 
,, 6h. om. Mercury at greatest elongation E. 
», 6h, 41m. Uranus in conjunction with the 
Moon (Uranus 2° 39/ N.). 
24. 11th. 16m. Sun eclipsed, invisible at Green- 
wich, 
,, 20h. 1m. Venus in conjunction with the 
Moon (Venus 1° 1’ S.). 
26. 6h. om. Venus at greatest heliocentric lati- 
tude S. 
28. 8h. om. Mercury stationary. 


Use OF THE OBJECTIVE PRISM IN THE DETERMINATION 
or RaptiaL Vetocit1es.—M. Maurice Hamy, who re- 
cently proposed an ingenious method of utilising the 
objective diffraction grating in line of sight work (see 
Nature, November 27, 1913, p. 383), has just pub- 
lished (Comptes rendus, No. 2, vol. clviii.) details of 
‘a way in which advantage may be taken of the supe- 
rior light power of the objective prism for the same 
purpose. In order to supply the fiducial points neces- 
sary to obtain absolute wave-lengths, M. Hamy has 
devised means whereby the stellar spectrum may be 
photographed down the middle of a comparison spec- 
trum of a terrestrial light source taken with the help 
of a collimator. Whilst the details of the instrumental 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 29, I914 


contrivances by which the stellar and terrestrial spectra 
are brought into proper coordination, as well as the 
theory of measurement and reduction of the resulting 
plates are too complicated to be described here, we 
may indicate that this adjustment is ‘secured by 
making successive images of the star and middle of 
the slit reflected by the polished and silvered base of 
the prism viewed in a second reflector near the 
camera end coincide with the point of intersection of 
two wires. The realisation of the idea should delight 
the heart of some instrument-maker. Measurement 
need not be confined to the particular star on which 
the settings are made, as M. Hamy shows that it is 
possible to utilise all the spectra registered during the 
one stellar exposure. 


A Monument To ‘‘ THE Hour.’’—The Revue Scien- 
tifique for January ro states that M. Lecornu, a mem- 
ber of the Paris Academy of Sciences, has suggested 
a proposal for the erection of a monument to “the 
hour,” to perpetuate the remembrance of the inter- 
national standardisation of the hour (March 9, 1911), 
and of the choice of Paris as the ‘centre horaire 
mondial,” and the transmission of time by the wire- 
less installation of the Eiffel Tower. A committee 
has been formed, and it is proposed to set up the 
monument at Villers-sur-Mer, a spot where the Green-' 
wich meridian cuts France; this position has been 
accurately determined by the military geographical 
service. : 

“L?’AsTRONOMIE"’ FOR JANUARY.—In the first issue 
of L’Astronomie for the current year it is announced 
that the council of the Astronomical Society of France 
has decided further to enhance the value of this very 
excellent journal by increasing the number of illus- 
trations and their scientific and artistic interest; more- 
over, the number of pages of text will be also aug- 
mented. Another new feature will be the publication 
in the journal every three months of a new series of 
celestial charts, drawn especially by M. G. Blum, 
giving the aspect of the southern hemisphere sky. 
The first of these charts is printed in the present 
number. The new form of illustration is also 
depicted, and shows striking reproductions of 
numerous images of the planet Saturn, so successfully 
photographed by Prof. Barnard in 1911 with the large 
Mount Wilson reflector. This issue contains also 
much interesting matter. Thus an account with illus- 
trations is given of the large fall of meteorites at Aztec, 
in Arizona, which took place on July 19, 1912. M. 
Camille Flammarion gives an excellent summary of 
the magnetic communication between the sun and 
earth, while the concluding article on stellar photo- 
metry is contributed by M. Jules Baillaud. Observers 
of Mars will be interested in the abnormal feature on 
this planet’s surface observed by M. Fournier in 
October and December, 1911, in the Lybian and Arca- 
dian regions. 


INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE 
SAFETY OF* LIFE AT “SEA 


THE International Conference on the Safety of Life 

at Sea, first suggested by the German Emperor 
and convened by the British Government, has now 
held its final meeting. As a result of its labours, a 
very important convention has been signed by pleni- — 
potentiaries of the following States:—The British 
Empire, including Australia, Canada, and New 
Zealand, which were represented separately, Germany, 
France, the United States, Austria-Hungary, Italy, 
Spain, Sweden, Norway, Holland, Belgium, and Den- 
mark. The text of the convention will not be pub- 
lished until February 15, but the chairman of the 
conference, Lord Mersey, has outlined its principal 


Oe at fl i 


JaNuARY 29, 1914] 


points in a speech moving its acceptance by the dele- 
gates. The convention must be ratified by the different 
States prior to December 31, 1914, and comes into 
force on July 1, 1915. 

An international service is to be established and 
placed under the control of the United States for the 
purpose of ice patrol and observation and for the 
destruction of derelicts in the North Atlantic. The 
masters of all vessels are to cooperate with this service. 
Safety of construction has been dealt with under the 
headings of ‘‘ New Vessels,” and “ Existing Vessels.” 
The convention provides that the degree of safety 
shall increase in'a regular and continuous manner 
with the length of the vessel, and that vessels shall 
be as efficiently subdivided as is possible having regard 
to the nature of the services for which they are 
intended. 

The convention provides that all merchant vessels 
of the contracting States when engaged upon inter- 
national (including Colonial) voyages, whether 
steamers or sailing vessels, and whether they carry 
passengers or not, must be equipped with wireless 
telegraphy apparatus if they have on board fifty per- 
sons or more (except where the number is exception- 
ally and temporarily increased to fifty or more owing 
to causes beyond the master’s control). There are 
certain exemptions to this regulation. A continuous 
watch for wireless telegraphy purposes is to be kept 
by all vessels required to be fitted with wireless 
apparatus, as soon as the Government of the State to 


which the vessels belong is satisfied that.such wateh» 
will be useful for the purpose of saving life at sea., 


Meanwhile certain classes of vessels are specified as 
being required to maintain a continuous watch. The 
wireless installations must have a range of at least 
100 miles. A transition period is provided to enable 
wireless apparatus to be fitted and operators and 
watchers obtained. 

The convention lays it down that there must be 
accommodation in lifeboats or their equivalents for all 
persons on board, and that as large a number as 
possible of the boats and rafts must be capable of 
being launched on either side of the ship, so that as 
few as possible need be launched on the weatherside. 
The convention specifies a minimum number of mem- 
bers of the crew competent to handle the boats and 
rafts. All ships are to have an adequate system of 
lighting, so that in an emergency the passengers may 
easily find their way to the exits from the interior of 
the ship. 

Ships of the contracting States which comply with 
the requirements of the convention are to have 
furnished to them certificates of the fact, which are to 


’ be accepted by all the States as having the same value 


as the certificates issued by them to their own ships. 


RECENT TEMPERATURES IN EUROPE. 


heap Snide features of especial interest were 
associated with the recent cold spell of 
weather experienced over the central and southern 
parts of western Europe. It is common enough 


in January for lower temperatures to prevail 
over Germany than in England, but in_ the 
coastal regions of the south of France the 


normal temperatures at this season of the year are 
warmer than in the British Isles. The temperatures 
taken from the Daily Weather Report of the Meteoro- 
logical Office show that for the twelve days January 
12-23, Which approximately comprise the cold spell, 
the mean temperature in London was 34°, the mean 
of the maxima being 36°, and of the minima 32°. 
At Biarritz the mean for the whole period was 33-5°, 
the mean of the maxima 38°, and the mean of the 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


617 


minima 29°; nine nights out of the twelve were colder 
than in London; the lowest temperatures were 21° on 
January 16, and 22° on January 15, whilst in London 
the lowest temperature in the twelve days was 24° on 
January 23. The mean temperature at Perpignan for 
the period was 34-5°, the mean of the maxima 40°, 
and of the minima 29°, the latter being 3° colder than 
in London, and nine nights had lower minima; the 
lowest readings were 22° on January 20 and 22. At 
Nice the mean was 405°, the mean of the maxima 47°, 
and of the minima 34°; frost occurred on the three 
consecutive, nights, January 14-16. Paris had the 
mean temperature 24-5°, the mean of the maxima 30°, 
and the mean of the minima 19°; January 20 was the 
only day with the maximum above the freezing point. 
Much snow also occurred with the cold in parts of 
France. The cold spell was due to a region of high 
barometer readings, which maintained a position be- 
tween the British Isles, Denmark, and the north of 
Germany, and caused a flow of air over Germany and 
France from the colder regions of Russia. The Daily 
Weather Report on January 23 shows that at 7 a.m. 
the temperature was 50° at Seydisfjord in Iceland, 
which was the same as at Lisbon, and with this 
exception was warmer than any other station given for 
western Europe. Sevdisfjord was 25° warmer than 
London, 36° warmer than Paris, and 14° warmer than 
Nice. The southerly current of air which caused the 
anomaly was doubtless associated with the same dis- 
turbance which occasioned the rapid rise of tempera- 
ture and thaw over the British Isles. 


THE IMPORTATION OF BIRDS PLUMAGE. 


S is now well known, the United States Govern- 
ment has made the importation of birds’ plumage 
penal, as well as prohibited the wearing of feathers. 
Austria and Germany are in accord with England as 
to the necessity of putting a stop to this nefarious 
traffic by similar laws. France and Belgium stand on 
the other side, for the plumassiers are so influcntial 
that it is hopeless for the Government of either of 
these countries even to propose such a protective Bill. 
The French plumassiers, however, now very uneasy 
at the trend of popular opinion in Europe and America, 
have attempted to ward off the severe blow which 
their trade would suffer if the Société d’Acclimatation 
were to sympathise with the movement, by securing 
their admission, in considerable numbers, to the mem- 
bership of both that society and the Ligue Francaise 
pour la Protection des Oiseaux. Successful so far, 
they next brought forward a project before the former 
society for the appointment of a ‘‘comité d’ornithologie 
economique,” similar to the one in England, with the 
avowed purpose of inquiring into the mass of evidence 
as to the destruction of birds brought before the Eng- 
lish Parliament and the U.S. Congress, but the real 
object of which is the hope of checking the growing 
force of opinion against them on this question. It 
will be a matter of great satisfaction to all in sym- 
pathy with the movement in this country to learn 
that, at a meeting held in Paris on December 24, the 
ornithological section of the Acclimatisation Society 
of France, after giving careful and prolonged hearing 
to the plumassiers, were constrained to record that the 
arguments adduced before them were unable to modify 
the opinions hitherto held by bird protectors with 
regard to the plumage trade. Notwithstanding fierce 
opposition and grave discord raised by the plumassiers, 
the project for a committee was rejected, as no benefit 
from it could accrue to the protection of birds. The 
society declared also its conviction that the depositions 
which have led to the prohibition of the importation 
of birds’ plumage to the United States are unimpeach- 
able and trustworthy. 


618 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 29, I914 


GEOLOGY IN NORTH AMERICA. 
ee Geological Survey Branch of the Department 

of Mines of Canada continues to cover a wide 
field of research. Even its *\Summary Keport”’ for 
1911 includes topographic and structural papers, in 
which coal-mining areas are dealt with, as well as 
notes on peat and clay, and (p. 316) on petroleum in 
New Brunswick. J. W. Goldthwait’s paper (p. 296) 
on. post-glacial changes of level in Quebec and New 
Brunswick continues work previously published 
(Mem. 10) on the shore-lines of the extinct lakes 
Algonquin and Nipissing in south-west Ontario. In 
this earlier memoir the author draws isubases across 
the Great Lake region, showing the warping of the 
beaches of Lake Algonquin and its successor, the 
greater uplift being in both cases in the north. 

M. E. Wilson, in a publication numbered 1064, 
describes country on the east side of Lake Timis- 
kaming, Quebec, where for the most part pre-Cam- 
brian rocks prevail. The relations of the fragmental 
Huronians to the older granites are described. A 
large colour-printed map (18a), on the scale of one 
inch to one mile, has been issued of the mining 
region round the lake, and includes on the west the 
interesting basic igneous rocks and green schists of 
Cobalt. 

M. E. Wilson, in Memoir 172, shows how the 
geological surveyor is quickly following the extension 
of the railway into the gold-bearing region of northern 
Ontario. 

G. S. Malloch, in Memoir 9£, describes the Big- 
horn Coal Basin of Alberta, where a large area of 
undeveloped coal exists in Upper Jurassic or Lower 
Cretaceous strata. .The region lies near the United 
States border, and is so far only accessible by horse- 
trails. 

Memoir 27 (1912) is concerned with a serious report 
on Turtle Mountain, which rises above the town of 
Frank, Alberta. This limestone mass is tunnelled 
into at the base for coal, and a destructive landslide 
occurred in 1903. R. A. Daly, W. G. Miller, and 
G.-S. Rice, the commissioners appointed, now show 
that great fissures traverse the upper portion of the 
mountain, and that -the .modern forest growth 
is affected by their widening. The illustrations, 
especially plate viii., record impressive instances. of 
the creep of massive rocks. It is recommended that 
the town of Frank, at the foot of the great scarp, 
should be moved to another site in the valley, since 
the mountain is structurally unsafe, irrespective of its 
possible weakening by the mines. 

In Memoir 13 (1912), C. H. Clapp describes the 
mountainous region of southern Vancouver Island. 
A recent uplift of some 250 ft. has taken place (p. 13), 
whereby the coast-features have become rejuvenated, 
and the streams now fall from upraised coastal plains 
over rock-cliffs into the ocean. The prospects of 
copper-mining are discussed, but pyrite and pyrrhotine 
are the most prevalent ores. The metallic veins arose 
(p. 173) in connection with igneous intrusions of 
Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous age. 

W. H. Twenhofel, of Yale University (Am. Journ. 
Sci:, vol. xxxiii., 1912, p. 1), summarises the physio- 
graphy of Newfoundland, in a paper that will interest 
geographers. Fault-scarp features remain prominent 
on the Long Range in the south-west of the island, 
and the faulting is later than the formation of a 
peneplain, which is tentatively correlated (p. 19) with 
the late Cretaceous peneplain of the Appalachians. 

In Memoir 21 (1912) of the Canadian Geological 
Survey, on the geology and ore deposits of Phcenix, 
B.C., O. E. Le Roy makes some interesting observa- 
tions on the silicification of large bodies of limestone, 
whereby nodular ‘‘jasperoids"’ are produced (p. 34). 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92| 


Memoir 16£, on the clay and shale deposits of Nova 
Scotia and portions of New Brunswick, by H.. Ries 
and J. Keele, and Memoir 248, ‘y the same authors, 
on the clay and shale deposits.of the western proy- 
inces, both contain (pp. 115 and 177) a useful general 
essay on clay-rocks and their impurities. H. S. de 
Schmid has similarly incorporated a broad review ot 
the mica industry throughout the world in his memoir 
on mica (Department of Mines, Mines Branch, 1912). 
The development of the ‘‘mica-board” trade now 
allows of the use of material that formerly was thrown 
aside. 

In a monograph of 200 pages on pyrites in Canada 
(Mines Branch, 1912), A. W. G. Wilson describes the 
uses of iron sulphides, and the processes employed 
in roasting and in the manufacture of sulphuric acid. 

The Mines Branch has also issued vol. i. (376 pp-) 
of a ‘Report on the Building and Ornamental Stones 
of Canada,” by W. A. Parks, in which technical 
questions are prominent; and numerous papers on 
applied mineralogy appear in the ‘‘Summary Report” 
for the year 1911, including an account (p. 103) of the 
use of magnetic observations in tracing pyrrhotine. 
Pyrrhotine in Canada, .of course, to the miner implies 
pentlandite and nickel. 

L. M. Lambe, of the Geological Survey of Canada, 
has reviewed the past vertebrate life of Canada 
(Trans. R. Soc. Canada, vol. v., 1911, ser. 3, Pp. 3). 
Due prominence is given to the deinosaurs of the 
Judith River beds. 

O. P. Hay, in a paper on the recognition of Pleis- 
tocene faunas (Smithsonian Miscell. Collections, 
vol. lix., No. 20, 1912), shows, in a series of maps, 
the distribution of a number of mammals in North 
America since the Pliocene period. The limit set by 
the fluctuating’ ice-margin in the north is clearly 
seen; but the author regards temperature-changes as 
of far less importance in promoting changes in the 
fauna than the mere element of time, whereby one 
type of mammalian fauna disappeared before another, 
which was itself already doomed to disappear. We 
presume that the doom thus referred to implies some 
cause other than the mere decay of specific energy 
during time; but this question trenches on physiology. 

The work of the United States Geological Survey, 
equally with that of Canada, maintains a broad out- 
look, from topography to mineral research. The suc- 
cession of severe earthquakes that occurred in the 
central Mississippi Valley in 1811-12, when the region 
was thinly populated, has been investigated by M. L. 
Fuller (Bull. 494, 1912). The possibilities of recur- 
rence are considered (p. 110). Interesting surface- 
features due_to the sudden extrusion of sand from 
fissures still indicate the earthquake-area, and a large 
region of sunken land is marked by stumps of trees 
ae in water, as was noted by Lyell in 1846 
(p.. 70). } ) 

The second edition of F. W. Clarke’s ‘‘ Data of Geo- 
chemistry’ (Bull. 491, 1911) now takes the place of 
the copies of this manual that have been used with 
such advantage in scientific libraries. Its 731 pages 
form a summary of the chemistry of the earth, with 
abundant references to sources of information. The 
origins of minerals and rocks are steadily borne in 
mind, and the results of the evolution of gases from 
the earth, of processes of subaérial weathering, and 
of the multiplication of marine organisms in the 
ocean, are alike brought under review. The work, 
indeed, is for the general geologist quite as much as 
for the specialist in petrology. The passages on 
aragonite and calcite, on laterite, and on dolomitic 
limestone may serve as good examples. Nearly a 
hundred pages, moreover, are devoted to the origins 
of metallic ores. 


JANUARY 29, 1914] 


NATURE 


619 


T. N. Dale and H. E. Gregory (Bull. 484) describe 
the granites of Connecticut, with remarks (p. 17) 
on the composite origin of some of the associated 
gneisses. As is usual in such memoirs, examples are 
given of the monumental use of the quarried stones. 

T. N. Dale also reports on the marbles of Vermont 
.(Bull. 521), in which graphitic bands are ascribed to 
marine alge of Ordovician age. ; 

Bull. 492, by G. F. Loughlin (1912), contains some 
interesting examples of the 


effects of dynamic meta- 
morphism upon gabbro in 


Connecticut, well illustrated 
in plates x. and xi. 


C. W. Hayes and W. 
Lindgren edit the report 
on the developments in 
economic geology during 


1910 (Bull. 470, 1911). Con- 
siderable attention is given 
(pp. 371-483) to the oolitic 
phosphate beds of Idaho, 
Montana, and Wyoming. 
R. W. Richards and G. R. 
Mansfield (p. 377) hope to 
show later that the Upper 
Carboniferous phosphatic 
deposits of Idaho were 
formed at a time of ab- 
normal enrichment of the 
sea-water with phosphoric 
acid or its salts, and not by 
subsequent infiltration. In 
Bulletin 471, M. R. Camp- 
bell continues this report by 
an extensive review of 
mineral oils, coals. and lig- 
nites in many districts now 
under exploration. W. T. 
Lee (Bull. 510) has explored 
the area of Cretaceous coals 
in north-west Colorado. 
These coals have been im- 
proved in calorific value by 


the influence of quartz- 
monzonite laccolitic intru- 
sions, which are clearly 


shown in the published sec- 
tions. 

H. S. Gale (Bull. 523) re- 
views the nitrate deposits of 
the United States, none of 
which seem at present to be 


of commercial value. The 
sketch of the origin of 
nitrates in soils (pp. 31-5) 
is just what teachers of 
mineralogy and agriculture 
require. 

The demands of agricul- 
turists are further  con- 


sidered in Bulletins 511 and 


512. The former, by B. S. 
Butler and H. S. Gale, Ric: 
deals with a newly found 


deposit of alunite in Utah, which is believed (p. 36) 
to result from the uprising of solutions from below. 
The mineral occurs in veins in andesite, the main one 
being 20°ft. thick. The purity of the mass is shown 
by analyses which yield respectively 10-46 and 9-71 per 
cent. of potash. Alunite may be converted into a soluble 
sulphate by calcination, anda useful review is given of 
its commercial use in Australia and other places. In 
Bulletin 512, A. R. Schultz and Whitman Cross, with 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92] 


1.—Rock-glacier on McCarthy Creek, Nizina district, Alaska. 


} 


| 
| 
| 


a somewhat prophetic outlook, consider the future ot 
the potash-bearing rocks of the leucite hills in 
Wyoming. The percentage of potash in these lavas 
is about the same as that in alunite, and may reach 
even 12 per cent. The greater portion of the potash 
occurs in the two minerals leucite and phlogopite, 
and the authors look forward to the possibility of the 
separation of these minerals and the extraction of 
potash and alumina from them, or even from the lavas 


From Bull. 448, U.S. Geol. Survey. 


as a whole. The estimate of the alumina availab‘e in 
millions of tons (p. 35) premature, and any 
commercial process that may be devised will probably, 
so far as this substance is concerned, be applied also to 
common clay. 

Petrographers as well as miners will find much of 
interest in Professional Paper 77, on the Park City 
District, Utah, by J. M. novel and 


seems 


We Boutwell. <A 
effective feature is the illustration of the ores and 


620 


NATURE 


[JANUARY 29, 1914 


associated rocks by photographs taken in the tunnels 
of the mines. 

Mining districts in a hitherto unmapped region in 
Elko County, Nevada, are described by F. C. Schrader 
in Bull. 497 (1912). The gold ores of Jarbridge, which 
are here beautifully illustrated, are attributed (p. 63) 
to the rise of waters at a high temperature, follow- 
ing on the eruption of Miocene rhyolites. The metallic 
ores are sometimes referred to as ‘‘mineral’’ and 
sometimes as ‘‘ metal values,” terms which seem out 
of place in a scientific treatise. A. Knopf (Bull. 504, 
1912) describes briefly the Sitka mining district, 
Alaska, where gold in quartz reefs and gypsum are 
the valuable materials. The gold, as well as certain 
copper ores, is regarded (p. 17) as connected with the 
uprise of intrusive diorite. 

F. H. Moffit and S. R. Capps (Bull. 448, 1911) show 
very interestingly how slowly moving rock-glaciers 
succeed true glaciers where warmer conditions now 
prevail in Alaska. Snow-slides, of course, assist in 


Fic. 2.—Diabase dyke in fault-plane in Cainozoic (Chickaloon Coal-measure) strata, Castle Mountain, Alaska. 
From Bull. soo, U.S. Geol. Survey. 


moving the material, but rock undoubtedly now 
predominates in the flow. The illustration here repro- 
duced (Fig. 1) is one of several instructive plates. Gold 
is now the main product of the Nizina district, though 
chalcosine and native copper offer attractions. 
Alaska claims continued notice. Bulletin 485, by 
G. C. Martin and F. J. Katz, describes the Iliamna 
region, where Triassic cherts are associated, as seems 
almost inevitable, with ‘‘green rocks” of yoleanic 
origin. The same authors, in Bulletin 500, deal with 


the coal-bearing Lower Matanuska Valley, above 
Cook Inlet in lat. 62°, The coals are-in Cainozoic 
strata, and are probably of Eocene age (p. 52). Basic 


lavas have intruded through these beds, and form 
conspicuous features on the bare hillsides (Fig. 2). 
The development of Alaskan areas is also seen in 
Bulletins 449, 498, and 502. In Bulletin 467 (1911), 
W. W. Attwood deals with the coals and possible gold 
ores of the Alaska Peninsula, and furnishes several very 
interesting photographs of the coast. Bulletin 520, by 
a number of authors, brings our knowledge of the 


NO. ‘2309, VOL. 92] 


mineral resources of Alaska up to date. The review 
(pp. 45-88) of the possibilities of railway construction 
between the Pacific coast and the interior is of special 
interest, and the sketch-map provided, with ‘coal 
reported’ marked on the seaboard of the north-east 
passage, is-the sort of thing to captivate a Frobisher 
or a Cabot. The Cainozoic coal of the Bonnifield 
region is reported on in Bulletin 501, which also 
contains interesting notes on _ glaciation. Other 
economic papers on Alaska have been already noticed 
in Nature (vol. xc., 1913, p. 659). 

Professional Paper 71 (1912), constituting a large 
memoir on the stratigraphy of North America, by Bailey 
Willis, and accompanied by a coloured geological 
map of North America, on the scale of 1: 5,000,000, is 
of such wide educational importance that it has 
already received special mention (Natur, vol. xci., 
p. 93). Changes in nomenclature are somewhat rapid 
in the United States, and, since this great index was 
published, C. D. Walcott (Smithsonian Miscell. Col- 
lections, vol. Ivii., No. 7o, 
September, 1912) gives 
reasons for withdrawing his 
terms Georgian for Lower 
Cambrian and Saratogian for 
Upper Cambrian, and replac- 
ing them by Waucoban and 
St. Croixan respectively. 
Both these new names offer 
puzzles in pronunciation for 
the stranger. . ‘St. Croixan” 
was first published by Wal- 
cott as a stratigraphical term 
in the preceding number of 
the Collections, p. 257, in 
which some very interesting 
tracks of Upper Cambrian 
trilobites are illustrated. 

Four of the recent Profes- 
sional Papers deal with 
western districts. No. 70, by 
A. H. Brooks, describes the 
difficult survey of the Mount 
McKinley region in Alaska 
in 1902, where almost all the 
geological systems are repre- 
sented. From the historical 
summary on pp. 29-32, it 
seems doubtful if any ex- 
plorers had reached the sum- 
mit of Mount McKinley 
(20,300 ft.) by the close of 
tg10. The decay of the up- 
land is shown’ by the 
immense areas of post-Pliocene detritus recorded on 
the preliminary geological map. The maps add con- 
siderably to our knowledge of the topography of the 
divide between Cook Inlet and the Yukon system. 


In No. 73 W. Lindgren discusses the Tertiary 
gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California, well 


known_as the scene of hydraulic gold-mining. The 
Great Valley of California has received detritus from 
the rising continental land ever since the opening of 
Cretaceous times, the shore-gravels becoming purely 
fluviatile during the Pliocene period (p. 28). J. M. 
Boutwell (p. 54) has had an opportunity of resifting 
the first-hand evidence as to the antiquity of the 
Calaveras skull, which at one time obtained a cele- 
brity akin to that of the bones—also from Calaveras 
—which ‘‘were found within a tunnel near the tene- 
ment of Jones.” 

Professional Paper 74, by W. H. Weed, describes 
the Butte District, Montana, and is bound 
in cloth, a mode of presentation which makes 
it far more corvenient than most of these large and 


ee 


JANUARY 29, 1914| 


NATURE 


621 


frequently consulted volumes. The Big Butte is a 
conspicuous rhyolitic hill rising above a somewhat 
dreary country of quartz-monzonite and andesite. The 
bare surface, however, allows the mineral veins to be 
traced over wide areas, and the district is now second 
only to the South African Rand as a producer of 
metals. The main ores are those of copper, contain- 
ing 14 per cent. of silver. The volume includes a 
large number of vein-plans, and illustrations of the 
connection between separation-planes and ore-deposits 
in the crystalline igneous rocks. The ores were accu- 
mulated in these fundamental masses at some epoch 
prior to the eruption of the voleanic rocks at the close 
of the Cretaceous period. The conclusions as to their 
modes of origin may be compared with those of J. D. 
Irving and H. Bancroft for the district of Lake City, 
Colorado (Bulletin 478),° where similar conditions 
occur. . ‘ 

Paper 75 is by F. L. Ransome, on the Breckenridge 
District, Colorado. Here gold is again the attraction, 
and the district has rapidly developed since 1909, when 
new dredges were introduced for dealing with the 
gravels. The glacial deposits show, as is so very 
general in America, two epochs of ice-advance and 
ice-retreat (p. 72). The fissures containing the sul- 
phide ores and the gold from which the placer ores 
are derived were formed by earth-movements in early 
Cainozoic times. 

It is impossible in a brief outline to do justice to 
the large volume (Monograph LII.) on the geology 
of the Lake Superior region, by C. R. van Hise and 
C. K. Leith. Much of the discussion on the pre- 
Cambrian series concerns the Dominion. of Canada 
also, and miners will find a comprehensive account 
(pp. 460-596) of the ores of iron, copper, gold, and 
silver in the district. The ferruginous cherts, with 
hzmatite or limonite, are held to have arisen from 
the oxidation of cherty iron carbonates and of the 
green silicate greenalite, (Fe,Mg)SiO,.nH,O. The 
green oolitic ores with hematite of Dodge County, 
Wisconsin (pp. 567 and 536), which are regarded as 
having been deposited in a granular form in the sea, 
and the greenalite rocks of the Mesabi District (p. 165), 
invite comparison with the ironstones containing green 
oolitic grains in the Silurian rocks of North Wales 
(p. 509), concerning which the last word has by no 
means been said; while the red banded cherts. remind 
us of similar stratified deposits in South Africa. The 
authors believe that the iron, whether haematite or 
magnetite, was largely introduced into the Lake Supe- 
rior sediments from the adjacent basic igneous rocks, 
at a time when the latter were hot and capable of 
sending magmatic waters into the sea in which the 
sediments were accumulating (pp. 516 and 527). 

In Bulletin 503, E. C. Harder indicates the develop- 
ment of the iron and steel industry on the Pacific 
coast of California. : 

Bulletin sos (1911), by A. C. Veatch, is a summary 
of the mining laws of Australia and New Zealand, 
with testimony by practical miners as to their opera- 
tion. The material of the bulletin was brought 
together for a report to Congress, to assist in framing 
regulations for granting leases of public coal-lands in 
the United States. 

The Geological Survey of Alabama, working in 
cooperation with that of the United States, reports 
(Bulletin No. ro) on the Fayette Gas Field in the 
north-west of the State, where gas rises freely from 
small “‘gas-pools" in a coalfield of Upper Carbon- 
iferous age. Further explorations are recommended. 
The development of roads throughout Alabama by 
the use of selected material is discussed by W. F. 
Prouty in Bulletin No. 11, and there seems evidence 
that the lesson taught to Europe by the Romans, and 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92] 


long neglected by their successors, is at last spreading 
in the United States. It will be many years, however, 
before these civilised communities will possess the 
advantages given by French rule to the Berbers of 
North Africa. 

The Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Sur- 
vey issues (1912) a neat volume on the sandstones of 
Lake Superior, by F. T. Thwaites. The Bayfield 
group is the centre of interest, and is placed (p. 104) 
below the Cambrian, representing a sandy terminal 
phase of the Keweenawan sediments, in a region 
where a basin had been established which became 
choked by alluvial fans from the surrounding hills. 
The Survey also issues a large geological wall-map 
of the whole State, with a view to the requirements 
of public education. 

In continuation of its handsome series of cloth- 
bound volumes, the Maryland Geological Survey pub- 
lishes a work by W. B. Clark (State geologist), A. B. 
Bibbins, E. W. Berry, and R. Swann Lull, on the 
Lower Cretaceous deposits of the State. Mr. Berry 
(p. 99) takes the opportunity to summarise, with 
specific lists, the Lower Cretaceous floras of the 
world. As regards British deposits, he points out that 
we are not yet in possession, of all that may be 
expected from the work of Dr. Stopes. Vol. ix. of the 
reports of the Survey treats largely of highway con- 
struction, but includes a history and description of 
the iron industry in the State. Prince George’s County 
has been described in the latest of the interesting 
county monographs, with complete topographical and 
geological maps on the scale of one inch to one mile. 
We can imagine nothing better for the information of 
teachers in the local public schools. 

The Iowa Geological Survey, in a massive volume 
issued at the close of 1912, includes its annual reports 
and papers for 1910 and 1911. More than 1100 pages 
are devoted to a thorough study of the underground 
waters of the State, including (p. 268) several mineral 
springs. 

In The American Journal of Science, vol. xXxxv. 
(1913), p- 1, J. W. Goldthwait, whose Canadian work 
has been already mentioned, describes cirques in New 
England, which, as seems natural, were occupied by 
small glaciers both before and after the great exten- 
sion of continentalice. On p. 139, F. A. Perret carries 
us to ‘The Lava Fountains of Kilauea,’ which may 
now be fairly styled American. The mobility of the 
lava is ascribed (p. 143) to its being highly charged 
with an inflammable gas. The blue, and. therefore 
highly actinic, cloud due to the combustion of this 
eas is here shown in photographs. It is well to learn, 
in view of .the great interest aroused by Brun’s 
researches, that the evolved gases are being carefully 
studied on the spot. The author regards those 
emerging from a lava-surface, that is, from a mass 
subject to oxidation, as quite distinct from the far 
purer gas of a great paroxysmal eruption. We must 
admit, in spite of all the work done on fumeroles, that 
we are still on the verge of this great question. In 
the same volume of the journal, p. 611, Mr. Perret 
directs attention to the evidences of occasional explo- 
sive action during the past history of Kilauea. 


ROMER’S “ADVERSARIA.” 
co TUDES sur les notes astronomigues con- 
tenues dans les Adversaria d’Ole Romer,” 


is the title of a paper by G. van Biesbroek 
and A. Tiberghien, published in the Bulletin of the 
Royal Danish Academy of Sciences (112 pp.). The 
‘“* Adversaria” were published in 1919, and were re- 
viewed in Nature (vol. Ixxxvi., p. 4). The authors of 
the present paper give a detailed analysis of most of 


622 


NATUKE 


[JANUARY 29, 1914 


the astronomical notes contained in the volume. This 
analysis is especially valuable on account of the way 
in which the astronomical notes in the ‘‘ Adversaria”’ 
are mixed up with others on hydraulics, statics, the 


construction of thermometers (the scale known as. 


Fahrenheit’s is due to Rémer), numismatics, &c. 
These notes all date from the last eight years of 
Rémer’s life (1702-10), although several refer to in- 
vestigations made during his stay in Paris (1672-81). 

The authors dwell particularly on the various ‘dis- 
cussions of the work done from 1704 in Roémer’s pri- 
vate observatory a few miles west of Copenhagen, 
which show him as a great practical astronomer, to 
whom the principal modern instruments of precision 
and methods of observing are due. Thus it is shown 
that it was Rémer, and not his pupil Horrebow, who 
invented the method of determining latitudes by alti- 
tudes observed north and south of the zenith and 
nearly at the same time, now known as the Horrebow- 
Talcott method. In this the result is independent of 
refraction, and a micrometric measure takes the place 
of the reading of graduated circles. Horrebow has 
certainly the merit of having recognised and pub- 
lished the advantages of the method, but there is now 
no longer any doubt that the idea was due to Romer. 

At the beginning of the eighteenth century the 
method of determining time by observing equal alti- 
tudes of the sun east and west of the meridian was 
still in’ general use. R6mer constructed an instru- 
ment for this purpose, in which the telescope was 
attached to a bar suspended vertically from a crook at 
the upper end, and he prepared tables and formule 
for reducing the observations. By degrees the use 
of the transit instrument, as regards which he was 
himself the pioneer, superseded the observations of 
equal altitudes in fixed observatories. 

Roémer also examined the problem of time-deter- 
mination in the vertical of the pole-star; he did not 
arrive at a simple solution, but tried to get over the 
difficulty by constructing extensive tables for twenty- 
seven selected stars. How much he was in advance 
of his time is shown by his having employed the 
formula for correcting transit observations for instru- 
mental errors proposed fifty years later by Tobias 
Mayer. The transit instrument in the prime vertical, 
introduced by R6émer, was employed by him to deter- 
mine the time of the equinoxes by a method which 
was a modification of one which he had described to 
the Paris Academy in 1675, but which, like most of 
his other investigations, never was published. 

‘The authors give a detailed examination of his 
preparations for determining the vernal equinox of 
1702 by this method. In the original method (de- 
scribed by Horrebow) the declination of the sun at its 
upper or lower meridian transit was deduced from 
the intervals of time between the transits over ver- 
ticals near the prime vertical, employing an approxi- 
mate value of the latitude of the place of observation. 
In the method of 1702 the declination of the sun does 
not enter, nor the latitude. The principal reason why 
Romer wished to eliminate the latitude, was, that he, 
like Picard, thought it was subject to an annual 
variation. Without knowing it, these two eminent 
practical astronomers had, in fact, perceived the effect 
both of aberration and of nutation on the apparent 
place of the pole star. R6mer’s method of deter- 
mining the equinoxes is more ingenious than useful, 
since it not only assumes that the clock rate and 


instrumental errors do not change, but also requires. 


that the sky should be clear for at least three conse- 
cutive approaches of the sun to the prime vertical as 
well as for time determinations. 

It might have been expected that the man who had 
discovered the gradual propagation of light, and even 
foreseen the existence of aberration as its necessary 


NO. 2300. VOL. 02] 


consequence, would in his private notebook have left. 


evidence that he continued to be interested in the 
discovery. There is, however,” only an examination 
of the question, whether it would be possible to deter- 
mine the velocity of light by means of lunar eclipses. 
He found, of course (as he had already done in 1677), 
that the velocity is far too great to become perceptible 
in observations of that kind. 

Romer was the only observer who succeeded in 
seeing Mercury on the sun’s disc on May 6, 1707, 
just after sunrise; the authors have computed the 
particulars of the transit by Newcomb’s tables, and 
find that the observation agrees perfectly with modern 


theory. The doubts thrown on R6émer’s observation 


by Halley and Baily have thus been shown to be base- 
less, while Sharp’s supposed observation must be 
rejected altogether. There are many other points of 
interest in this paper, which it is to be hoped will 
become widely known, as it gives a valuable survey 
of the varied activity of a man, who but for his 
reluctance to a his researches into shape and publish 
them would be reckoned among the greatest astro- 
nomers. jk. EDs 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE, 


CampripcE.—Mr. D. G. Reid has been appointed 


junior demonstrator of human anatomy for five years 
in succession, to Dr. Rogers, who has resigned the 
office. 


The prize of sol. from the Gordon Wigan Fund for 


a research in chemistry was awarded in the year 1913 
to Mr. H. V. Thompson, for investigations on ‘‘ Some 
Reactions of Diiodoacetylene,’’ ‘‘ Acetylenic Carbon,” 
and ‘The Molecular Weight of Cellulose.” : 

To the detailed report on the work of the score of 


men who have held John Lucas Walker studentships 


at Cambridge University, which occupies many pages 


in the present number of The Cambridge Reporter, — 


the governors of the trust have added these words :— 
“During the twenty-seven years since the John Lucas 
Walker studentship, one of the earliest studentships 
in pathology, was established, 
appeared most likely to carry out pathological inves- 
tigations successfully, whether a Cambridge graduate 
or from some other school, British and Colonial, has 
always been appointed. While the work accomplished 
by the later holders of this studentship is perhaps too 
recent to be appraised, there has been ample time for 
that accomplished by the earlier students to manifest 
its worth and influence, not only upon the future 
careers of the students and upon the Cambridge 
Medical School, but upon the science of medicine. 
Moreover, it is now possible to form a fair estimate of 
the value of this foundation in particular and of 
graduate research studentships or fellowships in 
pathology in general. It would be difficult to cite any 
one position within the Empire which, in the same 
period, has been occupied by a succession of men so 
able, and who have attained such eminence in medical 
research.” 


Lreps.—Mr. Henry Rutson, of Newby Wiske, 
Northallerton, has made a donation of 5ool. to the 
funds of the University. It is only a short time since 
Mr. Rutson made a similar donation to the fund for 
new agricultural buildings. 

Mr. Godfrey Bingley, an accomplished photographer, 
who has been connected for many years with the 


sented a collection of lantern slides, illustrating archi- 
tecture, archzeology, geology, and scenery in all parts 
of England, but especially in Yorkshire. There are 
about ten thousand slides of exquisite workmanship, 
1 and the collection is admirably arranged and cata- 


the candidate who 


Leeds and Yorkshire Geological Association, has pre- 


| 
: 
: 


JANUARY 29, 1914] 


logued. The section which deals with the geological 
and geographical aspects of Yorkshire is believed to 
be unequalled. 

An anonymous donor has presented the sum of 2ol. 
to be used for the purchase of a unique collection of 
fossils from the Marine Bands of the Coal Measures 
of Yorkshire, made by the late Mr. Henry Culpin, of 
Doncaster. The University has also received the con- 
chological collections and library of the late Mr. 
William Nelson. Mr. Nelson was a working man 
who accumulated a collection of land and fresh-water 
shells of extraordinary variety and great interest. On 
his death a memorial committee was formed to acquire 
his collection and library, which will now be handed 
to the zoological department of the University, where 
they will be a valuable addition to the resources for 
zoological research. 


TR 


Oxrorp.—On Tuesday, January 27, Convécation 
passed a decree giving the consent of the University to 
the establishment of three professorships, in anatomy, 
chemistry, and experimental philosophy. These 
will be styled Lee’s professorships, and the provisions 
relating to them “ will not come into effect until there 
is a vacancy in the existing Lee’s readerships in the 
three subjects respectively.” The readership in chem- 
istry is now vacant. The holder of each of the first 
two professorships will receive gool, from Christ 
Church annually; the holder of the last-named will 
receive the same amount, provided mainly by Christ 
Church, but partly from other sources, including a 
grant from Wadham College. The Lee’s professor- 
ship in chemistry will be an actual addition to the 
present staff; the other two will be ultimately merged 
in the existing professorships of human anatomy and 
experimental philosophy. Christ Church will retain 
the power of appointing Lee’s readers in anatomy, 
chemistry, and physics, in addition to finding nearly 
the whole emolument of the Lee’s professorships. It 
is to be honed that the University funds set free by 
the action of Christ Church will continue to be applied 
to scientific objects. 

Congregation has made some progress in the 
amendment stage of the statute proposing extensive 
changes in Responsions, but it is doubtful whether 
the statute will reach a final reading. 


Tue December number of The Central, the journal 
of the old students of the Central Technical College, 
South Kensington, continues to display those features 
which make it one of the best of the old students’ 
magazines. Of the scientific article and the technical 
articles on chemical and electrical subjects respec- 
tively, little need be said, as they do not differ mate- 
rially from corresponding articles which might be 
found in the technical Press. The article on ‘‘ Ambi- 
tions—Commercial v. Technical,” by a young sales 
manager, is well worth the careful consideration of 
technical students. It puts very clearly the advantages 
of a commercial career for those who have any doubts 
as to their capabilities as constructional engineers. 
The problems which confront a commercial engineer 
are as interesting, and may often be solved by the 
same methods as those a technical engineer encounters, 
while the rewards of success are both larger and come 
more swiftly. The rest of the number is devoted to 
the events of the past session, including changes in 
the staff, with photographs and views of the new 
buildings, and to the changes of positions of a large 
number of old students. It is the last characteristic 
which makes the journal so invaluable to all old 
Centralians. 


A SHORT account of the work and objects of the 
Sutherland Technical School, built several years ago 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


623 


by the late Duke of Sutherland and Mr. Andrew 
Carnegie, near Golspie, in Sutherland, is given in the 
issue of The Times for January 23. In a letter to 
The Times of January 26, the Duchess of Sutherland 
makes an appeal for 20,0001. as a partial endowment 
for the school, and points out that 10,0001. has been 
raised among a few of her friends, and that it should 
not be difficult to secure the remainder. The aim of 
the school is to give boys from the small farms and 
fishing villages of the Highlands an opportunity to 
continue their school life in conditions which shall 
enable them to develop their special aptitudes and to 
learn the essentials of appropriate industries. The 
pupils are drawn from primary schools, and begin the 
course at the age of thirteen. The boarding-house 
attached to the school has room for forty-eight boys, 
and bursaries are provided to the number of forty. 
The secretary of the Scotch Education Department 
has spoken of the school as one of the most interest- 
ing educational experiments in recent times in Scot- 
land. This successful attempt to provide a much- 
needed link between schooldays and the years of wage- 
earning is, in fact, worth the study of those education 
authorities now contemplating the inauguration of 
junior technical schools in rural districts. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
Lonpon. 


Royal Society, January 22.—Sir William Crookes, 
O.M., president, in the chair.—Dr. R. T. Glazebrook 
and D. W. Dye: The heat production associated with 
muscular work: a note on Prof. J. S. Macdonald’s 
paper, Proc. R.S., B, vol. Ixxxvii. Prof. Macdonald’s 
results are analysed graphically by plotting, equations 
being obtained from curves connecting the various 
quantities—heat produced, work done, mass of indi- 
vidual.—M. Wheldale and H. L. Bassett : The chemical 
interpretation of some Mendelian factors for flower 
colour. These researches deal with the Mendelian 
factors for flower-colour in varieties of Antirrhinum 
majus. Two varieties, ivory and yellow, are chiefly 
considered. Ivory is a simple Mendelian dominant to 
yellow and contains a factor ‘‘I,’’ which is absent from 
yellow. The authors have previously identified the 
pale yellow pigment of the ivory variety with a flavone, 
i.e. apigenin. In the present paper it is shown that 
the yellow variety contains, in addition to apigenin, 
another flavone pigment, t.e., luteolin, which is present 
in the epidermis and accounts for the deeper yellow 
colour of the flower. Hence the dominant ivory factor 
may be expressed as the power to inhibit the formation 
of luteolin in the epidermis.—Prof. G. Dreyer and 
Dr. E. W. A. Walker: The determination of the mini- 
mum lethal dose of various toxic substances and its 
relationship to the body weight in warm-blooded 
animals, together with considerations bearing on the 
dosage of drugs. In warm-blooded animals of some. 
species but different weights, dosage must be calcu- 
lated in relation to body surface.—Prof. R. Kennedy : 
Experiments on the restoration of paralysed muscles 
by means of nerve anastomosis. Part ii., Anastomosis 
of the nerves supplying limb muscles.—Dr. F. Norman 
White: Variations in the sex ratio of Mus Rattus 
following an unusual mortality of adult females. 


Geological Society, January 7.—Dr. Aubrey Strahan, 
president, in the chair.—C, I. Gardiner and Prof. S. H. 
Reynolds: The Ordovician and Silurian rocks of the 
Lough Nafooey area (county Galway). The Lough 
Nafooey area forms a ridge about four miles long and 
slopes steeply down to Lough Nafooey on the north. 
The rocks are of Arenig, Llandeilo, and Silurian age, 
together with intrusive felsites, bostonités, labradorite- 


624 


NATURE. 


[JANUARY 29, 1914 


porphyrites, and dolerite. The Llandeilo rocks are 
mainly confined to the low-lying ground along the 
shore of Lough Nafooey, and have yielded no fossils. 
They dip at a high angle off the Arenig rocks, which 
extend in a band from a third to half a mile wide from 
end to end of the area. The Arenig rocks consist 
of spilite-lavas associated with coarse breccias, and 
with bands and patches of chert in which at two points 
radiolaria were found. Unfortunately, no graptolites 
were found in the Arenig rocks. Silurian rocks form 
the whole southern half of the area. They are highly 
inclined. They include representatives of the Llan- 
dovery, Tarannon, and Wenlock formations. The 
occurrence of Monograptus galaensis confirms the 
field evidence as to the Tarannon age of certain grey 
flags. The Wenlock beds are represented by thick 
grits. The paper concludes with a table comparing 
the rocks of the Lough Nafooey area, with those of 
Kilbride. and those of the Killary district.—T. C. 
Nicholas: The geology of the St. Tudwal’s Peninsula 
(Carnarvonshire). The St. Tudwal’s Peninsula is 
situated at the S.E, extremity of S.W. Carnarvonshire, 
and forms the N.W. limit of Cardigan Bay; it is 
underlain by Cambrian and Ordovician rocks. In 
the southern part of the peninsula the structure is 
simple, and the succession plainly displayed in cliff- 
sections ; Cambrian rocks similar in character to those 
of Merionethshire. form most of the coast, but the 
interior is occupied by Arenig beds, which rest with a 
marked unconformity on every local member of the 
Cambrian in turn. The latter have escaped cleavage, 
and mudstones in the midst of the series have yielded 
fossils belonging to the zone of Paradoxides hicksi. 
The P. davidis zone appears to be absent. This 
southern area is separated by an overthrust from a 
more northern area in which members of the Tre- 
madoc, Arenig, and Llandeilo series have been recog- 
nised, but in which the rocks are crushed, faulted, 
and disturbed, and the relations between the beds are 
far from clear. Pisolitic iron-ore is well developed in 
the district, and occurs chiefly in the Llandeilo beds 
along the line of the overthrust. Evidence is pre- 
sented to show that, during the last phase of glacia- 
tion, the ice was moving across the peninsula in a 
westerly direction out of Cardigan Bay. 


Linnean Society January 15.—Prof. E. B. Poulton, 
president, in the chair.—H. A. Baylis: Some observa- 
tions on the tentacles of Blennius gattorugine. <A 
study of sections of the branched tentacles shows an 
abundant supply of nerves in the centre of the organs, 
sending off branches to their smaller twigs. The 
function of the tentacles is still doubtful, but so far as 
the evidence goes, it only proves that they are sensitive 
to tactile stimuli, and probably the fusiform cells are 
concerned in the perception of such stimuli.—G. 
Claridge Druce: A new marsh Orchis. The author 
proposed the name Orchis praetermissa for the plant 
which he contrasted with the true flesh-coloured O. 
incarnata of Linnaeus, as described by C. B. Clarke 
in Journ. Linn. Soc., vol. xix. (1881), p. 206, showing 
how it differed in the shape of the. flowers and in 
other characters from that plant. He has as yet been 
unable to see any description or figure of his plant in 
British or European works. 

Royal Anthropological Institute, January 20.—Annual 
general meeting.—Prof. A. Keith, president, in the 
chair.—Prof. A. Keith ; Reconstruction of human fossil 
skulls (presidential address). The ordinary anthropo- 
logical methods employed for the examination and 
description of complete skulls are not applicable to 
fragmentary fossil skulls. During the last six years 
the president had endeavoured to discover and perfect 
methods which might be employed in the recon- 
struction of skulls from fragments. Recently frag- 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92] 


ments of a human skull, representative of the pieces 

of a fossil human skull found at Piltdown, had been 

submitted to him for reconstruction. A cast of the 

original sku!l was kept by those who submitted the 

fragments to him. There was no apparent trace on — 
the fragments of the middle line along the vault. 

The reconstructed skull with a cast of the original 

was submitted to the meeting. Tracings of the re- 

constructed skull were exhibited side by side with 

similar tracings from the lecturer’s reconstruction of 

the Piltdown skull to show that the problem of re- 
construction was the same in each case, and that in 
all dimensions the cranial cavity of the Piltdown skull 

was larger than the test skull submitted to him. 


Royal Meteorological Society, January 21.—Annual 
general meeting.—Mr. C. J. P. Cave, president, in 
the chair.—C. J. P. Cave: Presidential address : Upper 
air research. Research in the upper air may be by 
means of manned balloon with observer and instru- 
ment, or by self-registering instruments sent up in 
kite, captive balloon, or free balloon. Wites were first 
used for this purpose by Dr. Wilson, of Glasgow, 
1749, and also in Arctic expeditions in 1821 and 1836. 
The box-kite and the use of steel piano wire instead 
of line enabled greater heights to be obtained, and both 
were adopted by the Blue Hill Observatory in 1895. 
The use of kites was not taken up in England until ° 
1902, when Mr. Dines flew them from a steamer. 
After referring to the use of balloons and the ascents 
made by Glaisher and others, the president said that 
danger to life in high ascents caused MM. Hermite 
and Besancon to use a registering balloon in 1893; a 
free balloon carried a recording instrument, the re- 
covery of the instrument being dependent on the 
balloon being found after its descent; a height of nine 
miles was reached in France and thirteen miles in 
Germany soon after. The International Commission 
for Scientific Aéronautics directs the studies for upper 
air research, and special days are arranged for inter- 
national ascents of balloons and kites, stations in- 
various parts of the world taking part in the work. 
The first great result of these researches has been the 
discovery that the atmosphere is divided into the tropo- 
sphere, where the air is in constant movement hori- 
zontal and vertical, and the stratosphere, where turbu- 
lent motion seems to cease. The stratosphere begins 
at about 7-5 miles in these latitudes. 


Mathematical Society, January 22.—Prof. A. E. H. 
Love, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—S. T, Shovelton ; 
(i) A generalisation of .the Euler-Maclaurin sum 
formula. (ii) The deduction of the formule of 
mechanical quadrature from the generalised Euler- 
Maclaurin sum formulz.—(iii) A generalisation of 
certain sum formule in the calculus of finite differ- 
ence.—Prof. A. E.-H. Love: The potential of an elec- 
trified circular disc.—Dr. A. Young; Binary forms.— 
J. R. Wilton ; Darboux’s method of solution of partial 
differential equations of the second order. 


DUBLIN. ; 

Royal Irish Academy, December 8, 1913.—Count 
Plunkett, vice-president, in the chair.—R. Southern : 
Polychaeta. Part ii., in connection with Clare Island 
Survey. This paper dealt with the second part of the 
Polychaeta from the Clare Island district, and com- 
prised the Polychaeta sedentaria. | The number of 
species in this section is 105, bringing the total num- 
ber of Polychaeta from Clew Bay and the adjacent 
waters to 250. _One new genus, Thelepides, is 
described, and eight new species, belonging to the 
genera Nerinides, Aonides, Chetozone (2), Proto- 
thelepus, Armandia, Chone, and Euchone. 

January 12, 1914.—Rev. Dr. Mahaffy, president, in 
the chair.—W. J. Lyons: Climatology, in connection 


a ee a 


JANUARY 29, 1914] 


with Clare Island Survey. This report contained 
tables giving the annual and monthly means and 
extremes of barometric pressure, temperature, and 
rainfall for the district, together with summaries deal- 
ing with humidity and sunshine. An_ exhaustive 
analysis of the wind records kept at Clare Island 
Lighthouse was made, with some interesting results. 


Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, January 19.—M. P. Appell in 
the chair—H. Deslandres and L, d’Azambuja: The 
exact study of the second group of nitrogen bands in 
the magnetic field. Recognition of the nature of the 
displacements. The experiments were carried out in 
a magnetic field of 35,000 Gauss. The deviations, for 
A about 4oo, corresponded to a maximum of 1-40 mm. 
for one Angstrém. Four diagrams are given showing 
the changes observed in different portions of the band 
N 25,009.—Armand Gautier: The function and state 
of fluorine in the animal economy. A discussion of 
the relations existing between phosphorus and fluorine 
in animal tissues.—M. Charles Richet was elected a 
member in the section of medicine and surgery in 
succession to the late M. Lucas-Championniére.— 
Charles Arnaud; Astronomical refraction. A simplifi- 
cation of some approximate formule given in a pre- 
ceding communication.—Victor Valcovici ; Fluid move- 
ments with constant vortex.—G. .Lumet: Testing 
lubricating: oils for internal-combustion motors... An 
attempt to test the viscosity of oils under conditions 
approximating to those actually existing in the cylinder 
of an explosion motor.—Georges A. Le Roy: Mag- 
nification or reduction of phonograms. A gelatine 
cast is taken of the original phonogram, and this is 
enlarged by- hydration and reduced by drying, with 
fixation in each case by aqueous solutions of formalde- 
hyde.—M. de Broglie: The spectroscopy of the Ront- 
gen rays. Five photographic reproductions accompany 
the paper.—M. de Broglie and F, A. Lindemann: 
Fluoroscopic observation by direct vision of the spectra 
of the Réntgen rays.—Victor Henri and Marc Landau ; 
The application of spectroscopy to the study. of chem- 
ical equilibria. The systems formed by oxalic- acid 
and uranyl salts. A mixture of uranyl- salts with 
oxalié acid absorbs the ultra-violet rays much more 
strongly than the sum of the ‘constituents. ‘ Details 
of the quantitative study of the absorption are given. 
—Mme. Demassieux : Study of the equilibrium between 
lead chloride and potassium chloride in aqueous solu- 
tion. The experimental results for three temperatures, 
14°, 50°, and 100° C., are given in the form of a 
diagram.—FPierre Jolibois: Remarks on the note of 
R. Goubau on the melting point of arsenic. Reclama- 
tion of priority.—E. Léger: The constitution of homo- 
nataloin and of nataloin.—M. Balland: The return to 
wholemeal bread.—Jivoin Georgévitch: The evolutive 
cycle in the myxosporidia.—Edouard Chatton: The 
evolutive and cyclic transformations of the peridinian 
structures in certain parasitic Dinoflagella.—E. 
Voisenet: A ferment present in waters causing the 
dehydration of glycerol.. An organism has been ex- 
tracted from Dijon water identical in its morphological 
and biochemical characters with Bacillus amaracrylus 
from bitter wines. It can form acrolein from glycerol 
in aqueous solution.—Auguste Lumiére and Jean 
Chevrotier : Antityphoid vaccination by the gastro- 
intestinal way. The preparation of the dried bacilli 
and the mode of introduction into the body are given 
in detail. Immunity is obtained without any objec- 
tionable secondary symptoms.—J. Danysz : Compounds 
of chlorine, bromine, and iodine of dioxydiamido- 
arsenobenzene and silver. To a solution of Ehrlich’s 
compound 606 a solution of silver bromide in potassium 
cyanide is added; a compound of arsenobenzene with 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92] 


NATURE. 


625 


silver bromide is formed, which can be removed as 
an insoluble sulphate. The therapeutic and antiseptic 
properties of this and the analogous chlorine and 
iodine compounds have been  studied.—Gabriel 
Bertrand and H. Agulhon: The rapid estimation of 
boric acid in food substances, normal or added. 
Utilising the colorimetric method of estimation de- 
scribed in an earlier communication, figures are given 
for the amounts of boric acid present in a large 
number of animal and vegetable foods.—H. Heérissey 
and A, Aubry: The biochemical synthesis of a-methyl- 
galactoside. The a-galactodidase used in this work 
was obtained from low beer yeast dried in the air.— 
Em. Bourquelot and M. Bridel; The equilibria of fer- 
ments. Production of hydrolysis or synthesis accord- 
ing to the changes of composition of the mixtures.— 
J. Deprat: The layers with Fusulinideze of Akasaka, 
Japan, compared with the similar horizons of China 
and Indo-China.—J. Repelin: The modifications 
brought about in the Provengal sheets by Alpine move- 
ments. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. ~ 

Introduction to Modern Inorganic Chemistry. By 
Dr. J. W. Mellor... Pp. xvi+684. (London: Long- 
mans and Co.) ‘4s. 6d. - y (Nae ‘ : ; 

The Banana: its’ Cultivation, Distribution, and 
Commercial Uses. By W.-Faweett. Pp: xi+287+ 
plates. (London: Duckworth and Co.) 7s. 6d.’ net. 

A School Course in Geometry. By W. J.- Dobbs. 
Pp. xxii+427. (London: Longmans and Co.) 3s. 6d. 

Slide-rule Notes. By Col. H. C. Dunlop and C. S. 
Jackson. Pp. 127. (London: Longmans and Co.) 
2s 6d. net. : : ie ’ 

A Pocket-Book for Miners and Metallurgists. Com- 
piled -by F. D. Power. ‘Third edition. ‘ Pp. xiv+371. 
(London: Crosby.Lockwood and Son.) 6s. net. 

Biicher der Naturwissenschaft. 18 and: 19 Band. 
Der Wirbeltierkérper. By Dr. F.. Hempelmann. 
Erster Teil. Pp. 185. ,20 Band. . Meereskunde. . By 
Prof..A. Pahde. Pp. 190. . (Leipzig : P. Reclam, jun.) 
1.50 marks and 1 mark respectively. ; : 

Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. Vol. ii. Pp. 
339+xxiii plates. (Brisbane: Government Printer.) 

Pflanzenphysiologie. By R. Kolkwitz. Pp, 258+ 
xii plates. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 9 marks. 

Die realistische Weltansicht und die Lehre vom 
Raume. By Prof. E. Study. Pp. ix+145. (Braun- 
schweig : F. Vieweg und Sohn.) 4.50 marks. 

Models to Illustrate. the Foundations of Mathe- 
matics. By C. Elliott. Pp. viii+116. (Edinburgh : 
Lindsay and Co.) 2s. 6d. net. 

Astronomy: A Popular Handbook. 
Jacoby. . Pp. xiii+435+32 plates. 
millan and Co., Ltd.) tos. 6d. net. 

A List of the. Birds of Australia. By G. M. 
Mathews. Pp. xxvii+453+map. (London: Witherby 
and Co.) tos. net. 

Exercises in Mathematics. 


By “Profaske 
(London: Mac- 


By D. B. Mair. Pp. 


xi+ 469. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 4s. 6d. 
Analytic Geometry and Principles of Algebra. By 
Prof. A, Ziwet and L. A. Hopkins. Pp. viii+369. 
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 7s. net. 
Plane and Solid Geometry. By Prof. W. B. Ford 
and C. Ammerman. Edited by E. R. Hedrick. Pp. 


ix+3214-xxxiii. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 
5s. 6d. net. 

Handbuch der Entomologie. Edited by Prof. C. 
Schréder. 4 Lief. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 5 marks. 

Handwérterbuch der Naturwissenschaften. Edited 
by E. Korschelt and others. 71 Lief. (Jena: G. 
Fischer:) 2.50 marks. 

The Petrology of the Igneous Rocks. By Dr. F. H. 


626 


NATURE 


[January 29, 1914 


Hatch. Seventh edition. Pp. xxix+454. 
G. Allen and Co., Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net. 

Biological-Statistical Report on the Produce of the 
Danish Sea-Fishery in t910.. By A: C, Johansen and 
E. Neergaard-Moller. Pp. 179. (Copenhagen: C. A. 
Reitzel.) 


(London : 


Gypsy Lore Society Monographs. No. 1. A Gypsy 
Bibliography. By Dr. G. F. Black. Pp. viit+226, 
(London: B. Quaritch.) 155. 

Iowa Geological Survey. Vol. xxii. Annotated 


Bibliography of lowa Geology and Mining. By C. 
Keyes. Pp. 908. (Des Moines.) 

Department of Commerce. Technologic Papers of 
the Bureau of Standards. No. 18. Electrolysis in 
Concrete. By E. B. Rosa, B. McCollum, and O. S. 
Peters. Pp. 137+plates. (Washington : Government 
Printing Office.) 

A Course of Practical Work in the Chemistry of 
the Garden. By D. R. Edwardes-Ker. Pp. 40. 
(London: J. Murray.) 1s. 6d. net. 


Tables for Facilitating the Use of Harmonic 


Analysis, as arranged by Prof. H. H. Turner. Pp. 
46. (London: Oxford University Press.) 1s. net. 
Tierische Immunitat. By Dr. W. Rosenthal. Pp. 
X+329. (Braunschweig: F. Vieweg und Sohn.) 6.50 
marks. 
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by his Daughter, E. A. Osborne. Pp. v+292. (New 


Haven: Yale University Press; London: Oxford Uni-. 


versity Press.) tos. 6d. net. 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, JANvuaRY 209. 

Rovar Society, at 4.30.—The Origin of Thermal Ionisation from 
Carbon: Prof. O. W. Richardson.—T’he X-ray Spectra given by Crystals 
of Sulphur and Quartz: Prof. W. H. Bragg.—The Temperature 
Variation of the Photo-elastic Effect in Strained Glass: Prof. L. N. G. 
Filon.—Studies in Brownian Movement. I. The Brownian Movement of 
the Spores of Bacteria: J. H. Shaxby and Dr. Emrys Roberts.—The 
Transmission of Kathode Rays through Matter: Dr. R. Whiddington.— 
The Variation with Temperature of the Specific Heat of Sodium in the 
Solid and the Liquid State; also a Determination of its Latent Heat of 
Fusion: Ezer Griffiths.—Radiation from a Gas: Dr. G. Green.—Simi- 
larity of Motion in Relation to the Surface Friction of Fluids: Dr. T. E. 
Stanton and J. R. Pannell.—The Influence of Molecular Constitution and 
Temperature on Magnetic Susceptibility: A. E. Oxley.—The Boiling 
Point of Sulphur on the Thermo-dynamic Scale : N. Eumorfopoulos. 

Roya InstiTuTion, at 3.—The Mind of Savage Man: His Moral and 
Religious Life : W. McDougall. 

ConcreETE INsTITUTE, at 7.30.—Discussion on ‘A Standard Method of 
Measurement for Reinforced Concrete.” 

Society oF Dyers AND CoLourists, at 8.—(1) The Effects of Mineral 
Loading upon the Physical Qualities of Hedychium Paper ; (2) Tests to 
TDetermine the Relative Strength and Elasticity of Some Natural Fibres: 
Clayton Beadle and Dr. Henry P. Stevens. 


FRIDAY, JANUARY 30. 
InsTiTUTION oF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—'‘Lhe Testing of Materials for Use 
in Engineering Construction: E. W. Monkhouse. 


SATURDAY, JANvuary 31. 

Essex Frecp Crus (at the Essex Museum of Natural History, Stratford), 
at 6.—Notes on a Trip to Swedish Lapland, with Remarks on the 
Lichens Collected: D. [. Scourfield and R. Paulson.—British Oysters, 
Pliocene to Recent: A. Bell.—Scientific Surveys : Rev. C. H. Grinling. 


MONDAY, FEwrRuary 2. 

Society or Cuemicat InpustRy, at 8.—Oxygen and Metallic Antimony 
in Crude Antimony: W. R. Schoeller.—Estimation of Zinc in Coinage 
Brenzes by Volatilisation : T. K. Rose.—Nickel Tannates : Puran Singh. 

ARISTOTELIAN Socrety, at 8.—Intuitionism Translated from the Russian 
of Prof. Losskij: Mrs. Duddington. 

Society OF ENGINEERS, at 7.30.—Presidential Address: H. C. H. Shenton. 

Rovat Society or Arts, at 8.—The Relation of Industry to Art: Sir 


Charles Waldstein. 
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3. 

Royat INSTITUTION, at 3.—Animals and Plants under Domestication : 
Prof. W. Bateson. 

ZOOLOGICAL Society, at 8.30.—An Annotated List of the Reptiles and 
Batrachians collected by the British Ornithologists’ Union Expedition 
and the Wollaston Expedition in Dutch New Guinea: G. A. Boulenger. 
—Contributions to the Anatomy and Systematic Arrangement of the 
Cestoidea. XII. Further Observations upon the Genus Urocystidium 
Beddard: Dr. F. E. Beddard.—Report on the Deaths which occurred in 
the Zoological Gardens during 1913 : H. G. Plimmer. 

INSTITUTION oF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Problem of the Thrust 
Bearing: H. T. Newbigin. 

Roya Society oF ArTs, at 4.30.—The Montreal, Ottawa, and Georgian 
Bay Canal: Sir R. W. Perks, Bart. : 

ROéNTGEN Society, at 8.15. 


NO. 2309, VOL. 92| 


WEDNESDAY. FEuRUARY 4 a 

AiRONAUTICAL SociETy, at 8.30.—Further Developments of Military 
Aviation: Lieut.-Col. F. H. Sykes. e S 

GEoLocicat Society, at 8.—The Lithology and Composition of Durham 
Magnesian Limestones: C. T. Trechmann.—The Occurrence of a Giant 
Dragon-fly in the Radstock Coal-measures: H. Bolton. ; 

SocieTy oF Pusiic Analysts, at 8.—Lodimetry of Arsenic, Copper 
and Iron: Dr. G. D. Lander and J. J. Geake.—The Composition and 
Analysis of Compound Liquorice Powder: A. E. Parkes and F. Major.— 
The Composition of the Saline Matter jadhering to certain Wet Salted 
Skins: M. C. Lamb. ; f 

ENToMmoLocicat Society, at 8.—The Myrmecophilous Aphides of Great 
Britain: Prof. F. V. Theobald. i 

Rovat Society oF Arts, at 8.—Motor Fuels, with Special Reference to 
Alcohol: Dr. W. R. Ormandy. 


THURSDAY, Frervary 5. 

Royat Socigty, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: The Conduction of the Pulse 
Wave and the Measurement of Arterial Pressure: Prof. F. Hill, J- 
McQueen and M. Flack.—Report of the Monte Rosa Expedition of rgrt + 
J. Barcroft, M. Camis, C. G. Mathison, F. Roberts and J. H. Ryffel,— 
Some Notes on Soil Protozoa. I: C. H. Martin and K. Lewin.—The 
Development of the Starfish Asterias rubens L : J. F. Gemmill.—The 
Floral Mechanism of Welwitschia mirabilis (Hook): Dr. A, H. Church. 

Roya. InsTiTUTION, at 3.—Types and Causes of Earth Crust Folds: Sir 
Thomas H. Holland, K.C.I.E. . 

Linnean Society, at 8.—The Vegetation of White Island, New Zealand = 
W. R. B. Oliver.—Lantern-slides of Cape Plants, mostly in their Native 
Habitats : W. C. Worsdell.—The Range of Variation of the Oral Append- 
ages in some Terrestrial Isopoda: W. E. Collinge. 


FRIDAY, Fesruary 6. ; 
Royat InsTITUTION, at 9.—The Mechanics of Muscular Effort: Dr. H. S.- 
Hele Shaw. > 


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son; FOR S.:. > 2 eee ica an 
Some Habitats of a Marine Amceba.—J. H. Orton 
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Zonal Structure in Colloids. (Jé/ustrated.)—George 
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NATURE 


THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1914. 
THE SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY OF 
INSTINCT. 

Instinct and Experience. By Prof. C. Lloyd 


Morgan, F.R.S. (London: Methuen and Co., 
Ltd., 1912.) Pp. xvii+299. 5s. net. 

HIS is an important contribution to the 

much-discussed subject of instinct. It re- 

veals a perplexing discrepancy of opinion among 


those who have recently given special attention 


to the nature of instinctive behaviour in its bio- 
logical and psychological aspects, and the way in 
which the author deals with the views of Bergson, 
Driesch, McDougall, Myers, Stout, and many 
others is a model of what scientific discussion 
should be. Perhaps it does not make the book 
easier to read, but there is a fascination in his 
Darwin-like method of anticipating difficulties, 
answering criticisms that have been made, and 
forestalling others that will be forthcoming all the 
same. It is now many years since Prof. Lloyd 
Morgan began a new chapter in the study of in- 
stinct, marked by clear-cut experimental work on 
one hand, and philosophical insight on the other ; 
and in this new book he has made us again his 
debtors. He is always lucid and always fair; 
and his vivid, arresting style is especially 
welcome when the subject-matter is necessarily 
difficult. . 

Let us quote a fine summary of much research 
and thought :— 


“Instinctive behaviour is that which is, on its 
first occurrence, independent of prior experience; 
which tends to the well-being of the individual and 
the preservation of the race; which is similarly 
performed by all the members of the same more 
or less restricted group of animals; and which 
may be subject to subsequent modification under 
the guidance of experience. Such behaviour is, I 
conceive, a more or less complex organic or bio- 
logical response to a more or less complex group 
of stimuli of external and internal origin, and it 
is, as such, wholly dependent on how the organ- 
ism, and especially the nervous system and brain- 
centres, have been built through heredity, under 
that mode of racial preparation which we call 
biological evolution.” 


“Instinct,” Lloyd Morgan goes on to say, “is 
organic behaviour suffused with awareness.” 
Biologically considered, an instinctive act is no- 
thing but a reflex; psychologically considered, it 
is always something more, in so far as it affords 
data to the conscious experience which has its 
physical basis in the higher reaches of the nervous 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92| 


627 


system. The book’s particular thesis, which 
applies primarily to vertebrate animals, is that 
instinctive behaviour, biologically considered, is 
dependent upon inherited dispositions within the 
lower brain-centres. In virtue of these inherited 
dispositions, the organism appropriately stimu- 
lated exhibits adaptive responses, and is subject 
to visceral disturbances. These afford new 
stimuli which in turn affect the lower brain-centres. 
But not these alone, for the initial sensory stimuli, 
those from the motor organs concerned in be- 
haviour, and those from the viscera, likewise 
stimulate the cortex of the cerebral hemispheres, 
with the functional activity of which experience is 
correlated. And this plays down upon the activi- 
ties of the lower nerve-centres, controlling them 
intelligently. 

“There are, of course, inherited dispositions in 
the cortical centres also, which determine mental 
tendencies. These may be called innate, reserving 
the narrower term instinctive for behaviour of a 
specific congenital type, dependent on purely bio- 
logical conditions, nowise guided by conscious 
experience, though affording data for the life of 
consciousness.” 

Instinctive behaviour is determined by the 
subtly compounded reflex actions of the lower 
centres; it is due to the integrative action 
of these centres; it differs from compound reflex 
actions (in the ordinary acceptation) in being 
the outcome of a more complicated coordination. 
A decerebrate animal may exhibit instinctive be- 
haviour, but, it is pointed out, this fact does 
not contradict the view that in the intact animal 
orderly impulses due to performance of instinctive 
acts may reach the cortex and there generate 
experience. This experience may form the basis 
of subsequent cortical or intelligent modification 
of the instinct, as is continually happening. 

Besides its direct contributions to the theory 
of instinct, the book contains much that is of great 
value for the student of science and philosophy. 
Thus it emphasises from first to last the im- 
portant rule of method “that the more clearly 
we distinguish the scientific problem from the 
metaphysical problems the better it will be 
both for science and for metaphysics”; and 
another dominant idea is that “the history of the 
universe, so far as we are able to read it, is 
one continuous story, every episode in which is, 
if we may so phrase it, logically correlated with 
other episodes.” So that even the richness and 
complexity of conscious awareness in human life 
is the highest outcome of the logic of the world- 
story, developed ab intra, and not an alien in- 
sertion from without. Both these general ideas 
command our heartiest allegiance. 

AA 


628 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 5, I914 


TECHNICAL CHEMISTRY. 

(1) The Fermentation of Cacao. Edited by H. H. 
Smith. With a foreword by Sir George Watt, 
C.I.E. Pp. lv+318. (London: John Bale, 
Sons, and Danielsson, Ltd., n.d.) Price 10s. 
net. 

(2) Chemistry and its Relations to Daily Life. By 
Prof. L. Kahlenberg and Prof. E. B. Hart. 
Pp. vii+393. (New York: The Macmillan 
Company; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 
1913.) Price 5s. 6d. net, 

(3) Industrial Poisoning from Fumes, Gases, and 
Poisons of Manufacturing Processes. By Dr. 
J. Rambousek. Translated and edited by Dr. 
T. M. Legge. Pp. xiv+360. (London: Edward 
Arnold, 1913.) Price 12s. 6d. net. 

(4) The Application of Physico-Chemical Theory 
to Technical Processes and Manufacturing 
Methods. By Prof. R. Kremann. Translated 
from the German by H. E. Potts, and edited 
by Dr. A. Mond. Pp. xv+212. (London: 
Constable and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 8s. 6d. 
net. 

(1) HIS is a collection of essays published 

during the last few years in Germany, 

Holland, the United States, and this country, 
discussing the methods and effects of fermentation 
as applied to the preparation of cacao (“cocoa”). 
Raw cacao beans, on being removed from the 
pods and placed in covered heaps, undergo alco- 
holic and acetic fermentation of the adherent 
pulp. This loosens the testa of the beans, and 
improves the quality of the kernel by reducing 
the amount of bitter astringent substances, de- 
veloping the aroma, and producing the desired 
chocolate colour. As to how precisely the im- 
provement is effected there is difference of 
opinion. Oxidation, either direct or by means of 
an oxidase; the action of acetic acid, or of heat, 
or of glucoside-splitting enzymes, are some of the 
explanations put forward. 

Two important suggestions for improving the 
industry are made: one is that instead of trusting 
to chance to bring the right kinds of yeast, the 
planter should employ suitable cultures for start- 
ing and prolonging the fermentation. A definite 
culture of yeast would ensure a more uniform 
product. The second suggestion is that the 
“juice”? from the fermentation, large quantities 
of which are now run to waste, might be manu- 
factured into vinegar, which should become a 
considerable asset to the planter. 

(2) Theory has been kept down to the minimum 
in this work, which is intended for students of 
agriculture and home economics in (American) 
secondary schools. ~The authors take common 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92| 


substances for their material—water, air, vinegar, 
soda, coal, soap, sugar, clay, wool, bread, milk, 
and so on. By discussing and experimenting upon 
these the student is led to a knowledge of some of - 
the fundamental facts of chemistry. The descrip- 
tions are simple and interesting; the instruction 
is sound so far as it goes; and the more important 
points are emphasised by using different kinds of 
type in the letterpress. A good deal of life is 
infused into what many students would regard as 
the dry bones of chemistry, and many illustrations 
are provided which further serve to brighten the 
pages. Students who are not making chemistry 
their primary study, but desire to have some 
knowledge of the chemical properties of common 
articles, will find the book full of trustworthy 
information. : 

(3) Dr. Rambousek, a medical man and a 
chemist, is also professor of factory hygiene 
and chief State health officer at Prague. He may 
therefore be regarded as specially qualified to 
compile a work dealing with the occurrence of 
poisoning in industrial occupations. The number — 
of such occupations attended with risk is perhaps | 
in general scarcely realised. Thus besides lead and 
phosphorus poisoning, cases occur in connection 
with the larger chemical industries (sulphuric acid, 
bleaching powder, hydrochloric and nitric acids), 
and with the use of phosgene gas, chloro- and 
nitro-benzene, methyl bromide, carbon disulphide, 
aniline, petroleum products; brass, chromates, 
ferro-silicon, mercury, and nickel carbonyl. The 
author gives an outline of the dangerous pro- 
cesses, then describes symptoms and treatment, 
and finally gives an account of the preventive 
measures hitherto adonted or suggested. The 
field is so wide that exhaustive discussion within — 
the limits of one small volume is impracticable; 
but the large number of references supplied will 
help to remedy this defect. 

(4) This work, the English editor explains, is 
one of a series of monographs on technical chemi- 
cal methods of manufacture, written by experts 
and published first in Germany, where they have 
had an encouraging reception. 

The book contains the substance of lectures 
delivered by Prof. Kremann, whose experience 
has taught him that the beginner shows most 
interest in those problems of physical chemistry 
which have a bearing upon technical questions. 

Starting with the fundamental laws of the 
mechanical theory of heat, the law of mass action 
is deduced, and the maximum work of a chemical 
process discussed, the results being then applied 
to a consideration of the theory of gas engines 
and of gaseous and solid explosives. The pheno- 
mena of catalysis and pseudo-catalysis are next 


FEBRUARY 5, 1914] 


dealt with, examples of practical application 
being furnished by the manufacture of sulphuric 
acid, the Deacon process for chlorine, and the 
drying of linseed oil. Special cases depending on 
the law of mass action are found in the production 
of nitric acid and of ether, and in the caustifica- 
tion of sodium carbonate. The rest of the book 
is chiefly concerned with applications of the phase 
rule to manufactures, for example, lime-burning, 
lead roasting, blast-furnace reactions, and the 
Solvay ammonia-soda process. Technical chem- 
ists and students would often find the book useful 
and suggestive. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


Meteorological Office. The Observer’s Handbook, 
1913. Pp. xxiv + 157 + plates. (London: 
H.M. Stationery Office, 1913.) Price 3s. 

Tue issue of an annual edition of this work, 
arranged in 1909, was very appropriate—from a 
scientific point of view—owing to the rapid ad- 
vance of meteorological research in recent years. 
The progress of aérial navigation and the pro- 
_ posed general extension of the centimetre- 
_ gram-second system of units to meteorological 
measurements give greater force to the desira- 
bility of the arrangement. The work is divided 
into four principal sections, most carefully pre- 
pared with due regard to requirements of 
observers and to decisions of international con- 
ferences. Part i. relates mostly to normal 
climatological stations and to non-instrumental 
observations. The articles referring to modifica- 
tions of aqueous vapour and to optical pheno- 
mena are especially interesting. Parts ii. and iii. 
deal with self-recording and additional instru- 
ments, special attention being given to the attain- 
ment of accuracy in their working. Part iv. 
contains reduction and conversion tables, includ- 
ing those adapted for the c.g.s. system. An 
introductory memorandum on the proposed new 
units, to be used for bringing meteorology into 
line with allied sciences, is most useful. Cer- 
tainly the learning of them “does involve a definite 
effort to begin with,” but the proposed regradua- 
tion of instruments will, as pointed out elsewhere, 
probably remove the main objection to the innova- 
tion. 


T_T 


Handbuch der Hygiene. Herausgegeben von 
Prof. M. Rubner, Prof. M. v. Gruber, and Prof. 


M. Ficker. III. Band 3. Abteilung. Die 
Infektionskrankheiten. Pathogene _ tierische 
Parasiten. (Protozoen, Wiirmer,  Glieder- 


fiissler.) Pp. 392+plates. (Leipzig: S. Hirzel, 

1913.) Price 24 marks. 
FOLLOWING upon an introduction of fourteen 
pages dealing with the general problems of para- 
sitology, the book is divided into three sections 
dealing with parasitic protozoa (224 pp.), worms 
(ror pp.), and arthropods (28 pp.), the last section 
being written by W. von Schuckmann, and the 
rest of the book by Th. von Wasielewski. Each 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


629 


section is accompanied by reference to the main 


literature on the subject of which it treats. The 
book is excellently illustrated by means of thirty- 
two coloured plates and 192 text-figures, many 
of which are original. 

The section on protozoa deals in the main with 
the forms which are parasitic in man, the subjects 
of trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, ameebiasis, 
malaria, and balantidium-dysentery being treated 
of at length. A short section deals with organisms 
doubtfully related to protozoa—Spirocheta, Haplo- 
sporidia, and Chlamydozoa. The section on 
worms also deals mainly with the species which 
are parasitic inman. Compared with these sections 
the one on arthropoda appears distinctly inade- 
quate, the illustrations being mostly bad and anti- 
quated. The legends to figures of Heematopota 
and Stomoxys (p. 76) are unfortunately reversed. 
Due credit is given throughout to the sources 
whence illustrations are borrowed. An annoying 
custom in bibliographies to German publications 
may be noted in that “Ders.” and “Dies.” 
printed in the same type as authors’ names, are 
used instead of dashes beneath the name or names 
heading the first title—this is most distracting to 
the eye. 

Prof. von Wasielewski may well be congratu- 
lated upon his excellent treatise, which will prove 
most useful to hygienists, for whom the ‘“ Hand- 
buch der Hygiene” is primarily intended. 

G. H. F. Nutra. 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice ts 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


The Pressure of Radiation. 


I guiTe agree with Mr. C. G. Darwin’s opinion, 
expressed in Nature of January 22, that Boltzmann’s 
proof of the fourth-power law, taken as he gave it, 
or as it is usually given in the text-books, cannot be 
applied as it stands to each separate frequency, because 
the adiabatic expansion, employed in performing the 
cycle, will bring the Doppler effect into play, and 
cause a small change in the frequency, thus confusing 
the issue. But I think the reason of this is that the 
proofs usually given assume too much, and neglect an 
essential point, expressly emphasised by Carnot him- 
self in the application of his principle to the case of 
a saturated vapour. According to my view, the appli- 
cation of Carnot’s principle to a single frequency 
should run somewhat as follows. 

Since the emission of radiation of constant fre- 
quency, independent of the temperature, is a char- 
acteristic property of matter, we are justified, for the 
purpose of argument, in assuming an ideal cylinder 
and piston of a material capable of emitting only a 
single frequency, or a narrowly restricted range. 
Generate a finite volume v of radiation in such a 
cylinder at a constant temperature T and pressure p. 
The work done on the piston is pv, and the total heat 
absorbed E+ v, where E is the intrinsic energy of 
the radiation generated. Cool the cylinder at con- 
stant volume through an infinitesimal range, dT, by 
abstracting heat CdT, where C is the thermal capacity 


630 


of the cylinder and its contents. An infinitesimal pro- 
portion of the radiation will be condensed, and the 
pressure will fall to the equilibrium value, p—dp, 
corresponding to the temperature T—dT. There is 
no cnuange of frequency since the volume is not altered. 
Complete the cycle by condensing the volume v at 
T—dT, and heating the cylinder to its original tem- 
perature. The cycle is reversible, and the infinitesimal 
CdT may be made as small as we please in com- 
parison with E+pv. The external work done in the 
cycle is v(dp/dT)dT, and is equal to the fraction 
dT/T of the heat absorbed, E+pv. Whence 
E/v=T(dp/dT)—p. 

I cannot see any escape from this conclusion so long 
as Carnot’s principle is accepted for the definition of 
the absolute scale of temperature. Still less is there 
any escape from the conclusion, depending only on 
the first law, that the quantity measured experiment- 
ally is E/v+p, and not E/v, as generally assumed. 
Both conclusions are inconsistent with much of Wien’s 
reasoning, but I have shown that they are not incon- 
sistent with his displacement law. My formula satis- 
fies all three conditions, makes the entropy of the 
distribution a maximum, and the thermodynamic 
potential the same for each frequency. 

H. L. CaLLenpar. 

Imperial College of Science, S.W. 


Atomic Models and X-Ray Spectra. 
I aM unable to agree with Sir Oliver Lodge (NaturgE, 


January 29, p. 609) that the impossibility of 
the existence of two coplanar rings of  elec- 
trons with the same angular velocity is_ self- 
evident, though it is proved very simply. For 


the mutual repulsions of the electrons in different 
rings are complicated, and their effect on any ring 
varies very much with the number of electrons. I 
think the amount of proof given in my letter is neces- 
sary, especially since, in discussions of two rings, 
inequality of angular velocity has not often been men- 
tioned. 

Although my illustrative case concerns rings with 
the same angular velocity, the greater part of the 
letter relates to rings with different angular velocities, 
as, of course, in Bohr’s theory, the angular momenta 
of the electrons are equal, thus precluding identity 
of angular velocity in any two coplanar rings. It must 
be borne in mind that the portion of Bohr’s theory 
which deals with coplanar rings is admittedly more 
tentative than that relating to spectra. The point of 
my letter was that this part of the theory needs modi- 
fication; and, of course, it is not essential to the other. 
The variations from circular orbits may be shown to 
be cumulative, when the orbits are coplanar, and, in 
fact, it is possible to prove the non-existence of approxi- 
mately circular orbits from considerations of angular 
momentum alone, and as this investigation will be 
published in detail shortly, there is no necessity to 
enter further upon it now. But, in particular, the 
nearest possible approximation to a circular orbit 
for the two inner electrons of Bohr’s lithium atom 
makes their distances from the nucleus in the ratio 
12 to 1 for certain positions. 

In fact, the only possible arrangement of three 
electrons with equal angular momenta, in which the 
orbits are circular, requires all to be in the same 
circle, and such an atom can be shown by Bohr’s 
method to be as inert as helium. Lithium therefore 
cannot have a nucleus of strength 3e, and we cannot 
retain both Bohr’s theory and van den Broek’s hypo- 
thesis. One at least must be abandoned, and the 
latter must certainly, for lithium, beryllium, and 
boron, all of which can be treated very simply on 
theoretical grounds, 


NO. 2310, VOL: 92] 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 5, 1914 


An important argument can be derived from astro- 
physics. These three elements are, so far as can be 
judged, practically unknown in celestial spectra, where 
hydrogen and helium are sa This seems to imply 
no great similarity in constitUtion. 

J. W. NicHOoLson. 

University of London, King’s College. 


In the recent discussion in NaTureE on the constitu- 
tion of the atom, attention has been directed mainly 
to the electrostatic forces exerted by the positively 
charged portion of the atom. Prof. Nicholson has 
been successful in calculating the frequencies of the 
lines in the nebular and coronal spectra on this basis 
by employing Rutherford’s model atom consistin 
of a central nucleus surrounded by a ring (or rings 
of electrons. Bohr’s theory, though not dependent on 
the usual dynamical laws, involves the calculation by 
ordinary mechanics of the steady motion of the elec- 
tron in the electrostatic field of the positive nucleus. 
In the case of a simple nucleus this procedure leads 
to results as to the frequencies that agree with ob- 
servation. It may, however, be necessary to suppose, 
at least in the case of the heavier atoms, that the 
nucleus produces not only an electrostatic but also a 
magnetic field. Such a view has recently been de- 
veloped by Prof. Conway using the atomic model of 
Sir J. J. Thomson. If we adopt Rutherford’s model 
the expulsion of a and # particles from radio-active 
substances with large velocities may indicate that the 
particles possess these velocities within the nucleus. 
If they are in orbital motion a magnetic field would 
exist outside the nucleus.! This hypothesis may be 
associated with the theory of the Zeeman effect put 
forward by Ritz, and also with the theories of mag- 
netic action developed by Langevin and by Weiss. 
According to the latter, there exists an elementary 
magnet, the magneton, which is common to the atom 
of a large number of different substances. 

Prof. Nicholson regards Planck’s universal con- 
stant h as an angular momentum. According to 
Bohr’s thecry the angular momentum of an electron 
is constant and is h/2mz. Prof. Conway, using a 
different model, obtains the value h/z. Prof. McLaren 
identifies the natural unit of angular momentum with 
the angular momentum of the magneton. It has been 
pointed out (Phys. Zeitsch., vol. xii., p. 952, 1911) that 
Planck’s constant may be connected with the magnetic 
moment of the magneton. Suppose that an electron 
aed e, mass m) is moving in a circular orbit 
radius a) with angular velocity w. Then its angular 
momentum is ma*w, and the magnetic moment of the 
equivalent simple magnet is dea*w. 
netic moment is equal to some constant multiplied by 
he/m. ‘Taking (for illustration only) Bohr’s value for 
the angular momentum, we obtain as the magnetic 
moment 92x 10-°* E.M.U. The magnetic moment 
of the magneton, as given by Weiss, is a quantity of 
about the same order of magnitude, viz. 15-94 x 10-27. 

My chief object is to direct attention to the work 
of Prof. Carl Stormer, of Christiania, on the path of 
an electron in the magnetic field of an elementary 
magnet. It would be of great interest if it should 
prove that his results, originally obtained in connec- 
tion with cosmical problems, are applicable within the 
atom. In addition to computing the trajectories corre- 
sponding to different circumstances of projection in 
the field of an elementary magnet, he has investigated 
the corresponding problem when the electron is also 
under the action of a central force varying inversely 
as the square of the distance from the centre of the 
magnet (Videnskabs-Selskabets Skrifter, 1907, Chris- 


1 This view necessitates a larger estimate for the diameter of a complex 
nucleus than that at present accepted. 


Thus the mag- _ 


/ 


. 


FEBRUARY 5, 1914] 


NATURE 


631 


tiania; Comptes rendus, vol. clvi., pp. 450, 536, 1913). 


In particular he finds certain remarkable periodic 
trajectories in the form of circles the plane of which 
is perpendicular to the axis of the magnet and the 
centre of which is at some point on that axis. If this 
point coincide with the centre of the magnet we 
obtain circular orbits in the equatorial plane of the 
magnet. Further, there are other trajectories which 
never get outside closed toroidal spaces in the case of 
stability, or which approach asymptotically the circle 
in question in the case of instability. It appears prob- 
able that similar results would be obtained in the case 
of a ring of electrons, and that the outstanding 
problem of the stability of such a rotating ring when 
only electrostatic forces are considered might in this 
way be overcome. Experimentally such stable rings 
have been obtained by Birkeland by employing a 
magnetised sphere inside a vacuum tube. 

Some of the orbits calculated by Stérmer are also 
suggestive in connection with the wide angle scatter- 
ing of a particles investigated by Rutherford and by 
Geiger and Marsden. If the nucleus produce a mag- 
netic field, Rutherford’s estimate of its radius may 
require modification. aioe ALLEN. 

Wheatstone Laboratory, King’s College, London. 


I HAVE read the letters of Dr. Bohr and Mr. Moseley 


_ with great interest, and would like to make a few 


remarks in reply which may serve to render the mean- 
ing of my first letter more clear. Dr. Bohr says that 
we have no right to consider nNe?, m, r, and h as 
independent variables and that we must eliminate r, 
in which case we find his formula. I am not con- 
vinced that this is necessary a priori, as Dr. Bohr 
would seem to consider it. In some cases it leads to 
conclusions which are obviously erroneous. Suppos- 
ing, for instance, that we calculate the period of a 
pendulum by this method. If we eliminate h we 


find t=const. ge but if we eliminate 1 we find 
roy 


Ay 
t=const. \/ Bs We have just as much or just as 
oO 
little reason, a priori, to eliminate h or r, or any of 
the quantities involved in one case as in the other. 
In the case of the pendulum, h can only appear as a 


I-73 
where E is the energy. Possibly the same is true in 
atomic models. 

I suggest that Mr. Moseley’s frequencies, which 
can be represented by various equations, do not prove 
that one must necessarily adopt the formula obtained 
by eliminating 7. But even if it be admitted that r 
must be eliminated a priori, the fact that we then 
always find a formula which, as Dr. Bohr admits, 
only differs from his in the constant, seems to me to 
justify my view that the fact that the frequencies 
agree with the formula does not necessarily confirm 
Dr. Bohr’s special assumptions. The support to be 
derived from an agreement in the matter of the con- 
stant, however, is not very strong, as, according to 
Dr. Bohr’s theory, it contains a factor of the form 
(1/7,2—1/7,*) which obviously gives us the choice of 
an infinite number of values between O and 
277(N —o,)?. 

Mr. Moseley also adduces arguments only in favour 
of what he calls the hk hypothesis, not of Dr. Bohr’s 
special assumptions. The reasons, however, do not 
appear to me absolutely convincing. Thus he says 
v~(Fr?)?, where F is the resultant electrostatic force 
on one electron, and concludes that as M?.L?T-! is 
constant, ML?T-? is constant. He thus introduces 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92] 


corrective term, perhaps of a form similar to / 


various hypotheses, such as that the same number of 
electrons oscillate in every atom, that there exist 
no other forces than electrostatic, and so on. If one 
liked, the fact that v~ N* might just as well be inter- 
preted as v~ Fr”, assuming N electrons to be attracted, 
whence we could deduce ML?.L/T=const., i.e. a 
universal velocity times a universal moment of inertia. 
Mr. Moseley says no independent natural unit of 
length is known. It is very easy to imagine atomic 
models in which one occurs, as, for instance, that 
proposed by Sir J. J. Thomson at the last meeting of 
the British Association. 

There are one or two other points which do not 
seem to confirm Mr. Moseley’s interpretation of the 
phenomena which he has observed. Mr. Moseley him- 
self found, I believe, several lines in the characteristic 
platinum radiation, which are not where they should 
be according to his hypothesis, i.e. about in the region 
of wave-lengths two octaves shorter than copper. 
M. de Broglie has shown by means of the ingenious 
method for photographing X-ray spectra described by 
him in the Comptes rendus de l’Académie des Sciences, 
November 17, 1913, and completed December 22, 1913, 
and January 19, 1914, that platinum antikathodes 
emit at least ten independent lines. Although the 
whole spectrum was photographed, including the 
shortest wave-lengths, and although a continuous 
spectrum was observed in the region in which the 
lines were to be expected, the lines themselves were 
not present. Unless we ascribe all the strong lines 
observed to impurities and introduce a special hypo- 
thesis to account for the fact that the expected 
platinum lines are not observable, this seems to con- 
stitute a grave difficulty for the theory of Mr. Moseley. 
I have misgivings further as to the ring of four elec- 
trons being able to emit such strong lines as those 
observed, as the radius of the ring is about one 
hundred times smaller than the wave-length, but no 
doubt Mr. Moseley has considered this obvious objec- 
tion, and satisfied himself that it is unfounded. 

To recapitulate. It seems to me that Dr. Bohr pos- 
tulates the h hypothesis, and that Mr. Moseley derives 
it by introducing a hypothetical model: That the h 
hypothesis does not entail Dr. Bohr’s model. That 
Dr. Bohr’s constant as applied by Mr. Moseley con- 
tains a factor which varies from o to 1, and that ? the 
value chosen is entirely arbitrary. Therefore my view 
is that all that can be said of Mr. Moseley’s observa- 
tions is, that they do not contradict Dr. Bohr’s 
assumptions, not that they confirm them. 

F. A. LInDEMANN. 

Paris, January 25. 


Systems of Rays on the Moon’s Surface. 

Ir is a strange fact that those who have little ex- 
perience of volcanoes notice a rough resemblance be- 
tween the irregularities of the lunar surface and 
terrestrial volcanic vents. However much one juggles. 
with diminished gravity and magnifies volcanic 
energy in the past history of our satellite, there are 
still several facts which are overlooked by many 
theorists. Mr. C. H. Plant points out in Nature of 
January 15 (p. 550) that the ‘‘volcanic action of the 
moon was of enormous character’’—this would need 
be so to produce on such a small globe craters of 
80 kilometres or more in diameter. 

Now all large craters are the result of explosive 
action, and, in explosive action, only fragmentary 
ejecta are thrown out by the amount of volatile con- 
stituents of the magma, which, if sufficient to ex- 
cavate a crater, are also sufficient to break up all 
the igneous magma into scoriaceous or pumiceous 
materials, and not allow it to issue continuously as a 
lava stream. When lava rises, subsequent to an ex- 


632 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 5, Ig14 


plosive eruption such as excavated these gigantic 
craters, its first effect will be to fill up the crater 
before overflowing the edges. 

Lateral outpourings can only occur when the cone 
has been sufficiently rebuilt, above the level of the 
surrounding country, to give enough hydrostatic force 
to rend this cone. 

The radiating rays around these craters cannot be 
lava streams, as these only flow out of the crater by 
its lowest lip. They are not due to landslips of the 
loose ejecta collected on the slopes of the cone, such 
as I described and figured in my book on the great 
Vesuvian eruption of 1906, and which had until then 
been attributed to water erosion, for the following 
reason. These ravines, like the depressions around 
a half-opened umbrella, are straight radially and not 
sinuously radial as in those surrounding the great 
craters of the moon. 

Were these radial rays lava streams, which origin- 
ally issued from a cone now truncated by a later 
explosive eruption, then they would have been 
obliterated by the enormous mantle of fragmentary 
materials that would have been ejected. 

These rays have more the appearance of erosion 
valleys, but this we cannot admit if physicists main- 
tain that there is no lunar atmosphere to speak of. 

Their greatest resemblance, however, is with the 
irregular, radial cracks formed around the splash of 
a missile striking a comparatively hard surface, such 
as is observable when bullets are fired into soap, hard 
clay, lead, or half-set plaster, or even steel. 

The more I compare the moon’s surface with vol- 
canic vents in different parts of this world the less I 
see a resemblance between the two, and the more 
does the planetoid and meteorite projectile theory 
become acceptable. The obviously asymmetrical 
craters with high, overhanging, narrow lip on one 
side, and low, broad lip on the opposite side, point 
to the impact of the meteorite being oblique to the 
moon’s surface. The long, deep furrows, such as 
the valley of the Alps, &c., are, to my.mind, formed 
by bolides ploughing in a path of high ellipticity the 
surface of the moon, but at so low an angle as not to 
penetrate its surface. 

I think it a great pity that a good lunar-observing 
astronomer with one of the most powerful telescopes 
at his disposal, does not collaborate with a thoroughly 
practical vulcanologist to examine many of the lunar 
features without very rigidly fixed preconceived ideas. 
How often have I wished to be able to study care- 
fully the moon’s surface, and no doubt astronomers 
have often craved for a more extensive vulcanological 
knowledge. H. J. Jounston-Lavis. 

Villa Lavis, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, January 26. 


The End-product of Thorium.—A Suggestion. 


THE chemical composition of thorites and thorianites 
does not seem to suggest any probable end-product for 
the contained thorium. It has occurred to us that 
the only explanation at present available is that the 
end-product is an isotope of thorium itself. This con- 
dition might be brought about by the emission of 
sufficient B rays. 

If this be the case, thorium, as we know it, must 
be a mixture of two isotopic elements, one of which is 
radio-active. There is some support in favour of this 
suggestion to be found in the erratic position of 
thorium on the Geiger-Nuttall curve (Phil. Mag., 
October, 1912). According to this curve, the value of 
X for thorium, as observed, is too low. Now, if there 
is a stable component present, this result will naturally 
arise. 

From the position of thorium on the diagram it is 
possible to estimate the value of A for the active con- 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92] 


stituent on the above hypothesis. It comes out 
approximately as 1-0x 10~-**sec-*. The percentage of 
this active constituent would appear to be about 0-7. 
It is also possible to estimate the time for this com- 
position to have been attainedystarting from the pure 
active constituent. The time appears to be about 
1-6 x Io" years. \ 
The view that thorium possesses a radio-active con- 
stituent as determined above may, of course, be made 
the basis of an independent hypothesis. d 
Jeahonss i 
J. R. Correr. 
Trinity College, Dublin, February 3. 


A Curious Ice Formation. 

I am taking the liberty of enclosing a photograph 
of an occurrence which, so far as | am aware, is 
quite unique for this part of the country, and will no 
doubt have some interest for your readers. 

The water was frozen during the night of December 
31, 1913 (on which night at least 14° of frost were 
registered) into circular floes of ice of varying 
diameter, which, being encrusted with snow, had the 
appearance of water-lilies. 


Photo.) { J. Clark, Brecon. 


The river at this point flows almost due southward, 
and has just passed under a bridge over a weir, at 
both ends of which is a whirlpool. 

The accompanying photograph shows the east 
whirlpool as it appeared on New Year’s Day. 

The river, I may mention, is the Usk, and the 
photograph was taken at Brecon. : 
‘Di De Ea 
University College of South Wales and 

Monmouthshire, Cardiff. 


Soil Protozoa. 

In a letter to NaTuRE (No. 2266, vol. xci., 1913) one 
of us (C. H. M.) gave an account of a method of 
obtaining permanent preparations of Protozoa in the 
state in which they were living in the soil. 

The fixative used in this method was picric acid in 
saturated aqueous solution, but we have since found 
this reagent to be less serviceable in the case of clay 
soils than the following mixture :—Saturated aqueous 
solution of mercuric chloride, 1 pt.; methylated spirit, 
1 pt. The soil should be crumbled into this fluid, and 
mixing is best accomplished by gently shaking the 
containing vessel, care being taken to avoid making 
the clay component of the soil pass into suspension. 

A delicate film containing Protozoa will appear on 
the surface of the liquid, and this can be removed by 
floating cover-slips over it, and stained by the usual 
methods, K. R. Lewin. 

C. H. Martin. 

Lawes Experimental Laboratory, Rothamsted, 

January 27. 


j 


FEBRUARY 5, 1914| 


The Eugenics Education Society. 

In Nature of January 29 there is a letter from 
Prof. Karl Pearson pointing out that he has been 
misquoted in The Eugenics Review, the word “years” 
having been substituted for the words “few months.” 

An apology to Prof. Pearson for this purely acci- 
dental blunder will appear in the next issue of the 
review. I should be glad if you would give me space 
to say through your columns also that we much regret 
that this mistake was made. 

LeonarD Darwin. 
(President.) 
The Eugenics Education Society, Kingsway House, 
Kingsway, W.C., January 31. 


OBSERVATIONS AT THE BOTTOM OF 
THE CRATER OF VESUVIUS. 

i: Waxoas the appearance of the interesting 

“7 memoirs of M. A. Brun, of Geneva, and 

the publication of his important monograph, no 


NATURE 


633 


are quite subordinate to the water-gas—is an 
erroneous one; he, on the other hand, main- 


| tains that his observations prove (alike in the 


blasts of vapour from volcanic vents, in the 
distension of molten lava into pumice, and its 
dispersion as dust) that water plays but an in- 
significant part as compared with other gases. 
The discovery by Prof. Malladra of a prac- 
ticable route by which the very lowest point in 
the present Vesuvian crater can be reached, and 
its utilisation by Mr. Frederick Burlingham for 
kinematographic work, promise to furnish a means 
by which the rival views concerning the nature 
of the volcanic gases may be put to a crucial 
test. The floor of the present crater of Vesuvius 
lies at a depth of about r1ooo ft. below the crater- 
rim; in this floor a funnel-shaped opening 200 ft. 
deep was opened last July, after the volcano had 
sunk to the solfataric condition following the 


Copyright) 


problem has appealed to vulcanologists with 
greater force than that concerned with the nature 
and origin of the gases which produce explosive 
action in volcanoes. That water-gas appears in 
enormous quantities during explosive eruptions 
cannot be doubted, for it is condensed in heavy 
rain-torrents; but it is by no means certain that 
these abundant watery vapours may not be due, 
wholly or in large part, to moisture derived 
originally from the atmosphere. M. Brun regards 
the long prevalent opinion among geologists—that 
the hydrochloric acid, sulphurous acid, nitrogen, 
and other gases, which are undoubtedly present, 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92] 


Fic. 1.—Fumaroles on south-east crater wall, showing steepness of crater-wa'l inside. 


(A. Burlingham. 


great and destructive eruption of 1906; at the 
bottom of this funnel (1212 ft. from the summit 
of the volcano) considerable, and apparently in- 
creasing, activity is taking place. It remains to 
be seen whether this activity will eventuate in the 
formation of a cone rising from the present crater- 
floor, or in a violent paroxysm that will carry 
away the crater-floor and increase the depth of 
the cavity. 

By the courtesy of the British and Colonial 
Kinematograph Company and of Mr. Burling- 
ham, Nature is able to publish examples of the 


| interesting photographs obtained during their 


634 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 5, I9QI4 


enterprising undertaking. With two Neapolitans 
familiar with the mountain, Mr. Burlingham, 
who is an experienced alpine climber, reached 


Copyright) (A. Burlingham 


Fic. 2.—Showing ‘‘funnel” formed last July. 


the lowest point of the funnel, the chief difficulties 
encountered being the danger from the sliding 


Copy. 


t] 


well worthy of being seen by all interested in 
science. 

Fig. 1 is a view taken on the steep side of the 
crater, and shows near #¢he top numerous 


fumaroles, arising probably from rain and snow- 


water penetrating to the heated materials. The 
stratified arrangement of the scorie# and lava 


ejections is well shown in the photograph. 

Fig. 2, taken lower down, shows the floor of 
the crater with the mouth of the funnel, and the 
vapour column rising out of it as seen from some 
distance above. 

Fig. 3 is the view taken at the bottom of the 
funnel, with the masses of “incandescent pink 


vapours, in places exhibiting blue and other 
tints,” rushing up from the bottom vent. 


As Mr. Burlingham was able to convey ap- 
paratus exceeding 7o lb. in weight to the point 
shown in Fig. 3, it would seem possible to trans- 
port tubes and collecting vessels to the spot so as 
to obtain samples of the gases for analyses; gases 
thus obtained would not be subject to the objection 
that could be reasonably made to collections made 
from the fumaroles shown in Fig. 1. 

We may, I think, rely on the enlightened 
director of the Reale Osservatorio WVesuviano, 
Prof. Mercalli, and his enterprising assistants 


[F. Burlingham. 


Fic. 3.—Where fresh lava was found, r212 feet down at bottom of funnel, where pink incandescent fumes belch from the mouth which Prof. 
Merculli discovered. 


down of great loose masses and the powerful 
fumes of hydrochloric acid. The complete films, 
which are now being exhibited in London, are 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92] 


not to lose sight of for am 


important research. 


this opportunity 


Joun W. Jupp. 


FEBRUARY 5, 1914] 


MIGRATORY MOVEMENTS OF BIRDS IN 
1gt1-12.1 
1 Pia report before us forms vol. xxxii. of the 
Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ 
Club, and is written on much the same lines as 
the former reports noticed in Nature. It affords 
a considerable amount of valuable information for 
those who are interested, and they are many, in 
the fascinating subject of bird-migration. The 
report is gradually growing, and the instalment for 
Igi2 runs to no fewer than 335 pages. It seems 
to the writer that certain matter might well, 
indeed ought, to be omitted. This remark applies 
especially to the inclusion of practically the whole 
of the Scottish data for the autumn of trg11, 
which was published more than a year before by 
the Misses Baxter and Rintoul. 

There are certain species of summer birds— 
and the marsh-warbler is one of them—about 
which we have insufficient data regarding the 
time of their appearance, and we might add 
departure. The species named is believed to be 
the latest of all summer migrants to arrive in 
England, and more information regarding its 
migrations would be most acceptable. Should 
not a special effort be made to obtain this? 
It is also very desirable to know—and this 
remark concerns all similar reports—on whose 
authority some of the’ species recorded are 
based. For example, who identified the rock- 
pipits recorded.as occurring at the Outer Dows- 
ing lightship in the earliest hours of the morning 
of March 20? Were wings sent as vouchers, or 
does the identification rest on the testimony of 
the light-keepers? Would it not be well to pub- 
lish a list of all the wings received, or, perhaps 
better still, to star (*) the species the identifica- 
tion of which has been established by means of 
wings sent ?. 

There are some errata in the report. Among 
them we note that the Scottish records for the 
occurrence of the common tern on the remark- 
ably early dates. of February.1, 4, and 24 are 
credited to the little tern! As last words, let 
us say that those who have not engaged in the 
preparation of similar reports have no idea of 
the vast amount of toil entailed. For this the 
members of the committee deserve our grati- 


tude, in addition to.our appreciation -of the 
results of their labours. Wi Bs, C: 
SER «DAVID. GILL, -ECAB. F-RLS. 


| Dee GILL, whose death occurred in London 
on January 24, was born‘at Aberdeen on 
June 12, 1843. At the age of fourteen he was 
sent to the Dollar Academy, where Dr. Lindsay’s 
teaching imparted to him a fondness for mathe- 
matics, physics, and chemistry. He then pro- 
ceeded to Marischal College and University, Aber- 
deen, where his love of science increased and 
developed under the inspiring influence of Clerk 
Maxwell. He would have liked a scientific career, 


1 Report on the Immigration of Birds in the Spring of rot2 5 als» on 
Migratory Movements in the Autumn of rotr. (London: Witherby, 1013.) 
Price 6s, net. 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


635 


but his father, a prosperous Aberdeen merchant, 
wished his son to succeed him. Gill consented 
with reluctance to enter his father’s business, and 
consoled himself by devoting all his spare time 
to physics and chemistry. 

His special interest in astronomy began in the 
year 1863, when it occurred to him that Aberdeen 
was in need of an accurate time standard, like 
the time-gun which Piazzi Smyth had introduced 
in Edinburgh. David Thomson, Professor of 
Natural Philosophy in King’s. College, Aberdeen, 
gave Gill a letter of introduction to Piazzi Smyth, 
whom he visited at Edinburgh, and there made 


| his first acquaintance with an astronomical obser- 


vatory. On his return to Aberdeen, with Thom- 
son’s assistance, an old disused observatory of 
King’s College was. refitted. Every clear even- 
ing Gill and Thomson went to the observatory 
and worked with the transit instrument. The 
observatory possessed a good sidereal clock, and 
a mean-time clock was obtained, to which contact 
springs were affixed, so that other clocks, in- 
cluding the turret clock of the college, were con- 
trolled by electric currents sent each second from 
the standard. 

When the time-service had become a matter of 
routine, Gill purchased a silver-on-glass speculum 
of 12 in. aperture and 1o ft. focus. He him- 
self designed an equatorial mounting, and the 
heavy parts were made to his working drawings 
in the workshops of a firm of shipbuilders in 
Aberdeen. The driving circle, its tangent screw, 
and slow motion were made by Messrs. Cooke 
and Sons, but the driving clock with a conical 
pendulum was made by Gill’s own hands. With 
this instrument he made observations of double 
stars, &c., and took photographs of the moon. A 
copy of one of these photographs was recently 
presented by him to the Royal Astronomical 
Society, and is of great excellence. 

About this time Lord Lindsay (afterwards the 
Earl of Crawford) was considering the erection 
of an observatory at Dun Echt. He called upon 
Gill to examine the instruments and methods he 
had used in obtaining his lunar photographs. 
The acquaintanceship soon ripened, and he learned 
of Gill’s wish to devote his time entirely to 
science. It thus happened that in 1872 the Earl 
of Crawford offered to Gill the post of director 
of the observatory which his son was about to 
erect. Gill had married in 1870, and the accept- 
ance of Lord Crawford’s offer involved a con- 
siderable pecuniary sacrifice; but neither he nor _ 
his wife had any hesitation in gratefully accepting 
a post which was in such entire accordance with 
his tastes and interests. 

The years. 1872-74 were accordingly busily 
employed in cooperation with Lord Lindsay in the 
design and erection of the new observatory. Two 
of the instruments, the transit circle and 15-in. 
equatorial, were twenty years later presented to 


| the Government, and formed the nucleus of the 
) new Royal Observatory at Edinburgh. 


A third 
instrument was the 4-in. heliometer, which was 
afterwards used to such good purpose at 


636 


Ascension and the Cape. The details of these 
and other instruments were worked out, domes 
planned and built, and the telescopes mounted 
and brought into working order. 

Lord Lindsay had arranged to observe the 
transit of Venus of 1874 in the island of 
Mauritius, and the task of determining the longi- 
tude of his station was assigned to Gill. Aden 
was connected with Greenwich by telegraph, but 
for the connection of Mauritius with Aden it was 
necessary to carry chronometers. No fewer than 
forty chronometers were taken and carried by 
Gill single-handed to their destination and back, 
a task of great anxiety and difficulty, especially 
at embarkation or landing at places like Suez, 
Alexandria, Aden, and Mauritius, where only 
coloured labour was available. A series of excel- 
lent determinations of longitude were obtained, 
and on the return journey the measurement of the 
base-line for the Egyptian Survey was made, the 
site selected being nearly in front of the Sphinx. 

The expedition to Mauritius was memorable in 
another way. Though hampered by cloudy weather, 
Gill and Lindsay determined the solar parallax 
from a short series of heliometer observations of 
the minor planet Juno, and demonstrated the high 
value of this method. This was followed up by 
an expedition to the island of Ascension to utilise 
the opposition of Mars in 1877 for the same 
purpose. Gill having given up his connection 
with Dun Echt, Lord Lindsay granted him the 
loan of the 4-in. heliometer; the cordial support 
of the Royal Astronomical Society assured the 
necessary financial assistance, afterwards defrayed 
by the Government Grant Fund of the Royal 
Society. A delightful account of this expedition 
is given in “Six Months in Ascension, by 
Mrs. Gill—an unscientific account of a scientific 
expedition.” An excellent determination of the 
solar parallax was obtained, and it was shown 
that for still higher accuracy it would be necessary 
to utilise the opposition of a minor planet owing 
to the observational uncertainty in setting on 
the limb of a planet with a perceptible disc. 

On February 10, 1879, Gill was appointed 
H.M. Astronomer at the Cape. After a few 
months spent in visiting the principal observa- 
tories in Europe, he proceeded to the Cape, 
arriving there on May 26. The Cape Observatory 
had, under Gill’s predecessors, Fallowes, Hender- 
son, Maclear, and Stone, accomplished valuable 
work in the determination of the positions of the 
stars of the southern hemisphere. This import- 
ant work, which falls naturally to large national 
observatories, was continued by him. He reduced 
and published the observations made by Maclear 
during the years 1849-52 and 1861-70, thus 
clearing off all arrears in the publication of the 
Cape observations. During his directorate he 
published catalogues of the fundamental stars 
observable at the Cape, of zodiacal stars the 
positions of which are required in heliometer and 
other observations of the moon and planets, and 
of 8560 stars to serve as reference points for the 
photographs in- the section of the international 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


‘observations 


(cpetes 5, 1914 


photographic chart and catalogue undertaken by 
the Cape. He improved and carefully studied 
the details, such as pivot and circle errors, of 
the transit circle which had been erected in 1856. 
But he strongly held to the view that a reversible 
instrument was necessary for fundamental work 
of the highest accuracy, and when the purchase 
of such an instrument had been sanctioned by 
the Admiralty, threw his whole energy and 
mechanical and engineering skill into making 
the instrument the best of its kind. A brief 
account of its most striking features is given in 
Nature for January 15, p. 556. It was only com- 
pleted at the time of Gill’s retirement from the 
Cape in 1906, but the results obtained by his suc- 
cessor, Mr. Hough, show that it has admirably 
fulfilled the object of high accuracy and freedon) 
from systematic error. 

Knowing what effective use he would be able 
to make of the 4-in. heliometer, Gill acquired it 
from Lord Crawford, and took it with him to 
the Cape. He employed it first in the determina- 
tion of the parallaxes of nine southern stars which 
were remarkable for their great brilliancy or the 
size of their proper motions. In this task he was 
joined by Mr. Elkin, a young astronomer whose 
acquaintance he made at Strassburg in 1879- 
The valuable results obtained by the two observers 
were published in 1884. After the execution of 
the work, Gill pointed out to the Lords Com- 
missioners of the Admiralty that a larger instru- 
ment was necessary for the further prosecution 
of research in stellar and solar parallax, and re- 
ceived their sanction for the purchase of a 7-in. 
heliometer. With the new instrument the paral- 
laxes of twenty-two southern stars were deter- 
mined with the highest accuracy. The work 
entailed extremely delicate and careful 
shortly after sunset and before 
sunrise extending over many months, and, in 
addition, laborious researches on the values and 
errors. of screws and scale-divisions. This re- 
search, in which Gill’s personal observations 
were supplemented by those of Finlay and de 
Sitter, has been recognised as the high-water mark 
of astronomical observation, and will probably 
never be surpassed by visual observations. 

For the determination of the solar parallax 
Gill found that the minor planet Iris would be 
very favourably situated in 1887, and Victoria 
and Sappho in 1888. He determined to make 
observations himself, and secured promises of 
cooperation from other astronomers who pos- 
sessed heliometers, and also of meridian observa- 
tions to secure an accurate framework for the 
positions of the necessary reference stars. A very 
extensive programme was carried out, and the 
observations are discussed in two large volumes 
of the Cape Annals. The value of the solar paral- 
lax was found to be 8/°804, with a probable error 
of only +0”-0046. This result has been recently 
confirmed by the photographic observations of 
the planet Eros, and still more recently from the 
spectroscopic observations of the differences of 
the velocities of stars in the line of sight when the 


FEBRUARY 5, 1914] 


NATURE 


637 


earth’s revolution carries it to or from them. As 
a corollary to these important researches, the 


mass of the moon was determined from the dis- | 


placement of the observer’s position, arising from 
the movement of the earth about the centre of 
gravity of the earth and moon. 

In 1882 photographs of the great comet were 
taken, under Gill’s auspices, with an ordinary 
camera strapped on an equatorial telescope. Not- 
withstanding its small optical power, a surprising 
number of stars were shown in excellent defini- 
tion over a considerable field. This suggested 
the possibility of employing similar but more 
powerful means for mapping the stars. Gill im- 
mediately took steps to obtain a suitable lens, 
and in January, 1885, having obtained 3ool. from 
the Government Grant Committee, commenced 
a photographic durchmusterung of the southern 
sky. Prof. J. C. Kapteyn, of Groningen, volun- 
teered to measure the photographs, and from the 
cooperation of the two astronomers a compre- 
hensive survey of the sky was made from 19° S. 
declination to the south pole, containing more than 
450,000 stars. 

The photographs of this comet were fruitful 
in another manner. Copies of them, with a short 
explanatory note, were forwarded to Admiral 
Mouchez, the Director of the Paris Observatory, 
and were communicated by him to the French 
Academy. Their excellence led Admiral Mouchez 
to encourage the brothers Henry, who were en- 
gaged in charting the zodiac, to devote their 
attention to the construction of astrographic 
lenses. In this they had signal success, and after 
further correspondence between Gill and Mouchez, 
a conference was called at Paris in 1877 for the 
execution of an international chart and catalogue 
of the whole sky by photographic means. In 
this important work Gill took a keen interest and 
exercised great influence. He attended all the 
meetings of the Comité permanent in Paris, where 
he delighted to discuss with his colleagues the 
details of a great project which has been con- 
stantly advanced by his enthusiasm and energy. 

Soon after Gill’s appointment as H.M. Astro- 
nomer of South Africa, he laid before Sir Bartle 
Frere, who was Governor of Cape Colony and 
High Commissioner for South Africa, a compre- 
hensive scheme for a geodetic survey of the 
country. His recommendations included a grid- 
iron system of principal triangulation extending 
over Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, Natal, 
and the Transvaal. There were considerable 
delays at the start, but little by little the great 
project was carried out always under the unify- 
ing direction of Gill. In 1896 he suggested that 
the progress made in geodetic survey in South 
Africa should be regarded as a first step in a 
chain of triangulation which, approximately 
traversing the thirtieth meridian of east longitude, 
should extend continuously to the mouth of the 
Nile. He never lost any opportunity of forward- 
ing this important geodetic project, and had the 
satisfaction of seeing the great arc of meridian 
measured from latitude 31° 36/ in the extreme 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92] 


south of Africa so far north as Lake Tanganyika 
in lat, 9° 41’. 

Gill remained at the Cape as H.M. Astronomer 
for twenty-eight years. In this period he re- 
modelled the fundamental meridian work of the 
observatory, introduced photographic astronomy, 
and achieved results of the highest importance 
with the heliometer. The generous gift of the 
Victoria telescope by Mr. F. McClean (a 24-in. 
photographic telescope with objective prisms and 
spectroscope) enabled work in astrophysics to be 
added to the activities of the observatory. In 
addition to the staff of the observatory, a number 
of astronomers were attracted to the Cape and 
worked there guided by Gill’s counsel and stimu- 
lated by his enthusiasm. In this connection the 
names of Elkin, de Sitter, Cookson, and Franklin- 
Adams are readily recalled. .In 1905 the British 
Association visited South Africa, and Gill had the 
greatest pleasure in showing them the great 
observatory which owed so much to him. The 
success of this memorable visit was largely due to 
the great respect and admiration entertained for 
Gill by the visitors from Europe and their hosts in 
South Africa. 

He left the Cape in October, 1906, and took 
up his residence in London. His time was very 
fully occupied in writing the history and descrip- 
tion of the Cape Observatory (see Nature, Janu- 
ary 15, p. 556), and in the activities of a number 
of scientific societies into which he entered with 
zest. He served on the council of the Royal 
Society, 1908-9 and 1910-11; on that of the 
Royal Astronomical Society from 1907-13, being 
president from 1910-12, and succeeding Huggins 
as foreign secretary in 1912; and on the council 
of the Royal Geographical Society, 1908-10 and 
1911-12. He was, president of the British Asso- 
ciation at the Leicester meeting in 1907. He was 
constantly consulted by astronomers, particularly 
in the design of instruments. Another subject in 
which he was greatly interested was the manu- 
facture of optical glass for large telescopes. His 
interests embraced not only the practical branches 
of astronomy and geodesy in which his own work 
had been done; he followed the recent researches 
in solar and stellar spectroscopy, in gravitational 
astronomy, and especially those bearing on the 
extent and movements of the sidereal system. 

The signal services which he rendered to science 
were recognised by his creation as Knight Com- 
mander of the Bath, as Knight of the Prussian 
Order Pour le Mévite, and as Commander of the 
Legion of Honour of France. Honorary degrees 
were conferred upon him by the Universities of 
Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, 
Dublin, and the Cape of Good Hope. He was 
corresponding member of the leading academies 
of Europe and America. He received the Valz 
medal of the Institut of France in 1882, the gold 
medal of the Royal Astronomical Society the same 
year ; the Bruce medal of the Astronomical Society 
of the Pacific in 1900, and the Watson medal of 
the National Academy of the United States in 
the same year; a royal medal of the Royal Society 


638 


in 1903, and the gold medal of the Royal Astro- 
nomical Society a second time in 1908. 

No biographical notice of Sir David Gill would 
be complete without some reference to his striking 
personality. His force of character enabled him 
to triumph over difficulties and carry out great 
projects. His enthusiasm and tenacity of purpose 
communicated themselves to his colleagues and 
assistants, and supported them and him in the 
arduous details inseparable from astronomical 
enterprise. But he never lost in these details a 
clear view of the ultimate purpose of his work. 
As an astronomical observer he was unsurpassed, 
the pleasure of making every measurement. as 
accurately as he was able counterbalancing the 
tedium of making observations of similar char- 
acter night after night. His engineering skill 
stood him in good stead, and the perfecting of his 
instruments was a constant source of delight to 
him. His administrative success was due in large 
measure to the confidence he inspired in his staff, 
and their regard for him both as an astronomer 
and as a friend. 

His health had been excellent since his return 
to London, and his large circle of friends hoped 
that he would be with them for many years. He 
was suddenly seized with pneumonia in December, 
1913, and passed away on January 24, after an 
illness of six weeks. We would tender to Lady 
Gill our respectful sympathy in her sudden 
bereavement. Ee Wy De 


Sir David Gill was laid to his rest on Wednesday, 
January 28, the funeral being at St. Machar Cathe- 
dral, Aberdeen. A memorial service was held at St. Mary 
Abbot’s, Kensington, and was attended by a large 
number of personal friends as well as representatives 
of institutions of science and learning, among the 
latter being :—Prof. Forbes (Edinburgh University), 
Sir William Crookes and Sir Archibald Geikie (Royal 
Society), Sir Norman Lockyer (British Science Guild), 
Lady Lockyer (the Hill Observatory, Salcombe-Regis), 
Dr. F. W. Dyson, Astronomer Royal, Major E. H. 
Hills (Royal Astronomical Society), Colonel E. E. 
Markwick (British Astronomical Association), Prof. 
H. H. Turner (Oxford: University, and, with Major 
MacMahon and Mr. O. J.. R. Howarth, the British 
Association), Mr. H. F. Newall (Cambridge Univer- 
sity), Major Leonard Darwin (Royal Geographical 
Society), Dr. R. T. Glazebrook (National Physical 
Laboratory and Optical Society), Dr. W. N. Shaw 
(Meteorological Office), Dr. P| H. Cowell (Nautical 
Almanac Office), M. Jules Baillaud (representing the 
director of the Paris Observatory), Dr. A. E. H. 
Tutton (Mineralogical Society), Mr. W. H. Low (Cape 
Town Caledonian Society), Captain Lyons (the Science 
Museum), and Prof. Kapteyn (Groningen University). 


DR. R. T. OMOND. 


HE death of Dr. R. T. Omond at his house 

in Edinburgh on the morning of January 27 
removes from us one whose name will be per- 
manently associated with the famous Ben Nevis 
Observatory. Under his direct superintendence 
on that cloud-capped summit, hourly observations 


NATURE 


of the important meterological elements were taken 
night and day for about ten years following 1884; 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92] 


[FEBRUARY 5, 1914 


and although his health prevented him doing the 
observational work for the remaining ten years 
of the great experiment, his whole mind was given 
to the completion of the undertaking. He con- 
tinued as honorary superintendent; and devoted 
his time and energies to the reduction and diseus- 
sion of the wealth of observations which had 
accumulated. ts + ae 

Dr. Omond was associated with Dr. Alexander 
Buchan in the preparation of the earlier of the 
four quarto volumes (Trans. R.S.E., vols. 36, 42, 
43, 44) in which the observations are tabulated ; 
but of the later volumes he had necessarily sole 
charge, and from the very beginning, indeed, 
the main labour of tabulation and proof correction 
rested with him. In addition to, the tabulated 
observations of pressure, temperature, humidity, 
wind, rain, snow, &c., these volumes contain dis- 
cussions and papers on various meteorological 
questions. There is also reproduced in detail the 
daily log-book of the observers, a fascinating and 
suggestive scientific document, containing, inter 
alia, descriptions of halos, glories, and corone, 
on which Omond himself contributed two papers 
to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His principal 
scientific papers are published in the Ben Nevis 
volumes already mentioned, and in the Journal 
of the Scottish Meteorological Society. 

Dr. Omond was educated at the Edinburgh 
Collegiate and at the University of Edinburgh. 
He did not follow any of the ordinary courses 
qualifying for degrees, but devoted himself mainly 
to study of physics under Prof. Tait, and to 
geology under Sir Archibald Geikie. He was, 
indeed, Tait’s right-hand man in the investigations 
on the compressibility of fluids which arose out 
of the testing of the Challenger thermometers. 
He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edin- 
burgh in 1884, was awarded the Keith Prize in 
1892 for his Ben Nevis work, and served one 
term (rgor—4) on the Council. The University 
of Edinburgh conferred on him the honorary de- 
gree of Doctor of Laws at the summer graduation 
of 1913. Hampered though he was latterly by a 
serious malady, he put through an immense 
amount of work, and retained to the end the 
bright, cheerful, unselfish spirit which endeared 
him to his many friends. 

C. G. Knorr. 


NOTES. 
WE record with much regret the death, on February 
1, in his eighty-fourth year, of Dr. Albert Giinther, 


F.R.S., formerly keeper of the zoological department 
of the British Museum (Natural History). 


Tue Postmaster-General has appointed a Committee 
to inquire into systems of high-speed telegraphy and 
to report thereon. The Committee will consist of 
Captain Norton, M.P., Assistant Postmaster-General 
(chairman), Sir John Gavey, C.B., Mr. J. Lee, Mr. 
W. M. Mordey, Mr. A. M. Ogilvie, C.B., Mr. W. 
Slingo, and Mr. A. B. Walkley. Anyone desirous of 
giving evidence before the Committee should com- 


FEBRUARY 5, 1914] 


municate with Mr. G. O. Wood, Secretary’s Office, 
G.P.O., who has been appointed secretary to the 
Committee. 


A Reuter message from New York states that the 
Aéro Club has sanctioned a round-the-world aéroplane 
race, starting from the San Francisco Exhibition in 
May, 1915, and ending at the same place within 
ninety days. The first prize will be 20,0001. The 
race will be open to any type of motor-driven aircraft 
and will be under the auspices of the exhibition and 
the Pacific Aéro Club. It is announced that 30,000l. 
has already been subscribed, and that it is expected 
that an additional sum will be secured, all of which 
will be divided among the competitors. 


It has been decided to prepare for publication a 
biography of the late Sir William H. White, 
K.C.B., the eminent naval constructor. Mr. J. B. 
Capper, to whom the work has been entrusted, will 
be grateful for any material in the shape either of 
correspondence or of reminiscence throwing light upon 
Sir William White’s personality or work. Letters 
will be carefully preserved, copied, and returned. 
Communications of all kinds should be addressed to 
Mr. Capper, care of Sir Henry Trueman Wood, 
secretary of the Royal Society of Arts, John Street, 
Adelphi, London, W.C. 


Aw address delivered by Mr. T. A. Jaggar, jun., at 
a meeting of the Hawaiian Volcano Research Asso- 
ciation in Honolulu last December, has been published 
as a special bulletin of the Hawaiian Volcano Observa- 
tory. The address gives a detailed account of the 
nature and value of the scientific work done at the 
observatory. We notice that eleven investigators of 
note have been at Kilauea in the last five years, and 
have produced four important memoirs, many smaller 
papers, and a topographic map. A large realistic 
model of Kilauea is in preparation for the Agassiz 
Museum of Harvard University ; and chemical analyses 
have been completed in Washington. In 1909 the late 
Dr. Tempest Anderson was in. Hawaii, and secured 
many photographs. He presented the observatory 
with one of his ingenious cameras and a battery of 
three fine lenses. It is hoped, said Mr. Jaggar, that 
British friends will honour Dr, Anderson’s memory 
by the establishment on St. Vincent, in the Caribbee 
Islands, of a permanent observatory and laboratory, 
for the study of the Caribbean volcanoes. This was 
his field of specially distinguished work in 1902. 


Tue Journal of the College of Science of the Impe- 
rial University of Tokyo was launched in 1887, and 
the Committee of Publication has recently issued a 
general index to vols. i. to xxv. (1887-1908). In this 
index there are fully 300 distinct contributions from 
about a gross of contributors, of whom twelve are 
Europeans and Americans. This gives some indica- 
tion of the scientific activity of the Japanese, for all 
the contributions are of the nature of research. Every 
science is represented—mathematics, physics, chem- 
istry, geology, mineralogy, zoology, botany, embryo- 
logy, seismology, &c. The great majority of the 
papers are written in English, about two dozen being 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


639 


in German, a few in French, and three or four of the 
lists of plants in Latin. Many of the memoirs~are 
recognised by those competent to judge as of first- 
class importance in the development of scientific 
knowledge. When it is remembered that the papers 
are to a large extent the result of research work by 
the teachers, students, and graduates of the College 
of Science, and in many cases of work done within 
its walls, the world will recognise that Japan is 
rapidly repaying her debt to the West, from whom 
she received her first impulse towards scientific inves- 
tigation. 


ATTENTION was directed in the issue of Narure for 
March 6, 1913 (vol. xci., p. 20), to the Napier tercen- 
tenary celebration, to be held in Edinburgh on Friday, 
July 24 next, and following days. The celebration is 
being held under the auspices of the Royal Society of 
Edinburgh, on whose invitation a general committee 
has been formed, representing the Royal Society of 
London, the Royal Astronomical Society, the Univer- 
sities of St. Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edin- 
burgh, the University College of Dundee, and many 
other bodies and institutions of educational import- 
ance. The Royal Society of Edinburgh now gives a 
general invitation to mathematicians and others in- 
terested in this coming celebration. The celebration 
will be opened with an inaugural address by Lord 
Moulton of Bank, followed by a reception given by the 
Lord Provost, magistrates, and council of the city of 
Edinburgh. The historical and present practice of com- 
putation and other developments closely connected 
with Napier’s discoveries and inventions will be dis- 
cussed on the following days. Relics of Napier will 
also be on view, and it is intended to bring together 
for exhibition books of tables and forms of calculating 
machines, which may reasonably be regarded as 
natural developments of the great advance made by 
Napier. Individuals, societies, &c., may become 
founder members on payment of a minimum sub- 
scription of 2/.; and each founder member will receive 
a copy of the memorial volume, which will contain 
addresses and papers read before the congress, and 
other material of historic and scientific value. Ordinary 
subscribers attending the celebration may obtain 
copies of the memorial volume at a reduced price. 
Subscriptions and donations should be sent to the 
honorary treasurer, Mr. Adam Tait, Royal Bank of 
Scotland, St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh. 


Mr. J. C. DrumMmonp has been appointed assistant 
to the chemical department of the Research Institute 
of the Cancer Hospital (Free), Fulham Road, London, 
Si W. 

At the annual meeting just held of the Zoological 
Society of New York, it was resolved to cable to the 
Zoological Society of London the following message: 
“That the Zoological Society of New York, having 
been largely instrumental in securing the passage of 
our national measures for the protection of the birds 
of the world, by preventing all importations for pur- 
poses of fashion or millinery, hereby extends its greet- 
ings to its fellow-members of the Zoological Society 
of London, and expresses the hope that the society, 


‘ which represents the other great metropolis of the 


640 


world, will lend its unanimous support to the Hob- 
house Bill, now before Parliament, which is designed 
to reinforce the protective measures passed by Con- 
gress. The effect of the American Bill has been in- 
stantaneous and widespread, and is now receiving 
unanimous support all over the United States. The 


very passage and enforcement of the Bill has created . 


a sentiment for wild-life protection in many quarters 
where it did not exist before. The millinery trade 
has adapted itself to the new conditions, and the law 
is acknowledged to be most beneficial in its results.” 


WritInG on December 13, Prof. Ignazio Galli 
describes a series of sunset-glows which recall those 
of 1883-84. They were first observed in Rome on 
July 13, and continued without intermission, though 
with frequent variations in brightness, until the middle 
of December. Prof. Gaili notices that on June 17, 
or about a month before their first appearance, there 
was a very violent explosion of the Asama-yama in 
central Japan, followed by others on June 20 and 26. 


Mr. E. O. Winstept ‘has done a piece of useful 
work: by collecting in the Journal of the Gypsy Lore 
Society, new series, vol. vii., part i., all the references 
to gypsies in Tudor times recorded in the State Papers. 
They give, as he remarks, a picture of gypsy life 
when they travelled far and wide in large bands, some 
of the leaders of which bore names still well known. 
A band of 140 persons is recorded in Staffordshire in 
1539; eighty in Berkshire, Oxfordshire, and Bucking- 
hamshire in 1576, with a passport forged by a Cheshire 
schoolmaster. Active measures of repression were put 
in force by the authorities, an order of the Privy 
Council in 1542-3 directing certain persons ‘‘ to avoyde 
the countrey off a certayne nombre off vagabondes 
going upp and downe in the name of Egiptians.” 


Tue report of the bacteriologist, Prof. Ward Gilt- 
ner, of the Michigan State Board of Agriculture for 
the year July 1, 1912-July 1, 1913, has been received. 
Soil problems bulk large in the record, and an exten- 
sive trial of a serum for hog-cholera is being made, 
more than 500,000 c.c. of the serum having been 
issued. 


AmonG a collection of Antarctic seals and birds 
from South Georgia presented to the Scottish Zoo- 
logical Park by Messrs. Salvesen and Co., Leith, the 
most interesting specimens are a couple of young 
elephant-seals, about 6 ft. in length, and a Weddell’s 
seal. The latter is believed to be the first living 
example of its kind hitherto brought to Europe. 


Wir# reference to a paragraph in Nature of Decem- 
ber 16, 1913 (p. 457), Dr. W. D. Matthew writes to 
say that the so-called lions of the Rancho-la-Brea 
asphalt deposit are the extinct Felis atrox bebbi, and 
not pumas. The use of the term “lion” in this sense 
is to be deprecated, as it is commonly applied in 
America to the puma, while F. atrox appears to be 
as nearly related to the tiger as to the lion. 


In vol. xxxv (p. 252) of Notes from the Leyden 
Museum, Dr. J. H. Vernhout states that specimens of 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 5, I9I4 


taken on the coast of Ceram attached to rocks of 
mica-schist by the apices of their shells, so as to re- 
semble small cups. Such a mode of attachment, so 
far as the author could ascertain, appears to be 
unique in the case of limpet-like shells. 


Tue extinct mammal-like reptiles of South Africa 
and their relatives in other parts of the world, together 
with the strata in which their remains are embedded, 
form the subject of a well-illustrated article by Dr. R. 
Broom in The American Museum Journal for Decem- 
ber, 1913. A feature on which the author lays special 
stress is the powerful development of the limbs in 
nearly all the members of the group. “How these 
have been evolved is a matter of doubt, but there can 
be little question that it was this strengthening and 
lengthening of the limbs that started the evolution 
which ultimately resulted in the formation of the 
warm-blooded mammals.” 


To the first part of the ‘‘Bergens Museums Aaar- 
bok” for 1913 Mr. J. A. Grieg contributes an exhaustive 
article of 147 pages, illustrated with two plates, on 
the aquatic fauna of the Hardangerfjord, including 
both vertebrates and invertebrates. The second of the 
two plates is devoted to a life-size figure of the shell 
of a very large and much elongated form of the whelk 
(Buccinum undatum): In the second part is a 
systematic catalogue, by Mr. H. T. L. Schaanning, 
of the birds of Norway, with references to literature 
ranging from the year 1599 to 1912. The number of 
species recognised, inclusive of the great auk, is 
three hundred. 


In 1906 the late Dr. F. Ameghino described certain 


sharks’ teeth from the Tertiaries of Patagonia as the — 


representatives of a new generic type, Carcharoides, 
the name being given in allusion to the fact that these 
teeth have the sharply acuminate crowns character- — 
istic of Lamna, associated with the serrated margins 
of those of Carcharodon. Teeth of a precisely similar 
nature from the Tertiaries of Victoria are described 
in The Victorian Naturalist for December, 1913 
(vol. xxx., pp 142-3), by Mr. F. Chapman. The dis- 
covery is of interest as affording additional evidence 
of the close: affinity between the Tertiary littoral 
faunas of Patagonia, New Zealand, and Australia, 
and thus lending support to the view that they in- 
habited different portions of a single sea-bed. 


Dr. Asajiro Oxa, in the Journal of the College of 
Science, Tokyo (vol. xxxii.), describes a remarkable 
new Japanese compound Ascidian, to which he gives 
the name, Cyathocormus mirabilis. The form in ques- 
tion appears to be closely related to Colella, consisting 
of a ‘‘head” attached by a short stall, but the head is 
hollow, with a wide terminal opening, so that the 
entire colony has the form of a goblet, in the wall 
of which a single layer of zooids are arranged in 
double longitudinal rows. The author proposes for 
the reception of his genus a new family, Cyatho- 
cormidze, which he suggests may form a connecting 
link between the more ordinary Ascidiacee and the 
aberrant, free-swimming Pyrosoma. He therefore con- 
siders it doubtful whether we are justified in separat- 


the limpet-like mollusc, Siphonaria sipho, have been J ing Pyrosoma from other compound Ascidians, and 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92] 


FEBRUARY 5, 1914] 


placing it along with Salpa and Doliolum in the 
Thaliacea, as has recently been done by Neumann and 
by Parker and Haswell. 


Ir would be difficult to find a better example of the 
valuable work that can be accomplished by a local 
scientific society than is offered in the Transactions of 
the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’ Society for 
1912-13. The presidential address, by Mr. Robert 
Gurney, is concerned with ‘‘The Origin and Con- 
ditions of Existence of the Fauna of Fresh Water.” 
He is of opinion that the fauna of the relict lakes 
of the world show that the isolation of marine fauna 
does not lead to any great accession to the fresh-water 
fauna. ‘It seems that the successful adaptation of a 
species to fresh water depends essentially on a physio- 
logical variation of the organism, without which the 
most favourable external conditions are powerless to 
assist immigration.” Next comes a very careful, 
complete, and well-illustrated monograph, by Prof. 
_ Oliver and Dr. Salisbury, on the topography and 
vegetation of Blakeney Point, that hunting ground of 
naturalists, which has now been brought under the 
National Trust as a nature reserve. It is followed by 
Mr. A. Preston’s notes on the great flood of August, 
1912, which was of such disaster to Norwich. Then 
comes a very valuable instalment of Mr. C. Morley’s 
“Fauna and Flora of Norfolk.’ Other shorter 
papers, well worth study, include those on the grow- 
ing of wild rice in East Norfolk, on the migrations of 
birds from Lowestoft and district, and on the record 
results of the Yarmouth herring fishery of 1012. 
Altogether, these Transactions do honour to a great 
society of natural history, in a county favoured by 
nature and famous in science. Dr. Sydney Long, the 
hon. secretary of the society, is to be congratulated 
on the care with which he has edited this collection of 
monographs. 


7 


“Tue Geology and Mineralogy of Tin” are the 
subjects of a bibliography of 1701 entries, accompanied 
by an index of 167 pages, prepared for the Smith- 
sonian Institution by F. L. and Eva Hess (Miscell. 
Collections, vol. Iviii., No. 2). Since a brief account 
of the contents of almost all the papers is supplied, 
this publication will form a standard work of reference. 
It does not profess to be complete as regards works 
on the extraction.and treatment of the ores, and 
hence we miss a reference to the ingenious test for 
cassiterite with hydrochloric acid and zinc, put for- 
ward, we believe, in West Australia in 1908. 


Dr. Joun Batt, in Paper No. 29 of the Survey 
Department of Egypt (1913) describes the topography 
and geology of the phosphate deposits of Safaga. 
The district lies about 400 kilometres south-south- 
east of Suez, near the Red Sea. The phosphate de- 
posits occur on either side of the Wadi Safiga at 
distances of from twelve to twenty-two _ kilo- 
metres inland. The phosphatic series consists of 
laminated grey clays with beds of calcareous phos- 
phate and chert, lying between Upper Cretaceous 
limestones above and Nubian Sandstone below. There 
are three principal phosphate beds, all in the upper 
part of the series. These beds range from 1} to 2 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


641 


metres in thickness, and carry from 20 to 75 per 
cent. of tricalcic phosphate. The bulk of the phos- 
phatic matter is in the form of loosely agglomerated 
phosphatic grit, which may have been derived from 
the breaking up of shells, the calcium carbonate of 
which has been partially converted to calcium phos- 
phate by the action of soluble phosphate from the 
decomposition of the soft portions of sharks the teeth 
of which occur very abundantly. The phosphate con- 
tent may have been raised subsequently by the leach- 
ing out of some of the calcium carbonate. The origin 
of the chert has not yet been ascertained. The 
deposits are being worked at the Um el Huetat mines 
by the Egyptian Phosphate Company. 


Tue seventeenth Rapport sur les variations 
périodiques des Glaciers (Zeitschrift fiir Gletscher- 
kunde, Band vii., Heft 1, p. 1) was published in Sep- 
tember, 1912, with some unavoidable omissions. The 
supplement now added, Band vii. (1913), pp. 191-202, 
gives the information which had not then been re- 
ceived. It includes the glaciers on the north side of 
the Mont Blanc massif, those of the Maurienne, the 
Tarentaise, and Dauphiné, the Caucasus, the Altai, 
and North America, chiefly Alaska. In the first re- 
gion two, Des Bossons and Du Tour, show a marked 
advance, another one is stationary, and the fourth 
observed is slightly retreating. Those in the other 
regions are either stationary or showing slight oscil- 
lations, or are still retreating, though not rapidly. 
The eighteenth Rapport, recently published (Band viii., 
p- 42), shows that, though the cold summer of 1912 
has produced some effect, this is local, and compara- 
tively small. Thus the information, as a whole, does 
not affect the conclusion to which that already received 
distinctly pointed, namely that the period of retreat, 
which has now lasted (at any rate in the Alps) for half 
a century, has not yielded generally, as might have 
been anticipated, to one of advance. The eighteenth 
Rapport includes the Pyrenees, where the glaciers 
mostly show signs of advancing, Norway, where the 
majority are receding, and North America, of which 
this is also true. Here the retreat is in some cases 
considerable, notably in that of the Grand Pacific 
Glacier, which has gone back 25 kilometres in thirty- 
three years. Besides these, the number contains some 
notes on Greenland glaciers, which, though neces- 
sarily incomplete, are interesting. They also show 
that the ice has receded in recent years. 


We have received a copy of the U.S. Daily 
Weather Map for January 1, with the announce- 
ment that from that date the U.S. Weather 
Bureau began the publication at Washington 
of a weather map of the northern hemisphere, which 
will be printed on the reverse side of the usual morn- 
ing weather chart. Although the number of reports 
is limited at present, and the observations are not all 
strictly simultaneous, the essential features of atmo- 
spheric circulation over that hemisphere are fairly well 
shown. Prof. Marvin points out that in the latter 
publication the rational units of the c.g.s. system 
are adopted; pressures are expressed in millibars 

| (1000 millibars=29-53 in.), and temperatures in abso- 
lute units (the temperature on the Centigrade scale 


642 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 5, I914 


increased by 273), on the ground that mathematical: 


and dynamic studies of the motions of the atmosphere 
are possible only when such rational units are em- 
ployed. It will be remembered that these units are 
already used in some of our Meteorological Office pub- 
lications, and that it is proposed to adopt them in 
others. Also that the Weekly Weather Report now 
contains small-scale daily charts, including practically 
the whole of the northern hemisphere, excepting 
Alaska and the North Pacific Ocean. The action 
taken by the Washington Bureau will be welcomed 
as matter of prime importance. 


New paths of physical knowledge form the subject 
of an address to the University of Berlin delivered by 
Prof. Max Planck on his appointment as principal. 
The address deals with the conservation of matter, 
space, and time, and the quantum hypothesis; it is 
printed by the Norddeutscher Buchdruckerei, S.W., 
Wilhelmstrasse, Berlin. 


AN article by Mr. Charles Bright in the January 
number of The Quarterly Review discusses the ques- 
tion of inter-Imperial telegraphy, and the advantages 
and disadvantages of cable telegraphy as opposed to 
wireless telegraphy. Whilst in favour of the State 
taking over control of the Imperial wireless telegraph 
scheme (Mr. Bright advocated this many years ago), it 
is pointed out that an inter-Imperial telegraph system 
would be the most advantageous. The route sug- 
gested is from Blacksod Bay, on the west coast of 
Ireland, to Halifax (N.S.), with an intermediate 
station at Cape Bauld (Newfoundland), and a branch 
cable up the Gulf of St. Lawrerice towards Montreal. 
The cost of this line is estimated to be 500,000l., and 
should be borne by the Empire as a whole. Having 
laid the Imperial Atlantic cable, it is suggested that 
the gaps should be filled up in order to complete an 
all-British cable chain between the Mother Country 
and her outlying possessions. Attention is directed 
to the fact that all the existing Atlantic cables are in 
foreign hands, and it is recommended that steps should 
be taken to remedy this state of afiairs, which, it is 
argued, would be extremely prejudicial to the British 
nation in the event of international disputes. It is 
maintained that a cable has an advantage over wire- 
less telegraphy in its greater secrecy and effective 
working speed owing to the far less repetition in- 
volved, and also owing to its freedom from inter- 
ruption from “atmospherics,” which are still a source 
of trouble in all wireless work. 


In two papers published in The Biochemical Bulletin, 
vol. iii. No. 9, by Dr. Clayton S. Smith and Messrs. 
W. A. Perlzweig and William J. Gies respectively, 
the question of the inhibition cf change in fish by cold 
storage is dealt with. It is shown that bacterial and 
chemical action can be entirely prevented by efficient 
cold storage, and that even after two years of such 
storage practically no change can be detected by chem- 
ical means. in the nutritive value of the fish or in its 
taste or palatability. 


THe January number of The Popular Science 
Monthly contains an article by Prof. Cyril G. Hopkins 
on the Illinois system of permanent fertility. In this 


NO. 2310. VOL. 92] 


system no potash is added to the soil in the form of 
purchased fertiliser, but provision is made for the 
liberation of the necessary quantity from the soil by 
the action of decaying organic matter ploughed under 
in the form of farm manure or crop residues, includ- 
ing clover or other legumes. Ground natural lime- 
stone is added when needed. Phosphorus is supplied — 
in the form of ground rock phosphate, at least 1000 Ib. 
per acre being added every four years. Special rota- 
tions are arranged to suit the case, either of the live 
stock farmer or the grain producer, so as to maintain 
the nitrogen fertility at a maximum. Articles on the 
present status of cancer research, by Dr. Leo Loeb, 
and the mechanism of heredity, by Prof. T. H. Morgan, 
discuss problems which are of general interest. 


A PAPER on amalgams containing silver and tin, by 
Messrs. Knight and Joyner, which appears in the Chem- 
ical Society’s Journal (December, 1913), is of special 
interest in view of the widespread use of these amal- 
gams in dentistry. Although solid solutions may be 
present in large proportions at higher temperatures, 
these disappear almost entirely below 70°, and the 
process of amalgamation at room-temperature is sub- 
stantially that represented by the equation :— 


Ag,SN Se Hg—Ag,Hg,+ Sn, 


The curious “ageing,” by annealing at 100°, which — 
reduces to less than one-half the amount of mercury f 
taken up by the freshly prepared filings of the silver- — 
tin alloy has been further studied. It has been shown 
that it is not due to oxidation, and that it is accom- 

panied by a change of density, but the real nature 
of the process is still obscure. 


Tue Chemical Society’s Journal for December, 1913, 
contains an important monograph by Profs. Bredt and — 
Perkin on epicamphor. This substance, which is 
related very closely to camphor, 


/CHyg oO 
CsA, ‘ | CoH | 
‘HO CH, 
Camphor Epicamphor 


differs from it mainly in that the carbonyl group is 
contiguous to hydrogen on both sides, 


—CH—CO—CH,_, 
| 


instead of —C(CH,)—CO—CH.—, and might be ex- 
pected to produce greater activity in the molecule. 
Nevertheless it refuses to combine with hydrogen 
cyanide and brominates in much the same way as 
camphor itself. The physiological effects of epi- 
camphor are vastly inferior to those of camphor; a 
favourable effect on the beat of the heart does not become 
apparent until the dose is four times stronger than in 
the case of camphor, and even then the effects pro- 
duced are very transient 


Mr. A. P. THurston gives an account in Engineer- 
ing for January 30 of some experiments carried out 
by him at the East London College on the resistance 
of bars, struts, and wires in a current of air. Part 
of this research was the investigation of the shield- 
ing effect of one bar mounted in the direct path of 


I Ss 


decrease in the resistance. 
thickness of one bar, the total resistance is the same 


FEBRUARY 5, 1914] 


another bar of identical length, shape, and size. The 
total resistance when the two bars are in contact is 
about three-quarters the resistance of one bar alone. 
As the gap is increased, there is at first a small 
With a gap equal to the 


as when the bars are in contact, and becomes equal 
to the resistance of one bar alone when the gap is 
twice the thickness of one bar. With a gap of six- 
teen times the thickness, the total resistance is only 
5 per cent. less than double the resistance of the 
single bar. It would appear from these experiments 
that the total resistance of struts, following in the 
same run of air and more than thirty times the 
thickness apart, may be assumed to be the same as 
the total resistance of the separate struts in a clear run 
of air. 


Tue Vesterling Organisation Company, Clapham 
Junction, London, S.W., manufactures a convenient 
loose-leaf book, which has certain novel characteristics. 
By the use of a patent device in the back of the 
book it opens flat at any place. Specially made rings 
render the filing of new papers, or removal of old, 
simple and quick. The book will prove of real assist- 
ance to lecturers who use copious notes, and to all 
who have to preserve loose papers in a way which 
makes ready reference easy. 


A 1914 supplement to their ‘General Apparatus 
Catalogue, 1910,”’ has been issued by Messrs. Heynes 
Mathew, Ltd., of Cape Town. The new list of appa- 
ratus affords an instructive illustration of recent pro- 
gress in South African education. The improved 
methods of teaching geography which have become 


_established in this country, for example, are being 
taken up in South African schools, and a demand for 


material for lessons in practical geography is met by 
a section in the new catalogue being devoted to this 
subject. Similarly this firm is prepared to supply 
equipment for practical work in botany and other 
branches of science. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


PLANETARY OBSERVATIONS AT THE LOWELL OpsERvA- 
vory.—In Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4710, a 
telegram is published from Prof. Lowell relating to 
observations on the satellites of Saturn and on 
Martian features. With regard to the former it is 
stated, “‘Tethys and Dione variable, range quarter 
magnitudes, periods coincident with revolution.” Re- 
lating to the latter, the telegram says :—‘ The full 
aperture of the 4o-in. reflector of the Lowell Observa- 
tory only now equipped for visible work shows the 
canals of Mars as fine direct geometrical lines, thus 
corroborating the work of smaller apertures. This 
should dispose of the erroneous idea that [such] 
apertures do not disclose these remarkable features.” 


Wave-LENGTHS oF CHROMOSPHERIC Lines.—It was 
known soon after the event of the total solar eclipse 
of August 30, 1905, that Prof. S. A. Mitchell, who 
was in charge of the numerous spectroscopic instru- 
ments which were employed in the United States 
Naval Observatory eclipse expedition, had secured 
some most excellent photographs of the spectrum of 
the chromosphere. It is not until now, however, that 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


643 


the results of their reduction are published, and these 
are printed in the current number of The Astrophysical 
Journal (December 1913). The photographs discussed 
were secured with gratings, both parabolic and plane, 
and the present paper deals with the reduction of one 
photograph from each instrument for the purpose of 
giving chromospheric wave-lengths, intensities, &c., 
“with as great an accuracy as possible.’’ This com- 
munication is finely illustrated with plates showing 
different portions of the photographs, and they are 
demonstrative of the very fine adjustment of the in- 
strument during use. A very long table shows the 
wave-lengths compared with Rowland, and the heights 
of the chromospheric lines, the corresponding elements 
and intensities according to Rowland, chromosphere, 
arc, and spark. No fewer than 2841 lines are tabu- 
lated in the chromospheric spectrum, and this above 
many faint lines which were measured; no lines were 
included unless they were measured in two or more 
separate measurements. The paper is full of many 
interesting summaries of these chromospheric lines 
arranged according to elements, atomic weights, &c. 
The conclusions arrived at are important, but it is im- 
possible to repeat them all here. Some of them are as 
follows :—The ‘ flash”? spectrum is a reversal of the 
Fraunhofer spectrum. The “flash” is not an instan- 
taneous appearance, but the chromospheric lines 
appear gradually, the highest layers first, the lowest 
last. The ‘‘reversing layer,’ which contains the 
majority of the low-level lines of the chromosphere, is 
about 600 km. in height. Wave-lengths in chromo- 
spheric and solar spectra are practically identical, 
the chromospheric spectrum differing greatly from the 
solar spectrum in the intensities of the lines. The 
differences of intensity find a ready explanation in the 
heights to which the vapours ascend. The enhanced 
lines are especially prominent in the chromosphere, 
and these are said to become brighter mainly because 
at the heights to which they ascend the vapours are 
mixed with hydrogen at reduced pressure. 


Tue ANNUAL OF THE Bureau pes LoncitupEs.—The 
annual published by the Bureau des Longitudes is 
familiar to all readers of this column, and the present 
issue for 1914 will no doubt be found as useful for 
reference as its predecessors. In addition to the usual 
astronomical, physical, and chemical data embodied 
in these small pages, will be found articles of astro- 
nomical interest. “Thus M. Deslandres gives a résumé 
of solar physics, M. P. Hatt contributes a_ short 
article on the deformation of images in telescopes, 
while M. G. Bigourdan writes very fully on the day 
and its subdivisions, the hour-zones and the inter- 
national association of the hour. The seventeenth 
meeting of the International Geodetic Association is 
described by M. B. Baillaud. 


WHAT IS PSYCHO-ANALYSIS? 


ERHAPS the most important and _ startling 
scientific theory of modern times is that which 
Prof. Sigmund Freud, of Vienna, has formed to 
explain the workings of the human mind. Many 
thinkers, indeed, hail Freud as the Darwin of the 
mind, and consider that his views are destined to 
transform the science of psychology. He certainly 
has succeeded in explaining such obscure and widely 
differing phenomena as dreams, wit, the seemingly 
accidental mistakes in speaking and writing which 
people so often make, the obsessions and _ other 
symptoms found in a large class of mental diseases, 
and the spontaneous likes and dislikes which we all 
experience and find so puzzling, in terms of one single 
hypothesis. Put guite briefly, this is the hypothesis 
of ‘the unconscious mind,"’ something quite distinct 


644 


NATURE. 


[FEBRUARY 5, 1914 


from that theory of the ‘“‘sub-conscious,’’ with which 
we have been so long familiar in psychology. 

The unconscious mind is a legacy from our earliest 
years of childhood, and its mode of working differs 
very considerably from that of our mind in later life. 
A little child is dominated by its wishes and desires, 
and strives blindly and persistently to satisfy them. 
Many of these wishes are bound up with the intense 
love which it feels for its parents or its nurse. Later 
on, under the influence of education and training, it 
learns to suppress some of these wishes because they 
are in conflict with other interests and desires of 
which it is now capable, and which are more in 
harmony with ethical and conventional standards. 
It learns to face pain instead of turning away from 
it, and to abandon its wishes for the sake of higher 
aims, instead of clinging blindly to them. But the 
childish wishes have not been destroyed. They con- 
tinue to exist in the mind, although their owner is 
no longer aware of them. They form the nucleus of 
the ‘‘unconscious.’’ In later life similar conflicts 
may occur, and unacceptable wishes may be sup- 
pressed. If these happen to be analogous to the 
earlier ones, they join them, and so are themselves 
drawn into the unconscious, and continue to exist in 
the mind with undiminished intensity, although 
unable under ordinary conditions to come to conscious- 
ness. On the other hand, if they do not become 
associated with corresponding infantile wishes in the 
unconscious, they remain ordinary memories, and 
gradually fade away and lose their intensity as such 
memories do. They do not become unconscious, but 
merely sub-conscious, or, as Freud puts it, ‘ pre- 
conscious.”’ 

This distinction between the ‘‘ unconscious” and the 
‘‘preconscious”’ is fundamental in Freud’s theory. It 
is a distinction between two classes of memories. 
Those memories which, as described above, join the 
unconscious are said to be ‘‘repressed.’’ They can- 
not return to consciousness unless the repressing force 
of the mind, which Freud calls the ‘‘censor,” is 
overcome. They continue, however, to exist with un- 
diminished vigour like the infantile wishes, and with 
these latter are the cause of the mystifying experi- 
ences of life to which we have already referred. 
They often cause the slips of the pen and slips of 
speech which befall us when our attention is dis- 
tracted. In these cases the censor has been caught 
napping, as it were, and the unacceptable wish comes 
for a moment to the surface of the mind. Thus a 
lady, writing to a girl friend who had recently 
married a man to whom she herself was attached, 
ends the letter with the words, ‘‘I hope that you are 
well and unhappy.” The malevolent wish here comes 
to unintentional expression. The symptoms of so- 
called functional mental diseases, such as hysteria, 
are invariably caused by repressed tendencies from 
the unconscious. A young girl suffering from hysteria 
shows the symptom of a tightly-clenched right hand 
which she is unable to open. By the method of 
psycho-analysis, which we have still to describe, the 
physician discovers that the cause of this is a serious 
adventure which had happened to the girl in early 
youth, and which she had persistently refused to tell 
to her relatives. The determination not to tell, which 
is now quite unconscious, for the girl no longer re- 
members anything about the past event or the circum- 
stances connected with it, receives a symbolic fulfil- 
ment in the clenched hand. As soon as the physician 
brings back the memory, the hand unclenches and 
the girl is cured. 

It has been suggested, with great show of reason, 
that Hamlet was a hysteric, and that the so-called 
mystery of- Hamlet is due to the effect of unconscious 
feelings of love towards his own mother dating from 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92| 


ci 


his earliest childhood (of which he is now completely 
unaware, and his creators—Shakespeare and his 
authorities—likewise). Hamlet cannot take vengeance 
on his uncle because he himself in earlier years had 
wished his father’s death, and*this persisting wish in 
his unconscious mind now paralyses his actions. Only 
in this way, it is thought, can—e.g. Hamlet’s soli- 
loquy in Act iv., Sc. iv., after he has at last received 
overwhelming proof of his uncle’s crime, be 
adequately explained :— 


“* Now whether it be 
Restial oblivion or some craven scruple 
Of thinking too precisely on the event,— 
A thought which, quarter d, hath but one part wisdom 
And ever three parts coward,—I do not know 
Why yet I live to say ‘ this thing’s to do,” 
Sith [ have cause, and will, and strength, and means, 
To do't.” r 


This inability to act, expressed in the lines itali- 
cised, seems to have an adequate psychological ex- 
planation in the working of the repressed tendency 
just referred to, and its concomitant ideas, which 
Freud calls the ‘‘ Oedipus complex.’ In the play of 
Sophocles, Oedipus unwittingly kills his father, 
Laius, and marries his mother, Jocasta, and this is 
a mythical representation of an inner mental tragedy 
overhanging each one of us, to which the hysteric, 
through mental weakness, succumbs. 

The pleasure and amusement derived from some 
forms of wit may be explained as due to repressed 
and forbidden wishes which attain fulfilment in spite 
of the censor by means of the technique of the joke. 
Other forms of wit, though not so obviously related 
to repressed wishes, can likewise be explained: in 
terms of Freud’s general theory. 

Finally, dreams are, in Freud’s view, invariably the — 
disguised fulfilment of repressed wishes. Harmless 
memories from the previous day, and from earlier 
periods of life, are manipulated by the dream-activity 
in such a way that they form a disguise for a re-— 
pressed wish emanating from the unconscious, 
enabling the latter to evade the censor and thus come 
to consciousness during sleep. It would appear that 
sleep renders the censor less alert than he is during ~ 
waking life, although if we passed beyond this meta- 
phorical way of putting it we should come to a more 
profound theory much too difficult to describe, even 
in outline, here. The dream as it appears to the 
dreamer is simply a patchwork of memories of 
apparent unintelligibility, but underlying them are 
rational dream-thoughts corresponding to the fulfil- 
ment of repressed wishes. Often the dream represents 
the dream-thoughts symbolically, since this is a con- 
venient way of evading the censor. ; 

The method of interpreting any dream is identical 
with the method of interpreting a hysterical symptom 
or any other manifestation of unconscious ideas. In- 
deed, it is the one method whereby Freud has con- 
vinced himself of the existence of these unconscious 
ideas. This method is psycho-analysis. The dreamer 
or patient is asked to put himself into a relaxed and 
meditative frame of mind, and, starting from different 
parts of the dream, or different facts in the history 
of his mental disease, to observe and report faithfully 
the various ideas that arise spontaneously in his mind 
in connection with them, suppressing none of them, 
however objectionable or painful they may be. Ex- 
perience shows that this method enables ideas in the 
unconscious to overcome the resistance of the censor 
and rise to consciousness. In the case of mental 
disease the bringing back of these repressed memories 
to consciousness involves the cure of the patient, 
since they can now be rationally faced and dealt with, 
and the mental energy that has been locked up in 
them, “fixated,” can be liberated and put at the 
disposal of the higher conscious self. 


, 
‘ 
! 
> 
; 
; 
: 


FEBRUARY 5, 1914] 


Psycho-analysis is a lengthy process, demanding 
much tact and ingenuity from the psychologist or 
physician, but its results are of such surpassing 
interest and value that it should be regarded as one 
oi the most important methods of mental science. 

WiLu1Am Brown. 


THE SURVEY OF INDIA.) 


THs general report for 1g11-12, which has lately 

appeared, states concisely the progress made in 
the various departments of the Survey of India, the 
detailed descriptions and discussions of results being 
present in vol. iii. of the Records of the Survey. In 
the year under review, Colonel S. G. Burrard, F.R.S., 
was confirmed as Surveyor-General in succession to 
Colonel F. B. Longe. Topographical surveys were 
pushed on in various parts of the country, and work 
was done to meet some special requirements, of which 
may be mentioned the large-scale map of the Delhi 
site, with contours at 5 ft. vertical interval for the 
use of the town-planning committee. On the Geodetic 
Survey the astronomical latitudes of eleven stations 
were determined, and at one of these, Bihar, the 
largest southerly deflection of the plumb-line as yet 
found in India was found. Pendulum observations 
were made over the same region. In the principal 
triangulation the Sambalpur meridional series was 
commenced, and carried from lat. 23° to lat. 22°. In 
Kashmir secondary triangulation was carried along 
the Hunza and Kanjut valleys to form a connection 
with the Russian triangulation in the Taghdumbash 
Pamir. 

The field detachments of the Magnetic Survey were 
employed on the detailed examination of the Deccan 
trap area in Central India and Hyderabad State, 
where considerable abnormalities exist. Comparative 
observations were made at the survey base stations, 
and a large number of repeat stations were visited for 
observation. In the Map Publication Office orographic 
colouring, by means of a series of colour tints from 
light green through yellows, browns, purples, and 
red, has been adopted for the one-millionth scale in 
place of shading as facilitating the provision of in- 
formation. These sheets differ in size and in the 
unit (foot) of the vertical measurements from those 
of the international map, but as they form the key to 
the whole system of nomenclature and the arrange- 
ment of the topographical sheets, they cannot be 
dispensed with. 

A series of ‘‘departmental papers”’ is to be com- 
menced. These will be numbered serially, and will 
include all papers which, being published for de- 
partmental use, do not fall within the scope of 
the ‘Professional Papers,’’ and are not of public 
interest. 

Those, however, who are interested in the technical 
details of surveying will turn rather to the third 
volume of the Records of the Survey of India, where 
full accounts of this work will be found. Topo- 
graphical surveys included triangulation, levelling, 
traversing, and detailed measurement on _ various 
scales from 1 in. to one mile, to 20 in. to one mile 
in cantonment survey. Many points of interest and 
modifications in procedure are noticed, among which 
we may mention the experimental use of Bristol 
boards instead of drawing paper on the plane-tables 
used in the field. If these are fastened firmly to the 
board by one edge only, and loosely by cloth slips 

1 General Report on the Operations of the Survey of India during the 
Survey Year, rgrt-12. Prenared under the Direction of Colonel S. G. 
Burrard, F.R.S., Surveyor-General of India. (Calcutta: pp. vii + 36+ 
12 maps, 1913.) Price Two Rupees or Three Shillings. 

“Records of the Survey of India.” Vol iii., rg11-12. Prepared under 


the direction of Col. S.G. Burrard. Pp. 176+12 mars. (Calcutta.) Price 
4 Re. or 6s. 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


645 


on the other sides, the trouble arising from distortion 
of the sheet when working in very dry climate is 
greatly reduced. Further experience with these 
boards is awaited. 

In geodetic work the use of a new and more power- 
ful zenith-telescope is reported, and determinations of 
latitude were made with it at eleven stations. Of 
these all stations but one, Khajnaur, on the north 
side of the Siwalik Hills, the attraction of the plumb- 
line is southerly, the largest value being at Biharas, 
mentioned above. In the pendulum work, observa- 
tions were made to the north of the Ganges in a 
region which showed unusually low density, and it 
is suggested that Rarachi, situated on the edge of 
the high plateau which forms the southern edge of 
the Ganges valley, may be near the crest of a ridge 
of high density. An important piece of work in this 
connection was an investigation of the isostatic theory 
of Mr. Hayford, with respect to a number of Indian 
stations, and the results obtained for the above- 
mentioned stations are given. In the account of pre- 
cise levelling it is mentioned that experiments are 
being carried out with a new pattern of aluminium 
staff. 

A full account of the magnetic survey and work in 
the observatories is given, but this calls for no special 
remark. In an appendix is given a synopsis of 
geodetic work near Dehra Dun, which is illustrated 
by a map showing the triangulation and_ gravity 
observation stations, as well as the lines of precise 
levelling. The whole volume forms a valuable con- 
tribution to the literature of high-grade eu 


THE ASSOCIATION OF TECHNICAL 
INSTITUTIONS. 

ae twenty-first annual meeting of the above asso- 

ciation was held at the Clothworkers’ Hall, 
Mincing Lane, on January 30 and 31 last, and was 
attended by upwards of 120 delegates representing all 
the important technical institutions in the United 
Kingdom, of whom about ninety-seven are enrolled 
in the association. 

The new president, Sir Alfred Keogh, K.C.B., on 
taking the chair, delivered his inaugural address, in 
which he dealt with the report of the Royal Commis- 
sion on the reconstitution of the University of London, 
and especially with that part of it concerned with 
technological studies. He expressed great satisfaction 
with the position accorded to the faculty of technology 
in the proposals of the Commission, particularly with 
respect to the methods of administration and with the 
prominence assigned to the sphere of utility in educa- 
tional questions. 

The Commission recommended the establishment of 
a self-governing faculty of technology in the Univer- 
sity, such faculty to embrace all branches of applied 
science. He dwelt upon the extreme importance of 
bringing the specialisation of science well within the 
sphere of the University, and expressed gratification 
that entrance to the University would be made more 
accessible to the fit student with greater freedom for 
the teacher. 

Various questions of considerable importance to the 
well-being of technical institutions were considered. 
Amongst them, the registration of teachers and the 
proposals of the newly established Teachers’ Regis- 
tration Council. Great satisfaction was expressed 
with the happy solution of this extremely difficult 
question by means of which the profession of teacher 
had been unified, and it was unanimously agreed that 
it was desirable that all eligible members of the teach- 
ing staffs of technical institutions should seek enrol- 
ment. 


646 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 5, 1914 


The new regulations of the Board of Education 
dealing with junior technical schools were the subject 
of considerable discussion, and the view was generally 
expressed that all forms of specialised teaching should 
come within the scope of the new regulations, and that 
all limiting conditions as to the pupil’s future outlook 
should be entirely removed from the regulations. 

Special consideration was given to that section of 
the report of the Royal Commission which dealt with 
the examination of the external student desirous of 
proceeding to the degrees of the University of London. 
It was agreed that access to the examinations of the 
University should continue to be, as in the past, effec- 
tively provided for with such improvements in method 
as experience would suggest, but that no steps should 
be taken which should in any way diminish in stand- 
ing or importance the quality of the degree awarded 
to the external student, or which should impair the 
position of the external as compared with the internal 
student. It was further strongly urged that there 
should not be, as proposed, any exclusion of unattached 
students from the examinations in technology, includ- 
ing engineering, in view of its disastrous effect upon 
higher technological education, and that it was of 
the utmost importance that the relations hitherto sub- 
sisting between the London polytechnics and the Uni- 
versity of London should be maintained, and the recog- 
nition of eligible teachers in these institutions be 
continued. 

The question of the new and important regulations 
for the establishment of technical bursaries by the 
““1851’’ Exhibition Commissioners with a view to the 
assistance of eligible graduates of the universities 
desirous of proceeding immediately to industrial em- 
ployment was fully considered, and it was agreed that 
the Commissioners should be asked to consider the 
desirability of including within the list of accepted 
universities other qualified technical institutions. 

The very: important: question of compulsory, con- 
tinued education -in respect of children who’ had left 
the elementary schools to enter into employment with 
a view to their further education, both vocational and 
general, was carefully considered. - 

It was urged that having regard to the vast expen- 
diture of public money, amounting now to upwards 
of twenty-four millions sterling per annum, and with 
a view to conserve the results of this expenditure, not 
only should ‘‘half-time’’ be abolished, but all regula- 
tions by means of which a child may be relieved of 
attendance at school before he reaches the age of 
fourteen, and that there should be enacted a law under 
which children leaving the elementary school at four- 
teen should be required to attend within the usual 
hours of labour a continuation school, which shall 
include in its curriculum not only vocational subjects, 
but such subjects of a general character as shall con- 
duce to his effective preparation for the duties of life, 
and that the responsibility for the due observance of 
the law be laid upon the employers. It was shown 
that only a mere fraction of the children leaving school 
for employment continued their education, the figures 
being, for those between fourteen and seventeen years 
of age, only 300,000 out of a total of 2,335,000, or 
13 per cent., with the result that there was a most 
serious economic and moral loss to the nation. 

It was further shown that the German Government, 
realising this great loss to the German nation, had 
for some years established compulsory day continuation 
schools for children in employment throughout the 
empire, with most satisfactory results. There was a 
general consensus of approval. In the city of Berlin 
in 1910-11 there were 68,000 students of both sexes 
enrolled in continuation schools, of whom 32,000 were 
students in compulsory schools. (OR. 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92] 


ANCIENT PIGMENTS. 


N Archaeologia, vol. Ixiv., pp. 315-35, Prof. A. P- 
Laurie, of the Royal Academy of Arts, presents us 
with the chief results of an important research on the 
historical and local succession of the use of “ancient 
pigments.” His material has been drawn almost 
entirely from western Europe, Chinese, Persian, and 
Indian painting not being discussed. His conclu- 
sions, derived mainly from the optical and micro- 
chemical examination, necessarily much restricted, of 
valuable illuminated MSS., amplify rather than cor- 
rect those of previous investigators, such as Sir 
Humphry Davy, Marcelin Berthelot, and other chem- 
ists of the nineteenth century, but synthetic experi- 
ments have in some cases been utilised. The story’ 
more nearly approaches completeness in some sections 
than in others. The lakes, for example—pink, lilac, 
red, crimson, and purple—have not as yet, in all cases, 
revealed their origin. Perhaps the series and sequence 
of blue pigments may be cited as a characteristic 
example of Dr. Laurie’s fuller treatment of his sub- 
ject. Of the six blues included in the early list— 
indigo, Egyptian-blue, the mineral azurite or chessy- 
lite, real ultramarine from lapis lazuli, blue verditer 
and smalt—the most interesting is without doubt 
Egvotian-blue. To this remarkable pigment Prof. 
Laurie has devoted much attention, having finally 
determined its composition and properties, and also 
the optimum temperature for its production (see Proc. 
Roy Soc., vol. Ixxxix. A, pp. 418-29). Although these 
six pigments were not all in use everywhere and at 
the same time they cover the early centuries and_ the 
period between classical times and the close of the 
sixteenth century. Later additions to blue pigments 
comprise Prussian-blue, near the beginning of the 
eighteenth century; cobalt-blue, and artificial ultra- 
marine in the first quarter of the nineteenth century; 
and cceruleum about the year 1870. This dating of 
pigments. and of their use is of the highest import- 
ance in connection with questions as to the provenance” 
and authencity of works of art. For full details Prof. 
Laurie’s paper, with the annexed tables, must be con- 
sulted. A few typographical errors in this important 
memoir should be noted; Robertson on p. 321 should 
be Roberson; sulphur not silver should appear in the 
second line from the bottom of p. 331; and the name 
of the mollusc from which the Irish monks prepared 
the Tyrian purple employed in their illuminated MSS. — 
is not’ quite accurately given in the earlier of the 
tables appended to the memoir. It may be suggested 
that this purple pigment, which is a dibromoindigotin, 
ought to be identifiable where its presence is suspected 
by means of its high content of bromine. Bae! 


CELLULOID AND ITS DANGERS. 


se Departmental Committee on Celluloid, ap- 
pointed by the Home Secretary some fifteen 
months ago to consider the precautions necessary in 
the storage and use of this substance, has recently 
issued its report (Cd. 7158, 1913). From this it 
appears that the product accepted as “celluloid” in 
the report consists essentially of gelatinised nitro- 
cellulose and camphor, the proportion of nitro- 
cellulose usually varying from 70 to 75 per cent. in 
ordinary celluloid articles, and from 80 to 90 per cent. 
in kinematograph films. It ignites very readily, and 
burns with great rapidity and fierceness; moreover, 
in certain circumstances it may take fire without the 
direct application of flame. If submitted to a 
moderately high temperature for some time it sud- 
denly decomposes with evolution of considerable heat 
and the emission of inflammable and poisonous gases 


eT 


FEBRUARY 5, 1914] 


NATURE 


647 


—chiefly carbon monoxide and nitric oxide, with 
small proportions of hydrocyanic acid. Mixed with 
air in suitable quantity, the evolved fumes are highly 
explosive; but the Committee found no evidence to 
confirm the opinion that celluloid itself is liable to 
spontaneous ignition at ordinary temperatures or is 
explosive in ordinary circumstances, 

A number of experiments were carried out at the 
Government laboratory for the information of the 
Committee. It was found that the ‘ fuming-off” 
test devised by Prof. Will was the simplest and one 
of the most trustworthy methods for ascertaining the 
relative stability of various kinds of celluloid towards 
heat. No definite relation between chemical composi- 
tion and stability to heat could be detected, though a 
small proportion of mineral matter appears to have 
a distinct stabilising effect. Celluloid contains suffi- 
cient oxygen to support its own combustion, and once 
ignited will continue to burn in the absence of air; 
chemical fire extinguishers using carbonic acid gas 
are, therefore, of little use, and water alone is the 
best means of extinguishing the substance when 
burning. The Committee makes a number of recom- 
mendations as to the storage and working of celluloid, 
with the view of lessening the danger from fire; for 
these the report itself should be consulted. 


WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.! 


HEN Mr. Marconi first came over to England in 
1896, Mr. Swinton was the means by which he 
was introduced to Sir William Preece, and the latter, 
having just then come to the conclusion that his 
methods of inductive and conductive telegraphy—with 
which he had been attempting to effect communication 
with lightships—were unworkable, set the Post Office 
to work with Mr. Marconi, Sir John Gavey having 
charge of the experiments. It might seem strange, 
as Prof. S. P. Thompson had pointed out in Nature, 
that Sir William Preece missed the possibilities of Sir 
Oliver Lodge’s Hertzian-wave experiments, but took 
up Mr. Marconi with practically the same system. 
But Sir William Preece had always been particularly 
sympathetic to the young, and Sir Oliver Lodge had 
not approached him directly. 

Next, quoting from an article which Sir William 
Crookes contributed to The Fortnightly Review in 
1892, Mr. Swinton showed that Sir William Crookes 
had in those days fully realised the possibility of tele- 
graphy by means of Hertzian waves. He clearly 
described how messages might be sent in Morse 
alphabet by means of apparatus tuned to special wave- 
lengths and receivable only by apparatus similarly 
tuned. Mr. Crookes also referred to experiments 
made by Prof. Hughes in 1879, where wireless signals 
were transmitted over several hundred yards, at which 
experiments he had assisted. There seems to be no 
doubt that Hughes discovered Hertzian waves and 
noted their effects some years before Hertz re- 
discovered them, but, unfortunately, Sir George Stokes 
told Hughes, apparently quite erroneously, that the 
results could be explained by known induction effects, 
and Hughes was so much discouraged that he never 
published anything on the matter. 

Then, with reference to Sir Oliver Lodge, Mr. 
Swinton said that he would always regard him as the 
original inventor of wireless telegraphy, because Sir 
Oliver Lodge in his Royal Institution lecture in 1894, 
and later at the Oxford meeting of the British Asso- 
ciation in the same year, had first publicly sent signals, 
rung bells, and deflected galvanometers over a distance 
by means of Hertzian waves. It had been said that 

41 Abstract of the presidential address delivered to the Wireless Society of 
London on January 21 by Mr. A, A. Campbell Swinton. 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92] 


Sir Oliver Lodge did not make clear the telegraphic 
application of his experiments, but Mr, Swinton was 
present at Lodge’s Royal Institution lecture, and was 
so much impressed with the telegraphic capabilities it 
suggested, that he had next morning discussed with 
his then assistant, Mr. J.C. M. Stanton, the possibility 
of setting up communication between his residence in 
Jermyn Street and his office in Victoria Street by 
Lodge’s method. This experiment was never tried, 
as they had thought that too many large buildings 
intervened, but preliminary experiments were made in 
Mr. Swinton’s office, and signals on a bell were suc- 
cessfully transmitted and received through several 
walls with a large Tesla high-frequency coil used as 
transmitter, and as receiver a coherer consisting of a 
heap of tintacks. This was two years before Mr. 
Marconi arrived in this country, but in making these 
statements Mr. Swinton did not wish in any way to 
belittle the great work that Mr. Marconi undoubtedly 
accomplished in making wireless a practical and com- 
mercial success by long-continued and arduous labours. 

Passing to his experiments, Mr. Swinton stated that 
finding a difficulty in reading wireless messages by 
ear, he had devoted attention to automatic recording 
apparatus. A simple arrangement that he had devised 
was to employ a sensitive or manometric flame, such 
as can be made exceedingly sensitive to minute sounds, 
the flame greatly shortening and roaring the moment 
the smallest sound reaches it. 

Different descriptions of these flames respond more 
readily to sounds of different pitches, and they also can 
be tuned to some extent, so that different flames would 
discriminate between signals of different acoustical 
pitch even of the same electrical periodicity. All that 
was necessary was to place the receiving telephone in 
proximity to the sensitive portion of the apparatus 
producing the flame, and if a screen were placed in 
front of the latter hiding the flame when it was 
shortened, photographic records of Morse signals were 
easily obtained by throwing by means of a lens a 
small image of the flame when visible upon a moving 
strip of photographic paper. Another method of re- 
cording the signals employed by the lecturer was to 
arrange a quick-period mirror galvanometer with the 
movable portion oscillating between adjustable stops, 
the oscillations being recorded on a strip of moving 
photographic paper by projecting on the latter the 
reflection in the oscillating mirror of a bright point of 
light proceeding from a pinhole in an opaque box, 
containing an electric lamp. 

Operating, as he did, at his own house, with a very 
small aérial, Mr. Swinton, in order to magnify the 
signals, made use of several relays of the types in- 
vented by Mr. S. G. Brown. He showed three of 
these relays connected in series, actuated by signals 
received on a temporary aérial that Messrs. Gamage 
had kindly erected on the roof of the Institution of 
Electrical Engineers. The relays operated a Kelvin 
siphon-recorder, as well as a loud-speaking telephone, 
which could be heard by everyone present. At a 
quarter to nine o’clock a special congratulatory message 
was received. This was sent by Commandant Ferrié, 
a vice-president of the society, from the Eiffel Tower. 
Not only could every signal be clearly heard through- 
out the Lecture Hall, but it was also received on the 
siphon-recorder. Further, the motions of the siphon 
were made visible to the audience, being optically 
projected on a screen with the aid of an Epidiascope, 
kindly lent by Messrs. Leitz and Co. The dots and 
dashes were easily read, both audibly and_ visibly, 
though the Admiralty in London was accidentally 
during part of the time sending radio-telegraphic 
signals, which were likewise made audible by means 
of the loud-speaking telephone. The message from 


648 


the Eiffel Tower consisted of thirty-four words, and 
occupied about seven minutes. A congratulatory 
message was also received and rendered audible to the 
audience from the London Telegraph Training Col- 
lege at Earl’s Court. 

Mr. Swinton also showed the working of an ordinary 
Morse inker by means of wireless signals from a 
distance. For this he employed the three Brown 
relays with a Siemen’s Post Office relay in addition. 
The inker was modified by turning the magnets 
upside-down, so that when energised they pulled the 
inking wheel away from the paper tape, and the 
signals were recorded when the magnets let go of the 
armature instead of when they attracted it, as is the 
usual arrangement. Mr. Swinton had devised this 
method to get over the difficulty of the extra current, 
due to the relay breaking the magnet circuit, sending 
a wireless signal back to the whole apparatus, With 
the modified arrangement this extra signal took place 
while the main signal was being received, so it could 
only accentuate the latter and do no harm, whereas 
before the modification was effected, when once 
started, the Morse inker went on working by itself 
like an electric bell. : 

Next the lecturer showed how it was possible to 
receive wireless signals on a phonograph. In the 
ordinary way, records made by this method were not 
loud enough to be heard by an audience, but a small 
microphone had been mounted on the repeating 
diaphragm, and connected to a loud-speaking tele- 
phone, and by this means signals from the Eiffel 
Tower and from the Admiralty, which had been re- 
corded on the phonograph, were made audible through- 
out the hall. 

Once an arrangement of relays that would work a 
Morse inker was provided it became possible to 
operate almost any kind of apparatus, and wireless 
signals sent by the British School of Telegraphy at 
Clapham were made, by means of the relays and an 
electromagnet, to work an air-valve in connection with 
a source of air pressure and an organ pipe, which 
latter gave forth in long and short blasts the signals 
of the message. Mr. Swinton said that the same 
apparatus worked a motor-horn very effectively, but 
the horn could not be used indoors, as its noise upset 
the relays. 

Next it was explained how a Poulsen telegraphone 
could be used as a recorder; and that on the Poulsen- 
Pedersen system an Einhoven ‘string’? galvanometer 
was employed for this purpose. With this instrument 
a signal containing energy to the extent of only one 
billionth of a watt could be registered, which is about 
the same sensibility as what is obtainable with a Bell 
telephone receiver. On the assumption that a 
12 candle-power light, radiating one watt in the form 
of visible electromagnetic waves, was visible at a 
distance of five miles, and that the aperture of the 
eye was one-fifth of a square inch, then the amount 
of power reaching the eye would be about one-sixth of 
one billionth of a watt, so that natural detectors like 
the eye, and artificial detectors, such as the Einhoven 
galvanometer, had about the same order of sensitive- 
ness, and were much more sensitive than any photo- 
graph process for instantaneous eflects, although 
photography had the advantage that cumulative effects 
could be obtained by long exposures. Some years 
ago Lord Rayleigh found that the human eye and ear 
were of the same order of sensitiveness. 

Another matter mentioned by the lecturer was that 
the Eiffel Tower aérial, as also those at Poldhu and at 
other large stations, gave out loud sounds when mes- 
sages were being transmitted, this being probably due 
to the air particles being electrified and repelled, as in 
a Brush discharge. 

In his concluding remarks, Mr. Swinton speculated 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 5, 1914 


on the future of wireless. The chief difficulty at pre- 
sent with regard to wireless telephony is to get a 
microphone that would carry sufficient current without 
burning up, while there is also the necessity for 
switching over, when changing from receiving to — 
transmitting, which renders conversation troublesome. 
These are, however, difficulties that should be got 
over, and it was probable that in the not far distant 
future, we should have statesmen wirelessly addressing 
numerous audiences simultaneously, while wireless 
receiving stations would be set up in connection with 
halls where people would be able to go and hear viva 
voce all the prominent speakers of the day. Further, 
wirelessly operated column printing telegraphs would 
tell the latest news to all the nation, as also to any 
newspapers which continued to survive this much more 
rapid method of disseminating intelligence. Again, if 
we are ever to have Transatlantic telephony, it would 
probably be wireless, with which the difficulties due 
to the capacity and self-induction of the cables are 
avoided. ‘ f 

Mr. Tesla and Prof. Pedersen even believe in the 
possibility of wireless transmission of power, and in 
this connection it must be remembered that practically 
all the power on our planet comes from the sun in 
the form of electromagnetic waves, and amounts, on 
a clear day, to no fewer than 4,500,000 horse-power per 
square mile of the earth’s surface. This is, at any 
rate, good evidence that enormous amounts of power 
can be transmitted over prodigious distances by means 
of electromagnetic waves, but it is difficult to imagine 
how efficiency could be obtained. 

Finally, Mr. Swinton appealed to the romance 
attendant on the spectacle of great liners hurrying 
across the ocean to the assistance of a ship from whom 
they had just heard in wireless whispers the S.O.S. 
signal of distre:s. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


Campripce.—The General Board of Studies will 
shortly proceed to appoint a University lecturer in 
mathematics and a Cayley lecturer in mathematics in 
succession to Dr. Baker, the new Lowndean professor, 
who held both of these posts. 

Mr. A. H. Cooke, of King’s College, and Mr. H. H. 
Thomas, of Sidney Sussex College, have been approved 
by the General Board of Studies for the degree of 
Doctor of Science. { 

The council of the Senate have issued an important 
report on the admission to University lectures and 
laboratories of men who are not members of the Uni- 
versity. The success of the diplomas in agriculture 
and in tropical medicine and in other subjects, has led 
to a considerable increase in the number of students, 
not members of the University, who are using the 
University laboratories and lecture-rooms. It is pro- 
posed in future to keep a register of such students 
and to charge each of them a small fee. 


Mr. L. G. Sutron has given a donation of roool. 
to the fund which is being raised to provide adequate 
buildings and laboratories for the agricultural and 
other departments of University College, Reading. 


Tue sixteenth annual dinner of the City and Guilds 
College Old Students’ Association will be held at the 
Trocadero Restaurant, Piccadilly Circus, W., at 7.30 
p-m., Saturday, February 21. Dr. G. T. Moody, 
president of the association, will occupy the chair. 
Tickets may be obtained by any old student of the 
college from Mr. G. W. Tripp, 4 Fairfield Road, 
Charlton, Kent. 

Tue legacies of the late Lord Strathcona include the 


- following to educational institutions :—St. John’s Col- 


4 
) 
, 


FEBRUARY 5, I914| 


NATURE 


649 


lege, Cambridge (in addition to 10,0001. given during 
his lifetime), 10,o00l.; the Royal Victoria College, 
Montreal (under deduction of any payments made 
during his lifetime, and in addition to the college 
buildings and site provided by him at a cost of about 
80,000l.), 200,000l.; Yale University, Connecticut, 
U.S.A., 100,000l. ; the University of Aberdeen for chair 
of Agriculture, 5000l.; Queen’s University, Kingston, 
Canada, extension fund, 20,0001. ; the principal Church 
of Canada Presbyterian College, Montreal, 12,000l. 


Tue second volume of “Statistics of Public Educa- 
tion in England and Wales” for 1911-12-13 has been 
published by the Board of Education (Cd. 7204). It 
is concerned wholly with financial statistics. The first 
table in the volume shows that the total expenditure 
of the Board of Education in 1912-13 out of the Par- 
liamentary vote amounted to 14,329,551/., as against 
14,302,859 for 1911-12. During 1912-13, 11,748,331I. 
was spent on public elementary schools, 749,359!/. on 
secondary schools, 585,871/. on technical schools and 
classes, and 583,127l/. on the training of teachers. 
Among other grants made by the Board during the 
financial year mentioned were 41,647]. to university 
institutions in respect of technological work, 35,000. 
to the Imperial College of Science and Technology, as 
compared with 20,0001. in 1911-12, 17,7901. to the 
Science Museum at South Kensington, 20,590l. to the 
Geological Survey, and 22021. to the Committee on 
Solar Physics. 

TuE annual report of the distribution of grants for 
agricultural education and research in the year 1912— 
13 (Cd. 7179, price 84d.), recently issued by the Board 
of Agriculture and Fisheries, shows a very satisfac- 
tory advance on the older state of affairs. The new 
scheme made possible by the establishment of the 
Development Fund has now been in operation for a 
sufficient number of months to prove that it is in the 
main very satisfactory, and can accomplish the work 
it was intended to carry out. The general plan is set 
out very lucidly in an introduction by Mr. T. H. 
Middleton, and a number of details are given in the 
appendix, so that the reader can form a sufficient 
idea of the scheme and its working. For the first 
time scientific research is recognised as the starting 
point, and the sum of about 30,0001. per annum is, 
or will be, available for the research institutes that 
have been set up; in addition 3000l. per annum is 
granted for special investigations not quite falling 
within the scope of the research institutes. These 
institutes are not charged with the investigation of 
specific local problems or with the elaboration of tech- 
nical details; their business is to elucidate the funda- 
mental principles underlying the relationships of the 
soil, the plant, and the animal, and they have a 
perfectly free hand in the management of their affairs. 
They are:—Imperial College of Science and Tech- 
nology, for plant physiology and pathology; Agricul- 
tural Department, Cambridge University, for animal 
nutrition and for plant breeding; Rothamsted Experi- 
mental Station, for soil problems and plant nutrition; 
Bristol University, for fruit growing; Royal Veter- 
inary College, for animal pathology; University Col- 
lege, Reading, for dairying; University of Birming- 
ham, for helminthology; University of Manchester, 
for economic entomoiogy; University of Oxford, for 
agricultural economics. 


THE annual general meeting of the Royal College 
of Science Old Students’ Association was held at the 
college on January 31, the president (Dr. A. E. H. 
Tutton, F.R.S.) in the chair. Prof. H. E. Armstrong, 
F.R.S., was elected president for 1914, his place as 
one of the vice-presidents being filled by the election 
of Mr. A. T. Simmons. Mr. J. Allen Howe and Mr. 
tf. Ll. Humberstone were re-elected treasurer and 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92] 


secretary respectively. After the regular business, the 
report of the Royal Commission on University Educa- 
tion in London was discussed, with special reference 
to the recommendations relating to the college, and 
the following resolutions were adopted unanimously :— 
(1) That the Imperial College of Science and Tech- 
nology should be organised as a federation of colleges 
under a common government, each college being 
managed by a special committee; (2) that the Royal 
College of Science, the Royal School of Mines, and 
the City and Guilds (Engineering) College should be 
included in the federation, together with a fourth 
college devoted to higher teaching and research in 
Technology; (3) that if, and when, the Imperial Col- 
lege is linked more closely with the University of 
Lendon, the Royal College of Science, London, should, 
while remaining in the proposed federation of colleges, 
become a “‘constituent college” of the University in 
the faculty of science. The committee was empowered 
to make representations under these resolutions. The 
annual dinner of Old Students was held in the evening 
at the Criterion Restaurant, Dr. Tutton presiding. 
Sir John Rose Bradford, Sec.R.S., proposed the toast 
of the evening, ‘** The Royal College of Science, Lon- 
don, and the Old Students’ Association,” and Sir 
William Ramsay, F.R.S., and Prof. S. J. Truscott 
replied for the guests. The guests also included Dr. 
Herringham (Vice-Chancellor of the University), Sir 
Alfred Keogh, K.C.B., Mrs. Ayrton, Prof. Bateson, 
F.R.S., and Dr. Frank Heath. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


Lonpon. 

Royal Society, January 29.—Sir William Crookes, 
O.M., president, in the chair.—Prof. O. W. Richard- 
son: The origin of thermal ionisation from carbon. 
In a paper recently communicated to the society by 
Dr. J. N. Pring, experiments bearing on this subject 
were described. The smallness of the observed cur- 
rents and the variation of them with the pressure and 
nature of the gas, led Dr. Pring to the conclusion 
that considerable doubt was thereby cast on the theory 
of the emission of electrons from hot solids, and that 
these effects were to be attributed to chemical action. 
In the present paper the magnetic field due to the 
large heating currents employed by Dr. Pring are 
shown to curl up the paths of the electrons, and so 
prevent them from reaching the electrode. It is shown 
that with the larger currents none of the electrons 
could reach the electrode in these experiments, and 
owing to the complexity of the apparatus it is impos- 
sible to say what proportion would reach it at the 
lower temperatures. In the opinion of the author of 
this paper, the conclusions referred to cannot be re- 
garded as established by the experiments under con- 
sideration.—Prof. W. H. Bragg: The X-ray spectra 
given by crystals of sulphur and quartz. A crystal of 
quartz is found, on examination by the X-ray spectro- 
meter, to contain three interpenetrating hexagonal 
lattices of silicon atoms and six of oxygen. The angles 
of reflection in a number of important planes all agree, 
within 1 or 2 per cent., with the calculated values. 
Sulphur contains eight interpenetrating lattices, each 
of the kind formed by placing an atom at each corner 
of a rectangular parallelopiped and in the centres of 
two opposite faces. The edges of the parallelopiped 
are in the known ratios of the crystallographic axes. 
—Prof. L. N. G. Filon: The temperature variation of 
the photo-elastic effect in strained glass. The experi- 
ments described in this paper were undertaken to see 
whether the double refraction produced in glass by 
stress was at all affected by change of temperature. 
The results show that the refractive indices for rays 
polarised in and perpendicular to the line of stress are 


650 NATURE 


unequally affected, but seem increased on the whole 
by rise of temperature. One of these, however, shows 
a permanent residual change even after cooling. This 
is important as showing that this property of the glass 
is affected by previous temperature treatment.—J. H. 
Shaxby and Dr. E. Emrys Roberts : Studies in Brownian 
movement. Paper i., The Brownian movement of the 
spores of bacteria——Dr. R. Whiddington: The trans- 
mission of kathode rays through matter.—Ezer 
Griffiths: The variation, with temperature, of the 
specific heat of sodium in the solid and liquid state; 
also a determination of its latent heat of fusion. The 
specific heat of sodium (melting point 97-6°) was in- 
vestigated at various temperatures in the range 0° to 
140° by the electrical method. The range of tempera- 
ture through which the metal was heated was about 
15°, thus enabling the actual specific heat at each 
particular temperature to be determined. In the solid 
state the specific heat is considerably influenced by 
the nature of the previous heat-treatment, and two 
distinct specific heat-temperature curves are obtained 
for the annealed and the quenched state. The increase 
in the values of the specific heat in the solid state is 
very marked as the melting point is approached. In 
the molten state the specific heat decreases with tem- 
perature, the relation between specific heat and tem- 
perature from 100° to 140° being linear. The latent 
heat of fusion was found to be 27-52 gram calories.— 
Dr. G. Green: Natural radiation from a gas. The 
investigations of Planck have established the result 
that the total energy emitted from a black body at any 
temperature consists of discrete quanta, all equal and 
similar. If we identify the ‘‘energy quantum” as the 
energy contained in the light pulse emitted each time 
a molecule undergoes structural change, the determina- 
tion of the form of this light pulse might lead to useful 
information regarding the constitution of the molecule. 
In this paper the form of pulse, in which the energy 
per wave-length is the same as that required by 
Planck’s law of radiation at any temperature, is first 
derived. This form accordingly represents the total 
radiation from any black body at any temperature. 
The radiating body is now taken to be a gas. By 
decomposing the above pulse we obtain an infinite 
succession of wave-trains emitted by the various groups 
of molecules obtained by arranging the total number 
according to speed.Dr. T, E. Stanton and J. R. 
Pannell ; Similarity of motion in relation to the surface 
friction of fluids. The paper deals with an experi- 
mental investigation of the existence of the similarity 
of motion in fluids, of widely differing viscosities and 
densities, in motion relative to geometrically similar 
surfaces, which has been predicted from considera- 
tions of dynamical similarity by Stokes, Helmholtz, 
Osborne Reynolds, and Lord Rayleigh.—A. E. Oxley : 
The influence of molecular constitution and tempera- 
ture on magnetic susceptibility—N. Eumorfopoulos : 
ae boiling point of sulphur on the thermodynamic 
scale. 


Challenger Society, January 28.—Sir John Murray in 
the chair.—C. Tate Regan: A bathypelagic angler-fish 
(Melanocetus johnsoni), from the North Atlantic, 
having inside it a Scopeloid fish (Lampanyctus croco- 
dilus) three times its own length. The specimen was 
taken at the surface of the sea, and it was supposed 
that the struggles of the captured fish, before it was 
completely swallowed, had brought the captor up from 
the depth at which it normally lives. Curiously 
enough, the only other examples of Melanocetus in the 
British Museum, two in number, were of nearly the 
same size ~(3 in. long), and each contained a Lam- 
panyctus of 8 or 9 in.—G, P. Farran; The Copepoda of 
a set of serial tow-nettings from the west coast of 
Ireland. In gatherings taken over a series of years 


NO. 2310, VOL. 92] 


[FEBRUARY 5, I9I4_ 


—————— 


at ten-mile intervals on a line running sixty miles 
west of co. Kerry, out of eighty-five species that 
occurred, four were neritic and showed a uniform 
decrease both in numbers and frequency of occurrence 
at every ten miles from the shore. Sixty-six were 
oceanic, and showed a uniform increase seawards over 
the same stations, while twelve species varied irregu- 
larly and seemed to be euryhaline. : i 


MANCHESTER. 
Literary and Philosophical Society, January 13.—Mr. 
F. Nicholson, president, in the chair.—W. Cramp: 


Some notes on the measurement of air velocities, 


pressures, and volumes. The author described the 
instruments generally used, and the results he ob- 
tained with a special apparatus he set up for testin. 

them. His results were summarised as follows :—(1 
For accurate tests of fans, &c., a Brabbée tube and a 
micromanometer, or a good facing gauge with a side 
gauge having its orifice flush with the pipe wall and 
used with a micromanometer, are far more accurate 
than the older methods. (2) The pneumometer may 
be specially useful where the air is laden with dust, 
&c. (3) The Nipher collector is very inaccurate. (4) 
In ordinary round or square pipes the coefficient o 
contraction is rarely less than o-g. 


Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, January 26.—M. P. Appell in 
the chair.—The President announced ‘the death of Sir 
David Gill, correspondant for the section of astronomy. 
—G. Bigourdan: The determination of the thermo- 
metric coefficient of the wire micrometer. The method 
recently devised by M. Lippmann for the auto- 
collimation of a telescope can be utilised for the rapid 
and accurate determination of the focal length of the 
objective of the telescope, and this, combined with 
the measurement of the linear value of one turn of the 
micrometer screw and the coefficient of the wire 
gives a solution of the problem.—G. Humbert: Some 
remarkable numerical functions.—H. Deslandres and 
A. Perot: Contribution to the realisation of high 
magnetic fields. Concentration of the ampere-turns 
in a very small volume. The method is partly based 
on the use of a stream of petrol cooled to —30° C. by 
a liquid ammonia machine, for cooling the wire carry- 
ing the current of the electromagnet, and partly on a 
modification of the winding of the electromagnet. 
The field thus obtained was 51,500 Gauss, with a 
current of 24 amperes.—E. Roux: Remarks on anti- 
gonoccic vaccines. A reference to the work of P. 
Mayoral and P. Grandez bearing on the recent pub- 
lication of C. Nicolle and M. Blaizot on the same 
subject.—M. Gambier: Bertrand’s curves and curves 
of constant curvature.—E. Keraval: A family of triply 
orthogonal systems.—H. Andoyer: New fundamental 
trigonometrical tables—Th. Anghelutza : The left sym- 
metrical nucleus in the theory of integral equations.— 
Ernst Lindeléf : Conformal representations.—Georges 
Remoundos: The convergence of series of analytical 
functions.—A, Chatelet : Congruences of higher order. 
—G, Armellini: The analytical solution of the limited 
problem of three bodies.—M. Swyngedauw: The re- 
sistance of safety spark-gaps.—Eugéne Darmois and 
Maurice Leblanc, jun. : The possibility of an alternat- 
ing arc in mercury vapour. It was shown by Cooper- 
Hewitt that the mercury arc in a vacuum acts as a 
valve for an alternating current, and this has been 
utilised for conversion of alternating into continuous 
current. The authors describe conditions under which 
it is possible to maintain an alternating arc in mercury 
vapour for low frequencies and moderate voltages.—G. 
Moreau : Flames containing chlorides giving an electro- 
motive force-——MM. Hanriot and Lahure: The mini- 


, mum temperatures of annealing. The time during 


ie iy te i 


FEBRUARY 5, 1914] 


which the metal is heated to a given temperature has 
a considerable influence on the softening of the metal. 
The experiments were carried out on zinc and silver.— 
Marcel Delépine: The iridium chlorides.—Michel 
Longchambon: The réle of magnesia in sedimentary 
cycles.—Maurice Durandard: The ferment of Rhizopus 
nigricans. The mycelium of this mould contains a 
very active ferment: its action on milk is a maximum 
at so° C.—Raoul Combes: The presence of yellow 
pigments capable of being transformed into antho- 
cyanine in leaves and flowers not forming antho- 
cyanine.—Henri Piéron: The decrease of the ratio of 
the latent period to the period of total establishment 
for luminous sensations as a function of the intensity 
of stimulation.—Henri Bierry and Albert Ranc: The 


_ proteid sugar of the blood plasma.—M., Lécaillon: The 


analogies of structure which exist betweent the ovary 
of certain insects and that of certain Branchipodids 
(Chirocephalus stagnalis)—L. Joleaud: The geology 
of the Filfila djebel (Algeria).—J. Repelin: The geo- 
logical constitution of the septentrional part of the 
department of Var.—René Nicklés; The section of the 
Lias, the Infralias, and the Trias of Lorraine in the 
boring of Bois Chaté. This boring was made for 
coal, and penetrates to the Upper Permian. No coal- 
bearing strata were found. 


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652 


NATURE 


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DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY. Freruary s. 

Rovar Society, at 4-30.—The Conduction of the Pulse Wave and the 
Measurement of Arterial Pressure: Prof, F, Hill, J. McQueen and M. 
Flack.—Report of the Monte Rosa Expedition of torr: J. Barcroft, M. 
Camis, C. G. Mathison, F. Roberts and'J, H. Ryffel.—Some Notes on 
Soil Protozoa. I: C, H. Martin and K, Lewin.—The Development 
of the Starfish Asterias rubens Li: J. RP, Gemmill._—The Floral 
Mechanism of Welwitschia mirabilis (Hook): Dr. A. H, Church. 

Roya InstitTurion, at 3-—Types and Causes of Earth Crust Folds: Sir 
Thomas H. Holland, K-C.1.E. 5 

LiInNEAN Society, at 8.—The Vegetation of White Tsland, New Zealand * 
W. R. B. Oliver.—Lantern-slides of Cape Plants, mostly in their Native 
Habitats : W. C. Worsdell.—The Range of Variation of the Oral Append- 
ages in some Terrestrial Isopoda: W. B. Collinge. 

FRIDAY, Fesrvary 6, 

Roya. INsTITUTION, at 9.—The Mechanics of Muscular Effort: Dr. H. Ss. 
Hele Shaw, 

GeoLoeists’ ASSOCIATION, at 7:3c.—Annual Meeting.—P, esident’s Address : 
The Wearing Down of the Rocks. II.: Dr. J Evans. 

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Ancient Surveying: R. C. S, 


Walters. 
MONDAY, Frzrvary 9. 

Royat Grocrapuicat Society, at 8.30.—Our Present Knowledge of the 
Antarctic and the Problems that Remain to be Solved: Prof, Edgeworth 
David, C.M.G., F.R.S, 

TUESDAY, Fesrvary 10. 

Roya INsTITUTION, at 3-—Animals and Plants under Domestication : 
Prof. W. Bateson. 

Rovat ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—Psychology of Magic: 
Prof. Carveth Read, 

InstiTUTION OF CivIL ENGINErRs, at 8.—The New Harbour Works and 
Dockyard at Gibraltar: A. Scott. 


WEDNESDAY, Feurvary Ir 
Royat Socirry or ARTs, at 8.—The History of Colour Printing: R. A, 
Peddie. 


Roya Society, at 4:30.—Probable Papers: Chemical Action that is 
Stimulated by Alternating Currents: S. G, Brown.—The Effect of the 
Gangetie Alluviumon the Plumb-line in Northern India: R. D. Oldham.— 
Note on the Origin of Black Body Radiation: G. W, Walker.—The 
Transmission of Electric Waves along the Earth's Surface: Prof. H. M. 
Macdonald —Transparence or Translucence of the Surface Film Produced 
in Polishing Metals: G, T. Beilby.—A Method of Avoiding Inaccuracy 
due to Weight Errors in ‘ Fixing” a Gold Coinage Standard Trial Plave: 


Point of Carbon Steels : Dr. S. W. J. Smith.—Note on Osmotic Pressure : 
W. R. Bousfield. 

Roya INSTITUTION, at 3-—Types and Causes of Earth Crust Folds : Sir 
Thomas H. Holland, K:C.1.E. 

Concrete InstiTUTE, at 7-30.—The Differential and Integral Calculi for 
Structural Engineers : W. A. Green. 

Roya Society OF ARTs, at 4.30.—Khorasan: the Eastern Provinces of 
Persia: Major Percy M. Sykes, 

INSTITUTION oF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Some Railway Condi- 
tions governing Electrification; R: T. Smith. 


NO. 2310, VOL. g2] 


*RIDAY, Fesruary 13. ? 
Royac Institution, at 9.—Production of Neon and Helium by Electric } 
Discharge : Pi of. J. Norman Collie. ' 5 i 
Roya ASTRONOMICAL Sociery, at 3. Roni versacy Meeting. . 
Puysicat. Sociery, at 8.—The Moving Coil Ballistic Galvanometer: R, Li 
Jones.—Vibration Galvanometers of Low Effective ‘ Resistance : Ay 
Campbell.—Vacuum-tight Lead-seals for Sealing-in-wires in Vitreous” 
Silica and other Glasses: Dr. H, J. S. Sand. A 


« = 

MALACOLOGICAL Society, at 8.—Annual Meeting. — Presidential Address: ¢ 

Some Points and Problems in Geograchical Distribution : Rev. A. H. 

Cooke. : ec 
ALCHEMICAI. Sociery, at 8.15.—Some Notes on the Doctrine of the First 

Matter, with Special Reference to the Works of Thomas Vaughan: Sijil _ 


Abelul- Ali. 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14. : 
Rovat Institution, at 3.—The Electric Fmissivity of Matter, 
Metals: Dr. J. A. Harker. . 


PAGE 

a 62gn 4s, 
- 628 
sai ate 625 


CONTENTS, 


The Science and Philosophy of Instinct , . ets 
Technical Chemistry... eee 
Our Bookshelf : ere ie 2. 
Letters to the Editor :— 

The Pressure of Radiation. —Prof. HUL: Callendar, 


2%, 3 anne 


Atoaic Models and X-Ray Spectr1.—Prof. Javwe 
Nicholson; Dr. H. 5s, Allen; Dr. F, A, 
Lindemann, . . “2 oy ree 

Systems of Rays on the Moon’s Surface.—Dr, H, J. 
Johnston-Lavis . |. 9 |. ++ Pe) ee 

The End-product of Thorium,—A Suggestion. —Prof, 

J. Joly, F.R.S ; J. R. Cotter, - Sees ‘poaenae 

A Curious Ice Formation. (Ldustrated.)\—D, J. , 
POG pS... a40) aie a 

Soil Protuzoa.—K. R. Lewin ;C. H. Martin, . . 632 


The Eugenics Education Society.—Major Leonard : 
Darwin .... RM 
Observations at the Bottom of the Crater of 
Vesuvius. (Ldlustra’ed.) By Prof. John W. Judd, 
Ss. Ue 


C.B.,F.R Seo 
Migratory Movements of Birds in rgrz-12, By = 
\ieal Saal Cag nr 2 ea :| S082) aaa 
Sir David Gill, K.C.B., F.R.S. By F, W. D, - . 635 
Dr. R. T. Omond. By Dr. C. Ji Knott "> (seas 63 
Notes! |. ><»: 2+.) Tee 


Our Astronomical Column ;— ; 
Planetary Observations at the Lowell Observatory. . 643 
Wave-lengths of Chromospheric Lines. , , - - 643 
The Annual of the Bureau des Longitudes . . | | 643 

Whatis Psycho-Analysis ? by Dr, William Brown 643 

The Survey of India, By "HG aes <0 ee 

The Association of Technical Institutions, By 


Ancient Pigments. By A. HG i 


Celluloid and Its Dangers , }/2 gi o's eet 
Wireless Telegraphy, By A. A. Campbeil Swinton 647 
University and Educational Intelligence. | |. | , 648 
Societies and Academies + oo el fool las: 
Books Received MOON 
Diary of Societies . MOCO 


SUPPLEMENT, 


Coal in India. ByH.L,. . ies iii 


The Physical Traits of School Children, |. | : ili 
The Phenomenon of Anaphylaxis, By C, Ji Micee iv 
Pie OA rc v 


An Introduction to Cartography, By H.G 
A Practical Visionary, By C..A..... , 
Ceramic Chemistry | | | EM Sf, 
Dairying Peer 
Popular, Practical, and Scientific Natural History. 

ByaR AL ¢P eee PD ilo ‘ + 3 
School Geography. By R.N, R.B. 


Editorial and Publishing Offices : 
MACMILLAN & CO., Lrp., 


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Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers, 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 
Telegraphic Address : Puusis, Lonpon. 
Telephone Number : GERRARD 8830. 


FEBRUARY 5, 1914] 


NATURE 


CCXXXV 


LANTERN SLIDES. 


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Being new subjects added during the past year. 
British Flora, British Birds, 
Commercial Geography by Dr. Wilmore, 
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CCXXXVIII1 


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NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 12, 1914 


BIRKBECK COLLEGE, 


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COURSES OF STUDY (Vay and Evening) for the Degrees of the 
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A Course of Lectures on 


THE INFLUENCE OF SURFACE TENSION , 
ON CHEMICAL PHENOMENA 


will be given by 
R. S. WILLOWS, M.A., D.Se., 
Head of the Department of Physics and Mathematics, 


on Wednesday evenings at 8 p.m., commencing Wednesday, 
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The Course, which will comprise Five Lectures, will treat of 
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SOUTH-WESTERN POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, CHELSEA, 


SPECIAL EVENING COURSES. 


Bacteriology and Fungus Culture—HuGH MacLean, D.Sc., Ch.B., 
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Evening Courses commenced for the Session 1913-14 on Monday, Septem- 
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Further particulars on application to the SECRETARY. 


SIDNEY SKINNER, M.A., Principal. 


LIVERPOOL EDUCATION COMMITTEE. . 
CENTRAL MUNICIPAL TECHNICAL SCHOOL. 


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The canvassing of members of the Technical Kducauon Sub-Committee, 
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qualifying the candidate. 

(Signed) EDWARD R. PICKMERE, 
Town Clerk and Clerk to the 
Local Education Authority. 


Telephone : 899 Western. 


January, 1914. 


imc) = = NATORE 


THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1914. 


- A GERMAN’ INTRODUCTION TO THE 
STUDY OF MIMICRY. 

Mimikry und Verwandte Erscheinungen. By Dr. 
. Arnold Jacobi. Pp. ix+216. (Braunschweig : 
F. Vieweg und Sohn, 1913.) Price 8 marks. 

HE scope of the work before us is sufficiently 

indicated by a list of its main sections. A 
brief general introduction is succeeded by a division 
of the subject under nine heads :—(i.) Protective 
Colouring; (ii.) Protective Resemblance; (iii-) 
Warning Colours; (iv.) Mimicry or Protective 
Imitation; (v.) The Imitation of Aculeate Hymen- 
optera, or “Sphecoidie’”’; (vi.) The Imitation of 
Ants, or “Myrmecoidie” ; (vii.) The Imitation of 
Beetles; (viii.) Mimicry in Lepidoptera; (ix.) The 
General Characteristics of Mimetic Lepidoptera. 
Some of the principal memoirs in the literature of 
the subject are named in a short list at the end 
of the volume, but anything like a complete treat- 
ment is manifestly impossible in a work of this 
size. 

Protective colouring (Schutzfarbung) and pro- 
tective resemblance (Schiitzende Aehnlichkeit) are 
the terms employed by the author for the two 
kinds of cryptic colouring which have been called 
general and special protective resemblance. In 
the first the animal seems to melt into its sur- 
roundingss; in the second it resembles some actual 
object. No mention is made of Thayer’s interest- 
ing combination of the two principles in animals 
with a general obliterative colouring upon which 
are represented the details of the normal environ- 
ment. Nor is there any reference to the same 
naturalist’s brilliant interpretation of the white 
under-sides of animals. roe -- 

The criticism, urged on p. 8, that we do not 
know whether the cryptic appearance is truly 
advantageous and really exists for the eye of the 
insect-eater can only be fully met by increased 
knowledge. In- the meantime it is obvious that 
certain birds do hunt for their prey. over tree- 
trunks that are not swept bare, even after many 
months of intermittent searching, but still harbour 
sufficient pupe to keep up the average num- 
bers of the species. We know too that birds 
will assemble in order to feed, when insects 
which must ordinarily be searched for are 
driven out by a grass fire or by “Driver” ants 
on the raid. And no one who has watched the 
pursuit of a cryptically coloured moth by birds in 
the immediate neighbourhood can doubt that it 
would have been attacked when at rest if only 
it had been seen. frepign” 

NO. 2311, VOL. 92] 


me 653 

The resemblan acide to thoriisj 
bark, &c., is dismissed by the author (p. 15) as 
examples of ‘““Museum Mimicry,” for the very 
inadequate reason that these Homoptera are 
“mighty jumpers,” and when disturbed “ disappear 
after the manner of the flea.” Well-concealed 
species are generally swift in their movements 
when they are disturbed. Furthermore, W. A. 
Lamborn has shown that the dark, bark-like 
West African Membracids are ant-attended when 
found on green stems. Companies of individuals 
are always found on old bark, as are females 
engaged in egg-laying—a very prolonged opera- 
tion, lasting from thirty-six to forty-eight hours, 
during which the insect clings tenaciously to the 
ege-mass and is with difficulty disturbed (Trans. 
Ent. Soc., 1913, pp. 494-7). The author admits 
the wonderfully ant-like appearance of some 
tropical American Membracids, but rejects an 
interpretation based on the theory of mimicry 
because ants run and Membracids jump. The 
idea of a second line of defence does not seem 
to have occurred to him; and yet in nearly all the 
examples he accepts there is a second line, de- 
pending on powers of flight very different from 
those of the model. 

The author has evidently taken considerable 
pains in studying the work that has been done in 
this country and expresses regret that his com- 
patriots have not taken a larger share in it. There 
is, however, one subject which has escaped him, 
viz., the power of individual adjustment to the 


; colours of the environment as exhibited by insects. 


On this power he can find nothing in English 
except ‘“‘a meagre experiment . . . on butterfly 
pupe ”! (p. 25). The present writer is, moreover, 
bound to disclaim the honour of having influenced 
some of the names that are here set down—for 
example, the late Thomas Belt, whom he never 
had the pleasure of seeing, but to whom, for the 
‘Naturalist in Nicaragua,” he owes a deep debt 
of gratitude. Although the author writes with 
generous appreciation of British work, and 
appears to agree with its general tendency, he 
differs strongly from many conclusions on special 
points, and offers criticisms which it will be a 
pleasure to attempt to meet on some future occa- 
sion. 

It is satisfactory to find the recognition, on 
p- 35, of a fact often forgotten—“ that even the 
protective adaptation which is apparently the most 
perfect does not give security against detection— 
that creatures thus equipped have their special 
foes which can find them out, at least when driven 
by hunger.” Similarly the polymorphism of the 


| leaf-butterflies, Kallima, &c.—a stumbling-block to 


BB: 


654. 


many—is clearly explained. ‘This multiplicity of 
patterns is the very thing which assists the effici- 
ency of the leaf imitation, since the faded, dried, 
half-rotten leaf occurs in nature in a thousand 
forms and colours, with its transition from green 
to yellow and brown, its slits and jags, its traces 
of gnawing and of mould and fungi” (p. 37). 
And the objection, sometimes raised by those who 
have not sufficiently considered the subject, that 
a Kallima may be seen resting with expanded 
wings on green foliage is also effectively answered 
on p. 39. 

For Warning Colours and in other parts of the 
book ‘the author accepts the terminology intro- 
duced in this country in 1890. Haase’s- term, 
“Immunity” is wisely used only in a restricted 
sense. The unqualified word, carrying with it 
the assumption that the bearers of warning colours 
are exempt from all attack, even by parasitic foes 
—an assumption carefully guarded against on 
Pp. 52—gives an entirely mistaken impression. 
That such insects have their special enemies has 
now been shown by many observers. A good 
example is the highly conspicuous Acraea setes, 
of which Dr. G. D. H. Carpenter collected in 
Uganda seventy pupz and full-fed larva, but only 
reared sixteen butterflies. All the others—77 per 
cent. of the whole—were destroyed by parasitic 
insects. 

The theory of aposematic or warning colours 
is considered to stand on a much firmer foundation 
than that of cryptic colouring (p. 50); but the 
author, accepting the conclusions published in the 
_ Proceedings of the Zoological Society in 1887, 
recognises the intimate relationship between the 
two. ‘‘Aposematic species restrict the food avail- 
able for insect-eaters ” and must therefore “ pass 
on to other non-protected species the onus of 
satisfying the hunger of their foes. Now, if these, 
by any process of development, also attained im- 
munity, the foe would be compelled to overcome 
his disgust, and accept the disagreeable food, and 
thus the advantage of the warning colour as an 
advertisement would be reversed, for it would 
facilitate the discovery of the prey” (p. 52). 

The treatment of terrifying markings is incon- 
sistent. They are ridiculed on p. 23, but taken 
seriously on pp. 56-59. It must be freely admitted 
that markings which make so strong an appeal 
to the imagination require to be tested and re- 
tested by carefully observing their effect upon 
enemies, before the bionomic meaning can be 
accepted as proved. This can scarcely be claimed 
at present for any examples except the terrifying 
Sphinx larve, the objects of superstitious fear by 
man in different countries, and proved by four 
observers to excite fear in animals. This, the 


NO. 231I, VOL. 92] 


NATURE — 


[FEBRUARY 12, I914 


clearest example, is doubted by the author, 
although he accepts the far more problematical 
interpretation of the markings and attitude of the 
eyed hawkmoth (Smerinthus ocellatus) as terrify- 
ing. Such an interpretation is probably correct, — 
but before accepting it we require at least as 
much evidence as has been collected for the larve. 

In the historical account of mimicry a common 
error is repeated. H. W. Bates himself, im his 
classical memoir (Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. xxiii., 
1862, p. 495), grouped together the phenomena 
of mimicry and protective resemblance, and did 
not, as stated on pp. 60, 61, understand the 
former “as referring only to similarity in form 
and colour between creatures of different sys- 
tematic position.” . 

It is well-nigh impossible to get rid of an error 
of this kind when once it has been fairly started. 
However, we must do our best. Bates, on pp. 
508-10 of his paper, quotes numerous examples 
of procryptic resemblance to twigs, bark, lichen, 
the excrement of birds and caterpillars, dewdrops, 
&c., concluding with the words, on p. 510: “I 
think it will be conceded that all these various 
kinds of imitative resemblances belong to the same 
class of phenomena and are subject to the same 
explanation. The fact of one species mimicking 
an inanimate object, and another of an allied 
genus a living insect of another family, sufficiently 
proves this.” A footnote on pp. 508-9 is even 
more conclusive; for the actual term “mimicry ” 
is applied to the procryptic examples. Referring 
to Réssler’s interpretation of the buff-tip moth in — 
the resting attitude, Bates adds in a note: “In an 
article on resemblances between insects and 
vegetable substances (Wiener Entomol. Monat- 
schrift, 1861, p. 164), the author enumerates many 
very singular cases of mimicry; he also states his 
belief that the mimicry is intended to protect the 
insects from their enemies.” The convenient re- 
striction of the term mimicry to the resemblances 
to other specially defended animals—the models— 
came later, and is due to Wallace. 

Returning to the author’s section on mimicry, 
we notice a simple and convenient device for 
representing the mimetic association between two 
species, the names being connected by an arrow 
pointing in the direction of the model. 

In the sub-section on ‘‘Mimicry among 
Batrachians”” there is an interesting footnote on 
Pp. 75, Suggesting the specific identity of the con- 
spicuous, distasteful amphibian, which, as the 
author says, “hops about in all Darwinian litera- 
ture as ‘ Belt’s Frog.’” The species, he thinks, 
“can be nothing but Atelopus varius, which is ex- 
tremely common in Central America.” My friend, 
Mr. G. A. Boulenger, however, does not entirely 


. 


-™- 


——— 


FEBRUARY 12, 1914] 


agree with this conclusion. “It is quite possible,” 
he writes, “that Belt’s frog was Atelopus varius, 
Stannius, but it is more probable that it was 
Dendrobates typographus, Keferstein (ignitus, 
Cope), which occurs also in Nicaragua. All the 
Dendrobates appear to be very poisonous.” 

The section on mimicry of ants—one of the 
most important in the work—is enriched by an 
excellent summary, on pp. 114-23, of Wasmann’s 
splendid researches. 

Vosseler’s account of the life-history of the 
Locustid Eucorypha fallax is given at consider- 
able length and illustrated, on pp. 107-12. An 
ant-like larval stage of this insect was described 
long ago as Myrmecophana fallax by Brunner von 
Wattenwyl, and it is most satisfactory that Vos- 
seier’s excellent observations have now put this 
often-quoted example of mimicry in its true posi- 
tion. He shows that “after the fourth change of 
skin” there is “‘a change from a mimetic to a 
cryptic appearance,” the succeeding stage being 
leaf-like in colour and exhibiting a correspondingly 
altered behaviour. The change thus begun con- 
tinues to the end, the winged imago being beauti- 
fully leaf-like. In correspondence with these 
changes Vosseler does not admit that any feature 
in the likeness is unnecessary. And yet this was 
one of the very cases on which Brunner founded 
his conception of “hypertelic” resemblance, or 
resemblance that attains an altogether unnecessary 
perfection in detail—that is, in fact, “too good 
to be true.” 

The illustrations, especially those that are 
coloured, are rather rough, but they are, on the 
whole, well selected and serve their purpose. It 
is a pity that the two species of Heliconius figured 
on pp. 144 and 145 were not accompanied by 
Melinaea imitata and Mel. ethra, instead of 
Mechanitis doryssus and Mech. lysimnia respec- 
tively. If room could be found for only one 
Ithomaeine, there is no doubt that Melinaea 
should have been the genus selected. The mimetic 
females of the African Papilio dardanus are so 
complicated that much care is required to avoid 
mistakes. It is unfortunate that the only charac- 
teristic eastern and south-eastern Danaine model, 
Amauris echeria, and mimetic form (cenea) of 
dardanus should be described on p. 163 as West 
African. 

But when every criticism has been urged, we 
must admit that the book will be very useful. 
Haase’s important monograph is too large and ex- 
pensive to be likely to reach many hands, and we 
welcome the appearance of a German work of 
small price and moderate size, which will serve 
as an introduction to this interesting and much- 
debated subject. Deeley leo 


NO. 23II, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


655 


ee 


TEXT-BOOKS OF CHEMISTRY. 


(1) General Chemistry Laboratory Manual. By 
Prof. J. C. Blake. Pp. x+166. (New York: 
The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 8s. net. 

(2) Practical Chemistry. Qualitative Exercises 
and Analytical Tables for Students. By the late 
Prof. J. Campbell Brown. Sixth edition. 
Edited by Dr. G. D. Bengough. Pp. 78. 
(London: J. and A. Churchill, 1913.) Price 
2s. 6d. net. 

(3) Organic Chemistry for Students of Medicine. 
By Prof. J. Walker, F.R.S. Pp. xi+ 328. 
(London: Gurney and Jackson; Edinburgh : 
Oliver and Boyd, 1913.) Price 6s. net. 

(4) Quantitative Analysis in Practice. By Prof. 
J. Waddell. Pp. vii+162. (London: J. and A. 
Churchill, 1913.) Price 4s. 6d. net. 

(5) La Catalyse en Chimie Organique. By Paul 
Sabatier. Pp. xiv+255. (Paris and Liége: 
Librairie Polytechnique, Ch. Beranger, 1913.) 

’ Price 12.50 francs. 

(1) HE exercises in this manual are com- 

plementary to the author’s “General 

Chemistry : Theoretical and Applied,” and accord- 

ingly the work can scarcely be recommended to 

chemical students in general unless they are taking 

a course very similar to that planned by the author. 

About one-half of the book, which is interleaved 

throughout with blank pages for students’ notes, 

is devoted to simple experiments, partly qualita- 
tive and partly quantitative, dealing with the 
chemistry of non-metallic  (“acid-forming ”) 
elements. The experiments on the metals (‘‘base- 
forming elements”) might serve as an introduction 
to inorganic qualitative analysis, but would be 
of slight educational value unless accompanied 
by a course of lectures on the theory of analysis. 

A few simple experiments on the atmosphere, the 

soil, fuels, and oils, natural waters, the ferrous 

metals, and rocks are grouped under the heading 
of applied chemistry. 

(2) This treatise, like the foregoing manual, is 
chiefly of interest as affording an indication of the 
subject-matter chosen for experimental study in 
the author’s practical classes. These exercises 
are preceded by the following general instruction : 
“After performing each of the following exercises, 
the student should record the reactions in his note- 
book in the form of equations whenever an equa- 
tion is possible.” This excellent instruction, if 
conscientiously obeyed by the student and care- 
fully supervised by a sympathetic demonstrator, 
would go far towards making the work educa- 
tional. Yet without previous knowledge gained 
either from text-books of general chemistry or 
from lectures on the theory. of analysis, the student 


656 


x 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY I2, 1914 


would scarcely be in a position to express the 
reactions in the form of equations. The explana- 
tions given in the text are fragmentary, and some- 
times obscure and even misleading. This lack of 
information is specially noticeable as regards the 
action of solvents. No explanations are given of 
the solvent action of ammonium chloride on the 
hydroxides of magnesium and manganese, or of 
the changes which occur on dissolving silver 
chloride in ammonia, potassium cyanide, or sodium 
thiosulphate. It is extremely doubtful whether 
the reducing action of-alkaline stannous chloride 
on bismuth hydroxide leads to the sub-oxide Bi,O,, 
or whether the interaction of potassium cyanide 
and copper salts gives rise to the double cyanide 
K,[(CN),Cu]. “Some explanation seems desirable 
for the instruction (pp. 24 and 39) to use “stale 
NH,.HCOs.” On the whole, however, the work- 
ing instructions are quite practicable, but, in the 
section devoted to the rarer elements, a distinction 
might, with advantage, have been made between 
tests requiring considerable concentrations and 
those appreciable even in very dilute solutions. 
Cerium dioxide (p. 27) is. not red unless con- 
taminated with other rare earths. The final 
sections of the book are devoted to organic quali- 
tative analysis, including tests for a typical series 
of organic acids and the characteristic reactions of 
the principal organic bases with separation tables 
for the commoner alkaloids. 

(3) In order to meet the requirement of students 
of medicine whose time for the study of chemistry 
may not exceed six months, the author has selected 
the chemical substances considered in the course 
chiefly on account of their medical interest. A 
novel feature in the work is the postponement of 
the consideration of nitrogenous compounds to 
the last third of the book. In spite of the con- 
densation necessary in the circumstances, the 
author has succeeded in giving adequate ex- 
planations of several important and difficult sub- 
jects, such as stereoisomerism, the chemistry of 
the naturally occurring sugars, the cyanogen de- 
rivatives and organic amines, including alkaloids. 
In other shorter sections a more sketchy outline 
has been regarded as sufficient, but the subjects 
are always dealt with so suggestively that the work 
can be recommended as a useful introduction to 
the study of organic chemistry not only for medical 
students, but also for others requiring a general 
outline of the subject dealing with substances of 
practical interest. 

(4) An introductory course of quantitative 
analysis in which the author lays special stress 
on the speed with which analytical work should 
be carried out. Thoroughly practical directions 


NO, 2311, VOL. 92| 


are given for carrying out fifteen typical exercises, 
and the time required for completing these 
analyses is indicated in each case. The analytical 
processes are connected with the general chemical 
principles underlying these operations. For 
example, the precipitation of magnesium am- 
monium phosphate affords an opportunity for 
discussing the chemistry of phosphoric acid and 
its salts. In the separation of nickel and cobalt, 
considerable saving of time would be effected by 
substituting for the double nitrite method the 
processes based on the use of nitroso-8-naphthol 
or dimethylglyoxime. The appendix contains 
useful sections on the chemical balance, calibra- 
tion, electrolyte dissociation, and indicators. 

(5) This work is a valuable résumé from the 
pen of one whose name will remain inseparably 
linked with the subject of “Catalysis in Organic 
Chemistry.” The introductory chapter dealing 
with autocatalysis and negative catalysts is fol- 
lowed by sections devoted to the general survey 
of substances utilised as catalysts in organic 
chemistry, catalytic oxidations and hydrolyses, 
and the catalytic introduction into organic mole- 
cules of halogens, sulphur, metals, and the car- 
bonyl and sulphonic groups. Five chapters are 
devoted to the important subject of catalytic 
hydrogenation. Although the action of metals in 
accelerating the addition of hydrogen to organic 
and inorganic substances had been known since 
the commencement of the nineteenth century, the 
systematic study of this process, which.was first 
initiated by the author and Senderens in 1897, 
has since led to the development of a valuable 
general reaction in organic synthesis based on 
the employment of finely divided nickel. Due 
reference is made to the special processes of 
hydrogenation devised by Ipatieff, Paal, and 
Willstatter. The action of the metallic catalyst 
in inducing the reverse change of dehydrogenation 
has also been demonstrated by the author and 
by Zelinsky and others. In collaboration with 
Mailhe, the author investigated systematically 
the dehydrating action of the refractory metallic 
oxides (alumina, thoria, tungsten oxide, &c.), and 
laid the foundation of another general reaction 
in which the alcohols are converted inte’ un- 
saturated hydrocarbons. Conducted in the pres- 
ence of ammonia, hydrogen sulphide or organic 
acids, these dehydrations lead respectively to 
organic amines, thiols, or esters. Bearing in 
mind the author’s brilliant achievements in this 
field, his views on the mechanism of catalysis are 
of special interest. Whether occurring in homo- 
geneous or heterogeneous systems, catalytic 
change is regarded as being due to the successive 


a e 


a ——— 


FEBRUARY 12, 1914] 


formation and destruction of unstable intermediate 
compounds, the author asserting that ‘this theory, 
in spite of certain imperfections, has been the 
guiding beacon in all his researches on catalysis. 
G. 'T. M. 


MATHEMATICS: PURE AND APPLIED. 

(1) Vectorial Mechanics. By Dr. L. Silberstein. 
Pp. viii+197. (London: Maemillan and Co., 
Ltd., 1913.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 

(2) An Introduction to the Mathematical Theory 
of Attraction. By Dr. F. A. Tarleton. Vol. ii. 
Pp. xi+207. (London: Longmans, Green and 
Co., 1913.) Price 6s. 

(3) A First Course in Projective Geometry. By 
E. Howard Smart. Pp. xxiii+273. (London: 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 7s. 6d. 

(2) R. SILBERSTEIN’S “Vectorial Mech- 

anics” is an able exposition of the 
power of vector analysis in attacking certain types 
of physical problems. Heaviside’s modification of 

Hamilton’s original vector and scalar notations 

is adopted throughout. So far as the simpler 

applications of vector analysis go, the question 
of notation is apparently of little consequence. 

Almost every vector analyst who writes a book on 

the subject has his own pet notation; and there 

is a tendency for these authors to fail to recognise 
that their best creations are usually Hamilton’s 
originals disguised. Even Dr. Silberstein, who 
knows and works quaternions, ascribes to Heavi- 
side a formula given long ago by Hamilton, 
assigns to Clifford (1878) a problem which is 
completely solved in the first edition (1867) of 

Tait’s ‘‘ Quaternions,’’ and refers to Henrici and 

Turner as authorities in connection with a simple 

geometrical problem given in Kelland and Tait’s 

“Introduction to Quaternions.” One might with 

as much historic truth ascribe the proposition 

Euclid i. 47 to the first English examiner who set 

it in an examination paper. Indeed, the historic 

references throughout the book are not all that 
might be desired: For example, it is incorrect to 
speak of Willard Gibbs as the one to whom, after 

Hamilton, the discovery of the fundamental pro- 

perties of the linear vector function is due. What 

of Tait’s powerful paper of 1868 on the rotation 
of a rigid body about a fixed point? It positively 
bristles with new-found. properties and applica- 
tions of the linear vector function. Dr. Silber- 
stein’s own chapter v. is simply a reproduction of 
part of this memoir. Then in the second edition 

(1873) of his treatise on ‘“Quaternions,” Tait for 

the first time develops the application of the linear 

vector function to strains; and in the last chapter 
of Kelland and Tait’s “Introduction to Quatern- 


ions” (1873) presents the theory in a different’ 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 
oa Rae Se 


657 


form. Willard Gibbs’s “Vector Analysis” (not 
published) was printed for the use of his students 
in 1881 and 1884... Apart from new names and a 
new and extremely interesting presentation, it is 
doubtful if Gibbs gave in that pamphlet any im- 
portant property of the linear vector function 
which was not to be found in the pages of either 
Hamilton or Tait. 

Then as regards the differential operator V it 
was unquestionably Tait who, first in his paper on 
Green’s and allied theorems (1870), and after- 
wards in his treatise on quaternions (second and 
third editions), developed it and showed forth its 
power. Willard Gibbs got it partly from Tait’s 
“Quaternions ” and partly from Maxwell’s “ Elec- 
tricity and Magnetism”; and Maxwell got it 
directly from Tait. Yet while giving great credit 
to Gibbs and Heaviside, Dr. Silberstein does not 
mention Tait’s name once. The manner in which 
Dr. Silberstein leads up to Stokes’s “Theorem ” 
is not convincing, that is, if the explanation is 
meant to be a proof. Phrases like “we may 
conclude”” and “we may consider” are scarcely 
satisfactory in establishing a far-reaching mathe- 
matical transformation. Moreover, no attempt is 
made to establish the useful vector extensions of 
the theorems of Gauss and Stokes. It is, indeed, 
in these integral theorems involving the vy that, 
as compared with the quaternion vector analysis, 
the artificiality of other vector analyses mainly 
appears. The transformations lack flexibility. 
The reason for this is that outside the quaternion 
vector analysis the reciprocal of a vector is tabu, 
and the associative law in products is despised. 

Apart from the necessary imperfections of a 
non-associative vector algebra, Dr. Silberstein’s 
book contains many good things. In his treat- 
ment of the rotation of a solid body and of strain 
there is not so much of novelty, except when in 
the latter case he considers discontinuous motions. 
In the chapter on hydrodynamics, however, there 
are certain interesting developments which demon- 
strate the directness and value of vector methods. 
On p. 143 the long-winded semi-Cartesian trans- 
formation is needlessly laborious; for at once in 
quaternion notation : 

Soy .¢=VoVyot+V\Soyo=VoVyo+jvo’, 

where o is the fluid velocity. 

' (2) After a lapse of fourteen years Prof. Tarleton 
has brought out the second volume of his “ Intro- 
duction to the Mathematical Theory of Attrac- 
tion,” the first volume of which was reviewed in 
Nature for April 29, 1899. The chapters: are 
numbered consecutively with the chapters of the 
first volume. An elegant discussion of spherical 
and ellipsoidal harmonics occupies chapter viii. 
In chapter ix. the author develops on familiar 


658 


NATURE 


lines the more elementary theory of magnetism, 
permanent and induced, with a brief sketch of 
the general theory of terrestrial magnetism. 
Chapters x., xi., xii. take up respectively electric 
currents, dielectrics, and the electromagnetic 
theory of light. The exposition is clear through- 
out, and well adapted to a student reading the 
subject for the first time. At the same time it 
will probably be felt by many that the book would 
have appealed to a wider audience if the spherical 
harmonic methods mathematically developed had 
been applied to definite problems in electrical or 
magnetic distributions. The author, however, is 
quite consistent in this neglect of practical applica- 
tions; for although chapter xii, ends with the 
statement that the ratio of the electromagnetic to 
the electrostatic unit of electric charge is approxi- 
mately 3x10, it is nowhere stated that this is 
the numerical value of the velocity of light. 

(3) Mr. E. H. Smart’s “First Course in Pro- 
jective Geometry” is both well planned and well 
written. With the exception of a brief introduc- 
tion to the method of projection in space, the first 
six chapters are devoted to the plane geometry of 
triangles, quadrilaterals, and circles, in which the 
principles of correspondence and duality, harmonic 
ranges, inversion, similitude, poles and polars, are 
developed in a systematic manner. In chapter vii. 
further theorems and problems on projection are 
given, and these suffice for what the author 
regards as the main purpose of his book, namely, 
a logical, coherent discussion of the geometry of 
the conic sections. In the later chapters the prin- 
ciple of duality is freely introduced, and the book 
finishes with typical examples of reciprocation. 
Most of the chapters contain brief historic notes 
which cannot fail to interest the student. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


Materials and Methods in High School Agricul- 
ture. By Prof. W. G. Hummel and Bertha R. 
Hummel. Pp, xi+385+plates. (New York: 
The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 5s. 6d. net. 

In discussing the scope of their work the authors 

begin with a definition of the object of agricul- 

tural work in elementary schools and also in the 
universities. They then find that the position of 
agriculture in high schools lies intermediately 
between these two positions. The purposes of 
agricultural work in the elementary schools are 
stated to be the opening of the minds of children 
to the common phenomena of nature, the inculca- 
tion of habits of observation, and the setting up 
of higher ideals in country life, but not to make 
farmers or farm labourers. In the colleges, on 
the other hand, the work lies in the investigation 
of the more fundamental problems of agricultural 
science and practice. The high schools should 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92] 


[ FEBRUARY 12, 1914 


teach practical agriculture, educating their stu- 
dents for the actual business of the farmer; the 
course should not, however, be narrowly voca- 
tional, but should be cultural and disciplinary as 
well, and should prepare the students to be broad- 
minded and intelligent, progressive citizens. 

Considerable stress is laid upon the necessity 
for finding suitable teachers; the teacher must not 
only possess agricultural knowledge, but be able 
to impart it to others. Neither the purely scien- 
tific man nor the purely practical man has turned 
out a success, The former fails because he lacks 
the proper point of view, and knows nothing of 
practical farming conditions; the latter fails 
because he does not know the first principles of 
the subject, and is unacquainted with the scien- 
tific basis of agriculture. 

The book is full of interest, and can be cordially 
recommended to all who are engaged in the work - 
of agricultural education at schools, farm insti- 
tutes, and colleges. 


The Deciding Voice of the Monuments in Biblical 


Criticism. By Dr. M. G. Kyle. Pp. xvii+ 
320. (London: S.P.C.K., 1912.) Price 4s. 
net. 


Tue author of this work would probably not 
resent the suggestion that he writes as an advo- 
cate or partisan, rather than as an impartial 
assessor, in a long-drawn-out dispute. The field 
he surveys is a well-trodden one—the relation 
between the Bible and the monuments—and his 
attitude is that of the most traditional and con- 
servative of writers on this subject. His thesis 
throughout is to the effect that modern archzo- 
logical study has entirely disposed of the claims 
advanced on behalf of the textual criticism of — 
the Old Testament. In his view the whole work 
of the critical school is discredited, and the 
labours of Hebrew scholars for more than a 
century past, so far from resulting in a truer 
and more accurate appreciation of the Hebrew 
text, have been worse than useless. His position 
may be indicated by the fact that he maintains 
the unity of the book of Isaiah, and holds that 
the book of Daniel embodies the prophecies of 
a historic person of that name who prophesied 
in Babylon during the exile, and was written by 
him or by one of his contemporaries. It does 
not lie within the scope of this journal to follow 
the author along his controversial path. But with 
the best will in the world to be convinced, we 
cannot help feeling that he is engaged in that 
rather pathetic process of trying to put back the 
hands of the clock. We feel sure he would have 
been far more convincing had he proved himself a 
less thorough-going partisan. 


Astronomy. By Ellison Hawks. Pp. 120. 
(Manchester: Milner and Co., n.d.) Price 1s. 
net. 

In these 120 pages the author presents the subject 

of astronomy in such a way that the beginner 

will wish to carry his reading further. The style 
is elementary, clear, and chatty, and the reader 
is led on from one subject to another in a natural’ 


, 
4 


FEBRUARY 12, 1914] 


sequence. He is first introduced to the astronomy 
of the ancients, and then of to-day. The his- 
torical account of the telescope is followed by the 
practical forms of to-day, leading up to the 
famous observations of the present time. Then 
follow concise statements about the sun, moon, 
planets, comets, stars, coloured and multiple, 
clusters and nebulz, &c., all of which are sufficient 
to give the reader an interest in the subject and 
a wish to know more about them. Many practical 
hints and much good advice are given which will 
be serviceable to those who are making use of 
small telescopes. Numerous well-chosen illustra- 
tions, many of which are from the pencil of the 
author, accompany the text. A glossary of astro- 
nomical terms, a brief bibliography of the more 
elementary astronomical books and an index bring 
this practical little book to a conclusion. 


The Petrology of the Igneous Rocks. A Summary 
of the modern Theories of Petrogenesis, a 
_ Description of the Rock-forming Minerals, and 
a Synopsis of the chief Types of the Igneous 
Rocks and their Distribution as illustrated by 
the British Isles. By Dr. F. H. Hatch. 
Seventh edition, revised. Pp. xxiv + 454. 
(London: George Allen and Co., Ltd., 1914.) 
Price 7s. 6d. net. 
ATTENTION has been directed in these columns 
to this now well-known text-book on two previous 
occasions. On May 14, 1891 (vol. xliv., p. 25), 
the first edition was reviewed at length, and on 
May 20, 1909 (vol. Ixxx., p. 337), the fifth edition 
was noticed. It will be sufficient to say of the 
present edition that it has undergone consider- 
able revision and that new chapters on the pyro- 
clastic rocks and the metamorphic derivatives of 
the igneous rocks have been added, together with 
numerous new illustrations. 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


Active Nitrogen. 


A PaPER appears in the Berichte (vol. xxxvi., 17, 
P. 4095, 1914), by E. Tiede and Domcke, in which 
it is again maintained that the glow characteristic 
of active nitrogen is not seen in the absence of oxygen. 
In the experiment chiefly relied on, the authors pre- 
pare nitrogen in an exhausted apparatus, by heating 
barium or potassium azide; and they lead it through a 
cooled vessel straight into the discharge tube, also 
exhausted. They state that after careful washing out 
with nitrogen, no afterglow appears. We do not 
know how to account for their conclusion, but we 
can only state that in our hands the experiment gives 
exactly the opposite result. We used potassium azide, 
and after most thoroughly heating the glass and the 
electrodes and washing out the vessel repeatedly with 
nitrogen, the glow remained absolutely undiminished 
in intensity. 

We have also tried a new experiment. Some of the 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 659 


liquid alloy of sodium and potassium was placed in a 
discharge bulb, which was charged with rarefied 
nitrogen. The surface of the alloy is quite bright, 
and the nitrogen has been standing over it for three 
weeks, but the afterglow is as good or better than 
ever. Fuller details of these experiments will be pub- 
lished later. 

Finally, even if what Tiede and Domcke say were 
true (which we entirely deny), we do not see that it 
would alter the fact that a gas has been obtained by 
one of us capable of reacting in the cold with, e.g. 
hydrocarbons to form hydrocyanic acid. If this is not 
active nitrogen, what is it? 

H. B. Baker. 
R. J. Strom 
Imperial College of Science, February 1o. 


Weather Forecasting. 


Mr. Dertey’s plea (Naturr, January 29) for in- 
creased aid to meteorology certainly deserves serious 
consideration. Under the present condition of affairs 
it is not possible to issue forecasts for more than a 
day or two in advance with much hope of success, 
but there is no reason why this should continue in- 
definitely. Seasonal forecasts would be of immense 
importance to agriculture, more so, indeed, than fore- 
casts for the following week, because, were the char- 
acter of an ensuing summer known, it would be nearly 
always possible to plant crops that would thrive under 
the expected conditions. It is quite possible that if 
we had a sufficiency of good charts covering the 
greater part of the earth, seasonal forecast might be 
made empirically, just as daily forecasts now are, and 
were they as successful as the present daily forecasts, 
the occasions on which a fairly good harvest could not 
be secured would be few, for it is seldom that the 
weather is not favourable for some one or two crops. 

The key to the whole situation lies in being able to 
foretell the distribution of pressure. Being given a 
chart with the isobars on it, it is possible to fill in a 
great deal more with fair certainty. 

But at present we are hopelessly in the dark as to 
the reasons of cyclones and anticyclones, why they 
form and why they move. The investigation of the 
upper air has led to this, that all our old theories 
about cyclones and anticyclones must go to the scrap- 
heap. It has been usual, and is still for that matter, 
to explain a high or low barometer by saying that 
the air over them is respectively cold or hot. The 
exact opposite is the fact. If the barometer in Europe 
at a certain place is very low it is a practical certainty 
that the greater part of the mass of air lying over that 
place will be very much colder, and therefore heavier, 
than usual. Facts of this sort have to be explained 
before we can hope to advance much farther. 

But there is very good hope for the future. If the 
upper air investigation has entirely altered our ideas 
as to the cause of pressure changes, it has also shown 
that the conditions prevailing above are far more 
simple than they are below. If an isobaric chart 
for a height of 9 km. for Europe could be drawn 
for a given date, that chart would enable us to fill 
in with fair accuracy the temperatures, and therefore 
also the pressures, for the space covered between the 
heights of 1 km. and 20 km. Higher than 20 km. 
the observations do not go, and below 1 km. the 
conditions are exceedingly complex, but within the 
limits given the temperatures do not differ very far 
from linear functions of the pressure at 9 km. 

It seems, therefore, as though the surface changes 
are a sort of by-product of the changes occurring 
above, but the outstanding puzzle is what produces 
and maintains the changes of pressure above. 


660 


Increased State-aid would help to solve this problem, 
for daily observations at one station up to an average 
of about 15 km. could be carried on in England at a 
cost of about 1oool, per annum, and a daily record of 
the changes occurring above would be of the greatest 
value. Increased money aid is also desirable to enable 
England to join in a general scheme for the produc- 
tion of charts covering the whole known surface of 
the globe. It is not, of course, certain that any imme- 
diate improvement in the forecasts would ensue, but 
increased knowledge would inevitably in the long run 
take a practical form, just as it has in every other 
branch of science. 

Increased aid in another form is also much to be 
desired. The number of observations that have been 
tabulated and published is immense, but comparatively 
little working up has been done. The physical pro- 
cesses of the atmosphere present many fascinating 
problems; to go no further, we may instance the 
fall of temperature with height, and the abrupt cessa- 
tion of that fall at about 11 km.; the facts are fairly 
well known, and the mechanical and thermodynamical 
principles that should explain them are known. There 
is plenty of work for many workers, and there are 
probably plenty of men well equipped with the re- 
quisite knowledge of mathematics and physics looking 
for some useful field of work. I would therefore com- 
mend to them the problem of the general and local 
circulation of the atmosphere. 

W. H. Dives. 

Watlington, Oxon., January 30. 


Dr. Bastian’s Evidence for Spontaneous Generation. 


WE notice, in a communication that appeared in 
a recent issue of Nature (January 22, p. 579), that 
Dr. Bastian is apparently under the impression that 
we accept his own interpretation of the “ organisms”’ 
which have appeared in his sealed and sterilised tubes, 
viz. that they really are living organisms. 

This does not represent our position. Dr, Bastian 
has kindly afforded us an opportunity of examining 
the contents of his tubes, which were opened in our 
presence, and although the resemblance between the 
“organisms” in question to living Torule, &c., 
was sufficiently striking, it did not seem to us to be 
proved that the similarity went beyond mere re- 
semblance. We were not, and still are not, convinced 
of the living nature of these ‘‘organisms”’ at all, still 
less that they are living organisms spontaneously 
generated. 

One of our colleagues, Mr. Paine, is engaged in 
repeating Dr. Bastian’s experiments with the view of 
solving the problem as to what may be the actual 
nature of the appearances in question, 

J. B. Farmer. 
V. H. BLackman. 
Imperial College of Science and Technology, 
January 30. 


A Possible Cause of Explosions in Coal Mines. 


Ir a cloud of dry dust is suddenly raised by a cur- 
rent of air and projected against an insulated con- 
ductor, the latter becomes charged with electricity to 
such a potential that sparks several centimetres in 
length may be obtained. It does not matter much— 
save in respect to the sign of the charge—what the 
nature of the dust is, for sand, coal dust, flour, or 
iron filings all give rise to strong charges. Sand 
gives a positive charge and coal dust a negative one. 
It therefore appeared possible that a cloud of dust 
raised by a sudden fall, or other means, in a mine 
might charge up an insulated conductor to such an 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 12, 1914 


extent that a spark could pass to an earthed conductor. 
near it, and thus fire an explosive mixture of gase: 
if this was present. - ar: 

Some observations recently taken in the Ludlow 
Pit at Radstock have more or less confirmed this 
theory. In conveying the coal from the working 
seam to the shaft a considerable amount of dust is 
raised, and, walking behind the train of wagons, any 
electrification due to the dust was easily indicated 
by a Wulf electrometer furnished with a radium-tipped 
wire to act as a collector, With only a moderate 
amount of dust the electrometer indicated a potential 
of more than 280 volts, and a hollow insulated con- 
ductor held in the dust-cloud was also strongly 
charged. Sparks, however, could not be obtained in 
the mine, but on making experiments in the laboratory 
with coal dust from the mine, it was easy to charge 
up a metal tube to such a potential that sparks up 
to 1 cm. in length were obtained from it by blowing 
through the tube a stream of dust. 

The dust actually present in the mine was, save 
close up to the working seams, never pure coal. In 
order to minimise the risk of dust explosions, large 
quantities of fine flue dust from the boilers were scat- 
tered in all the workings, so as to cover the coal dust, 
and this flue dust gave a charge of opposite sign to 
that upon the coal. When tested in the laboratory 
the mixture would not charge a conductor to a spark- 
ing potential, whilst pure coal dust, and more par- 
ticularly the flue dust, gave very strong charges. If, 
then, such a combination should occur as that of a 
sudden cloud of coal, or perhaps other dust, an insu- 
lated conductor, an earth-connected conductor near 
it, and an explosive mixture of gases, it is not incon- 
ceivable that an explosion might follow. I make the 
suggestion quite tentatively. 

W. A. Douctas Rupee. 

Cambridge, January 28. 


The Eugenics Education Society. 


In Nature of January 29, Prof. Pearson complains 
that the sentence, ‘‘but even he (Sir Francis Galton) 
in the last few months of his life saw that the popular 
movement he had started was likely to outgrow its 
knowledge, and feared that more evil than good 
might result from it,’’ which appeared in his letter to 
The Times of October 15, has been misquoted in the 
January number of The Eugenics Review, the words 
last few months having been altered to last years. 
He then goes on to say: ‘‘The controversial methods 
which can change ‘ last months’ into ‘ last years,’ and 
then cite letters of 1909 are characteristic of that 
looseness of procedure which must eventually be fatal 
to any popular movement run by this society.’ As 
a member of the editorial committee of The Eugenics 
Review, I passed the final proofs for the press, and 
so share the responsibility for the mistake with Major 
Leonard Darwin, who actually wrote the note in 
question. I do not quite understand what Prof. Pear- 
son means by ‘‘looseness of procedure.’’ If he merely 
means ‘‘making mistakes,” then, although I have 
no wish to minimise the evils and dangers of so 
doing, I cannot agree with him that it “‘ must be fatal 
to any popular movement run by the society.’’ I 
hope I shall not be accused of promulgating a danger- 
ously original doctrine if I say that it is human to 
err. Indeed, Prof. Pearson has on occasion been 
human enough to do so himself. Yet many human 
institutions, including those connected with Prof. 
Pearson, continue to flourish. 

It is possible, however, that his words contain a 
more serious charge, namely, that of deliberately mis- 
quoting him in order to contradict him, I do not 


' 


; 


FEBRUARY 12, 1914] ) 


suppose that Prof, Pearson would actually accuse 
Major Darwin and myself of such dishonesty, but he 
has not guarded his words against the possibility of 
this interpretation being put on them, and so I meet 
the charge—in the only way possible—by a flat 
denial. 

‘It is interesting to inquire how the mistake under 
discussion could have arisen, It seems probable that 
the words ‘‘last few months’’ conveyed. the idea of 
some indeterminate period of time, and that this idea 
and not the actual words were held in the memory, 
afterwards to be retranslated into words as ‘‘last 
years.” This would probably not have occurred if 
Prof. Pearson had himself been a little more precise 
in the first instance. The interview which he refers 
to during which Sir Francis Galton expressed doubts 
concerning the policy of the Eugenics Education 
Society took place about three weeks before Galton’s 
death. Is three weeks the precise period which Prof. 
Pearson describes as a few months? The last letter 
quoted in The Eugenics Review in answer to Prof. 
Pearson’s original letter was written, not in 1909, but 
in October, 1910, about three months before Galton’s 
death. 

Finally, when Prof. Pearson wrote,- ‘tI have no 
other effective means except through the courtesy of 
your columns to correct a wholly erroneous statement, 
which the editor of that society’s journal has put into 
my mouth,” had not he already received a letter from 
Major Darwin apologising for the mistake, and assur- 
ing him that it would be corrected in the next number 
of The Eugenics Review? 

EpGar SCHUSTER. 

110 Banbury Road, Oxford, January 30. 


Origin of Argentine Wild Horses. 


ANENT the recent discussion as to the origin of the 
wild (or feral) horses of the Argentine Republic, there 
is one line of evidence to which I venture to direct 
attention. That is the question of infertility. 

Assuming, as I suppose most reasonable people do, 
that the South American horses were derived origin- 
ally from the north—whether in the northern part of 
North America or in north-eastern Asia is immaterial 
—and that the South African horses are similarly 
derived, it would seem that the Argentine species 
would be at least as remote geographically from the 
wild ancestors of the domestic horse as are the modern 
zebras and asses, and could not be any more nearly re- 
lated genetically. The species native to the Argentine, if 
they continued to exist down to modern times, would 
have evolved in complete isolation from any northern 
species since the early Pleistocene at least, and prob- 
ably longer as regards any Old World species. Now 
the infertility of crosses between zebras or asses and 
domestic horses is based upon a separation that does 
not appear to date earlier than the late Pliocene. 
Beyond that they must be derived from a common 
stock. The autochthonic Argentine horses were there- 
fore not any more nearly related to Equus caballus 
than are the zebra or the ass. They should therefore 
be equally infertile when crossed with the domestic 
stock. (The degree of infertility of distinct species 
varies in different families of mammals; but the 
known facts regarding the horse, asses, and zebras 
afford a measure of its degree in this family.) So 
far as I know there is no record of infertility in such 
crosses, and since, as I am informed, the wild horses 
are caught and domesticated on the pampas just as 
they were in the western United States, any such 
infertility could scarcely escape notice. This would 
seem to me to be a decisive argument against the 
theory that the existing wild horses of South America 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


661 


are descended either wholly or partly from any sur- 
viving native stocks. The argument would apply 
with less force to the wild horses of the western 
United States and- Mexico, yet even with these it 
would appear to be a strong point. But the geologic 
evidence against the survival to modern times of any 
native horses in North America is very nearly conclu- 
sive in itself. 

Even if we admit that some of the native horses 
may have survived in the Argentine until the time of 
the Spanish settlement—and I think that the evidence 
for that contention is strong, and that it is quite in 
conformity with some other features in the faunal 
history of South America—the native stock would pre- 
sumably be no more able to interbreed with domes- 
ticated or feral stock of Equus caballus than could the 
quagga in South Africa. It would remain separate 
and immiscible until exterminated. No strain of it 
could survive in the modern feral horses. 

W. D. MattHew. 

American Museum of Natural History, 

New York, January 15. 


Specific Heats and the Periodic Law. 


At his last Friday evening lecture at the Royal In- 
stitution Sir James Dewar announced his somewhat 
startling discovery that at temperatures of about 20° 
absolute the specific heats of the elements are periodic 
functions of the atomic weights, and are therefore not 
in accordance with Dulong and Petit’s law (estab- 
lished at ordinary and higher temperatures). May I 
venture to point out that a simple consideration of the 
difference of conditions in the experiments of Sir 
James from those of Dulong and Petit may ultimately 
harmonise the two sets of results? 

From Guldberg and Wage’s ‘mass law” it follows 
that the velocity increases with the mass (atomic 
weight), but this increase of velocity takes place at 
higher temperatures at a very much greater rate, with 
the result that at higher temperatures the atomic mass 
becomes relatively less important, i.e, the special atomic 
properties will be less emphasised. The velocity factor 
becoming so predominant, a proportionately ‘smaller 
additional increase of (heat) energy will be required to 
raise the mass to a higher temperature, 1.e. the specific 
heat will be inversely proportional to the mass (Dulong 
and Petit’s law). At very low temperatures—say at 
about 20° absolute—when the velocity is very smal]— 
almost negligible—the mass of the atom is the pre- 
dominant factor, and hence we find a periodic function 
of the atomic weight as the expression of the specific 
heat as well as of the other (physical and chemical) 
properties. The above suggestion might be tested by 
experiments to find a temperature at which neither 
the Dulong and Petit nor the Dewar law would be 
strictly obeyed. H. Lewkowirscu. 

22 Meadway, Hampstead Garden Suburb, N.W., 

January 31. - 


The End-product of Thorium. 


In continuation of our letter published in Nature 
of February 5, containing a suggestion as to the 
nature of the end-product of thorium, we would point 
out that, of course, our view involves atomic weights 
for the various disintegration products of thorium 
higher than is ordinarily assigned to them, and that 
therefore the determination of the atomic weight of 
any one of them would afford atest of the truth of 
the hypothesis. Jory. 

J. R. Correr. 

Iveagh Geological Laboratory, Trinity College, 

Dublin, February 7. 


662 


FIORDS AND OTHER INLETS OF THE 
SEA. 
| ene an experienced teacher, Prof. Gregory 
begins his book on ‘‘ The Nature and Origin 
of Fiords” by a definition of its subject. Fiord is 
a Scandinavian word, and fiords are common on a 
large part of the coast of Norway, but the term is 
often used vaguely, and sometimes, as we shall 
see, with unjustifiable restrictions. With him it 
denotes an inlet of the sea, bounded by lofty and 
steep opposing walls; piercing far into the land, 
and consisting of long straight reaches, which 
turn and receive their tributaries at sharp angles. 
Thus, though a fiord is a sea-drowned valley, not 
all such valleys can be called fiords. It has been 
carved, as the definition suggests, in a plateau 
more or less elevated, which consists of hard 
rocks, and it is named a fiard when this 
plateau is low, the difference between the 
two being obviously varietal rather than 
specific, and a comparatively — slight 
elevation, on such a coast as that of Nor-- 
way, might show the one to end in the 
other. It remains narrow to its seaward 
end, thus differing from an ordinary estu- 
ary, which widens in that direction, so 
that waves may have helped in forming it, 
while they have done little for the fiord; 
and when one of the former has an irre- 
gular outline, and is bordered by bold 
rugged hills, it is designated a ria, from 
a Spanish name. Fiords are frequent in 
the northern and southern portions of the 
globe, and practically absent from the 
more tropical regions; they also often 
bear marked signs of glaciation. That, 
however, does not prove them to have 
been excavated by ice, or justify refusing 
to give the name fiord to a submerged 
valley with the other qualifications, for 
any such limitation is importing a hypo- 
thesis into a definition. This geo- 
graphical distribution, howev er, is a fact, 
and Prof. Gregory attributes it to terres- 
trial conditions, which make oscillations 
in level more frequent in the higher than 
in the lower latitudes. 

From this preliminary discussion he proceeds 
to describe concisely the fiords in the several parts 
of the globe, in order to ascertain, by inductive 
study of their phenomena, by what agencies they 
may have been formed. Beginning with those of 
Norway, the home of the name, he points out the 
more important features in each, its relation to 
the neighbouring district, its outline and dimen- 
sions, with details, whenever obtainable, of its 
subaqueous contour. The Sogne fiord in Norway, 
one of the most accessible to English visitors, 
exhibits the characteristic features of such an inlet, 
especially in its upper branches, not less distinc- 
tively than that grand example, Milford Sound, 
in New Zealand (Fig. 1). The sides, to summarise 
Prof. Gregory’s description, are high and steep, 


1 “The Nature and Origin of Fiords.”” By Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S. 
Pp. xvi-+542+viii plates. (London: John Murray, 1913.) Price 16s. net. 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 12, 1914 


not broken by deep gullies, so that the streams 
rising on the uplands frequently descend as water- 
falls over the walls instead of"as cataracts hidden 
in deep gullies. We may therefore conclude that 
these cascades are comparatively modern—more 
modern, for instance, than in the Alps, where the 
other habit is the more common. Those side-: 
walls also are often subparallel, so that the fiords 
for considerable distances are uniform in width, 
their valleys also taking a straight course. The 
most typical Norway fiords are surprisingly deep, 
the maximum in the Sogne fiord being almost 
4000 ft., and the walls descend for a long way 
beneath the surface of the water with as steep a 
slope as they have for some 2000 ft. above it. 


Liawrenny Pe 
(Snow cael) SW 
6500 fb.. 


Fic. {1.—Map of Milford Sound, New Zealand. 


Thus a cross-section of their floors is trough-like, 
but the longitudinal one is a concave curve. In 


AliPembroke pau 
SWZ always snow capped ) 
‘ 6 ft. 


Mh 
I 
MTN ont ii 
: 
5560 Peale 


A oi i 


Wi y 
Zz me < iA a ve 
SS \S WA ANTA 
oe ‘4 a it rn 
i 


Hi 
ani IN ny 
MI Mp 
mi wah 
"ally 


Figures = Soundings in fathoms 


Scale of Nautical Miles 
2 2 3 


From ‘‘ The Nature and Origin of 
Fiords.” 


some cases the fiord bed rises and falls more than 
once in this direction, as in some Alpine and 
Scotch lakes, but in most cases, though not in all, 
the fiord has an outer (submerged) rim, sometimes 
narrow, sometimes comparatively wide, which 
prevents a free influx of the deeper ocean water. 
This, though it may sometimes consist of moraine 
deposited by a retreating glacier, or of ordinary 
detritus, like the bar at “the mouth of an estuary, 
must often be, as Prof. Gregory explains, a true 
rock barrier. This last characteristic, together 
with their ice-worn rocks, the truncation of spurs 
from the mountain on either side, and their geo- 
graphical distribution, have caused some geologists 
not only to attribute 'fiords to glacier erosion, but 
also to refuse the name to any similar submerged 

valley which could not have been formed in this 


way. 


: 
: 
| 


FEBRUARY 12, 1914] 


NATURE 


663 


But besides the general objection to this limita- 
tion, which-has already been mentioned, the Dal- 
matian coast can show fiords as characteristic as 
those of Norway, though glaciers can never have 
been more than unimportant features on even the 
highest of the Dinaric Alps (Fig. 2). A glacier 
which continues to descend. a main valley after 
those in the lateral glens have shrunk and ceased 
to be tributaries, may have converted the latter 
into hanging valleys; its ice-stream may have 
replaced the rugged ends of spurs by smooth 
facets, but a river also, in similar circum- 
stances, can produce the one and the other, and, 
in many cases, as Prof. Gregory shows, it can be 


proved that the valleys occupied by fiords are | 


pre-glacial. 5 
But, as he proceeds to point out, the larger 


: 
i 

} 

| nee fies 

{ Cad 5 4 


in the Geological Magazine for 1905, where the 
surface is comparatively “raw”; for the “leading 
lines ” in such an example as the Jordan valley can 
only be discovered by close study of the geology. 
In such cases the older name, trough-fault valley, 
seems preferable. Apart, however, from this 
question of nomenclature, Prof. Gregory supports 
his view, both against ice-excavation and in favour 
of earth movements, as the primary cause of 
fiords, with arguments which will be very difficult 
to overthrow. But we must conclude, and do this. 
by expressing our hearty thanks to him for this 
admirable history of fiords and other forms of inlets 
of. the sea. It will be a great boon to students, 
for it is a veritable encyclopedia, full of important 
facts, the collection of which must have entailed 


| long and patient labour, because they are scattered 


Fic. 2.—Cattaro Bay, the inner Branch of the Cattaro Fiord. The spurs on the fault-block on the left side of the view show triangular 


facets due to faulting. 
Nature and Origin of Fiords. 


features of fiords—the straight channels ter- 
minated by a sharp twist, the high angles made 
by tributary valleys, indicate a close connection 
with the greater earth movements which have 
determined the main physical features of the 
region. A set of diagrams brings out clearly the 
frequent relation between the fiords, the lakes, the 
mountain ranges, and the shore lines in different 
regions, showing that the first and second very 
frequently follow the course of important faults. 
This seems indubitable, but we must remember 
that the work of the latter, though indispensable 
as a preliminary, has had an indirect, rather than 
a direct, effect in producing the present scenery. 
In regard to this a too frequent use of the term 
“rift: valleys ’’ may sometimes mislead : for a rift 
means a lateral rather than a vertical displace- 
ment, and should only be applied, as I pointed out 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92] 


The precipitous slope above Cattaro, on the right margin of the view, is a fault-scarp, From “ Phe 


about many publications in sundry languages, and 


| often not readily accessible. 


T. G. BONNEY. 


EDUCATIONAL LEGISLATION IN 
NEW SOUTH WALES. 

es economic, social, and educational problems 
which present themselves for solution in 

the free atmosphere of our more prosperous 

colonies, unhampered by tradition and conventions, 

and with their fresher outlook, often present 

features in the attempt-to solve them well worthy 


| the attention and possibly the emulation of those 


engaged upon similar questions at home. 

We are on the eve of great educational changes, 
if we are to trust the somewhat vague utterances 
of the Lord Chancellor and-of the Minister for 


664 


Education; and amongst them there are few 
reforms more urgent than the adoption of 
measures which will secure to the nation the fullest 
advantage of the best brains of its children. 

The measures recently enacted by the legislature 
of New South Wales, as explained in a paper by 
Prof, H. S. Carslaw, reprinted from the University 
Review of Sydney, of July 13, 1913, which have 
for their object the opening of a clear road to the 
poorest scholar of talent and ability in the State 
from the elementary school to the university, 
deserve the closest attention of all who are inter- 
ested in the highest welfare of the mother country. 

The Act is an attempt to bring educational 
opportunity within reach of all those who, by 
ability, attainments and character, without dis- 
tinction of class, can worthily take advantage 
of it. 

It seeks to coordinate effectively the secondary 
schools, both public and private, with the univer- 
sity, so “that under it the best pupils of the 
schools will have unrestricted access to the highest 
available education,” and to complete the educa- 
tional system built up in the State during recent 
years so as to form ‘“‘a progressive and continuous 
whole,” from the primary through the secondary 
and technical schools to the university, In the 
words of Mr, Carmichael, the Minister of Educa- 
tion, ‘‘We want to make the university the final 
effort in the educational scheme as laid down by 
the Government; to exclude nobody, but to 
include everybody who has brains and application, 

To this end a scheme of university exhibitions 
has been arranged allotting one to every five 
hundred of the population who are between the 
ages of seventeen and twenty, and exempting the 
holders from the payment of matriculation, tuition, 
and degree fees to the university. 

There will thus be, on the basis of the present 
population of New South Wales, about 200 uni- 
versity exhibitions to award in 1914, and taking 
the average university course as four years, there 
would accordingly be, when the scheme is in full 
working order, 800 students enjoying the advan- 
tages of the Act in any one year. 

But the cardinal feature of the scheme is to be 
found in the methods of award. All attempts at 
determining the merits of the candidates solely by 
an external examination, such as that of matricula- 
tion, are abandoned. Instead thereof, a system 
of ‘leaving certificates is established, for which 
pupils in the duly registered high schools, whether 
State or private, which offer at least a four-year 
course beyond the primary stage approved by a 
specially constituted board upon which the uni- 
versity is largely represented, are eligible, provided 
they have passed through the complete four-year 
course to the satisfaction of the principal alike 
in respect of attainment, conduct, and personal 
character. 

The pupils are then required to pass an examina- 
tion in at least four subjects of their school course 
to the satisfaction of a board of examiners com- 
prised of four officers of the department of public 
instruction and four professors or teachers of the 
university nominated by the senate. 


NO, 2311, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


’ especially 


[FEBRUARY 12, 1914 


The leaving certificate is thus awarded (a) upon 
the result of the four years’ work in the high 
school; (b) upon the successful passing of an 
examination in certain subjects of the school 
course, and those pupils who take the highest 
places in the examination list are awarded the 
university exhibitions. 7 

To meet, however, the cases of persons who 
have been privately educated or who have pursued 
their studies in later years and are thereby pre- 
cluded from obtaining leaving certificates, a 
number of university exhibitions not exceeding 
five per cent. are offered annually to such persons 
who pass certain prescribed examinations, 
Provision is also made for students in evening 
tutorial classes. ; : 

Merely to exempt pupils from fees would not, 
however, remove the obstacles in the path of 
deserving but poor students, and so arrangements 
are made to meet such cases by bursaries in aid 
of their maintenance during the whole period of 
their studentship. 

As will be inferred from the foregoing state- 
ment, the proposals are really a long step in the 
direction of making the university free to all 
competent students, and to meet this the Govern- 
ment is prepared largely to increase the State 
endowment, so that the university shall not be 
crippled in its resources or development. 

It is part of a policy, in the words of Lord 
Haldane, to ‘secure for our national endeavours 
the help of our best brains,” and that is its 
justification, and the reason why the experiment 
in New South Wales is deserving of the most 
serious consideration at the hands of our educa- 
tional administrators at home, 

There are those who doubt “whether the true 
educational ideal for an industrial community is 
that of an open road from the elementary school 
to the university,” but if the university embraces, 
as it should, not only provision for the highest 
learning in all branches of knowledge, but also, 
as it should, training in their application, there 
need be little fear that the offer of “an open road” 
will not redound to the lasting good of the nation. 

J. H. REyNOLDs. 


DR. ALBERT GUNTHER, F.R.S. 


eS CHARLES LUDWIG GOTTHILF 
GUNTHER, whose death on Feburay 1 
we announced with regret last week, was 
descended from a family which settled in 
and about Méhringen on the Filder Plateau 
at the beginning of the fifteenth century, 
his father, the Estates Bursar of Méhringen, 
having taken up his residence in Esslingen, where 
Albert was born on October 3, 1830. After 
attendance at the Stuttgart Gymnasium, his family 
destined him for the Lutheran Church, and with 
that view he was trained at the Theological 
College of Tiibingen, where, as a_ student con- 
nected by descent with the Duke of Wurtemberg, 
he had free education. But science and medicine 
had greater attractions for the young naturalist, 
under such a teacher as Johannes 


i FEBRUARY 12, 1914] 


Miller, so that, after graduating as M.A, and. 
whe: 


Ph.D., and studying at Berlin and Bonn, 
by and by became M.D. of Tiibingen. Moreover, 
_ he,.as acitizen of Prussia, did his share of military 
duties, and acquired the skill in the use of fire- 
arms that made him so. good a 
in field and cover. He also ‘published an 
account of the “Fishes of the Neckar,” and a 
“Handbook of Medical Zoology’ visiting 
London théreafter in 1856. 

Dr. Giinther’s writings had attracted the atten- 
tion of Sir Richard Owen, and when they met in 
the British Museum, a friendship sprang up be- 
tween them, the result of which was that he was 
ere long placed in charge of the fishes, amphibia, 
and reptiles in the museum. - Few men could 
more conspicuously have justified the choice thus 
made, both by his contributions to systematic 


zoology and his capacity for administration. Thus’ 


settled at his favourite pursuits and surrounded 


by congenial companions, there issued from his 


pen a great landmark in zoology, viz. his ten 
volumes on Colubrine snakes, Batrachia salientia, 
and fishes; and, in addition, the Ray Society 
issued his fine volume on the “ Reptiles of British 
India.” His and Sir Lambert Playfair’s beauti- 
fully illustrated work on the. fishes ‘of Zanzibar 
next appeared. With a critical eye to artistic 
work he had enlisted the aid of that lithographer 
facile princeps, G. H. Ford, so that almost all 
his papers’ and’ works were illustrated by this 
‘skilful yet delicate artist till his death in the 
’seventies. To the Royal, Linnean, and 
Zoological Societies he contributed a long list of 
important papers, both systematic and structural, 
such as his well-known memoirs on Bereepns and 
Hatteria (Sphenodon). 

But the foregoing give only a partial view of 
the results of Dr. Giinther’s well-directed energy, 
laborious research and unflagging zeal. His 
“Fische der Sudsee,” “Gigantic Land Tortoises,” 
his most useful “Introduction to the Study of 


Fishes,” his massive volumes on the “shore,” 
“deep-sea,” and “pelagic” fishes of the 
“Challenger,” and the “Report on the Batrachia 


of Central America,” have further to be taken 
into account. It may be truly said that no pre- 
decessor in his office did more continuous or more 
valuable work as a systematist than he. Besides, 
Dr. Giinther was the founder and first editor of 
the Zoological Record, now carried on by the 
Zoological Society; and for thirty years he was 
the chief editor of the Annals of Natural History. 

Yet another side of his wonderful energy and 
tenacity of purpose has to be recorded. The 
routine work in the British Museum is no light 
burden even for the robust, but Dr. Giinther’s 
term of office embraced a critical period, viz., after 
he became Keeper of the Zoological Department. 
Whilst to Sir Richard Owen belongs the honour 
of the scheme for a national natural history 
museum, to Dr. Giinther fell much of the work 
of designing the galleries and cases, and, more 
than all, of transferring the gigantic collections 
to their new home. The minute of.the trustees 


NO. 23II, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


sportsman 


665 


attests how ably and how successfully he accom- 
plished this: difficult task. It is interesting that, 
even at this early period, Dr. Giinther was in 
| favour of metal cases, though these were not 
adopted—probably on ‘the score-of expense.’ His 
personal influence with naturalists, travellers, and 
owners of estates at home and abroad was of 
infinite importance throughout to the national 
collection, Further, he reorganised the duties of 
the trained attendants in the museum, and thus 
relieved the scientific staff, which was gradually 
increased. from’ four to’ thirteen scientific ‘men, 
whose names’ are those of authorities ‘in their 
several’ departments.’ To Dr. Giinther is also 
largely due (1) the formation of a general library 
—so valuable, especially to zoologists—and. (2) the 
designing of a separate spirit-room for the’ safety” 
of the vast collections in ‘jars, as well as for 
that of the institution itself. He retired from the 
office of keeper in 1895. 

Considered from the point of view of his study, 
Dr. Giinther was the foremost man of the day 
in his department; but he was also an accom- 
plished field naturalist, equally at home in park 
and covert, or by lake and river. In’ his 
earlier days he was remarkably agile and hardy, 
and used to say he gained as much knowledge of 
natural history in the field as in the closet. Nor 
was he less keen on board a boat or yacht at 
sea; indeed, he more than once was the only 
effective zoologist on deck, as, for instance, when 
the late distinguished Prof. Kélliker enlisted him 
on a dredging expedition off the southern coast. 
His tanks for the preservation of rare or inter- 
esting forms for the British Museum were always 
in evidence on such occasions, and he spared 
neither labour nor care in the pursuit of his fishes 
and other forms. His home, moreover, reflected 
the dominant tastes of the man.  Tree-frogs, 
chameleons, which fought for the best perch near 
the fire with tiny parrots, bird-cages indoors, and 
aviaries outside, the wonderful black and white 
gracle, the legacy of the late Lord Lilford, and 
other pets, made every visit memorable after 
his retirement from the museum; and the same 
may be said of the trees, shrubs, and flowers in his 
garden. 

Thus his busy life passed to his eighty-fourth 
year when grave abdominal symptoms necessitated 
an operation, which, at first apparently success- 
ful, terminated his distinguished career. He was 
buried in Richmond cemetery, in the midst of a 
circle of sympathetic scientific friends. 

Dr. Giinther was the recipient of many honours 
from learned societies in Europe and America, 
whilst at home he had filled the offices of vice- 
president of the Royal Society, president of the 
Biological Section of the British Association, and 
president of the Linnean Society. He received 
| 20 royal medal of the Royal Society, and the 


gold medal of the Linnean Society, as well as 
the medal of the Avicultural Society. 

He was twice married—his first wife, Roberta 
McIntosh, many of whose exquisite coloured 
drawings ‘have been published by the Ray Society, 


666 


dying in 1869 on the birth of her son, Robert, 
now the zoologist, geographer, and antiquarian 
lof Magdalen College, Oxford; his second wife 
was Theodora Drake, of Fowey, a lineal descend- 
ant of a brother of Admiral Drake, who, with a 
son, survives him. Dr. Giinther was one of the 
kindest parents, jand spared neither time nor 
pains for the comfort, education, and happiness 
of his family, to whom, and to all who knew 
him intimately, he was endeared. 

As a great systematic zoologist, as a naturalist 
who had early and independently worked out 
many of the problems of the distribution of 
animals, as a man of untiring energy and great 
powers of administration—these, and his solid 
work in the museum he loved so well, will ever 
be his best monument. 


NOTES. 


Tue Krinc, accompanied by the Queen, opened the 
new session of Parliament on Tuesday, February to. 
In his speech to the assembled Houses, he stated 
that among other measures to be presented would be 
one to give effect to the proposals, which were 
announced last session, for the development of a 
national system of education. 


Pror. J. G. Frazer has been elected a member of 
the Atheneum Club under the provisions of the rule 
which empowers the annual election by the committee 
of three persons ‘‘ of distinguished eminence in science, 
literature, the arts, or for public service.” 


WE announce with much regret the death on Febru- 
ary 6, at sixty-five years of age, of Mr. H. B. Wood- 
ward, F.R.S., formerly assistant-director of H.M. 
Geological Survey. 


AccorpInG to the Revue Scientifique the Russian 
Minister of Public Instruction has made a grant of 
100,000 roubles (10,570l.) to the St. Petersburg 
Academy of Sciences to assist a search for radio-active 
minerals throughout the Russian Empire. 


Tue death, on January 12, is announced, at seventy- 
seven years of age, of Dr. C. M. Woodward, emeritus 
professor of mathematics and applied mechanics in 
Washington University, and past-president of the 
American Association for the Advancement of Science. 


Ar. the annual general meeting of the Royal Astro- 
nomical Society, to be held to-morrow, February 13, 
the gold medal of the society will be presented to Prof. 
Max Wolf, director of the Heidelberg Observatory, 
for his work in celestial photography and spectro- 
scopy. Prof. Wolf is expected to be present at the 
meeting. 


Dr. W. E. Farasee, who is leading an expedition 
in Brazil on behalf of the University of Pennsylvania, 
has sent home word of the success of the first part 
of his journey. He had passed through the territory 
inhabited -by the Macusi Indians, and had encountered 
several of the Carib tribes that were supposed to have 
disappeared, including the Wai Wai tribe. The ethno- 
logical study of these early inhabitants of the Carib- 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 12, 1914 
bean region is one of the main objects of the expedi- 
tion. 


Sir ERNEST SHACKLETON stated at the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society on Monday that on his forthcoming 
Antarctic expedition he proposes to take four geo- 
logists, two meteorologists, and two biologists. His 
scientific staff will be distributed as follows :—Trans- 
Continental party, one geologist; western party to- 
wards Graham Land, one geologist and another man 
of science; eastern party to Enderby Land, one geo- — 
logist; Weddell Sea base, one meteorologist and one 
biologist ; on board the ship one biologist, and Captain 
Davis, hydrographer ; supporting party from the Ross 
Sea side, one geologist. The various parties will be 
sure to bring back sufficient results to justify the 
purely scientific side of the expedition. The main 
object of the expedition is the crossing of the south 
polar continent from sea to sea; and the very nature 
of the journey will solve the question of a divided or 
a single continental mass. 


CoRRESPONDENTS of The Times report that four 
slight, though distinct, earthquake shocks were re- 
corded on February 10 by the seismographs at Albany 
and Washington. The tremors extended from Brook- 
lyn to Buffalo, through Connecticut and Pennsylvania, 
and north to the district along the St. Lawrence 
River. The seismograph at the Museum of Natural 
History in New York shows that the shocks began 
at th. 35m. p.m., and ended at th. 37m. 30s. Two 
pronounced earthquake shocks were registered by the 
seismograph at Toronto Observatory—one at 11.30 
a.m. and the other at 1.29 p.m. The shocks were 
felt generally throughout the province. The entire 
St. Lawrence valley around Montreal was also 
affected. 


As announced in The Times of January 30, Lord 
Tankerville has presented to the Zoological Society 
a young pair of the white cattle from his park at 
Chillingham, Northumberland. According to an 
article in the same journal of February 2, the animals 
were caught as yearlings by enticing them with food 
into a trap. Although the Chillingham and other 
white park cattle are often termed “wild,” they are 
really descendants of domesticated breeds which have 
reverted to a semi-wild state. 


InrorMaTION has been received that through the 
generosity of Mrs. Rotch, the observatory at Blue 
Hill, near Boston, founded by the late Prof. Lawrence 
Rotch, for the study of the upper air, and partially 
endowed by his bequest of fifty thousand dollars, has — 
been established for five years in connection with Har- 
vard College. Mr. McAdie, formerly in charge of the 
Californian section of the United States Weather 
Bureau, has been appointed director of the observa- 
tory, and at the same time professor of dynamical 
meteorology in Harvard University. We also under- 
stand that provision is to be made in connection with 
the French department of war for continuing the 
aérological work carried on by the late M. Léon 
Teisserenc de Bort, at his observatory at Trappes. 


WE learn from The Times that the Austrian Geo- 
graphical Society has decided to honour the memory 


FEBRUARY 12, 1914] 


of Captain Scott by the posthumous award of the 
Hauer medal, the highest distinction the society has 
to offer. Another tribute to Captain Scott’s memory 
is the erection, on the Col du Lautaret, a pass in the 
French Alps, at the suggestion of Dr. Charcot, of a 
rough stone cairn with a bronze tablet bearing the 
inscription :—‘‘ Captain R. F. Scott, of the English 
Navy, who, on his return from the South Pole, died 
bravely with his companions for his country and for 
science about March 25, 1912, stayed at Lautaret in 
March, 1908, to prepare for that memorable expedi- 
tion.” 


As there will be no meeting of the British Associa- 
tion at home this year, it is proposed to hold in Edin- 
burgh on Tuesday, September 8, and the four follow- 
ing days, a conference of observers and students of 
meteorology and allied subjects. One of the objects 
of the conference is to bring together observers in 
meteorology, climatology, oceanography, limnology, 
atmospheric electricity, terrestrial magnetism, and seis- 
mology, as well as persons who are interested in the 
discussion of the observations. Special attention is to 
be directed to the teaching of meteorology in schools 
and to the relation of meteorology to aviation. To 
ensure the success of the conference, it is important 
that the organising committee should know as soon 
as possible the names of those who propose to attend, 
and such persons are invited to communicate with 
Mr. F. J. W. Whipple, honorary secretary, at the 
Meteorological Office, South Kensington, S.W. The 
representative character of the organising committee, 
of which Dr. W. N. Shaw is chairman, and to which 
further additions are to be made, augurs well for the 
success of the conference. 


It is with sincere regret that we record the un- 
timely death of Major G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton, 
which, according to a cable message received at the 
Natural History Museum, occurred on January 17 from 
heart failure in South Georgia, where the deceased 
naturalist was conducting an investigation into the 
whaling industry on behalf of the Colonial Office and 
the museum. Of Irish nationality, and inheriting a 
patrimony at Killmanock, county Wexford, Major 
Hamilton was born in 1871, and was educated, first at 
Harrow, and finally at Trinity College, Cambridge. 
Very soon after taking his degree—if not, indeed, 
before—he began to devote attention to the mammals 
of the British Isles, one of the earliest—if not the 
very earliest—of his papers being on the marten in 
Ireland, published in The Zoologist for 1894, while in 
the following year he established, in conjunction with 
Mr. O. Thomas, the distinctness of the Irish stoat. 
This line of research culminated in ‘“‘A History of 
British Mammals,” of which fourteen parts have been 
already issued, this being the only work in which the 
subject is treated on a thoroughly modern scientific 
basis, and which will remain as the best memorial 
to its talented author. In 1896 Major Barrett-Hamil- 

* ton accompanied Prof. d’Arcy Thompson to Bering 
Sea, as the British representatives on the Fur-Seal 
Commission, in which capacity he did a large amount 
of excellent work. This no doubt led to his being 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


667 


appointed last summer to the aforesaid South Georgian 
whaling mission, on which he started in October. 
THE executive committee of the fourth International 
Botanical Congress, to be held in London next year, 
in conjunction with Dr. Briquet, the rapporteur 
général for the section of nomenclature, has issued 
a circular relating to the work of this section at the 
congress. This will consist in the completion of the 
rules of botanical nomenclature, issued as the result 
of the meetings at Vienna (1905) and Brussels (1910), 
by the settling of certain points left over from those 
meetings. The programme of work for 1915 was 
defined by the congress of 1910 as follows :—(1) To 
fix the starting point for the nomenclature of (a) 
Schizomycetes, (b) Schizophycez, (c) Flagellate, (d) 
Bacillariacez ; (2) to compile lists of nomina generica 
utique conservanda for (a) Schizomycetes, (b) Alge, 
(c) Fungi, (d) Lichens, (e) Bryophyta; (3) Compilation 
of a double list of nomina generica utique conservanda 
for the use of palzobotanists; (4) discussion of motions 
relating to new points which were not settled by the 
rules adopted at Vienna and Brussels. The carrying 
out of this work has been entrusted to two com- 
mittees under the direction of a rapporteur général, 
Dr. J. Briquet (Geneva), assisted by Prof. H. Harms 
(Berlin). Copies of this circular, which contains lists. 
of the committees and subcommittees for the various 
groups and other information, may be obtained from 
the general secretary, Dr. A. B. Rendle, British 
Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, S.W. 
DeraILep plans have been published for the work 
of the British Antarctic Expedition under Mr. J. 
Foster Stackhouse. The main object will be to ascer- 
tain something of what lies between King 
Edward VII. Land in the Ross Quadrant and Graham 
Land in the Weddell Quadrant, and whether the 
former is a part of the Antarctic continent, or insular. 
The expedition will use Scott’s vessel, the Discovery, 
which is intended to leave London on August 1, 1914. 
She is to proceed by Cape Town and Bouvet Island, 
the Sandwich Islands, and South Georgia to the 
Falkland Islands, and thence to sail for Graham Land 
at the end of 1915. Here exploration and scientific 
work are to be carried on for a year or more, the 
Discovery meanwhile working south and east. The 
landing party, having been relieved and reprovisioned, 
will explore between Graham Land and King 
Edward VII. Land in 1916, and after wintering, a 
sledging expedition will make for the Bay of Whales 
in King Edward VII. Land, whence the Discovery 
will convey them home by New Zealand and the 
Panama Canal. Lieut. A. E. Harbord, R.N., will 
command the ship, and the party will include Lord 
Congleton, Captain A, S. Cantrell, Mr. W. H. Stewart 
Garnett, and Mr. D. H. Pearson, as surveyors and 
in other capacities, while the Master of Sempill will 
undertake meteorological work and also the care of 
the electrical and motor mechanical appliances. The 
expedition is expected home in the later part of 1917, 
and its total cost is estimated at 25,o00l. If expedi- 
tions now in the Antarctic field or about to enter it 
should all succeed in their various objects, the next 


few years should bring a working outline knowledge 
of Antarctica. 


668 


©Mr. A. F.’R. Wottaston on January 26 described 
before the Royal Geographical Society his journey in 
Dutch New Guinea in 1912. His principal object was 
to ascend to the snowy ridge of Mount Carstensz, and 
to see what lies beyond (which is unknown); in this 
he only just failed of success, A canoe accident (not 
the first of its kind on a New Guinea river) deprived 
him on his return journey of valuable records and 
effects. In spite of these misfortunes he has brought 
back much valuable information concerning the 
physical geography and biology of the 
traversed (the Utakwa valley), and also its inhabi- 
tants.. These last he divides into the coast people 
and the mountain people, who live at elevations from 
4000 to 6000 ft. or more. He also encountered a third 
class, of wanderers believed to come from the west. 
The appearance and habits of the mountain people, and 
their struggle for existence, were yiyidly described. 
Mr. Wollaston was accompanied by. Mr. C, Boden 
Kloss, of the Kwala Lumpor Museum, who undertook 
the zoological and botanical work; he also acknow- 
ledged much practical assistance from the Dutch 
authorities. As regards the physical features of the 
country, he commented (among much else of interest) 
on the remarkably complex structure of the foothills, 
and traced the diminution in the. thickness of the 
jungle undergrowth at about 7ooo ft. of altitude, the 
change from the lower forest trees to pandanus and 
casuarina at 8000 ft., and. the disappearance of trees 
above 10,500 ft. His progress was stopped by pre- 
cipitous rocks and an ice-wall at 14,866 ft., not 
500 ft. below the summit-ridge. 


Tue issue of The National Geographic Magazine 
for January is wholly devoted to a finely illustrated 
article by Mr. F. E. Johnson, entitled ‘‘Here and 
There in Northern Africa.” It contains a splendid 
series of photographs depicting the racial types, par- 
ticularly those of the Ouled Nail dancing girls, 
whose performances are familiar to visitors to Biskra. 
The pictures of life in the harem and in the oases 
are very striking, while those of the moving sand- 
dunes with waves like those of the sea produced by 
wind action are of special interest. 


Pror. Dati’ Osso, of Ancona, announces an im- 
portant archeological discovery in the-shape of a 
burial-place of the Stone Age in the Valle Vibrata, 
in the Abruzzi. The bodies were not buried, but laid 
in small huts containing from two to eight each, 
arranged on low platforms sloping towards the centre. 
With a single exception the bodies all rest on one 
side, with the knees drawn up, a position not unlike 
that of the crouching pre-dynastic Egyptian, in Case A 
of the first Egyptian room in the British Museum. 
The articles found with the remains, especially the 
vases and other utensils, indicate a higher degree of 
civilisation than has been observed in other instru- 
ments of the Neolithic age. 


FURTHER accounts of the excavations conducted by 
the British Museum on the site of Carchemish indi- 
cate that the results are more important than was 
anticipated. The excavation of the Acropolis has been 
to some extent disappointing, because much was 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92] 


NATURE. 


country © 


[| FEBRUARY 12, I914/ 


destroyed by Roman work in the second century. But. 
a large building recently unearthed shows a continuous 
series of reliefs cut in slabs Of white limestone and 
black diorite alternatively. We have processions of: — 
the king, his family, and attendants. These slabs, ~ 
which technically contrast with Mesopotamian work ~ 
in height of relief and broad simplicity of treatment, © 
deserve comparison with the best Assyrian sculptures. 
Much more can be done if funds are forthcoming, 
and it may be hoped that immediate measures will 
be taken to complete these excavations, which promise 
to throw welcome light on the little-known Hittite 
culture. . 


Dr. Mitrarp’s Chadwick Lectures on the subject of 
“The Vaccination Question in the Light of Modern 
Experience,” are well worth careful reading. We 
dislike the phrase, ‘“‘The Vaccination Question,” for 
it conveys to many minds a vague notion that vaccina- 
tion does not protect against smallpox. The only 
vaccination question is, whether ‘‘the Leicester 
method’’ can so ensure a community against small- 
pox that the community can wisely disregard the use 
of infantile vaccination. In forty years, Leicester has 
had only forty-six deaths from smallpox; that is very 
few. Doubtless, if these forty-six persons had been 
well vaccinated just before they were exposed to the 
disease, the number of deaths would have been not 
forty-six, but none. Dr. Millard rightly says that “in 
the rather remote contingency of a really serious 
epidemic of smallpox occurring again in Leicester, or 
in any town, he would advise everyone to get vac- 
cinated, even though they had already been once 
vaccinated.”” But the phrase, ‘‘a really serious 
epidemic,” implies a good deal of disease among those-_ 
who have not got vaccinated. Doubtless, Leicester, 
with its magnificent sanitary service, and its not un- 
natural pride over its own health, and a cordon of 
less unvaccinated towns round it, is what one calls 
“fairly safe’’; but contingencies, even remote con- 
tingencies, do sometimes take form in fact. We have — 
to reckon with ‘‘unrecognised cases, especially when 
occurring in the tramp class,’’ and with a host of our 
individual civic and domestic responsibilities, and with 
the bare possibility that the remnants of smallpox in 
this country may of themselves increase in strength. 


VoL. vu. of the Boletim de Museu Goeldi (Museu 
Paraense), which relates to the years 1909-10, 
although only published in 1913, contains a narrative, — 
illustrated by photographs of natives and scenery, of a 
journey from Xingu to Tapajoz, undertaken by Dr. — 
E. Snethlage, as well as a report on scientific ex- 
plorations in Para by Mr, A. Dueke. 


In an article published in The Egyptian Mail of 
January 15 it is stated that, among other additions, 
the Giza Gardens have acquired a second specimen of — 
the white-eared kob (Cobus cob leucotis) from the 
swamps of the White Nile. These two are believed 
to be the only examples of this antelope brought alive — 
from the Sudan, the first having been received _ 
nearly two years ago. It is also mentioned that Mr. — 
J. L. Bonhote, who joined the staff of the gardens 
some time ago, is at present rearranging the museum, 


} 
’ 
1 
4 
j 
, 


FEBRUARY 12, 1914] 


Tue report of the (Egyptian) Zoological Service for 


1912 contains reproductions from photographs of some 


of the more interesting animals in the Giza Zoological 
Gardens. The Government, it appears, has been 
taking measures for the protection of certain kinds 
of birds, particularly the cattle-egret (Ardea bubulcus). 
That species has suffered so severely from the plume- 
hunters that in the spring of 1912 only a single breed- 
ing colony remained in the whole of Lower Egypt. 
Thanks, however, to protective measures, more than 
500 young birds were bred under natural surroundings 
under the care of a watchman of the Zoological Ser- 
vice. In Upper Egypt one large breeding colony 
remains, and, as the watchman reported the presence 
of a very large number of young birds in the country, 
there may be others. 


In Symons’s Meteorological Magazine for January 
Mr. R, C. Mossman concludes the seventh of his 
interesting articles on southern hemisphere seasonal 
correlations, with some remarks as to the practical 
value of this class of research. He considers it almost 
certain that interaction is world-wide, but that even 
to-day there are not sufficient weather data for many 
regions. As an essential feature of this study a 
bipolar campaign is suggested, and also that the 
equatorial belt should be specially investigated. The 
method of using the preceding weather in one part 
of the earth as a means of arriving at a knowledge 
of what will subsequently take place in another part 
has already had practical application in determining 
the probable intensity of the Indian monsoon. He 
thinks that the establishment of a world-bureau is 
the only way to meet the situation, owing to the 
enormous labour involved; this question has, however, 
been discussed at several of the international meet- 
ings, but all efforts to found such an institution have 
hitherto failed. 


Tue December number of Terrestrial Magnetism 
and Atmospheric Electricity contains the results of the 
determinations of magnetic declination made by the 
survey ship Carnegie on the voyage from St. Helena 
to Falmouth during the autumn of 1913. From these 
results it appears that the British chart of the Atlan- 
tic shows the westerly declination too small by about 
o-7° over that part of the course between latitudes 
5° south and 20° north, and about the same amount 
too great between 35° and 45° north. According to a 
note in the same number the Carnegie has now re- 
turned to New York, having completed her circum- 
navigation cruise of 70,000 miles commenced in June, 
IgI0, 


Tue introductory remarks on galvanometers and 
their properties with which the Cambridge Scientific 
Instrument Company prefaces its new catalogue of 
those instruments will prove of the greatest value to 
all who have to deal with electrical measurements. 
They cover such subjects as the period, the damping, 
the steadiness of the zero, the resistance, and the 
sensitiveness of the instruments, and furnish a sounder 
scientific basis for the choice of a galvanometer for 
any special purpose than can be found outside the 
scientific papers dealing with the subject. In order 


-NO, 2311, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


669 


to compare different types of instruments a ‘‘ factor of 
merit '’ ts calculated from the behaviour of each. It 
is defined as one hundred times the deflection in 
millimetres. per -micro-ampere at a scale distance of 
a metre, divided by the square of the undamped 
periodic time in seconds and by the two-fifth power 
of the resistance of the instrument. The values are 
roughly one hundred for the Ayrton-Mather ordinary, 
zoo for the short-period instrument, 7ooo for the 
Paschen, 150 for the Broca, and 100,000 for the 
Einthoven string instrument. In the last case the 
comparison is somewhat doubtful, as the deflections 
are read through a microscope, and not in the standard 
way described in the definition. 


One of the subjects dealt with in a recent paper by 
Mr. B. Welbourn, entitled ‘‘ British Practice in the 
Construction of High Tension Overhead Transmission 
Lines,’’ and published in the Journal of the Institution 
of Electrical Engineers for January 15, was protection 
against atmospheric disturbances, He expressed the 
opinion that no necessity exists in this country for 
earth wire protection above the power lines, as experi- 
ence has shown that lightning troubles are very few 
and no more frequent than are mechanical faults on 
underground cables. Horn gap arresters, with or 
without choking coils, erected in the open air, 
especially in industrial districts, he condemned as 
wrong in principle, as well as being untrustworthy. 
The extensive use of electrolytic aluminium arresters 
is limited by the fact that they need charging every 
day from the line. Moscicki condensers are coming 
into favour slowly, possibly because of their high first 
cost. A novel method which has been found satis- 
factory has been developed by Messrs. Merz and 
McLellan, who have discarded arresters on all lines 
which are connected to the system through trans- 
formers. About 10 per cent. of the end turns on the 
line side of these are insulated with special materials 
to a thickness of 300 to 400 per cent. of the insulation 
on the remaining turns. Atmospheric disturbances on 
the line are reflected back by the end turns of the 
transformers, and the oscillations are damped out by 
the ohmic resistance of the line, 


THE Mathematical Association has issued a cata- 
logue of the current mathematical journals of all 
countries of the world, with lists of the libraries in 
Great Britain where they are taken in, and the dates 
at which the series commence and terminate when 
discontinued. This valuable little pamphlet is pub- 
lished by Messrs. G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., London, 
price 2s. 6d., and editorial communications for inser- 
tion in future issues are to be sent to Mr. W, NE 
Greenstreet, The Woodlands, Burghfield Common, 
near Mortimer, Berks. The present catalogue is 
issued on the understanding that it contains a first 
draft of the titles of current mathematical periodicals, 
Many periodicals of a general character containing 
mathematical articles are also included in its scope, 
though publications such as those of our Royal Society 
are excluded. The catalogue should be in every public 
library and in the library of every mathematician ; it 
contains 182 entries. 


670 NATURE. [FEBRUARY 12, 1914 

In a recent issue of The Chemical News | of the crown plate, as gauged by the inspector, varied 
(vol. cix., p. 37, January 23, 1914), Dr. J. C. | from one-thirty-second to one-sixteenth inch, yet this 
Cain describes some new experiments on the | flat plate had withstood satisfactorily a working 
estimation of alcohol in beer by Malligand’s | pressure of 70 lb. per sq. in., the stays being pitched 
ebullioscope. This instrument was invented in | at 5ix4% in. centres. No bulging was reported. 


1874, and tested thoroughly at that time with French 
wines and with German and Scandinavian beers, but 
appears to have been almost forgotten. The per- 
centage of alcohol is determined by its influence in 
lowering the boiling point of the water; the solid 
contents of the wine and beer, being of high mole- 
cular weight, are-almost without effect on the boiling 
point. The thermometer is provided with a movable 
scale, which can be set to correspond with the boiling 
point of water as it varies with changes in the baro- 
metric pressure. It is calibrated directly to correspond 
with percentages of alcohol, so that no tables or 
calculations are required. The whole determination 
can therefore be carried through in a few minutes by 
anyone who is capable of reading a thermometer. In 
a series of twenty-two analyses, the percentage of 
alcohol found in this way was usually within o-1 per 
cent. of the percentage determined by the standard 
method of distillation. 


Tue properties of alcohol and of stimulants in 
general in relation to their physiological effects form 
the subject of an address, given by Prof. H. E. 
Armstrong to the Institute of Brewing, which is 
printed in the December issue of their journal. The 
account given of the power of alcohol and its homo- 
logues, when used in moderate amounts, to penetrate 
the membrane which encloses the cell is a clear state- 
ment of facts which will have to be considered by the 
physiologist, and should do something to overcome 
the prejudice against alcohol which exists in the minds 
of otherwise fair-minded people. The ill-effects pro- 
duced by alcoholic beverages are more probably to be 
ascribed to the presence of small proportions of still 
more active substances. The action of alcohol and 
similar hormones is to accelerate the rate of passage 
of water and diffusible substances through the cell 
walls. Probably the ordinary changes involved in the 
life of the living cell cannot go on without some kind 
of stimulus from without to disturb equilibrium, so 
that, particularly with a simple diet, some form of 
stimulant must be taken with the food. Such stimu- 
lants are not necessarily alcoholic, as one of the most 
common digestive stimulants is carbonic acid—e.g. 
aerated waters. Excess of such stimulants are con- 
tained in meat extracts, the supposed body-building 
power of which is almost entirely fictitious, being due 
to an increased proportion of water in the cells. 


Tuer strength of stayed flat plates forms the subject 
of a report issued by Mr. C. E. Stromeyer, chief 
engineer of the Manchester Steam Users’ Association. 
Mr. Stromeyer has analysed and correlated a number 
of experiments on this subject, and suggests empirical 
formule for practical use. Some interesting informa- 
tion is included regarding working conditions. Thus, 
one of Mr. Stromeyer’s inspectors examined recently 
a loco-portable boiler, and found that the firebox had 
wasted almost to the vanishing point. The thickness 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92] 


Reference is made to Bach’s experiments, and we are 
reminded that fuller details of these experiments may 
be expected shortly. 


Tracuers of geography who have adopted modern 
methods of instruction should examine the coloured 
“Contour Hand Maps” of the counties of England 
and Wales which are being published at the price of 
2d. net each by Messrs. G. W. Bacon and Co., Ltd. 
Judging from the eight specimen maps which have 
been received, teachers will have no difficulty in devis- 
ing an abundance of practical exercises which will 
make easy to young people an appreciation of the 
relief of an area from a study of its contoured map. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


DETONATING FIREBALL OF JANUARY 19.—Mr. W. F. 
Denning writes :—‘‘A few minutes after 7 p.m. on 
January 19 a magnificent meteor was seen at Read-— 
ing, Oxford, and other places in that part. It illu- 
minated the sky with a brightness superior to the full 
moon, and startled many persons as the night had 
been very dark, and the transformation was almost 
instantaneous. The fireball traversed a long are ex- 
tending probably over 60°, at a slow rate of motion, 
the estimated duration being from five to seven 
seconds. ; 

‘A few minutes after the meteor had disappeared 
a heavy sound as of distant artillery was distinctly 
heard at many places, and there was a decided vibra- 
tion of houses, the windows shook, crockery ware 
rattled, &c., as during an earthquake. At Oxford 
there was a loud report rather like thunder. At 
Finstock, Oxon., the noise is said to have resembled 
the boom of a heavy gun rather than a clap of 
thunder. At Shinfield, near Reading, and at other 
places in Berks, the doors and windows rattled. Cer. 
tain persons who did not see the meteor thought that 
the disturbance was due to an earthquake shock. At 
Wallingford the sound followed the light three 
minutes, so that the explosion may have been about 
thirty-seven miles distant. This represents the motion — 
of sound in ordinary air. In the rarer atmosphere of - 
great elevations it travels much slower, and the dis, 
tance may therefore have been greater. The fireball 
seems to have passed from N.E. to S.W. from Hert-— 
fordshire to Berkshire, at a height of about fifty-one 
to eleven miles. It had a luminous flight of about 
sixty-seven miles, and a velocity of about twelve miles 
a second. 

“During the last fifteen years an unusually large 
number of fireballs have appeared in the month of 
January. Mrs. Fiammetta Wilson has informed me 
that there is an old Roumanian superstition that 
bolides may be abundantly observed from January 
14-20, and especially on January 19.” 


Comet 1913f (DeLavan).—Dr. G. van Biesbroeck, 
of the Uccle Observatory, sends to the Astronomische — 
Nachrichten, No. 4711, his determinations of the para- 
bolic elements and ephemeris of comet 1913f, dis-_ 
covered by Delavan. The former are based on ob- 
servations made on December 19 and 29, 1913, and 
January 14 of this year, and the ephemeris satisfied 
the latest observation of this object made on January 


FEBRUARY 12, 1914] 


NATURE 


671 


22. The following is the portion of the four-day 
ephemeris for the rest of the present month :— 


oh. M.T. Berlin. 


aah (true) Dec. (true) Mag. 
. mM. Ss. ° G 
Feb: 13° ..2 2: 3859 . +0 48-7 10:8 
Ai yl POR ee E TPZ1-0 :.. rs 
eet: FOw EL erie 5. » 
are ry neal Poe Oeste aa ne gpl, (5% 5 a 
March’) 1%,  ...,2' 42).22 - +3 407 a ito-8 


The brightness is calculated on the assumption that 
on December 17 the comet was of magnitude 11-0. 


Dark REGIONS IN THE Sky.—Prof. Barnard contri- 
butes some valuable observations regarding the appear- 
ance of the very dark areas in star clouds and nebulze 
which have attracted attention from time to time. The 
number of such areas is quite considerable, and he 
promises at some future time to make a catalogue of 
them. In his paper to the current number of The 
Astrophysical Journal (vol. xxxviii., No. 5) he describes 
two of these remarkable areas, namely, one in the star 
cloud of Sagittarius, and another in the nebulous 
stream south of p Orionis. While photographs of the 
Sagittarius star cloud show a small and definite spot, 
Prof. Barnard has made numerous visual observa- 
tions and has been led to the result that the object is 
not a vacancy among stars, but a more or less opaque 
body. With regard to the second dark area, the dark 
notch in the nebulous stream is, as he says, ‘‘ clearly 
a dark body projected against and breaking the con- 
tinuity of, the brighter nebulosity.”’ He further 
states :—'‘ Possibly this is a portion of the nebula 
itself nearer to us, but dark and opaque, that cuts 
out the light from the rest of the nebula against which 
it is projected.’’ Visual observations by him with the 
4o0-in. refractor confirmed his view that an obscuring 
medium was the origin. It is interesting to direct 
attention to the photographs of some spiral nebulz 
seen edgewise as photographed by Dr. Isaac Roberts, 
such as HIV 24 Comz Berenicis, where it is stated, 
“the photograph shows the nebula to be, almost 
certainly, a spiral viewed edgewise, the dark line 
across it being caused by the fainter portion of the 
nebulous convolutions being now turned towards the 
earth; they would thus be dense enough to obscure 
the nucleus and its surroundings, but not bright 
enough to impress the film, they thus appear as a 
dark line.”” Markings somewhat analogous to that 
described by Prof. Barnard in the nebulous stream 
of p Orionis are illustrated in Roberts’s nebulous 
region round the cluster N.G.C., Nos. 2237-39 Mono- 


cerotis, in which ‘black tortuous rifts meander 
through the nebulosity . .. margins are sharp and 
well defined . . . like cleanly-cut cafions.”’ 


A REVIEW OF GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS. 


BY means of a brief survey of some of the more 
important articles which have appeared in recent 
issues of leading foreign geographical periodicals, it 
is possible to compare and in a measure contrast 
the trend of geographical study in different countries. 
We may broadly classify such articles mainly under 
the departments of (1) travel and exploration, wherein 
travellers present general accounts of their observations 
and experiences, (2) physical geography, (3) human 
geography, and (4) cartography and geography. It is 
to be expected that at the present stage of the world’s 
progress the department of travel should be finding 
a place of lower importance relatively to the rest than 
that which it formerly occupied; it is also natural 
that this tendency should be more clearly remarked 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92| 


in foreign publications even than in our own Geo- 
graphical Journal, in view of our wide territorial 
interests. 

During the past year, however, we find evidence 
in all the geographical publications under notice of 
the international character of the interest in Arctic 
and Antarctic research, with especial reference to the 
work of Filchner in Petermanns Mitteilungen, and of 
V. Stefansson in the Bulletin of the American Geo- 
graphical Society, together with universal apprecia- 
tion of the results of Scott’s expedition. For the rest, 
Dr. F. Kihn dealt at some length in the Mitteil- 
ungen of July with his visit to the Cordillera of San 
Juan, Argentina, and in La Géographie (the bulletin 
of the French Geographical Society) we have a steady 
record of French activities in Africa, such as the 
account of the Mission Rohan-Chabot in Angola 
(January), Capt. Niéger’s ‘‘ Mission d’études du trans- 
africain”’ (February), M. le Terrier on the lakes of 
the Lower Ogowe (June), and H. Roussilhe’s account 
of the ‘‘ Mission hydrographique Congo-Oubangui- 
Sangi” (August). 

Physical geography shares with travel the pages of 
the French publication almost exclusively (so far as 
concerns leading articles); the direction of this branch 
of study is in general towards detailed work in limited 
areas, a tendency which is also very clearly marked 
in the Bolletino della Reale Societa Geographica 
(Italy) and the American Bulletin, for in both these 
countries this department of geographical study 
stands, as in France, in an eminent position. In all 
three thé limitations of geomorphology appear to be 
clearly recognised; the land-form, not its geological 
composition (at least not primarily) is the subject of 
investigation. Examples are Sumner Cushing’s study 
of the east coast of India (Bulletin, February), the 
Ohio floods of 1913, by Robert M. Brown (ibid., July), 
Etienne Clouzot’s ‘‘ Modifications littorales de l’ile de 
Noirmoutier” (La Géographie, January), P. 
Lemoine’s ‘‘Régions naturelles du département du 
Gard’’ (ibid., March), R. Blanchard’s ‘‘ Morphologie 
du Caucase”’ (ibid., June), while in all three countries 
it is clear that growing importance is attached to 
the branch of potamology; while climate, vegetation, 
and (in France) glaciers, also provide material for 
study. 

The department of human geography holds a 
markedly more prominent place in the Mitteilungen 
than in other journals; perhaps the most important 
contribution to it has been Dr. L. Weise’s notice and 
map of the distribution of population in Europe 
(January); the recent census (as in other countries) 
has been made the basis of other geographical studies, 
such as Prof. F. Auerbach’s ‘“‘Gesetz der Bevolker- 
ungskonzentration”’ (February), and Dr. Olbricht’s 
“Die deutschen Gross-Stadte”’ (August), while among 
other studies mention is due of Prof. Cvijic’s close, 
and at the present moment of history peculiarly valu- 
able, survey of the ethnographical boundaries in the 
Balkan peninsula (March ef seq.) From the American 
Bulletin may be quoted Mark Jefferson’s ‘‘ Anthropo- 
geography of North America” (March), and Mary 
Dopp’s ‘‘Geographical Influences in the Development 
‘of Wisconsin” (June et seq.). In Germany and 
America this department is clearly more strongly 
developed than elsewhere. 

In the department of cartography we turn natur- 
ally for guidance to Germany; it is perhaps a sign 
of grace that a writer in the American Bulletin, 
Martha K. Genthe, has done the same by contributing 
a “Note on the History of Gotha Cartography”’; 
American. cartographers, at any rate on the commer- 
cial side, have notoriously much to learn and to un- 
learn, while A. Briesemeister’s large map of the 


672 


Arctic regions, presented with the Bulletin, possesses 
no marked merit. 

Before closing this notice, reference must be made 
to Prof. K. Haussmann’s ‘‘ Die magnetischen Landes- 
aufnahmen im Deutschen Reich und magnetische 
Uebersichtskarten von Deutschland in 1912” (Mitteil- 
ungen, January-April), and to the regular supplement 
on military geography in the same journal, which 
{apart from the interesting and suggestive fact of its 
mere existence) shows that that branch of study is by 
no means a preserve of military men. 


WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.! 


(1) FE the last four parts of the sixth volume of the 

Jahrbuch der drahtlosen Telegraphie und Tele- 
phonie, part 3 is almost wholly devoted to an account 
of the doings of the recent International Radio-tele- 
graph Conference in London, and of the fruits of 
their labours. In part 4 there is a return to scientific 
and technical matters, the principal article being one 
which concludes an elaborate piece of work, both 
theoretical and experimental, by F. Miller, on the 
oscillations in three coupled circuits. Part 5 contains 
several articles of interest. One, by S. Loewe, on the 
calibration of thermo-elements for accurate quantita- 
tive work—chiefly in connection with the measure- 
ment of small high-frequency currents—may be useful 
to others than those in Hertzian research. A very 
elaborate technical study of a resonance inductor for 
use with alternating current of 1000 periods per 
second is contributed by S. Kimura. An article by 
G. Seibt describes apparatus for the exhaustive test- 
ing of mineral substances with a view to their useful- 
ness as detectors of electrical oscillations. Part 6 con- 
tains a paper by P. Jégou on the utility of acoustic 
resonance in wireless telegraphy—a matter that has 
received considerable attention of late on account of 
the widespread use of rapid sparks, producing musical 
notes, in signalling. F. Kiebitz contributes two 
articles, one dealing with an elaboration of Bjerknes’s 
method of measuring the decay coefficient of a circuit, 
the other describing new experiments on antennze 
consisting of long wires stretched horizontally at a 
height of a few metres above the surface of the earth. 
It is found that the state of the ground under the 
horizontal antennz greatly affects the efficiency with 
which such antenne can radiate. This article is fol- 
lowed by an interesting correspondence on the same 
subject. 

(2) A new edition of the official handbook for wire- 
less telegraph operators, revised in accordance with 
the International Radio-telegraph Convention of Lon- 
don, 1912, has recently been issued by the Postmaster- 
General. It contains eighty pages, and is sold at 3d. 
Though it does not in any way deal with scientific 
principles or technicological details, it will be found 
of interest to everyone connected in any way with 
wireless telegraphy. Very full instructions are given 
concerning the calculations of rates and of the routine 
of transmitting a message; this will be of interest to 
those of the general public who have occasion to use 
radio-telegraphic facilities. The comprehensive tables 
and lists of abbreviations to be used for commonly* 
occurring phrases, are absolutely indispensable to the 
amateurs who amuse themselves by tapping other 
people’s messages. The book closes with the regula- 
tions of the examinations for qualification as an 
operator on board ship. 


1 (1) Jahrbuch der drahtlosen Telegraphie und Telephonie.” Heraus 
geechen id Dr. Gustay Eichhorn. Band 6, Heft 3-6. (Leipzig: J. A 

arth, 1913 

Gay Book for Wireless Telegraph Operators Working Installations 
Licensed by H.M. Postmaster-General." (London: Wyman and Son, Ltd., 
1913:) Price 3d. . - jk : ' 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


/ regions be dealt with differently from the ordinary 


[FEBRUARY I2, 1914 


THE PRESERVATION OF NATURE IN 
GERMANY. 


[% 1907 the Prussian Ministry of Education insti- 
- tuted the Central Office for the Care of National — 
Monuments. The office is in the old Botanical Museum 
in Berlin, and it contains, besides other rooms, a 
library and a large hall for meetings and lectures. 
The staff includes a director, two naturalists, a lawyer, 
librarians, and clerks. Associated with the Central 
Office there are in the provinces of Prussia forty local 
committees, on which are representatives of the Impe- 
rial.Government, the local administration, the agri- 
cultural and forestry departments, and the local uni-— 
versities and museums. The provincial committees 
are not supported financially by the State; they re- 
ceive, however, small grants from the provincial 
administrations for the purpose of working expenses. 
The aims of the Central Office are :—(1) To discover 
the existence of natural monuments’ and to investi- 
gate and preserve them; (2) to make records of their 
situations and the conditions of their ownership; (3) 
to make maps and photographs of them for permanent 
preservation in the office; (4) to form a collection of 
all the literature dealing with the dangers threaten- 
ing such places and their prevention, the laws relating 
to the ownership of land, and any scientific books dis- 
cussing in particular the areas reserved or worthy of 
reservation. : 
The publications of the Central Office are two. 
“Beitrage zur Naturdenkmalpflege’’ contains the 
report of the office and of the work done in foreign 
countries; it is circulated principally among scientific 
people and administrative officials. ‘*‘ Naturdenkmaler, 
Vortrage und Aufsatze” (‘‘ Natural Monuments, — 
Lectures and Essays’’) is written in a more popular 
style, with the purpose of carrying the ideals of a 
love of nature among all classes of the people. Be- 
sides these periodical publications, lectures which have 
been held under the auspices of the office are printed 
and circulated in the form of pamphlets, and many 
provincial committees print and distribute “‘communi- 
cations”’ in their own spheres of work. Courses of 
instruction are held from time to time at the Central 
Office, chiefly for the information of strangers, and 
every week debates are held, which are attended by 
residents in Berlin who are interested in the work. 
The department works hard to make all classes in- 
terested in the work, and in this it receives great 
assistance from the Administration of State Forests, 
the employees of which are made acquainted with the 
trees of scientific as well as of economic importance. 
The General Order of 1907 empowered the provin- 
cial representatives of the Imperial Government to 
start reservations of forest, and to provide that those 


scheme of forestry, with a view to the preservation — 
of rare plants and animals. As a consequence of this” 
order a large number of reservations of greater or 
less extent, which lack of space prevents us from 
enumerating here, have been laid out. It has wisely — 
been decided that size alone is not a necessary condi- 
tion of a reserve; a single tree or the face of a cliff 
may well be worthy of that dignity. Not only the 
Department of Forestry, but those of Agriculture, of 
Constructions, or War, and even the churches, both 
Protestant and Catholic, have helped to further the 
ends of the Central Office. What has been said above 
of the work done in Prussia is true also of Bavaria. 
and Wurtemberg, and, to a less extent, of some of 
the smaller States of the German Confederation. This 


1 Under this title are included any natural objects of interes, whether | 
botanical, zoological or geological, particularly those which have survived 
in their primitive state, untouched by civilisation. fas 


2 


FEBRUARY 12, 1914] 


result is doubtless due, in a great measure, to the 
efforts of the director of the department, who has 
taught his fellow-countrymen that the preservation of 
the natural beauties of their country for future genera- 
tions is a national and a patriotic duty. 


THE STUDY OF THE STARS.1 


ae object of the American Association is the 

advancement of science. Thissis a very different 
matter from the diffusion of human knowledge. The 
universities and colleges provide liberally for the latter 
subject, but neglect the former almost entirely. 
Science is advanced by many individuals who hold 
offices in the universities, but seldom as a part of their 
official duties. Few professors are allowed to regard 
research as a portion of their college work, and still 
less frequently are appropriations made, or funds pro- 
vided for original investigation. Astronomy is almost 
the only exception to this rule, and even here, in 
general, the time of the officers is mainly devoted to 
teaching. | Observatories devoted to research, like 
Lick, McCormick, and Harvard, are supported by 
funds given specifically for their use, and receive 
little or no aid from the general funds of the univer- 
sities with which they are associated. It is probable 
that American universities. devote one hundred times 
as much money to the diffusion of human knowledge 
as to its advancement. The great progress made in 
America in some departments of astronomy is due 
to the fact that certain wealthy men and women have 
been willing to give large sums of money for this 
object. No other country is so fortunate in this 
respect, although in recent years, in Germany, large 
appropriations are being made by the Government for 
similar purposes. ee 

The income of certain funds, like the Elizabeth 
Thompson, Bache, and Watson funds, are also avail- 
able, but while these are of the greatest value in 
aiding particular individuals, the amount is too small 
to advance materially the entire science. The large 
funds which might aid individual research are. un- 
fortunately employed for other purposes. Scarcely any 
appropriations have been made to women from these 
funds. One of the greatest needs of science in 
America is a fund of moderate size, capable of aiding 
the men of real genius. The number of such men is 
not large, and a judicious distribution of a few 
thousand dollars annually would probably yield greater 
results than could be attained in any other way. 

A visit to Europe last summer in order to attend 
the meetings of two national and two international 
astronomical societies, enabled me to visit several of 
the larger observatories and to interchange views with 
the leading astronomers of the world. I have accord- 
ingly selected as my subject for this evening, ‘‘The 
Study of the Stars,”’ and I shall endeavour to transmit 
to you the latest views, as well as the history, of this 
department of human knowledge. It is my wish to 
present to my professional friends certain facts of a 
technical nature, and at the same time to make them 
clear to those of my hearers who have no previous 
knowledge of the subject. Astronomy has been called 
not only the oldest of the sciences, but that which 
has conferred the greatest benefits on man by render- 
ing international commerce possible. While this may 
be true of the past, the value of the astronomy of the 
present day lies in its extension of human knowledge 
and enabling the mind of man to traverse fields which 
until recently appeared to be hopelessly beyond his 
ken. 

1 Address delivered at the Atlanta meeting of the American Association 


for the Advancement of Science, December, 1913, by the retiring president 
Prof. E. C. Pickering. : re ae 


NO. 23II, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


673 


The first catalogue of the stars was made by 
Hipparchus about B.c. 128, and was inserted - by 
Ptolemy in the ‘‘ Almagest,”’ for fourteen centuries the 
authority in astronomy for the world. This catalogue, 
which contained more than a thousand stars, gave 
both their positions and brightness. The earliest copy 
that is known: of the Almagest is in the ‘* Bibliotheque 
Nationale” in Paris. It is a beautiful manuscript in 
uncial characters of the ninth century. The other later 
manuscripts unfortunately differ from it and from each 
other, so that there is some uncertainty regarding 
two-thirds of the stars, owing to errors of copying. 
A careful study of these discrepancies has been made 
by Dr. Peters, of Clinton, and Mr. Knobel, of Lon- 
don. Each spent several years on this work, and all 
the papers are in the hands of Mr. Knobel. He is 
now preparing the entire work for publication, and it 
is hoped that it will be in the hands of the printer in 
a few months. 

A manuscript of nearly the same age is in the 
library of the Vatican, and this year a revised edition 
of it has been published. If we had a correct copy of 
the original work, it would have a great value at the 
present time. Half a century ago it would probably 
have given the best existing values of the proper 
motions of the stars which it contained, but recent 
observations enabled us to compute their positions in 
the time of Hipparchus, more accurately tham he could 
observe them, assuming that the motion was recti- 
linear. This work, however, throws light on a pos- 
sible curvature of the motions. The observations by 
Hipparchus of the light of the stars have a value that 
will be considered later. 

The first accurate measures of the positions of the 
stars were made in the middle of the eighteenth 
century. ' The catalogue of Bradley in 1755 is even at 
the present time one of the best means of determining 
the early positions of the stars.. A large number of 
similar, but later, observations by Hornsby are still 
unpublished. During the next hundred years the 
meridian circle, which is at present the standard in- 
strument for determining the places of the stars, was 
gradually evolved. In this instrument a telescope is 
mounted so that it will point only to stars in the 
meridian, that is, to stars exactly north or south of 
the observer. The declinations of stars, correspond- 
ing to the latitude of points on the surface of the 
earth, are then measured by a finely graduated circle. 
Owing to the motion of the earth all stars cross the 
meridian twice during every twenty-four hours. The 
right ascension, corresponding to longitude, will be 
given by the time of transit. At first, this time was 
found by the ‘“‘eye and ear’’ method in which the 
observer counted the ticks of an accurate timepiece 
and compared them mentally with the instant at which 
the star appeared to cross a wire in the field of view 
of the telescope. About the middle of the nineteenth 
century a great advance was made by recording the 
time electrically on a chronograph. This method was 
known for many years as the ‘“‘American”’ method, 
owing to its introduction and general adoption in this 
country. This continued to be the standard method 
almost to the present time, and an enormous number 
of observations have been accumulated in this way, 
the total cost amounting to millions of dollars. 

Perhaps the most valuable work of this kind is that 
of the Astronomische Gesellschaft, which, by inter- 
national cooperation, secured accurate observations of 
the positions of one hundred and sixty-six thousand 
stars. All stars of the ninth magnitude, and brighter, 
north of declination —23°, are included. Of the 
twenty zones, seven were observed in Germany, four 
in the United States, three in Russia, one each in 
Algeria, Austria, England, Holland, Norway, and 


674 


NATURE 


[| FEBRUARY 12, 1914 


Sweden. Of the American zones, one was observed 
at Albany, one at Washington, and two at Cambridge. 
Each of the latter occupied the time of an observer 
and several assistants for twenty years. It was ex- 
pected that these stars would be re-observed after an 
interval of about fifty years, to determine the proper 
motions, or annual changes in position. As the time 
is approaching when this great work should be under- 
taken, careful consideration should be given to it. 

Fortunately, the twentieth century has already 
developed two new methods, which might replace the 
older plans. The first of these is the transit micro- 
meter, in which a motion is given to the wire in the 
field of the telescope, so that it shall follow closely 
the motion of the image of a star as it transits through 
the field. A wide difference of opinion exists among 
leading astronomers as to the best method of securing 
this motion. In the earlier instruments constructed 
by Repsold, the motion was given by a screw turned 
by the two hands alternately. This method certainly 
gives excellent results, and is still used largely in 
geodetic work. Anyone who has tried it will find that 
with the rapid motion of an equatorial star under a 
high power, it is difficult to satisfy himself that the 
wire always bisects the star. If clockwork is used, 
the rate must vary with the declination, and it is 
strange that this is not done by electrical control 
instead of the somewhat crude mechanical devices 
now employed. The wire records its position auto- 
matically on a chronograph at short intervals. The 
plan of permitting this record only when the observer 
is satisfied that coincidence takes place, as is done 
at Heidelberg, seems a good one. Evidently a certain 
relative motion will give better results than a greater 
or less motion. It would appear to follow logically 
that this apparent motion should be given to all stars 
and the record permitted only for the few seconds of 
apparent coincidence. We can expect no better results 
than those obtained with a filar micrometer. The 
best plan may therefore prove to be to give a motion 
to the wire nearly equal to that of the star, whatever 
the declination of the latter, by a suitable variation 
of the clockwork. The best rate could readily be 
determined by observing stars at different distances 
from the pole. Successive settings should then be 
made as with a filar micrometer, closing the circuit 
on the chronograph only when the bisection was satis- 
factory. A similar setting should also be made for 
the declinations. The two coordinates could thus be 
determined with an accuracy substantially the same 
as that of a filar micrometer. Experience has shown 
that one star a minute can be observed in both co- 
ordinates with the transit micrometer. There can 
be little doubt that positions could thus be obtained 
with much greater accuracy than by the methods now 
in use. The special advantage would be the elimina- 
tion of systematic errors. 

A second method of determining positions, recently 
developed at the Allegheny Observatory, is by plates 
taken with a photographic doublet. Ordinary plates 
must be replaced by those of plate-glass. By taking 
suitable precautions positions may be determined of 
even the faintest stars, with an accuracy at least 
equal to that of a meridian circle. To obtain the best 
results, the field should be about 5° square on an 
8x10 plate. The focal length of the telescope would 
accordingly be about two metres. The large field 
would permit the constants of each plate to be derived 
from stars as bright as the eighth magnitude. The 
economy of this method would be very great, as com- 
pared with a meridian circle. The usefulness of the 
latter instrument appears to be confined to observa- 
tions of the brighter stars. ‘Accordingly, its aperture 
may be reduced. The ideal plan would apparently be 


NO. 23II, VOL. a21 


in fact, in almost every department of astronomy. 


to divide the sky into regions 5° square, and select in 
each five or more stars of about the eighth magnitude, 
and of approximately the same class of spectrum, as 
class K, so that all should haveabout the same colour. 
The positions of these should be determined with the 
greatest possible accuracy with meridian circles, as 
described above. Some brighter stars should be in- 
cluded to render available the vast number of observa- 
tions of these objects made in the past. Positions of 
the stars in the Gesellschaft catalogues and all fainter 
stars should be determined by photography. : 
Various attempts aré now being made to determine 
the absolute positions of the stars by means of photo- 
graphy. It appears probable that a pier placed under 
ground will remain free from irregular motions, and 


that if this can be accomplished, the absolute positions — 


of the stars near the equator can be found by photo- 
graphy. To determine the equinox, Venus and Mer- 
cury should be photographed, as well as the sun. By 
the very satisfactory cooperation of the Princeton, 
Yale, and Harvard Observatories, the position of the 
moon is now determined by photography. The results 
of a preliminary discussion indicate an accuracy at 
least equal to that of the best meridian determinations, 
those of the Greenwich Observatory. ha 
Excellent progress ic also being made in determin- 
ing the parallax of the stars by photography. The 
recent increase in accuracy is at least tenfold, or that 
of another place of decimals. A hundredth of a 
second of arc can be determined with greater accuracy 
than a tenth of a second twenty or thirty years ago. 
The just criticism has been made of American 
astronomers that while they have contributed more 
than their share of the work in astrophysics, the older 
science of astronomy of position has been greatly 
neglected. This is partly due to the fact that much 
of this work has been left to the United States Naval 
Observatory, which in the past has failed to justify 
the liberal appropriations made for its support. While 
Congress has given it for many years a much larger 
income than that of any other observatory in the 


world, the law has been such that it is impossible to 


attain the best results. The superintendent must be 
a naval officer, instead of an astronomer, and even 
then must go to sea after a short term. Accordingly 
the Naval Observatory during a period of thirty-seven 
years had twenty superintendents with an average 
term of fewer than two years. The Greenwich Ob- 
servatory during a period of 235 years, from 1675 to 
1910, has had eight Astronomers Royal, with an 
average term of twenty-nine years. The work of the 
latter institution with but half the income has greatl 
exceeded that of the Naval Observatory. It shoul 
be stated, however, that within the last few weeks 
the Naval Observatory has established an admirable 
wireless time service, by which anyone, at trifling 
expense, can obtain accurate time within a tenth of a 
second. The Navy has no need of a great observa- 
tory, from which it derives but little credit. 


sent unfortunate conditions, but the necessary action 
has not been taken by Congress. The obvious remedy 
is to remove the observatory to another department, 
or place it under the direction of the Smithsonian 
Institution, and appoint an astronomer at its head. 
What grander field of work could be undertaken by 
this observatory than that desired by astronomers and 
neglected elsewhere? For instance, computers of 
double-star orbits are continually complaining that 
while a surplus of measures of the easy objects are 
available, many difficult objects are 
although measures of them are greatly needed. The 
same is true of the asteroids, of variable stars, ard, 


Three | : 


successive Boards of Visitors have pointed out the pre- — 


neglected, — 


J 


i 


< 


“FEBRUARY 12, 1914] 


By making the observations desired by experts, every 
hour would be saved, and work of the greatest value 
accumulated. 

Astrophysics assumed prominence as a science about 
forty years ago, although it was foreshadowed by 
certain far-seeing astronomers, like the Herschels, 
G. P. Bond, Huggins, Draper, and others. One de- 
partment, the study of the light of the stars, was 
developed much earlier, originating in the Almagest, 
and its revision a thousand years later by Safi. These 
catalogues show that the relative brightness of the 
stars has not changed sensibly during the last two 
thousand years. Also, that the human eye has the 
same sensitiveness to different colours now as then. 
Stellar brightness was made a precise science by that 
great astronomer, William Herschel. His six cata- 
logues, two of which remained unknown for eighty 
years, give precise measures of the light of the three 
thousand stars contained in them with an accuracy 
comparable with recent work, 

In 1877, stellar photometry was taken up on a large 
scale at Harvard. Since then, more than two million 
photometric settings have been made. A station in 
Arequipa, Peru, permitted the southern stars to be 
observed on the same system as the northern stars. 
We have now, accordingly, measures of about eighty 
thousand stars, including all the seventh magnitude 
and brighter, many of the ninth magnitude, and some 
as faint as the thirteenth magnitude. The excellent 
work of the Potsdam Observatory gives measures of 
the light of fourteen thousand stars, including all 
northern stars of the magnitude 7-5 and brighter. 
The Potsdam and Harvard systems agree admirably 
if a correction is applied for the colour, or spectrum, 
of the stars. They should never be combined, or com- 
pared, unless this correction is applied. 

Stellar photography, originating in the work of 
George Bond in 1857, has revolutionised many depart- 
ments of astronomy. The great work of a chart of 
the entire sky, undertaken by the Paris Observatory 
in cooperation with several others, is a sad example of 
the danger of undertaking a work on too large a 
scale. Although several observatories have been con- 
tinually at work upon it for a quarter of a century, it 
has been predicted that at least fifty years must elapse 
before it is completed, and no positions of any southern 
stars have yet been published. In striking contrast 
to this is the early completion of the Cape Photo- 
graphic Durchmusterung, which gives the positions 
and magnitudes of nearly half a million stars south of 
—19°. It illustrates the results of the happy combina- 
tion of skilful planning with routine organisation, 
conducted on a very large scale. The extension of 
this work to the north pole is now being planned, but 
with the additional condition that the colour index, as 
well as the photographic magnitude, will be deter- 
mined. The former will be found by photographing 
the stars by means of their yellow or red, as well as 
their blue, light, the difference in the magnitudes 
giving the colour index. 

Much might be said of the numerous applications of 
photography to the determination of stellar magnitude. 
The 60-in. reflector of the Mount Wilson Observatory, 
using exposures of several hours, has succeeded in 
photographing stars as faint as the twentieth mag- 
nitude. An international committee, with members 
from England, France, Germany, Russia, Holland, 
and the United States, has adopted a scale of mag- 
nitudes based on two investigations made at Harvard. 
One of these was made with the meridian photometer, 
and the other is an elaborate investigation by Miss 
H. S. Leavitt of the photographic magnitude of 
seventy-six stars near the north pole. A standard 
scale is thus provided from the first to the twentieth 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


675 


magnitude. We may say from the minus twenty-sixth 
to the twentieth magnitudes, since accordant results 
for the light of the sun have been obtained by Profs. 
W. H. Pickering and E. S. King. For many pur- 
poses photography may well replace visual photo- 
metric measures, since for stars brighter than the 
fifteenth magnitude photographs may be taken with 
yellow light. 

One of the principal uses of measures of the light 
of the stars is the study of the variables, or those in 
which the brightness is not constant. A bibliography 
of these by Miss Cannon is recorded on about forty 
thousand cards. The number of known variables is 
now about forty-five hundred, of which three-quarters 
have been discovered by photography at the Harvard 
Observatory. There are several kinds of variable 
stars. Variables of long period undergo changes 
which repeat themselves somewhat irregularly in a 
period of several months, and at maximum are often 
several thousand times as bright as at minimum. 
The most useful work that an amateur can do with a 
small telescope is the observation of those objects. An 
important work undertaken by members of the British 
Astronomical Association has been the observation of 
variable stars. During the last thirteen years they 
have accumulated twenty thousand such observations, 
all reduced to the same scale, which is that of the Har- 
vard photometry. Similar work in the United States 
has accumulated ten and sixteen thousand observa- 
tions respectively in the last two years. 

Variables of short period complete their changes in 
a few days, or hours. Prof. Bailey has found five 
hundred such objects in the globular clusters. In one 
of these clusters, Messier 3, out of a thousand stars 
one-seventh are variable, all have a period of about 
half a day, and their periods are known within a 
fraction of a second. Their light changes so rapidly 
that in one case it doubles in seven minutes. It is a 
strange thought that out of a thousand stars, looking 
exactly alike, there should be a hundred little chrono- 
meters keeping perfect time, and the rate of which 
is known with such accuracy. About a hundred and 
fifty variables belong to the Algol class, in which the 
light is uniform for a large part of the time, under- 
going a sudden diminution at regular intervals. This 
is due to the eclipse of two bodies, one darker than 
the other, revolving around their common centre of 
gravity. An elaborate theoretical study of this 
problem has been made at the Princeton Observatory, 
and, from the photometric and photographic mag- 
nitudes made at Harvard and elsewhere, the dimen- 
sions of a large number of these systems have been 
determined. 

Photography still can scarcely compete with other 
methods where the greatest accuracy is desired, as, for 
instance, the measures with the polarising photometer 
by the late Oliver C. Wendell. The masterly use of 
the selenium photometer by Prof. Stebbins gives re- 
sults for bright stars of still greater accuracy, while 
the experiments in Germany with the photo-electric 
cell by Rosenberg and Guthnick give results which 
promise to revolutionise our present methods. The 
principal source of error appears to be the varying 
transparency of the air. The trial of the instrument 
in a location where the air is exceedingly clear and 
steady for long periods is greatly to be desired. 

During the last twenty-five years photographs have 
been obtained by the Harvard Observatory in order 
to furnish a history of the stellar universe. Two 
similar 8-in. photographic doublets have been used, 
one mounted at Cambridge for the northern, and the 
other at Arequipa, for the southern stars. With each 
of these instruments about forty thousand photographs 
have been taken. The total weight of these plates is 


about forty tons. As each plate covers a ‘region 10° 
square, every part of the sky has been photographed, 
on the average, a hundred times. This work is now 
supplemented by two small Cooke anastigmat ‘lenses, 
each having a. field 30° square. The number of plates 
taken with these two instruments are nine thousand 
and fourteen thousand respectively. The exposures 
with the larger instruments are, in general, ten 
minutes, showing stars of the thirteenth magnitude. 
The exposures with the smaller instruments are one 
hour, showing stars of the eleventh magnitude. A con- 
tinuous history of the sky is thus furnished from 
which the magnitude and position of any stellar 
object of sufficient brightness can be determined for 
a large number of nights during the last quarter of a 
century. A striking illustration of the value of this 
collection occurred when the planet Eros was dis- 
covered in 1898. It appeared that this object was 
nearer the earth in 1894 than would occur again for 
thirty-five years. An examination of the photographs 
showed its presence on twenty-three plates, and from 
their positions, the parallax of the sun and mass of 
the earth were determined with an accuracy equal to 
that of any of the methods previously used, and on 
which an enormous amount of time and money had 
been spent. 

For many years the Kiel and Harvard Observa- 
tories have served as distributing centres of astro- 
nomical discoveries and observations in Europe and 
America, respectively. The last new star which is 
known to have appeared, Nova Geminorum No. 2, 
was discovered by Enebo at Dombass, Norway, on 
Tuesday, March 13, 1912. The cable message was 
received at Cambridge on Wednesday morning, and 
the star was observed at several American observa- 
tories the next evening, or the night following its 
discovery. An examination of the Harvard photo- 
graphs showed that two plates, had been taken on the 
preceding Sunday, March 11, on which no trace of the 
nova was visible, and two on Monday, March 12, 
showing it of nearly its full brightness. Photographs 
taken on Wednesday compared with those obtained 
a few days later showed the wonderful change in 
its spectrum, from the solar type with dark lines, to 
the typical spectrum of a nova with bright lines. 

There is no department of astronomy which is now 
receiving greater attention than the study of the spec- 
tra of the stars. Dr. Henry Draper was the first to 
photograph the lines in a stellar spectrum, although 
Sir William Huggins had already. obtained a mark 
from the spectrum of Sirius, and later was the first 
to publish his results in successfully photographing 
stellar spectra. The untimely death of. Dr. Draper 
in the midst of his work led to the establishment at 
Harvard of the Henry Draper Memorial. For nearly 
thirty years Mrs. Draper has maintained an active 
interest in this work. By placing a large prism over 
the objective of a telescope, the light of all the brighter 
stars in the field are spread out into spectra, so that 
instead of photographing the spectrum of one star 
at a time, as with a slit spectroscope, as many as a 
thousand have sometimes been taken on a single 
plate. Such photographs, covering the entire sky, 
have been taken with the two 8-in. doublets already 
mentioned. A study of the spectra thus obtained 
enabled Mrs. Fleming to discover many hundred 
objects the spectra of which are peculiar.. Among 
them may be mentioned ten of the nineteen new stars 
known to have appeared during the years in which 
she was engaged in this work, while five of the 
others were also found at Harvard by other observers. 
She discovered more than two hundred variable stars, 
ninety-oné out of the 108 stars of the very peculiar 
fifth type, and showed that these objects occurred 


NO, 2211, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


c 


[FEBRUARY 12, 1914: 


only ‘very near the central line of the Milky Way. 
During the last two or three years a great demand 
has arisen for the class of spectrum of large numbers 
of stars. The Harvard photographs show the class 
of spectrum of nearly two hundred thousand. stars. 
Miss Cannon has, accordingly, undertaken to prepare 
a catalogue of these objects, with the result that she 
has already classified about one hundred and fifteen 
thousand spectra, covering more than one-half of the 
sky. The work is progressing at the rate of five 
thousand stars monthly, and the results will fill seven 
of the large quarto Annals of the Harvard Observa- 
tory. The organisation of this work has required 
the most careful application of the principles of 
“scientific management.” Ai: 

One of the most important results derived from the 
Harvard photographs was the discovery that in cer- 
tain spectra the lines were alternately double and 
single. This, and the discovery by Vogel at Potsdam 
that the lines of the variable star Algol continually 
changed their position, revealed the existence of 
spectroscopic binaries. No department of astronomy 
is receiving more attention, at the present time, than 
these objects, and in general the motion of the stars 
in the line of sight. The Lick, Yerkes, Greenwich, 
Potsdam, Bonn, and Ottawa Observatories are only 
a portion of those directing a large part of their 
energy to this subject. i 

One of the most important generalisations of recent 
times is the discovery by Prof. Campbell that the 


The proper motion of a star was similarly found by 
the late Lewis Boss to be dependent on the same 
quantity. ia 

In conclusion, the United States has attained an 
enviable position in the newer departments of astro- 
nomy. Can this be maintained? In Europe, 
especially in Germany, observatories and instruments 
of the highest grade are now being constructed, the 
Government furnishing appliances with the most 
liberal hand. Perhaps the most promising sign for 
the future is the friendly cooperation of American 
astronomers, which has never been more marked than 
at the present time. : 

The possibilities of work are now greater than ever 
before. A small fraction of the effort sxpended in 
teaching science, if devoted to its extension and pro- 
gress, would fulfil the objects of the American Asso- 
ciation for the Advancement of Science. : : 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL © 
INTELLIGENCE. 


CamBripGE.—A matter about which there is con- 
siderable divergence of opinion will come up for settle- 
ment this term. The Special Board for Medicine 
wishes to apply to the Board of Agriculture for a 
grant towards the medical department. Such grants 
are now commonly being made to the various medical 
schools in other parts of England, but Government 
grants mean Government control, and certain mem- 
bers of the Senate are apprehensive that Government 
control would mean an undue interference with the 
liberty of the University. On the other hand, similar 
grants, with the implied control, have already been 
accepted by the Cambridge School of Agriculture and 
by the department of astrophysics. The returns from 
the various colleges show that there are 330. medical 
students now in residence in the University. An 
examination of the figures relating to the grant made 
to three of the London medical schools for their full 
time students affords evidence that the grant is about 
14l, per annum a student. Taking these two figures, 
| it may be calculated that the Cambridge Medical School 


velocity of a star depends upon its class of spectrum. 


Oe 


FEBRUARY 12, 1914] 


would receive a sum of at least 46001, per annum, 
which might be applied to the relief of its most 
urgent. requirements. The heads of the various de- 
partments connected with the medical school have 
recently asked for a‘sum of 7oool. per annum to bring 
the manning and equipment of their departments up 
to date. It is obvious that no such sum could be 
expected, but a sum of 46001. per annum would relieve 
the most urgent needs of the school, would render 
the teaching more efficient, and would enable research 
to be carried out in the medical school on a scale 
commensurate with the importance of the University. 

The foreign mathematicians who attended the fifth 
International Congress of Mathematicians held at 
Cambridge in 1912 subscribed a sum to be devoted 
to a memorial of a permanent nature to the late 
Sadlerian professor, Dr. Cayley. Having in mind 
that the presidency of this congress so brilliantly car- 
ried through was the last public appearance of Sir 
George Darwin, his colleagues in the administration 
of the congress have desired to provide a memorial 
of his work in the same connection. Accordingly a 
brass plate with armorial decorations has been pre- 
pared, and is now offered by Sir Joseph Larmor on 
behalf of his colleagues to the University. It is 
proposed to fix this brass in the chief mathematical 
lecture-room in the new Lecture Rooms Building. 

The Botanic Gardens Syndicate again finds its 
income quite inadequate to the proper maintenance 
of the gardens. The increase in rates and taxes, in 
wages, and in the cost of fuel, is such that at the 
present time there is a deficit of 1o8/. In a report 
to the Senate the syndicate requests that the annual 
amount allowed to the Botanic Gardens be increased 
from 13501. to ‘1500l., and that the deficit be extin- 
guished. 

The Physiological Laboratory Building Syndicate 
has published a report giving details of the expendi- 
ture of nearly 160o0l. on fittings for the new laboratory 
which is rapidly approaching completion. Further 
fittings and furniture, however, are needed, and the 
syndicate is asking for power to spend an additional 
5o0ol. which has been provided by the University Asso- 
ciation. 


Dr. WarRINGTON YoRKE has been appointed to the 
Walter Myers chair of parasitology, recently estab- 
lished in the University of Liverpool. 


THE current number of The Fortnightly Review 
includes an article on continuation schools in Englan 
and Germany, which is a serious indictment of the 
conditions prevailing in this country with regard to 
the provision made for the continued education of 
children on leaving school at fourteen years of age, 
and in respect of the advantage which is taken of 
such provision, and a very unfavourable comparison 
is drawn with.the conditions prevailing in Germany. 
We have been accustomed to: believe that in respect 
of provision for evening education we have been 
easily in the front rank, but a glance at the figures 
presented by the Board of Education in its report for 
1g1I-12 will dispel the illusion. There were but 
708,000 students of all ages in the various evening 
schools throughout England and Wales, and of these 
only 307,000 were under seventeen, out of a total 
child population of these ages (not including those 
still at elementary and secondary schools) of not fewer 
than two and one-third millions, so that only 13 per 
cent. of the children at the most impressionable period 
of their ,lives :were receiving continued education in 
any form. But this is not all, for the attendance, 
taking the average of the whole country, is miserably 
low. In the county boroughs the average number of 
hours of instruction received was fifty-eight, -and in 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


677 


the administrative counties,: forty-nine, whilst no 
less than 18 per cent., or nearly 124,000 pupils, 
received fewer than fourteen hours’ instruction for the 
session. Throughout Germany, on the other hand, 
laws have been passed and are in active operation 
for the compulsory attendance for about 240 hours 
per annum, or six to eight hours a week, of all 
children who have left school and until they are seven- 
teen years of age, chiefly in day continuation schools 
and within the hours normally devoted to labour, and 
the responsibility for the due execution of the law. is 
laid upon the employer. The course is vocational and 
general. As an example of the success achieved in 
Berlin during the year 1910-11, there were 32,000 
students in attendance at compulsory schools, in addi- 
tion to upwards of 36,000 of both sexes at optional 
schools. In the new session of Parliament a Bill will 
be introduced, promoted by Mr. Chiozza Money and 
others, for the enactment of compulsory continued 
education of children who have left school until they 
reach seventeen years of age. It is to be hoped that 
the Bill will receive serious attention. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


Lonpon. 

Royal Society, February 5.—Sir William Crookes, 
O.M., president, in the chair.—Prof. L. Hill, 
McQueen, and M. Flack: The conduction of the pulse 
wave and the measurement of arterial pressure.—J. 
Barcrofit, M. Camis, C. G. Mathison, I, Roberts, and 
J. H. Ryfiel: Report of the Monte Rosa Expedition 
of 1911. I. Curves representing the equilibrium be- 
tween oxygen and haemoglobin were determined for 
vesting individuals at Col d’Olen and the Capanna 


Margherita. These and all others were capable of 
representation by the equation 
| ee 
/loo= ae 
Sais 1x K," 


y=percentage saturation of hemoglobin with oxygen ; 
x=oxygen pressure; K-=equilibrium constant of 
reaction; m=average number of molecules of Hb 
assumed to be in an aggregate. Notwithstanding a 
fall in the CO, pressure of the blood, no change in 
K could be detected, except as the mean of a large 
number of observations, when a slight fall in K, indi- 
cating decreased alkalinity of the blood, was apparent. 
The curves were determined in the presence of the 
existing alveolar CO, pressure. II.. The blood was 
investigated similarly after exercise, which usually con- 
sisted in climbing 1000 ft. Climbs were made by the 
same individuals at—(1) Carlingford, co. Louth, from 
sea-level ; (2) Col d’Olen, from, gooo ft. A diminution in 
K invariably occurred. Climbing at a given rate the 
reduction in K was much greater at high altitudes. 
A given reduction in K involved much more rapid 
climbing at low altitudes. The change in K caused 
by exercise, whether at high or low altitudes, was 
entirely accounted for by production of lactic acid. 
Determinations of the hydrogen ion concentration in 
the blood of one have been made. These show a 
defined relation between C, and K, so that the one 
may be calculated from the other.—C. H. Martin and 
K. Lewin: Some notes on soil protozoa. Part i. The 
main purpose of this introductory paper is not the 
study of Amoebz from a specific point of view, so 
much as the proof of the existence. of a relatively 
frequent trophic Protozoan fauna in certain soils, and 
the rough indication of possible methods of dealing 
with this fauna. The startling success in the Lee 
Valley of the treatment of sick soils by partial steri- 
lisation, introduced by Russell, would seem to present 
a very strong. argument in favour of the view that 


678 


these Protozoa do exercise an important influence on 
plant growth in these soils. The authors have been 
able to establish the occurrence of a trophic Protozoan 
fauna in certain field soils that they have examined, 
and to this question they hope to return in a future 
paper.—J. F. Gemmill; The development of the star- 
fish, Asterias rubens, L.—Dr. A. H. Church : The floral 
mechanism of Welwitschia mirabilis, Hook. 


Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, January 15.— 
Mr. Bedford McNeill, president, in the chair.—C. W. 
Purington: The Bereozovsk gold deposit, Ural Dis- 
trict, Russia. After a brief historical summary of the 
work done on the Bereozovsk estate, the author de- 
votes considerable attention to the geological features, 
and especially to the occurrence of auriferous granite 
which 


dykes are more or less distinctive of 
this. property. These dykes, of porphyritic rock 
of granitic type, in which is developed a 
considerable amount of  schistosity, extend in 
a generally north and south direction, alter- 


nating with micaceous schist. In the immediate 
vicinity of the village is an area of pure granite; to 
the west are patches of listvenite, probably a meta- 
morphosed dolomitic limestone; and in connection 
with the deposits occur bands of serpentine represent- 
ing metamorphosed basic dykes. The quartz veins, 
worked for gold, penetrate the granite dykes (locally 
known as beresite), almost at right angles, and it is a 
curious fact that though these beresite dykes or lodes, 
to the number of 143, have been worked for gold over 
lengths ranging from 100 to 3000 ft., they only show 
gold values by virtue of the quartz veins which cross 
them. It is, in fact, not likely that the beresite is 
primarily auriferous, but it is so immediately situated 
to the intruding quartz veins as to have become im- 
pregnated by fissuring. Moreover, only within the 
limits of the beresite dykes are the quartz veins wide 
enough and rich enough to produce payable gold. 
The author deals with the geological problems attach- 
ing to this noteworthy occurrence.—J. Mackintosh 
Bell: The outlook for the mineral industry in Canada. 
For the purposes of his review, the author divides 
Canada into four sections, referred to respectively as 
the south-eastern, central prairie, western, and north 
central areas, and deals with these in detail. Of 
these, the first-named has a production almost entirely 
confined to coal. The central area also shows at pre- 
sent little metallic output. The western section, com- 
prising British Columbia and the Yukon district, is of 
. course notably mineral producing, but since 1907 the 
fourth of the author’s arbitrary divisions, the north 
central, comprising Labrador, Ontario, Quebec, Mani- 
toba, Saskatchewan, and part of the North-West Terri- 
tories, has by the discoveries at Cobalt, Sudbury, and 
Porcupine, leapt into first place, though even now 
its latent possibilities are far from being fully realised. 
The author supplies much valuable information with 
regard to the mineral production of the various dis- 
tricts and as to the results to be expected when 
prospecting has been extended with the growth of the 
railroad systems of the Dominion. 


Geological Society, January 21.—Dr. Aubrey Strahan, 


president, in the chair.—W. R. Watt: Geology 
of the country round Huntly (Aberdeenshire). Two 
distinct series of rocks can be distinguished—a foliated 


and a non-foliated. In the former occur rocks origin- 
ally sedimentary and others originally igneous. In 
the non-foliated series, wholly of igneous origin, three 
main intrusions occur :—(1) The earliest and most 
extensive is a norite; into this is intruded (2) the 
heterogeneous mass known as the Central Intrusion; 
and (3) the large intrusion of the Carvichen Granitite. 
Each of these masses produces contact-alteration in 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92] 


NATURE. 


[FEBRUARY 12, 1914. 


the surrounding rocks. Where the Central Intrusion 
or the Carvichen Granitite is intruded into the earlier 
norite, a norite containing cordierite is produced. The 
original norite, by absorptiom of sediment, produces 
also along its margin a cordierite-norite—Dr. A. 
Jowett: The glacial geology of East Lancashire. The 
area comprises the western slopes of the Pennines’ 
and their westerly offshoot, the Rossendale highland, 
Three types of drift have been recognised :—(1) Local 
drift, consisting of materials which can be found in 
situ in the neighbourhood; (2) Ribblesdale drift with 
Carboniferous Limestone; (3) north-western drift 
which also contains igneous rocks from the Lake 
District and S.W. Scotland. The distribution of the 
drift and the evidence of striated rock-surfaces sug- 
gest the invasion of this area by an ice-sheet which 
reached up to the Pennine watershed, and projected 
ice-lobes across it through gaps. In the N.E. portion 
of the area the direction of ice-movement was from 
north to south; in the west from N.N.W. to S.S.E., 
but on the south of the Rossendale highland the direc- 
tion of flow curved round towards the E.N.E., and 
near Rochdale, towards the north. No evidence of 
local glaciation has been found. The limit of the 
N.W. drift rises at the rate of about 4 ft. a mile 
towards the Irish Sea; and the ice-sheet was probably 
more than 2000 ft. above present sea-level in the middle 
of the Irish Sea in this latitude. It is probable that 
the N.W. ice arrived in this area later, and dis- 
appeared earlier, than the Ribblesdale ice. There is 
no evidence for more than one glacial period. 


Dvs.in. Se 

Royal Irish Academy, January 26.—Rev. J. P- 
Mahaffy, president, in the chair.—H. C, Plummer: 
Note on the use of conjugate functions in some 
dynamical problems. Two-dimensional. problems in 
dynamics can be transformed into other problems by. 
means of the equation of energy and conjugate func- 
tions of the coordinates. The general form of the 
transformed equations is found for relative motion 
and the application to some particular cases is indi- 
cated.—J. R. Kilroe and T. Hallissy : Geology in con- 
nection with the Clare Island Survey. The paper 
gives a general account of the rocks entering into the 
structure of the island, and the geographical features 
to which they give rise. The older Paleozoic rocks, 
which form the bulk of the area, have been studied. 
in the light of recent observations on similar rocks 
occurring close by on the mainland. An account of 
the glaciation of the island is also included, and the 
reconstruction of its recent geological history is 
attempted with a view to an explanation of the many 
problems connected with the present distribution of th 
fauna and flora of the district. a 


Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, February 2—M. P. Appell in 
the chair.—G. Humbert: Some remarkable numerical 
functions.—A. Haller and R. Cornubert : The alkylation 
of the cyclopentanones and breaking the cyclic chain 
of the tetra-alkyl derivatives into a and a’, by means 
of sodium amide. A description of the preparation 
and properties of mono-, di-, tri-, and tetra-methyl- 
cyclopentanones. The last-named compound, heated 
with sodium amide in toluene solution for seven hours, 
gives the open chain amide of 2:2: 5-trimethylcaproic 
acid.—Charles Richet: A new type of anaphylaxis. 
Dogs chloroformed for the first time never show 
leucocytosis, but the same animal, chloroformed a 
second time after an interval of nineteen days, always 
presents strong leucocytosis. The increase in the 
number of leucocytes after the second administration 
of chloroform is gradual, reaching a maximum in six 
or seven days, and there is nothing corresponding to 


F * 


2 


FEBRUARY 12, 1914] 


NATURE 


679 


the anaphylactic shock.—Paul Sabatier and M. 
Murat: The preparation by catalysis of decahydro- 
quinoline and of decahydroquinaldine. Ten atoms of 
hydrogen can be added to the quinoline and quinaldine 
molecules by nickel catalysis, provided that the tem- 
perature of the reaction is suitably chosen and that a 
very active nickel is employed. The decahydro- 
quinaldine is new, and its properties and those of 
some of its derivatives are given._Georges Charpy : 
The fragility produced in iron and steel by deforma- 
tion at different temperatures.—Report on a memoir 
by Louis Roy, entitled ‘‘On the Movement of Viscous 
Media and Quasi-waves.’'"—M, H. Parenty was elected 
a correspondant for the section of mechanics in suc- 
cession to M. Duhem, elected non-resident member.— 
The Perpetual Secretary announced the death of M. 
Harry Rosenbusch, correspondant for the section of 
mineralogy.—M. Gambier: Algebraic curves of con- 
stant torsion, genus not zero.—A. Buhl: The exten- 
sions of Stokes’s formula, the Monge-Ampére 
equations, and analytical functions of two variables.— 
E. Cartan; The integration of certain systems of 
differential equations.—R. Boulyguine ; The representa- 
tion of a prime number by a series of squares.—G. 
Polya: A question concerning integral functions.—M. 
de Broglie: The production of Réntgen-ray spectra by 
simple passage of the incident rays through thin 
sheets.—R. Fortrat : The simplification and regularisa- 
tion of the spectral bands by the magnetic field. A 
discussion of a recent paper on the same subject by 
MM. Deslandres and Azambuja.—E. Tassilly : A study 
of the process of diazotising by the spectroscopic 
method. The amount of diazo-compound formed was 
followed by measuring the absorption and the results 
for aniline, orthotoluidine, and paratoluidine given 
graphically.—Maurice Drapier: The influence of shak- 
ing on the solution of copper in nitric acid. Solutions 
of nitric acid of strengths readily attacking copper 
(30 to 48 per cent.) when at rest, lose their power of 
dissolving the metal when rapidly rotated or shaken. 
As an example, a solution of 36 per cent. nitric acid 
which dissolved 0-397 gram of copper from a given 
piece of metal at rest in fifteen minutes, dissolved 
only 0:004 gram in the same time when the metal was 
rotated at 386 turns per minute.—L. Crussard: Limits 
of inflammability and the specific retardation of in- 
flammation.—Gustave Chauveaud: The constitution 
and morphological evolution of the bodies in the vascular 
plants.—M. Blaringhem: The production of hybrids 
between Triticum monococcum and different cultivated 
wheats.—H. Agulhon and Mlle. Th. Robert: The 
action of colloidal uranium on the pyocyanic bacillus. 
In the presence of minute amounts ‘of colloidal 
uranium the amount of pyocyanine formed by the 
bacillus is greatly increased.—Louis Roule ; The larval 
phases and metamorphosis of fishes belonging to the 
family of the Nemichythydes.—Ch. Gravier: A new 
type of parasitic Crustacean from the South American 
Antarctic.—M. Jay: Remarks on the estimation of 
boric acid in food substances.—H. Guillemard : Obser- 
vations on the physiological action of climate at high 
altitudes. Studies on the variations in the nitrogen 
compounds of the blood serum at high altitudes.— 
J. L. Dantan: The tendency towards the substitution 
of the Portuguese oyster (Gryphea angulata) for the 
native oyster (Ostrea edulis)—Maurice Nicloux: The 
laws of the absorption of carbon monoxide by the 
blood. It has been shown in the previous paper that 
the haemoglobin of the blood corpuscles put in contact 
with mixtures of carbon monoxide and oxygen com- 
bines with the two gases in proportions defined by 
their respective partial pressures and governed by the 
law of mass action. These experiments have now 
been extended to living animals (dogs), and the same 
laws are found to be applicable. 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92] 


It is shown that - 


with a given mixture of carbon monoxide and air 
when breathed by an animal, the carbon monoxide 
is fixed by the blood up to a certain limit which cannot 
be passed. Oxygen displaces the carbon monoxide 
from the blood,.and pure oxygen constitutes the best 
treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning.—André 
Mayer and Georges Schaefier : The proportion of lipoids 
in the tissues and the physiological activity of the 
cells. Thermal regulation. When the body is sub- 
jected to extremes of heat or cold variations are pro- 
duced in the amounts of lipoid phosphorus in the 
serum.—P. A. Dangeard: The penetrating power of 
violet and ultra-violet rays through leaves.—Em. 
Bourquelot and M. Bridel: Ferment equilibria. Distri- 
bution and displacements in an alcoholic medium con- 
taining glucose and two glucoside-forming ferments. 
—Emile Haug: The Triassic zone of the Huveaune. 
—Léon Bertrand and Antonin Lanquine : The prolonga- 
tion of the Bessilons sheet in the south-west of the 
Maritime Alps, up to the Var valley. 


. BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts 
and Sciences. Vol. xviii. A Monograph of the 
Terrestrial Palzeozoic Arachnida of North America. By 
Prof. A. Petrunkevitch. Pp. 137+plates. (New 
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.) 

Notes on the Blue-Green Algae. With a Key to the 
Species of Oscillatoria and Phormidium. By H. 
Wager. Pp. 48. (London: A. Brown and Sons, Ltd.) 
2s. 6d. net. 

Meteorology of Australia. Commonwealth Bureau 
of Meteorology. The Climate and Weather of Aus- 
tralia. By H. A. Hunt, G. Taylor, and E. T. Quayle. 
Pp. 93+plates. (Melbourne: A. J. Mullett.) 5s. 

The Philosophy of Bergson. By Hon. B. Russell, 
with a Reply by W. W. Carr, and a Rejoinder by 
Mr. Russell. Pp. 36. (Cambridge: Bowes and 
Bowes; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 1s. net. 

Gipsy Coppersmiths in Liverpool and Birkenhead. 
By Andreas (Mui Shuko.) Pp. iv+66. (Liverpool : 
H. Young and Sons.) ts. net. 


Ministry of Finance, Egypt. Survey Department. 


Meteorological Report for the year 1911. Part i., 
Helwan Observatory. Pp. xvi+31. (Cairo: Govern- 
ment Press.) P.T.15. 

Tychonis Brahe Dani, Opera Omnia.  Edidit 
J. L. E. Dreyer. Tomus i. Pp. lix+320. (Copen- 


hagen: Gyldendalske Boghandel.) 

The Geographic Society of Chicago. Bulletin No. 5. 
Animal Communities in Temperate America as Illus- 
trated in the Chicago Region. By Dr. V. E. Shel- 


ford. Pp. xiii+362. (Chicago, Ill.: University of 
Chicago Press; London: Cambridge University 
Press.) 12s, net. 

A Text-book of Medical Entomology. By W. S. 


Patton and Dr. F. W. Cragg. Pp. xxxiv+768 + Ixxxix 
plates. (London, Madras, and Calcutta: Christian 
Literature Society for India.) 21s. 

Stanford’s Geological Atlas of Great Britain and 
Ireland. By H. B. Woodward. Third edition. Pp. 
xii+214+50 plates. (London: E. Stanford, Ltd.) 
12s. 6d. net. 

Aus Chiles Vergangenheit Plaudereien. By A. 
Wilckens. Pp. 108. (Valparaiso: C. F. Niemeyer.) 

Year-Book of the Royal Society of London, 1914. 
Pp. 254. (London: Harrison and Sons.) 5s. 

The Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and . 
Ireland. Lectures on the Research Chemist in the 
Works, with Special Reference to the Textile Indus- 
tries. .By W. P. Dreaper. Pp. 70. (London: Insti- 
tute of Chemistry.) 

Dental Diseases in Relation to Public Health. By 


680 


NATURE. 


[FEBRUARY 12, 1914. 


Dr. J. Sim Wallace. Pp. viii+go. 
Dental. Record.) 3s, net. 
Tabellen zur Berechnung der ‘‘ theoretischen’’ Mol- 


(London: The 


refraktionen organischer Verbindungen. By K. v. 
Auwers and A. Boennecke. Pp. 27. (Berlin: J. 
Springer.) 1.20 marks. 

Die Entstehung des Lebendigen. By Prof. E. 


Schwalbe. Pp, 27, (Jena: G. Fischer.) 80 pfennigs. 

Dynamics. By Prof. H. Lamb. Pp. xi+344. 
(Cambridge University Press.) tos. 6d.- net. 

Kaiserliche Marine, Deutsche Seewarte. Deutsches 
Meteorologisches Jahrbuch fiir 1912. Beobachtungs- 
System der Deutschen Seewarte. Ergebnisse der 
Meteorologischen Beobachtungen.  Jahrgang xxxv. 
Pp. vii+176. (Hamburg.) 


Die Tiere der Vorwelt. By Prof. O. Abel. Pp. 
iv+88. (Leipzig and Berlin; B. G. Teubner.) 1.25 
marks, 


Die neueren Warmekraftmaschinen. I., Einftihr- 
ung in die Theorie und den Bau der Gasmaschinen. 
By Prof. R. Vater. Pp. iv+120. (Leipzig and Ber- 
lin: B. G. Teubner.) 1.25 marks. 

Leitfaden fiir das embryologische Pralxtikum und 
Grundriss der Entwicklungslehre des Menschen und 
der Wirbeltiere. By Prof. A. Oppel. Pp. vii+313. 
(Jena: G, Fischer.) 10 marks. 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, Fesrvary 12 


Roya Society, at 4.30,—Chemical Action that is Stimulated by Alter 
nating Currents: S. G. Brown.—The Effect of the Gangetic Alluyium 
on the Plumb-line in Northern India: R.D, Oldham.—Note on the 
Origin of Black Body Radiation: G. W..Walker.—The Transmission 
of Electric Waves along the Barth's Surface: Prof. H. M, Macdonald. 
—ransparence or Translucence of the Surface Film Produced in Polishing 
Metals: G, T. Beilby.—A Thermomagnetic Study of the Eutectoid 
Transition Point of Carbon Steels: Dr S. W. J. Smith and J. Guild,— 
Note on Osmotic Pressure ; W. R. Bousfield. 

Roya INsTITUTION, at 3.—Types and Causes of Earth Crust Folds: Sir 
Thomas H, Holland, K.C.I.E- 

ConcreTE INSTITUTE, at 7.30.—Factory Construction: P. M. Fraser. 

Rovat Society oF Arts, at 4.30.—Khorasan: the Eastern Provinces of 
Persia: Major Percy M. Sykes. 

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Some Railway Condi- 
tions governing Electrification; R. T. Smith. 

FRIDAY, Fepruary 13. 

Roya INSTITUTION, at 9.—Production of Neon and Helium by Electric 
Discharge ; Prof. J. Norman Collie. 

Royat ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—Anniversary Meeting. 

Puysicat Society, at 8.—The Moving Coil Ballistic Galvanometer: R. Ll. 
Jones.—Vibration Galvanometers of Low. Effective Resistance: A. 
Campbell.—Vacuum-tight Lead-seals for Sealing-in-wires in Vitreous 
Silica and other Glasses: Dr. H. J. S..Sand. 

MALACOLOGICAL Society, at 8.—Annual Meeting.—Presidential Address: 
ome Points and Problems in Geograrhical Distribution: Rev. A. H. 
Cooke. 

ALCHEMICAL SociEty, at 8.15.—Some Notes on the Doctrine of the First 
Matter, with Special Reference to the Works of Thomas Vaughan: Sijil 
Abelul-Ali. 

SATURDAY, Fesruary 14. 

Rovac InstiITUTION, at 3.—The Electric Fmissivity of Matter. I.: The 

Metals: Dr. J, A. Harker. 


MONDAY, Fepruary 16. 
Roya Society oF Arts, at 8.—Artistic Lithography: J. Pennell. 


TUESDAY, Fesruary 17. 

Roya InstiTuTION, at 3.—Animals and Plants under Domestication ; 
Prof. W. Bateson. 

ZootocicaL Society, at 8.30.—Lantern Demonstration of the Helminthes 
collected by Scott's Antarctic Expedition: Dr. R. T, Leiper and Surgeon 
Atkinson, R.N.—Observations made to ascertain whether any Relation 
subsists between the Seasonal Assumption of the “ Eclipse” Plumage 
in the Mallard (Aas boscas) and the Condition of the Testicle: C. G. 
Seligmann and S. G. Shattock.—Some Phases in the Female Reproductive 
System of the Mole (Zadfa: europaea): F. Wood Jones. —Contributions 
to a Study of the Dragon-fly Fauna of Borneo. II.: The Gomphinz 
and Chlorogomphinz: F, F. Laidlaw.—Note on an Imperfectly- developed 
Specimen of Echinus esculentus : H. C. Chadwick.—The Possible Con- 
nection between Spindle-length and Cell-volume: C. F. U. Meek. 

Royat. GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 8.45.—Some Aspects of Travel : Rudyard 
Kipling. 

Roya ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE (Joint Meeting with the Prehistoric 
Society. of East Anglia), at 4.—Papers by Members of the Prehistoric 
Society of East Anglia.—At 8.15.—Flint Finds in Connection with Sand ; 
R. A. Smith.—The Experimental Investigation of Flint Fracture and 
Problems of Early Man.: S. Hazzledine Warren: 

ILLUMINATING ENGINEERING SOcIETY, at 8.—Discussion on the Lighting 
of Picture Galleries.and Art Studios; Opened by Prof. S. P. Thompson. 

InsTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—/urther Discussion; The New 
Harbour Works and Dockyard at Gibraltar: A. Scott. 


NO. 2311, VOL. 92] 


Royat Sraristicat Society, at 5.—The Census of the Empire, 1911: Its” 
Scope and some of its Results; Sir J. Athelstane Baines. 


WEDNESDAY, Feuruary 18. 

AERONAUTICAL SociETY, at 8.30.—Aérial N@vigation at Sea,” 

Rovat Society oF Arts, at 8.—The Preservation of Wood: A. Ts 
Wallis-Taylor. 

Rovat METEoroLocIcAL Society, at 7.30.—The Interpretation of the 
Results of Soundings with Pilot Balloons: Dr. W. N. Shaw.—Pilot 
Balloon Ascents at the Central Flying School, Upavon, during the Year 
1913: G, M. B. Dobson, 


THURSDAY, Frervary 10 

Roya Society, at 4.30.—Prolable Papers : The Brain of Primitive Man, 
with Special Reference to the Cranial Cast and Skull of Eoanthropus (The 
Piltdown Man): Prof, G. Elliot Smith.—Oxidases : Prof. A. J. Ewart.—A 
New Malaria Parasite of Man: Dr. J. W. W. Stephens. —Investigations 
Dealing with the Phenomena of ‘‘Clov”’ Formations.” II: The’ Formation 
of a Gel from Cholate Solutions having many Properties Analogous to 
_ those of Cell Membranes: S. B. Schryver.—The Influence of the Position 
of the Cut upon Regeneration in Gunda ulvae: D. Jordan Lloyd, 

INSTITUTION OF MINING AND METALLURGY, at 8. 


FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20. < 
Roya INstiTuUTION, at 9.—Busts and Portraits of Shakespeare and of 
Burns: An Anthropological Study: Prof. Arthur Keith. 
InsTiTUTION OF MecHANiCcAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Annual General Meeting. 
—Some Modern Methods of Welding; T. T. Heaton. 
InsTITUTION OF Ciy1L ENGINEERS at 8.—The Use of Reinforced Concrete 
in Connection with Dock and Other Maritime Work ; C. S. Meik. - 


SATURDAY, Fepsruaky 21. 
Rovat INSTITUTION, at 3.—The Electric Emissivity of Matter ; Dr. J: A. 
Harker. 


CONTENTS. ‘PAGE 
A German Introduction to the Study of Mimicry. 
BypoG eh eae 2 
eat books of Chemistry, ’ By G. OS 655 
Mathematics: Pure and lise 2 + «ae Ore 
Our Bookshelf .... Suge ae A Cae 
Letters to the Editor :— 
Active Nitrogen.—Prof. H, B. Baker, F.R.S.; Hon. 
Re. strutt, b Rose sre O59 
Weather Forecasting. —W. H, Dines, F.R.S. . ee ee, 
Dr. Bastian’s Evidence for Spontaneous Generation.— 
Prof. J. B. Farmer, pes Prof. Vij 
Blackman, F.R.S. .. 660 
A Possible Cause of Explosion i in Coal Mines. Prof. 
W, A. Douglas Rudge. . . 660 
The Eugenics Education Society. Edgar Schuster 660 
Origin of Argentine Wild Horses.—Dr. W. D, 
Matthew:. . : 2 66 
Specific Heats and the Periodic Law.—Dr. H. 
Lewkowitsch .. . tc ROOT 
The End- Product of Thorium,—Prof. bie Joly, 
F.RS:; J: R.-Cotter san. « oe, eR 
Fiords and Other Inlets of the Sea. ” (Mllustrated.) 
By Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S. . she O62 
Educational Legislation in New South Wales, By 
J. H. Reynolds: . 0... 2.) 95 jon oe oie een 
Dr, Albert Gunther, F.R.S. a la. 0 ad hele hse Rn 
Notes .. Mae SS 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Idetonating Fireball of January 19. ...... .. 670 
Comet 1¢13f (Delavan)... .« MIE rs te ey fo 


Dark Regions in the Sky. . . : : PP i 
A Review of Geographical Reviews. .;). . sen 671 


Wireless Telegraphy .... Mere, (3127) 
The Preservation of Nature in Germany ou 672 
The Study of the Stars. By Prof. E. C, Pickering 673 
University and Educational Intelligence. . . . . . 676 
Societies and Academies . ; .. = «. . = =e eee 
Books Received . 0 5 5... 5 Sales cp ts 
Diary of Societies. . ... .).)00 2 0 pee 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 


MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 


Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


— 


FEBRUARY 12, I9I4] 


NATURE 


ccxlvii 


MINERALOGY—CRYSTALLOGRAPHY— 
PETROGRAPHY—GEOLOGY. 


Ask for our new 


GENERAL CATALOGUE XVIII. 


(2nd Edition) 
for the use of Middle and High Schools and Universities. 
Part I, 260 pages, 110 IIlustrations. 


This catalogue has been prepared with the view of making an exhaustive 
compilation of all educational appliances for the teaching 
of Mineralogy and Geology from a scientific as well as from 
a practical point of view. All the subjects are treated typically, and 
instructive specimens have been selected with the greatest care. A close 
examination of the catalogue will show, that owing to its careful compo- 
sition it gives the opportunity of procuring the most complete outfit for the 
various schools for instruction in and the study of the subjects named, 

Catalogue No. 18, Part I, will be sent free on application. 
Part II will appear within the course of the year. 


(Collections and single specimens of Minerals and Fossils, 
Meteorites bought and exchanged.) 


Dr. F. KRANTZ, 


RHENISH MINERAL OFFICE, BONN-ON-RHINE, GERMANY. 
Established 1833. Established 1833. 


BRITISH FOSSILS. 


JAMES R. GREGORY & CO. have a large stock of Fossils. 

The recent addition include specimens from the Wealden, 

Coal Measures, and Silurian Formations, including some 
good Trilobites, 


JAMES R. GREGORY & CoO., 


Mineralogists, &c., 


1389 FULHAM ROAD, SOUTH KENSINGTON, S.W. 


LIVING SPECIMENS FOR 
THE MICROSCOPE. 


Volvox, Spirogyra, Desmids, Diatoms, Amceba, Arcella, Actinospherium, 
Vorticella, Stentor, Hydra, Floscularia, Stephanoceros, Melicerta, and many 
other specimens of Pond Life. Price 1s. per Tube, Post Free. Helix 
pomatia, Astacus, Amphioxus, Rana, Anodon, &c., for Dissection purposes, 


THOMAS BOLTON, 
25 BALSALL HEATH ROAD, BIRMINGHAM. 


MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 
OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 
THE LABORATORY, PLYMOUTH. 


The following animals can always be supplied, either living 
or preserved by the best methods :— 

Sycon; Clava, Obelia, Sertularia; Actinia, Tealia, Caryophyllia, Alcy- 
onium; Hormiphora (preserved); Leptoplana; Lineus, Amphiporus, 
Nereis, Aphrodite, Arenicola, Lanice, Terebella; Lepas, Balanus, 
Gammarus, Ligia Mysis, Nebalia, Carcinus ; Patella, Buccinum, Eledone, 
Pectens Bugula, Crisia, Pedicellina, Holothuria, Asterias, Echinus, 
Salpa (preserved), Scyllium, Raia, &c., &c. 

For prices and more detailed lists apply to 

Biological Laboratory, Plymouth. 


THE DIRECTOR. 


WATKINS & DONCASTER. 


Naturalists and Manufacturers of 


CABINETS AND APPARATUS 


FOR COLLECTORS OF INSECTS, BIRDS’ EGGS AND SKINS, 
MINERALS, PLANTS, &c. 


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A LARGE STOCK OF INSECTS, BIRDS’ EGGS AND SKINS. 


SPECIALITY.—Objects for Nature Study, 
Drawing Classes, &c. 
Birds, Mammals, &e., Preserved and Mounted by First-class 
Workmen true to Nature. 
All Books and Publications (New and Second-hand) on Insects, 
Birds’ Eggs, &c., supplied. 


86 STRAND, LONDON, W.C. 


(Five Doors from Charing Cross.) 
FOLL CATALOGUE POST FREE. 


WINERALS. 


Now on view, some choice specimens of 


DATOLITE 


from Parc Bean Cove, Mullion, Cornwall. Probably the last 
lot that will be found in this district. 


A large number of other choice Cornish 
specimens. 


RUSSELL & SHAW, 
38 Gt. James Street, Bedford Row, London, W.C. 


xX-RAY TUBE, 
Price 15/= 
Sole Maker, 


H. LM, 


66 Hatton Carden, 
London. 
ACTUAL MAKER 
of all kinds of 
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February, 1914. 


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EEE 
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AND TECHNOLOGY, 


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NATURE 


681 


THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 109, 1914. 


| THE PRACTICAL METALLURGY OF STEEL. 


Liquid Steel, its Manufacture and Cost. By David 
Carnegie, assisted by Sidney G. Gladwin. Pp. 
XXV+520+x plates. (London: Longmans, 
Green and Co., 1913.) Price 25s. net. 

HE outstanding features of this valuable 
book are its most useful tables of the costs, 

both of plants and working expenses, which, as 
the authors point out, are approximate, being 
subject to the market fluctuations of material and 
labour. The first fifty pages of the book deal 
with the various materials used in steel manufac- 
ture, opening with a disconcerting table of the 
world’s output of steel ingots. In 1910 the United 

States of America made about 26,000,000 tons, 

Germany 14,000,000, and the United Kingdom 

only 6,000,000 tons. The authors point out that 

Germany became easily the second steel-producing 

country of the world owing to the introduction 

of the basic process, a method worked out by 

British metallurgists. The authors, however, do 

not sufficiently emphasise the fact that Great 

Britain now holds her position in the steel world 

on the quality, and not upon the quantity, of her 

output. The materials dealt with by the authors 
in their opening section also include fuels, refrac- 
tory materials, fluxes, and ferro-alloys. 

Part i. of the book deals with the crucible 
process, and the authors very truly point out that 
for quality (in spite of various new and valuable 
methods of steel-making introduced from time to 
time) steel made by Huntsman’s process has 
remained supreme so far as quality is concerned 
for more than 170 years. In a paragraph on p. 51 
the authors state that for the killing of steel ingots 
by means of metallic aluminium “Mitis brought 
out his method.” The reviewer suggests to the 
authors that the use of aluminium (originally em- 
ployed for making very mild “mitis” steel cast- 
ings) was discovered by Nordenfeldt and Oestberg 
in Sweden about 1885. Its use for killing crucible 
steel ingots was first elaborated in a research 
forming the subject of the presidential address 
inaugurating the formation of the Sheffield Metal- 
lurgical Society in 1891. The authors deal with 
the slight but important chemical changes taking 
place in the crucible process in a lucid and accu- 
rate manner, though the sulphur increase from 
0’05 to o’0g per cent., noted on p. 53, suggests 
the use of a coke very high (say 2 per cent.) in 
sulphur. 

Part il. deals with the Bessemer process, and 
here the authors do not appear to have fully 

NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 


realised the differences between the English 
Bessemer process and the Swedish Bessemer pro- 
cess, nor to have grasped the vital feature of 
Mushet’s patent which made English Bessemer 
steel a marketable product. The essence of 
Mushet’s contribution was to remove the dissolved 


IeO, which rendered Bessemer’s blown metal 
hopelessly red-short, by the following reaction :— 
FeO + Mn = MnO + Fe. 

Soluble Insoluble 


Hence the insoluble MnO passed into the slag, 
and the de-oxidised steel forged readily. In 
Sweden, instead of adding metallic manganese at 
the end of the blow it is present to the extent of, 
say, 3 per cent. in the pig iron, and hence the 
formation and solution of FeO during the blow is 
prevented. With the above exceptions the acid 
and basic Bessemer methods and surface-blown 
modifications, such as those of Robert and of 
Tropenas and of Stock, are well described. 
A valuable chapter on blowing engines is 
included. 

Pages 253 to 257 deal with the “physics” of 
Bessemer steel castings, an unfortunate term from 
a scientific point of view, since it has reference to 
the amounts of ferro-silicon, ferro-manganese, 


aluminium, &c., necessary for the production 
of sound steel castings. The term “addi- 
tions” might well be substituted for that of 
“physics.” 


Part ili. deals with the open-hearth process, and 
gives a very valuable series of illustrations of the 
various types of furnaces employed. An equally 
admirable section deals with the various designs of 
gas producers. The consideration of the open- 
hearth process is concluded by a most useful set 
of examples of the charges, analyses, and uses of 
open-hearth steel, and a brief consideration of 
duplex methods. 

Part iv. is devoted to electric steel-making by 
both the arc, induction, and combined methods, 
but it does not make a very clear differentiation 
between results which are obviously theoretical 
or estimated and those obtained in actual 
practice. 

Part v., and last, is devoted entirely to costs, 
and will without doubt be of great use to works 
managers. 

This book is written with a knowledge obvi- 
ously the result of experience, and great care has 
been exercised in selecting information likely to 
be of practical importance. It may be unhesi- 
tatingly recommended as a work of standard 
rank. 

J. O. ARNoLp. 
aysonian Instn eae 


Ut 


é 


682 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 19, 1914 


POPULAR AND SPECIAL PHYSICS. 
(1) Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony without 


Wires. By C. R. Gibson. Pp. 156. (London: 
Seeley, Service and Co., Ltd., 1914.) Price 2s. 
net. 

(2) A Text-book of Physics. By Dr. R. S. 
Willows. Pp. viii+471. (London: Edward 
Arnold, n.d.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 

(3) Medizinische Physik. By Prof. Otto Fischer. 
Pp.. xx+1120. (Leipzig: S. Hirzel, 1913.) 
Price 36 marks. 

(4) Principles of Thermodynamics. By Prof. 


G. A. Goodenough. Second edition, revised. 
Pp. xiv+327. (London: Constable and Co., 
Ltd., 1913.) Price 14s. net. 

(r) R. GIBSON’S book is a brightly written 

account of the development of wireless 

telegraphy, with just sufficient broadly popular 
explanations to give the ordinary reader the 
impression that he is understanding the nature of 
electricity and of electric waves. The historical 
sketch in chap. iv., in which the early suggestions 
and experiments of Steinheil, Morse (1844), 
Lindsay (1854), Trowbridge, and Preece (1882) 
find their due place, is very good reading, and 
the account of Lodge’s syntonic jars and the im- 
provements effected by Jackson, Righi, and Popoff 
brings out many points on which the ordinary 
man’s memory has become somewhat hazy. 
Then comes Marconi’s “antenna” and earthed 
apparatus, which increased the effectiveness of 
radiotelegraphy a hundredfold, and led to its most 
striking triumphs. From that time forward 
“wireless” and “Marconi” become almost syn- 
Onymous among English speakers, but the 
German combination of the Braun-Siemens and 
Slaby-Arcs systems now known as the “Tele- 
funken” system is allowed some space, and the 
American systems of de Forest and Fessenden, 
as also the Danish Poulsen system, are briefly 
described. A chapter on “telephoning without 
wires,” a chronological table, and a short glossary 
of terms conclude a pleasing and eminently read- 
able volume. 

(2) Dr. Willows’s ‘“Text-book of Physics” 
treats the elementary phenomena rather more fully 
than do other works of a similar kind. One 
would suppose it to be intended mainly for self- 
tuition, to judge by the numerous examples (with 
answers) and the rather detailed style. The 
ground covered is the same as that already sur- 
veyed in countless physical works, and there is not 
much that is new, either in subject-matter or 
method of treatment, though one is pleased to see 
Callendar and Barnes’s “J” apparatus, the hot- 
wire ammeter, and the moving-coil galvanometer 

NO. 2312, VOL. 92| 


duly explained. The illustrations are good, 
except Fig. 134 (erecting prism), which is in- 
correctly drawn. There ate some minor short- 
comings, such as the quite incredible explanation — 
of osmotic pressure on p. 15, but on the whole it 
is a thoroughly useful and creditable work, which 
will no doubt be widely appreciated. ; 

(3) A special work on ‘‘Medical Physics” is — 
necessarily of a somewhat limited scope, but eclec- 
ticism has been carried almost to an extreme in 
Prof. Otto Fischer’s substantial volume. It re- 
solves itself into a collection of treatises on three 
or four chosen subjects. The first and most volu- 
minous of these is the work on the kinematics 
and kinetics of linkages, with special reference 
to joints. It gives graphic methods for the kine- 
matic analysis of the empirically determined 
motion of a point, and methods of compound- 
ing translational and _ rotational velocities, 
demonstrates the equivalence of the most general 
finite displacement of a body in space with a screw 
motion, and reduces the kinetics of manifold link- 
ages to the kinetics of single, rigid bodies. Many 
examples are given, and the mathematical treat- 
ment is reduced to its simplest terms. One cannot 
help wishing that this portion of the book had 
been published separately, as it is self-contained, — 
and the whole work, weighing more than 4 lb., 
makes an unwieldy handbook. The remainder of 
the volume gives certain chapters of acoustics 
and optics. The former comprise stationary and 
progressive waves, sound analysis, the physics of 
the ear, and the voice mechanism. The optical 
portion is a treatise on geometrical optics, the 
microscope, and the polarimeter. Only twelve — 
pages are devoted to the human eye. If it were 
not for the many numerical problems and examples — 
which form the most valuable feature of this 
work, one would scarcely see much prospect of 
it successfully competing with its many rivals. — 
In a work on medical physics, one would have 
expected something on the motion of liquids in 


, elastic and capillary tubes, on osmose and dialysis, 


on thermometry and hygrometry, on spectroscopy, 
on string galvanometers, nerve currents, and 
cardiograms. All this is conspicuous by its 
absence. It is a pity to see the utility of this 
otherwise admirable work curtailed by such faults 
of publication and presentation. 

(4) Prof. Goodenough’s ‘Thermodynamics ” 
aims primarily at laying an adequate foundation 
for the advanced study of heat engines. The 
treatment of the fundamental laws is that of 
Bryan, which identifies the “second law” with 
the law of degradation of energy, and defines 
entropy in terms of unavailable energy. Chapters 


. FEBRUARY 19, 1914] 


x. and xi. give an account of the recent experi- 

- ments on saturated and superheated vapours made 
in the Munich laboratory, and by Marks and 
Davis, and new equations for the specific heat, 
entropy, energy, and heat content of superheated 

_ steam are deduced and published for the first time. 
Throttling and ‘“‘wire-drawing” are treated very 
fully, and a concise discussion of the various types 
of steam turbines and refrigerating apparatus 
using vapour media brings this useful and emin- 
ently practical volume to a close. 


THREE BOOKS ON ENTOMOLOGY. 
(1) The Entomologist’s Log-Book, and Dictionary 
of the Life Histories and Food Plants of the 
British Macro-Lepidoptera. By A. G. Scorer. 
Pp. vii+ 374. 
.Sons, Ltd., 1913.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 


(2) The Fauna of British India, including 
Ceylon and Burma. Edited by Dr. A. E., 
Shipley, assisted by Guy A. K. Marshall. 


Diptera nematocera (excluding Chironomid 
and Culicide). By E. Brunetti. Pp. xxix+ 
581+xii plates. (London: Taylor and Francis ; 
Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Co., 1912.) 
Price 20s. 

(3) Handbuch der Entomologie. Herausgegeben 
von Prof. Chr. Schréder. Lieferung 1-3. 
Pp. iv+480. (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1912-13.) 
Price 15 marks. 

(x) “ HE Entomologist’s Log-Book,” com- 

piled by Mr. Scorer, should be ex- 
tremely useful to all those who for any reason 
are interested in the natural history of our British 
butterflies and larger moths. Not only the 
ordinary collector, but also the worker in bionomic 
problems and the economic entomologist will find 
here information of value in easily accessible form. 

The arrangement of the book is alphabetical, the 

names of both insects and plants occurring in 

their proper order, so that reference to any item 
that may be wanted can be found at once. Under 
the name of each plant is given a full list of the 

Macrolepidoptera that feed upon it; while as to 

the insects themselves, it would be difficult to 

adduce any well-authenticated fact of their life- 
history which is not duly recorded in the appro- 
priate place. We have tested the data in several 
particulars, and have found them accurate and 
trustworthy as representing existing knowledge. 
There are still gaps in our information as to life- 
histories; many of these, it is to be hoped, will 
be filled up by the help of Mr. Scorer’s book, the 
usefulnéss of which is enhanced by interleaving 
with blank pages. 
(2) The names of the editors and author of the 
NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 


(London: George Routledge and | 


NATURE 


| and careful investigation; 


recently published volume of the “ Fauna of British 
India,” dealing with the Diptera nematocera, are 
a sufficient guarantee that the work is worthy 
of the admirable series to which it belongs. The 
study of the two-winged flies, besides its intrinsic 
scientific interest, derives great importance from 
the influence exercised by members of the order 
upon agriculture and forestry, and their intimate 
connection with various forms of disease. Mr. 
Brunetti’s work bears the impress of much minute 
and the sections de- 
voted to the external anatomy, the life-history of 
the early stages, and the classification of the 
Diptera are as valuable in their way as the more 
distinctively systematic portion. The plates of 
wing-venation and other details are well executed 
and clear. 

(3) The first three parts of the elaborate 
“Handbuch der Entomologie,” issued under the 
editorship of Prof. Schréder, contain chapters by 
Prof. Deegener, of Berlin, on the integuments and 
cutaneous organs, on the nervous system and 
organs of sense, the alimentary tract with its ap- 
pendages, the organs of respiration and circula- 
tion, the body-cavity, the musculature and endo- 
skeleton of insects. Dr. Prochnow adds a section 
on stridulating and other sound-producing organs. 
The portion at present published, which runs to 
nearly 500 pages, is less than a quarter of the 
work as it will ultimately appear. It will be seen, 
therefore, that the treatise has been planned on 
an extensive scale. The parts now before us 
constitute the fullest connected account as yet 
available of the departments of insect morphology 
with which they deal. The execution of the work 
is for the most part good, and the figures reach 
a high standard of merit. The bibliography, 
though in places not quite complete, has evidently 
been compiled with great care. 

In a general work of this kind, however excel- 
lent, it usually happens that the student of special 
points finds something to criticise. There is no 
exception here; the section devoted to scent- 
glands contains several statements that are open 
to question, and a figure is borrowed from Illig 
which purports to represent a plume-scale from 
Pieris napi, but gives a very erroneous idea of 
that structure. Freiling, from whom _ several 
figures are taken, though cited in the text, appears 
to have no place in the bibliography. But slips 
of this kind are rare. It is worth noting that the 
remarkable conclusions on pupal assimilation 
announced by the Grafin von Linden (see Nature, 
vol. xc., 1913, p- 379) are considered by Prof. 
Deegener to be unwarranted by the existing 


_ evidence. 


Beane: 


684 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


Die vradioaktive Strahlung als 
wahrscheinlichkeitstheoretischer Untersuch- 
ungen. By Prof. L. v. Bortkiewicz. Pp. 84. 
(Berlin: Julius Springer, 1913.) Price 4 marks. 

Tuts mathematical work is a critical applica- 

tion of the theory of chance to the breaking down 

of radio-active atoms. Its discussion is mainly 
based on the experiments of Rutherford and 

Geiger. Scintillations were produced on a screen 

by polonium, and were counted over a succession 

of equal short intervals of time, and the intervals 
were classified by the number of them which 
showed either no scintillation or one or two 
or more. The experimenters found that their 
numbers. agreed well with those predicted by 
the theory of pure chance, but they gave no 
criterion as to the closeness of agreement to 
be expected. The calculation of the “mean 
errors”? is a simple matter, but in the com- 
parison of such a series of numbers it is only likely 
that in a few of the cases the mean error should 
be considerably exceeded. Prof. Bortkiewicz 
therefore provides a single test for the whole ex- 
periment. He works out twelve cases, and con- 
cludes that the results are, on the whole, slightly 
closer to their most probable values than is pre- 
dicted by theory. He suggests an experimental 
cause for this small discrepancy. He also 
discusses one of the experiments of Marsden and 
Barratt, who made their analysis by classifying 
the lengths of time between each two successive 
scintillations, and he concludes that the distribu- 
tion isnormal. In this case his test is not perfectly 
satisfactory, as it involves the use of quadrature 
and interpolation formule, processes which would 
seem to be very unsuitable for problems of chance. 
In both types of experiment distributions can be 
contrived which pass his tests, and yet are in 
reality very improbable, but no doubt there are 
great mathematical difficulties in the way of deriv- 
ing the true probability test. From his work we 
may conclude that the search for regularity, other 
than the regularity of chance, in the disintegration 
of radio-active atoms is not a hopeful quest. 
CG Dp: 


A Pocket-Book for Miners and Metallurgists: 
Comprising Rules, Formule, Tables and Notes 
for use in Field and Office Work. Compiled by 
F. D. Power. Third edition, corrected. Pp. 
xiv+371. (London: Crosby Lockwood and 
Son, 1914.) Price 6s. net. 

MINING engineers are nowadays called upon for 

knowledge and powers in so many directions that 

to anticipate moderate success and escape serious 
blame, they must exhibit qualities for which Gilbert 
and Sullivan’s heavy dragoon could not hope. To 

be ready to act at short notice as an explorer, a 

geologist, a civil and mechanical engineer, a 

chemist, a metallurgist, a doctor, and a lawyer, 

a man needs some little book in his pocket which 

he can consult as each new problem comes into 

view. - Such a book Mr. Danvers Power set him- 
self to construct many years ago, and the third 


NO. 2378) VOR. G2] 


Gegenstand 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 19, I914 


edition, now issued, is not less successful than 
its forerunners. There is no trace of the amateur 
about the little volume. “It is the work of a 
professional man who has set down the things he 
wanted to know himself. Like all pocket encyclo- 
peedias, it does not contain everything that could 
be wished for. There might have been included 
something about furnaces, refractory substances, 
and melting points, a few tips on mine-surveying 
problems, a little more about the strength of 
materials, and perhaps some information on first 
aid. But although there may be a few omissions, 
so much is included that the book deserves a trial 
by every prudent miner or metallurgist. 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he wndertake to return, or to correspond wilh 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


The Constitution of the Interior of the Earth as 
Revealed by Earthquakes. 


On p. 45 of Dr. G. W. Walker’s recently published 
book, ‘‘Modern Seismology,’ I find the following 
sentence :—‘It has sometimes been asserted that S 
never reaches beyond a certain distance, and to ex- 
plain this an impenetrable core of the earth has been 
assumed. We see that no such hypothesis is at all 
necessary to explain the observations.”” The reference 
here seems to be to a paper, by myself, *‘The Con- 
stitution of the Interior of the Earth as Revealed by 
Earthquakes,’ which was published in the Quarterly 
Journal of the Geological Society (vol. Ixii., 1906), or, 
more probably, to the references to this ypaper con- 
tained in Prof. Wiechert’s paper, ‘‘ Ueber Erdbeben- 
wellen,”’ published in the Nachrichten d. K. Gesell-— 
schaft d. Wissenschaften (Gottingen, 1907), and as the © 
summary dismissal of the subject indicates an imper-— 
fect appreciation of the problem, which is one of the 
important problems of the immediate future of seismo- 
logical research, I trust you will afford me space to 
state the position. 

In my paper, referred to above, I pointed out that — 
the twofold character of the preliminary’ tremors, 
representing the arrival of two distinct forms of 
wave motion, can be traced continuously up to a 
distance of about 110° or 1200 km. from the origin, 
and that a comparison of the times of arrival of the 
waves at different distances shows a progressive and 
gradual increase of interval with distance, and affords 
no indication of any great change in the character of 
the material traversed by the wave paths. Beyond 
12,000 km., however, the second phase can no longer 
be recognised with certainty, and has either entirely 
disappeared or is represented very feebly and-with a 
considerable delay, as compared with the time of 
arrival which would be anticipated from the records of 
observations at lesser distances from the origin. From 
this I concluded that the wave paths to these more 
distant stations must have entered a central core of 
matter differing markedly in constitution from the 
outer portion of the earth, in that it was either quite 
incapable of transmitting the second-phase waves, or 
only transmitted them’ with a considerable diminution 
of energy and of rate of transmission. 

Prof. Wiechert explains the facts in a different 
manner. From the laws of reflection, and assuming 
a tolerably homogeneous earth, he deduces the con- 


FEBRUARY 19, 1914] 


clusion that waves incident on the earth’s surface 
would suffer. reflection accompanied by splitting up 
of the simple condensational or distortional waves 
into two sets, one of each kind, so that, at distant 
stations, the arrival of the direct waves would be 
complicated by the arrival of reflected waves, which 
had travelled one part of their course as condensa- 
tional, and the other as distortional, waves. The 
critical point at which confusion from this cause would 
arise is at about 120° distant from the origin, and the 
disappearance of the second phase, as a recognisable 
feature in seismograms at greater distances, is attri- 
buted tothis cause; the records, which I had accepted 
as possibly indicating a diminished and retarded 
appearance of this phase, being interpreted as the 
arrival of the reflected distortional waves. 

With regard to this explanation, I may say that 

the reality of the reflected waves, though accepted by 
many seismologists, and practically universally by the 
Germans and the whole school dominated by the 
influence of their work, still seems to me far from 
being established. The theory is based on _ the 
assumption of a globe of uniform constitution bounded 
by a reflecting surface, but this does not exist in 
nature, for the outer crust of the earth is composed 
of material which was long ago shown, I believe 
first by Prof. Rudzki in 1899, to be composed of 
material which cannot transmit simple condensa- 
tional and distortional waves, but transforms them 
into more complex forms of wave motion. Nor have 
we reason to suppose that the lower surface, of this 
outer crust presents a definite surface of contact be- 
tween two media of different character, from which 
reflection could take place; rather it is to be expected 
that the transition is gradual and that the simple 
forms of wave motion, which can be propagated 
through the central portion of the earth, would be 
gradually converted into more complex forms, and 
become extinguished, in the surface layers. On the 
observational side, too, the case is not conclusive, for 
though the presence of reflected waves in the record 
has been claimed, more particularly in the case of 
earthquakes originating in the Malay Archipelago 
and beyond, their presence does not seem to be con- 
stant, nor by any means so conclusively established 
as the reality and distinctness of the first- and second- 
phase waves. 
_ Accepting, however, the reality of reflected waves 
and the interpretation, offered by Prof. Wiechert, of 
the records accepted by me, with considerable hesita- 
tion, as possibly representing the arrival of the second- 
phase waves, it does not afford a sufficient explana- 
tion of the absence of the record of the arrival of 
the second-phase waves, travelling along the direct 
course from the origin, in seismograms from stations 
at and beyond 12,000 km. from the origin. This 
phase is well represented, and usually conspicuous, 
especially in the records of horizontal pendula with a 
moderate rate of travel of the recording surface, and 
up to the limiting distance, at which it disappears, 
forms a feature in the seismogram which should be 
recognisable even if superimposed on the record of 
reflected waves; for. apart from the hypothesis of a 
central core of material less capable of transmitting 
these waves, there is no reason for anticipating a 
diminution in the amplitude of the record at greater 
distances, but rather the reverse. 

The length of wave path of the waves emerging 
at the antipodes of the origin is certainly greater, 
about 12,750 km., as against about 9500 km. for waves 
emerging at 10,000 km. from the origin, but, on the 
other hand, two wave paths starting directly downwards 
with a divergence of 1° will issue on the surface at 
a distance of about 222 km. apart, and two wave 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


685 


paths starting at an inclination of about 70° to 74° 
downwards from the horizontal and a divergence of 
1° will reach the surface at some 10,000 to 12,000 km. 
from the origin, and at a distance of about 500 km. 
apart. Setting these two against each other, we 
have, on one side, the increased energy due to a more 
than twofold concentration of wave paths, and, on 
the other, the greater absorption due to about 30 per 
cent. greater length of wave path, the former of 
which should more than counterbalance the latter, so 
that the record of the direct waves ought to be more 
conspicuous at greater distances than between 10,000 
and 12,000 km., up to which it is easily recognisable. 
I have examined most of the records obtained at 
greater distances previous to 1906, and some of later 
date, but have failed to discover the second phase, 
and it seems reasonable to suppose that this may be 
explained by the wave paths to these greater distances 
having encountered a different form of matter which is 
less capable of transmitting the second-phase waves 
from that traversed by the waye paths which do not 
descend so deeply into the interior of the earth. 
Though this letter has run to a considerable length, 
I hope you will allow me space to refer to another 
passage in Dr. Walker’s book, on p. x. of the intro- 
duction, where he refers to a paper by me (published 
in Phil Trans., 1900) as the first application of the 
well-known theory of longitudinal and_ transversal 
waves to Milne seismograms. Had Dr. Walker veri- 
fied his reference he would have found that the paper 
has nothing to do with Milne seismograms, and that 
it was the first published demonstration of the three- 
fold character of the wave motion recorded at a 
distance from the origin, and incidentally an explana- 
tion of the failure of earlier attempts to interpret the 
records in terms of the two forms only, of longitudinal 
and transversal waves. R. D. OLDHAM. 


The Evidence for Spontaneous Generation. 


In reference to the letter of Profs. Farmer and 
Blackman in Nature of February 12, it seems needful 
to state that only two of my tubes were opened in 
their presence. One of them showed,.as I had 
predicted, bodies very closely resembling Torula, in 
largenumbers. They were not, however, typical Torule, 
such as are represented in Figs. 1, 3, and 5, of my 
communication published in Nature of January 22, 
and I am prepared to admit some doubt as to their 
nature. The other tube showed, as others of the same 
series had done, peculiar spores, which when shown 
together with their mycelium (as in Fig. 2) to an 
eminent fungologist, were said by him to belong to 
a mould allied to the genus Oospora. He had no 
doubt as to its nature; and I am certain that these 
moulds must have grown within the tubes after their 
sterilisation, in one case to the extent of producing, 
after sixteen months, two tufts plainly visible to the 
naked eye. 

I am glad to learn that one of the colleagues of 
Profs. Farmer and Blackman is repeating my experi- 
ments, and trust he will, after a time, be able to solve 
their doubts. H. Cuariron BastIAn. 

The Athenzum, February 13. 


The Wearing of Birds’ Plumage—A Woman's Protest. 


_ Ir is very gratifying to find how earnestly, the best 
papers are now taking up the cause of the various 
beautiful birds hitherto so cruelly .and_ callously 
slaughtered for the sake of their plumage. The 


_ dealers in feathers seem to think that because they 


have embarked in that particular trade it must never 


686 


be abolished, no matter if the most exquisite birds 
become extinct. 


It is known that many trades have suffered 
severely from the advent of the motor-car. 
Whip-makers have scarcely anything to do. Harness- 


makers have also suffered, yet these trades could 
scarcely demand that motors should not be used 
because such might suffer thereby. And as the world 
becomes more thoughtful and humane, surely if birds 
are to be safe the plumassiers must go to the wall, 
and no great harm. There are other callings in 
which they must by degrees embark. 

It is very strange that men do not more definitely 
show how very much they dislike seeing ospreys and 
humming-birds in women’s hair or headgear. Men 
who are most feeling and know all about it, and 
keenly detest the cruelty that these ornaments involve, 
will sit by women at dinners and operas and not 
show in the slightest degree what they feel about 
these barbarous ornaments. After all, women only 
adorn themselves to please men, and if these had 
the courage to show how intensely they disliked, and 
were distressed, by these things, they would decidedly 
not be worn. To their intimates they could say, 
“How much more charming you would look with 
anything on your head or hat than that.” 

Of course, there is no denying the fact that woman 
is the sinner, and it seems very sad and shocking 
that all the trouble and misery brought upon birds 
with beautiful plumage is owing to the ignorance 
or cruelty of woman—cherchez la femme. Yes, alas! 
woman—and woman alone—is the sinner. She will 
not listen to the voice of her sisters who do know, 
and who so gladly would, and could, put her in the 
right way of looking at the matter. As she adorns 
herself chiefly to please men, well, let them educate 
her, with scorn and strong words if her vanity or 
stupidity leave her cold to information kindly given. 

There is no supply without demand. This holds 
good of every commodity; and let the demand once 
cease, and all the endeavours of the kind-hearted 
lovers of the beautiful to preserve birds now so ruth- 
lessly destroyed for no purpose but the adornment 
of vain and stupid women will be needless. 

There is such an abundance of lovely ornaments 
to be had. Natural or artificial flowers, exquisite 
ribbons, laces, &c., and if there must be feathers, 
then take some which require no cruelty to procure, 
and which the deft fingers of most clever workers 
can dye and trim into things of weird beauty, almost 
as pretty as the real thing, for glint and twist can 
be added to ducks’ and fowls’ feathers enough to 
satisfy a savage. These would not only save the 
birds, but their feathers, being no longer required, 
would come into ever-increasing demand, and give 
work to thousands of women who are always com- 
plaining that there is nothing much left for them 
to do. This makes so many of them force themselves 
into positions which males could occupy. Every 
woman who takes a position a man could fill prevents 
one man marrying. This is an aspect of the case 
seldom considered by women, and would be well for 
them to ponder on. One is glad of any argument to 
induce women to think and to act in such a way that 
the horrible cruelties associated with their feathered 
heads may in time be a thing of the past. There is 
no doubt if they knew the shocking cruelties per- 
petrated to obtain such an unsuitable adornment to 
any kind-hearted woman’s head, they would certainly 
not wish the real ospreys and humming-birds’ 
feathers to be procured for them. 

Of course, imitation feathers would be cheap—to 
some women an unpardonable fault. Well, when the 
adornment must be expensive, there are jewels and 
laces. \O aap 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 19, 1914 


Specific Heats and the Periodic Law—An Analogy from 
Sound. we 


I am much interested in Dr. H. Lewkowitsch’s 
letter on specific heats and the periodic law, which 
appeared in Nature of February 12. His suggestion, 
based on Guldberg and Wage’s “‘mass law,” of a re- 
conciliation between Sir James Dewar’s recent low- 
temperature experiments and Dulong and Péetit’s 
earlier experiments on specific heats, seems to me 
most valuable. ; ‘ : 

I am well aware that analogies are apt to be 
dangerous, especially when pushed very far. Never- 
theless, I am proposing to put forward the analogy 
from acoustics which may interest some of your 
readers. : 

The experiments on which my analogy depends are 
performed on an ordinary pianoforte, and as they may 
be repeated by anyone, I will state the directions 
thus :—Very gently strike a high note (say C in alt) 
with ‘“‘loud’’ pedal down and the finger soon removed ; 
change to soft pedal and notice how long the note is 
audible as you sit at the piano. Repeat in all par- 
ticulars with a lower note (say C, two or three octaves 
below). It will be found that the lower note persists — 
very much longer than does the higher note. Next 
repeat everything in the same way, but strike power- 
fully instead of gently. Notice the time during which 
each loud note remains loud (or audible to a friend 
in the next room). It will be found that there is 
very little difference in the duration of the two loud 
notes. yet : 

I think the analogy to be deduced is fairly obvious,” 
but I will state it nevertheless. - oe bd oa 

Very soft notes arise from wires when vibrating 
with small amplitudes; these wires correspond to 
atoms at very low temperatures, for atoms under such 
conditions vibrate also with small amplitudes. ; 

On the piano a definite amount of damping (pro- 
duced by pedal action) curtails the amplitudes of the 
compared vibrating wires in a ratio which approxi- 
mately is inversely proportional to their respective 
masses—i.e. equal damping (equal resistance to 
motion) has the smaller effect on the more massive — 
wire. The results of Sir James Dewar’s experiments 
at low temperatures are echoed pianissimo by these 
vibrating wires. j 

Louder notes correspond to higher temperatures; 
the amplitudes both of wires and of atoms are wider. 
In these circumstances of higher excitement, it is 
found on the piano that about the same amount of 
energy is wanted to reduce equally the loudness of 
light and heavy wires, while in the calorimeter it was 
shown by Dulong and Petit that about the same 
amount of energy is degraded in reducing equally the 
temperatures of light and heavy atoms. : 

: REGINALD G. DuRRANT. 

The College, Marlborough, Wilts. 


X-Rays and Metallic Crystals. 


In Nature (August 14, 1913), and later in the 
Philosophical Magazine (October, 1913), Keene gave 
an account of some inieresting experiments on the 
transmission of X-rays through rolled metal sheets. 
In connection with his investigation it may be of 
interest to record some results we have obtained in 
recent work on metallic crystals. 

Some preliminary experiments were carried out with 
annealed specimens. A lump of copper, for instance, 
was cut in two, and one of the pieces heated up to a 
high temperature and then allowed to cool gradually, . 
whilst the other piece was left untreated. Beams of 
X-rays were allowed to fall at almost grazing inci- 
dence on the two newly cut surfaces, and the reflected 


FEBRUARY 19, 1914] 


_ beam was examined on a photographic plate. It was 
found that the untreated specimen gave no definite 
reflection. In the case of the annealed specimen, how- 
ever, spots were observed on the plate indicating that 
there were now present in the metal, crystals big 
enough to reflect quite an appreciable portion of the 
beam in definite directions. The same results were 
observed whether the surfaces were highly polished 
or badly tarnished. 

On passing beams of X-rays through various metallic 
crystals, e.g. antimony, zinc, aluminium alloy (50 per 
cent. Al and 50 per cent. Cu), Laue spots were 
observed on The spots 


the photographic plates. 


obtained on transmission through an antimony crystal 
are shown in the adjoining photograph. Owing, 
however, to the difficulty of procuring individual 
crystals of the metals, symmetrical Laue patterns 
have not yet been obtained. The experiments, how- 
ever, show that this method of investigating meétallic 
crystals may prove very helpful to the metallurgist. 

A. Owen. 

G. G. Brake. 

Teddington, February 9. 


The Magneteon and Planck’s Constant. 


Tue relation between the magneton and Planck’s 
constant is even more intimate than Dr. Allen’s re- 
marks (Nature February 5), and his numerical illus- 
tration would suggest. 

Using the notation employed by Dr. Allen, an 
electron (charge e, mass m) moving in a circular orbit 
{radius a) with angular velocity w» would have angular 
momentum ma*w, and magnetic moment 3ea7o. On 
Dr. Bohr’s hypothesis the angular momentum is 
related to Planck’s constant h by the relation 
ma*w=h/2x7, and the magnetic moment becomes e/m 
h/4az, as Dr. Allen indicates. 

The value of the magnetic moment per atom gram 
ei UG 
is n— — —, 

m qn k 
per atom, and R and k the constants of the gas 
theory, so that R/k is the ratio of the atom gram to 
the atom. 


where n is the number of such electrons 


Y e of 
Taking — =1°772 49 
bs 772 10 


“= 1437 (from radiation measurements) 
R=8°316 35’, 
we have the magnetic moment per atom gram 
=n 5617-1. But the magnetic moment per atom 


Non 2302, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


687 


gram, as given by Weiss (‘‘Idées Modernes sur la 
Constitution de la Matiére,” p. 334), is 1123:5, so that 
the number of such electrons in five atoms is equal 
to the number of magnetons per atom, as defined by 
Weiss, with the accuracy of Weiss’s measurements 
and that of the constants above. 

If instead of Bohr’s hypothesis, the alternate one, 
that the angular momentum is equal to h/z, be em- 
ployed, the five is replaced by ten. This seems to 
indicate that, in the magnetic materials, there is a 
unit of five (or ten) atoms, which has a constant 
number of magnetons. 

The above results were stated by the writer in the 
discussion on radiation at the British Association, 
Birmingham, 1913. S. D. CHALMERS. 

The Northampton Institute, Clerkenwell, E.C., 

February 7. 


Zonal Structure in Colloids. 


Ir Mr. George Abbott (Naturr, January 29, p. 607) 
will refer to the paper by Prof. J. W. Gregory and 
myself on eozoonal structure in the ejected blocks of 
metamorphosed limestones of Monte Somma and Vesu- 
vius he will find that twenty years ago I explained 
the mechanism of zonal structure, and showed it to 
be of osmotic origin in that and other cases. This 
has been amply confirmed by further investigation 
into illustrations of my ‘‘osmotic theory” of meta- 
morphism, and, although paid little attention to by my 
own countrymen, is amply credited by the recent pub- 
lications of Liesegang and Kurd Endell. 

Amongst several of my papers will be found refer- 
ences to concentric laminated structure in such objects 
as spherulites, oolites, pisolites, calculi, &c. This I 
would attribute to zones of chemical exhaustion or 
surplus, which, in the end, is very nearly related to 
chemical exhaustion or surplus in osmotic interchange. 

H. J. Jonnston-Lavis. 

Beaulieu-sur-Mer (A.M.), France, 

February 1. 


Dr. Jounston-Lavis’s letter is indeed welcome; 
it confirms my own impression that English geologists 
have neglected concretionary processes. During my 
fifteen years of observation of the Fulwell beds no one 
ever suggested osmosis to me before Prof. S. Leduc. 
Even the authorities of the British Museum, South 
Kensington, whilst accepting a large number of my 
best specimens—some of them I cannot replace—have 
since repeatedly refused to give them the benefit of a 
modern classification, because none could be ‘“ recog- 
nised.”’ 

Few persons realise the great ‘“‘ experiment ’’ made by 
nature at Sunderland, where there are two square 
miles of limestone, 130 ft. thick, associated with 
70 ft. of the so-called marl beds. All the limestone 
shows magnificently the unique concretionary structure 
such as is unknown elsewhere in England, and, pos- 
sibly, in the world. 

The osmotic influence, or ‘‘osmotic interchange,” 
as Prof. Johnson-Lavis calls it (Prof. Kiister, of Bonn, 
in a recent letter to me says, “rhythmical precipita- 
tion, not osmosis’’) has operated in, and through, 
all the 130 ft. of rock, whilst the forces of crystallisa- 
tion must have been subsequent and partial. 

The change apparently took place after the strata 
had become solid enough for the formation of ordinary 
joints, the structure being conspicuous in starting 
from joints and bedding planes, whilst the pattern 
is very seldom seen to cross them.  Pisolites and 
spherulites are, of course, common. 

GEORGE ABBOTT. 

Rusthall Park, Tunbridge Wells, February 9. 


688 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 19, I914 


THREE BOOKS ABOUT BIRDS. 
(1) Gis prefatorial note of Mr. Lowe’s book, 


apparently emanating from the pub- 
lishers, tells us that this-is the first of two 
volumes, of which the object is to help those who 
wish to know something about the birds they see 
at the seaside. It does not claim to be a scien- 
tific work in the strict sense; but the author, Mr. 
Lowe, is a man of science and a traveller far 
and wide, and knows how to appeal equally to the 
specialist and the general reader. Though heavy 
in the hand and somewhat trying to the eyes, the 
book is undoubtedly a beautiful one, and will be 
most welcome to all who wish to learn something 
about birds of the shore. _ Happily, the photo- 
graphs with which it abounds are all good, and 
far more useful and striking than those of most 
inland birds, of which we have long been getting 


he should learn this fact soundly, and be able to 
| let his mind work on the hydrographical map 
opposite page 2. ; 

On p. 22 we have two fragments of letterpress 
dealing with the general distribution of the gulls 
and their kind, interrupted by a picture of black- 
| headed gulls coming to rest, and opposite it is 
one (occupying the whole page) of a herring-gull 
in a state of ‘‘ suspicion.” Turning over the page 
we find two whole pages occupied with photos, 
and Mr. Lowe’s last unfinished sentence on p. 22 
is only re-discovered, like one of his own ringed 
birds, on p. 26. Surely it would have been better, 

less distracting for old eyes as well as young 
| minds, to print this chapter so that it might 

run consecutively, uninterrupted by illustrations 
which do not belong to it. Later in the book it 
| becomes a positive relief to be able to read a page 
or two of letterpress almost free from photos; 


Fic. 1,—Gannet—commencement of flight. 


rather weary. Both the birds of the sea and their 
haunts suit photography wonderfully well, and 
some of these pictures, notably the frontispiece, 
a flying gannet, are quite superb. There are, of 
course, too many of them, and the distinction 
between a picture-book and a book of natural 
history is not consistently maintained; for in- 
stance, in the excellent introductory chapter, 
where Mr. Lowe emphasises the fact that all our 
sea birds, the auks, petrels, and the kittiwake 
excepted, rarely wander far from the shore, the 
eye of the youthful reader will be distracted from 
the letterpress to photographs which have no 
direct bearing on the question. Yet it is most 
important, as a foundation of his knowledge, that 


1 (x) ““Our*eCommon Sea-birds.” By Percy R. Lowe. 
(London : Country Life, Ltd., n.d.) Price 15s. net. 

(2) “‘ Bird Life Throughout the Year.” By Dr. J. H.Salter. Pp. 256+ 
plates. (London: Headley Brothers, n.d.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 

(3) * Wild Life on the Wing.” By M. D, Haviland. Pp. iv+244+plstes. 
(London: A. and C. Black, 1913.) Pcice 55. net. 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 


Pp. xvi+3r10. 


From *‘ Our Common Sea-birds,' 
this is so in the very interesting description of 
the skuas, birds which do not allow even the most 
ardent photographer to deal with them very 
freely. Perhaps in the second volume it may be 
found possible to keep more consistently to the 
principle that illustrations should illustrate. 

But we gladly allow that a great number of 
the photographs may be found scientifically valu- 
able as well as artistically beautiful; for example, 
there is much matter here for the student of the 
flight of birds, especially of the gannet. And those 
who simply turn over the book to look at the 
pictures will learn much of “the life and conversa- 
tion” of some thirty species, which they never 
could have realised (or as we say now, visualised) 
before the days of bird-photography. Lastly, as 
| photography has brought all the writers—for 

there are others beside Mr. Lowe—into immedi- 
ate contact with the birds they have studied for 


a 


FEBRUARY 19, I914| 


NATURE 


689 


long, solitary hours in all manner of wild places, 
we often find vivid descriptions of their ways and 
movements far exceeding in interest those of 
pre-photographic days. 

Some of the best work in the book will be 
found near the end, where the auks are treated 
of, and photos are fewer. We may specially 
notice Mr. Lowe’s attempt to account for the 
“wreck” of countless little auks in February, 
1g12, and on other occasions, by reference to the 
nature of the bird’s oceanic food, which might be 
sunk ,too deep for them by sudden currents of 
cold air reducing the temperature of the surface 
water ; they would thus be driven before the storm 
in search of their usual supplies. My Pycraft a 
few pages further on tries to solve the mystery 
of the guillemot’s egg, but confesses that there 
is no certain explanation. 


‘ 


Fic. 2.—Putting on the brake. 


Fron 
(2) “Bird-Life throughout the Year,” by Dr. 
J. H. Salter, is a pleasant collection of notes, 


some of them unusually interesting, e.g., that on 
the nesting of the dotterel (p, 170). Dr. Salter 


THE RADIATION PROBLEM. 


pH radiation discussion, which was one of the 

most notable features of the Birmingham 
meeting of the British Association, appears to have 
created a general impression that some radical 
revision of our ideas as to the nature of radiation 
must now be regarded as unavoidable. It may 
therefore be of interest to give a brief summary 
of the present state of the problem. 

Its acute phase has been brought about by the 
remarkable successes achieved by some forms of 
what is known as the “theory of quanta.” This 
theory, or rather hypothesis, assumes that not 
only matter, but energy itself, has an atomistic or 
discontinuous structure, particularly when it is 


| lung out into space in the form of radiant energy 


“Our Common Sea-birds.’ 


is a real naturalist, to whom-we are mainly in- | 


debted for the interest aroused in the preservation 
of the kite in South Wales, and his book will be 
a safe and stimulating guide for the young 
beginner. There are some good photographs in it, 
but the coloured ones are not always successful. 

(3) “ Wild Life on the Wing,” by M. D. Havi- 
land, is a collection of stories about teal, wood- 
cock, &c., by one who is not deficient in wood- 
craft, Whether. she is equally an adept in the 
art of telling a tale may be doubted; but the book 
is a pleasant one, and well adapted for a gift. 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 


or radiation. 


Are we, then, 
drifting back to a 
corpuscular emis- 
sion theory of 
light, destined to 
replace the now 
generally accepted 
wave theory? 
Such a’ return to 
older views: would 
not be. altogether 
without precedent. 
History. has wit- 


nessed. similar 
fluctuations of 
view as > regards 
the shape. and 
motion of . the 
earth, and as re- 
- gards -the . struc- 


ture of electricity. 
And the triumphs 
of atomistic con- 
ceptions in. other 
fields, achieved 
with the aid of 
radioactivity and 
of Brownian 
motions, make the 
propaganda for a 
further extension 
of the atomistic principle easy. R. A. Millikan} 
maintains that the number of atoms and molecules 
in a given mass of matter may now be counted 
with as much certainty and precision as we can 
attain in counting the inhabitants of a city. With 
the characteristics of these inhabitants we can deal 


| by means of the science of statistics, and the 
| adherents of the new atomistic theory of radia- 


| to 


| tion would have us apply statistical methods 
an immense range of physical . inyestiga- 
tions. 


But the hypothesis of ‘‘ quanta” or irreducible 


and indivisible elements of energy is not merely 


| atomism gone mad, There are certain undeniable 


and undoubted facts which find their simplest 


1 Scrence, vol. xxxvii., p. 119, January 24, 1913. 


690 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 19, 1914 


explanation in the hypothesis of a discrete struc- 
ture of radiant energy. 

Chief of these is the observed mode of transfer 
of energy from kathode-rays to X-rays, and vice 
versa. Kathode rays are electrons projected with 
enormous velocities. The stoppage of an electron 
by the target in the Réntgen tube generates an 
X-ray pulse. All electrons are stopped within a 
time, which is the shorter the greater their energy 
of motion. Hence the X-ray pulse generated is 
“thin” in proportion as its energy is great. The 
more rapid the kathode rays, the thinner, 
“harder,” and more penetrating are the X-rays. 

Now the beautiful recent work on the reflection 
and interference of X-rays, often referred to in 
Nature, has proved that these rays are covered 
by the wave-theory of light. The X-ray waves 
are some 10,000 times shorter than the shortest 
ultra-violet light waves known. They have, like 
ordinary light, a wave-length, or rather a range of 
wave-lengths, and the energy of every X-ray wave 
is proportional to its frequency, since the thinner 


and “harder” pulses have the smaller wave- ° 


lengths. 

But this is not all. When X-rays impinge on a 
target, electrons are projected from it; they in turn 
constitute kathode rays. The velocity of these 
electrons is independent of the intensity of the 
X-ray beam. It only depends upon its “hardness,” 
i.e., its frequency, or the reciprocal of its wave- 
length. To put it in the language of visible light, 
the velocity with which an electron is expelled 
from the target depends, not upon the “bright- 
ness” of the X-rays, but solely upon their 


“colour,” and is the greater the more that 
colour tends towards the “blue” end of the 
spectrum. 


Moreover, those electrons which are not expelled 
from the material exposed to the X-rays appear 
to be quite unaffected, and they form the vast 
majority of the electrons present, unless a parti- 
cular “characteristic frequency” is used for the 
existing rays, whereupon the electrons come out 
in enormous numbers. 

The handing on of a quantity of energy intact 
from X-ray to kathode-ray and back to X-ray was 
used to support an atomistic view of the X-rays 
themselves, until it was found that the same rules 
apply to the liberation of electrons by ultra-violet 
light. Here arose a dilemma: either ultra-violet 
light itself (and probably all radiation) is atomic, 
or there #s some mechanism by which radiant 
energy can be absorbed until a definite quantity 
(proportional to the frequency) is accumulated, 
whereupon an electron is expelled. The remark- 
able thing is that this energy of the electron is 
actually derived from the light, so that the latter 
does not simply liberate internal energy by some 
sort of “trigger” action. 

All this might not have ensured a hearing for 
an atomistic hypothesis of energy had not Prof. 
Max Planck (now rector of Berlin University) put 
forward a theory of radiation based upon quite 
other considerations, which also involved an 
atomic structure of energy, at least when radi- 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 


| counted for the fact that, as a body gets hotter, 


ated.2. He was endeavouring to explain the ex- 
perimental fact that the total heat of all wave- 
lengths radiated by a blackbody (not a blackened 
body, but the “ideal” black represented, say, by 
the mouth of a deep cave) is proportional to the ~ 
fourth power of its absolute temperature, and 
found that no formula completely representing the 
relation between the frequency and the amount 
of energy associated with it could be written down 
unless the energy was flung out by each molecular — 
radiator in definite amounts or ‘“‘quanta”’ propor- 
tional to the frequency, i.e., inversely proportional 
to the “wave-length.” This immediately ac- 


it passes from “red” heat to “white” heat (i.e., 
towards higher frequencies) until, when we reach 
the temperature of the sun, the maximum energy 
is well within the visible spectrum. 1 

The actual magnitude of the supposed quanta 
is excessively small. For a frequency of 1 vibra- 
tion per second, it would only amount to 
6x 10-27 erg, a quantity known as the “action 
constant.’’ For frequencies like that of green — 
light (600 billion per second) it would still only 
amount to some billionths of an erg, but such is” 
the marvellous sensitiveness of the eye, that it 
can detect light (say, from a star of the sixth 
magnitude) when the amount of energy passing 
through the pupil is only some 300 or 400 quanta 
per second. , 

What, then, is the mechanism of this radia- 
tion by quanta? Are we to suppose that it 
resembles the sound waves proceeding from the 
incessant but irregular rifle fire of a large army, 
in which each soldier gradually accumulates suffi- 
cient powder to fire his shot? Or is it atomistic, 
like the bullets? Or must we fall back upon Sir 
J. J. Thomson’s bold but rather appalling concep-— 
tion of a gigantic web of countless threads per- 
vading the universe, in which each thread con- 
nects a positive and a negative electric atom, and 
bears its trembling message along with the speed 
of light in a single direction? j 

Whichever view may be finally adopted, we may 
be sure that the investigation of this fascinating 
problem will teach us a great deal about the inter-— 
stellar ether which conveys the messages. The 
recent German attempt to explain away the ether, 
known as the electromagnetic “Principle of Rela- 
tivity,” has failed in its main object. Gehrcke, in 
his preface to Drude’s “Lehrbuch der Optik,” 
describes that principle and its temporary sway as 
“the most notable case of mob suggestion since 
the days of the N-rays.” The hypothesis of 
quanta is saved from a similar failure by keeping 
in close touch with experiment. In the hands of 
Nernst and Lindemann and Debye it has been 
used with brilliant success for investigating and 
explaining the fall in the specific heat of all bodies — 
as we approach the absolute zero of temperature. 
The specific heat probably begins by being pro- 
portional to the cube of the absolute temperature, 
so that the heat energy of the body is proportional — 
to the fourth power, thus recalling the Stefan- 


2 “ Vorlesungen iiber Warmestrahlung,” 2nd edition. (Leipzig, Barth.) 


j FEBRUARY 19, 1914] 


Boltzmann law of total radiation already men- 
tioned. 

Planck’s ‘‘action constant” has turned out a 
most useful quantity in all sorts of investigations, 
and although its actual nature is somewhat doubt- 
ful,’ it may yet turn out to be, like the velocity 
of light, one of the fundamental constants of 
nature. 

But before any quantum theory of radiant 
energy can be accepted, it must make its peace 
with those phenomena (chiefly diffraction and inter- 
ference) which overthrew Newton’s emission 
theory, and established the wave theory of light. 
That has not yet been done, or even attempted, 
so there is but little prospect as yet of a decisive 
battle. E. E. Fournier pD’ALBE. 


TRANSPARENCE OR TRANSLUCENCE OF 
THE SURFACE FILM PRODUCED IN 
POLISHING METALS.1 

N a communication to the British Association 

(B.A. Report, 1901, p. 604) it was suggested 
that all smooth metal surfaces are covered with 
an enamel-like transparent layer. In a subse- 
quent communication to the Royal Society (vol. 
Ixxii A, p. 218) the actual formation of a surface 
layer or skin by polishing was demonstrated. Two 
of the photo-micrographs in the latter paper, 
Figs. 5 and 6, plate 9, showed that minute pits 
on a polished surface of antimony had been 
covered over by a film of this description. It was 
suggested that the diminished reflecting power of 
the film covering the pits probably indicated that 
it had become translucent, but no direct evidence 
of this translucence was afforded by these par- 
ticular observations. It was also suggested that 
the film might have been carried across the pits on 
a support provided by small granules or flakes 
which had filled up the pit to the level of the 
general surface. The purpose of the present com- 
munication is to record and illustrate certain re- 
cent observations which show :— 

(x) That the film which covers the pits is trans- 
parent, or at any rate highly translucent, and 

(2) That in the case of the smaller pits the 
mobile film has been carried across the empty 
pit without any support from below. 

In the casting and working of copper, unless 
certain precautions are taken, the metal is always 
more or less spongy owing to the presence of gas 
bubbles. When the surface of this metal is 
ground and polished some of the gas bubbles are 
laid open and appear on the surface as tiny pits. 
If the cast metal has been subjected to cold work- 
ing, by rolling or otherwise, the larger bubbles 
are distorted and take elongated and other varied 
forms. 

By any method of polishing which will give 
a fair surface the pits are flowed over and 
obliterated, but by lightly etching the surface with 
a solvent the surface skin can be removed, and 
the pits are again disclosed. By careful regula- 


3 It is an energy divided by a frequency, but has also been regarded as 
an angular momentum. 

1 Paper read before the Royal Society on February 12 by Dr G. T. 
Beilby, F.R.S. 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


691 


tion of the action of the solvent it is possible 
to remove the surface layer step by step, and the 
film covering the pits can be reduced to extreme 
thinness. Through this thin film one seems to be 
looking right into the pit. In polishing metal sur- 
faces the amount of the metal which is removed 
by the polishing agent can be varied through 
wide limits under conditions which need not be 
specified here. It is sufficient for the present pur- 
pose to state that by suitable methods the skin 
developed on the surface may be raised to a maxi- 
mum thickness or reduced to a minimum. For 
the present inquiry it was desirable that the film 
produced should be as thin as possible. The 
copper used in these experiments received its final 
polishing on fine linen stretched over a hard, flat 
surface, and moistened with one of the ordinary 
commercial brass polishing liquids. On _ the 
copper surface prepared in this way the pits, as 
seen under high magnification, appear as blue 
spots on the pale rose-coloured ground of the solid 
metal. While some of the film-covered pits 
appear uniformly blue, others show patches of red 
at various parts of their surface. When these 
red patches were first noticed it was supposed that 
they indicated a thickening of the film at these 
points to the extent necessary for normal reflec- 
tion. More careful study has shown that the red 
patches are due to reflections from the inner con- 
cave surface of the pit. The beam of light from 
the vertical illuminator behind the back lens of 
the object glass of the microscope passes through 
the film covering the pit, strikes the concave 
metallic surface, and is reflected back through the 
film to the object glass and thence to the eye- 
piece. The reflecting surface of the pits is 
evidently far from optical perfection, and the re- 
flected beam is therefore more or less broken up 
by irregularities of the reflecting surface. 

By the use of autochrome plates it has been 
possible to obtain high power photo-micrographs 
in natural colours of pits on a copper surface. 
Four of these transparencies have been reproduced 
by the three colour process, and are shown on the 
plate issued as a supplement to this week’s 
Nature. Figs. 1 and 2 are at a magnification of 
800 diameters, and 3 and 4 at 1800 diameters. 
In Figs. 1 and 3, the pits are covered by a blue 
film, but show patches of red on the blue. Figs. 2 
and 4 show the same pits after the film has been 
dissolved and removed by a to per cent. solution 
of ammonium persulphate acting for 20 to 30 
seconds. On comparing the members of each 
pair, 1 with 2, and 3 with 4, it is seen that the 
red patches in 1 and 3 correspond with the spots 
of light reflected from the concave surfaces of the 
uncovered pits as shown in 2 and 4. 

It is clear that the pits which show these re- 
flections from the under surface must have been 
practically empty when they were covered by the 
film, so that the film during its flow was quite 
unsupported from below. 

The thickness of the films covering the pits is 
probably of the order of 10 to 20 micro- 
millimetres. 


692 


H. B. WOODWARD F.R.S. 


Y the death of Mr. Horace B. Woodward we 
have lost a geologist with an unrivalled ex- 
perience of the stratigraphy of the British Isles. 
His father, Dr. S, P. Woodward, was engaged in 
the British Museum; and Horace, who was born 
in 1848, began his geological career at the age of 
fifteen in the employment of the Geological 
Society of London, as assistant in the Library 
and Museum. In 1867 he obtained an 
appointment on the Geological Survey under 
Sir Roderick Murchison, and continued in 
that department until the end of 1908. 
During the last seven-and-a-half years of his 
service he occupied the post of assistant director, 
and was in charge of the work in England and 
Wales. 

In the course of this period of forty-one years 
Woodward did much towards developing the work 
of the Survey, in the direction of both precision 
and utility. The early surveying was carried out 
for the greater part of England and for all Wales 
on the Old Series 1-in. map. By no one were 
the difficulties of precise mapping on so small a 
scale and so obsolete a basis more successfully 
met than by Woodward, and it was not until his 
career as a member of the field-staff was drawing 
to a close that 6-in. ordnance maps became 
available. His duties lay at first in adding detail 
to the mapping of the Rhaetic and other secondary 
strata in the south-west, but later on he spent 
many years in Norfolk and the adjoining counties 
in mapping superficial deposits and the underlying 
Tertiary and Cretaceous strata. 

Woodward was. author of many valuable 
memoirs. The results of his early field-work 
are incorporated in the Geological Survey Memoirs 
on the East Somerset and Bristol Coalfields, on 
the Geology of Norwich, and the Geology of 
Fakenham. But the most important of his 
official publications were the three volumes on 
the Jurassic Rocks of Britain, which appeared in 
1892-5. This work was the outcome of a project 
to bring together all that is known of each 
British formation. Yorkshire was otherwise pro- 
vided for; but as regards the rest of the country, 
the heavy task of gathering all that was worth 
preserving from copious literature, of examining 
the principal sections throughout the country, and 
of presenting the whole in an intelligible form, 
was carried out single-handed by Woodward. 

At this period of his official career he was tem- 
porarily engaged in Scotland in applying his know- 
ledge of the Jurassic rocks of England to the 
elucidation of the occurrences in Raasay and Skye. 
The commercial development of the iron-ores of 
Raasay was due in the first place to his sug- 
gestion that there occurred ‘there iron-ores of 
economic value on the same horizon as the Cleve- 
land ores. 

His more statistical memoirs, such as those on 
the water-supply of Lincolnshire, and of Bedford- 
shire with Northamptonshire, are valued as works 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 19, 1914 


of reference; but he showed, too, a happy facility 
for putting geological information into a- form 
that was agreeable to the general reader in his 
account of Soils and Subsoils, and of the Geology 
of the London district. , 

Outside his official work his most important 
publication was the “Geology of England and 
Wales,” first published in 1876, but revised and 
enlarged in 1887. An untiring industry and a 
wide experience of the subjects on which he was 
writing enabled the author to produce a work that 
is indispensable both to the student of the science 
and to those who are interested in its practical 
applications. No less useful in their respective 
subjects are his ‘‘Geology of Water-Supply,” of 
“Soils, and Substrata,” and his contributions to 
the Victoria County Histories. 

In 1904, when the Geological Society was pre- 
paring for its centenary celebration in 1907, it 
was decided to prepare a volume in which the 
birth, development, and influence of the Society 
might be traced. It was felt that the writing of 
the historical part of such a volumé could be safely 
entrusted to one who claimed close connection 
with the Society and its work for half a century. 

Woodward was elected to the Geological Society 
in 1868, and was the recipient of the Murchison 
Fund in 1885, the Murchison Medal in 1897, and 
the Wollaston Medal in 1909. He was also one 
of the most active members of the Geologists’ 
Association, and served as president in 1893-4. 
He was elected to the Royal Society in 1896. 

His health had begun to fail at the time of his 
retirement from the Geological Survey, but he 
worked on with untiring industry until within a 
few hours of his death, on February 6, 1914. 


COL. A. R. CLARKE, C.B., F.R.S. 


iy is with more than usual regret that we record 
the death, on February 11, at eighty-five years 
of age, of Colonel Alexander Ross Clarke, one 
of the foremost geodesists of our time. Born in 
1828, he was commissioned second lieutenant in 
the Corps of Royal Engineers in 1847, and was 
appointed to the Ordnance Survey in 1850. From 
this, date onwards to his retirement in 1881 his 
energies were devoted to the work of the Survey 
with the exception of a three-year tour of service 
in Canada (1851-4). Throughout this period the 
work of the Ordnance Survey was in a most 
interesting stage, and it was fortunate that he 
was available to assist in the development of its — 
scientific labours. 
In 1856 Clarke took charge of the trigono- 
metrical and levelling departments. The work of 
the Principal Triangulation was complete in the 
field, and in 1858 Clarke published the final re- 
sults. The reduction of the observations by the 
method of least squares was in itself a laborious 
task, but in this volume is published in addition 
his first investigation into the figure of the earth. 
In 1861 appeared, in two volumes, the abstracts: 


_ FEBRUARY 19, 1914] 


NATURE 


of spirit-levelling in England and Wales, and in 
Scotland, for which Clarke was mainly respon- 
sible. During this year he was appointed, with 
two others, to meet certain French officers and 
draw up a scheme for connecting the triangula- 
tions of England and France. In 1862 he 
observed at several of the English stations of the 
connection, and in 1863 published the account of 
the completed work. 

In 1860 the Russian Government invited the co- 
operation of the Governments of Prussia, Belgium, 
France, and England to cooperate in the measure- 
ment of the European longitudinal arc from Orsk 
to Valencia. A necessary preliminary was the 
intercomparison of the standards of length of the 
various countries affected. At the instigation of 
the English Government these standards were 
sent to Southampton, where they were compared 
by Clarke in a specially designed and built bar 
room. The result of this undertaking was pub- 
lished in 1866, and included in the series were 
1o-ft. bars for India and Australia. At the end 
of this volume is the second investigation which 
Clarke made as to the shape of the earth. In 
1867 he published a pamphlet on the positions 
of the Feaghmain and Haverfordwest observa- 
tories, also in connection with the longitudinal arc. 
_ In 1874 two standard yards were made for the 
United States of America by Messrs. Troughton 
and Simms, and at the express desire of the United 
States Government, Clarke carried out the deter- 
mination of their lengths. In 1880 appeared his 
“Geodesy,” a subject on which he had already con- 
tributed an article for the ‘Encyclopedia Brit- 
annica.” This work has been translated into 
several languages. 

In 1881 he retired as Lieut.-Colonel, after thirty- 
four years’ service. Clarke’s retirement was 
brought about by a sudden and unexpected order 
from the War Office to hold himself in readiness 
to proceed at short notice to Mauritius, and sever 
his connection with the Ordnance Survey. The 
national survey never suffered'a severer loss. It 
took many years to recover. 

' The extent of the work done during those thirty- 

four years can only be appreciated by a study of 
the books he published, for they contain a mass 
of calculation which evidence great mathematical 
ability as well as great energy. 

In 1883 Colonel Clarke was appointed delegate 
to the International Geodetic Congress in Rome in 
conjunction with the Astronomer Royal. In 1870 
he was made a Companion of the Order of the 
Bath, and in 1887 he received the Royal Medal 
of the Royal Society, of which he was a Fellow. 
He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of 
Edinburgh, of the Royal Astronomical Society, 
honorary member of the Cambridge Philosophical 
Society, and corresponding member of the 
Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg. 

Although he had for many years ceased to take 


_an active part in the prosecution of his. favourite 


subject, his name still remains, and will remain, 
a constant stimulus to a younger generation. 
H. S. L. WInTERBOTHAM, 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 


693 


NOTES. 


WE regret to announce the death on February 13, 
in the sixty-first year of his age, of M. Alphonse Ber- 
tillon, director of the anthropological department of 
the Prefecture of Police in Paris. M. Bertillon, fol- 
lowing the custom of his family, devoted himself to 
the study of human races. At the beginning of his 
career he paid particular attention to those characters 
of the body which might be used for the purposes of 
identification. In 1885, when he was in his thirty- 
second year, he published the first draft of his famous 
system of identification and registration of criminals 
under the name of “Instructions signalétiques.”’ The 
principle on which his system rests is that no two 
individuals are alike in all their bodily measurements 
and proportions. In 1893 Bertillon’s system was in- 
troduced to British prisons. The system which, in the 
hands of Bertillon himself and of his pupils, worked 
satisfactorily, proved to be untrustworthy when applied 
by a heterogeneous body of observers. Even in the 
hands of experts, exact measurement of the living 
body is difficult of attainment. Hence in 1901 Ber- 
tillon’s system was replaced. in this country by one 
founded on finger imprints, a method which had been 
developed in India by Sir Edward Henry. It is popu- 
larly supposed that M, Bertillon invented the system 
of identification by finger-prints, but this is an error. 
Dr. Henry Faulds, in Nature of October 28, 1880, 
indicated how finger-prints might be applied to ethno- 
logical classification; and his was the first printed 
communication upon the subject, though public and 
official use of finger-prints had been made by Sir 
William Herschel in India some years before.. M. 
Bertillon added the finger-print method to his own 
about 1891, after its advantages had been urged by 
Sir Francis Galton. Although Bertillon’s system has 
proved defective in practice, still the merit of realising 
that a scientific system of measurements and observa- 
tions could be elaborated to serve the purposes of the 
State will always stand to his credit. Under his 
system an enormous number of observations of the 
utmost scientific value have been accumulated and 
placed at the disposal of anthropological students. 


Tue first Guthrie Lecture of the Physical Society 
will be delivered by Prof. R. W. Wood, of Johns 
Hopkins University, Baltimore, at the Imperial Col- 
lege of Science, on Friday, February 27. The subject 
of the lecture will be ‘‘ Radiation of Gas Molecules 
Excited by Light.” 


WE understand from Messrs. Gurney and Jackson 
that Major Barrett-Hamilton’s lamented death, referred 
to last week (p. 667), will not cause any break in the 
publication of his valuable work on ‘British Mam- 
mals,’’ as Mr. Martin C. Hinton has agreed to con- 
tinue and complete the work. 


On Saturday, February 28, Sir J. J. Thomson 
will begin a course of six lectures at the Royal Insti- 
tution on recent discoveries in physical science. On 
Tuesday, March 3, Sir J. H. Biles will deliver the 
first of three lectures on modern ships: (1) ‘‘ Smooth- 
water Sailing,” (2) ‘‘Ocean Travel,” (3) ‘‘The War 


694 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 19, I914 


Navy’’; and on Thursday, March 5, Prof. C. F. 
Jenkin will begin a course of three lectures on heat 
and cold. The Friday evening discourse on February 
27 will be delivered by Prof. W. A. Bone on surface 
combustion. 


Tue sea-fish hatching season at the Port Erin 
Biological Station has commenced earlier than usual 
this year, and seems to promise well. The first few 
hundreds of plaice eggs were found on the surface of 
the pond on January 28, and on February 3 embryos 
at least a week old were obtained. The pond was 
systematically skimmed for the first time on February 
5, and a haul resulted of more than 200,000 fertilised 
plaice eggs, which are now in the hatching boxes. 
In recent years the first fertilised eggs have generally 
been obtained on some date between the middle of 
February and the first week of March, so the present 
season seems to be at least a fortnight earlier than 
usual. 


Ar the anniversary meeting of the Royal Astro- 
nomical Society, held on February 13, the following 
officers and council were elected for the current 
year :—President, Major E. H. Hills; Vice-Presidents, 
Dr. F. W. Dyson, Dr. J. W. L. Glaisher, Prof. H. F. 
Newall, and Prof. H. H. Turner; Treasurer, Mr. 
E. B. Knobel; Secretaries, Prof. A. S. Eddington and 
Prof. A. Fowler; Foreign Secretary, Prof. Arthur 
Schuster; Council, Dr. S. Chapman, Sir W. H. M. 
Christie, Rev. A. L. Cortie, S.J., Dr. A. C. D. Crom- 
melin, Mr. W. Heath, Mr. J. H. Jeans, Dr. W. H. 
Maw, Prof J. W. Nicholson, Rev. T. E. R. Phillips, 
Dr. A. A. Rambaut, Prof. R. A. Sampson, and Mr. 
F. J. M. Stratton. 


Tue tenth annual meeting of the Association of 
American Geographers was held at Princeton at the 
beginning of last month. Mr. A. P. Brigham was 
elected president for 1914. One of the most important 
features of the meeting was the adoption by the asso- 
ciation of the plan of cooperation proposed by the 
American Geographical Society. The plan provides 
for (1) a joint research committee of the two organisa- 
tions to administer a joint research fund; (2) a joint 
meeting in New York each spring; (3) the publication 
by the association in collaboration with the American 
Geographical Society of the annals of the association ; 
(4) an interchange of the publications of the two 
societies. 


From numerous cuttings from the issues of the 
Manila Press for December 19 last which have 
reached us, we learn that the Bill introduced into the 
local Assembly, and intended to reduce the expenses 
of the Philippine Weather Bureau, has not been 
favourably received. Father Algué, the director of the 
bureau, who has presided over its activities for many 
years with conspicuous success, was given the oppor- 
tunity on December 18 of laying before the Upper 
House, or Commission, as it is called, particulars as 
to the work of the bureau, and the small cost at which 
it is conducted. Commenting on Father Algué’s 
statement the next day, the Manila Daily Bulletin, 
instead of supporting the suggested retrenchment, 
said ‘‘to the average man it should appear strange 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 


| medical profession to women. 


! in her final examination. 


that no attempt is being made to increase the salaries 
of Father Algué and his entire staff at least 100 per 
cent.” ° 


WE recently announced the issue by Messrs, Mac- 
millan of a new publication, Ancient Egypt. We 
have since received the first number of The Journal of 
Egyptian Archaeology, issued by the Egypt Explora- 
tion Fund. The two publications, though devoted to 
similar subjects, are so different in matter and format 
that there is ample room for both. In the latter the 
article of most general interest is that by Prof. Sayce 
on the date of Stonehenge. He directs attention to 
certain beads, now in the museum at Devizes, which 
he identifies as Egyptian, of the period 1450-1250 B.c. 
Mr. H. R. Hall points out that the same identification 
had already been made by him in the third volume of 
‘The Eleventh Dynasty Temple at Deir-el-Bahari” 
(thirty-second memoir of the Egyptian Exploration 
Fund). This identification is not, of course, conclu- 
sive as to the exact date of the barrow. But it corre- 
sponds fairly closely with Prof. Gowland’s conclusions 
derived from his excavations in the course of the re- 
erection of a fallen pillar. The evidence would thus 
assign the erection of Stonehenge to the fourteenth 
century before our era. 


WE regret to announce the death on February 7, in 
her fifty-fourth year, of Dr. Julia Cock, consulting 
surgeon to the New Hospital for Women and Dean 
of the London (Royal Free Hospital) School of Medi- 
cine for Women. As a girl, Miss Julia Cock joined 
the small band of pioneer women who opened the 
She had a distin- 
guished career as a student, and obtained honours 
In 1887, Dr. Cock was 
appointed a member of the out-patient staff of the 
New Hospital for Women, and, in 1892, she became 
full physician to the hospital, round which her pro- 
fessional interests henceforth centred. To the end of 
her life she was a student, humble and eager to learn, 
a constant reader, untiring in her enthusiasm and 
devotion, an accurate observer, a magnificent clinical 
teacher. Dr. Cock did not value popularity, and 
never sought for personal recognition. She believed 
that ‘‘so long as good work is done, it does not 
matter who does it.””. For thirteen years she was joint 
lecturer in medicine at the London School of Medicine 
for Women. For eleven years she was dean of the 
school, and the high position taken by it in recent 
years is largely due to her administrative ability and 
statesmanship. She contributed valuable articles on 
various subjects to the literature of medical science. 


Tue death of Prof. H. F. Rosenbusch, on January 
20, 1914, at the advanced age of seventy-eight years, 
removes one of the most influential authors from the 
field of mineralogy and petrology. It is remarkable 
that when Zirkel published his great work on petro- 
graphy in 1866, the study of thin slices of rocks under 
the microscope was not appreciated as an aid to 
research. Seven years later, Rosenbusch had no diffi- 
culty in persuading geologists of the importance of — 
“microscopic physiography,” and a band of pupils 
gathered at Strassburg, and later at Heidelberg, who 


FEBRUARY 19, 1914] 


NATURE 


695 


rivalled those of Werner in carrying their master’s 
views throughout the world. The stimulating pub- 
lications of Lévy and Lacroix, working on absolutely 
independent lines on the other side of the Rhine, estab- 
lished the new methods with equal firmness; and for a 
time the enthusiastic study of rock-structure threatened 
to remove geologists from observation in the field. 
While Rosenbusch issued successive editions of his 
great work, ‘‘Die mikroskopische Physiographie der 
Mineralien und Gesteine,’’ the latest being in con- 
junction with Dr. Wiilfing in 1905-7, he also sum- 
marised admirably the characters of rocks in his 
‘Elemente der Gesteinslehre,”’ published in 1900. He 
was responsible for many changes and redefinitions in 
nomenclature, which have been promulgated by the 
weight of authority rather than by the light of 
reason; but the exactitude of thought and method 
brought by him into a subject that, since 1825, had 
fallen from its high estate, has earned the gratitude 
of petrologists in every land. 


In the Transactions of the East Riding Antiquarian 
Society for 1912, which has recently been published, 
Mr. T. Sheppard contributes a valuable paper on 
East Yorkshire history in plan and chart. Between 
Bridlington and Spurn Point, a distance of some thirty 
miles, the land is being worn away at a rate varying 
from a few feet to more than 20 ft. per annum. The 
continuous changes in the coast-line are well illus- 
trated by reproductions of a number of maps and 
charts, beginning with those of Leland and Lord 
Burleigh, in the time of Henry VIII., down to that 
by the late Mr. J. R. Boyle in 1889, showing the 
sites of the lost towns on the Humber. 


A PAMPHLET by Prof. Ernst Schwalbe, entitled ‘‘ Die 
Entstehung des Lebendigen,”’ has just been published 
by Mr. Gustav Fischer, Jena. After a summary of 
the writings on the subject from Aristotle onwards, 
the author expresses the opinion that we are com- 
pletely ignorant as to the origin of life, but he inclines 
to the view that it is supernatural. 


In Lieferung 4o (pp. 1-37) of Dr. Schulze’s ‘‘Das 
Tierreich” (Friedlander und Sohn, Berlin), Dr. G. 
Neumann, of Dresden, treats in considerable detail 
and in masterly style of the second division of the 
salpoid tunicates, constituting the groups Cyclo- 
myaria and Pyrosomida. The diagrams illustrating 
the complex structure of these organisms seem all 
that could be desired, as are likewise the definitions 
of the various groups. 


WE have received a copy of The Canadian Ento- 
mological Record for 1912, published in the report of 
the Entomological Society of Ontario for that year, in 
which Mr. Arthur Gibson, chief assistant entomologist 
to the Department of Agriculture, records the most 
notable species of insects captured in the Dominion 
during the period under review, inclusive of those 


described as new. Another paper contributed by the’ 


entomological division of the Department of Agricul- 
ture, Ottawa—in this instance to vol. vi. of the 
Annals of the Entomological Society of America— 
records observations made by J. D. Tothill on variation 


in flies of the genus Lucilia. This variation embraces | larvze of the higher 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 


size, colour, and the mode of arrangement and number 
of the cephalic bristles. As the result of this study, it 
appears ‘that all the new characters used by Mr. 
Townsend for the erection of the ten supposedly dis- 
tinct species are shown to come within the limits of 
variation of the North American species of Lucilia as 
recognised by Hough.” 


In January, 1912, Mr. C. W. Gilmore described, 
under the new generic and specific name of Globidens 
alabamaénsis, the remains of a mosasaurian reptile 
from the Upper Cretaceous of Alabama, characterised 
by the globular form of the cheek-teeth, that type of 
dentition having been previously unknown to exist in 
that group of lizard. By a curious coincidence, Prof. 
L. Dollo, of the Brussels Museum, received the im- 
perfect remains of a lower jaw of a mosasaurian from 
the Maestricht Cretaceous, carrying three teeth of the 
same general type as those of the American specimen, 
but somewhat laterally compressed. He has described 
the Belgian specimen in Archiv Biol., vol. xxviii., 
pp- 609-26) as a new species of the American genus 
under the name of G. fraasi. M. Dollo concludes that 
while the typical mosasaures (Mosasaurus) were surface 
swimmers, and fed on other vertebrates, the members 
of the genera Plioplatecarpus and Globidens were 
divers, the former feeding on belemnites and squids, 
and the latter on sea-urchins. 


Many years ago the late Dr. W. T. Blanford 
asserted that the blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) living 
on a spit of sand about thirty miles long between 
the salt Chilka Lake in Orissa, and the sea never 
drank water. With few exceptions, the statement 
was received with incredulity. That it may be prac- 
tically true is, however, indicated by observations 
recorded by Dr. R. E. Drake-Brockman, in The Field 
of January 31 (vol. cxxiii., p. 244), relating to a herd 
of Pelzeln’s gazelles (Gazella pelzelni), which have 
lived on the small island of Saad-ud-din, near Zeyla, 
Somaliland, since 1910. The usual annual rainfall 
is less than 3 in., and even when, as in 1g11, it is 
considerably more, pools of water are only to be found 
for a few days after a heavy shower.- The vegetation 
of the island is scanty. Dr. Drake-Brockman sub- 
mits that ‘the result of the experiment sets at rest 
the question whether desert-loving antelopes can sub- 
sist without water save that which collects for a few 
days after a heavy shower of rain.” Nothing is said 
with regard to the gazelles being able to obtain 
succulent roots or bulbs, such as those on which 
antelopes feed during the dry season in the Kalahari. 


UNDER the title of Mera Publications, No. 1, we 
have received a copy of a paper by Messrs. 
Harold Swithinbank and G. E. Bullen on the scien- 
tific and economic aspects of the Cornish pilchard 
fishery, (1) ‘‘The Food and Feeding Habits of the 
Pilchard in Coastal Waters.” In this are described 
some. observations made on board the steam yacht 
Mera in 1913, and also certain results of inquiries 
made from 1905-7 off the Cornish coast. The authors 
conclude that the pilchard when feeding exercises 
some degree of selection, catching chiefly certain con- 
stituents of the zooplankton, such as copepods and 
crustacea, whilst other organisms, 


696 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 19, 1914 


such as medusz, are avoided. They further think 
that zooplankton is preferred to phytoplankton, and 
that there is a certain amount of evidence to show 
that feeding is largely undertaken at nightfall, when 
the surface distribution of some highly nutrient 
plankton species reaches a maximum. We _ under- 
stand that copies of the publication will be supplied 
free of charge to students of marine biology on appli- 
cation to Mr, G. E, Bullen, the Hertfordshire Museum, 
St. Albans, 


WE have received part i. of the sixth year’s issue 
of Der Fischerbote, the new German fishery journal. 
The number is one of considerable interest. In addi- 
tion to several articles on general marine biological 
and fishery subjects, there is the continuation of a 
series of accounts of the development of British fish- 
ing ports; the article in the current number deals 
with Fleetwood. Der Fischerbote, which is published 
fortnightly, is edited by Fishery-Director H. Liibbert 
and Prof. Ehrenbaum, of the Hamburg Natural 
History Museum. 


An interesting study on heredity of skin colour in 
negro-white crosses is published by Dr. C. B. Daven- 
port in No. 188 of the Publications of the Carnegie 
Institution (1913). The data, which include very 
careful observations on more than 600 individuals, 
were collected chiefly in Bermuda and Jamaica, The 
difficulties in exactly determining the grade of skin 
colour, and more especially in getting trustworthy 
information about the ancestry, are explained, and 
reason is given for regarding the results as generally 
trustworthy. It is concluded that the results obtained 
fit on the whole rather well with the hypothesis that 
the negro is homozygous for two factors for the pro- 
duction of black pigment, both of which are absent 
from the European. Since each of these factors may 
be present singly or in duplicate among the descend- 
ants of a cross between negro and white, there may 
be five conditions—none, one, two, three, or four of 
the factors being present. When the whole number 
of individuals examined is plotted in a polygon, there 
are, in fact, five maxima. It is concluded that the 
stories of the production of ‘‘black’’ offspring by two 
full whites with negro ancestry on one or both sides 
are mythical. There is a yellow pigment in the negro 
independent of the black, which may appear strongly 
in the paler hybrids. Eye-colour and hair-colour and 
form are dealt with more shortly. There is no cor- 
relation between skin-colour and hair-form, but strong 
correlation between skin- and hair-colour. 


Tue Ipswich and District Field Club, in vol. iv. of 
its journal, includes a good colour-printed geological 
map of the Gipping Valley, by Mr. P. G. H. Boswell, 
and an account by Mr. J. Reid Moir of a workshop 
of Aurignacian flint implements revealed in a brick- 
field to the north of Ipswich. The types of implement 
are illustrated, and it is pointed out that hitherto 
remains of this stage of culture have not been found 
in England outside caves. Fire is believed to have 
been employed for fracturing the flints. 


A PRELIMINARY account of the rainfall of 1913, from 
observations at selected stations of the British Rain- 


NO, 2312, VOL. 92| 


fall Organisation, pending the more exhaustive exam- 
ination of all available data, is published in’ Symons’s 
Meteorological Magazine for January. The general 
annual fall for the whole of the British Isles was~ 
I per cent. below the normal; Scotland had a deficiency 
of 6 per cent., England and Wales one of 2 per cent., — 
while Ireland had an excess of 5 per cent. July was 


| the driest month, with little more than one-third of 


the average rainfall; August was also dry, England 
and Wales having exactly half the average. The 
wettest month was April, with a general excess of 
61 per cent.; in England and Wales the excess was 
80 per cent. In Scotland March was the wettest 
month, excess 59 per cent.; in Ireland the maximum 
occurred in January, excess 74 per cent. In Septem- 
ber several rainstorms of great intensity occurred, the 
most notable being those at Newcastle-on-Tyne on 
September 16, and at Doncaster on the following day. — 
As regards the geographical distribution the most 
striking feature was the deficiency in the east and 
the excess in the west of the country. 


Tuose of our readers who are interested in meteoro- 
logy, and have followed the recent progress in that 
science, will probably have noticed several important 
changes in the popular Daily Weather Report issued ~ 
by the Meteorological Office. In January, 1911, 
arrangements were made for lithographing the report 
at the new office, and advantage was taken of the 
change to revise, inter alia, the arrangement of the 
maps. In place of the two showing pressure and 
temperature at 7h. a.m. of the current day, the in- 
formation was combined on a single map, and the 
normal distribution of sea temperature was indicated 
by the depth of tint of the blue colour used to mark 
a distinction between sea and Jand. The area of the 
map then extended northwards to just beyond the 
Arctic circle, and included the Icelandic stations and 
Bodo in Norway. But from January 1 of this year 
an important extension has been made in the area of 
the principal 7h. a.m. chart, showing the observations 
at Ward6é (extreme north of Norway), and those of 
the important Arctic station in Spitsbergen, while the 
area in the west and south is (as before) such as to 
allow of the inclusion of observations at Madeira and 
of timely wireless messages. It may be mentioned 
that much useful information bearing on the remark- 
able extensions of the telegraphic weather service in 
the last few years (especially since 1905) will be found 
in a lecture by Mr. Lempfert on British weather fore- 
casts (Quart. Journ. R. Met. Soc., July, 1913). 


Nearty half the December number of the Bulletin 
of the Bureau of Standards is occupied with a paper 
by Mr. F. W. Grover on the methods available for 
determining the terms of a Fourier series to represent 
any periodic function, such as an alternating-current 
wave. The method finally adopted is that given by 
Runge in 1903, and complete descriptions of the 
methods of calculation and schedules for carrying it 
out rapidly are given. The author hopes by this 
means to enable electrical engineers to undertake the 
necessary analysis of the curves with which they deal 
without too much time having to be spent in the 
work. 


FEBRUARY 19, 1914] 


NATURE 


697 


Some of the scientific and technical periodicals of 
Germany are beginning to use the symbols agreed on 
by the International Committee on units and symbols, 
and it may be useful to mention here some of the 
symbols adopted. Length J, mass m, time t, radius, r, 
volume V, velocity v, gravitational acceleration g, 
pressure p, temperature absolute T or 6, ordinary t, 
quantity of heat Q, specific heat at constant pressure 
Cp, at constant volume c,, coefficient of linear expan- 
sion a, wave-length \, intensity of magnetisation, 3, 
magnetic field 5, magnetic induction B, permeability 
susceptibility x, electric current I, resistance R, electro- 
motive force E, capacity C, quantity of electricity Q, 
self-inductance L. 


Tue Institution of Electrical Engineers has issued a 
programme of the meetings to be held by its local 
sections until the end of May next. The seven sec- 
tions are :—Birmingham, holding its meetings at the 
University there; Dublin, holding its meetings at the 
Royal College of Science; Manchester, meeting at the 
physical laboratory of the University; Newcastle, 
which, in addition to the meetings at the Armstrong 


College of Science, has arranged also three meetings | 


at Middlesbrough; the Scottish, with meetings at 
Edinburgh and Glasgow; the Western, with meetings 
at Bristol and Cardiff; and the Yorkshire Local Sec- 
tion, meeting at the Philosophical Hall, Leeds, 


In connection with wave-length and other measure- 
ments in wireless telegraphy, adjustable condensers 
are frequently employed, and in many cases the quan- 
tity to be measured varies with the square of the 
capacity of the condenser. Fot such purposes, there- 
fore, an adjustable condenser following a square law 


should be useful, and Mr. W. Duddell, in a short - 


paper in the Journal of the Institution of Electrical 
Engineers for February 2, describes the method he 
has used for working out the correct curve to give 
to the plates of a rotating sector condenser, with this 
object in view. The data obtained may save other 


experimenters from going through the work a second 
time. 


Tue British Fire Prevention Committee have found 
it necessary to formulate a standard test and a model 
specification for portable chemical fire extinguishers 
owing to the fact that several fatalities have occurred 
through these appliances bursting when being 
operated. There is at the present moment an unfor- 
tunate tendency to put various types of ‘‘cheap-jack”’ 
appliances on the market, and the committee direct 
attention to the reprehensible method which is fre- 
quently adopted by makers or their agents in country 
towns and villages of making use of faked demon- 
stration tests to sell such appliances. The specifica- 
tion can be obtained from the offices of the committee, 
8 Waterloo Place, Pall Mall, S.W. 


No. 13 of the Technologic Papers of the Bureau of 
Standards of the Department of Commerce of the 
United States deals with the question of electrolysis 
in concrete, and is an experimental investigation of 
the problem by Messrs. E. B. Rosa, Burton McCollum, 
and O. S. Peters. The report is illustrated by 
numerous photographs and tables of data, and fills 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 


136 pages. Of the numerous theories that have been 
advanced to account for the cracking of reinforced con- 
crete that one which attributes it to the oxidation of 
the iron anode following electrolytic corrosion has been 
fully established. The oxides formed occupy a volume 
which is 2-2 times as great as the original iron, and 
the pressure resulting from this causes the block to 
crack open. Many points of great interest to the 
architect and engineer are dealt with in full detail in 
the report. 


HitHErtTO aéroplane problems have received very 
little attention from workers in pure science, and it is 
not so very fong ago that an attempt by Prof, Herbert 
Chatley to investigate mathematically the stresses in 
the various parts of an aéroplane met with a very 
discouraging reception. We have now received a 
paper by Prof. H. Reissner on the strength of flying 
machines, published in the Jahrbuch der wissen- 
schaftlichen Gesellschaft fiir Flugtechnik, vol. i., 
dealing with the general principles involved in the 
study of aéroplane stresses. As the author points 
out, the increasing use of aéroplanes in all kinds of 
weather, often driven at high speeds for racing pur- 
poses carrying heavier loads, and subjected to vibra- 
tion for extended periods, has brought this question 
of safety into greatly increased prominence. Among 
various methods of testing strength, one consists in 
suspending the machine in an inverted position and 
loading its supporting surfaces with sand. Prof. 
Reissner advocates experiments in which aéroplanes 
are strained to the breaking point, although the cost 
of such tests would preclude them from being made 
except when a large number of machines of a particu- 
lar type are being built. At the present time all 
aéroplanes have some of their parts strained beyond 
the elastic limits of the materials, a circumstance 
which greatly increases the difficulty of the problem. 


Mr. Sit Asput-Art dealt with the doctrine of the 
first matter as held by the alchemists, and particularly 
by Thomas Vaughan, in a paper read before the 
Alchemical Society on February 13. He pointed out 
that the alchemical quest was of a different nature 
from that pursued by the experimental chemist, and 
needed a different mental point of view for its appre- 
ciation. Alchemy, he said, had a secret tradition, 
and, in that light, a scriptural faith; it started with a 
theory of creation and a psychic doctrine, a symbolic 
presentation of which it sought in a chemical experi- 
ment. The lecture was mainly concerned with the 
doctrinal implications of this “ first matter,” and their 
significance for modern philosophy. 


THE sixteenth technological paper from the Bureau 
of Standards (Washington) deals with the manufac- 
ture of lime. It describes an attempt to study the 
effects of various impurities on the properties of lime, 
and to compare the efficiency of various types of 
manufacturing processes used in the transformation of 
limestone into slaked- and quick-lime. The brochure 
is a particularly interesting contribution to the litera- 
ture of that neglected industry—lime burning; the 
pamphlet is of equal interest to the consumers—archi- 
tects and builders—since they seek the best possible 
mortar, &c., for building purposes. The quality of 


698 
the mortar is not only dependent upon efficient burn- 
ing, but also on skilful slaking and proper mixing. 
The deterioration in the quality of quick- and slaked- 
lime with keeping also receives attention. 

AnoTHER of Prof. H. B. Baker’s interesting studies 
of the properties of purified substances is described in 
a recent issue of the Chemical Society’s Journal, 
vol. ciii., p. 2060, in a paper published jointly with 
Mr. L. H. Parker. Two years ago, at a meeting of 
the Faraday Society, an experiment was shown in 
which water prepared under special conditions acted 
much more slowly than ordinary distilled water on 
sodium amalgam. It was remarkable that this differ- 
ence persisted even after a considerable amount of 
caustic soda had been formed; it was therefore not 
due to the non-conducting properties of the special 
water, and has now been traced to the ‘catalytic 
action”’ of traces of hydrogen peroxide. These are 
present in ordinary samples of water, and in water 
prepared from pure hydrogen and oxygen in presence 
of palladium, but are destroyed by distilling from 
metallic vessels and superheating the steam. One 
sample of water prepared in this way in a platinum 
apparatus had no perceptible action on sodium amal- 
gam in three hours, and liberated only o-1 c.c. in four 
hours, 0-4 c.c. in five hours, and 0-6 c.c. in six hours. 
On the other hand, the addition of one part of 
hydrogen peroxide to 100,000 parts of another sample 
of water increased the amount of hydrogen liberated 
from o to 3:8 c.c. in one hour, and 4-1 to 32-4 c.c. in 
three hours, although it did not appreciably affect 
the conductivity of the water. 

A CATALOGUE of periodicals and publications of 
literary and scientific societies, including standard sets 
and library editions, which they have on sale, has 
been published by Messrs. W. Heffer and Sons, Ltd. 
An inspection of the catalogue suggests that men of 
science and librarians have here a good opportunity 
of completing their sets of transactions and of making 
additions to their libraries at a moderate cost. 


A copy has been received from Cairo of the almanac 
for the year 1914 compiled in the Government Publica- 
tions Office for the Egyptian Government. The object 
of the almanac is to furnish information likely to be 
useful to the various Government administrations in 
their relations with each other and also to the general 
public. In the section concerned with the Ministry 
of Finance, full particulars are given in connection 
with the Survey Department; details as to schools and 
colleges are included under the heading, Ministry of 
Education; and an _ exhaustive section, entitled 
‘General Information,” supplies up-to-date facts as to 
rainfall and other meteorological data, magnetic 
values, scientific societies, weights and measures, in 
addition to other matters of importance. 


DETONATING FIREBALL OF JANUARY 19.—A consider- 
able number of records of this object have now been 
received by Mr. W. F. Denning, and it is certain that 
the fireball-descended io within a very small distance 
of the earth’s surface, if indeed it did not actually 
fall to the ground. The observations are not suffi- 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 19, I914 


ciently exact to indicate the precise spot where the 
meteor fell, if it came to earth, and the event might 
easily pass unnoticed if it occurred in a country place 
where no one happened to be near enough actually to 
witness it. : 

Several observers carefully timed the interval between 
the meteor’s brilliant flash and explosion and the 
sound which followed. This was half a minute near 
Oxford and one minute a little further off in the same 
part, while at several other places the times are given 
as one minute to five minutes, according to the vary- 
ing distance from the scene of the disruption. One 
minute’s interval equals a distance of about twelve 
miles, and as part of this was horizontal distance and 
not all vertical height, it is clear the fireball was only 
a very few miles high at the time of its final outburst. 

Inquiries should be instituted in the west part of 
Berkshire, near Lambourn, for it is possible evidence 
may be obtained as to the exact locality of the fall, if 
it occurred. The radiant of the meteor was south of 
Ursa Major, either at 132°+47°, or 154°+41° prob- 
ably. 


THE ToraL Sovar Eciipse or AuGusT 21 NEXT.— 
The Observatory for February publishes particulars 
of the provisional arrangements which have been made 
by the Joint Permanent Eclipse Committee with re- 
gard to the observations of the total solar eclipse of 
August 21 next. Under the auspices of the committee 
Prof. Fowler, Mr. W. E. Curtis, and Father Cortie, 
with Major Hills and Father O’Connor as volunteers, 
will be situated at or near Kiev. The first two-named, 
with Major Hills, will devote their attention to photo- 
graphing the spectrum of the chromosphere during 
the partial phases with iron arc comparisons. The 
other two will take photographs of the corona and its 
spectrum, chiefly in the region of longer wave-lengths. 
The Royal Observatory of Greenwich will be repre- 
sented by Mr. Jones and Mr. Davidson, who will 
attempt large-scale photographs of the corona, and 
its spectrum, with special reference to the ultra-violet 
region; they will be stationed at Minsk. The Solar 
Physics Observatory of Cambridge will send a party of 
three, namely, Prof. Newall, Messrs. Stratton and 
Butler, and this will be stationed at Feodosia, in the 
Crimea. Their programme will include direct photo- 
graphs of the corona on large and small scales, the 
former for studies of ‘‘arches,’” and the latter for 
extensions. |The chromospheric spectrum will be 
attacked with a concave grating without slit, for com- 
parison with the slit spectra of Prof. Fowler’s pro- 
gramme. Polariscopic observations will also be made. 


Tue Assorption oF Licut IN SPpAcE.—An ingenious 
method of trying to detect the absorption of light in 
space is that of photographing the spectra of stars 
which have similar spectra, but the stars themselves 
should be at very different distances from the earth. 
The spectrum of the more distant star should exhibit 
a greater absorption towards the violet than that of the 
nearer star, if such absorption be present in space. 
This method was proposed by Prof. Kapteyn, and a 
first attempt has been made by Mr. Walter S. Adams, 
using the Cassegrain spectrograph of the Mount Wil- 
son Solar Observatory; his results are printed in the 
current number of The Astrophysical Journal (January, 
vol. xxix., No. 1). The choice of stars was facilitated 
by the use of the ample material previously accumu- 
lated for line of sight work, and the pairs finally 
compared had spectra which were similar line for line. 
Stars of various spectrum types were employed, and 
of the twenty pairs investigated seven pairs were of 
class Ko, two from each of B8, Gs, and G6, and one 
from each of Ao, F4, F7, G8, K2, K4, and K6. While 
six pairs showed no appreciable difference between the 


i 


FEBRUARY 19, I1914| 


-NATURE 


699 


two ends of the spectrum, fourteen displayed a marked 
difference which is stated to be very great in some 
cases. In every case the star which is relatively faint 
at the violet end of the spectrum is the star of small 
proper motion. Mr. Adams points out that the 
evidence of this small amount of material is two 
slight to warrant any extended discussion on its appli- 
cation to the problem of the absorption of light in 
space. 


Wuo’s Wuo in AstroNomy.—The very excellent 
book, entitled ‘‘ Astronomical Observations and Astro- 
nomers,” and published under the auspices of the 
Royal Observatory of Belgium, which first appeared in 


- the year 1907, is well known to most of the readers 


of this column, and no doubt has been found a very 
useful book of reference. The work was from the 
pens of the astronomers at the Royal Observatory of 
Belgium, and the task of collecting and arranging 
the information was no light one. It is now proposed 
to bring the contents thoroughly up to date, and with 
this intention circulars have been widely distributed 
requesting that the printed forms be filled in. These 
forms ask for a. brief statement as to personnel, in- 
struments, researches, and publications of observa- 
tories, and it is hoped that everyone will do his best 
to make the volume as complete as possible, and so 
render more light the labours of M. P. Stroobant and 
his co-workers. 


WORK OF THE VIENNA RADIUM 
; INSTITUTE.1 


Cc the seventeen papers before us, from the Radium 
Institute at Vienna, five by Drs. von Hevesy and 
Paneth, both of whom are well known in this country, 
contain notable advances in our knowledge of the 
chemistry of the radio-active elements. The chemical 
identity of the several members of a group of isotopic 
elements has been further put to the proof and ex- 
tended to include the electro-chemical properties. An 
elegant application of this new phenomenon of isotopy 
has been made in analytical chemistry in the deter- 
mination of the solubility of such excessively insoluble 
compounds as lead chromate, sulphide, &c. The 
principle of the method is to add to the common 
element its radio-isotope in unweighable, but intensely 
radio-active, amount, and to estimate the distribution 


of the former after any chemical operation 
from the experimental distribution of: the latter 
by radio-active measurements. Thus radium 


D, derived from the decay of radium emana- 
tion, is added to lead before its precipitation by 
potassium chromate. Radium D being isotopic with 
lead, the ratio of the lead and radium D must remain 
unchanged by the precipitation. The quantity of lead 
in the filtrate is, of course, analytically undetectable, 
but the quantity of radium D is easily estimated. In 
this way the solubility of lead chromate in water at 
25° was found to be o-o1r2 mg. per litre, or twelve 
parts in a thousand million. 

Another important direction, in which these inves- 
tigators are extending, is in the application of col- 
loido-chemistry to the radio-elements. Often, as they 
and Godlewski in France have independently con- 
cluded, even these extremely attenuated solutions of 
the radio-elements behave as colloids rather than as 
electrolytes and their transport under the electric 
current is due to electrophoresis rather than to electro- 
lysis. Polonium is the centre of interest in many of 
these researches, for it is a new element, in the sense 

1 Mitteilungen aus dem Institut fiir Radium-forschung, xxxviii-li i. 
Ueber Neuerungen-und Erfahrungen an den Radium-messungen nach der 


Cee By V. F. Hess (Verh. D. Physikal. Ges., 1913, xv-, 
Tr. 20). \ 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92| 


that it is isotopic with no previously known one, and 
occupies a separate place in Mendeléeff’s table, so that 
its properties cannot, like those of the majority, be 
exactly determined by proxy. 

V. F. Hess describes a convenient method of deter- 
mining quantities of radium by the y-ray method, the 
quantity being read off by the constant deflection of an 
Elster-Geitel single quartz-thread electrometer, in 
conjunction with one of N. R. Campbell’s high resist- 
ances of xylol and alcohol. A long attempt to arrange 
a standard measuring instrument, calibrated once for 
all, which would give the quantity of radium without 
the necessity of employing a radium standard, might 
have been more successful if the author had been 
acquainted with A. S. Russell’s work on the measure- 
ment of y rays and the necessity, if disturbances from 
secondary rays are to be avoided, of using lead, not 
brass, for the walls of the electroscope. In the same 
field Flamm and Mache continue the account of their 
attempts to measure the radium emanation quantita- 
tively by the absolute value of the ionisation current 
in a guard-ring plate condenser. 

Hess has continued his determinations of the pene- 
trating radiation of the upper atmosphere by means 
of balloon ascents, and arrives at the startling con- 
clusion that above 2000 metres there is a rapid increase 
in the intensity of the penetrating rays. At these 
heights the penetrating rays from the earth itself 
would be absolutely negligible, whilst that from the 
radium emanation in the air, which has its origin in 
the earth and is of limited life, must be, at any rate, 
less than at the surface. The conclusion that a great 
part of the penetrating radiation cannot come from 
the known radio-active constituents of the earth and 
atmosphere is one that must evoke general interest, 
and calls for the further radio-active exploration of 
the upper atmosphere. 

Other papers deal with chemical decomposition pro- 
duced by radium rays and ultra-violet light (Kailan), 
the solubility of radium emanation and other gases in 
liquids (Stefan Meyer and Martin Kofler), the varia- 
tion in the ranges of the individual « particles through 
the probability variations in the number of molecules 
they encounter in their path (Freidmann), and the 
life periods of uranium and radium (Stefan Meyer). 
The latter research treats critically the known data 
from which these constants can be derived, and leads 
to the result that there is complete agreement among 
values obtained by independent methods. The most 
probable values for the periods of average life of 
radium and uranium respectively are 2500 and 
7-23. x10° years. Incidentally, it may be pointed out, 
this makes the perennial problem of the origin of 
actinium more of a mystery than ever, for there should 
be no such agreement among the methods, if, as is 
supposed, some 8 per cent. of the uranium atoms 
branched off into actinium at some point before 
radium is arrived at. But it may still be doubted 
whether some of the data chosen, particularly the 
equilibrium ratio between radium and uranium, are 
not at fault. Beas 


SMOKE AND SMOKE PREVENTION. 


us fin BIBILIOGRAPHY of Smoke and Smoke 
Prevention,” prepared by Mr. E. H. McClel- 
land, has been published by the University of 


Pittsburg, Pa. (Bulletin 2, 1913, pp. 164; price 
50 cents). The bibliography has been com- 
piled for the use of the Melton Institute of 


Industrial Research, consisting of a body of scientific 
experts, who are about to embark on an inquiry, the 
nature and extent of which is set forth in the first 
bulletin issued by the institute (‘‘ Outline of the Smoke 
Investigation’). It contains an apparently complete 


700 


list of publications dealing with smoke, its cause, 
effects, and prevention. In looking through the biblio- 
graphy, we are struck by the extent and varied sources 
of the literature, a fact which clearly indicates that 
the smoke nuisance has no mere ‘local habitation,’ 
but possesses a widespread interest. English, 
American, German, and French volumes predominate, 
and if we were to estimate the extent of the nuisance 
in these countries by the number of publications 
England would stand easily first. Still, it is some 
consolation to think that we do not suffer alone. The 
question then arises, how long will the present state 
of apathy on the part of the public authority continue, 
and when will the limit to public endurance be 
reached? It is true that we have the smoke clauses of 
the Factory Acts; but a perusal of these will imme- 
diately dispel any faith in their efficacy. We have also 
local bylaws ; but experience will teach the most casual 
observer that in most industrial centres atmospheric 
purification has undergone little change. Indeed, in 
some of the most notoriously bad localities average 
convictions do not exceed one a year. There is, we 
believe, a Bill to be introduced into the House of 
Commons, and promoted by a large and influential 
body of citizens connected with various industrial 
centres, which, it is hoped, will find its way to the 
statute-book. In the meantime, there is no question 
that demands more immediate and drastic treatment 
than the smoke problem owing to its effects on the 
health, cleanliness, and general comfort of the com- 
munity. 


ANTARCTIC PROBLEMS4 


The Problem of the Antarctic Andes and the 
Antarctic Horst. 


A® the Weddell Sea will be the objective this year 
of no fewer than three Antarctic expeditions, 
some of its features as bearing on the above problem 
may be discussed first. 
The continuity of Coat’s Land, discovered by Dr. 
W. S. Bruce in the Scotia in 1904, with Prince Regent 


Luitpold Land, discovered by Dr. Filchner in the . 


Deutschland in 1912, has still to be traced. Filchner 
sighted three Nunataks of dark rock rising from the 
inland ice to the south of ‘‘ Vahsel Bucht,”’ thereby 
proving indisputably the existence of land under the 
inland ice. The inland ice there rose gently from its 
shore cliff of from 25 ft. to 65 ft. high, up to more 
than 3000 ft. at a distance from the shore of about 
thirty. miles. Of far greater importance is the trac- 
ing inland of the unknown coast to the south of Luit- 
pold Land. 

This is one of the greatest of the geographical 
problems which the Shackleton Expedition should 
solve. Amundsen,-on his journey to the south pole 
in 1911, proved that the south-easterly trend of the 
Queen Alexandra Range, discovered by Shackleton at 
the Beardmore Glacier, is not maintained in the Queen 
Maud Ranges, but that the latter ranges bend to the 
right as one follows a great circle from the Beard- 
more Glacier to Graham Land. So far, this favours 
the theory of Penck that Antarctica is divided into a 
West and East Antarctica respectively, by a strait con- 
necting the Ross Sea with the Weddell Sea, for the 
trend of the Queen Maud Ranges, if continued farther 
north in the western hemisphere, would carry it to 
Luitpold Land. 

There can be little doubt that this Queen Maud 
Range is bounded by heavy fractures, of the order of 
several thousands of feet, for geological reasons which 
will be stated presently; and that these trend lines 

1 Summary of a paper read before the Royal Geographical Society on 
February o by Prof. Edgeworth David, C.M.G., F.R.S. 

NO. 2312, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 19, 1914 


are, perhaps, as strongly pronounced as are any in 
the world. If, therefore, the ranges, to which they 
give origin, extend towards Luitpold Land, they are 
certain to be strongly marked, and should be capable 
of accurate delineation by the Transantarctic party of 
the new expedition. If, on the other hand, as seems 
more probable, the Queen Maud Ranges, when traced 
into the Weddell Quadrant, bend back towards 
Graham Land, and become continuous with Charcot 
Land and King Oscar II. Land, then Shackleton’s 
other party, operating from his main base at the head 
of Weddell Sea, should be able to solve this all-impor- 
tant problem. With its length already proved of no 
fewer than 1400 miles, and its height of from 8000 
to 15,000 ft, its stupendous fracture lines, involving 
displacements of 5000 to 6000 ft., and its profound 
influence on the meteorological conditions of Ant- 
arctica, and probably of the southern hemisphere, it is 
not the least important of the mountain ranges of the 
world, and certainly yields to none in its geological 
interest and the extreme difficulty of the problems 
which it presents. 

At the Graham Land end of Antarctica, Arctowski, 
Nordenskjéld, Gunnar Andersson, Charcot, and Gour- 
don have proved that petrographically and tectonically 
the rocks are distinctly Andean. Granodiorites, and 
Andesitic rocks, in which zoned soda-lime felspars are 
characteristic, are there predominant. Boulders of 
gneissic rocks present in Tertiary strata at Seymour 
Island suggest a pre-Cambrian foundation complex 
at no great distance. Recently Dr. W. T. Gordon 
has_ identified well-preserved Archzocyathine in a 
large block of limestone dredged up by Dr. W. S. 
Bruce in the Scotia, from lat. 62° 10’ S., long. 41° 20’ 
W., from a depth of 1775 fathoms, near the South 
Orkney Islands, and specimens of Pleurograptus 
ceratiocaris and discinocaris, previously described by 
Pirie, from the collections by Bruce in the South 
Orkneys, proves the existence there of Ordovician 
rocks. The sedimentary rocks are largely formed of 
Jurassic plant-bearing strata, with one of the richest 
known fossil floras of that age in the southern hemi- 
sphere. In the west and central parts of Graham 
Land these have been strongly folded, and mostly 
overfolded to the east, as has been the case with the 
greater part of the formations developed in the South 
American Andes. Farther east in James Ross Island, 
Snow Hill, and Seymour Islands, &c., there is a gently 
inclined series of marine Cretaceous rocks, followed 
by Middle Tertiary rocks (Upper Oligocene to Older 
Miocene) with fossil leaves of Fagus, Araucaria, &c., 
a geological structure recalling that of East Patagonia 
and southern Argentina, as compared with the folded 
highlands of west Patagonia and southern Chile. 

Then the zone of active or dormant voleanoes, which 
intermittently characterises the Andean Chain, is met 
with on both sides of Graham Land, in Bridgman, 
Paulet, and Deception Islands, on the west, and in 
Lindenberg, Christensen, Sarsee, and the Seal Island 
volcanoes on the east side. If now a comparison of 
the broad structural features of West Antarctica be 
made with those of East Antarctica in the Ross region 
it will be noticed that a great volcanic zone stretches 
along the western shore of Ross Sea from at least so 
far south as Mounts Erebus, Morning, and Discovery, 
to so far north as Cape Adare. This main volcanic 
zone of the Ross Sea region is crossed by lesser zones 
trending more or less east and west, like the Mounts 
Terror, Terra Nova, Erebus, and Dry Valley zone, 
the zone of the Balleny Islands, &c. If, however, 
this Ross Sea volcanic zone with the adjacent moun- 
tains be compared with the ranges and volcanic zones 
of West Antarctica, the fact at once becomes obvious 
that the ranges of the Ross area are entirely devoid of 
folding, and are of a block-faulted plateau type, 


re ee 


FEBRUARY 19, 1914] 


whereas the lavas and tufis of the Ross region are 
very distinct from those of West Antarctica, being 


‘strongly alkaline, of the nature of trachytes, phono- 


lites, kenytes, &c., and of as distinctly Atlantic type 
as the West Antarctic rocks are of Pacific type. 

The problem is further complicated by the fact that, 
meagre as it is, our knowledge of the geology of the 
King Edward Land area shows the eruptive rocks 
there, in which granodiorites are conspicuous, to be 
more nearly allied to Andean rocks than are those of 
Ross Sea. There, too, in the Ross Sea region, a vast 
coalfield with nearly horizontal strata sheets over all 
the older rocks from near the south pole itself to 
near Dr. Mawson’s base in Adélie Land, a distance 
of more than 1600 miles. According to the preliminary 
report published in ‘‘ Scott’s Last Expedition,” vol. ii., 
Mr. F. Debenham considers these Coal Measures to 
be of Upper Paleozoic age. Like the Coal Measures 
of Santa Catharina in southern Brazil and the northern 
Argentine, lying far to the east of the Andean fold 
area, they are but very little disturbed. Moreover, 
the structure of the mountains to the west of Ross 
Sea resembles in some respects that of the Falkland 
Islands, which again lie a little to the north-east of 
the Andean fold lines. 

In the Falkland Islands undulating Devonian sand- 
stones and quartzites lie with strong unconformity 
on a pre-Cambrian (?) crystalline complex, and are 
themselves succeeded by a nearly conformable group 
of Permo-Carboniferous strata with a well-marked 
glacial bed at its base which links it up at once with 
the Orleans glacial conglomerate of the Santa 
Catharina Coal Measure system. In his recent paper 
to this society, Mr. T. Griffith Taylor mentioned that 
the fossil fish-scales recently discovered by Mr. F. 
Debenham and himself at Granite Harbour, were 
considered by Dr. A. Smith Woodward to be of Devo- 
nian age, and the fossil tracks figured respectively 
by H. T. Ferrar from tle lower Beacon Sandstone of 
East Antarctica, and by Nordenskjéld from the Dévo- 
nian rocks of the Falkland Islands, show such a 
remarkable similarity to one another as to suggest 
that they are both of Devonian age. Now these late 
Palzozoic Coal Measures and Devonian rocks, more 
or less horizontally stratified, are far more character- 
istic of the outer foreland of the Andes, that is, the 
vast lower plateau or plain country lying to the east 
of the Andes, than they are of the Andes themselves. 
Sections are exhibited across typical portions of the 
Andes and their foreland massifs, together with type 
sections showing the probable geological structure of 
West as compared with East Antarctica, and a com- 
parison is made between the structure of the Antarctic 
Horst with the ‘‘ice divide’’ on the lower plateau to 
the west, and that of the main divide between southern 
Chile and southern Patagonia, as described by H. 
Steffen, F. P. Moreno, and others. It fs suggested 
very tentatively that in the Andean problem of the 
Antarctic a new physiographic enigma is propounded, 
viz.: When does a mountain range lose its identity 
as a definite unit, and become another range worthy 
of a different name? 

The South American Andes are characterised and 
defined by both folds and faults. In West Antarctica 
the folds are present with the thrust directed easterly 
as in the Andes; the volcanic zone is present, and 
fractures are also present, as well as typical Andean 
eruptive rocks. In the Ross Sea region in the moun- 
tains along its western shore, the great fracture lines 
are perhaps continuous with those of Graham Land, 
but the Andean folding has died out, as well as the 
petrographical Andean province which is found rather 
in King Edward Land than in the mountains to the 
west of Ross Sea. 

Provisionally it is suggested that while Arctowski’s 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


701, 


term, the ‘‘ Antarctandes,”’ may be used for the moun- 
tains of West Antarctica, some such term as the 
“ Antarctic Horst’? may be applied to the great ranges 
of the Victoria Quadrant. The party to be dispatched 
by Shackleton from his Weddell base westwards for 
400 or 500 miles, which should include someone who 
is both an experienced geologist and physiographer, 
should be able to throw a flood of light on this great 
Andean problem. 

Then, too, a great opportunity is offered by this 
expedition for sending a strong party from the Ross 
Sea base, not only to lay out depéts so far as to the 
head of the Beardmore Glacier to meet the Trans- 
Antarctic party on their arrival from over the great 
inland plateau, but also to collect systematically from 
the highly interesting Coal Measures, at the head 
of the Beardmore, with their associated fossil flora. 
The Shackleton expedition found wood, apparently 
allied to, if not identical with, coniferous wood, at 
the head of the Beardmore Glacier, and fossil rootlets 
in the adjacent shales suggest that the wood grew 
near where it is now found; and Captain Scott’s party 
have brought back specimens of fossil plants scientific- 
ally of the utmost value from the same _ locality. 
There, too, at Buckley Island, or Nunatak, thick beds 
of Cambrian limestone with traces of Archzeocyathinz 
underlie the Coal Measures. It is difficult to imagine 
any spot in the world more fascinating from the point 
of view of geology, paleontology, and many allied 
sciences. 

The problem of how trees, like modern forest trees, 
could flourish within 300 geographical miles of the 
south pole itself, which now for five months of the 
year is in almost total darkness, is one which involves 
the question as to whether the south pole was in late 
Paleozoic time in its present position, or whether, 
if the position of the earth’s axes of rotation have 
remained constant throughout geological time, the 
continents may not have crept horizontally over con- 
siderable distances, as suggested by Sir John Murray 
and G. W. Lamplugh. The presence of the rich 
Jurassic flora at Hope Bay in Graham Land and of 
the Miocene flora of Beech and Araucaria at Seymour 
Island presents a similar problem. 

Coast Survey.—The existence or not of New South 
Greenland, originally reported by Morell, is of import- 
ance for study by the various expeditions which should 
be in that vicinity this year and next year. Soundings, 
currents, and meteorological conditions suggest that 
New South Greenland really exists. 

The recent fine piece of coastal survey work by 
Dr. Mawson and his Captain, J. K. Davis, whereby 
about 1300 miles of new coast have been added to the 
map, greatly needs to be extended, so as to join up 
with Lieut. Pennell’s latest surveys to the east, on the 
Scott expedition, and also to connect westwards with 
Kemp Enderby Land and Coat’s Land. Obviously 
the Andean problem cannot be finally settled until the 
great unknown area between Charcot Land, King 
Edward VII. Land, and Carmen Land is thoroughly 
explored and charted. 

Meteorology.—R. C. Mossman has shown that Ant- 
arctica is of vast importance in controlling weather, 
not only’ in its own immediate neighbourhood, but 
even so far north as the subtropics of Chile. This 
very important result from the establishment of Dr. 
Bruce’s Meteorological Station at the South Orkneys, 
and the later system of meteorological stations in the 
far south, instituted and maintained continuously by 
the enterprise and insight of the Argentine Govern- 
ment, is likely to be confirmed in the case also of 
East Antarctica. Just as ice conditions in the Wed- 
dell Sea largely control the rainfall of subtropical 
Chile, so it is probable that ice conditions in the Ross 
Sea may control some portions of Australasian rain- 


702 


NATURE 


fall. Unquestionably very important results have been 
obtained from the establishment of Dr. Mawson’s 
wireless meteorological station at Macquarie Island 
in the sub-Antarctic. The Federal Government is 
so much impressed with the importance of the results 
that it has decided to maintain this station for a time, 
experimentally, at its own cost. 

In the coming expeditions it will be important to 
get meteorological data as to the location of the chief 
cold pole of Antarctica, and as to whether the low- 
pressure area of Ross Sea ever leads to air being 
sucked over from the Weddell Sea region, or vice 
versd. Both are low-pressure areas, so that, when 
their seas are ice-free, air obviously would stream into 
them normally from the high polar plateau. The 
trend of the dominant Sastrugi should be systematic- 
ally mapped en route by all sledging expeditions. 
Measurements of the upper-air currents to supplement 
the work of G. C. Simpson, so admirably carried out 
on the Scott expedition, are much to be desired, as 
well as studies of evaporation and ablation generally 
in regard to precipitation. A meteorological observa- 
tory at the head of Weddell Sea should greatly enhance 
the value of the Argentine southern observatories. 

Glaciology.—These problems are also interesting 
and important. The Weddell Barrier, as shown by 
the soundings, has, like the Ross Barrier, recently 
retreated at least 100 miles south of the position 
which it once occupied in late geological time. 

It will be important to ascertain whether in the 
Weddell Sea, as at Gaussberg, at Adélie Land, at 
Termination Land, as well as in the Ross Barrier 
region, the ice has everywhere been recently retreat- 
ing. The importance of the evidence of moss ice 
(‘‘respirator ice”) in the lids of crevasses, as indicat- 
ing sea-water underlying barrier ice, should not be 
overlooked. The position of the Main Ice Divide on 
the south polar plateau should be carefully determined, 
as well as the directions and rate of movement of the 
inland ice and of the outlet glaciers. The origin and 
history of the outlet valleys—amongst the deepest in 
the world—which transect the Antarctic Horst, offers 
a most fascinating problem. Shafts of moderate 
depth should be sunk .in the far inland snowfields to 
determine the crystallinity of the material. 

Biological, physical, including magnetic, observa- 
tions, as well as chemical, and particularly oceano- 
graphical investigations should, of course, 
neglected. In regard to oceanography, it may be sug- 
gested that not only should a general survey be made 
to develop the continental shelves, submarine ridges, 
and banks and deeper basins, but detailed surveys 
should be made in the neighbourhood of large floating 
piedmonts, so as to determine the existence or not 
of ice-scooped rock-hollows where such glaciers reach 
the sea floor, and of something like a terminal 
moraine where the barriers ended when at their maxi- 
mum extension. Careful sets of serial temperatures 
should be taken at close vertical intervals in the sea 
around such floating glacier piedmonts and barriers 
at various seasons of the year. These should throw 
much light on the amount of annual loss, through 
melting at their base, that such floating barriers must 
undergo. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


CamBRIDGE.—The council of the Senate has issued 
certain regulations relating to the directorship of the 
observatory. It is proposed that the director shall be 
appointed by the Observatory Syndicate at a stipend 
of 1501. a year. He will be expected to reside at the 
residence attached to the observatory, which will be 
free of rent, rates, and taxes. It is assumed that 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 


not be- 


[FEBRUARY 19, I914 


the director will in future, as in the past, be one of the 
professors of the University. 

‘Mr. R. A. Peters has been re-elected to the Benn W. 
Levy studentship for one year. 

The master and fellows of Sidney Sussex College 
have offered sol. a year for five years toward the 
stipend of a University lecturer in forestry. The 
General Board of Studies is of opinion that the offer 
should be gratefully accepted, and that the lecturer 
should be appointed for a period of five years. The 
General Board has consented to a request from the 


forestry committee that it should have power to 


appoint Mr. H. Jackson as University teacher in 
Indian forestry. 


Dr. E. E. Fournier D’ALBE, assistant lecturer in 
physics in Birmingham University, has been appointed 
special lecturer in physics in the University of the 
Panjab, Lahore. 


Tue following advanced lectures, to which admission 
is free without ticket, are announced in the London 
University Gazette. A course of four lectures on the 
theory of wave-motion, with special reference to earth- 
quake waves, will be given at the University by Prof. 
Horace Lamb, on Fridays, beginning on February 
20. A course of four lectures on the Assouan 
Dam will be given at the Institution of Civil 
Engineers, Great George Street, Westminster. by Mr. 
J. S. Wilson, on Wednesdays, beginning on March 4. 


Ir is announced in Science that the General Educa- 
tion Board of the United States has given 150,000l. 
toward an endowment of 300,0001. for the medical 
department of Washington University, St. Louis, to 
create full-time teaching and research departments in 
medicine, surgery, and pediatrics. The conditions of 
the gift provide that all teachers in these departments, 
while free to render any medical or surgical service, 
must not derive therefrom any personal gain. Their 
entire time must be devoted to hospital work, to teach- 
ing and research, as it is believed that medical educa- 
tion in the past has suffered from the fact that the 
teachers have had to rely on private work for the 
greater part of their income. The General Education 
Board has also made conditional grants of 20,0001. 
each to Knox College, Galesburg, Ill., and to Wash- 
burn College, Topeka, Kan. 


In the issue of Science for January 23 last Prof. 
Rudolf Tombo, jun., of Columbia University, publishes 
another of his useful articles on American university 
statistics. On this occasion he deals with the regis- 
tration returns for November 1 of last year of thirty 
of the leading universities in the United States. Prof. 
Tombo points out that these universities are neither 
the thirty largest’ universities in the country, nor 
necessarily the leading institutions. The only univer- 
sities which show a decrease in the grand total attend- 
ance (including the summer courses) are Harvard, 
Western Reserve, and Yale, the attendance of the 
two institutions last named having remained -prac- 
tically stationary. The largest gains, including the 
summer attendance, but making due allowance by 
deduction for the summer course students who re- 
turned for instruction in the autumn, were registered 
by New York University (965), Illinois (944), and 
Columbia (927). This year twelve institutions exhi- 
bited an increase of more than 200 students in the 
autumn term attendance, as against eight in 1912. 
According to the figures for 1913, the institutions with 
an attendance of more than 5000 Students, inclusive 
of the summer courses, rank as follows :—Columbia 
(9,929), California (7,071), Chicago (6,834), Michigan 
(6,008), Pennsylvania (5,968), Wisconsin (5,890), Har- 


——_ | °° ° 


FEBRUARY 19, 1914| 


NATURE 


793 


vard (5,627), Cornell (5,612), New York University 
(5,508), and Illinois (5,259). The largest number of 
officers is found at Columbia, where the staff of 


_ teaching and administrative officers consists of 907 


members, as against 737 at Illinois, 731 at Harvard, 
725 at Cornell, and 633 at Wisconsin. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


Lonpon. 

Royal Society, February 12,—Sir William Crookes, 
O.M., president, in the chair.—S. G. Brown ; Chemical 
action that is stimulated by alternating currents. This 
paper describes experiments on the effects produced 
by passing a rapid alternating current through simple 
voltaic cells, the general effect being to stimulate 
chemical action and to cause the cells to give a greater 
supply of continuous current which otherwise would 
not be produced.—R. D. Oldham: The effect of the 
Gangetic alluvium on the plumb-line in northern India. 
The depression occupied by the Gangetic alluvium 
along the southern face of the Himalayas, as deter- 
mined by geological observation, has a nearly vertical 
face on the north, and a floor sloping upwards in a 
southerly direction to the surface. The effect of the 
defect of mass in the Gangetic depression is calculated 
and shown to be capable of producing about 30” of 
northerly deflection of the plumb-line at the margin of 
the range, a deflection which drops rapidly on either 
side of the margin, but more rapidly to the south 
than the north. At twenty to thirty miles south, the 
distance depending on the width of the trough, it 
becomes zero, and at greater distances is replaced by 
a southerly deflection.—G. W. Walker: Note on the 
origin of black-body radiation.—Prof. H.~M. Mac- 
donald: The transmission of electric waves along the 
earth’s surface. A series is obtained which represents 
the magnetic force at any point on the surface when 
the oscillator is also on the surface; the series con- 
verges rapidly for large values of 6, and for not very 
large values the first term is a sufficient approxima- 
tion. For small values of @ the series converges very 
slowly.—Dr. G. T. Beilby : Transparence or translucence 
of the surface film produced in polishing metals (see 
page 691).—Dr. S. W. J. Smith and J. Guild: A 
thermomagnetic study of the eutectoid transition point 
of carbon steels. The magnetic properties of steel at 
temperatures near the eutectoid transition point (Ar) 
seemed to deserve further examination. Simultaneous 
observations of intensity of magnetisation and of tem- 
perature were made over various ranges of heating 
and of cooling in different magnetic fields. Nine 
steels containing percentages of carbon ranging be- 
tween o-1 and 1-5 were used. Each steel contained 
about 0-2 per cent., or less, of silicon and manganese. 
It was found that the temperature corresponding with 
the beginning of the transformation of the eutectoid 
during heating (Ac1) could be fixed within +1° C. 
under suitable conditions. This temperature was 
735° C., and was the same for all the steels.—W. R. 
Bousfield : Note on osmotic pressure. It is shown that 
the assumption that the molecular interspaces of a 
solution are filled with vapour, which there behaves 
as a perfect gas, leads to the same general relation 
between vapour pressure and osmotic pressure as is 
given by thermodynamical considerations. The 
anomalous fact that the osmotic pressure of a deci- 
normal sucrose solution is found to be greater at 
o° C. than at 5° C. is explained by reference to the 
constitution of water and the effect of compression 
upon the ice molecules. 


Physical Society, January 23.—Prof. C. H. Lees, vice- 
president, in the chair.—P. R. Coursey: Some char- 
acteristic curves and sensitiveness tests of crystal and 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 


| 
| 


other detectors. Experiments were described recently 
conducted on types of wireless detectors, and under- 
taken with a view of finding out whether any relation 
could be traced between the, sensitiveness and char- 
acteristic curves of a detector. Sample curves for 
some common detectors are included, and show that 
in some cases a fairly good agreement exists between 
the sensitiveness curve of a detector and the second 
differential of its characteristic, this being most notable 
in stable crystal detectors, but it is evident that the 
flexure of the characteristic curve cannot be the only 
cause of the response of a detector to wireless signals, 
but that at least a second action must also be present, 
as it was observed, notably in the electrolytic detector, 
that the maximum ordinates on the second differential 
were at places where the measured sensitiveness was 
either zero or extremely small, showing that there are 
probably two actions opposing one another at this 
point. This action when present in other detectors 
is perhaps electrolytic in nature, or the received oscilla- 
tions when superimposed on the direct-current boost- 
ing voltage partake of the properties of some 
“trigger ’’ action. This view is supported by experi- 
ments with detectors of the tellurium-aluminium type. 
—W. Duddell: A water model of the musical electric 
arc.—C. R. Darling: Further experiments with liquid 
drops and globules.—James Walker: A note on aberra- 
tion in a dispersive medium, and Airy’s experiment. 
Lord Rayleigh’s view that in the case of aberration we 
are concerned with the group-velocity instead of with 
the wave-velocity, makes it necessary to consider the 
experiment of Airy, in which he measured the angle 
of aberration with a telescope filled with water. A 
modification of Lord Rayleigh’s explanation leads to 
the result that the angle of aberration thus determined 
corresponds to an angle p—'v/U measured in air. 
The same result is obtained from an analytical inves- 
tigation, and a numerical calculation shows that the 
increase in the angle is about 1 per cent.—an amount 
that is probably too small to be detected. 


Mineralogical Society, January 27.—Dr. A. E. H. 
Tutton, president, in the chair.—T. Crook: 
The genetic classification of rocks and ore deposits. 
The general principles of the classification of rocks 
were considered, the term rock including all mineral 
deposits. The exact nature of genetic grouping was 
defined. Both rocks and ore deposits fall into broad 
natural divisions in accordance with a _ geological 
grouping of formative agents and processes, the type 
being determined by the last operative agent or pro- 
cess that gave the rock its individuality. The two 
main groups are (1) endogenetic deposits, arising from 
internal causes, and (2) exogenetic deposits, of super- 
ficial origin, and these are subdivided in a consistent 
genetic manner. ‘‘ Sedimentary ’’ and ‘‘ metamorphic ”’ 
products cannot be regarded as constituting two in- 
dependent subdivisions. A historical review of the 
application of genetic-geological principles to the 
classification of rocks and ore deposits was included. 
—Prof. A. F. Rogers: Lawsonite from the central 
coast ranges of California, Crystals from new 
localities were described; prismatic and tabular in 
habit and usually small, they displayed the forms oro, 
oor, o11, 110.—A, F. Hallimond; Uniaxial augite 
from Mull. The small, lath-shaped crystals, which 
seldom exceed 4 mm. in diameter, have refractive 
indices 0 1-714, e 1-744, specific gravity, 3-44, pro- 
nounced dichroism (o smoky-brown, e pale yellow), 
two cleavage directions nearly at right angles, and 
an extinction angle of 303° on the cleavage. A chem- 
ical analysis revealed distinct differences from ordinary 
diopside, and the composition approximates to that 
of hypersthene—H. H. Thomas and W. Campbell 
Smith: Apparatus for grinding crystal plates and 


704 


prisms. A gun-metal cylinder with its axis normal 
to a triangular brass-plate, about 5 cm. in diameter, 
resting on three screws, one of which has a graduated 
head, is movable vertically along, and rotatable about 
its axis, and by rotation of the graduated screw the 
axis of the cylinder is inclined at a known angle to 
the grinding lap. A crystal suitably mounted is 
brought by means of these two rotations into any 
desired position, a series of chucks of different inclina- 
tions being provided for holding it. The zero position 
is determined optically. A graphical method of deter- 
mining the requisite rotations was described. 


Zoological Society, February 3.—Sir John Rose Brad- 
ford, vice-president, in the chair.—G, A. Boulenger : 
Collections of Batrachians and reptiles made by the 
British Ornithologists’ Union and the Wollaston Ex- 
peditions in Dutch New Guinea. Four species of 
Batrachians and eight species of reptiles were de- 
scribed as new.—Dr. F. E. Beddard: Further observa- 
tions upon the Cestode genus Urocystidium, Beddard. 

Mathematical Society, February 12.—Prof. H. F. 
Baker, vice-president, in the chair.—G. T. Bennett : 
Exhibition and explanation of some models illustrating 
kinematics.—Prof. H. M. Macdonald ; Formulz for the 
spherical harmonic P,-™ («), when 1—, is a small 
quantity.—Prof. E. W. Hobson: The representation of 
the symmetrical nucleus of a linear integral equation. 
—Dr. W. F. Sheppard: Fitting of polynomials by the 
method of least squares (second paper).—H. Bateman : 
The differential geometry of point-transformations 
between two planes.—Major McKendrick: Studies in 
the theory of continuous probabilities. 


MANCHESTER, 

Literary and Philosophical Society, January 27.—Mr. 
F. Nicholson, president, in the chair.—T. A, Coward : 
The willow titmouse in Lancashire and Cheshire. 
The author, after defending the subdivision of geo- 
graphical races of birds into subspecies with distinctive 
trinomials, described how the Holarctic black-capped 
titmice fell naturally into two main groups, having 
as their types Parus palustris and P. atricapillus, L. 
The marsh-tit, the British representative of the first 
group, has long been recognised and accepted, but 
only within recent years has it been discovered that 
a British willow titmouse is referable to the atri- 
capillus group. The willow-tit occurs along with the 
marsh-tit in many English counties, and it apparently 
replaces the latter bird in Scotland. It is found in 
both Lancashire and Cheshire, and in 1913, at any 
rate, nested in Cheshire. Most writers on British 
birds have described the typical marsh-tit, apparently 
in ignorance of the occurrence of both forms. Mac- 
gillivray, whose specimens were obtained in Scotland, 
accurately describes the willow titmouse. Both birds, 
however, are figured and described in the ‘ British 
Bird Book,” edited by F. B. Kirkman.—Dr. A. D. 
Imms ; Observations on Phromnia margineila in India, 
He discussed the recorded instances of insects of the 
Fulgorid genus Phromnia, or Flata, bearing a close 
resemblance to certain flowers. One species, observed 
by J. W. Gregory, exists in two forms, one green and 
one reddish, and he (Gregory) describes the insects so 
grouped on a stem that the green individuals occupy 
the upper portion with the red individuals immediately 
beneath them, thus closely resembling a flowering spike 
with the green unopened buds above. On the occasions 
on which the author observed P. marginella, in the 
Himalayan foothills of Kumaon, the two types—one 
green, the other pinkish-buff—were closely inter- 
mixed.- Poulton suggests that the first specimens of 
a group to emerge are red, and those that issue later 
green. Gregory may have come across undisturbed 
groups which, therefore, had the. green specimens 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92] 


NATURE. 


[FEBRUARY 19, 1914 


above and the red ones below. The groups noted by 
other observers may have reassembled, and thus lost 
the possible arrangement possessed on emergence 
from the pupe. Long waxy filaments, closely related 
chemically to Chinese white wax, 
hinder extremity of the larva of P. marginella. 


DUBLIN. 

Royal Dublin Society, January 27.—Prof. J. Joly, 
in the chair.—Prof. W. Brown and J. Smith: 
Subsidence of torsional oscillations in nickel wires 
when subjected to the influence of alternating mag- 
netic fields. The experiments showed that a remark- 
able decrease takes place in the internal friction of the 
wire when under the influence of alternating magnetic 
fields, the influence being more marked the higher 
the frequency of the alternations. There was shown 
also a very marked difference in the behaviour of the 
nickel wires in the hard and soft states, the hard wire 
after being subjected to an alternating magnetic field 
of high frequency, say 100 to 140 a second, became 
temporarily non-magnetic, which the authors call mag- 
netic fatigue. That this fatigue is temporary is shown 
by the fact that it can be cured in several ways.— 
Prof. T. Johnson: The fouling of a water supply by 
Oscillatoria and its purification. In the spring of 
1913, when the London water supply was contaminated 
by the two diatoms Asterionella and Tabellaria, an 
important water supply in Ireland also suffered from ~ 
the presence of a Myxophycean, Oscillatoria tenuis, 
Ag., var. natans, which gave the storage water (360 
million gallons) a fishy, mouldy smell. The water 
was cleared of the weed without injury to fish or man 
by treating it with copper sulphate (1 to 10 Ib. in 
1,000,000egallons of water), as recommended by Moore 
and Kellerman, of the U.S. Department of Agricul- 
ture. Mud dredged from the shallow bottom of the 
upper end of the storage mountain lake gave the 
‘“water-bloom"’ of writers on examination in the 
laboratory.—Prof. H. H. Dixon: Note on changes in 
the sap caused by the heating of a branch. The 
changes which might be anticipated in the sap of the 
conducting tracts of a branch by the rendering per- 
meable of the plasmatic membranes of the adjoining 
cells and the consequent discharge of their contents 
may be experimentally demonstrated by cryoscopic 
and conductivity measurements, and by various chem- 
ical tests. It is found that sap centrifuged from a 
heated branch is from four to six times more concen- 
trated than that similarly extracted from a living one. 
This change in concentration of substances not rapidly 
absorbed would act as a physical poison on the cells 
of the leaves supported by the branch, and would alone 
explain the changes observed in these leaves. It was 
also found, in four cases out of five, that the sap of a 
steamed branch acted as a protoplasmic poison to the 
cells of Elodea leaves, while during the same time 
the sap from fresh branches was innocuous.—Prof. 
H. H. Dixon: Note on the tensile strength of the sap 
of trees. It has recently been stated that while water 
sensibly free from dissolved air has considerable ten- 
sile strength, it has been impossible to demonstrate 
this cohesion in the sap of trees. This statement is 
negatived by previous experimental work. However, 
it seemed of interest to test the tensile strength of sap 
directly. Experiments were carried out on sap centri- 
fuged from the branches of trees. Berthelot’s method 
of generating tension was used, but allowance was 
made for the distortion of the containing tube during 
the experiment. It was found easy to generate ten- 
sion in both boiled and unboiled sap. In both cases 
the sap was almost; if not quite, saturated with dis- 
solved air. The highest tension obtained with the 
boiled sap was 72:5 atmospheres, but with the un- 
boiled 208 atmospheres was obtained.—Prof. J. Joly : 


issue from the © 


FEBRUARY 19, 1914| 


NATURE 


795 


A deep-sea hydraulic engine. This engine is for 
developing power in depths from 200 fathoms down- 
wards, for the purpose of boring into the deep-sea 
deposits. The water at the great pressure prevailing 
is the working substance, and after actuating the 
boring engine, is discharged into steel bottles which 
are coupled to the engine by high pressure tubing. 
The power available is very considerable. A_ full 
description of the entire machine, and of the methods 
of lowering, controlling, and raising it, were given, 
and working drawings were shown. 


CaLcuTta. 

Asiatic Society of Bengal, January 7.—Gouripati 
Chatterji: A demonstration apparatus for determining 
Young’s modulus.’ An optical lever method is de- 
scribed, simplified so that measurements of the 
modulus can be made to 5 per cent. in about ten 
minutes for lecture demonstration purposes.—M. S. 
Ramaswami: A new species of Diospyros from the 
Tinnevelly Hills. A description of a hitherto un- 
described Indian species of the genus Diospyros is 
presented._-_M. S. Ramaswami; Studies on the leaf 
structure of Zoysia pungens, Willd. A detailed dis- 
cussion of the structural adaptations, noticeable in the 
leaf of the maritime sandgrass Zoysia pungens, Willd., 
due to its peculiar habitat—J. Coggin Brown: 
Grooved stone hammers from Assam and the distribu- 
tion of similar forms in eastern Asia. An account of 
certain hammer stones with well-marked grooves or 
belts, from the Tezpur district, Assam. Such forms 
are of the greatest rarity among the numerous Neo- 
lithic. stone implements in which certain parts of the 
Indian Empire abound. Grooved stone hammers only 
occur sporadically in eastern Asia, and the short list 
of recorded instances is given for comparison. On 
the other hand, they abound in the North American 
culture area, and are generally distributed throughout 
the United States. The subject is of some importance 
for the additional light it throws on the relation of 
the prehistoric archzological types of the eastern 
Asian and North American culture areas. It is con- 
cluded that there is no evidence to prove that the 
stone axe did not revolve as an independent unit in 
the latter area—H. H. Mann and S. R. Paranipye : 
Intermittent springs at Rajapur in the Bombay Presi- 
dency. These springs flow at very irregular inter- 
vals, generally for a month or two at a time, and 
are held in great veneration in western India. In this 
paper they are fully described and figured, their tradi- 
tional history and the folklore connected with them 
are set forth, and partial analyses, showing that the 
water does not differ materially in composition from 
that of other springs in the Deccan Trap area, are 
given. . 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 
Les Récents Progrés du Systéme Métrique. By 


C. E. Guillaume. Pp. 118. (Paris: Gauthier- 
Villars.) 5 francs. 

Foods and Household Management: By H. Kinne 
and A. M. Cooley. Pp. xv+4o1. (London: Mac- 
millan and Co., Ltd.) 5s. net. 

A History of Education in Modern Times. By Prof. 

P. Graves. Pp. xv+410. (London: Macmillan 


and Co., Ltd.) 5s. net. 


The Continents and their People. South America. 
By J. F. and A. H. Chamberlain. Pp. viii+ 189. 
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 3s. 


Die Siisswasser-Flora Deutschlands, Oesterreichs 
und der Schweiz. Edited by Prof. A. Pascher. 


WOL.2372.. VOLs' 92" 


Heft. i. Flagellate 1. By E. Lemmermann, Pp. 
iv+138. (Jena: G, Fischer.) 3.50 marks. 

Elementary Commercial Geography. By Dr. H.R. 
Mill. Revised by F. Allen. Pp. xiit+215. (Cam- 
bridge University Press.) 1s. 6d. net. 

Konstitution und Vererbung in ihren Beziehungen 
zur Pathologie. By Prof. F. Martius. Pp. viii+258. 
(Berlin: J. Springer.) 12 marks. 

Handbuch der vergleichenden Physiologie. Edited 
by H. Winterstein. 40 Lief. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 5 


. marks. 


Commission Polaire Internationale. Procés-Verbal 


de la Session Tenue & Rome en 1913. Pp. 293. 
(Bruxelles : Hayez.) 
Handbuch fiir biologische Uebungen. Zoologischer 


Teil. By Prof. P. Réseler and H. Lamprecht. Pp. 
xii+574. (Berlin: J. Springer.) 27 marks. 

Catalogue of the Ungulate Mammals in the British 
Museum (Natural History). Vol. ii. By R. Lydekker, 
assisted by G. Blaine. Pp. xvit+295. (London: 
British Museum (Natural History); Longmans and 
Co.) 7s. 6d. 

The Anthropology of the Greeks. By E. E. Sikes. 
Pp. xi+112. (London: D. Nutt.) 5s. net. 

Physical Chemistry and Scientific Thought. By 
Prof. W. C. McC. Lewis. Pp. 20. (Liverpool Uni- 
versity Press.) 1s. net. 

Smithsonian Institution. U.S. National Museum. 
Bulletin 71. A Monograph of the Foraminifera of 
the North Pacific Ocean. By J. A. Cushman. Part iii. 
Lagenide. Pp. ix+125+47 plates. (Washington: 
Government Printing Office.) 

Report of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution for the Year Ending June 30, 1913. Pp. 119. 
(Washington : Government Printing Office.) 

Annual Report of the Director of the Weather 
Bureau for the Year tgi1o. Part iii. Pp. 268. 
(Manila: Bureau of Printing.) 

Intermediate Mechanics for Indian Students. By 
F. C. Turner and Prof. J. M. Bose. Pp. xii+332. 
(London: Longmans and Co.) 4s. 6d. 

Monistische Bausteine. By E. Haeckel. Edited by 
W. Breitenbach. Erstes Heft. Pp. viit+224. (Brack- 
wede i.W.: Dr. W. Breitenbach.) 3 marks. 

The Socialized Conscience. By Prof. J. H. Coffin. 


Pp. viiit+247. (Baltimore: Warwick and York, Inc.) 
1.25 dollars. 

Die Europaeischen Schlangen. By Dr. F. Stein- 
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marks. 


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ihre Ziele. Teil iii. Abt. iv. Band 4, Abstammungs- 
lehre, Systematik, Palaontologie, Biogeographie.. By R. 
Hertwig and R. v. Wettstein. Pp. ix+620. (Leipzig 
und Berlin: B. G. Teubner.) 22 marks. 


The People’s Books :—Wild Flowers. By M. Skene. 
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bindungen hdherer Ordnung. By Prof. A. Werner. 
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312. Vol. ii. Parts 3 and 4. Pp. viii+153. (Lon- 
don: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 6s, net each. 

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706 

Practical Mathematics for Technical Students. 
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Rubber : its Sources, Cultivation, and Preparation. 
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Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India. 
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The Algebra of Logic. By L. Couturat. Trans- 
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DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


. THURSDAY, Frervary 109. 

Roya. Society, at. 4.30.—The Brain of Primitive Man, with Special 
Reference to the Cranial Cast and Skull of Eoanthropus (The Piltdown 
Man): Prof. G. Elliot Smith.—Oxidases: Prof. A. J. Ewart.—A New 
Malaria Parasite of Man: Dr. J. W. W. Stephens.—Investigations 
Dealing with the Phenomena of ‘‘Clor” Formations. II: The Formation 
of a Gel from Cholate Solutions having many Properties Analogous to 
those of Cell Membranes: S. B. Schryver.—The Influence of the Position 
of the Cut upon Regeneration in Gunda ulvae: D. Jordan Lloyd. 

INSTITUTION OF MINING AND METALLURGY, at 8.15.—The Assay of Tin 
Ores: H. W. Hutchin.—The Assay of Tin Ores and Concentrates : The 
Pearce-Low Method: E. A. Wraight and P. Litherland Teed. —Formation 
of Mineral Deposits: Precipitation and Stratification in the Absence of 
Gels: W. P. Dreaper.—A Device for Filling Ore Sacks : T, R. Archbold. 
—A Mining Model: E. O. Marks. 

honeas Sociery, at 8.—The Origin of Species by Crossing: Dr. J. P. 

otsy. r 

Cuitp Stupy Society, at 7.30.—Speech Defects of Children and thei 

Treatment: Dr. E. W. Scripture. 


FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20. 
Rovat InstiTuTIon, at 9.—Busts and Portraits of Shakespeare and of 
Burns: An Anthropological Study: Prof. Arthur Keith. 
INSTITUTION OF Mecuanicat. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Annual General Meeting. 
—Some Modern Methods of Welding; T. T. Heaton. 
InstTITUTION OF Civit ENGINEERS at 8.—The Use of Reinforced Concrete 
in Connection with Dock and Other Maritime Work : C. S. Meik. 


SATURDAY, Fesrvary 21. 
Royat InstituTI0N, at 3.—The Electric Emissivity of Matter : Dr. As 


Harker. 
MONDAY, Fesruary 23. 
Royat Society oF Arts, at 8.—Artistic Lithography: J. Pennell. 
Rovat. GEocrapuicat Society, at 8.3c.—The Sea Route to Siberia: Dr. 
Fridtjof Nansen and J. Lied. 


TUESDAY, Fesrvary 24. 
Roya Institution, at 3.—Animals and Plants under Domestication : 
Prof. W. Bateson. 
Roya ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—The Bantu Coast Tribes 
of the East African Protectorate : Miss A. Werner. 
InstiTuTION oF Civit ENGINERRS, at 8.—Rail-steels for Electric Rail- 
ways : W. Willox.—Rail-corrugation and its Causes: S. P. W. D’Alte 


Sellon. 
WEDNESDAY, FEuruary 25. 
Royat Society oF Arts, at 8.—Rural Housing: ‘f. Brice Phillips. 
GEoLocicaL Society, at 8.—Acid and Intermediate Instrusions and Asso- 
ciated Ash-Necks in the Neighbourhood of Melrose (Roxburghshire) : 
Rachel W. McRobert.—Correlation of the Dinantian and the Avonian : 
Dr. A. Vaughan. 


THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26. 

Royat Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: The Diffraction of Light by 
Spheres of Small Relative Index: Lord Rayleigh.—(r) Studies of the 
Properties Operative in Solutions. XXXI. Sulphonic Acids and Sulphuric 
Acid as Hydrolytic Agents : A Discussion of the Constitution of Sulphuric 
and other Polybasic Acids and of the Nature of Acids ; (2) Studies of the 
Properties Operative in Solutions, XXXII. The Influence of Sulphonates 
on the Hyd=-lytic Activity of Sulphonic Acids: A Contribution to the 
Discussion "nfluence of Neutral Salts: Prof. H. E. Armstrong and 


NO. 2312, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


| 


[FEBRUARY I9, 1914 


Prof. F. P. Worley.—Morphological Studies of Benzene Derivatives. 
V. The Correlation of Crystalline Form with Molecular Structure: A 
Verification of the Barlow Pope Conception of “* Valency-Volume” : Prof. 
H. E. Armstrong. R. T. Colgate, and_E. H. Rodd.—The Magnetic 
Properties of Iron when Shielded from the’Earth’s Magnetism: Prof, E. 
Wilson.—The Occurrence of Ozone in the Upper Atmosphere: Dr. J. N- 
Pring.—(1) A Meteoric Iron from Winburg, Orange Free State ; (2) The 
Electrification Produced during the Raising of a Cloud of Dust: W. A. D. 
Rudge.—The Electrical Ignition of Gaseous Mixtures: Prof. W. M. 
Thornton. s : 

Concrete InstituTe, at 7.30.—Calculations and Details for Steel-frame 
Buildings from the Drauglitsman’'s Standpoint : Cyril W. Cocking. _ 

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL EKNGINEERS, at 8.—Motor and Control 
Equipments for Electric Locomotives: F. Lydall. : ree 

Sociery or Dyers anp CotourisTs. at 8.—The Industrial Possibilities 
of Nitrocellulose : C. A. Higgins.—Notes on the Fading of Dyed Silk: 
A. Jones and G, W. Parr. 


FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27. ee 
Royat INsTiITUTION, at 9.—Surface Combustion: Prof. W. A. Bone. r 
SweEpENBoRG Society. at 8.15.—The Body and the Sou] in Swedenborg’s 
Philosophy : Dr. L. de Beaumont-Klein. : ‘ 
LnsTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Use of Reinforced Concrete 
in Connection with Dock and other Maritime Work: C. S. Meik. 


SATURDAY, Fesrvary 28. F k 3 
Roya InsTITUTION, at 3.—Recent Discoveries in Physical Science: Sir 
J. J. Thomson. 


CONTENTS. 


The Practical Metallurgy of Steel. By Prof. 
mornold, FIRS. |). 83 Pte eae 
Popular and Special Physics . . Retr oes 
Three Books on Entomology. By F.A.D.... . 
Our Bookshelf . .... .0« 2) = ayes 
Letters to the Editor :— oo 

The Constitution of the Interior of the Earth as Re 
vealed by Earthquakes.—R. D. Oldham, F.R.S. 
The Evidence for Spontaneous Generation.—Dr, H. 
Chariton Bastian, F.R.S. 4 
The Wearing of Birds’ Plumage—A 
tes.—O.L. . . . , 1 2) oso" 
Specific Heats and the Periodic Law—An Analogy 
from Sound.—Reginald G, Durrant... . . 
X-Rays and Metallic Crystals. (J//ustrated.)—E. A. 
Owen;G.G. Blake .  CELbs) ty ee F 
The Magneton and Planck’s Constant.—S. D. 
Chalmers . . 2 | My ant oe : 
Zonal Structure in Colloids.\—Dr. H. J. Johnston-- © 
Lavis ; George Abbott. “. 5). | sy. -taneeeenneem 
Three Books About Birds, (///ustrated.)..... .« 
The Radiation Problem. By Dr, E. E. Fournier 
d’Albe © ee Sie (STR a 
Transparence or Translucence of the Surface Film 
Produced in Polishing Metals. (/Vth Plate.) By 
Dr. .G, T. Beilby;, FiRiSan- ease: tes 
H..B. Woodward, F.R.S.. 0 ee is ee eee 
Col. A. R. Clarke, C.B., F.R.S. By Capt. H. S, L. 
Winterbotham, RE: 205% <). sane 
Notes... 20.) jks Se 
Our Astronomical Column :— ; 
Detonating Fireball of January19........-. 
The Total Solar Eclipse of August 21 next . . . . . 698 
The Absorption of Lightin Space. . .......- 
Who’s Who in Astronomy ......+-+.+-.-. 
Work. of the Vienna Radium Institute. By F.S. . 
Smoke and Smoke Prevention .... ... 
Antarctic Problems. By Prof, Edgeworth David, 
CIMG., BR San; alee Meerecre 
University and Educational Intelligence. .... . 
Societies and Academies’ ."..5..0 s)/3) 5 eee 
Books ‘Received . ((. irs 0) si <\ ate) 309) 
Diary of Societies) 2 essen = 


PAGE 
j. O. 


eed, Sages le seal i 
682 
683 
684 


684. 
685 
685 


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‘NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 19, I914 


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NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 26, 1914 


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February, 1914. 


NATURE 


———— 


“THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1974. 


WHAT OF THE ANCIENT UNIVERSITIES? 
A History of University Reform from 1800 A.D. 
to the present time, with suggestions towards 
a Complete Scheme for the University of Cam- 
bridge. - By A. I. Tillyard. Pp. xv+392. 
(Cambridge: W. Heffer and Sons, Ltd., 1913.) 

Price ros. net. 

HE unrest amongst the critics—favourable 
and adverse, with knowledge and without 
—of our ancient universities continues. The old 
foundations have been compared, sometimes not 
very intelligently, and put into competition 
with the newer university institutions. Men 
have formed themselves into camps, very strong 
views as to the merit of the type of university for 
which they were contending have been formed, 
and a few thoughtful and illuminating articles 
have appeared. Lord Curzon set the ball a- 
rolling at Oxford, and, although the momentum 
acquired is not yet great, things are moving, and 
it is being discovered that around finance centre 
most of the possiblities of improvement or reform. 
At Cambridge, syndicates of men with extreme 
views, associated with a number of more moderate 
men, have formulated schemes which have been 
so far mutually destructive, that after years of 
heated discussion it has at last been agreed to 
recommend the re-arrangement of the method of 
paying degree fees. 

From this it may be argezi with some point 
that those within the University do not realise the 
importance of the questions that are being raised 
outside the University. Oxford and Cambridge 
are not private corporations, but national institu- 
tions, and some of the would-be reformers hold 
that they have a right to ask these Universities to 
continue to fulfil the functions for which they exist. 
Throughout this controversy, however, it has been 
manifest that many who have taken part in it are 
not acquainted with existing conditions or the past 
history of the universities. It is not surprising, 
therefore, that attempts made to stir up the ques- 
tion of university reform have been futile. The 
author of the work before us, though a classical 
scholar and taking comparatively little interest in 
the scientific work of the University, has un- 
doubtedly adopted the scientific method of collect- 
ing, sifting, and verifying facts and of consider- 
ing the history of the University and its relation 
to their present attitude and position. 

The work opens with a brief but very interest- 
ing history of the University, in which, of course, 
Cooper’s “Annals,” Mullinger’s “History of 
Cambridge,” and Goldwin Smith are largely 

NO. 2313, VOL. 92] 


797 


drawn upon. Then follows a brief but sufficiently 
detailed account of the attack made by the Edin- 
burgh Review on the University of Oxford; and 
we are taken step by step through the second 
attack made by the review and Sir William 
Hamilton, all this leading up to an account of 
the controversies out of which arose the Royal 
Commissions of 1850 and 1872, and of the series 
of legislative measures which brought the two 
Universities more nearly into line with modern 
methods and requirements. Of this phase our 
author writes out of the fullness of knowledge 
arising from a careful study of numerous docu- 
ments and the collation of facts and statistics 
derived from many sources. 

Perhaps the most interesting chapters in the 
book are those dealing with the legislation ending 
in the abolition of tests and clerical Fellowships, 
in the opening wider of the doors of the univer- 
sities, in strengthening and welcoming men seek- 
ing a broader curriculum on which might be built 
up more advanced professional training, in the 
institution of college contributions to a common 
university fund, and in the foundation of the 
Financial Boards and of the various Boards of 
Studies. A full abstract account of the finances 
of the Oxford and Cambridge Colleges enables 
the reader to form some idea of their resources, 
and only after giving a really impartial statement 
of facts and figures are any suggestions offered 
for a scheme of reform, a scheme dealing specially 
with Cambridge. 

It is maintained that although in recent years 
great advances have been made, the education 
provided by our national universities is too ex- 
clusive and, at the same time, too costly. The 
extreme exclusiveness of the colleges has been 
broken through to some extent, for they are 
anxious to attract by scholarships and exhibi- 
tions brilliant scholars from whatever source, and 
brilliant boys are welcome, whether they come 
from the State schools or from the great public 
schools. From the former and the smaller public 
schools come those who devote themselves to 
the mathematical, the natural science, the moral 
science, and tripos examinations other than the 
classical; and with the increase of the natural 
science and physical-science tripos work in the 
university there has been a great extension in the 
study of the applied sciences—engineering, medi- 
cine, and agriculture. 

It may be pointed out—this with no wish to 
detract from the merit of an admirable book—that 
the passing of difficult examinations, even if done 
at small cost, is not always the best thing for the 
student. The university has a higher function 
than that of training € i wallahs by 


af 3 00T 


Aw 


708 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 26, 1914 


means of college tutors or the holders of several 
college and university offices, of university pro- 
fessors, some adequately, others very badly re- 
munerated, or of lecturers or demonstrators so 
insufficiently paid that they must possess private 
means or undertake private coaching. 

That the colleges have an important part to play 
in the training of men is accepted by the author, 
but he thinks that it should be brought home to 
them that where the college system is wasteful 
in the matter either of men or money, and where 
their interests clash with wider and greater in- 
terests, some attempt ought to be made to allow 
things to.assume their proper proportions and 
perspective. Vested interests are firmly rooted 
and powerful, and the whole question is so com- 
plicated that it will be necessary to move warily, 
and to consider any suggested changes very care- 
fully, but that some changes must come those 
who read this work will be thoroughly convinced. 

Method rather than “subject” is the guiding 
factor in education, and it is recognised that 
the college system is valuable in the formation 
of character, but that the system might with 
advantage be modified very profoundly without 
impairing this special function scarcely admits of 
argument. Here finance is the key to the whole 
situation, and so long as the management of the 
bulk of the funds in the dual corporation of col- 
leges and university remains with the colleges, 
any great economy appears to be out of the ques- 
tion. Those most intimately concerned appear 
to think that the colleges cannot transfer to the 
university any greater share of their endowments 
unless they can succeed in concentrating their 
forces and effecting great savings. If, then, the 
university is to avail itself of its great oppor- 
tunities, it must look for additional support from 
the public, using all these terms in their widest 
sense. : 

It is interesting to find how some critics of the 
universities appear to belittle the physical and 
natural sciences as educative subjects; and even 
where they are pleading for the retention of these 
branches of knowledge in the university curricu- 
lum, to look upon them as supplying “soft 
options.” Sir William Hamilton, speaking for 
these critics, argued that a university ought to 
teach the physical sciences because they require 
costly experiments, apparatus, and collected ob- 
jects, whilst he looked upon the natural sciences 
as peculiarly fitted to the pass or poll men, and 
seemed to think that such subjects are worthy only 
of reception by inferior minds. By implication 
our author falls in with Sir William Hamilton, 
who says that “the knowledge which depends on 


the ocular demonstration of costly collections and ; element, which is the life-blood of an applied 


WO, 2313; VOL;. O21 


‘experiments—this knowledge, easy and palpable, 


requiring an appliance more of the senses than 
of the understanding, can be fully taught to all, 
at once, by one competent demonstrator, the 
teaching of the natural sciences, therefore, ought 
to be ‘ professional’ (professorial ?).” 

To some it appears that the university should 
concern itself not only with obtaining efficiency 
of education, but with elevating ideals, with rais- 
ing the standard of culture, with the encourage- 
ment of research and the production of new 
knowledge, and with the building up of character. 
For all this the natural and physical sciences 
constitute as useful a medium as classics, mathe- 
matics or philosophy, whilst the latter, going 
hand-in-hand with science in the “search for 
truth,” must, in the long run, prove irresistible. 

All who take an interest in the welfare of our 
ancient universities should read this book; what- 
ever may be their view as to the functions of 
these universities, they will here find, in conveni- 
ent form, information that cannot but be valuable 
to them, information that hitherto has been 
accessible only to those who had the leisure and 
enthusiasm to read through an enormous amount 
of uninteresting detail in order to acquire material 
relevant to the subjects now under consideration. 
To many the book will be a call to action. 


MEDICAL HYDROLOGY. 
The Principles and Practice of Medical Hydro- 


logy. Being the Science of Treatment by 
Waters and Baths. By Dr. R. Fortescue Fox. 
Pp. xiv+295. (London: University of London 


Press, 1913.) Price6s..net. 

ITHIN the compass of fewer than 300 
‘ pages Dr. Fortescue Fox presents us with 
a most readable and comprehensive survey of the 
history and physiology of bathing, of hydro- 
therapy, of medicinal springs and baths, and of 
the indications for hydrological treatment. The 
author has so thoroughly digested his judiciously 


chosen material that he leaves the reviewer but © 


little scope for criticism; and that material is 
presented in an easy flowing style which will 
commend itself to the non-professional reader as 
well as to the spa physician and the general prac- 
titioner. The lay reader will also find this hook 
particularly useful for guidance in the hygienic 
use of baths for sensitive subjects and children. 


The strong feature of the work, considered from — 


the professional point of view, is the free use of 
physiology in explanation of the curative action 
of baths and waters, thus infusing into the 
empirical data of hydrotherapeutics the scientific 


| 
. 
7 
; 


Te 


the appropriate term adopted by the author. 


FEBRUARY 26, 1914] 


NATURE 


709 


science, such as that of “medical hydrology ’’— 
But 


in thus binding his facts together in scientific 


order, he repeatedly insists on the individual 
physiological factor presented by each case. The 
author reminds us that medical hydrology in this 
twentieth century is not taught in any of our 


schools, whereas in France, Germany, Austria- 


Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, 
and in the United States, the student can obtain 
instruction in this department of medicine. The 
irony of our position in this matter is emphasised 
by the fact that the modern conception of the use 


of baths and waters in health and in disease 


actually originated with an Englishman, Sir John 
Floyer, of Driffield, who, in 1697, published his 
work entitled, ““An Inquiry into the Right Use 
and Abuse of the Hot, Cold, and Temperate 
Baths in England.” Ina word, though England 
is its birthplace, hydrology has been mainly reared 
abroad. ; 

The author advocates the establishment of a 
chair in hydrology in this country. This matter 
has our entire sympathy and support. But we 
should bear in mind that the teaching of that 
chair should embrace a wider range than that 
of hydrology; for in these days spas are under- 
going a process of evolution, and are widening 
their therapeutic methods beyond the use of 
medicinal waters—the latter being supplemented 
by the adoption of other forms of physio-therapy 
such as treatment by electricity, light, the different 
rays, physical exercises of different kinds, &c. 
Therefore the spa physician should possess a good 
working knowledge of all the various physiological 
lines of treatment now adopted at our watering- 
places. 

We trust that a progressive practical university, 
like that of London, will decide to set up a chair 
of “medical hydrology and physico-therapeutics,” 
and allot it to a lecturer, such as Dr. Fortescue 
Fox himself, who has the experience of many years 
as a spa physician, and is endowed with the 
requisite scientific spirit. 


GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLOOK AND 
CONTROL. 

(1) The Continent of Europe. By Prof. L. W. 
Lyde. Pp. xv+446+maps. (London: Mac- 
millan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 

(2) Industrial and Commercial Geography. By 
Prof. J. Russell Smith. Pp. xi+914. (New 
York: Henry Holt and Co., 1913.) Price 
3-50 dollars. 

(1) JN this important volume Prof. Lyde applies 

higher geographical methods to the treat- 
ment of the continent of Europe. The use of the 
NO. 2313, VOL. 92] 


word “higher” is intended to convey the fact 
that the volume is clearly intended for students 
at an advanced stage, if not, indeed, for their 
teachers. In fact, the reader is frankly faced, in 
the initial chapter, with five pages the difficulty of 
which there is no endeavour to conceal; it pre- 
supposes a very strong mental digestion, the active 
forces of which include a complete fore-know- 
ledge of the tetrahedral theory of the earth’s 
shape, and are expected to assimilate a philosophy 
of the ‘world-relations” of Europe, based (in 
part) upon that theory. These five pages passed, 
we are on easier ground when the regional rela- 
tions of Europe, its relief in general and its 
climate, and the geographical ‘‘control” exercised 
by these factors, are considered. These topics 
occupy. nine chapters, while the remainder deal 
with the four great European peninsulas, and 
within these, and thereafter, with divisions purely 
political. The regional relations of the continent 
are wisely made clear at the outset, and thereafter 
kept in subordination to the political divisions; 
geographical work of this character must neces- 
sarily proceed on these lines, and Prof. Lyde 
admits in his preface that he finds it “difficult to 
picture clearly the precise limits of a natural 
region”; it might, indeed, be asked whether 
anyone supposes that such limits exist. 

Throughout the book geographical control is 
kept constantly in view, whether as exercised over 
natural distribution or over human activities. In 
a book of so general a character, it is a matter 
for congratulation that the author (unlike many 
writers of smaller volumes, in which the fault is 
even less justifiable than it would be here) refrains 
from straying into the domain of pure history, 
and only permits himself reference to historical 
facts in such cases, let us say, as that of a town 
which has risen or decayed from its former estate, 
and when in the explanation of such process a 
geographical factor is involved. 

The author has some slight tendency (but here 
again he exercises more restraint than others) 
towards the creation of a vocabulary of his own, 
the necessity for which is not always apparent; he 
explains, however, and gives reasons in his 
preface for certain unfamiliar terms which he 
prefers, such as ‘“‘wyr” and “wind-whirl.” It is 
a matter for’ question whether he makes out a 
case for the exclusion of “‘cyclone” and ‘‘anti- 
cyclone,” or whether geography, borrowing these 
terms from another department of science, with 
which it is in a condition of mutual dependence, 
has any right to attempt to replace them. 

The book is fully mapped, Messrs. Philip’s 
coloured physico-political maps being satisfactory ; 
the textual maps and diagrams are of varying 


710 


quality. The printers perhaps share with the 
author a certain disregard for system in the spell- 
ing of place-names; some signs lie outside their 
view, even one so necessary as the Swedish a, 
which is a different letter, with a totally different 
sound, from a in that language; the translitera- 
tions adopted for Balkan names are not always 
beyond criticism, 

(2) Prof. Russell Smith’s “Industrial and Com- 
mercial Geography” is laid out on no actually 
original lines, though they are in some respects 
unusual. He wholly omits the discussion of the 
general industry and commerce of countries indi- 
vidually. Ina first part, which is headed “ Indus- 
trial Geography,” he deals with agriculture gener- 
ally, and its departments—grains, domestic 
animals, fruit, sugar, and the like—with fisheries, 
with manufactures (forest industries, metal indus- 
tries, and the rest), and with mineral industries. 
His second part, “Commercial Geography,” deals 
with trade routes principally, and here perhaps, 
in comparison with other commercial geographies, 
this book has its chief value. The material for the 
analysis of trade routes has to be gathered from 
many sources, and is not easy to digest and adapt 
to geographical methods when gathered, and 
geographers owe Prof. Smith gratitude for his 
chapters on this subject. He deals successively 
with the trade routes of North America and 
Europe, with the North Atlantic route, with the 
routes of Asia, the North Pacific route, South 
American routes, African routes, and that of the 
Cape of Good Hope, those of Australasia and the 
South Pacific—a logical geographical sequence, 
occupying nine illuminating chapters. 

There is the inevitable prophetic chapter on 
the Panama Canal; it is more acceptable than 
others of its kind, inasmuch as it refrains from 
conveying any expectation of instantaneous world- 
wide revolution in ocean-traffic when the canal is 
opened. There are numerous black-and-white 
maps and diagrams, and they reach a _ high 
standard of excellence in both style and reproduc- 
tion—and this is a comment which it is not often 
possible to make upon American cartography. 
There are also a number of appropriate photo- 
graphs. 

This volume, like others before it, very clearly 
illustrates the difference of outlook upon com- 


mercial geography and geographical methods 
generally, as between American and British 
writers. There are not only many facts, but also 


whole chapters, in Prof. Russell Smith’s work, 
which, so far from dealing with commercial geo- 
graphy as we understand it, are not even founded 
on a geographical basis. The British student is 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 26, 1914 


any lessons in the balance of trade, or in specific 
methods of manufacture, except in so far as 
these may be dictated by geographical conditions. 
It may be that there is a mean to be struck 
between the two systems; if there is, it may lie 
in the direction of a more complete endeavour to 
describe the effects of industry on the surface of 
the earth—the appearance of the standing crop, 
the infinite variety in the aspect of manufacturing 
or other industrial centres or districts in different — 
parts of the world. The connection of financial 
or other such industrial problems with geography 
is not apparent. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


The Animal Kingdom illustrated in twenty-seven 
coloured plates, containing several hundreds of 
species. The letterpress by Dr. Zwanziger, 
translated from the original German text by 
Gerard K. Gude. Pp. vi+g92. (London: 
Society for Promoting Christian nee 
1914.) Price 8s. 6d. net. 


In the matter of illustrations, this volume is’ 
above the majority of works of a similar type 
published in this country. Indeed, it may be said 
that it is excellent in this respect, notwithstanding 
that a few animals, such as the zebu and the 
buffalo, are drawn from immature or poor repre- 
sentatives. 

In general style the text is well suited to readers 
for whom it is intended, being clear, simple, and 
not encumbered with technicalities. The trans- 
lator, however, has in places followed the German 
text a little too literally, as in the use of “East 
India” and “Further India.” It would, more- 
over, have been better if the author, instead of 
confining his remarks to particular species, had 
given some information with regard to the dis- 
tribution of the genera to whch they belong in 
cases where this presents any special feature. 
It is, for example, throwing away an opportunity 
merely to state that one species of tapir inhabits 
South America, without a word as to the remark- 
able range of the group; this omission being still 
more marked in the case of the penguins, where 
it is stated that one selected species hails 
from the Antarctic. There is, however, a more 
serious matter connected with distribution, for 
we are informed on page 10 that rodents “are 
distributed over the whole globe, except—Aus- 
tralia, where they are replaced by placental 
mammals.” Whether, in this statement, “pla- 
cental” is a slip of the translator for “im- 
placental,” we are unaware. Again, in the para- 
graph (p. 25) relating to marsupials, there is 
not a word with regard to their distribution; while 
on the following page it is stated that the opossum 
is a native of North America, when the reader 
should have been informed that it is an immigrant 
from South America, the home of the family. 

Whether it was advisable to introduce scientific 


“ 


not led to expect in his geographical text-book ; names may be a matter of opinion, but as this 


NO. 2313; VOL. 92] 


FEBRuARY 26, 1914] 


has-been done care should have been taken not 
to be so behindhand as to include the roebuck 
in the same genus as the red deer. A more serious 
error occurs on page 24, where Balaena mys- 
ticetus, the name of the Greenland whale, is mis- 
applied to the common fin-whale, which, by the 
way, is neither the largest animal in existence nor 


attains a length of go feet. R. L. 
Things Seen in Oxford. By Norman J. David- 
son. Pp. 258+plate. (London: Seeley, 


Service and Co., 1914.) Price 2s. net. 

Ir Mr. Davidson’s little book on Oxford is to 
be recommended to the readers of Nature, it 
must be on the understanding that they are not 
to expect guidance in scientific matters. We read 
with surprise that the University Museum “is 
excelled by no other in the world for its com- 
pleteness in the Natural Sciences,” and _ that 
“during the winter months Oxford is invariably 
flooded.” Neither statement is wholly true. The 
information on undergraduate life also is some- 
what antiquated, for the average undergraduate 
now goes bareheaded, and when he gets back 
to his rooms in the evening is more likely to 
switch on his light than to “turn up his lamp.” 
But then it not infrequently happens that to 
visitors “things seen in Oxford” differ consider- 
ably from the same things as known to residents. 
The illustrations from Taunt’s photographs are 
excellent. 


Indian Administration. By Prof. Vaman G. Kale. 
Pp. vi+298. (Poona: Aryabhushan. Press, 
1913.) -Price 1.4 rupees. 

THE machinery of Indian government and ad- 
ministration is described in this book in a manner 
which should appeal to the ordinary, intelligent 
Indian citizen. One chapter is devoted to Indian 
education, and provides a summary of progress 
and policy since 1854. From one of Prof. Kale’s 
tables we find that in 1912 there were in India 187 
colleges concerned with higher education, and that 
36,334 students were in attendance at them. The 
existing provision for university education is not, 
it is urged, adequate to the ever-growing demand, 
and new seats of learning will have to be founded 
in parts of the country where there are at present 
no facilities. 


The Examination of School Children. A Manual 
of Directions and Norms. By Dr. W. H. Pyle. 
Pp. v+70. (New York: The Macmillan Com- 
pany, 1913.) Price 2s. net. 

As Dr. Pyle says, an accurate knowledge of the 
mental and physical characters of each child under 
his care would assist greatly a schoolmaster’s 
lessons. The object of this little book is to pro- 
vide directions for the examination of the mental 
and physical natures of school children, and to 
supply tables dealing with normal cases of various 
ages. It is to be feared that ordinary teachers 
have not the necessary knowledge and experience 
to make trustworthy tests, but the hints given 
should prove of value to psychological and medical 
experts. 


Ore tee H 


‘ 
“4 


VOL. 92 


NATURE 711 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


Weather Forecasts in England. 

Tue Meteorological Offices of this and some other 
countries issue weather forecasts each day for the 
succeeding twenty-four hours, these forecasts being 
based on information telegraphed from various sur- 
rounding stations. They are often, but not always, 
right, or partly right, and it may not be without 
interest to compare the actual weather, first, with the 
official prediction, and then with such predictions as 
might be made without any information except such 
as can be gathered on the spot from the barometer 
and the “look of the weather.” 

The British Isles, with no land to the west and 
south (except the Azores) for some thousand miles, 
are unfortunately situated as regards weather pre- 
diction, for the greater part of the changes which 
affect them come from a part of the Atlantic which 
is traversed by comparatively few steamers, and from 
which, therefore, but few wireless messages can be 
received, and no other source of information is avail- 
able. Central Europe and America are better off in 
this respect. 

With the view of examining the correctness of the 
English forecasts, I have recently gone through the 
weather reports for 1913, and extracted from_them 
those forecasts relating to the London and S.E. dis- 
trict, which is perhaps the most favourably situated 
for prediction. The results of this examination, 
though they refer only to a single district for a single 
year, will give some idea of the use of telegraphic 
information, but before considering the tables in which 
these results are stated, I will add a few general 
remarks. 

There are in England four clearly distinguished 
types of weather, namely, those which accompany 
winds from the south to west, north to east, west to 
north, and east to south, their relative frequency being 
in the order stated. 

The characteristics of each type are :— 

S. to W.—Warm, wet, cloudy. 

N. to E.—Cold, dry, with haze. 

W. to N.—Cold, clear air, with hail in spring. 

E. to S.—Very variable in character. 

There are, of course, frequent exceptions, but in the 
main these are the leading features of winds from 
the respective quadrants. The correct prediction of 
the type of weather is for most purposes more impor- 
tant than that of the amount of rain or sunshine to 
be expected. 

In regard to whether forecasts are to be judged 
as right or wrong, it must be noticed that in our 
Weather Reports they are often so worded as to make 
a decision difficult, and to bring to mind the fortune- 
teller’s ‘‘ dark man” and ‘“‘fair man.’’ The wind, for 
instance, is to be “light, moderate, fresh, or strong,” 
or ‘strong at times in places.” For the weather, 
“Some rain, fog, or mist, but with fair intervals.” 
The temperature is described as “moderate,” “rather 
warm,” ‘cool,’’ ‘‘below normal,’ and so on, but 
whether it is rising or falling is rarely stated. 

Rain, cloud, and sunshine are more variable than 
wind or temperature, and in the following table I 
have considered only the latter two. 

In marking the forecasts as right or wrong, regard 
has been had in the first place to direction of the wind 
and secondly to its strength. If, for instance, a west 
wind is predicted and a S.S.W. follows, this would 


712 ; 


be marked “right,’’ but a W.N.W. wind “ wrong,” 
because this type of weather accompanying the two 
is different. So with regard to easterly winds, if, say 
N. is predicted and E.N.E. follows, this would be 
“right,” but an E.S.E. following on the prediction of 
N.E. would be ‘‘ wrong.” 

With regard to strength, the forecasts often make 
anything less than a gale a possibility. 

The temperature forecasts are generally vague, but 
if a rise of temperature occurs when the prediction is 
“cool,” this would be marked ‘‘ wrong,” or, again, if 
moderate temperature is predicted and the true tem- 
perature differs much from the average for the time 
of year. So far as possible I have given a favourable 
interpretation to all the forecasts with the results 
which are here shown in Table I. 


TasLe I.—Comparison of Weather in London in 1913 
with the Forecasts made on the Previous Day. The 
actual Weather is Judged from the Morning Weather 
Chart of the Day. 


Wind Temperature 
= ee 
Right (Wrong, 2 [No fre! Right Wrong] Doubt: |No fore- 
ee ss EE Re ae = 

January... | 18 Gin) = 4 U5}, 110 2 4 
February..| 13 | 11) —| 4 14 | 8 2 4 
March ...| 14 vial eee 6 13 7 4 6 
ASDC cae 15 10 I A ASH | SAO 4 4 
Maye) 2.1( “Ig | ae: 4 a ean 2 4 
Juner.../| 7 6| 2 5 57 2 5 
july S Bex | 20 On 4 G2 Lar 4 4 
August ...| 14 8 | 4 5 15 9 2 5 
September] 12] 12) 2 4 13| 8 5 4 
October... | 13 £34); ad 4 15 10 2 4 
November| 13 CS ee 7 free hich’ 7 5 7 
December | 19 5 3 4 || 14 8 4 4 

Total ... | 181 | 107 | 22 | 55 ‘|| 161 | 109 | 38 55 
Percentage | | 
on No. of | 58 | 34°5|7°5| — B20 36 12 — 
forecasts | } 


So far therefore as the present very limited examina- 
tion goes, the probability of finding the predicted 
weather on the morning of the day succeeding the 
forecast is as follows :— 


Wind Temperature 
Probability for 0°58 0°52 

FE against 0°35 0°36 

4 doubtful 0°07 o'l2 


Taste I].—Change of Type of Weather. 


i Changes of Forecast Beverage 

yPe Right Wrong forecas's 
January... ... 15 im 4 73 
February... 10 8 | 2 80 
March: ..< v7 9 4 | 5 44 
Apel y Sve 0 ites II 7 4 63 
Manus 555. dis 14 10 4 71 
Jue ....> of 6 4 2 66 
UU ee eer ta 12 10 2 83 
FAUIOUSE nes 9 4 5 44 
September ... 13 7 6 54 
October axe 18 15 3 83 
November ... 12 6 6 50 
December. 9 7 2 78 
Motels 2)... 138 03 45 789 

es ae es | re —}| —— —_|——____ —_ 

Percentage . _— 67°4 32°6 — 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


. 


[FEBRUARY 26, 1914 


This is intended to indicate the corréctness of the 
forecast as regards change of weather, and here the 
percentage of success is higher, being 67-5. 

It will be noticed that during the year the type of 
weather changed 138 times. If, therefore, anyone 
with no information whatever had been content with 
saying ‘To-morrow will be like to-day,” he would 
have been wrong 138 times, and right 227 times, and — 
the probability in favour of his prediction being 0-62, — 
and against 0-38. With the help of a barometer and 
ordinary local observation, he might probably improve 
on this somewhat. P 

Comparing these figures with the results obtained — 
by such a fairly complete knowledge of the simul 
taneous conditions in surrounding regions as is 
afforded by telegraph day by day to the Meteorological 
Office, it does not appear that for this latitude and 
country the odds in favour of the latter are large. 

On looking over the immense mass of figures— 
considerably more than 1000 entries—which are used 
in the construction of each Weather Chart, I am 
reminded of a sentence in the late Sir G. (then Mr.) 
Airy’s report to the board of visitors of the Greenwich 
Observatory in 1867, when speaking of the proposed 
increase in the number of meteorological observatories, 
“whether the effect of this movement will be that 
millions of useless observations will be added to the 
millions that already exist, or whether something may 
be expected to result which will lead to meteorological 
theory, I cannot hazard a conjecture.” De Morgan 
quotes this sentence (the last in the report in ques- 
tion) in his ‘‘ Budget of Paradoxes,” and remarks :-— 
“This is a conjecture, and a very obvious one: if 
Mr. Airy would have given 23d. for the chance of a 
meteorological theory formed by masses of observa- 
tions, he would never have said what I have quoted.” 

Personally, I think it extremely improbable that any 
trustworthy weather forecasts for periods so long as 
twenty-four hours will, or can, ever be made for 
regions outside latitudes 30 N. or S. or thereabouts, 
with the exception perhaps of a few places where the 
local conditions are paramount. 

The reasons for this view will be given in a subse- 
quent note. A. MALiock. 

February 17. 


The Darwinian Theory of Atolls. 


In the review of “ Letters and Recollections of Alex- 
ander Agassiz’? (NATURE, January 29)—an article in 
which we are given a picture of an exceptionally in- 
teresting personality drawn by an intimate friend— 
there is a brief paragraph on the formation of coral 
reefs to which I should wish to refer. . 

My friend, Sir Ray Lankester, concludes that 
Agassiz ‘certainly succeeded in showing that the 
views advocated by Darwin and by Dana are not 
capable of universal application, nor, indeed, of general 
validity ”’ (pp. 603-4). 

It would be unreasonable to claim “universal appli-— 
cation,”’ but ‘‘ general validity” is a matter to be deter- 
mined by a comparison of the number and extent of 
the regions in which Darwin’s explanation holds good 
with the number and extent of those in which it does 
not. The results of the Funafuti boring offer, I think, — 
important evidence in regard to the Pacific area. A 
test locality was chosen with the utmost care by un- 
biassed authorities. A bore-hole was drilled, at great 
expense and in spite of many difficulties, to a depth 
of 1100 ft. Only shallow water organisms were 
found in the core. For some reason or other— 
probably because it is more exciting to overturn than 
to. confirm—very little has been said about this 
evidence. We all hope for more borings; but in the 
meantime the only important trial that has been made 


FEBRUARY 26, 1914] 


entirely supports the validity of Darwin’s theory, in 
the locality selected as a test. 

Epwarp B. Poutton. 
Oxford, February 20. 


The Accuracy of the Principal Triangulation of the 
United Kingdom. 


THERE was some discussion of this question at the 
last meeting of the British Association, and an inves- 
tigation by Capt. H. St. G. L. Winterbotham has 
been published by the Ordnance Survey (Professional 
Papers, new series, No. 2). It appears, however, that 
_ the measurement of Lossiemouth Base, valuable as it 
_ was, did not definitely decide the question, but that 
i a moderate amount of further computation would 
— do so. 

(1) It will be generally admitted that statistical 
evidence as to the precision of any kind of observation 
is of no great value unless it is based on a large 

population. For example, if we may assume the prin- 
cipal triangulation to have been all executed by similar 

_ observers under similar conditions, and no unjustifiable 
rejections to have been made, we may accept with 

' great confidence the probable error of + 1-23” computed 

from the closure of 552 triangles. But nowadays one 

_ would not think of estimating the precision of a base- 

_ line by the discrepancy between two measurements of 

it, though one might reject the measurements if they 

- did not agree as well as was to be expected from the 

_ known usual probable error of a measurement. Thus 

_ discussion of a large population of discrepancies gives 

a good estimate of the probable accidental error of a 
measurement, but a small population only fixes a 
lower limit to that probable error. Now we have only 
a population of three independent discrepancies be- 

_ tween the four bases of Lough Foyle, Salisbury Plain, 

Lossiemouth, and Paris, and even if it is brought up 

to six by the inclusion of the three bases measured 

with steel chains, yet it must be considered a very 
small population upon which to base any estimate of 
precision. 

(2) But the original question, to what extent the 
strength of the figure compensates for the large prob- 
able error of an angle, is not necessarily a question for 
experiment, but it is essentially a question for com- 
Benn: Given the probable error of an angle in a 

lock of triangulation adjusted rigorously by least 
squares, if it is required to find the probable error of 
the distance from any point of it to any other point, 
the first step is to express the unknown error in that 
length as a linear function of the unknown errors in 

a number of independent angles (i.e. two angles of 

each triangle in a chain of independent triangles 

stretching from one point to the other, and in another 
chain stretching from one of the points to the nearest 
base). It then remains only to add another column 
to the least square computation by the method de- 
scribed in Wright and Hayford’s “Adjustment of 

Observations,” paragraph 123. May I venture to sug- 

gest that if two or three such cases could be worked 

out for strong figures in the United Kingdom, and 

for comparison two or three cases for weaker figures, 

either there or elsewhere, it would not only set at rest 

the immediate question, but would also. establish 
results of great importance for surveyors in general. 
T. L.. BENNETT. 

Computation Office, Egyptian Survey Department. 


One can but agree with Mr. Bennett in insisting 
on a large ‘‘population”’ of discrepancies upon which 
to found a calculation of a probable error, whether 
it be of the measurement of a base-line or of an angle. 

His example of a base-line measurement is not, how- 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


73 


ever, strictly comparable with the investigation in 
question. In the former a large number of independent 
measurements must be made from which to deduce 
the most probable length and the individual dis- 
crepancies from this length. In the latter the measured 
bases may be regarded as errorless compared with the 
triangulation, and the actual errors can therefore be 
deduced with surety. 

Neglecting the steel chain bases, we have four in- 
dependent measures upon any one of which the tri- 
angulation can be made to depend. These four are 
widely distributed. 

The longest line from base to base is that from the 
new base at Lossiemouth to the Paris base, and along 
this line the old steel chain bases add additional proof 
that no serious errors are inherent in the triangula- 
tion. 

I agree that, ‘if we may assume the principal 
triangulation to have been all executed by similar 
observers under similar conditions and no unjustifiable 
rejections to have been made, we may accept with 
confidence the probable error of 1-23" computed from 
the closure of 552 triangles,” but it must be remem- 
bered that this is the probable error of an observed 
angle. The date of the work makes this a matter of 
no surprise. The point at issue, however, is not the 
probable error of an observed angle, but the probable 
error of an adjusted angle, or, in other words, to find 
out how far the intricacy of the figure has compen- 
sated for the lack of precision of angular measure- 
ment, 

To say that this question is essentially one for com- 
putation is not, to my mind, correct. 

The probable error of the ratio of any two sides 
as derived from the triangulation depends upon the 
probable error of an adjusted angle. This calculation 
is possible, but from the complexity of the figure and 
the intricate system of weighting the angles, imprac- 
ticable. Moreover, the answer to it would still be the 
probable, and not the actual, error. 

It is, however, possible to pick out of the general 
figure chains of simple triangles connecting the bases. 
Supposing that these chains had been the only paths 
of calculation, and that they had shown the same 
errors of ratio between the bases as are actually found, 
we can deduce what the probable error of an observed 
angle would have been to have effected this result. 
Such an investigation has been made, and the probable 
error of an observed angle in these “equivalent” 
simple chains is 0-85", or approximately the same as 
that given by General Ferrero, in his 1892 report, as 
the mean figure for the probable error of an observed 
angle in the triangulations of those twenty countries 
represented on the International Geodetic Association. 

Although, therefore, further investigation on the 
lines advocated by Mr. Bennett would be one of the 
greatest interest, I do not think that it promises a 
result commensurate with the time and expense it 
would entail. H. S. L. Wintersoruam. 


Atomic Models 


I am indebted to Mr. Chalmers for pointing out 
(Nature, February 19, p. 687), what I had indeed 
suspected, that the magnetic moment due to an elec- 
tron moving in a circular orbit, assuming the angular 
momentum to be h/2z, is exactly five times the mag- 
netic moment of the magneton. The original value 
(15:94 x 10-*") of the latter quantity, given by Weiss, 
and quoted in my former letter, was based on the 
value of Avogadro’s constant found by Perrin. If we 
divide the magnetic moment of the atom gram, 1123-5, 
by the more recent value for Avogadro’s constant given 
by Millikan (60-62 x 1022) we obtain as the magnetic 


| moment of the magneton 18:54 x 10-2, which is exactly 


714 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 26, 1914 


one-fifth of the value of the magnetic moment, 
92-7 x 10-**, for the electron moving in a circular orbit. 

Sir Oliver Lodge has directed attention to the im- 
portance of all cases where commensurable numbers 
enter into physical problems. Mr. Chalmers thinks 
that the present result indicates that, in mag- 
netic materials, there is a unit of five (or 
ten) atoms, which has a constant number of mag- 
netons. Since in the last resort we must consider 
magnetism to be an atomic property, I should prefer 
to regard the result as affording further evidence for 
the view that the magnetic effects of the complex 
nucleus must be taken into consideration. The mag- 
neton may then result as a difference effect. 

To make this clearer, it may be worth while dis- 
cussing a simple illustrative model. Prof. Peddie has 
put forward some interesting suggestions as to the 
structure of the atom in the February number of the 
Philosophical Magazine. He supposes that the atom 
may be built up of concentric spherical shells of elec- 
trification, which may be in rotation round a common 
axis. Following this suggestion, suppose we have a 
uniform sphere of positive electrification of radius A 
rotating with angular velocity ©. Outside this, sup- 
pose we have a single ring containing n (from 1 to 8) 
valency electrons. The remaining negative electrifica- 
tion may be relegated to a central core having no rota- 
tion. Then the magnetic moment of the rotating 
sphere may be taken as }EA*Q, where E is the total 
positive charge, which we shall assume equal to Ne. 

We have no direct evidence as to the value of A*Q, 
but if for convenience we assume that it has the same 
value as a*w for a ring electron, we obtain the result 
that the magnetic moment of the rotating core is 
equivalent to 2N magnetons. The resultant magnetic 
moment for such a model would be the difference be- 
tween the 2N magnetons of the core and the 5n mag- 
netons of the ring. This is only intended to illustrate 
the way in which the magneton may be introduced as a 
unit for measuring magnetic moments without in- 
volving the necessity of a single magneton existing 
as an independent entity. If the core of an atom is 
built up of a and £ particles in orbital motion, the 
experimental results of Weiss indicate that the re- 
sultant magnetic moment of these particles can be 
expressed in terms of the magneton, 

H. S. ALLEN. 

Wheatstone Laboratory, King’s College, 

London, W.C. 


Origin of Structures on the Moon’s Surface. 


In Nature of February 5 Dr. Johnston-Lavis 
writes, ‘‘the more I compare the moon’s surface with 
volcanic vents, in different parts of this world, the 
less I see a resemblance between the two,” and “the 
more does the planetoid and meteorite projectile theory 
become acceptable.”’ 

G. K. Gilbert, in his address to the Philosophical 
Society of Washington, 1892, gives an extremely in- 
teresting summary of the various theories to account 
for the features of the moon’s face. After a very 
clear description of the phenomena to be accounted 
for, he accepts the meteorite theory with modifica- 
tions. He remarks that, if the so-called craters of 
the moon were due to the impact of meteors, their 
form would be for the most part elliptical, whereas, 
in fact, they are circular. His own theory is that the 
earth was at one time attended by a ring similar to 
that which encircles the planet Saturn, and that this 
afterwards ‘‘gradually coalesced, gathering first 
around’a large number of nuclei, and finally all 
uniting in a.single sphere,’’ the moon. 
to show that this hypothesis accounts for the facts. 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92] 


He attempts | 


| In Nature (vol. xxv., p. 243, 1862) I suggested 


that when. according to Sir G. H. Darwin’s view, 
the moon broke away from the earth and commenced 
an independent existence, thescar left by the great 
catastrophe forms now the basin of the Pacific Ocean. 
The same idea was elaborated five years later — 
by Prof. Pickering’ (Journal of Geol., vol. -xv., 
No. 1, 1907). It is evident that if the Pacific Ocean — 
indicates the place from which the moon departed, 
the continents surrounding it must have been then in 
existence and the earth covered with a solid crust. 
Both Prof. Pickering and myself make this assump-_ 
tion. The question which I would ask, therefore, is this : 
Does the moon’s surface bear traces of this mode 
of origin ? 

The material detached from the earth would have 
been partly solid, derived from the cooled crust, and 
partly liquid, derived from the molten substratum. 
The expulsion would have been probably explosive, 
owing to the gases dissolved in the substratum. The 
material would consequently have been scattered. 
Subsequently it would have collected about its centre 
of gravity, the smaller masses falling in last. The 
paths of the falling masses would have been radial. 
What the telescope now reveals would be the final 
effect after the mass had settled into the spherical 
form. May not, then, the circular so-called craters — 
have been caused by the impact of fragments of the 
solid crust, and may not the mountains of the moon 
be also angular portions of the earth’s crust projecting 
above the mean spherical surface of the moon? 

The above suggestions do not exclude the pos-— 
sibility of true meteors also having fallen, and left 
their mark upon the moon, but it is not probable that — 
many large meteors have struck the moon, because 
they are rare upon the earth, and if many siderites — 
had so fallen, the moon’s specific gravity would have 
been higher than it is, viz., about 3. ihe 

It has occurred to me to inquire at what distance 
from the earth’s surface the centrifugal force would 
balance the earth’s attraction, because it is difficult to © 
see how the material, which is supposed to have been 
detached from the earth to make the moon, could have 
got away until that distance was reached. 

This condition is expressed by the equation, 


3 
9 a . . 
ae = Bo where a is the earth’s radius, 20,926,202 ft., 


» the angular velocity, assumed in this case to be 
27/18,000 seconds, g gravity, 32 ft. a second, and r 
the distance from the centre required. From this I 
get the required distance from the earth’s surface, 
viz., r—a, equal to 53,205,200 ft., or more than double 
the earth’s radius. How this distance could be reached 
seems unaccountable. ; 
Sir G. H. Darwin, in the summary of his paper 
on the remote history of the earth, does not refer to 
this point; but since his theory has been adopted 
without demur by Sir Robert Ball and Prof. Picker- 
ing, the difficulty which strikes me must be more 
apparent than real. Can some reader of NATURE 
explain it? O. FisHeEr. 
Graveley, Huntingdon. = 


I HAVE read with a great amount of interest the 
letter by Dr. Johnston-Lavis which appeared in the 
issue of Narure for February 5, as regards the ray 
systems of the moon from a vulcanologist’s point of 
view. Even taking into consideration his explana- 
tions, however, I cannot now help comparing the 
moon with our own planet, especially when Laplace’s — 
nebular hypothesis, and subsequent theories in refer- 
ence to the relation of the moon to the earth are con- 
sidered, which seem to prove conclusively that the 
} Moon was once a portion of this world. Then with 


FeBruary 26, 1914] 


regard to his remarks about the lava flows from a 
crater, though I am by no means an authority upon 
this subject, such as Dr. Johnston-Lavis, I would 
beg to point out that the lava from the crater of 
Skaptar Jokul in the year 1783 formed two main 
streams which flowed for a distance of forty to fifty 
miles each, and varied in thickness or depth from 
600 to 1000 ft. Now I cannot help thinking that such 
streams, only so much bigger, might have flowed 
from the craters of the moon, and it is well known 
that enormous floods have issued from volcanoes in the 
Sandwich Islands without much eruption of recky, or 
pumaceous débris, which might hide the effect of the 
lava, as Dr. Johnston-Lavis suggests, though Prof. 
Pickering puts forward the suggestion that it is some 
material, such as pumice, which we see in the moon’s 
rays. Apart from which geologists tell us that appar- 
ently in prehistoric times lava seems to have issued 
from vertical fissures, and deluged large areas, as is 
well seen in the great basalt plain of Snake River, 
Idaho, North America. Assuming that these fissures 
were caused by the contraction of the earth’s outer 
crust when cooling, and again comparing the moon 
with the earth, we at least come to Nasmyth’s well- 
known theory as regards these ray systems, though 
the manner in which these peculiar phenomena radiate 
from the craters still seems to suggest to me the 
same actions which took place from Skaptar Jokul, 
and in the Sandwich Islands. However, assuming 
Dr. Johnston-Lavis to be correct in his objections to 
this theory, I should like to know if he considers 
Nasmyth’s theory any more likely to solve this in- 
teresting problem? 

Then with reference to the meteorite theory, it 
seems to me that this scarcely satisfies all the objec- 
tions. In the first place, these rays are in many cases 
as wide as ten to twenty miles, and of avery consider- 
able length, and it would take a meteor or other body 
of excessive size to cause such markings, apart from 
which the speed would have to be truly prodigious, 
and, however horizontally the object was approaching 
the lunar surface, the gravitational attraction, though 
comparatively slight, would tend to divert the path 
into a vertical one to some other portion of the sur- 
face. Again, it is a curious coincidence that by far 
the greater number of these rays radiate from the 
principal craters, and if the meteorite theory is correct, 
how is it they crossed such a huge-walled crater as 
Clavius without apparently breaking down its walls, 
though leaving their marks? The rills and clefts 
certainly lend themselves to this theory, though when 
we consider the Sirsalis cleft, 300 miles long, and that 
there are no fewer than forty in the interior of Gas- 
sendi, it becomes difficult to explain even these. 

I certainly agree with Dr. Johnston-Lavis, that a 
practical astronomer with a high-power instrument 
ought to collaborate with a thoroughly practical vul- 
canologist, when perhaps some satisfactory explana- 
tion would be arrived at. Until then, I am afraid 
things will have to remain as they are. 

C. Hupert Prant. 

Lichfield Road, Walsall, February 10. 


The Discovery of Australia. 


In a note in Nature of November 27, 1913 (p. 379) 
relative to the Houtman’s Abrolhos Islands, the re- 
mark is made:—‘tThe wreck of the Dutch East 
India Co.’s ship, the Batavia, under the command of 
Capt. Pelsart, in 1629, is said to have led to the 
first recorded discovery of Australia.” 

Without entering into the vexed question of who 
first discovered Australia, I may point out that there 
are records of more than a dozen visits of Dutch 
ships and one English shiv to the northern and 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


715 


western coasts of Australia before 1629. In fact, the 
general outline of the whole of the present State of 
Western Australia and of the Gulf of Carpentaria 
was known to the Dutch before that date. 

The Abrolhos Islands were discovered by the ships 
Dordrecht and Amsterdam, under the command of 
Frederik de Houtman, whose name they still bear, in 
1619 (vd. Heeres, “‘The Part Borne by the Dutch in 
the Discovery of Australia”). They were rediscovered 
by the ship Tortelduif in 1624, and the East India Co. 
recognised their danger to navigation, and had accord- 
ingly issued warnings to the commanders of all its 
vessels before Pelsart sailed from Holland. 

From a scientific point of view the wreck of the 
Batavia is of most interest, because it led to the 
discovery of the first member of the kangaroo family, 
viz., the Dama Wallaby, Macropus eugenii, which is 
plentiful on the two largest islands of the group. 

As it is generally supposed that the first discovery 
of the kangaroo was made by Sir Joseph Banks on 
Captain Cook’s first voyage in 1770, I think that 
zoologists may find Pelsart’s account of this smaller 
species, written nearly 150 years earlier, of interest. 

He says :—‘‘ We found in these islands large num- 
bers of a species of cats, which are very strange 
creatures; they are about the size of a hare, their 
head resembling the head of a civet-cat; the fore- 
paws are very short, about the length of a finger, on 
which the animal has five small nails or fingers, 
resembling those of a monkey’s forepaw. Its two 
hind legs, on the contrary, are upwards of half an 
ell in length, and it walks on these only, on the flat 
of the heavy part of the leg, so that it does not run 
fast. Its tail is very long, like that of a long-tailed 
monkey ; if it eats, it sits on its hind legs, and clutches 
its food with its forepaws, just like a squirrel or 
monkey. 

“Their manner of generation or procreation is 
exceedingly strange and highly worth observing. 
Below the belly the female carries a pouch, into which 
you may put your hand; inside this pouch are her 
nipples, and we have found that the young ones grow 
up in this pouch with the nipples in their mouths. 
We have seen some young ones lying there, which 
were only the size of a bean, though at the same 
time perfectly proportioned, so that it seems certain 
that they grow there out of the nipples of the 
mammez, from which they draw their food, until 
they are grown up and are able to walk. Still, they 
keep creeping into the pouch even when they have 
become very large, and the dam runs off with them 
when they are hunted.” W. B. ALEXANDER. 

The Western Australian Museum and Art Gallery, 

Perth, Western Australia, January to. 


DAILY SYNOPTIC CHARTS OF 
THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE AND 
ABSOLUTE UNITS. 


N January 1 of this year, as already men- 

tioned in the Notes of the issue of Nature 

for February 5, the Weather Bureau of the United 

States commenced the issue of a daily weather 

map of the northern hemisphere, compiled from 

observations received daily at Washington by 
telegraph. 

In addition to the regular reports from the 
United States and Canada, represented in the 
well-known daily weather map of the bureau, 
reports are obtained from upwards of forty 
stations, which are sufficiently distributed in lati- 
tude and longitude to form the basis of a chart 
of isobars and isotherms for the northern hemi- 


716 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 26, 1914 


sphere. The. information is given on the back 
of the daily bulletin, and the Weather Bureau 
is to be congratulated upon being the first to 
publish a map showing the distribution of pres- 
sure and temperature over a hemisphere on the 
day of issue. 

It rests with the bureau, or with some still 
more enterprising institute if there be one, to 
add the available observations from the southern 
hemisphere, and realise what everyone who thinks 
about the subject knows to be the most sure basis 
for the study of the daily weather, viz., a daily 
map of the main features of the distribution of 
pressure and temperature over the globe. 

Practically no lines are drawn on these maps 
for latitudes lower than 25°, and it is interesting 
to speculate as to what sort of characteristics a 
synoptic chart of the equatorial regions would 
show if it could be drawn. North of 25° the 
rotation of the earth makes it possible for pres- 
sure differences represented by “parallel isobars” 
to be sufficiently permanent to be charted, while 
ordinary centrifugal action makes “circular” 
isobars also equally possible. Hence on a chart 
for temperate and polar regions, isobars may 
take any shape between the small circle of a 
cyclonic depression and the great circle of 
“straight”? isobars; but in the equatorial region 
there is no place for “parallel isobars,” as they 
are understood further north, because the influ- 
ence of the rotation of the earth is too feeble; 
the winds required to balance isobars such as 
those to which we are accustomed would be 
prodigious. Consequently a pressure distribution 
sufficiently permanent to be mapped could only 
be made up of “circular” isobars, and therefore 
a chart of isobars for part of the equatorial region 
ought to be a collection of small circles with what- 
ever may be necessary to. represent the diurnal 
variation. It would be interesting to have this 
conclusion verified, and the transition between 
the region of circular isobars and the region of 
straight isobars carefully explored. 

Variations of pressure, small in magnitude, but 
associated with weather changes, are shown as 
irregularities in the course of the well-known 
diurnal variation, on barograms for equatorial 
regions, and the translation of a collection of baro- 
grams into synoptic charts is an attractive 
problem. It would presumably tell us what the 
meteorological conditions would be if the earth 
were fixed and the sun went round it in twenty- 
four hours as the ancients used to suppose. 

One of the striking features of the maps 
now issued by the Weather Bureau is that for 
the first time in the history of official meteoro- 
logical institutions, c.g.s. units of pressure and 
the absolute scale of temperature are used for a 
daily issue of charts. The isobars are figured for 
every five millibars, and the isotherms for every 
ten or five degrees on the centigrade scale 
measured from 273° below the freezing point of 
water. 

This is indeed a remarkable step towards the 
unification of the methods of expressing pressure 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92] 


over the globe, and it has been immediately fol- 
lowed by the Meteorological Office in the corre-_ 
sponding charts which are published in the weekly 
weather report. The office’ figures the centibars, © 
while the bureau figures the millibars, but that 
is only a matter of decimal point. ; ; 
Millibars are in future to be used, though not 
exclusively, for the international publication of the 
results of the investigation of the upper air, so that 
while it now seems likely that before many years 
are passed we may see a daily synchronous chart 
for the globe, and really begin to study weather as 
it ought to be studied, we may at the same time 
expect to take leave of the inch and the milli- 
metre as measures of pressure. They certainly 
have had a very long innings on a side to which 
they did not properly belong, and it will be in-— 
teresting to see how the more scientific measure 
of pressure in pressure-units will adapt itself to 
practical requirements. The Meteorological 
Office is to make use of c.g.s. units of pressure 
for the Daily Weather Report on May 1 of the 
current year, and the preparations for that event 
have already placed some well-known facts in a 
curious light. The task which during the last 
sixty years we have been setting to British 
instrument-makers is as _ follows :—‘‘ Construct 
a barometer which will give a true pressure 
reading when the whole instrument is in lati- 
tude 45°, the mercury at 273° A., and its brass 
case at 290° A.” Continental makers have had 
a problem that sounds simpler, viz. to.construct 
a, barometer which will give a true pressure read-— 
ing when the instrument and its case are in lati- 
tude 45° at 273°A. The figures show that if 
instrument-makers were to make a barometer 
which was correct at the equator at the freezing 
point of water, it would be correct in latitude 45° 
at the ordinary air-temperature of 289° A. (61° F.) 
and at the poles at 305° A. (89°6° F.). So for each 
latitude there would be a temperature within the 
common range for which the readings were true 
pressures. At other temperatures, of course, a 
correction would be required. WiriNpos 


THE RECENT SEISMOLOGICAL DISTURB- 
ANCES IN SOUTH JAPAN. 

Gs the accompanying figure is reproduced, on 

about half the original scale, an interesting 
seismogram received from Prof. A. Belar, of 
Laibach, through the courtesy of the foreign 
editor of the Daily Mail. The earthquake in 
question occurred on the morning of January 12, 
and was recorded by a Galitzin seismograph with 
electromagnetic damping. The times indicated 
on the diagram are referred to mean time of 
central Europe, which is one hour in advance of 
Greenwich time. In a second letter, Prof. Belar 
gives toh. 4om. 35s. as the time of arrival at 
Laibach of the first preliminary tremors, and 
he estimates that the earthquake occurred at 
6h. 29m. 2s., p.m., Japan time.1 According to 


1 According to the data given by Prof. Belar in a more recent letter, it 
would seem that the time at the origin should be 6h. 3om. 13s. (mean time of 
135 E.) p.m., which does not differ materially from that given above. 


FEBRUARY 26, 1914] 


NATURE 


717 


information recentlv received from Japan, 337 
earthquakes occurred in the south of the country 
on January 12, the strongest of all being recorded 
at Nagasaki at 6h. 29m. 27s. The coincidence 
is so close as to justify Prof. Belar’s conclusion 
that the earthquake recorded at Laibach origin- 
ated near the south coast of Japan. That the 
earthquake was of considerable strength is evi- 
dent from an account by the Rev. A. C. Hutchin- 
son, of Kagoshima, which appeared in The Times 
for February 6. ‘The earth,” he says, “seemed 
to leap convulsively upwards. The quaking was 
so great for two minutes that it was difficult to 
stand.” 

Prof. Belar remarks that the interest of the 
seismogram is due to the possible connection of 
the earthquake with the eruption of Sakurajami 
on the same day. As a rule, the foci of volcanic 
earthquakes are close to the surface, and the 
vibrations are insensible, even with instrumental 
aid, at considerable distances from the epicentre. 
If the shock recorded at Laibach were of volcanic 


tor 42" 43 44 45 46 a7 


fifty miles or more) from the recently active vol- 
cano of Sakurajami, for the seismic sea-waves 
which swept over the low-lying parts of Kago- 
shima arrived half-an-hour or more after the 
earthquake was felt in that city. But, notwith- 
standing this, it seems probable that Prof. Belar 
is correct in assigning to the earthquake a place 
among the volcanic phenomena, and to its focus 
a depth considerably greater than is usual in 
volcanic earthquakes. C. Davison. 


ALBINISM. 


ie word albinism is used in several senses. 
In the strictest sense it is used only of 
cases in which pigment is completely, or apparently 
completely, absent from the skin, hair, and eyes; 
in the widest sense it includes many grades of 
deficiency of pigment, whether generally over the 
body or in restricted areas. The memoir before 
us illustrates the difficulty of defining albinism, for 
according to the authors all grades of pigment 


IM rvreriayvoruin)/inatine-wtinayterngil 


ry —~~ a Coco — 
N Wann, iwN\eus— ey] 38 39 40 


Fic. 1.—Seismogram obtained at Laibach, Austria. 


origin, this would be the first instance of a 
volcanic earthquake being recorded across an 
entire continent since the horizontal pendulum was 
adapted for seismographic purposes. 

Of earthquakes connected with a volcanic erup- 
tion, those which are due to the actual explosions 
are usually of less intensity than those which occur 
at other times, while the strongest shocks may 
originate at some distance from the voleano. For 
instance, in the south-west corner of Hokkaido 
(the northern island of Japan), there is a group 
of volcanoes, of which three—the Komaga-take, 
the Tarumai-san, and the Usu-san—have been 
active recently. Earthquakes are extremely rare 
in this part of the country, but each of the last 
four eruptions has taken place in fairly close 
connection with a strong earthquake the epicentre 
of which has been from sixty to 170 miles from 
the volcano.t 

It seems clear that the earthquake of January 
12 must have originated at some distance (perhaps 


1 F. Omori, Bull. Imp. Earthq. Inves. Com., vol. v., 1911, pp. 5-7 
NO. 2313, VOL. 92] 


reduction occur, both in Man and other Verte- 
brates, so that no sharp line would seem to exist 
between total and partial-albinism. There is_little 
doubt, however, that a number of quite different 
causes may give rise to pigment reduction, and 
that much might be done to classify the various 
manifestations into natural groups. Some of the 
more outlying types are already clearly separable, 
e.g. pathological leucoderma, and the whitening 
of the hair of certain species in winter, which is 
due to a shedding of pigmented hair and its re- 
placement by white in autumn, followed by moult 
in the other direction in the spring. 

Another group of so-called albinotic cases can 
be separated by their mode of inheritance. An 
inspection of pedigrees at once reveals the fact 
that some cases of “partial albinism” in 
man, in which the skin is spotted with white, or 
in which there is a white patch of. hair on a body 


1 “*A Monograph on Albinism_in Man.” By Karl Pearson, F.R.S., 
E. Nettleship, F.R.S., and C. H. Usher. Part ii., Text. Pp. 265-524 
tatlas. Price, 30s, net. Part iv., Text. -Pp. iv.-+136+xxii-+atlas. 
(London: Dulau & Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price, 215. net. (Drapers’ Company 
Research Memoirs. Biometric Series, viii. and ix.) 


718 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 26, 1914 


otherwise normally coloured, are inherited as 
typical Mendelian dominants, the affection being 
always transmitted in the direct line. On the 
other hand, many, probably the majority, of cases 
of complete or nearly complete albinism behave 
as recessives, and appear especially in the offspring 
of consanguineous marriages between affected 
stocks. 

When the more sharply defined cases have been 
separated out, there remains a large mass of 
material which still requires analysis, and one 
of the most hopeful ways of dealing with this 
seems to be by a comparison with cases in 
animals which have been or might be worked out 
experimentally. Such experiment has already 
shown, first, that skin and coat colour is due to 
the combined effect of at least two separately 
inherited factors, one of which is necessary for 
the production of any kind of pigment, while the 
other determines the colour of the pigment which 
is produced. Vertebrate albinos are commonly 
produced by the absence of the first factor, and 
may therefore bear the factors which determine 
particular colours, although they do not show 
them. Albinos are therefore not all alike in their 
inherited constitution, and it is probably only by 
disentangling the various factors involved that 
a complete understanding of the causes of human 
albinism will be obtained. Secondly, experiment 
with animals shows that piebalding is completely 
distinct from total albinism in its inheritance, and 
that if a piebald appears when an albino is crossed 
with a self-colour, this is not due to mosaic in- 
heritance, but to the fact that the albino bears 
the factor for piebalding—is, in fact, a piebald 
from which the pigment factor is lacking. 
Thirdly, there is evidence that some cases of lack 
of pigment are due to an inhibiting factor which 
interferes with the development of pigment, even 
in the presence of both the required colour-factors. 
When complications of this kind have been shown 
to exist in animals which can be subjected to 
rigorously controlled experiment, it is not sur- 
prising that the examination of human albinos 
and their pedigrees reveals irregularities. 

A comparison with animal cases suggests, how- 
ever, that by the careful collection of evidence, 
and especially by the classification of cases (1) 
according to the results of clinical observation, 
supplemented by microscopical examination when 
possible, and (2) according to the mode of inherit- 
ance, much could be done to disentangle the 
various factors which are involved. Much of the 
preliminary work in this direction could be done 
with the data now available, but as long as we 
continue to group together, in thought as well as 
in name, such different phenomena as total absence 
of pigment, general reduction of pigment, pie- 
balding, and wall-eye, and, from the point of view 
of inheritance, cases which are clear Mendelian 
dominants, others which. are. scarcely less clearly 
recessive, and others, again, which have un- 
doubted sex-limited inheritance, so long the present 
confusion. will continue. 

The monograph before us, though scarcely 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92| 


-Dr. John A. 


making any attempt at a classification such as we 
suggest, will provide most useful material for 
future workers on the subject. It gives a full 
account of the clinical and microscopic characters 
of various kinds of albinism in the widest sense of — 
the word, both in man and animals; discusses their 
occurrence and geographical distribution, and in- 
cludes, in part iv., nearly 700 fully described pedi- 
grees, some of them extending to 100 or more 
individuals. 


PROF. S. P. LANGLEY AND AVIATION. 

I have brought to a close the portion of the work 
which seemed to be specially mine, the demonstration 
of the practicability of mechanical flight; and for the ' 
next stage, which is the commercial and practical 
development of the idea, it is probable that the world 
may look to others. The world, indeed, will be 
supine if it do not realise that a new possibility has 
come to it, and that the great universal highway 
overhead is now soon to be opened. 
ge Bus spoke the late secretary of the Smith- 
; sonian Institution, Samuel Pierpont Lang- 
ley, after his memorable experiment of May 6, 
1896, in which he launched a_heavier-than-air 
machine in the air, which flew under its own 
power (steam), traversing a distance of half a 
mile. This experiment it was that convinced the 
world of the practicability of mechanical flight, 
and which crowned the success of all his previous” 
experimental researches. It was not until the 
year 1903 (December 17) that the Brothers 
Wright, Wilbur and Orville, fitted a motor to 
their gliding machine, and made two flights, the 
first successful flights ever made by man in a 
heavier-than-air machine driven by its own power. 

It was a fitting tribute of the Board of Regents — 
of the Smithsonian Institution to found, on 
December 15, 1908, a Langley medal “to be 
awarded for specially meritorious investigations 
in connection with the science of aerodromics and 
its application to aviation,” and it was most 
appropriate that the brothers Wilbur and Orville 
Wright were the first (1909) to receive the award. 
The presentation of this medal is now made on 
May 6, a date selected in order that the cere- 
monies incident to the presentation may take place 
in connection with the observance of “Langley 
Day,” which was established by the Aero Club of 
Washington in 1911 to commemorate Langley’s 
achievement. 

A recent Smithsonian Institution publication 
(No. 2233) contains an account of the exercises on 
the occasion of the presentation of the Langley 
Medal and the unveiling of the Langley Memorial 
Tablet on May 6, 1913, including the addresses 
of Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, Monsieur J. J. 
Jusserand, the Ambassador to the United States, 
Brashear, and the secretary, Dr. 
Charles D. Walcott. The bronze memorial tablet 
is situated in the Smithsonian building, and repre- 
sents Prof. Langley seated on a terrace where he 
has a clear view of the heavens, and, in a medi- 
tative mood, is observing the flight of birds, while 
in his mind he sees his aerodrome soaring above 
them. 


FEBRUARY 26, 1914] 


NATURE 


719 


The second and third medals were awarded to 
Mr. Glen H. Curtiss and M. Gustave Eiffel, the 
former “for advancing the art of aerodromics by 
his successful development of a hydro-aerodrome, 
whereby the safety of the aviator has been greatly 
enhanced,” and the latter “for advancing the 
science of aerodromics by his researches relating 
to the resistance of the air in connection with 
aviation.”’ 

The orations are interesting reading, especially 
that by Dr. Brashear, who was one of Prof. Lang- 
ley’s oldest and closest friends. 

The publication contains reproductions of the 
Langley Tablet and of the two handsome medals. 
The illustration of the medal awarded to M. Eiffel 
is here reproduced. 

At the close of the exercises, the secretary 
directed attention to the action of the Board of 
Regents, who have decided on the re-opening of 
the Langley Aerodynamical Laboratory. Suffi- 


| Act, 1904. 


out from the Eiffel Tower. Protests against the pro- 
posed tax had forwarded to the Post Office 
authorities by the National Association of Goldsmiths, 
the British Horological Institute, and Mr. F. Hope- 
Jones, chairman of the Wireless Society of London. 
In of the made to 
it upon the subject, an inquiry was instituted by 
the British Guild in relation to the 
wisdom of the policy of levying such a charge at the 
Present time, the possibility of collecting the same 
economically in the event of the policy being persisted 
in, as well as in relation to the powers conferred on 
the Postmaster-General under the Wireless Telegraphy 
The result of this inquiry was such as to 
persuade the guild that the imposition of a tax would 
be impolitic, and at the same time would not be likely 
to produce a revenue commensurate with the expense 
involved in attempting to collect the same, whilst 
such a tax could not fail to give rise to intense irrita- 


been 


consequence representations 


Scie ence 


Fic. 1.—Langley medal presented to M. Gnstave Eiffel. 


cient provision is available to start and continue 
the work in a modest way, and it is hoped that in- 
vestigations under the name of Langley will be 
pursued to develop and standardise aeronautical 
science, 

Such an institution well organised and equipped 
would be a noble monument to the man, and one 
which he, no doubt, would have most desired. 


NOTES. 


THE attention of the British Science Guild 
was directed towards the end of last year 
to the fact that the Post Office authorities 
were contemplating a charge of two guineas, 
in respect of licences in connection with appa- 


ratus proposed to be installed by owners of obser- 
vatories, watch and clock makers, &c., for the purpose 
of receiving the international wireless time signals sent 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92] 


tion. As was pointed out in an article in Nature of 
November 13, 1913 (p. 320), it appeared to be ex- 
tremely doubtful whether the Postmaster-General 


possessed statutory authority to impose such a tax, 
since by the terms of the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 
1904, it is expressly provided that “nothing in this 
Act shall prevent any person from making or using 
electrical apparatus for any purpose other than the 
transmission of messages.” The views of the British 
Science Guild were recently forwarded to the Secretary 


| of the Post Office, who was desired to place the docu- 


ment containing these views before the Postmaster- 
General for his consideration, and at the same time 
the Postmaster-General was requested to receive a 
deputation from the guild in relation to this matter. 
We learn that the representations of the British 
Science Guild and other bodies have been considered 
by the Postmaster-General, who now 


has intimated 


720. 


that he does not intend to proceed with the proposal 
to levy the contemplated tax. 

Pror. P. Eurticu, director of the Royal Institute 
for Experimental Therapeutics, Frankfort-on-Main, has 
been awarded the Cameron prize of the University of 
Edinburgh, in recognition of his discovery of salvar- 
san, of his researches on numerous synthetic organic 
compounds of arsenic, and of his important work on 
immunity. 

Tue twenty-third annual meeting of the Royal 
Society for the Protection of Birds will be held at the 
Westminster Palace Hotel, Victoria Street, London, 
S.W., on Thursday next, March 5. The chair will be 
taken at 3 p.m. by the Right Hon. Lord Newton. A 
resolution will be submitted in favour of the Govern- 
ment Plumage Bill. 

Pror. W. P. Braptey, who has occupied the chair 
of chemistry at Wesleyan University, Middletown, 
Connecticut, since 1893, has resigned that post on 
accepting a position as chemist with a large rubber 
company. He is especially known for his work on 
problems connected with the liquefaction of permanent 
gases, and he conducted the first liquid air plant that 
was set up in America for research purposes. 

Sir James Wirson, K.C.S.1., has been appointed 
to act as delegate for Great Britain and Ireland, the 
Dominions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the 
Union of South Africa, and the Government of Mauri- 
tius on the permanent committee of the International 
Institute of Agriculture at Rome. Lieut.-Colonel Sir 
David Prain, director of Kew Gardens, Sir James Wil- 
son, and Mr. A, G. L. Rogers, head of the Horticul- 
ture Branch of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 
are the representatives of the Board at the Inter- 
national Phytopathological Conference. opened at 
Rome on Tuesday, February 24. 


A COMMITTEE has been appointed in Berlin to make 
arrangements to celebrate the seventieth birthday of 
Prof. A. Engler on March 25 next, by the presentation 
to him of his life-size marble bust and in other ways, as 
a sign of the appreciation of botanists of his varied 
and valued contributions by publication and otherwise 
to the advancement of systematic, geographical, and 
economic botany. Readers of NarurE who may wish 
to join the botanists of Germany and other countries 
in this celebration are invited to send their subscrip- 
tion to Prof. T. Johnson, Royal College of Science, 
Dublin, for transmission to, and acknowledgment by, 
Prof. L. Wittmack, of Berlin. 


Ar the anniversary meeting of the Geological 
Society of London, held on Friday last, February 20, 
the officers were appointed for the ensuing year as 
follows :—President, Dr. A. Smith Woodward, 
F.R.S.; Vice-Presidents, Dr. H. H. Bemrose, Mr. W. 
Hill, Mr. Clement Reid, F.R.S., and Dr. A. Strahan, 
F.R.S.; Secretaries, Dr. H. H. Thomas and Dr. H. 
Lapworth; Foreign Secretary, Sir Archibald Geilie, 
O.M., K.C.B., F.R.S.; Treasurer, Mr. Bedford 
McNeill. The awards of medals and funds, announced 
in Narure of January 15 (p. 561) were made. The 
president delivered his anniversary address, which 
dealt with problems of post-glacial denudation. 


NO. 2313, VOL. Oa) 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 26, I914 

Ar the annual general meeting of the Physical 
Society of London on February 13, the following 
officers were elected for the ensuing year :—President : 
Sir J. J. Thomson, O.M., F.R.S. Vice-Presidents (not 
including those who have filled the office of president) : 
Prof. T. Mather, F.R.S., Dr. A. Russell, Mr. F. E. 
Smith, and Mr. R. S. Whipple. Secretaries: Mr. 
W. R. Cooper and Dr. S. W. J. Smith. Foreign 
Secretary: Dr. R. T. Glazebrook, F.R.S. Treasurer =: 
Mr. W. Duddell, F.R.S.. Librarian: Dr. S. W. J. 
Smith. Other Members of Council: Dr. W. H. Eccles, 
Sir R. A. Hadfield, F.R.S., Prof. G. W. O. Howe, 
Prof. J. W. Nicholson, Major W. A. J. O’Meara, 
C.M.G., Mr. C. C. Paterson, Prof. O. W. Richardson, 
F.R.S., Prof. the Hon. R. J. Strutt) BiRissor 
W. E. Sumpner, and Dr. R. S. Willows. Assistant 
Secretary and Reporter: Mr. J. Guild. 


WE learn from The Pioneer Mail that the founda- 
tion-stone of the School:of Tropical Medicine at Cal- — 
cutta was to have been laid on February 24. The Govern- — 
ment of India has provided six lakhs of rupees for the 
site and laboratory, and has agreed to contribute to- 
wards the upkeep of the school, thus emphasising the 
Imperial character of the work. An appeal is made 
for liberal endowments. The building will accom- 
modate several whole-time research workers, in addi- 
tion to the teaching staff. Four la'shs, or annual sub- 
scriptions of 20,000 rupees, guaranteed for at least five 
years, will be required for the endowment of each 
additional research investigator. The possibilities of 
carrying out important investigations of tropical 
diseases, which cause more than one-third of the 
deaths in Calcutta, and at least as large a proportion 
over India as a whole, are limited only by the amount 
of financial support which may be afforded to the new 
institution. 


Mr. Vicror Anestin, of Bucharest, referring to Mr. 
W. F. Denning’s note in our issue of February 12 
(vol. xcii., p. 670) on the detonating fireball of January ~ 
1g, sends us fuller particulars of the old Rumanian 
superstition that bolides may be abundantly observed 
from January 14-20, and especially on January 19. 
The superstition has been held for hundreds of years” 
by peasants and townsfolk alike. The belief is that: 
on January 19 ‘les cieux s’entr’ouvrent,”’ and young 
people look out for this celestial phenomenon, believing 
that if they offer up a wish at the moment of its occur- 
rence it will be granted during the same year. The 
same belief is held concerning the appearance of fire 
balls on November 17. In both these months the sk 
is always covered with cloud at Bucharest, so that a 
bright fireball produces an effect of the heavens open- 
ing as expressed in the superstition. The date Janua 
19 is, however, not fixed; sometimes the meteors are 
seen several days before, and at other times after that 
date. Thus in 1906 “‘le ciel s’est entr’ouvert”’ om 
January 14, and this year the luminous effects of the 
meteors were seen on January 21. 


Dr. Louis BELL writes from Boston, U.S.A., to 
describe an unusual meteorological phenomenon ob. 
served there last month. On January 13, which was 

1 the coldest day known in Boston for many years, the 


FEBRUARY 26, 1914] 


thermometer not ranging above zero for a period of 
thirty hours extending through the entire day, Dr. Bell, 

upon entering a large train shed, some 75 ft. high and of 
te very extensive area, found that snow was steadily 
falling, produced by the congelation of the steam 
from the numerous locomotives. The interesting 
point was that the snow had aggregated into flakes 
of fair size, not distinctly crystalline, but still flakes, 
in spite of the short distance of the possible fall. The 
thermometer was then about 5° F. below zero, and 
in the evening at a similar temperature the whole 
interior of the train shed was still white with this 
deposit of snow. The general phenomenon, of course, 
has been many times recorded, but is very rarely seen, 
particularly on so large a scale and for so long a time. 


THE exceptionally mild character of the present 
winter is being maintained until its close, and for a 
persistent continuance of warm days in January and 
February it surpasses all previous records. At Green- 
wich the thermometer in the screen was above 50° for 
eighteen consecutive days from January 29 to February 
15. Previous records since 1841 have no longer period 
than eleven days, in the months of January and 
February combined, with the thermometer continu- 
ously above 50°, and there are only four such periods— 
1846, January 21-31; 1849, January 16-26; 1856, 
February 6-16; and 1873, January 4-14. Besides 
these there are only three years, 1850, 1869, and 1877 
with a consecutive period of ten days in January and 
February with the temperature above 50°. The per- 
sistent continuance of the absence of frost is also very 
nearly a record. To February 24 there have been 
thirty consecutive days at Greenwich without frost in 
the screen, and the only years with a longer con- 
tinuous period in January and February are 1867, with 
thirty-seven days, 1872, with forty-three days, and 
1884, with thirty-two days. The maximum tempera- 
tures in the two months have seldom been surpassed. 
In many respects there is a resemblance between the 
weather this winter and that in 1899, when in February 
blizzards and snowstorms were severe on the other 
side of the Atlantic, with tremendous windstorms in 
the open ocean, whilst on this side of the Atlantic 
the weather was exceptionally mild. It is to be hoped 
that this year we shall be spared the somewhat sharp 
frosts experienced in the spring of 1899. 


Tue annual Home Office report and statistics of the 
output of mines and quarries in Great Britain for the 
year 1912 has been published. It is greatly to be 
regretted that the report should take nearly a twelve- 
month before the definite figures of the year’s mineral 
production can be published, as by this time these 
figures present but little interest. It is true that the 
approximate figures issued at an earlier date give a 
great deal of the information, and that the early figures 
rarely require much alteration. As a matter of fact, 
however, the Department of Mineral Statistics, like so 
many departments of the Government that do useful 
but not showy work, is neglected in favour of others 
that make a more direct appeal to the gallery. Our 
Department of Mineral Statistics is understaffed, and 
the collection and definition of mineral statistics are 


not, as they should be, controlled by precise and ! 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


721 


definite legal enactments. Thus it is impossible to 
know from the report whether the item coal means 
““drawings,’’ inclusive of ‘‘walings,’’ or whether it 
refers to clean coal only; or, again, whether the 
quantity of coal is inclusive or exclusive of colliery 
consumption. What is really needed in this country 
is a brief Mineral Statistics Act, regulating the precise 
manner in which the various statistics should be col- 
lected and tabulated, and giving legal force to the 
definitions now so loosely employed, and if such an 
Act could be drawn up as the result of an international 
conference, so that the statistics of the great mineral- 
producing countries of the world could be correctly 
compared with each other, a great advance would be 
made towards the scientific study of this important 
branch of knowledge. 


In the February issue of Man, Sir C. H. Read 
describes a remarkable Bactrian bronze ceremonial 
axe which has been recently added to the British 
Museum collections. It is composed of the figures of 
three animals—a boar, a tiger, and an ibex. The 
cutting edge is formed of the back of the first, which 
is attacking the tiger, who is turning round and 
gripping the flanks of a crouching ibex. Our present 
scanty knowledge of the archzology of Afghanistan in 
the centuries preceding the Sassanian dynasty does not 
admit of any distinct statement of the uses to which 
an object of this kind might be put, nor are we able 
to interpret the symbolism of the conjunction of these 
three animals. The nearest analogy is an axe pre- 
sented to the British Museum by Major P. M. Sykes, 
from Kerman in Persia. In this the animal forms are 
degraded and almost lost; but a second axe of the 
same find has the beasts standing free and well- 
defined, though the execution is not so artistic as in 
the present example, which, by comparison with the 
Oxus treasure in the museum, is probably a specimen 
of the art of Bactria about the time of Alexander the 
Great. 


ACCORDING to the reports published in the December 
issue of the Proceedings for 1913, the Philadelphia 
Academy of Sciences appears to have had a prosperous 
year, having received during that period two consider- 
able money bequests, while a number of cases in the 
museum have been rearranged. The accessions to the 
library were nearly 1000 in excess of those in the 
preceding year. 


Parts viii. and ix. of Dr. Koningsberger’s “ Java” 
contain a brief account of the fishes of the island— 
both fresh-water and marine—which are stated to be 
still very imperfectly known. Another section is 
devoted to the reptiles, in which it is stated that 
Schlegel’s gharial (Tomistoma schlegeli), of Sumatra, 
Borneo, and the Malay Peninsula, may not improbably 
occur in Java, although definite evidence is not yet 
forthcoming. 


THE question whether a certain number of fertilised 
female house-flies (Musca domestica) pass the winter 
in a dormant condition, to revive and produce progeny 
in the spring, according to a note by Mr. E. A. Austen, 
of the British Museum, in the February number of 
‘The Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine, still awaits 


722 


a definite answer. An American observer, Dr. H. 
Skinner, has, indeed, committed himself to the state- 
ment that house-flies pass the winter only in the pupa- 
stage, but this is not in accord with the views of 
Messrs. Newstead and Jepson in this country. The 
point is of considerable importance in connection with 
the crusade against house-flies as disseminators of 
disease. 


To the Journal of the East Africa and Uganda 
Natural History Society for December, 1913,. Mr. R. B. 
Woosnam, Game Warden for British East Africa, 
communicates an important article on the relation of 
game animals to disease in Africa, with special refer- 
ence to the proposal to clear off such game animals 
in certain parts of East Africa witha view of stamping 
out tsetse-fly disease and other maladies. The theory 
hitherto largely favoured by experts is that game 
animals alone serve as ‘‘reservoirs” for the trypano- 
somes, and other blood-parasites, by which such 
diseases are caused; but the author points out that not 
only is there a strong probability, but likewise a prac- 
tical certainty, that other animals serve in a similar 
capacity. And this being so, the futility of attempt- 
ing to kill off all the game animals in certain districts 
is self-apparent. In the opinion of the author, a far 
more hopeful plan is to rely on the possibility of pro- 
ducing or accelerating immunity to the diseases in 
question in the animals liable to be infected. “If,” 
writes Mr. Woosnam, ‘wild animals can acquire an 
immunity in nature and domestic native cattle can 
also acquire immunity [which in certain instances 
they undoubtedly do], is it mot possible that the 
greatest success may eventually result from an arti- 
ficially produced immunity?” 


In a valuable report on the effect of water on the 
cultivation of cotton (Egyptian Ministry of Finance 
Survey Department, Paper No. 31, 1913), Messrs. 
Hughes and Hurst, who were assisted in their field 
work by Messrs. Bolland and Ferrar, give details 
of a series of experiments made with a view of 
eliminating other factors in an estimate of the influ- 
ence upon the cotton yield of the level of saturation in 
the soil. Their general conclusion is that with the 
subsoil water at a low level fairly heavy watering gives 
greater yields than very light watering, which may 
easily be pushed so far as seriously to affect the yield. 
They find, however, that fairly heavy watering delays 
the ripening of the crop, and they point out that too 
wide an interpretation is not to be placed on the results 
obtained from the experiments, the chief importance 
of which lies in the methods adopted, especially the 
arrangement of the experimental plots in such a 
manner as approximately to eliminate the effect of 
factors which varied from point to point of the fields. 


Ir would appear, from investigations by Mr. W. R. 
Dunlop (West Indian Bulletin, vol. xiii., No. 4), that 
certain groups of varieties of sugar-canes possess differ- 
entiating characteristics as regards their stomata, and 
that if the general morphological and anatomical char- 
acters of_the varieties be taken into consideration, each 
one variety can be identified by its leaf alone. The 
stomatal density per unit of area is one of the chief 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 26, I914 


characteristics, though in the investigation under re- 
view the range of variation has not been determined 
with sufficient accuracy to permit more than the classi- 
fication of the varieties exathined into groups as — 
regards stomatal densities. The relation of the ratio 
of the total stomatal area to the entire surface of the 
leaf, and the susceptibility of any variety to drought 
is discussed, and actual observation has shown that a 
variety possessing a high stomatal area with other 
hydrophyllous characters appears to be unsuited for 
cultivation in areas of low rainfall and humidity. 
Whether any general relation exists between sucrose 
content of varieties and stomatal characteristics has 
yet to be determined, but such observations would — 
appear to provide a useful guide in future selection 
of sugar-cane for drought resistance. 


One of the useful articles in the recently published 
Journal of the Scottish Meteorological Society (vol. xvi) 
is a somewhat laborious ‘investigation of ‘‘A Possible 
Two-hourly Period in the Diurnal Variation of the 
Barometer,” by Mr. M. M’Callum Fairgrieve. The 
paper was suggested by certain departures from a 
smooth curve every alternate hour, shown by the result 
given by Dr. Chree in a paper on the barometric 
pressure at Castle O’er (Quart. Journ. Roy. Met. Soc., 
October, 1911). Mr. Fairgrieve examined long series 
of observations at some of the Meteorological Office 
observatories, and other places, and found that a two- 
hourly oscillation was very apparent at certain places, 
while at others there was little indication of any such 
variation. The author finds it difficult to assign a proper 
explanation of the results obtained, whether physical 
or instrumental, but suggests that it is obviously of 
importance that the point should be cleared up. 


Ir is well known that while the number of regular 
solids is limited, a similar limitation extends to 
“polytopes '’ in multi-dimensional space, the cube, regu- 
lar tetrahedron and octahedron being the only types 
which can be extended indefinitely to the higher dimen- 
sions. There are, however, certain semi-regular poly- 
hedra which play an important part in crystallography. 
We have now received papers from Dr. P. H. Schoute, 
reprinted from the transactions of the Cambridge 
Mathematical Congress, and Dr, E. L. Elte (Amster- 
dam Proceedings, 1912), dealing with the different 
degrees of regularity and characteristics of the various 
semi-regular polytopes in multi-dimensional space. 
While these interesting problems are being com- 
petently treated by mathematicians, the popular fallacy 
of ‘the fourth" dimension seems as hard to eradicate 
as ever. Prof. Samuel M. Barton’s article in The 
Popular Science Monthly for October is correct 
enough in its geometrical facts, but the use of the 
word ‘‘fourth,’’ for the more correct terms, ‘ four" 
and ‘“‘many,’’ will be likely to militate against the 
usefulness that would accrue from an essay dealing 
professedly with ‘* hyperspaces.”’ 


AFTER conference with the American incandescent — 
lamp manufacturers, the United States Bureau of 
Standards has issued a sixth edition of its circular 
containing standard specifications for such lamps. 
Although the specifications were originally intended for 


FEBRUARY 26, 1914] 


the use of Government departments only, the public has 
made such large demands for them that an annual edition 
has appeared since the circular was first printed in 
tgo7. Another circular for which the demand is likely 
to be extensive is that on copper wires, prepared at 
the request of the American Institute of Electrical 
Engineers. It contains nearly seventy pages of tables 
and other information about copper wire, brought 
thoroughly up to date, last year’s work of Mr. G. L. 
Heath on the relation between the purity and tem- 
perature coefficient of resistance of wires being 
included. 


Tue January number, which begins the career of 
the Annales de Physique as a separate publication, 
consists of ninety-six pages of the same size and style 
as the Annales de Physique et de Chimie have made 
us familiar with in the past. The annual yolume is 
to extend to nearly 600 pages, and the price outside 
France is to be 28 francs. Profs. Lippmann and 
Bouty are the editors, and the first number is certainly 
a credit to them. It contains a communication by 
M. Violle on physical units to be adopted in France, 
a second by M. Brillouin on a relation between specific 
heat and radiation of a body independent of the 
quantum hypothesis, a third by M. Marcelin on the 
thickness of films spread on the surface of water, in 
which it is shown that the thickness of a camphor 
film may be as small as the diameter of a camphor 
molecule, and, lastly, the first part of a long paper 
by M. Croze describing experiments on the emission 
spectra of the commoner gases 


A CIRCULAR (No. 43) has been issued by the Bureau 
of Standards at Washington with reference to the 
international metric carat of 200 mg., which was 
adopted on July 1 last by the United States customs 
Service as the unit for determining the import duties 

on precious stones. Tables of equivalents are included 
in the circular, which will be useful to diamond dealers 
in converting from the old unit to the new and vice 
versa. The value adopted for the old carat is 
205-3 mg., which is the average weight of the various 
carats previously in use in the United States. This is 
precisely the same value as that of the old carat 
hitherto used in the United Kingdom, which is to be 
displaced on April 1 next by the metric carat of 
200 mg., in accordance with the Order in Council of 
October 14 last. The tables would accordingly be 
useful also to British jewellers for conversion pur- 
poses; they are much more complete and practicable 
than those issued by some American firms of gem 
dealers in the form of “folders,” and are followed by 
some valuable hints on the care and use of balances 
and weights for weighing precious stones. 

Tue July to December, 1912, number of Isis, the 
publication of the Dresden Society for Natural Know- 
ledge, contains a paper by Mr. H. Dember on the 
relationship between atmospheric electricity and wire- 
less telegraphy. The theory has been advanced that 
electric waves suffer reflection from an jonised layer 
in the upper atmosphere, and that the development 
of this layer by day causes the difference between day 
and night wireless phenomena discovered by Marconi. 
The author’s object was to secure direct evidence of 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


723 
such ionisation. As ultra-violet light is rapidly 
absorbed by the earth’s atmosphere, he pursued his 
inquiries in Switzerland, near Arolla, at considerable 
heights, the one 2000, the other 3400 metres, above 
sea-level. The ionising action of sunlight, it is 
argued, must increase equally the number of negative 
and of positive ions. The latter normally preponderate 
in number, thus sunlight must tend to increase the 
ratio borne by the number of negative to the number 
of positive ions. The free ionic charges in the atmo- 
sphere were observed in the usual way with Ebert’s 
apparatus, while the ultra-violet radiation was simul- 
taneously measured by a simple apparatus designed 
by the author. The results of the observations, which 
were made on five days in August and September, 
1911, are illustrated by figures, which show on the 
whole a parallelism between the variations of the 
ultra-violet radiation and the magnitude of the ratio 
of the ionic negative to the ionic positive charges. 
The author allows that the observed effect, even at 
3400 metres, was probably due in large part to a 
vertical current or convection of ions produced at 
greater heights in the atmosphere. The same paper 
describes some interesting observations on the absorp- 
tion of sunlight of various wave-lengths made in 
August, 1912, in the Italian Alps, with a new appa- 
ratus. The results are discussed in reference to Lord 
Rayleigh’s theory of atmospheric action. 

THE “Wratten and Wainwright Division” of 
Kodak, Limited, have just issued a fifty-page pamphlet 
on reproduction work with dry plates. They make out 
a very strong case for the use of panchromatic gelatine 
plates in direct screen negative making for three- 
colour work, claiming not only that gelatine is as 
good as collodion, but that it is much preferable, when 
the photographer has become accustomed to it. But 
the plate must have a fine grain, be very sensitive to 
red and green, and give great density and contrast, 
characteristics which are found in the Wratten process 
panchromatic plate, which is rendered colour sensitive 
by “bathing,” that is, immersion in the dye solution 
after the plate is coated. The pamphlet is intended 
for the guidance of the block-maker, and gives detailed 
suggestions with regard to each step in the process. 
We learn that the laws of geometrical projection are 
good and sufficient guides for regulating screen- 
distance, so that after the innumerable pages that have 
been written on this subject, the whole matter may, 
for practical purposes, be expressed in a line or two. 
The reason why greens are so difficult to reproduce is 
fully explained. A choice of six pairs of colour filters 
for two-colour work is given, and there are several 
other items of interest, even to those who regard such 
matters from a merely theoretical point of view. 

Mucu interest was aroused by the preparaticn in 
1g10 of an optically-active oxime of the formula 


Bx af Hig 
| HO.CO” \cH,—CH,” 

The preparation of this compound afforded the first 
concrete evidence that the three bonds of the nitrogen 
atom were not in a plane, and so provided a solid 


| foundation for the theory which Hantzsch and Werner 
had put forward in 1890 to account for the isomerism 


=N.OH 


724 


of certain oximes of the aromatic series. In the 
January issue of the Chemical Society’s Journal, Dr. 
W. H. Mills and Miss Bain describe an extension of 
these experiments, in which they have succeeded in 
isolating active salts of the semicarbazone, 
>C=N.NH-CO:.NH:, 
and benzoylphenylhydrazone, 
>C—N-_N(C,H,)-CO.C.H,, 
of the same ketone. The resolution of the former 
compound was effected by means of morphine, that of 
the latter by means of quinine. The rotatory powers 
were transient, but of large magnitude, [M], 30 to 40° 
for the semicarbazone, and as high as [M], 238° for 
the hydrazone. The experiments strongly support the 
hypothesis that ‘tthe three valencies of the doubly- 
linked nitrogen atom do not lie in one plane, but are 
directed along the three edges of a trihedral angle.” 


Tue control system of the Panama Canal locks is 
described in Engineering for February 20. The con- 
trol houses contain horizontal control boards—the 
board at Gatun is 64 ft. long—on which are arranged 
all the control handles and indicators, the board 
taking the form of a miniature representation of the 
locks. Indicators are provided showing the opening 
of the various valves, the height of water in the locks, 
&c. Small model leaves show each gate in plan, and 
working models of the chain fenders are also provided 
at the proper places. All the indicators and models 
follow and reproduce the conditions in the full-size 
lock exactly, except in certain cases, when an ‘“‘ open” 
or ‘‘closed”’ indication suffices. The form of indica- 
tion system adopted is of interest. Step movements 
such as are obtainable with ratchets, &c., were ruled 
out as inadequate, and an electrical system involving 
the use of 732 small indicator motors has been de- 
veloped. A complete synchronous indicator set con- 
sists of a transmitter, located at, and driven by, the 
operating machine, whether in the case of the sluice- 
valves or other gear, and a receiver and indicator 
worked thereby in the control house. 


Directors of education and others responsible for 
the erection and fitting of new science laboratories 
would do well to study the new, excellently illustrated 
catalogue entitled ‘‘ Laboratory Fittings and Furni- 
ture,” published by Messrs. Reynolds and Branson, 
Ltd., of Leeds. The plans and photographs of recent 
laboratories, for the fitting and equipment of which 
this firm has been responsible, which are included in 
the catalogue, will prove useful guides for persons 
planning new laboratories, and the other particulars 
will be found arranged in a manner which makes 
reference very easy. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES FOR MaArcH :— 


March 2. 11th. om. Saturn at quadrature to the 
Sun. 
3. 2th. 36m. Jupiter in conjunction with 


Uranus (Jupiter 0° 9! N.). 
4. 14h. 39m. Saturn in conjunction with the 
: Moon (Saturn 6° 47' S.). 
6. 14h. 44m. Mars in conjunction with the 
Moon (Mars 1° 49’ S.). 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 26, 1914 


7. 20h, 6m. Neptune in conjunction with the — 
Moon (Neptune 4° 35’ S.). “ft 
ro. 4h. om. Mercury in inferior conjunction 
with the Sun. » ; 
11. 16h. 13m. Moon eclipsed, partly visible at 
Greenwich. : 
20. 23h. 11m. Sun enters sign of Aries; 
spring commences. : 
21. igh. 58m. Uranus in conjunction with 
the Moon (Uranus 2° 32’ N.). © | 
», 20h. 39m. Jupiter in conjunction with the — 
Moon (Jupiter 2° 26’ N.). i 
22. 6h. om. Mars at greatest heliocentric 
latitude N. + (a 
» 13h. om, Mercury stationary. : 
24. 4h. 16m. Mercury in conjunction with the — 
Moon (Mercury 1° 8’ N.). ra 
27. gh. 55m. Venus in conjunction with the 
Moon (Venus 4° 16’ S.). 


A Fatnr CoMpPANION TO CAaAPELLA.—An_ interesting 
discovery has been made by Dr. R. Furuhjelm (Astro- 
nomische Nachrichten, No. 4715), who has found that — 
Capella, a spectroscopic double star, is accompanied _ 
by a faint companion (phot. mag. 10-6) at a very great — 
distance. The absolute positions of the stars, accord- — 
ing to the Helsingfors Catalogue plates are as fol- 
lows :— 


; a 1900’ 5 19900 Epoch 
Capella ee 5 9 18°09 +45 53 40° . 
The faint star 5 to 1°26 +45 44 23°9 1895°42 


The companion is distant from Capella by 12' 3-3", 
and the position angle is 141° 20’. The discovery was 
made by comparing the proper motions of the stars 
in the neighbourhood of Capella determined from 
photographs of the region taken at two different 
epochs at Helsingfors. Dr. Furuhjelm’s proper motion — 
for the faint star gave the values 0-422” in the direction 
170:9°, while the values for Capella as determined by 
Boss were 0-438" in the direction 168-7°. Other stars 
in the vicinity have no such physical relationship. 

Tue Soiar SystEM.—The following neat empirical 
formula connecting certain elements of the known 
planetary satellites is given by M. F. Ollive in a 
modest little note communicated to the French 
Academy of Sciences (Comptes rendus, vol. clvii., 
No. 26, p. 1501). Let R’ represent the mean distance 
of the satellite from the planet around which it gravi- 
tates, v’ its orbital velocity, R the mean distance of 
the planet from the sun, and r its mean radius, then, 
M. Ollive states, 7?=kRR’v’?. In c.g.s, units the 
constant k=4-313 x 107%. 

The data for the twenty-six known satellites in the 
solar system necessary for calculating the planetary 
radii are tabulated, together with the deduced ratio of — 
the radius of the planet to that of the earth compared — 
with the measured values. The formula gives the — 
radius of the earth with great accuracy, the ratio de- 
duced/measured being 1-o001, according to our caleula- — 
tion; for Mars also the deduced radii are almost iden-— 
tical inter se, and with the measured value. For 
Jupiter and Saturn, whilst the deduced values are — 
highly consistent among themselves, except that given — 
by Saturn’s ninth and most distant satellite, they are 
slightly in excess (approx..6 per cent. and 2 per cent. — 
respectively) of the measured radii. For Uranus and ~ 
Neptune the formula gives results roughly 50 per cent. 
and roo per cent. too high respectively. 


PERIODICITIES IN PROMINENCES AND SUN-SPOTS CoM- | 
PARED.—In this column in November last (vol. xcii., — 
No. 2297, p. 302) reference was made to Mr. T. — 
Royds’s investigation on prominence periodicities by 
the periodogram method. In a recent Kodaikanal » 
Observatory Bulletin (No. 34) he undertakes the task © 


FEBRUARY 26, 1914| 


of trying to find out whether the well-established sun- 
spot periodicities, other than that of eleven years, 
exists or not in prominences. He limits himself to 
periodicities up to eleven years in this communication, 
and studies them by the periodogram method as before. 
The data used are those published by the Italian 
observers, and deal with all prominences more than 
30” in height recorded since 1871. A brief summary 
of his conclusions is as follows. The prominence 
periodogram is very similar to that of spots tor the 
Same time interval. Between two years and eleven 
years there are no periodicities present in prominences 
which can be proved to be absent from sun-spots and 
vice versd. The eleven-year period is the predominant 
feature of the prominence periodogram, and _ its 
maxima occur about one year later than in sun-spots. 
The maxima of its first subperiod, 5-56 years, are not 
delayed in prominences. Periods between seven and 
eight years of considerable intensity in prominences 
have been shown to be present also in spots, but they 
are not permanently active. As regards shorter 
periods, that of thirteen months in prominences is not 
present in spots, and one of 8} months in spots is 
stated to disappear for a time and then reappear. In 
December last (NaTuRE, vol. xcii., No. 2301, p. 411) 
reference was made to Prof. A. A. Michelson’s deter- 
minations of sun-spot periodicities by the harmonic 
analyser, but he could not find any periodicity other 
than that of eleven years. 


THE TEACHING OF ANTHROPOLOGY 
AT THE UNIVERSITIES. 

A JOINT committee of the Royal Anthropological 
Institute and Section H of the British Associa- 

tion, of which Sir Richard Temple is chairman, has 
had under consideration the steps desirable to give 
Practical effect to the conclusions resulting from the 
discussion, which took place at the meeting of the 
British Association at Birmingham last September, on 
the practical application of anthropological teaching 
in universities. It will be remembered that it was 
held at Birmingham that increased facilities should be 
offered at our universities for training those who, in 
after life as officials, business men, missionaries, and 
the like, will be brought into close contact with the 
peoples of the Empire, whose civilisation is alien to 
Our own. After careful consideration, the joint com- 
mittee is of opinion that such facilities can best be 
offered by the collaboration of the Royal Anthropo- 
logical Institute, the British Association, and the uni- 
Versities, with the support and the cooperation of the 
Government, the Foreign Office, the India Office, the 
Colonial Office, and the Civil Service Commissioners, 
and that it would be well for the organisation to take 
the form of encouraging the existing schools of 
anthropology in the universities and the formation of 
such schools, where none exist, with their indispens- 
able adjuncts of laboratories, libraries, and museums. 
In furtherance of the scheme thus elaborated a con- 
ference was summoned by the joint committee at the 
Drapers’ Hall, by courtesy of the Master and Wardens 
of the Drapers’ Company, on Thursday, February 109, 
under the chairmanship of the Earl of Selborne, K.G. 
Letters supporting the proposals of the conference 
Were received from, among others, the Colonial Secre- 
tary, Lord Cromer, Sir Richard Martin, Sir Robert 
Blair, Sir George Grierson, Sir Joseph Larmor, M.P., 
Sir John Rhys, Sir Ernest Trevelyan, and the Right 
Honourable Ameer Ali. An encouraging feature was 


the presence of an official representative of the Colonial 
Office. 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


725 


. The following resolution was moved by Sir Henry 
Craik, M.P., seconded by Sir Everard im Thurn 
(Royal Geographical Society), and carried unani- 
mously :—‘ That this conference approves the findings 
and views of the joint committee, and is of the opinion 
that, in the highest interests of the Empire, it is neces- 
sary so to extend and complete the organisation of the 
teaching of anthropology at the universities of Great 
Britain, that those who are about to spend their lives 
in the East, or in parts of the Empire inhabited by 
non-European races, shall at the outset of their career 
possess or have the opportunity of acquiring a sound 
and accurate knowledge of the habits, customs, social 
and religious ideas and ideals of the Eastern and non- 
European races subject to his Majesty the King- 
Emperor.”’ 

A second resolution, moved by Sir Hercules Read 
(British Museum), and seconded by Dr. T. H. Warren 
(Oxford University), was as follows :—‘tThat this 
conference hereby authorises the chairman and mem- 
bers of the joint committee of the British Association 
for the Advancement of Science and the Royal Anthro- 
pological Institute, to represent to the Prime Minister, 
the Right Hon. Herbert Henry Asquith, K.C., M.P., 
the opinions of this conference as set forth in the pre- 
ceding resolution, and to move him to appoint an Inter- 
departmental Committee for the purpose of advising 
as to the form in which the sympathy and support of 
his Majesty’s Government can be best expressed.” 
The resolution was carried unanimously. 

All the speakers to the resolutions strongly endorsed 
the findings of the joint committee, and pointed out 
how seriously handicapped were young men in every 
walk of life, who went abroad without any anthropo- 
logical training, amongst alien peoples, and it was 
only by the painful process of committing mistakes 
that they were enabled to get an insight into the habits 
and customs of those with whom they came into daily 
contact. The Hon. J. G. Jenkins (London Chamber of 
Commerce) bore testimony to the wastage of millions 
of pounds sterling in trade owing to this fact, as the 
mistakes constantly made by the untrained men, who 
were sent out by commercial firms, were made at the 
expense of the firms; in the case also of the untrained 
missionary, he stated that during his first years abroad 
ground was lost and good influence retarded until he 
began to get a knowledge of the people, finally, from 
his own experience as a Minister in the Government 
of South Australia, he laid strong emphasis on the 
necessity for State aid in the anthropological training 
of the youth of the Empire. 

As Prof. Arthur Keith pointed out, the Royal 
Anthropological Institute has spent more than thirty 
years in collecting information, so that the knowledge 
is available, but it is the dissemination of this know- 
ledge that is necessary, and to achieve this object the 
institute had been trying for the last twenty years to 
induce the Imperial Government to help by means of 
financial support. 

Dr. J. G. Frazer (British Science Guild) mentioned 
that it was largely due to the lack of anthropological 
training that the recent outbreak occurred in Somali- 
land, and this is not the first occasion on which. loss 
of life and money has been attributed to the same 
cause. 

In the interests of the Empire it is earnestly to 
to be hoped that Dr. Warren will prove a true prophet 
and official support will be given in a matter of such 
vital importance, and that a scientific system of 
anthropological training will be the outcome of the 
conference, and thereby crown with success the labours 
of the joint committee and of its indefatigable secre- 
tary. 


726 


COLOUR VISION AMONG CRUSTACEA. 


\WHETHER the lower animals have colour-percep- 

tion is a question that has long been discussed 
without conclusive evidence being forthcoming. Paul 
Bert and the late Lord Avebury may be cited amongst 
those who claimed by their experiments proof of a 
colour-sense in Daphnia, whilst other investigators, 
among the most recent being C. Hess, conclude that 
what appear to us as colours are to these lower 
Crustacea only degrees of brightness; that, in fact, 
these animals are in the position of a colour-blind man, 
and choose what are to him and them the brightest 
part of the spectrum. 

A recent issue of the Biologisches Centralblatt 
(vol. xxxiii., No. 9, 1913) contains an interesting and 
careful piece of experimental evidence on the behaviour 


of Daphnia and of Artemia to white and to mono- ! 


chromatic light. By the aid of a specially devised 
mode of illumination (a 1co candle Osram lamp and 
fluid light-filters or coloured glass screens) Dr. von 
Fritsch and Herr Rupelwieser have been able to make 
a more critical test of the responses of these Crustacea 
than was possible to most of their predecessors in this 
line of research. Working with white light (whether 
vertically or horizontally) these authors find that 
Daphnia remains evenly distributed under the influence 
of a medium light-intensity, but that it moves away 
from the source of light if the brightness of this is 
raised, and towards the light if the intensity is 
lowered. In this respect the work of the authors 
merely confirms similar observations already published. 

If now a blue screen be interposed the Daphnia, in 
spite of the lowered intensity, move away from the 
light. On the other hand, if a yellow screen is used 
the Daphnia move towards the light, although its 
intensity is greater and is such as would ordinarily 
induce a negative reaction. On these and other 
grounds the authors conclude that Daphnia has a 
colour-sense and not merely a perception of varying 
degrees of light intensity. Red, yellow, and green 
rays attract Daphnia; blue-green, blue and violet rays 
repel Daphnia. } ; 

The whole question has been dealt with more fully 
by the late Lord Avebury in his ‘Senses of Animals” 
(International Science Series, vol. Ixv., 1889) than the 
German authors give that distinguished naturalist 
credit for, and indeed they refer only to his earlier 
paper (1881). Both the German and the English 
authors arrive at similar conclusions, though Lord 
Avebury used a method of choice which was not 
employed by these most recent workers. 

One further point of interest is the varying degrees 
of response given by strains of the same species and 
of different species of Daphnia. For example, in test- 
ing the effects of coloured light upon the eye, a very 
definite response was at first found to occur in red 
light, and quite another in blue light; but when the 
observers tried to repeat this effect on another batch 
of Daphnia, they were unsuccessful in obtaining a 
strain which responded so well as the first, until after 
six months’ trials. Daphnia magna was found to 
give more consistent results than the common Daphnia 
pulex. RB. WG. 


ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 


T the conclusion of a note on the food and feeding 
habits of the pheasant, published in the Journal of 

the Land Agents’ Society for December, 1913, Mr. W. E. 
Collinge states that the greater portion of the food of 
these birds consists of injurious insects and the seeds 
of weeds, the statement being based on the examina- 
tion of the contents of the crops and stomachs of no 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92] 


NATURE. 


[FEBRUARY 26, 1914 


fewer than 183 birds. Pheasants daily wander over 
large areas of land in search of food, and—altogether — 
apart from their value as game*merit protection on the 
part of all persons interested in agriculture. Although 
they -occasionally snip the leaves of root crops, 
especially in very dry weather, most of the damage 
of this nature laid to their charge is really caused by 
wood-pigeons. Q ? 

The difficult question as to whether * willow-tits,” 
as typified by Parus borealis, are really entitled to 
specific. distinction from ‘‘marsh-tits”’ (P. palustris), 
is discussed by Mr. Collingwood Ingram in The 
Zoologist for November, 1913, in connection with 
their respective French representatives. Provision- 
ally, the author considers it expedient to recog- 
nise this distinction, the marsh-tits being characterised 
by the steely-blue sheen on the crown, whereas in 
the willow-tits this is replaced by dull brownish or 
sooty black. 

The list of casual visitors to the British Isles has 
been augmented by the capture on October 3, 1913, 
of a specimen of the dusky warbler (Phylloscopus 
fuscatus) on Auskerry, in the Orkneys. The capture 
was recorded by Mr. Eagle Clarke in the Scottish 
Naturalist for the same year (pp. 271-3), and is more 
fully noticed in British Birds for January, 1914 
(pp. 220-3). The species breeds in eastern Siberia, and 
visits southern China, northern India, Burma, &c., in 
winter. 

In British Birds for December last Mr. G. R. Hum- 
phreys records the breeding of the rosy tern, Sterna 
dougalli, during the past summer in Ireland, where 
these birds have hitherto been supposed to be ex- 
tremely rare. In the breeding-place referred to by the 
author they were, however, met with in comparatively 
large numbers. The identification of the species is 
based on the examination of the parent birds with 
field-glasses, and on the colouring of the nestlings— 
notably of the legs—which is stated to be very 
markedly distinct from that of other terns at the 
same age. 

Further particulars with regard to the number of 
birds “ringed” during the past season in this country 
and records of their recapture are given by Mr. H. F. 
Witherby in the above-mentioned issue of British 
Birds. \ The total number is 14,843, against 11,483 
in 1912, and 2171 in 1909. The present percentage of 
recaptures (Mr. Witherby uses the word ‘recoveries,’ 
which suggests a meaning different from the one in- 
tended) is 3-3 per cent., on a total of more than 30,000; 
but as many of such recaptured birds afford no data 
of any importance, the percentage yielding informa- 
tion of scientific value falls short of three. 

To vol. xxxv. (pp. 209-23) of Notes from the Leyden 
Museum, Dr. E. D. van Oort communicates further 
particulars with regard to the recapture of birds ringed 
in Holland. Perhaps the most interesting items relate 
to a couple of spoonbills, one of which was shot in th 
Azores and the other in Portugal. 4 

The bird-life of the coast in the neighbourhood of 
Bergen forms the subject of an article, illustrated by 
very interesting photographs of nests and nesting- 
sites, by Mr. O. J. Lie-Pettersen, in the November 
number of Naturen. ’ 

Bird-Lore for November and December, 1913, is a 
highly attractive issue of an ever-popular journal, 
the two coloured plates of well-known American birds 
being well worth the price of the whole part. An 
editorial article alludes to the striking advances which 
have been made in the protection of American birds 
during the past year, while other articles mention th 
work done by the various Audabon societies, these 
being supplemented by the reports of local agents. — 

A remarkable difference in the plumage of male 


FEBRUARY 26, 1914] 


hybrids between the common pheasant and Reeves’s 
pheasant, according as to whether the first or second 
species was the male parent, and vice versd, is re- 
corded by Mr. J. C. Phillips, in The American 
Naturalist for November, 1913. So different, indeed, 
are these two types of hybrids, that they might well be 
regarded as distinct species. In the cross with the 
Reeves as male parent that species impressed its char- 
acters much more strongly on the hybrids than was 
the case with. the opposite cross: As-the- progeny of 
such a cross are generally sterile, the crossing could 
not be further continued. 

The biological survey division of the U.S. De 
partment of Agriculture has issued, as Bulletin 
No. 43, a useful list of literature relating to the food 
of birds published by the members of the survey 
between the years 1885 and 1g11. Also, as Circulars 
Nos. 92 and 93, proposed regulations for the protection 
of migratory birds, with a popular explanation of 
their scope and probable effect. The scheme includes 
uniformity in protection of migratory game and in- 
sectivorous birds in the several States; protection of 
birds in spring, while en route to their nesting 
_ grounds and while mating; uniformity in protection 
of migratory birds at night; establishment of pro- 
_ tected migration routes along three great rivers in the 
central United States; complete protection for five 
years for the smaller shore-birds and species which 
have been greatly reduced in numbers; and reduction 
of the open season on migratory game-birds, to the 
extent, in most cases, of not more than from 25 to 50 
per cent. 

In Nos. 2 and 3 (issued together) of the Austral 
Avian Record, Mr. G. M. Mathews proposes no fewer 
than twenty-one new generic names for Australasian 
birds, in addition to certain others to replace in- 
admissible ones. In this “splitting” are included the 
genera Sula, hitherto taken to comprise all the 
gannets, and Phzthon, the accepted term for all the 
tropic-birds. Other species and races are named in 
No. 4 of the same volume. 

Under the somewhat too generalised title of “ Notes 
upon Some Rare New Zealand Birds,”’ Mr. Syming- 
ton Grieve communicates to vol. xix., No. 4, of the 
Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society of Edin- 
burgh, an important article on the history, habits, 
distribution, and distinctive characters of the various 
species of Apteryx. Most of these birds are now very 
Scarce, and it is believed that A. haasti has either 
been already exterminated, or is on the verge of 
extinction. The author alludes to all the species 
under the name of “kiwi,” but, we believe, the 
Maoris restrict that title to certain species, designat- 
ing the others ‘“rowa.” 

To the number of The Emu for October, 1913,,Mr. 
A. J. Campbell communicates an account, illustrated by 
three beautifully coloured plates, of an unrivalled col- 
lection of Australian birds’-eggs, brought together 
by Mr. H. L. White, of Beltrees, near the upper part 
of the Hunter River. Out of a total of between 800 
and goo species and subspecies recognised in the 
*“ Official Check-list of the Birds of Australia,” Mr. 
White possesses the eggs of no fewer than 800, thus 
lacking only about 8 per cent. of the whole. It may 
be added that the Beltrees Estate, comprising about 
200,000 acres, is a close sanctuary for birds, where 
many species are increasing in number. 

In a paper on fossil feathers, published in No. 7 of 
vol. xxi. of The Journal of Geology, Dr. R. W. 
Shufeldt states that several specimens described as 
such have subsequently proved to be ferns. The 
authors figure a number of specimens or more or less 
well-marked impressions of feathers, from those of 
Archeopteryx upwards. ee 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


727 


THE INDIAN MUSEUM 


CONGRESS. 


ALCUTTA was the scene last month of a cele- 
bration of considerable importance to all who are 
interested in the progress of science in the East. The 
trustees of the Indian Museum resolved to com- 
memorate in a fitting manner the centenary of the 
premier museum in Asia, and a short account of its 
proceedings will no doubt be of interest to those who 
were not privileged to take part in them. 

The celebrations happily coincided in time with the 
first Indian Science Congress, the meetings of which 
were appropriately held in the rooms of the Asiatic 
Society on January 15-17. 

At the opening meeting of the congress, the Hon. 
Justice Sir Asutosh Mukerji presided. Sir A. Mukerji, 
in his opening address, said that more than two years 
ago Prof. MacMahon, of Canning College, Lucknow, 
and Prof. Simonsen, of the Presidency College, 
Madras, brought forward a proposal for the founda- 
tion of an Indian Association for the Advancement of 
Science. The object and scope of the proposed insti- 
tution were stated to be similar to those of the British 
Association, namely, to give a stronger impulse and 
a more systematic direction to scientific inquiry, to 
promote the intercourse of societies and individuals 
interested in science in different parts of the country, 
to obtain a more general attention to the objects of 
pure and applied science, and the removal of any 
disadvantages of a public kind which may impede its 
progress. The proposal was widely circulated, and 
met with a favourable reception. It was felt by many 
men of experience that the pressure of heavy official 
duties, the climatic conditions which prevail in the 
country, and the long distances which have to be 
traversed, constitute practical difficulties in the imme- 
diate formation of a peripatetic association designed 
to meet periodically in turn in all the different centres 
of scientific activity. The call to scientific workers 
met with a generous response, as was amply indicated 
by the presence at the congress of many notable in- 
vestigators from all parts of the Indian Empire. 

The reading of papers commenced at the conclusion 
of the address, and in the course of the congress a 
number of important communications were made in 
various departments of science. The chairmen of the 
various sections were :—Chemistry, Prof. P. S. Mac- 
Mahon; Physics, Prof. V. H. Jackson; Zoology, Dr. 
J. R. Henderson; Geology, Dr. H. H. Hayden; 
Botany, Mr. C. C. Calder; Ethnography, Mr. L. K. 
Anantha Krishna Iyer. Mr. D. Hooper, of the 
Indian Museum, was honorary secretary and treasurer 
of the congress. 

The centenary celebrations of the Indian Museum 
commenced on the afternoon of January 15, by a 
reception of delegates at the rooms of the Asiatic 
Society. His Excellency Lord Carmichael, Governor 
of Bengal, who took a keen interest both in the 
museum celebrations and in the congress, was present 
as chairman of the centenary committee, and took the 
chief part in receiving the delegates. 

The Indian Museum owes its inception to the Asiatic 
Society of Bengal, which was founded by Sir William 
Jones in 1784. Donations of various kinds having 
gradually accumulated in the society’s premises, Dr. 
N. Wallich, the Danish botanist of Serampore, wrote, 
on February 2, 1814, a letter to the society strongly 
advocating the formation of a museum. This proposal 
was forthwith accepted. The scope of the museum 
was defined in the widest terms, and contributions 
throwing light on the history or science of the East 
were solicited. The museum thus inaugurated made 
rapid progress, and the specimens brought  to- 


AND SCIENCE 


728 


yether were housed until 1875 in the rooms still 
occupied by the Asiatic Society of Bengal. In 1875 
the collections were transferred by the society to the 
fine building which had been erected for their recep- 
tion on Chowringhee, the main thoroughfare of Cal- 
cutta. Since then, through the labours of distin- 
guished superintendents, viz., Dr. John Anderson, Mr. 
J. Wood-Mason, Lieut.-Col. A. Alcock, and Dr. N. 
Annandale, progress has been rapid and continuous. 
Considerable extensions to the original building have 
been found necessary, and, thanks to the unrivalled 
Oriental collections and to a very complete library, the 
museum is not only a great educational institution, 
but also an important centre for research, especially 
in zoology and geology. 

The celebrations terminated in a very successful 
conversazione held in the Indian Museum on January 
17. The company present included their Excellencies 
Lord and Lady Carmichael, and a representative selec- 
tion of the European and. Indian communities of Cal- 
cutta, as well as the delegates and the members of 
the Science Congress. An extremely interesting series 
of exhibits had been arranged by the officers of the 
museum, comprising archeological, art, botanical, 
ethnological, geological, and zoological specimens, and 
brief reference may be made to some of the more 
important of these. 

Prominent among the archeological exhibits was 
one to illustrate the evolution of the Buddha image, 
commencing with the Gandhara or Indo-Greek school, 
and continuing with the later types from Mathura, 
Amarawati, Sarnath, Bengal,\Tibet, and! Further India, 
The botany and ethnology of the Abor country, visited 
by a punitive expedition in 1911-12, were illustrated 
by specimens exhibited by Messrs. Hooper, Kemp, and 
Coggin Brown. The geological series lent by the 
Geological Survey of India ¢tomprised characteristic 
Indian fossils exhibited by Dr. G. E. Pilgrim. 

The zoological exhibits, which were very numerous, 
attracted a large share of attention. Prominent among 
them was a series of deep-sea animals dredged by the 
R.I.M.S. Investigator, exhibited by Major Lloyd and 
Captains Seymour Sewell and T. L. Bomford, and 
comprising fish, crustacea, mollusca, echinoderms, and 
corals. Remarkable fresh-water invertebrates recently 
discovered in India were exhibited by Dr. Annandale 
and Messrs. Kemp, Gravely, and Agharkar, and in- 
cluded the very interesting medusa (Limnocnida 
indica), discovered three years ago in the upper waters 
of the River Kistna in the Western Ghats. Recently 
discovered Indian fresh-water fishes and specimens of 
the fresh-water sting-rays of the Ganges were shown 
by Dr. Chaudhuri. Dr. Annandale exhibited a series 
of specimens to illustrate a paper which he read before 
the Science Congress on convergence in aquatic 
animals. Convergence in skeletal structure was 
shown between different fresh-water sponges, and in 
the special form of spicules in different families of 
sponges, while the same phenomenon was also illus- 
trated in the degeneracy of calcareous plates in the 
stalked barnacles, in the form of shell between the 
marine oysters and the fresh-water family Aetheriidz, 
in degeneration of the eyes in the Indian electric rays, 
in the independent evolution of pigmentation of the 
ventral surface in different deep-sea rays, in general 
form between certain carp of the Himalayas and Tibet 
and the Salmonidz, and in the independent evolution 
of adhesive suckers in different tadpoles and fishes 
inhabiting rapid-running streams. Mr. Kemp exhi- 
bited zoological specimens from the Abor country, the 
expedition to which he accompanied in the capacity of 
naturalist, among them being the Peripatus (Typhlo- 
peripatus williamsoni), which he discovered, the first 
representative of the group to be met with north of 
the Isthmus of Kra in the Malay Peninsula. A small 


NO, 2313, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


[FEBRUARY 26, 1914 


but interesting collection of type-specimens of Asiatic. 
squirrels containing the type of Funambulus layardi, 
Blyth, mounted in the Asiatic Society’s Museum 
seventy years ago, was exhibited to prove that it is, 
possible to preserve mammal skins in Calcutta for an 
indefinite period, if proper precautions are taken. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. i 

BirMINGHAM.—The trustees of the John Feeney be- 
quest have granted to the University the sum of 1oool. 
in aid of research and instruction in wireless tele- 
graphy. The money is to be applied to the erection 
of a wireless telegraphic installation on the Univer- 
sity buildings at Edgbaston. 

CampripcGe.—Dr. Hobson, Sadleirian professor of 
pure mathematics, has been nominated to represent 
the University on the occasion of the celebration on 
June 29-30 and July 1 of the three hundredth anni- 
versary of the foundation of the University of Gron- 
ingen. ‘ 

The Vice-Chancellor announces that Mrs. A. M. 
Babington has expressed the wish to defray the cost 
of the gallery which is being built to house the exhibit 
of local antiquities. This gallery, which will be 
known as the ‘ Babington Gallery,” is being erected 
to the memory of the donor’s husband, Prof. Babing- 
ton, of St. John’s College, and professor of botany 
in the University. It was Prof. Babington who, in 
the early forties of last century, initiated the Cam- 
bridge Antiquarian Museum, which forty years after- 
wards ceded to the University. The extent of Mrs. 
Babington’s benefaction will amount to 1550l. ¢ 

The University Buildings Syndicate has had under 
consideration the question of providing a central elec- 
tric power station to supply the numerous science and 
other buildings on either side of Downing Street. 
the present moment there is an assortment of engines 
supplying these various laboratories, but the system 
has many inconveniences, and is costly and extrava- 
gant. 
pend a sum not exceeding g3oool. in providing a power. 
station in connection with the engineering laboratory, 
and also to enter into a contract with the Cambridge 
Electric Supply Company for the supply of electricity 
for a period of ten years. , 

The next combined examination for fifty-three 
entrance scholarships and a large number of exhibi- 
tions, at Pembroke, Gonville and Caius, Jesus, 
Christ’s, St. John’s, and Emmanuel Colleges, will be 
held on Tuesday, December 1, 1914, and following, 
days. Mathematics, classics, natural sciences, and 
history will be the subjects of examination at all the 
above-mentioned colleges. 
candidates who intend to study mechanical science to 
compete for scholarships and exhibitions by taking the 
papers set in mathematics and natural sciences. 
Forms of application for admission to the examina- 
tion at the respective colleges may be obtained from 
the masters of the several colleges, from any of whom 
further information respecting the scholarships and 
exhibitions and other matters connected with the col- 
leges may be obtained, 


Mr. S. Hey, secretary to the Education Committe 
of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, has been appointed director 
of education for Manchester in succession to the lat 
Mr. C. H. Wyatt. ; 

It is announced in Science of February 13 that 
Bowdoin College has received a bequest of 100,0001. 
for the general fund of the college from the estate of 
the late Mr. Edwin B. Smith, former assistan 
attorney-general of the United States, who died in 
New York on January 5. It is stated in the sam 
issue of our contemporary that, through the will of th 


At 


The syndicate wishes to be authorised to ex-— 


Most of the colleges allow 


_— 


Fesruary 26, 1914] 


late Mrs. Elizabeth Mattox, of Terre Haute, the sum 
of goool. will be added to the general endowment of 
De Pauw University; and that Mrs. W. P. Herrick, 
widow of the late Mr. W. P. Herrick, has given to 
the University of Coiwrado icooi., te be used as an 
aid fund for worthy stuaents. 


A Bit was read a second time in the House of 
Commons on February 20 to amend the law in respect 
of the employment of children and their attendance 
at school. The principal changes in the law proposed 
are the grant of optional powers to local education 
authorities to extend the age of leaving school from 
fourteen years to fifteen; no exception from school 
attendance to be allowed for children under thirteen 
years; the abolition of the existing half-time system; 
the grant to local education authorities of power to 
require attendance at continuation classes; and the 
prohibition of street trading by boys under fifteen and 
girls under eighteen. The subject of the continuation- 
school system was referred to by Lord Haldane in 
replying to the toast of ‘* His Majesty’s Ministers,” at 
the dinner of the City of London Solicitor’s Company 
on the same date. He said the old days of appren- 
ticeship which did so much for us have long since 
gone by. Continental nations, and in a less degree 
the United States, are substituting for apprenticeship 
a very formidable thing—training in the trade con- 
tinuation schools. A British workman finishes his 
_ education at thirteen. In many parts of the Con- 
tinent that training is now going on until sixteen, 
seventeen, and eighteen; and not a training merely in 
general education, but in the chief point of the calling 
which the workman is going to exercise in the future. 
We shall have to face this in six or seven years from 
now. The London County Council is awake to the 
national peril, and that is true of other great cities 
in the United Kingdom. Lord Haldane is a firm be- 
liever in our capacity to keep our lead, but only if 
we think ahead and act ahead. We cannot afford to 
be inattentive to these things, and be slack as to the 
consequences. A national awakening will come, and 
it is our duty to see that it does not come too late. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


Lonpon. 

Royal Society, February 19.—Sir William Crookes, 
president, in the chair.—Prof. G. Elliot Smith: The 
brain of primitive man, with special reference to the 
cranial cast and skull of Eoanthropus (‘the Piltdown 
man”). The small brain of Eoanthropus, though 

definitely human in its characters, represents a more 

primitive and generalised type than that of the genus 

Homo. Nevertheless, it can be regarded as a very 

close approximation to the kind of brain possessed by 

the earliest representatives of the real Homo, 
and as the type from which the brains of the 
different primitive kinds of men—Mousterian, Tas- 
manian (and Australian), Bushman, negro, &c., no 
less than those of the other modern human races have 
_ been derived, as the result of more or less well-defined 
specialisations in varying directions. From the 
features of its brain Pithecanthropus must be included 
in the family Hominidz, but it and Eoanthropus can 
_ be looked upon as divergent specialisations of the 
original genus of the family. Pithecanthropus 
represents the unprogressive branch which — sur- 
_-vived into Pleistocene times before it became 
extinct; Eoanthropus the progressive phylum 
from which the genus Homo was_ derived. 
Special attention is devoted to the study of the tem- 
poral region of the brain, which in all of these fossil 
men (not excluding Pithecanthropus) reveals features 
of great morphological interest. The opinion is ex- 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


729 


pressed that the increased size of the brain (as a 
whole) which is distinctive of the Hominide, among 
the Primates, is ultimately related to the acquisition 
of the power of articulate speech, and that the very 
earliest representatives of the family must have 
possessed in some slight degree the definite faculty 
of intercommunication one with another by means of 
vocal sounds. The development of asymmetry of the 
brain was necessarily incidental to the acquisition of 
human characteristics, and must have been already 
present in the original Hominidze.—Prof. A. J. Ewart: 
Oxidases.—Dr. J. W. W. Stephens: A new malarial 
parasite of man. The blood-slide in which this para- 
site occurred came from Pachmari, Central Provinces, 
India. The peculiarities of the parasite are :—(1) It is 
extremely amoeboid. Thin processes extend across the 
cell or occur as long tails to more or less ring-shaped 
bodies. These processes may be several in number, 
giving the parasite fantastic shapes. (2) The cyto- 
plasm is always scanty; the amoeboid processes are 
delicate; the parasite has but little bulk. (3) The 
nuclear chromatin is out of proportion to the bulk of 
the parasite. It takes the form of bars, rods, strands, 
curves, forks, patches, &c. Abundance of and marked 
irregularity in the distribution of the chromatin masses 
are characteristic of this parasite. It differs from the 
hitherto described parasites of malaria. The author 
proposes to call the parasite Plasmodium tenue.— 
S. B. Schryver : Investigations dealing with the pheno- 
mena of ‘‘clot’’ formations. Part ii., The formation 
of a gel from cholate solutions having many properties 
analogous to those of cell membranes.—Dorothy J. 
Lloyd: The influence of the position of the cut upon 
regeneration in Gunda ulvae. In 1889, Hallez pub- 
lished a paper in which he stated that the difference in 
the regeneration of Triclads and Polyclads lay in the 
fact that the former could regenerate a head from the 
oral surface of a cut made at any level, while the latter 
could only do so if the regenerating fragment con- 
tained the cerebral ganglia. Experiments made with 
G. ulvae, a marine Triclad occurring in large num- 
bers at Plymouth, show that this generalisation is not 
justifiable. G. ulvae is found to differ from most Tri- 
clads and to correspond to Polyclads in its mode of 
regeneration. 


Geological Society, February 4.—Dr. Aubrey Strahan, 
president, in the chair.—C, T. Trechmann: The litho- 
logy and composition of Durham Magnesian Lime- 
stones. The formation maintains a highly dolomitic 
character, with important exceptions. Those portions 
which show a calcareous composition may be regarded 
as the result of one of three main causes :—(1) Original 
conditions of sedimentation, during which dolomitic 
deposition was arrested temporarily; (2) escape from 
secondary dolomitisation; (3) calcareous segregation. 
Evidence is brought forward in favour of the view of 
direct sedimentation of dolomite from the waters of 
the Permian sea. The question of the secondary dolo- 
mitisation of the Shell-Limestone reef is discussed. 
The dedolomitisation of the formation is due to the 
mechanical washing-away of powdery dolomitic mate- 
rial through the interstices of the rock. No evidence 
of any leaching-out of magnesium carbonate from the 
rock was found. The nature and distribution of the 
true cellular rock is discussed, and modes of origin are 
suggested. A summary of the general conditions of 
deposition of the Durham Permian, from the Marl 
Slate upwards to the Salt Measures, is given.—H. 
Bolton: The occurrence of a giant dragon-fly in the 
Radstock Coal Measures. The structure of a wing- 
fragment found upon the Tyning waste-heap at Rad- 
stock Colliery (Somerset), is described. The fragment 
consists of the proximal third of a left fore-wing. It 
is 64 mm. long and 40 mm. broad, the complete wing 


eo) 


having an estimated length of 190 mm., or 7:5 in.; 
the whole insect (with wings extended) must have 
had a span of more than 400 mm., or 16 in. The 
anterior wing-margin is tuberculated proximally, and 
more distally bears a closely set series of pointed 
spines directed outwards towards the wing-apex. The 
hinder wing-margin is also spinous, the spines possibly 
serving to interlock the fore and hind wings during 
flight. The characters of the costa and subcosta on 
the anterior portion of the wing, and of the cubital 
and anal veins on the hinder part, show the relation- 
ship of the insect to the family Meganeuride. The 
wing is referred to the genus Meganeura as a new 
species. 
EDINBURGH. 

Royal Society, January 19.—Prof. Geikie, president, 
in the chair.—Prof. R. J. A. Berry and Dr. A. W. D. 
Robertson; The place in nature of the Tasmanian 

-aboriginal as deduced from a study of his. calvaria. 
Part ii., His relation to the Australian aboriginal. 
Among the main conclusions of this prolonged study 
of more than a hundred skulls may be mentioned the 
following. The Australians and Tasmanians are the 
descendants of a common Late Pliocene or Early 
Quaternary stock, which may be called, with Sergi, 
Homo tasmanianus; the Tasmanian aboriginal was 
the almost unchanged offspring of this type, but the 
Australian aboriginal is a cross between the primitive 
Homo tasmanianus and some other unknown race, 
and is therefore a hybrid; both races have evolved on 
their own lines, and in their own way; both have 
attained morphologically to a higher stage in the 
evolutionary scale than is usually supposed; neither 
have any direct relationship with Homo primigenius 
as represented by the crania of the Spy-Neanderthal 
men; the range of variability is, in the Australian, as 
great as in any other impure race; but in the Tas- 
manian it is as small as in any other known or sup- 
posed pure race.—L. W. G. Buchner: A study of the 
curvatures of the Tasmanian aboriginal cranium. This 
detailed craniometrical investigation led to the same 
conclusion come to by the authors of the previous 
paper on quite other grounds, namely, that the range 
of variation is so small as to warrant the belief that 
the Tasmanian is a pure race.—E. M. Anderson: The 
path of a ray of light in a rotating homogeneous and 
isotropic solid. By an interesting geometrical demon- 
stration the paths are shown to be circles for rays travel- 
ling in planes at right angles to the axis of rotation.— 
T. J. Evans: The anatomy of a new species of Bathy- 
doris and the affinities of the genus (Scottish National 
Antarctic Expedition). This species, dredged in 1410 
fathoms off Coats Land, differs from the five known 
species in having only two gills, which are inter- 
mediate in condition between a typical Dorid rosette 
of plumes and a Tectibranch gill.—Prof. Carlgren : 
The genus Porponia and related genera (Scottish 
National Antarctic Expedition). The detailed exam- 
ination of the many specimens which were dredged 
off Coats Land in a depth of 1410 fathoms showed that 
Porponia belongs to an elementary group of Actinians, 
or even to the Protactiniz, but is in no way closely 
related to the Zoanthidz, as Hertwig suggested in his 
Challenger report. With Porponia in the familv Endo- 
ceelactida, Prof. Carlgren associates Halcurias and 
the new genus Synhalcurias, created for the species 
Ilyanthopsis longifilis. 


Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, February 9.—M. P. Appell in 
the chair.—P. Appell and J. Kampé de Fériet: The 
convergence of series proceeding according to Hermite 
polynomials or more general polynomials.—Fred 
Wallerant ; The crystallographic properties of dichloro- 
benzene.—Gaston Bonnier and Jean Friedel : Anatomical 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92| 


NATURE 


* the 


[FEBRUARY 26, I914 


remarks on some types of carpophores.—O,. Lehmann ; 
A sudden change in the form of liquid crystals, caused 
by a molecular transformation.—Jean Boccardi; The 
diurnal variations of latitude.—A. Véronnet; The sun | 
and its heat. Its contraction and its duration.—Ch.” 
Gravier ; Simplification of the method of obtaining 
a photographic negative-—Eugéne Darmois and 
Maurice Leblanc, jun. : The working of the alternating 
arc in mercury vapour. An extension of the results 
published in an earlier paper. The current consump- 
tion is satisfactory, but the power factor is low. The 
present paper deals with the influence on the power 
factor of variations in the current dimensions, of free 
surface of the electrodes, length of are, pressure of 
mercury vapour, and shape of the tube.—MM. Hanriot 
and Lahure: Increasing and decreasing hardening of 
metals.—R. Marcelin : The influence of temperature on 
the velocities of transformation of physico-chemical 
systems.—G. Vavon: The reaction velocity of catalytic 
hydrogenation in presence of platinum black. The 
velocity of fixation of hydrogen by limonene in pre- 
sence of platinum black depends upon the quantity 
of platinum present and also upon its condition. The 
latter can be modified by heating the metal to various 
temperatures.—Léon Guillet: New researches on the 
transformation points and the structure of nickel- 
chrome steels. The first series of alloys studied con- 
tained about o-2 per cent. carbon, 2 per cent. nickel, 
and chromium varying from 0-06 per cent. to 10:2 per 
cent. The second series contained 4 per cent. nickel, 
chromium varying from o to 13-9 per cent. Details are 
given of the transformation temperatures, microscopic 
structure, resilience, and hardness for sixteen alloys.— 
Paul Pascal and A, Jouniaux: The density of some 
metals in the liquid state. The densities of fused tin, 
lead, zinc, antimony, aluminium, and copper were 
taken at temperatures between their melting points 
and 1300° C. by means of a loaded fused quartz bulb. 
Formule are given for the expansion of these six 
metals in the fused state. The curve of specific 
volumes of tin shows a marked inflection at 620° C.— 
Alberto Betim Paes Leme: The zeolites of the river 
Peixe, Brazil.—Jean Daniel: The descendants of beans 
which have presented a case of xenia (influence of 
the embryo on the teguments of the seed).—Jakob 
Eriksson and Carl Hammarlund ; Attempts to immunise 
the hollyhock against the disease of mildew (Puccinia 
malvacearum). The introduction of a _ fungicide 
(copper sulphate) into the soil arrests or reduces the 
vitality of the fungus living in the latent state in the 
interior of the plant.—P. Choux ; The genus Tanulepis 
at Madagascar.—Jules Amar: Fatigue cardiograms.— 
A. Javal: The variations of the electrical conductivity 
of the fluids of the organism. The variations in the 
electrical conductivity of blood serum, pleural liquid, 
cephalo-rachidian fluid, and other fluids from the body 
are in close relation with the amount of chlorides 
present.—Louis Joubin: Two cases of incubation in 
Antarctic Nemertians.—Jacques Pellegrin: The fresh- 
water Atherinideze of Madagascar.—Edouard Chatton : 
Autogenesis of the nematocysts in Polykrikes.—MM. 
Azéma and Jamot:; The geology of Ouadaii—De Mon- 
tessus de Ballore ; The distribution of earthquakes on 
the globe. 

February 16.—M. P. Appell in the chair,—E. 
Jungfleisch and Ph. Landrieu: Researches on the acid 
salts of the dibasic acids. The dextrorotatory cam- 
phorates. Various metallic d-camphorates. From a 
study of the d-camphorates of sodium, lithium, 
ammonium, barium, strontium, calcium, manganese, 
cobalt, and piperidine, the conclusions are drawn that 
the neutral camphorates are very stable in presence of 
water and do not undergo dissociation; the acid cam- 
phorates in presence of water give the free acid and 
dimetallic camphorate.—A. Laveran and G. 


_ FEsruary 26, 1914] 


Franchini: The natural infection of the rat and mouse 
_by Herpetomonas pattoni by means of parasitic rat 
fleas. The experiments carried out under natural con- 
ditions of attack by the rat fleas are favourable to 
the view that the trypanosomes of vertebrates and 
Leishmania have the flagella of invertebrates for their 
_origin.—André Blondel : The influence of the mounting 
of triphase transformers on the transport of energy at 
high voltages. A discussion of the best way of pro- 
tection of the system against third harmonics.—V. 
Grignard and E. Bellet : The constitution of liquid and 
gaseous cyanogen chlorides. A study of the reactions 
of the gaseous and liquid cyanogen chlorides with 
various organo-magnesium halides suggests that the 
gaseous chloride probably possesses the carbamine 
constitution, C=N.Cl, the liquid chloride the nitrile 
constitution Cl-C=N.—Ed. Imbeaux: A new system 
of electrical funicular haulage of boats.—Serge 
Bernstein: The best approximation of analytical func- 
tions possessing complex singularities:—Harris Han- 
cock : The generalised Eulerian function.—J. Andrade : 
Study of new methods of compensation of chrono- 
meters and some thermal adjustments. Three dis- 
tinct methods of adjustment are described.—P. Dosne : 
The registration of radio-telegrams by means of Poul- 
sen’s telegraphone. The apparatus comprises an 
ordinary wireless receiver with a crystal detector and 
telephone, a microphone, and a Poulsen telegraphone. 
—Ch, Leenhardt and A. Boutaric: The heat of fusion 
of hydrated salts and hydrates in general. As a first 
approximation the heat of fusion of a hydrate is equal 
to the heat of fusion of the water it’ contains.—G. 
Reboul: The selective action of metals in the photo- 
electric effect. The experiment consisted in measur- 
ing the negative emissions produced by the total radia- 
tion of a source of ultra-violet light falling on plates 
of different metals, and also measuring the emissions 
when the light had passed through a thin film of 
silver. For eight metals out of ten, the results are in 
qualitative agreement with the values calculated from 
Lindemann’s formula. Aluminium and zinc are ex- 
ceptional in their behaviour under these conditions. 
Georges Claude: The influence of the diameter on the 
difference of potential at the electrodes of neon tubes. 
Observation relating to the aurora borealis. For tubes 
varying from 5-6 to 67 mm. in diameter, the fall of 
potential in volts per metre of tube is inversely propor- 
tional to the diameter. For the 67 mm. tube, the drop 
in volts is less than corresponds to its diameter, and 
the author suggests that in very wide tubes the fall 
of potential becomes very small. This has a bearing 
on the phenomenon of the aurora, in which the dis. 
charges are of enormous sectional area.—C, Cloarec : 
The spontaneous alteration of liquid surfaces.—M. 
Swyngedauw: The resonance of the third harmonics 
in triphase current alternatives.—André Kling and A. 
Lassieur : The physico-chemical estimation of sulphates. 
The conductivity method proposed by Dutoit for the 
estimation’ of sulphates is shown to be inexact.—E. 
Tassilly : The velocity of diazotation of some amines. 
—A. Ariés: The laws’ of displacement of chemical 
equilibrium.—M. Barre: Some double chromates.—S. 
Wologdine and B. Penkiewitsch : The heat of formation 
of manganese sulphide. The combination of finely 
divided manganese and sulphur was brought about by 
an aluminium-potassium chlorate fuse in an atmo- 
sphere of nitrogen. The mean result was 723 calories 
per gram of MnS formed.—A. Colani: The prepara- 
tion of molybdenum metaphosphate, Mo(PO,);.— 
Jacques Joannis: The catalytic influence of kaolin on 
the combination of hydrogen and oxygen. In the pre- 
sence of kaolin, the combination of hydrogen and 
oxygen commences at 230° C.—E. E. Blaise: Syn- 
theses by means of the mixed zinc organometallic 
derivatives. The 1: 4-acyclic ketones, Succinyl 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 731 


chloride reacts with zinc alkyl iodides as though it 
possessed an unsymmetrical constitution, but starting 
with mixed cyctoacetals, the reaction gives rise to 
dicycloacetals; from’ the latter 1: 4-diketones can’ be 
obtained. The preparation of dipropionylethane — by 
this method is described in detail.—Marcel Godchot’: 
The synthesis of a methylcyclopentenone.—W. Russell : 
The survival of plant ‘tissues after freezing. The 
death of a plant through’ frost’ rarely takes place 
suddenly, and appears to take place cell by cell.—V. 
Lubimenko: Researches on the pigments of the 
chromoleucites.—A. Pézard : The experimental develop- 
ment of the spurs and growth of the comb in hens. 
The extirpation of the ovary causes a growth in the 
spurs and diminution in the size of the comb.—Henri 
Bierry and Mlle. Lucie Fandard: Protein sugar and 
virtual sugar.—A, Trillat and M. Fouassier; .Removal 
and separation of micro-organisms in suspension in 
water under the influence of an air current. Some 
organisms, such as B. prodigiosus, are readily carried 
away by an air current from a suspension in water; 
others, such as B. subtilis, are not removed. This 
property has been applied successfully to microbial 
separations.—W,. J. Penfold and H. Violle : Sensibility 
of the organism to certain bacterial products caused 
by heemolysis.—R. Goupil: Researches on the fatty 
matters formed by Amylomyces rouxii.tJean Groth: 
The goniatite schists of Guadalmez.—J. Repelin: The 
secondary accidents which have affected the massif of 
Lare, near Sainte-Baume. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

Die -Vogel. By A. Reichenow. Zwei Binde. 
Erster Band. Pp. viii+529. (Stuttgart: F. Enke.) 
15 marks. 

The Wonders of Bird-Life. By W. P. Westell. Pp. 
128. (Manchester: Milner and Co.) 1s. net. 

Transactions of the Geological Society of South 
Africa. Vol. xvi. Pp. 166+xxii plates. (Johannes- 
burg.) 42s. 

Proceedings of the Geological Society of South 
Africa. Pp, Ixxviii+plates. (Johannesburg.) 

Bill’s School and Mine: a Collection of Essays on 
Education. By W. S. Franklin. Pp. vii+98. (South 
Bethlehem, Penn. : Franklin, Macnutt and Charles.) 
50 cents. 

Photo-chemistry. By Dr. S. E. Sheppard. Pp. x+ 
461. (London: Longmans and Co.) 12s. 6d. 

Library of Congress. Report of the Librarian of 
Congress and Report of the Superintendent of the 
Library Building and Grounds for the Fiscal Year 
ending June 30, 1913. Pp. 269. (Washington: 
Government Printing Office.) 

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 
Division of Intercourse and Education. Some Roads 
towards Peace. A Report to the Trustees of the En- 
dowment on Observations made in China and Japan 
in 1912, By C. W. Eliot. Pp. 88. (Washington, 
D.€.) 

Ministerio da Agricultura, Industria e Commercio. 
Annuario publicato pelo Observatorio Nacional do Rio 
de Janeiro, 1914. Anno xxx. Pp. vii+360. (Rio de 
Janeiro.) 

Plane and Spherical Trigonometry (with Five-Place 
Tables). By Prof. R. E. Moritz. Pp. xvit+357+67+ 
96. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London : 
Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) tos. 6d. net. 

Fuel: Solid, Liquid, and Gaseous. By J. S. S. 
Brame. Pp. xv+372. (London: E. Arnold.) 12s. 6d. 
net. 

Elasticita e Resistenza dei Corpi Pietrosi. Mattoni, 
Pietre, Malte e Calcestruzzi, Murature. By A. Montel. 
Pp. v+180. (Torino: S. Lattes and C.) ‘5 lire. 

Conseil Permanent International pour 1’Exploration 


red 


de la Mer. Bulletin Trimestriel des Résultats Acquis 
Pendant les Croisieres Périodiques et dans les Periodes 
Intermediaires. Publié par le Bureau du Conseil. 
Résumé des Observations sur le Plankton. 1902-8. 
Troisitme Partie. Pp. 251-600+xxxvili-cv plates. 
(Copenhague: A. F. Host et Fils.) 

Further Studies concerning the Methods of Calculat- 
ing the Growth of Herrings. By E. Lea. Pp. 36. 
(Copenhague : A. F. Host et Fils.) 

Rapports et Procés-Verbaux des Réunions. Vol. 
xviii. Rapports. Pp. rot. (Copenhague : A. F. Host 
et Fils.) : 

A Text-Book of Organic Chemistry. By Prof. A. F. 
Holleman. Edited by Dr. A. Jamieson Walker, 
assisted by Dr. O. E. Mott. Fourth English edition. 
Pp. xviii 621. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; 
London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) tos. 6d. net. 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, FrEsruary 26. 

Rovat Society, at 4.30-—The Diffraction of Licht by Spheres of Small 
Relative Index: Lord Rayleigh.—(1) Studies of the Properties Operative 
in Solutions. XXXI. Sulphonic Acids and Sulphuric Acid as Hydrolytic 
Agents : A Discussion of the Constitution of Sulphuric and other Polybasic 
‘Acids and of the Nature of Acids. XXXII. The Influence of Sulphonates 
on the Hydrolytic Activity of Sulphonic Acids: A Contribution to the 
Discussion on the Influence of Neutral Salts Prof. H. E. Armstrong and 
Prof. F. P. Worley.—Morphological Studies of Benzene Derivatives. 
V. The Correlation of Crystalline Form with Molecular Structure: A 
Verification of the Barlow Pope Conception of “ Valency-Volume” : Prof. 
H. E. Armstrong. R. T. Colgate, and FE. H. Rodd.—The Magnetic 
Properties of Iron when Shielded from the Earth's Magnetism: Prof. EB. 
Wilson.—The Occurrence of Ozone in the Upper Atmosphere: Dr. J. N. 
Pring.—(1) A Meteoric Iron from Winburg, Orange Free Stare ; (2) The 
Electrification Produced during the Raising of a Cloud of Dust : W. A. D. 
Rudge.—The Electrical Ignition of Gaseous Mixtures: Prof. W. M. 
Thornton. 

ConcRETE INSTITUTE, at 7.30.—Calculations and Details for Steel-frame 
Buildings from the Draug!tsman’s Standpoint : Cyril W. Cocking. 

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL KNGINERRS, at 8.—Motor and Control 
Equipments for Electric Locomotives : F. Lydall. 

Society oF DyERS AND COLOURISTS. at 8.—The Industrial Possibilities 
of Nitrocellulose : C. A. Higgins.—Notes on the Fading of Dyed Silk : 
A. Jones and G, W. Parr. 


FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27. 
Rovat INnsTITUTION, at 9.—Surface Combnstion: Prof. W A. Bone. 
SwEDENBORG SOCIETY, at 8.15-—The Body and the Soul in Swedenborg’s 
Philosophy : Dr. L. de Beaumont-Klein. 
InstiTuTION OF Civit. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Lhe Use of Reinforce Concrete 
in Connection with Dock and other Maritime Work: C. S. Meik. 
Puysicat SOCIETY, at 8.30.—First Guthrie Terture: Radiation of Gas 
Molecules Excited by Light: Prof. R. W. Wood. 


SATURDAY, Fesrvary 28. 
Rovat INsTITUTION, at 3.—Recent Discoveries in Physical Science : Sir 
J. J. Thomson. 
Essex Frecp Crue (at the Essex Museum, Stratford), at 6.—Some Notes 
on the Vegetation of Boulder-Clay Wastes in North Essex : G. Morris. — 
Oysters, Pliocene 10 Kecent: A. Bell.—Scientific Surveys: Rev. C. H. 


Grinling. 
MONDAY, Marcu 2. 

Society oF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY, at 8.—The Bleaching of Chemical Pulp 
and Suggestions for a Standard Method in Test Cases: A. Baker and 
J. Jennison.—Blasting Gelatine, some Notes and ‘Theories: W. A. 
Hargreaves.—An Application of Calcium Carb de to the Formation of 
Alloys : W. R. Hodgkinson. 

Rovat Society OF ARTS, at 8.—Artistic Lithography : J. Pennell. 

SocieTy OF ENGINEERS, at 7.39 —Esperanto: An International Language 
for Engineers: T. J. Gueritte. 

ARISTOTELIAN SOCIETY, at 8.—The New Encyclopzdists on Logic: Prof. 
J. Brough. 

TUESDAY, March 3- 

RovaL InstiTuTION, at 3.—Modern Ships. I. Smooth Water Sailing: Sir 
John H. Biles. 

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—Report on the Freshwater Fishes Collected 
by the British Ornithologists’ Union Expedition and the Wollaston 
Expedition in Dutch New Guinea: C. Tate Regan.--The Nests of 
Pseudoscorpiones ; with Historical Notes on the Spinning-organs and 
Observations on the Building and Spinning of the Nests: H. Wallis Kew. 
—Spiders {rom the Montebello Islands: H. R. Hoge.—The Skull of a 
Pariasasrian Reptile, and on the Relationships of that Type: D. M. S. 
Watson —The Struc ure and Life-history of a Tape-worm (/chthyotaenia 
filicollis Rud.) parasiric in the Stickleback: F. J. Meggitt—Trematode 
Parasites from Auimals Dying in the Zoological Society's Gardens during 
rgt1-12: Dr. W. Nicoll. 

INsTITUrION OF PETROLEUM ‘TECHNOLOGISTS, at 8.—"‘ntroductory Re- 
marks by the President: Sir Boverton Redwood.—Geometry of the 

. Anticline: Sir Thomas H. Holland —The Educational Aims of the Insti- 
tution of Petroleum Technologists: E. H. Cunningham-Craig.—Petroleum 
Technology as a Profession : Prof. Vivian B. Lewes. 

InsTITUTION OF CrviL, ENGINEERS, at 8.—Further Discussion: Rail-steels 
for Electric Railways: W. Willox.—Rail-corrugation and its Causes ; 
S. P. W. D’Alte Sellon. 

Rova Society oF ARTS, at 4. 30.—Discussion : The Montreal, Ottawa, 
and Georgian Bay Canal: Sir R. W. Perks. 


NO. 2313, VOL. 92] 


NATURE 


ise Ieee ee eee 


[FEBRUARY 26, 1914 


WEDNESDAY. MARCH 4- ; 

Society oF PusBLic ANALYSTS, at 8.—The Composition and Analysis a 

Compound Liquorice Powder: A. E. Pagkes ani . Major.—The Com- 

osition of the Saline Matter Adhering to ertain Wet Salted Skins : M. C. 

amb.—The Determination of Carbon Monoxide in Air : F. S, Sinnatt and 

B. J. Cramer.—A Suggested Simple Method for the Approx Se 

mination o! ‘‘ Stump” ‘ Wood) Turpentine in American Gum Turpentine > 
L. M. Nash.—-Dried Carica Papaya Juice: Dr. F. F. Shelley. ; 

AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—The Rational Design of Aéroplanes? 

A. R. Low. 

ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8. : 

Rovat Society OF ARTS, at 8.—TLrayels in the Balkan Peninsula: H. C. 


Woods. 
THURSDAY, Marcu 5 

RovaL Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers : The Action of Light on Chloro- 
phyll: H. Wager.—Formaldehyde as an Oxidation Product of Chlorophyll 
Extracts: C. H. Warner.—The Controlling Influence of Carbon Dioxide 
in the Maturation, Dormancy, and Germmation of Seeds: F. Kidd.— 
The Functional Correlation between the Ovaries, Uterus and Mammary 
Glands in the Rabbit, with Observations on the Oestrous Cycle: ia: 
Hammond and F. H. A. Marshall.— The Chromaffine System of Annelids 
and the Relation of this System to the Contractile Vascular System in the 
Leech, /irudo medicinalis? Dr. J. F. Gaskell. 

Rovat INSTITUTION, at 3.—Heat and Crld: Prof. C. F, Jenkin. . 

Cuitp Stupy SocierTy, at 7.30.—The Sense of Humour in Children: Miss 
C. C. Graveson. 

LINNEAN SociETY, at 8.—Results of Crossing Zuschistus variolarius and 
E. servus with Reference to the Inheritance of an Exclusively Male 
Character : The Misses K. Foot and E. C. Strobell —Short Cuts by Birds 
to Nectaries: C. F, M. Swynnerton.—Buprestida : Ch. Kerremans.— 
Platypodidz and Ipide from the Seychelles: Lieut.-Col. Winn Sampson. 
—Scatopside and Simuliide: Dr. G. Enderlein.—Heteroneuride— 
Milichiide : C. G. Lamb. 

SATURDAY, Marcu 7 


Rovat InsTITUTION, at 3.—Recent Discoveries in Physical Science : Sir 
J. J. Thomson. 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
What of the Ancient Universities?. ....- +++ 707 
Medical Hydrology... « + +10) ) 99) »eaje seu 708 
Geographical Outlook and Control ....+ +--+ 799 
Our Bookshelf... ++ +o =) = == 
Letters to the Editor :— ‘ 
Weather Forecasts in England.—A. Mallock, F.R.S. 711 

The Darwinian Theory of Atolls. Prof, Edward B. 

Poulton, F.R.S. Me ores 8S 
The Accuracy of the Principal Triangulation of 

the United Kingdom.—T. L, Bennett; Capt. 

H. S. L. Winterbotham, R.E.. ..-+-+-- 713 
Atomic Models.—Dr. H. S. Allen. 9. = a5 stays 713 
Origin of Structures on the Moon’s Surface. —Rev. 

O. Fisher; C. Hubert Plant. . . . 23h Cea 
The Discovery of Australia, —W. B. Alexander. . 715 

Daily Synoptic Charts of the Northern Hemisphere 
and Absolute Units. By W.N.S. .--; = 715 
The Recent Seismological Disturbances in South 
Japan, (Iith Diagram.) Dr. C. Davison... - 716 
Aibinism: <j 6 + aie lees ene Rane gerat i s§ 
Prof. S. P. Langley and Aviation. (Mlustrated.) . . 718 
Notes a 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Astronomical Occurrences for March  . \. s ub ce ees 
A Faint Companion to Capella . . + + + + + + * * 724 
The Solar System . . 724 
Yeriodicities in Prominences and Sun-spots Compared 724 
The Teaching of Anthropology at the Universities 725 
Colour Vision Among Crustacea. By F. W.G. . . 726 
Ornithological Notes. By R.L.. . +--+ 2 + = 726 
The Indian Museum and Science CongresS ..-. - 727 
University and Educational Intelligence. . - - + = 728 
Societies and Academies ..-+--++:- 5 See ae 
Books Received. .. re. rc VEE 
Diary of Societies... . s+ «+ = 3) sane 


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FEBRUARY 26, 1914] 


MINERALOGY—CRYSTALLOGRAPHY— 
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Department 1), 


Denzil Works, Neasden, London, N.W. 


Contractors to the Admiralty, War, India, and Colonial Offices, &c. 


SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 


OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS. 


The “HARRIS” 
SPECTROMETER. 


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A cheap and reliable Instrument specially designed tor 
Students’ use. 
Very strongly constructed so that it may be used by 
elementary pupils without being put out of order, 


PRICE £2: 10:0 Each Net. 
Descriptive Pamphlet on application. 


PHILIP HARRIS & €0., iro. 


BIRMINGHAM 


(ENGLAND.) 


C. Winthrope Somerville’s 

- SULPHUR 

IN SPENT OXIDE — 
TEST. 


A reliable and rapid means of 
ascertaining the amount of sulphur 
in spent oxide. 


The result is given in percentage 
of sulphur direct. 


Complete instructions with each test. 


The set complete, £3 3 0 


SOLE MAKERS: 


TOWNSON & MERCE) 


34 CAMOMILE ST., LONDON, EC. 
Prof. HARTL’S| 


OPTICAL DISC 
POLARISING APPARATUS, 


; covering all the important 
pis: experiments in 
NATURE says :—“‘ Professoz Hartl 
has laid all teachers of experimental 
optics under an obligation by desi, 
a piece of apparatus which he calls 
‘optical disc’; this, at a moment's 
notice, can be adjusted so as to show 
the path of the rays in any one of thi 
important cases usually dealt with in 
elementary lectures on geometrica 
optics. The apparatus is very compact, 
and its general arrangement is so good 
. that one experiment may be changed 
pal Neo for another in about half a minute.” 

—_ a (See full notice in issue of 

. August 2, 1906+) 

SCHOOL WORLD says |—‘‘ Well worth the careful attention of thos 
interested in the teaching of optics. The whole apparatus should bey 
valuable for several reasons : ¢t) because each arrangement is very quickh 
produced ; (2) the effects are ¢trongly visible ; (3) measurements are readi 
made ; (4) the number of separate parts is small considering the varie 
of experiments which they render possible.” 


Send for Illustrated Descriptive Pamphlet 
post free from the SOLE AGENTS for the 
United Kingdom, India, and the Colonies, 


A. GALLENKAMP & CO., Ltd. 


19 & 21 SUN STREET, FINSBURY SQUARE, 
LONDON, E.C. 


1 


Printed by RicHArv Ciay & Sons, Limirep, at Brunswick Street, 


St. Martins Street, London, W.C., and THE MacmiLian Co., 


43 1 0” 


Stamford Street, S.E., and published by MacMILLAN AND Co., LimiTED, at 
66 Fifth Avenue, New York,—TuHurspay, February 26, 1914. 


rans) 


SWAT 
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7 
Rie 


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3 9088 01359 6887